BodhisattyaPal Reviews

Toofan Mail 8 Down (2021)

A poetic, satirical look back into the life and politics of a struggling nation

[10/10 · 22 November 2021]

Probably the most original Indian movie I have seen in years! Eight Down Toofaan Mail, directed by Akriti Singh, tells a curious story of a woman landed at the New Delhi Railway station in 1974 claiming herself as the Queen of Awadh!

This movie is actually a period drama portraying the social and political aspect of independent India in the middle of the Railway Workers Strike during the Indira Gandhi era. An undertone of satire is always evident in this exceptional movie. We witness the birth, growth and evolution of a workers strike with the arrival and eventually departure of some uninvited guests at the North Delhi Railway Station waiting room. While the main focus was always on 'your royal highness', the audiences slowly dive into the life and politics of a struggling nation.

Eight Down Toofaan Mail delivered some powerful command on the heritability of colonialism and variability of homeland. It brought back the regret of the partition and asked serious questions on the equity of the nation. The director cum the lead actress, Akriti Singh achieved something unbelievable with this luminous work of art; creating an authentic work which tells more than its scope, is a mammoth work, but she did it masterfully.

If we talk about the technical aspects of this movie, the use of the retroish hue and pallet was brilliant. The camera was sharp too, covering a unique perspective. The incoherent protrayal of Indira Gandhi through the eye glasses and veil was remarkable. The cinematography, music and art design, all complemented each other to create some memorable cinematic moments.

The movie never explored the cause of the queen's arrival, it didn't served a backstory of her; rather it focused on the consequences of changes she brought and her effect on the thought process of different lives; from rikshawala, rail workers to the station master and the prime minister! Being poetic and surreal sometimes, or sentimental and satirical at places, Eight Down Toofaan Mail is ultimately a story of intimacy and exploration, which tells to seek the royalty, pride and sense of belonging within us. A rarest jewel of Indian movies. Stunning...

I'm Your Man (2021)

An emotional study of soliteriness

[7/10 · 21 October 2021]

I'm Your Man, Germany's Official Submission to 94th Oscars, is not a never seen before kind of high concept sci-fi. We have seen this premise too many times. This German movie goes hardly beyond that; but it is still fresh!

The highlight of I'm Your Man is its simplicity. It never tried to become any sci-fi extravaganza or to serve any mind blowing concepts. It goes gently like an easy soothing melody. It doesn't have any colossal plot twist. Inspite of having a neoteric plot, it's actually emotional, soulful and close to heart.

This is a very vibrant movie with cozy scores from Tobias Wagner. Impressive performances from the duo Maren Eggert & Dan Stevens were one of the finest things in it. The plot didn't dig deep, but it still consists of some memorable moments. The second half anyhow manage to compel you to think. The shades of Her or Zoe were always upon it; but it still managed to find a way of it's own.

I'm Your Man is basically an emotional study of soliteriness in a package of sci-fi, which is well made from every angle. Decent..

Titane (2021)

A neon-bathed dazzling visual masterpiece with a soulful story inside

[8/10 · 19 October 2021]

Amidst all the violence, hallucinatory chaos, body horror, erotism, wildness, extremities and weirdness; there is a warm, moving and delicate soul lying in deep; and that makes this 2021 Palme d'Or winner a distinct, unparalleled, otherworldly experience!

Titane is like an incoherently gorgeous nightmare; a neon-bathed dazzling visual masterpiece with extremely high production value, masterful scores and weirdly ambitious breathtaking imagination of a director!

I expected Titane to be a stylish art-horror with a partially unique concept but shallow story line. But Docournau took it beyond my expectations; Titane has a very deep and significant story to tell. It is about dysfunctional parenthood, degree of self-destruction, abyss of longing, grip of the machine age and offcourse the power of love!

Titane is absolutely original and incomparably unique. But still it somehow manges to remind me of Lynch's Eraserhead, Glazer's Under the Skin and some of Cronenberg's freudian horror visionaries. And inspite of this, Titane surprised and shocked me in every moments.

In an alien dimension and from an eccentric perspective; Titane tells more than its scope and touches some substantial topics terrifically. Titane is a story of a collective healing process and uncanny metamorphosis which is horrific, shocking and soulful at the same time. Will wait to experience how much wilder Docournau's imagination can become next!

Sardar Udham (2021)

Breaking the prototype, masterfully!

[9/10 · 16 October 2021]

"Let the world know, I was a revolutionary"

In the recent years we experienced numerous movies, either some over dramatic biopic or extreme patriotic melodrama, are coming out with the same silly prototype to capture a certain portion of audience. Some are decent, some are below average & most of them are unbearable with otherworldly odd vfx and whatsapp status special love songs no one asked for! In this suffocating condition of biographical movies, to break the sinister prototype skeleton, a cinematic revolution was much needed; Shoojit Sircar brought it with a masterstroke named Sardar Udham!

Inspite of the promise shown by the film, I didn't expect that it can avoid the typical bollywood biography making formula completely and masterfully! I am not sure what to say and what not about this technically supreme work. From the colour and cinematography to the recreation of historically accurate scenes; from the extraordinary score to the blazing screenplay; everything was so technical that it demands a separate writing.

There is no need of any forcibly induced emotional scenes or jingoistic dialogues when you have a strong story in hand and technical men at office. In this type of work, the rawness should be evident to justify the actions. Director did exactly the same. He kept the raw tone intact and treated it with a no nonsense approach.

The movie did exceptionally well with some dicision making. Use of original languages and not hindi in abnormal accent was one of the main reason why the movie feels so original. The story telling technique was also authentic. Special mention to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre recreation; it was so detailed, raw and moving that we can feel ourselves there!

Vicky Kaushal added another feather in his cap delivering a composed, mature yet breathtaking performance as Udham Singh. Supporting casts were brilliant and apt. The unbiased development of characters was also superb. Actually there were hardly anything to complain about in this masterfully crafted movie.

Sircar's Sardar Udham is the only biographical work coming out from Bollywood in recent years, which is able to break the rusty prototype and create a benchmark which will surely bring a wave of making serious movies devoid off the business model approach! Remarkable..

No Man of God (2021)

A different perspective on a rather known case

[7/10 · 27 August 2021]

I didn't watch any of the early films on Ted Bundy; so I can't tell if this movie has anything further to offer or not! But I can definitely tell that this Amber Sealey directorial is a serious & authentic take on the famous serial killing case by Bundy.

To be precise, this movie is hardly about Bundy's charismatic crimes or the trial process; actually it's about his unusual relationship with FBI Special Agent Bill Hagmaier in his final days before execution. I find this perspective of storytelling convincing enough to try once & I can say that this is a decent work.

A solid two men performance from Elijah Wood and Luke Kirby, an eerie score & an engaging enough screenplay made No Man of God a gripping watch. The movie didn't require many gruesome crime flashbacks as some dialogues were so well written & powerful that it gave a more prominent visual. I found some moments exceptional; especially that tv interview scene & when we can see the amalgamation between Ted & Hagmaier's character. Overall No Man of God deserves your attention for some real good reasons.

200: Halla Ho (2021)

A no nonsense movie

[7/10 · 21 August 2021]

If some flaws here & there can be ignored, 200 Halla Ho is otherwise a real serious movie. Director was sure about his intention & the movie is successful to make an essential social commentary. Amol Palekar was a treat to watch; actually the whole starcast did well. The screenplay is tight if not perfect. The story is not like you haven't seen anywhere; still it demands your attention.

Bellbottom (2021)

Engaging, entertaing & non over-dramatic: A Decent Espionage Thriller

[7/10 · 20 August 2021]

Inspite of a lot of flaws all around, I found Bell Bottom to be really an engaging espionage thriller. The makers were sure about their strong & weak area; thus they picked full points in their strong areas & ignored those weak areas; no harm!

One of the best thing about Bell Bottom is that it never tried to be over-nationalistic or over-dramatic! It tried it's best to stay in reality & maintain a composure.

Secondly, Bell Bottom is a decently researched work. It's not based on a particular event but actually it's inspired by several contemporary events. We can't expect some phenomenal research in this type of offering from Bollywood, but still makers serve the thing quite coherently.

The biggest highlight of Bell Bottom is its stunning background score! Daniel B. George did a great job with the retro music; thus the film is looking absolutely well polished & stylish. Satisfying work in production design area is also evident.

Without any doubt, Akshay Kumar is the talisman of bollywood for this genre! Akshay delivered what we expect from him. Adil Hussain had a too easy role to do in comparison to his calibre; and he did it masterfully. Lara Dutta acted as brilliantly as her make up! Zain Khan Durrani as one of the highjacker was impressive.

There were off course several flaws; the most prominent problem is it's climax, which is poorly executed & could be much much convincing.

You can't complain about enrolling of unnecessary romantic interests or stupid songs in bollywood, but atleast there should be a chemistry between the lead actor and actress; which is completely missing between vaani Kapoor and Akshay Kumar! We experienced great chemistry within this same genre via Airlift or Baby! There are other flaws too; but as I mentioned one can forgive those if the rest of the thing is good enough.

Thus, Bell Bottom is not that remarkable like it's ancestral Baby or Airlift, but still it has its moment. It managed to hold you attention to the end credits anyway. Genre fans should go for it in the big-screen, others can wait for OTT or skip..

Malik (I) (2021)

Most relevant than ever considering the current situation of the country!

[9/10 · 16 July 2021]

Malik is an epic political gangster drama written & directed by Mahesh Narayanan and consists of some of the finest actors from Malayalam film industry; It's hard to describe Malik but it is certainly ambitious, elegant & technically brilliant.

With his third directorial, Narayanan's evolution & maturity is evident. I always adore his works; from the patriotic Take Off (2017) & experimental C U Soon (2020) his command over filmmaking was quite clear. But this was a challenging project. To keep all these genius star cast composed in a broad spectrum work like this, a technically sound director is essential and Mahesh was apt.

Another talking point is Sanu Varghese's extra ordinary cinematography; it was precisely well balanced in some parts and breathtaking in other parts.

It demands a separate post to describe the brilliance of the star cast. It's wise not to talk about the main man of Indian film industry right now - Fahadh Faasil; he is the malik and the messiah here. But the best part of Malik is the phenomenal performance from the other star casts; from the grey shaded Joju George & Dileesh Pothan, emotionally strong Nimisha Sajayan to the game changer Vinay Forrt - Malik is a must watch only for the steller cast.

But the real hero here is Sushin Shyam with his out of the world, majestic score! Malik could lose half of its charm if there was no Sushin. For me, it's one of the finest film score an Indian movie ever had.

Malik showed that a 2:40+ runtime is not a problem if the content is engaging, well crafted and off course well presented.

All said and done; Malik is one of the most powerful movie of this genre India had ever produced; a strong, thrilling, sentimental & emotional movie with a social commentary on the political-religious conflicts, which is most relevant than ever considering the current situation of the country!

The Father (I) (2020)

Unforgettable, haunting & breathtaking!

[10/10 · 3 April 2021]

"I feel as if I'm losing my all leaves"

some movies are really hard to describe, some movies never actually feels like a movie, some movies keep haunting us all the time, this is that movie

The Father is a breathtaking work of art. Have come across a lots of work on memory loss, dementia etc, but it's not like any of them. It's like a dream, a confusing one, we often see; a constant fight with reality. A remarkable style of story telling, mind-blowing direction, Sir Anthony Hopkins' genius, unforgettable scenes and top notch editing - this uncanny thing is the finest of movies I ever watched. Can't say more!

Have seen Minari & Nomadland, and personally I think The Father deserves Oscar more than anyone. Have no doubt on Hopkins' 2nd Academy this year. Hope it will get all the 6! Yes..

Lootcase (2020)

Bollywood's Finest Black Comedy

[10/10 · 2 August 2020]

Lootcase(2020) by Rajesh Krishnan is one of the finest black comedy bollywood produced in years. A brilliantly written screenplay, an interesting premise with absolutely engaging progression & a glorious star cast.

This movie offers genuine laughter hiding the bloodyness of the plot. A dark undertone was there through out the runtime.

Without thinking twice, chose it. It's a rare & almost perfect cinematic experience. A must watch!

The Eunuch and the Flute Player (2017)

An Essential Work of Art

[9/10 · 19 July 2020]

Nagarkirtan by Kaushik Ganguly is the most powerful command made on eunuch culture, transgender practice & homosexuality in recent years. A spiritual poetry. Raw, real & moving. A very essential work of art. Ganguly is a magician. A jewel of Indian cinema. Must watch!

Gulabo Sitabo (2020)

Collision of greed and dominance beneath the shadows of 'Fatima Mahal'

[9/10 · 16 June 2020]

Starting with the traditional puppet show of Uttar Pradesh, Shoojit Sircar's latest directorial is a good old fable in the disguise of a modern satire.

Gulabo Sitabo is a story of collision revolving around a century old haveli. The collision is between the stingy owner Mirza, his wife Fatima, the 'parasite' Baankey along with other tenants, the Archeological department & the law. But there is another collision flowing beneath the shadows of 'Fatima Mahal' - the collision of greed & dominance.

Sircar is a character maker more than a film maker. His stories are usually mono dimensional, but the characters are unforgettable. But unlike his filmography, Gulabo Sitabo is little different. It has a solid, multi layered, thought provoking story inside. The characters are weird. Not a single character is actually loveable, they are ugly in their own way; but the film is immensely loveable, and there lies the success.

Amitbh Bachchan is in with one of his finest performance. You can't even imagine the film's existence without his legendary presence. Ayushmann is probably the only actor who can't be overshadow by Bachchan's dominance, he is as bright in this film as he is. Vijay Raaj is outstanding, what an underrated actor he is! Srishti Shrivastava, Bijendra Kala, Farrukh Jafar mange to give a phenomenal screen presence.

Juhi Chaturvedi's script was brilliant. Shantanu Moitra's score was perfect for a satire like this. The set, costumes, production design - all are satisfying.

Not a single minute of this film was boring. Piku, October was very good, but I think Gulabo Sitabo is Sircar's finest. A subtle work of art which captures the purpose of human life and the wheel of karma. Must watch for multiple reasons.

A song in this film summerizes the soul of Gulabo Sitabo - "Kya leke aayo jaagme, kya lege jayega?" Sircar went leaving an unforgettable memory in this hard time!

Stalker (1979)

My Interpretation

[9/10 · 16 January 2020]

Stalker(1979) - Andrei Tarkovsky

An unusual setting, a mysterious stalker, a forbidden area - 'The Zone', a professor & a writer, a journey to find the truth, a wheel of events, a drenched conclusion - A legendary filmmaker with his most complex work - 'Stalker'.

Tarkovsky, one of the greatest filmmakers of Russia, loved to stay neutral & give audience an open ending cinema. His works are complex, tangled yet poetic, lyrical, spiritual and metaphysical.

Stalker - the so called sci-fi drama is a slow paced poetry full of metaphors which is both weird and stunning, art at its best. Both time & patience is needed to understand this deep work of art. But as they said that you have to first feel a film, before understanding. It's really just beyond understanding, it's an otherworldly experience, you have to live it.

So no individual interpretation matters here. You should experience this monumental work yourself and explain as you like. That's why Tarkovsky made it like that. As he used to say - "A book read by a thousand different people is a thousand different books."

Still, I tried to interpret it in my own way. You could have absolutely different thinking, you should! And there lies it's legacy. So experience the film & then proceed further to check if we have any similarities of thoughts. Discussions are always thrilling!

COLOURS & HUES: Tarkovsky shoot 'The Zone' in vivid greenish colour but rest of the film in sepia. It was like our dreams. The real world seems to be full of despair but our fantasies are always colorful. Also, this serious contrast indicate that in the zone, there was no human to pollute the air, so it stayed colorful & full of green.

A JOURNEY: As they said, journey is more beautiful than the destination.. 'Stalker' is a story of a journey. In the zone there was river, tunnel, desert, greenery. The revelation of human mind, intention & moral through a journey, where outcome doesn't matter.

HUMANITY: Tarkovsky is famous for humanist theme in his film. We could see three characters; the professor - representing the logical part of human, the writer - representing the artistic & intellect part, and that mysterious stalker - the perplexed mind. They wanted to fulfill their wish, they wanted to reveal the truth. But both the logic & intellect failed to believe in miracle, they failed to enter in 'the room' (a mysterious room which can fulfill one's innermost wish). The doubted if there was any darkest of wish hiding in them. Through lots of philosophical talk, Tarkovsky unfolded the complexity of human mind, the depth of human desire but the lack of believe.

FAITH & HOPE: It was absolutely the central theme of this movie. To experience a miracle, you have to first believe it. We can see lack of believe lead the writer & professor to a unsuccessful journey. But the stalker has plethora of faith & respect in 'The zone' & 'The room'. At last he laments - "they are born to some purpose! That they 'have a calling'! For they live 'only once'! How can such ones believe in anything?............ And nobody believes. Not only those two. Nobody! Whom should I lead in there? Oh, God... And the most terrifying thing is ... that nobody needs it anymore. And nobody needs that Room. And all my efforts are worthless!"

Also there was acts of hope. The stalker's wife said, "It's just such a fate, such a life, such us. And if there was no grief in our life, it would not be better, it would be worse. Because then there would be ... neither happiness, nor hope. That's it."

SPIRITUALITY & RELIGIOUS RELEVANCE: In the film, the stalker was almost like a priest who was leading people to the Supreme & telling them to keep faith in God. In several scene the spiritual nature of the film is evident. From the picture of Jesus under water to those Christian cross like electric post - all are pointing same, as the believing in God is fading in front of technology & intellect!

UNPREDICTABILITY: Surely there is not much turn & twist, it's an intense art house film, so it's unlikely. But it still so much unpredictable. You would always keep expecting something coming. A chilling mood was always intact. When you are expecting something fast, it's really slow then, and when you are ready for some slow moment, it's lighten fast there. Also it's genre is sci-fi, but don't expect any thing like typical sci-fi movies. There is no mind blowing concept, no hybrid technology & no extraterrestrial engagement. But still it's among the most significant sci-fi movies, you will understand after experiencing it.

THE ENDING: 'Stalker' have an absolute bizarre ending scene where the abnormal child of stalker practicing 'telekinesis' with three glasses on table. It may be just because of the trains, as we saw in very first scene if the movie. But probably it's a deep metaphor indicating that what science & intellect can't do, believe alone can. And this is the most vital theme of this work of art.

TRICKERY: Now, at last, think what if 'The Zone' was nothing but a creation of the stalker himself, everything related to zone was only his fantasies & he did it because he wanted a place where everyone will obey him & he will be only one to know the place, kind of emperor! There were no fifth man to justify anything. Think about that dog. Where did it come from? Was it stalker's pet? In the last part the dog was behaving as stalker & his wife are familiar to him. Not impossible. That's why it's a masterpiece!

LEGACY: There's a horrific side of the coin. The shooting place was a abandoned nuclear factory, so the lethal radiation summoned cancer in Tarkovsky & some other crew members, which ultimately lead to death. The film was shoot under extreme conditions. But the exceptional point was it predicted the sinister Chernobyl disaster 6 years before, astonishing! And now 'Stalker' is regarded as one of the greatest sci-fi art film.

Let me know your personal thoughts about the masterpiece. Thank you.

The Vanishing (II) (2018)

Transition of human mind out of greed & a melancholic piece of art

[7/10 · 10 January 2019]

"Three men alive on Flannan Isle, Who thought, on three men dead." -Wilfrid Wilson Gibson Flannan Isle

Based on century old true story of 'Flannan Isle Mystery', THE VANISHING is a psychological mystery thriller. A take on much discussed incident - three keepers gone missing from Flannan Lighthouse in 1900. This is the first film inspired by that event. As the event was fully mysterious, you may think the filmmakers made a solution! But it's not like that, instead of showing a fictional mystery solution, they just showed the flow of event, without any prominent conclusion, and its the best part of the film making. The direction, visuals, camera works were classic, the hauntingly beautiful score & the brilliant tone make a brilliant eerie atmosphere. The acting of the starcast was top notch. The experienced Peter Mullan & Gerard Butler were treat to watch. Connor's debut was perfect. The debut screenplay of the actor turned writer duo was satisfying.

A serious melodrama. The film opened many pathways but leave almost all the paths unchecked. I think that is intentional. The makers deserve praising for not showing any nonsense cinematic twist but a thought provoking transition of human mind out of greed. The film making was full of confidence & they knew what they are making. The violence on the screen was bearable & not very disturbing. From the start to end, the film stays composed. A fine melancholic piece of work which avoided all the chance of drowning & good enough not to be vanished from the mind. Watch it with a stable mind. You'll love it.

Andhadhun (2018)

Crazy, Terrible, Beautiful, Masterpiece

[10/10 · 8 October 2018]

Surely the most Intelligently, Brilliantly & perfectly made Bollywood movie!

From the screenplay, direction,acting to music and camera angle, all were genius.

The film always tried to make itself more complex and the complexity was unimaginably enjoyable, you should not try to predict this piece of art. You can Burst out in laughter even in The most serious scenes.

Every characters, even the minor, have it's own effect on the storyline. From the first scene to the last, the masterpiece will leave you thinking - 'Have watched something brilliant finally!! "

A perfect edgy humorous mystery thriller... Masterpiece!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mandy (I) (2018)

A cosmic, psychedelic fever dream about Goddess, demons, love & revenge!

[6/10 · 18 September 2018]

The story line is Simple - A couple, a cult psycho gang, the kidnapping and brutal murder & the revenge.

But the film is not easy at all. It had a lot of complex layer & perspective. From the very first scene to the last, there is a lot of crazy allegory!

Parnos Cosmatos 's experimental art film seems to be a masala Hollywood horror with extravagant visual but the result is completely different.

It's something turning into God from human and the God is like demon, powerful, cruel, brutal, self destructive, crazy! Overall the story mocks to be a revenge, it's actually a psychedelic dream set in an otherworldly dimension.

Nicolas Cage is as brilliant as usual.

But the legend late Johann Johannson's last Score is a masterpiece and a strong contender of OSCAR 2019 for Best Musical Score.

So Mandy is not for everyone, see it on your own risk! It can disappointe you or you can fall for it!

Beyond the Clouds (2017)

One of the best film

[10/10 · 23 July 2018]

#MovieReview: Beyond The Clouds

"You couldn't just pick and choose at will when someone depended on you, or loved you. It wasn't like a light switch, easy to turn on or off. If you were in, you were in. Out, you were out." -Sarah Dessen, Along for the Ride

"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another." -Charles Dickens

I just can't say anything! Probably the best film I have watched ever.

The rustic setting, the honest hearts, the complexity of relationships, the up & down, the layers,brilliant on screen performance, #MajidMajidi's legendary direction, #ARRahman's heart melting score, will surely transfer you beyond the clouds.

A masterpiece which will kiss your soul and leave you mesmerized.