The Great Indian Kitchen

2021, Malayalam, Neestream, 8.4/10 IMDB, Directed by Joe Baby Moral authorities of patriarchy, de-skinned without much melodrama, through the perspective of a young woman of the 3rd millennium. The 2020 film ‘Thappad’ focused on patriarchy that was instilled in the system of young girls, since their childhood. Whereas, the maker of ‘The Great Indian Kitchen’ … Read moreThe Great Indian Kitchen

A 360 Degree Guide to Film Festivals

10th Jan 2021, Book A workshop, Namrata Joshi A two hour online discourse celebrating the film festivals across the globe- A handbook on how to choose a film festival from the perspective of a critic, a cinephile and a film maker. The friendly introduction of the participants hinted on the mixed group comprising of movie … Read moreA 360 Degree Guide to Film Festivals

Winter Film Appreciation By ARUNARAJE PATIL

23 November to 19 December 2020, FTIIONLINE, Film and Television Institute of India, ARUNARAJE PATIL A well structured comprehensive masterclass, that left a remarkably lasting impact in making the journey of a cine enthusiast like me, complete. The Course Director looked effortless, at the helm of affairs. The most interesting fact about the course was, … Read moreWinter Film Appreciation By ARUNARAJE PATIL

Appreciation of Indian Cinema By KARAN BALI

5-23 October 2020, FTIIONLINE, Film and Television Institute of India, KARAN BALI The most popular course by the stalwart coordinator on FTII platform turned out to be the a tribute to ‘The Indian Cinema Phenomena’. The OTTs had been surging as an alternate movie watching experience, albeit never a substitute for the theater going experience. … Read moreAppreciation of Indian Cinema By KARAN BALI

AK Vs AK

2020, Hindi, Netflix, 7.3/10 IMBD, Directed by Vikramaditya Motwane A Cinema Vérité kind realistic film without much embellishments, disappoints when it yields to the template of ‘The Hero’s Journey’. Yogita Bihani with her camera, shadowing the director 24X7, feels more like a virtual extension of the Netflix’s ‘Creative Indian’ series, that featured Anurag Kashyap in … Read moreAK Vs AK

Andhaghaaram

2020, Tamil, Netflix, 7.9/10 IMDB, Directed by V. Vignarajam A technically mesmerizing suspense thriller that masters parallel editing and extends a surreal experience, that overrides the mundane supernatural phenomena, through its convincing ‘willful suspension of disbelief’. The supernatural phenomena of the dead communicating through an interesting medium is the theme. The audience are sucked in … Read moreAndhaghaaram

Soorarai Pottru

2020, Tamil, Amazon Prime, 9.3/10 IMDB, Directed by Sudha Kongara An ambitious fictional version of a revolutionary biopic, showcasing some intense acting. A worthy attempt, but for the tiresome monotone, that irks a disconnect. The story credits it’s inspiration to the book, ‘Simply fly’ A Deccan Odyssey, by G.R.Gopinath. Its partly a dramatized version like … Read moreSoorarai Pottru

Catdog

2020, Hindi, YouTube, First Prize at Cannes 2020, Directed by Ashmita Guha Neogi -2013 Student Diploma Film of FTII (Film and Television Institute of India, Pune). A shocking revelation of the evilness in unattended children and whose emotional needs are not catered promptly. The core plot revolves around children unleashing their duality similar to adults, … Read moreCatdog

Putham Pudhu Kaalai

2020, Tamil, Amazon Prime, 7.6/10 IMDB, Anthology Directed by Sudha Kongara, Gautham Menon, Suhashini Manirathnam, Rajiv Menon, Karthik Subbaraj. An anthology with a common backdrop of COVID lockdown, falls short in creativity. It seemingly strikes parallels to our ‘lockdown mood swings’ in testing our patience at many instances. Pooling across an anthology, during testing times … Read morePutham Pudhu Kaalai

Film Appreciation with Namrata Joshi

27th September 2020, Book A Workshop face-to-face A brief workshop that focused on appreciation of two iconic feature films and a short film- 1960 Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, the French classic thriller, 1955 ‘Les Diaboliques’ and Short Film Maya by Vikas Chandra. The workshop threw light on how to read two films of similar genre that … Read moreFilm Appreciation with Namrata Joshi