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She Says She Says: Nivin Pauly’s Top 3
Copyright ©2019 Film Companion.
Posted in: Cinema: Malayalam, She Says She Says
Interview: The heroines of the ‘Queen’ remakes
January 20, 2019
#Tamannaah Bhatia, #KajalAggarwal & #ParulYadav who star in the South remakes of Kangana Ranaut’s #Queen, Paris Paris in Tamil, That is Mahalakshmi in Telugu & Butterfly in Kannada speak to Anupama Chopra about the process and challenges involved with simultaneously shooting four films in different languages, the cultural nuisances they had to factor in while […]
Posted in: Cinema: Hindi, Cinema: Kannada, Cinema: Malayalam, Cinema: Tamil, Cinema: Telugu, Interview
Thoughts on the writing of “Petta”…
January 20, 2019
Spoilers ahead… I wanted to respond to a few comments (can’t remember them all now), and instead of one long comment, a post made more sense. So here goes: I watched Petta a second time, and it “fit together” better. It still doesn’t work entirely and there are big problems with the writing (which I […]
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil
As ‘Dogtooth’ turns ten, a look at Yorgos Lanthimos, who’s now an awards-season ‘Favourite’
January 17, 2019
Read the full article on Firstpost, here: https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/as-dogtooth-turns-ten-a-look-at-the-greek-filmmaker-yorgos-lanthimos-an-awards-season-favourite-5912721.html For a while now, I’ve been meaning to write about Yorgos Lanthimos — and the time is right now, what with Dogtooth turning ten and The Favourite becoming an awards-season favourite. In an Indiewire piece, Eric Kohn summed up the Lanthimos phenomenon thus: “Not since the emergence […]
Going by the review, is Ajith’s film better than Rajinikanth’s?
January 17, 2019
Read the full article on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/baradwaj-rangan-column-rajini-ajith-going-by-the-review-is-ajiths-film-better-than-rajinikanths/ There are 5000 articles out there about how star ratings work, but given the commotion over ‘Petta’ and ‘Viswasam’, clearly there’s the need for a 5001st. How do star ratings work? I gave Petta 2.5 stars and Viswasam 3 stars – so does this mean Viswasam […]
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil, Southern Lights
“Uri: The Surgical Strike”… Not so much a war movie as a ‘Hukumat’-style revenge drama, but it works
January 17, 2019
Spoilers ahead… Like the prelude to an orchestral score, the opening stretch of Aditya Dhar’s Uri: The Surgical Strike, lays out a leitmotif. It’s 2015. Soldiers of the Indian Army are travelling in a bus in the Northeast, when they hear an explosion. It appears to be a tyre, but it’s an ambush. Bullets and […]
Posted in: Cinema: Hindi
#AskBR – Petta
January 16, 2019
In which I answer a few questions on an older film… or a new one. For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: http://bit.ly/2xoNult Copyright ©2019 Film Companion.
Posted in: #AskBR, Cinema: Tamil
#AskBR – Viswasam
January 15, 2019
In which I answer a few questions on an older film… or a new one. For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: http://bit.ly/2xoNult Copyright ©2019 Film Companion.
Posted in: #AskBR, Cinema: Tamil
Interview: Santhanabharathi (25 years of Mahanadhi)
January 14, 2019
On the 25th anniversary of Mahanadhi, Santhanabharathi speaks about Mahanadhi and his relationship with Kamal Haasan. For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: http://bit.ly/2xoNult Copyright ©2019 Film Companion.
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil, Interview
“Simmba”… Ranveer Singh is ridiculously good in Rohit Shetty’s most focused film
January 14, 2019
Spoilers ahead… At the beginning of the Aankh maare music video in Rohit Shetty’s Simmba, Karan Johar pops up and declares, in mock horror, “Oh God, one more remix!”But of course, it isn’t just the song. The film is itself a remix — not just of the NTR Jr.-starring Temper, which it is based on, […]
Posted in: Cinema: Hindi
Readers Write In #65: Request for feedback
January 14, 2019
Ajay Kumar wrote in asking for feedback on his writing. I gave him my opinion, and asked if I could put the piece up on the blog, so he could get other opinions, too. The brave man said yes 🙂 So here goes: PETTA – A Star is Reborn
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil, Readers Write In
“Viswasam”… With this pretty decent action-drama, Siva finally repays Ajith’s faith in him
January 11, 2019
Spoilers ahead… Read the full review on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/viswasam-movie-review-baradwaj-rangan-ajith-siva-nayanthara/ The new Siva-Ajith Kumar collaboration, Viswasam (Loyalty), begins with the expected hero-introduction scene. The Collector of Theni district is trying to make peace between two parties. The name Thookudurai is mentioned and we cut to the outside, to glimpses of the man. A hand […]
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil
“Petta”… A treat for fans of the star makes you wish it had also been one for fans of the director
January 10, 2019
Spoilers ahead… Read the full review on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/petta-movie-review-karthik-subbaraj-rajinikanth-simran-anirudh-tirru-trisha-vijay-sethupathi/ One way to view Karthik Subbaraj’s Petta (Neighbourhood) is to treat it as Rajinikanth’s Petta. Superstar is in super form, and it’s a thrill to be reminded — in this age of disposable stardom — of enduring screen charisma. To hook you with a […]
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil
Demy and Truffaut and Kieslowski… these are a few of my favourite foreign films
January 10, 2019
Read the full article on Firstpost, here: https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/la-strada-two-english-girls-three-colours-red-baradwaj-rangans-favourite-foreign-films-5869371.html My editor asked me to follow up last week’s column with a list of foreign-film favourites, and there are two ways to go about this. One is to follow the establishment-approved route, and talk about Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, Jiří Menzel’s Closely Watched Trains, Fritz Lang’s M, […]
Posted in: Cinema: Foreign, Firstpost Column
“Sigai”… A missing-person mystery gets an evocative start, but the underwhelming resolution is a bummer
January 9, 2019
Spoilers ahead… Read the full review on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/sigai-movie-review-kathir-zee5-jagadeesan-subu-riythvika/ Sigai (Hair), now streaming on Zee5, gives you two stories for the price of one movie. The first one begins with scenes of a Chennai night. Crowds swarm the Marina beach. Traffic chokes the roads. Beggars lie on the sides of streets. Commuters chug […]
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil, Television / Online
This new year, make a resolution to watch more foreign cinema (and here are some hacks)
January 4, 2019
Read the full article on Firstpost, here: https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/this-new-year-make-a-resolution-to-watch-more-foreign-cinema-here-are-some-hacks-5829521.html This new year, allow me to tempt you with a relatively easy resolution, that you will watch more foreign films. Many of you already do this, but maybe some of you have fallen out of the habit. Let’s face it: it’s tough. With the glut of entertainment […]
She Says She Says: Marvelling Over Mrs Maisel
December 31, 2018
Copyright ©2018 Film Companion.
Posted in: She Says She Says, Television / Online
Interview: Sruthi Hariharan
December 28, 2018
Sruthi Hariharan talks to Baradwaj Rangan about how she started her career as a background dancer before falling in love with the process of filmmaking. She talks about how rare it is for an actress in the Kannada film industry to speak her mind and about using art to drive change. The acclaimed actress also […]
On Gérard Depardieu’s birthday, a look at his work with the director Maurice Pialat
December 27, 2018
Read the full article on Firstpost, here: https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/on-gerard-depardieus-birthday-a-look-at-his-work-with-director-maurice-pialat-5796541.html F or Gérard Depardieu’s birthday (December 27), I wanted to pick one film to write about — say, Claude Berri’s Jean de Florette (one of the actor’s most beloved films, and one of his biggest hits), or Andrzej Wajda’s Danton (one of the earliest art films I […]
January 21, 2019
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