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Browsing All Posts filed under »Personal«
Off The Topic: #MeToo
I have a genuine (and somewhat abstract) question about all this, and let me begin by stating that I believe Chinmayee and others wrt to the Vairamuthu issue. But here’s the question I have. My “belief” is a gut feel, based on my “personal” conviction that these women are telling the truth — but it’s […]
My struggle with false copyright claims
October 8, 2018
Kishor, who runs the YouTube channel called Moving Images, has sent a write-up on his experience with the copyright issues plaguing his channel. Running a YouTube channel is not an easy thing, especially if one decides to make videos on an untapped and relatively unknown genre. I chose to make “video essays” on Tamil cinema […]
Readers Write In #51: My introduction to cowboys, horses, and westerns
October 3, 2018
Born in 60s and growing up in Kanyakumari district from 4th to 12th grade, most of the movies I watched were Tamil movies, few English movies (once we moved to Nagercoil from Cheruppalur) and occasional Malayalam movies. I use the term English movies since I didn’t know the term Hollywood that time!! Exposure to terms […]
Reader request
October 2, 2018
BR: A request. Would you be ok to open a miscellaneous thread where people can just talk about topics that interest them? I find the views of the commenters here very balanced and also interesting. Although we talk about stuff other than movies in the readers write in columns, often the discussions are again restricted […]
50k subscribers
September 15, 2018
Almost exactly a year ago, we made the decision to branch off into a separate South channel. Today, we’ve crossed the 50,000 subscribers mark. A small milestone. A big thank-you.
Running between films at Venice, Cannes, Berlin… Why put yourself through the festival grind?
September 13, 2018
Read the full article on Firstpost, here: https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/running-between-films-at-venice-cannes-berlin-why-put-yourself-through-the-festival-grind-5175061.html At the Venice Film Festival, this year, I ran into Peter Bradshaw, chief film critic at The Guardian. We were in line for a press screening, and we were generally chatting about the films we liked and disliked. The topic shifted to the nature of film festivals, […]
Critics
August 17, 2018
Critics exist so a dialogue can exist about the art form. Not the business. https://t.co/aoDy10EOtO — Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) March 29, 2016
Bitty Ruminations 89 – Efficiency tips.
June 25, 2018
I’ve always been a very organised person, and one of the tools that keeps me sane is making a list in the morning — all the to-do things, small and big, including the leftovers from the previous day. The idea is not to do it all, but just get a sense of what needs to […]
Bitty Ruminations 88 – Caste and ‘Kaala’
June 18, 2018
It’s usual to see increased levels of discussion when it comes to big films. It’s also not surprising to see more people chiming in to say “yes, I agree with you” or “I disagree.” But the Kaala discussions have been unusually sobering. When I wrote the imaginary Q and A, some regular commenters here felt […]
Baradwaj Rangan, let’s talk about bias!
June 14, 2018
Read the full article on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/baradwaj-rangan-kaala-review-critics-mani-ratnam-twitter-conversations-southern-cinema-bias/ Because it’s impossible to have a proper conversation on Twitter, I imagine a chat with critics of my ‘Kaala’ review and argue why form is important and why ‘Mani Ratnam’ isn’t a bad word. There may be spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen ‘Kaala’. So you’re […]
Readers Write In #41: A Commoner in Cannes
May 26, 2018
I have been going to film festivals here and there over the past few years. Devouring movies in jam-packed schedules – three a day on average, eight my highest – while cramming in dark halls with droves of people, scavenging on cheap fast food, sleeping on questionable beds, and almost always falling ill after is […]
A journalist’s view of the Cannes Film Festival and its touching commitment to cinema
May 7, 2018
Read the full article on Firstpost, here: https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/cannes-film-festival-2018-a-journalists-view-of-the-iconic-event-and-its-touching-commitment-to-cinema-4458703.html The Cannes Film Festival is a curious beast. There’s no doubt it’s more snobbish than, say, the Berlinale – but this aloofness is part of the attraction. The old Groucho Marx quip (later appropriated by Woody Allen in Annie Hall) comes to mind: “I don’t care to […]
Readers Write In #40: An Unquiet Place
May 6, 2018
I recently watched ‘A Quiet Place’ at a theater. By myself. I’d noticed a few empty rows on the online booking portal. It seemed like the perfect way to watch an horror movie: all alone and in a mostly empty cinema hall. What better way to spend an idle afternoon in Chennai? I arrived fifteen […]
Readers Write In #39: Kadhal 2 Kalyanam
April 30, 2018
How hard is it to make a rom-com ? Though every tamil cinema that hits our screen has an obligatory love story, with duets, stalker glorifying songs, why can’t they make a full blown love story without boring the life out of people. All love stories are clichéd , they all have happy endings, people […]
A film critic’s open letter to director Ram
March 29, 2018
Read the full article on Film Companion, here: http://www.filmcompanion.in/southern-lights-a-film-critics-open-letter-to-director-ram-baradwaj-rangan/ In which I try to explain why “film appreciation” for Tamil cinema isn’t easy in today’s climate. In an interview with Cinema Express, director Ram expressed this opinion about critics. While admitting that no art form can grow without criticism/reviews, he said, “The biggest problem with […]
Readers Write In #37: The Awesome Mixtape Musical
March 24, 2018
Guardians of The Galaxy (2014) has inadvertently spawned a new genre in Hollywood – The ‘Awesome Mixtape Musical’. What ‘Guardians..’ had created, ‘Baby Driver’ ended up perfecting earlier this year. It is a bit counter-intuitive to call a movie with no real singing a musical, but maybe it’s time to expand the definition of ‘musical’ […]
On being home-schooled in Tamil through the film song
March 15, 2018
Read the full article on Film Companion, here: http://www.filmcompanion.in/southern-lights-home-schooled-tamil-film-song/ Paying attention to lyrics is a wonderful way to increase one’s proficiency in a language. (Added incentive: It’s fun too.) These days, a lot of the music I listen to comes from the phone. I just type in the name of a song I feel like listening […]
Readers Write In #36: Ram and his madness
March 11, 2018
This article was written by G Waugh. I know a lot of people who hate Kattradhu Tamizh. I know a lot of people who hate Thanga Meengal. I know a lot of people who hate Kattradhu Tamizh and Thanga Meengal but love Taramani. Why? Taramani is made by someone who is far more mature than […]
Readers Write In #35: Ageing With Films
March 5, 2018
My father, who is the chief reason behind my ardent love for films, has stopped going to the theatres. My problem doesn’t end there. Once a passionate collector of movie DVDs, it is clearly evident that he has lost the interest in spending an evening at home watching his favourite film. It pains me when […]
Kalki: On Netflix
March 1, 2018
Kalki, a short film I wrote for director Dhilip Kumar, is now out on Netflix. You can watch it here: https://www.netflix.com/in/title/80235958 Do see, comment, compliment, criticise… See post about the first look here. And the trailer:
October 10, 2018
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