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“Dear Comrade”… Vijay Deverakonda takes a backseat to Rashmika Mandanna in an unusual, winning drama
This is a pretty unique film. On one level, it is a love story with a young, easy-on-the-eyes couple – and yet, it isn’t quite that love story. Spoilers ahead… You can read the full review on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/dear-comrade-movie-review-baradwaj-rangan-vijay-deverakonda/ The first few scenes of Bharath Kamma’s Dear Comrade look like outtakes from Arjun […]
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil, Cinema: Telugu
Interview: Nagarjuna – Part 1
July 29, 2019
For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: http://bit.ly/2xoNult Copyright ©2019 Film Companion.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s ‘Micmacs’ and the problems when a director has too distinct a signature
July 25, 2019
Read the full article on Firstpost, here: https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/amelie-director-jean-pierre-jeunets-micmacs-shows-us-that-a-very-distinct-style-can-sometimes-be-a-problem-7056821.html Micmacs (2009) is directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the director best known for Delicatessen and Amélie – and if you didn’t know, going in, that this was his work, you’d know in the first five minutes. Look at the shot where a woman receives news that her husband […]
FC Recco: ‘Talk To Her’
July 25, 2019
A weekly series where I recommend a film-based book, a foreign film or an Indian movie. For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: http://bit.ly/2xoNult Copyright ©2019 Film Companion.
Posted in: Cinema: Foreign, FC Recco
Tuning In: Singappenney
July 25, 2019
TUNING IN is a segment where we talk about songs and albums. For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: http://bit.ly/2xoNult Copyright ©2019 Film Companion.
Posted in: Music: Tamil Cinema, Tuning In
The biggest trends in the four southern industries in the past 5 years
July 25, 2019
Read the full article on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/fc-turns-5/trends-in-southern-industries.html This period has seen some landscape-altering developments in the cinema of the four southern states. A look at the breakout talents of this movement. In Telugu cinema, it was the return of the mega-movie, thanks to the mind-boggling success of Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) and its […]
Beyond Bollywood: The Best Non-Hindi Films Of The Last 5 Years
July 25, 2019
Read the full article on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/fc-turns-5/best-non-bollywood-films-of-the-last-5-years.html From a Tulu-language oddity to a genre mash-up from Guwahati to an unapologetically bonkers crime epic set in the gold mines of Bengaluru – our picks of the best films since 2014. Here are my Tamil picks. Jigarthanda (2014): I wanted to begin with one really […]
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil, Personal
Film Companion turns 5
July 25, 2019
“figuring out new ways to approach content and artists and always, how to dive deeper and stay engaging. There is also the hustle to be a financially sustainable platform without resorting to gossip or click-bait headlines. How do you attract eyeballs and money without editorial compromise – that is the question!” https://www.filmcompanion.in/fc-turns-5/a-letter-from-anupama-chopra.html
Posted in: Personal
Perspective: On the reactions to Kabir Singh
July 25, 2019
PERSPECTIVE is a segment where a viewer (or one of us at Film Companion) presents a video essay on a topic. This edition is by Abhinav Sundar Nayak, the editor of three Tamil feature films (Vaayai Moodi Pesavum, Uriyadi and Kurangu Bommai) and a Malayalam feature film (You too Brutus). For more, subscribe to FILM […]
Readers Write In #89: Sreehari Nair and the mollycoddling of the art genius
July 25, 2019
(by Madan Mohan) I have thus far avoided writing about Kabir Singh, specifically about the reactions to it, except in comments on existing threads, finding the discussions to be altogether too acrimonious. However, I have changed my mind and for that, you may thank Sreehari Nair’s piece for rediff entitled “What’s so obscene about Kabir […]
“Aadai”… A sensational Amala Paul headlines a talky but effective message movie about freedom
July 24, 2019
But what are we, really, when the naked self is revealed? ‘Aadai’ literalises this idea with the protagonist’s nudity. Spoilers ahead… You can read the full review on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/aadai-movie-review-amala-paul-rathna-kumar-baradwaj-rangan Whenever a film’s protagonist is a woman, a certain section of the audience calls the heroine “the hero of the film” – as […]
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil
#AskBR – Kadaram Kondan / Aadai
July 24, 2019
In which I answer a few questions on an older film… or a new one… or talk about actors and directors… or take on a few YouTube comments… For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: http://bit.ly/2xoNult Copyright ©2019 Film Companion.
“Kadaram Kondan”… A flat thriller that dares you to care about anything or anyone
July 23, 2019
Read the full review on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/kadaram-kondan-tamil-movie-review-vikram-akshara-kamal-haasan-ghibran-baradwaj-rangan/ Spoilers ahead… There’s a hint of promise in the opening stretch of Kadaram Kondan, by writer-director Rajesh Selva. A panoramic view of downtown Kuala Lumpur is backed by a radio announcer talking about an arts festival. It’s a longish announcement, and it’s followed by a programme […]
Posted in: Cinema: Tamil
Readers Write In #88: Science Fiction: A Genre Whose Time Has Come
July 23, 2019
(by Vineet Jacob Kuruvilla) It was while watching the Arrival (2016) I realised that things have changed. Of late, there has been a deluge of content in pop culture, especially in the visual medium, around science and technology and its impact on society. The technology itself may not be the crux in all the story […]
Posted in: Cinema: English, Readers Write In
Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s ‘Salaam Cinema’ is not just an ode to the medium but also a reflection of it
July 18, 2019
Read the full article on Firstpost, here: https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/mohsen-makhmalbafs-salaam-cinema-is-not-just-an-ode-to-the-medium-but-also-a-reflection-of-it-7015861.html In 1895, the Lumière brothers, in Paris, held the first paid public screening of 10 short films, including the now-famous Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory. A hundred years later, Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf dreamed up a novel way to celebrate the centenary of this new medium. Salaam […]
Posted in: Cinema: Foreign, Firstpost Column
FC Recco – ‘Directors’ Diaries: The Road to Their First Film’
July 18, 2019
A weekly series where I recommend a film-based book, a foreign film or an Indian movie. For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_Ym39kMJD0 Copyright ©2019 Film Companion.
“Super 30.”… A smashingly effective story of a determined educator and his underprivileged wards
July 18, 2019
Spoilers ahead… After a long time, or maybe for the first time ever, Hrithik Roshan comes across like a non-Greek non-God – a normal human, in other words. He’s thinner, darker, unmuscled. His unironed shirts and tees don’t cling to him. In Super 30, he plays Anand Kumar, the son of a postal worker and […]
Posted in: Cinema: Hindi
Interview: Amala Paul / Rathna Kumar (Aadai)
July 16, 2019
For more, subscribe to FILM COMPANION SOUTH: http://bit.ly/2xoNult Copyright ©2019 Film Companion.
Readers Write In #87: Why nepotism might be good for Indian cinema… and Kangana Ranaut (?)
July 14, 2019
(by Sairam Yadavilli) It was the summer of 2016 and Paul Pogba had just moved back to Manchester United for a then world record fee of just under 90 million pounds. And it was the just the beginning of skyrocketing prices for half decent players. Now considered a steal, it was looked at with much […]
Posted in: Cinema: Hindi, Readers Write In
Forty years on, Tarkovsky’s ‘Stalker’ remains a great example of movie-poetry, easier to experience than explain
July 11, 2019
Read the full article on Firstpost, here: https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/forty-years-on-tarkovskys-stalker-remains-a-great-example-of-movie-poetry-easier-to-experience-than-explain-6973641.html In 1972, the brothers Boris and Arkady Strugatsky published a Russian sci-fi novel titled Roadside Picnic, which centres on an extraterrestrial event called Visitation. This event results in “Zones”, mysterious (possibly supernatural) areas that have been cordoned off by the respective Governments. Instead of a single exposition […]
July 29, 2019
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