Little Things 2

Little Things- Season 2

"We are not extraordinary people, we have to work hard to make our everyday special."

Their story was a mess still beautiful, complicated yet understandable, heart- warming but also hurting, just like any thing related to love. The sole reason why Little Things succeeded so much was due to the highly relatable content told in a very realistic manner, gladly devoid of anything that makes it larger than life. Dhruv and Mithila were characters we could all relate to in fact they were one among us. When I heard NETFLIX adopting the show, at first, I was excited, but I was equally sceptical of the prediction that this would impact the show in a positive way. 

My fears came true, Little Things season 2 is grand, too much evident of the production support they received but moments reminiscent of season 1 are the only thread holding the plot together.

Don’t get me wrong, LT Season 2 is equally watchable and keeps its audience engaged. 

But remember the effortless chemistry between the biriyani monster and momo, the tense yet enjoyable moments and the ultimate joy of little things, that that the first season won our hearts with? Sadly, I found most of it missing or rather forced in the season 2. May be that’s what love over a period does to even the best of people. Or may be its the time and the rat race we are all into, which forces us to chase a better lifestyle in a way that we almost forget what our heart desires for.  

Dhruv Sehgal, who is also the writer of the series did set his foot into few of the deeper struggles that we all face in a relationship like the uncertainties, taking the back seat, handling stereotypes and ultimately finding comfort by addressing the uncomfortable, which most of us run for our life from. These are complex issues and requires a lot of sensitivity in portrayal, which I believe Dhruv was able to justify to a great extend still it felt like the demons of those uncomfortable situations did scare him to skim through the surface level and run for the conclusion.  Or may be there was only little that one can pen down about such complex sensitive issues. 

Dhruv Sehgal and Mithila Palkar are at their best in “moments” which are really heart-warming like when their relationship attains a certain level of maturity or really takes a hit, like the last moment where she hugs him emotionally or in a conversation where Dhruv addresses a key issue of uncertainties we face in different stages of our love life, which usually writers sugar coat and avoid. At the same time, parts of very intense moments and a few of the dialogue deliveries, felt forced and lacked the depth it required.

One of the most cherished memories of my childhood is my mother cooking some of the dishes which will make one drool. There was a problem though, when she makes it for just 4 of us, it was an out of the world dish, ingredients precise and flavour just perfect. Inspired by the same when she used to recreate the magic for larger number of people in the yearly festival of Onam or Vishu, somehow didn’t work that well. Not that it wasn’t good, but something somewhere was missing. In the department of culinary skills, I have inherited that quality from her and so may be that was the emotion I was left with, when I finished watching all the episodes on the night of release in NETFLIX.

May be, just maybe, some incredibly yummy dishes are best when we allow the little things to be themselves.

A big shutout to Prateek Kuhad for “Pause”, that was awesome.

P.S. Picture Courtesy- NETFLIX, Firstpost, The Quint and Youtube

96

96- Movie Review

"Kadhal piriyum, Kadhavukal moodamal vazhiyanapungal, kaathiringal"

(Never close your heart for love, even if it left you broken)

Have you ever had a first, innocent yet intense love story during school or college days which ended abruptly? Life and you moved on or at least pretended to do so until one day the moment to face the same old love sent butterflies fluttering in your stomach? Until that insanely beating heart brutally reminded you that only life moved on, but the intensity of that old school love is still the same and is piercing a thousand cuts through your soul?

How many times have a movie hit you as if it was completely or in parts was taken from your life? Watching 96 gave me goosebumps at points on how relatable it was.  True to the vintage and nostalgic title, 96 reaches far deep into those corners of your heart which you have pretended to have moved on from and makes you reach far into your own self.

96 is a beautiful poem picturized in the best possible way yet keeping it refreshingly real. This movie about a post-breakup love story is beyond everything that the movies have been feeding us for years. It thankfully is devoid of any melodrama just like in real life, unlike what we have been witnessing in similar genre movies like Cheran’s 2004 Autograph. There is pain, love, and frustration, but there are no pathetic aftermaths of the same. Director C. Premkumar backed up by brilliant performances by Vijay Sethupathi and Trisha Krishnan has given us a tale which is very layered and is sure to take you down the memory lane.

Ram and Janu are school friends who almost studied together until 10^th. Ram is that gentle boy that most of us might have had as a friend in school, nervous but intense. Janu, is the naïve but strong girl and an amazing singer staying true to the name her parents gave S. Janaki. Director has consciously attempted to avoid clichés and useless melodrama, which in fact can make one feel irritated and craving for it at the same time, as we are so used to it.  But given a second thought, you will immediately relate to the plot, as in reality that will be the exact way how we might react. Take it from someone who went through those exact moments.

People who run behind to create, capture and retain moments like photographers or creative people often will have few moments they cherish and carry with them close to heart. The wanderers, the lost souls often knows where exactly they belong but also realizes that they can never belong there anymore, so they keep wandering away from it. Maybe that’s why the quote says, not all wanderers are lost. Ram and Janu are lost in their own ways, where to the question of if one is happy, the answer can only be that, they are at peace. I guess that’s the beauty of being young when you have the courage to make even filmy things come true while in the adulthood even normal interactions need to be thought after. 

Happiness is lost in the bygone past and now they have managed to learn the skill of being in peace with the tiny bits of lost joy gifted back for moments, years later. A reunion, few hours of togetherness, moments you wish never ended and instances where you desperately wanted to freeze time, this movie will break your heart and mend it too.  It is with great difficulty that I am trying to review this movie without getting overwhelmed or giving out spoiler details.

Casting is simply perfect in this movie, let it be Aadithya Baaskar and Gouri G Kishan as the younger versions of Ram and Janu or Vijay and Trisha as the current versions, the supporting characters, each and everyone play their parts so well that it is impossible not to root for them. 

After Vikram Vedha, this is one movie where Vijay Sethupathi showcases his usual excellence as an actor. Let it be an intense moment of seeing his teenage love or to blush sinking his teeth into himself, he has given a superb performance. 

This is the most layered and intense role Trisha bagged after Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya and Kodi, it was a pleasure to watch her on screen performing with such an ease.

Apart from all these factors, the one quintessential factor which makes 96 such a heart-warming journey is its music by the Govind Menon, vocalist and violinist of the band Thaikkudam Bridge. He has proved himself with just this one movie that he is a Master of Music, tones and even silence. While he captivated our hearts with the surreal tracks Kadhale and Anthaathi weeks before the movie release, throughout the movie he brilliantly used music and even silence, the talent very few in the industry knows.  One will never hear a more haunting use of Nadaswaram like the one used while describing a painful moment from the past neither one would have heard such heart touching lyrics in a long while. After the haunting poem “Unnod Naan Iruntha” written by Vairamuthu sir and rendered by Aravind Swamy in Iruvar, “Kadhal”, written by Karthik Netha at the end of Anthathi song, rendered by Nasser about the importance of remaining open to the possibility of love, cut through my heart.

In short, 96 as rightfully quoted by Janu in the movie is “Pazhaya Vaasanai”, a scent from the past which will let loose a swarm of memories, some which will break your heart and some which will balm the same. 

The ‘what if’ scenario where Trisha reimagines a past which would have been so perfect if at all not for a slight misconception, or a portion where Ram made Janu’s worst fears come true where she realizes all her imaginations happened in real or the heart wrenching scene of desperation to spend a few more minutes with the one you love, 96 will remain close to my heart forever.
  

While my heart pained watching the climax, it also tried to convince me that whatever future has in store for Ram and Janaki, the memories they cherish will stay together just like it did in mine. 

Varathan

Varathan – Movie Review

‘Extreme justice is extreme injustice’ but some people deserve just that.

Statutory Warning: Skip this review if you have a fragile ego about the homeland Kerala which overpowers the reality.

Varathan though after heavily promising a very raw slice of life in the first half,  disappoints at that end in the second half. The fact of interest is that even that change of plot is executed so well that someone who likes well-crafted plot scenes and action sequences will enjoy. Though at an emotional and perspective level I felt cheated, Varathan is indeed worth a watch.

When I watched NH10 in 2015, the spectacular thriller by Anushka Sharma, it was a gut-wrenching experience. The second half made me feel a range of emotions, from pain to outright angst and revenge. The movie was indeed a reality check but was set in again a state which is known for its atrocities against women, Haryana.

The beginning of the plot is somewhat similar for both the movies, what begins as a journey for reviving romance lost in the fast-paced life, turns out to be a truly horrific experience. 

When NH10 kept it raw and realistic, by second-half director Amal Neerad, had to bring in his expertise in creating stellar action scenes (I cannot stop praising those parts too, they are indeed spectacular, watch out for the final scene in the mud).

Where Varathan scored marks for me was the fact that, director Amal Neerad made it a point to finally address the obnoxious attitude towards privacy and the patriarchal atrocities against women in none other than the God’s Own Country which boasts of 100% literacy. For centuries the villages of the state, have been shown as that picturesque green haven full of sweet and loving people (refer Sathyan Anthikad movies, as sweet as they are, it was becoming too sweet to be true). While in the reality, most of the women like me wanted to scream to the world that this place is not just what is being portrayed and that literate crooks are more venomous than the illiterate ones.

As a woman who has traveled most of the states in the country including Bihar, Haryana and currently living in Delhi, which according to media is infamous for the rape cases, I have never felt so much unrest and disgust as much as I have felt back in my own state, Kerala. The sense of entitlement the men carry around, the attitude that they own the women in the house and on the roads, that a woman of not their reach or their type is a land to conquer and 

that no one, literally no one deserves a private life, are somethings which from an early age made me hate that place and ultimately lead to my nomad life, throughout the country.

It is painfully difficult to explain how these behaviors which everyone says is everywhere, is dangerously different in the God’s own country, as the differences seem to be subtle yet are fatal. Personally, the biggest victory of the movie for me was that the differences and the disgusting realities associated with it are realistically captured in the first half of the movie.

The movie’s core strength is its Cinematography by Littil Swayamp who is sure to make you cringe, feel the disgust and horror, scene by scene backed up by the detailed direction by Amal Neerad. While they succeeded to capture the beauty of the village, they also knew how to induce the elements of absolute dismay supported by the on-point background scores by Sushin Shyam.

Fahadh Faasil and Aishwarya Lekshmi as Aby and Priya are perfect on- screen, their chemistry is flawless and as real as it can get. 

Aishwarya as Priya perfectly resonates with all the women who get the gut instincts of violation way ahead and struggles to convey it to the world. 

Fahadh, as usual, is in his best form and excels as Aby, the naïve outsider in a village who is clearly unaware of the ritualistic ways of affection.

I wish the second half didn’t turn the way it did, changing Aby into his new self but as much as my evolved thoughts restrict to word it but knowing the reality of how creepy sometimes things can go, I must admit that things might as well happen the way it did.

It takes a good director to bring a strong makeover to an actor, Sharaf U Dheen as Josey brings forth for the first time a realistic performance which any women can associate with the local Romeo turned perverts they have encountered in their lives. Rest of the supporting cast too does their best making Varathan the believable storyline it is.

Keeping aside the plot, where director just couldn’t stop himself from giving his central character a heroic twist and suddenly giving a compensation twist to the female character at the end, realizing damsels in distress are not in trend these days, Varathan is an absolute delight to watch, with subtle yet powerful statements whole throughout, which is sure to ring a bell if you have been UpToDate with the recent social news of Kerala. The self-proclaimed managers of culture, the real-life jobless perverts and predators were for me, most venomous than all the villains of Amal Neerad movies put together.

P.S.: By now you might have already said “Not all men” a thousand times or you might not even tolerate to read up till now. My sincere apologies for hurting your feelings and even I who has more men as friends than women, know that not all men are the same but unfortunately, the different lot are alarmingly at a low. And as women we put up with such savage behaviour from most men almost all the time, imagine how horrible it is to live every second on our toes, preparing to retort to a violation. Only when one accepts the reality, can anything be done to change the situation so let’s start accepting the truth and start to collectively change the mindsets.

Picture Courtesy: IMDb, Youtube, The Hindu