Filmy Illusions

Can Bollywood please leave the job of creating epic period dramas to the experts at the job?  Guess not. Abhishek Varman is that friend in the exam we all meet, who even after given the entire cheat sheet to a problem, messes up the answer by wasting time in the beautification and elaboration and thus ultimately misses the point. From the first song sequence of “Odhni”, Kalank explicitly starts giving you déjà vu of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s creations, but only a bad one at it. What Abhishek or Dharma productions is yet to understand is that Bhansali’s epics are the result of complete passion, intense storytelling, heightened emotions   and   most importantly surrendered madness with flamboyant backdrops. There are no stained realities in Bhansali’s world neither are there any safe surface level attempts; so if you are so obviously deciding to recreate that magic, then at least be fair to it. For me, Kalank was a visual treat, just like any Bhansali pr...

Super Deluxe is one such movie which makes it hard for a reviewer to review, not because it’s bad but since it’s so very well made that one remains speechless after the movie. I haven’t seen director Thiagarajan Kumararaja’s last outing Aaranyakandam (2011) and went in for Super Deluxe without any escalated hopes. In a phase where movie makers chose to tell almost the entire story of the movie through the trailer, Super Deluxe’s trailer kept me guessing and intrigued in so many ways and that’s the sole reason why I decided to watch the movie and trust me if I hadn’t, it would have been a huge loss. The beauty of this movie is the precision and passion with which it is created; from an intriguing trailer to intricately designed posters to a brilliantly crafted movie, Super Deluxe never disappoints you. In an era of monotonously one toned characters, Thiagarajan’s world offers an entire story and characters are presented with extreme detailing and depth. Super Deluxe cann...