Enola Holmes Movie Review

 

To all the mothers, fathers (yes, I don’t think parenthood is any genders’ single responsibility) and their children out there, Enola Holmes is a movie, you all must watch. If you need further reasons to substantiate my claim, do read further.

“Then why did she abandon you?” is the question used by many to silence Enola Holmes played by Millie Bobby Brown - “Stranger Things” fame who is a delight throughout the movie, seeing her constant conquest to find her mother, Eudoria Holmes. Not just for an American audience, but for a typical Indian society too, an unconventional mother like Eudoria bringing up a girl child like Enola alone, is a recipe for disaster. Goodness forbid if the parents especially mother leaves the child for whatsoever reason except for death, then when fathers will be termed irresponsible, mothers will be termed as everything bad the universe has to offer.  Our idea of parenting is never complete without parents especially mothers being overbearing on their children, restricting them in the name of disciplining, early on teaching them to fit into a box and following the herd.

Growing up, though I am pretty sure it wasn’t planned, my parents were a mix of both. By the arrival of the second child that is me, both of them were tired of pretending to give any damn as their efforts to retrieve matters were constantly proven to be in vein, but they were also torn between society’s expectations from them, about how to be perfect parents. So, while they implemented all the ideal parenting things the wrong ways, in their own unique ways, taught me the most valuable lessons of life. 

Like my mother always used to tell both me and my sister to do our paper works on our own, so from retrieving our long-forgotten birth certificates to starting a junior bank account, I remember being on my own, which at that point honestly felt like a bummer. She also insisted that both of us must get our masters degree and a job to have a source of income for ourselves. The amount of flack she received for sending her daughters out of state for education and she combating all of it with silence was an everyday incidence. 

All this while, my father taught me everything unconventional, things that “girls” are not supposed to learn or say and made me believe that I can do anything I wanted to. Whenever the traditional norms from family proved overbearing, he couldn’t or maybe he chose not to fight back but did assure me that it’s just a phase and I am not supposed to be bound by these for long and that I will find my way out. Henry Cavill as Sherlock Holmes in the movie, reminded me a lot of him.

Unlike Eudoria Holmes (played by the brilliant Helena Bonham Carter), none of our parents left us on their own but as the tides of age passed, we did part our ways on bittersweet notes and similar to Enola in the movie, since the parting, at each step, we started getting reminded of how everything good and bad they did, either made us vulnerable or prepared us good enough to take on the world on our own. Continents and states apart, over years our bond has only grew stronger and that happened not for the traditional manners they taught us but for the unconventional ways of parenthood they adopted and the courage and life lessons it gave us which were almost the only thing for us to fallback in times of crisis. By being the way, they were originally, they paved ways to support us even when they were not around, which I believe is the best gift of love and concern you can provide your child. Like Enola, we might take a bit of time to recognize that “it’s a world that needs change”, but trust me we will be forever grateful.  

Stop feeding into the godly image of parents on a pedestal set by the society and be yourself to your children. Make them understand that we are all individual with flaws and prone to mistakes and vulnerabilities. More than that both the parents having their own lives, career, aspirations and dreams will only inspire the children to develop their individual personality and generate the courage to build and chase their own life.

Our actions speak louder than words for the kids, so unabashedly fight against the societal norms and they will get the knowledge and courage to fight back on their own automatically. From their childhood, speak out against the norms that society tries to impose on you, your children and their upbringing. And moreover, the world is not perfect, not even close, although it pretends to be. Do not let the children believe so either, prepare them to be the changemakers who will bring in the shift we aspire to see, one tiny change at a time. “Our future is up to us”

Just like my whole narrative on parenting has multiple versions to it, with twists and turns good enough to take forever to conclude, Enola Holmes movie also has multiple narratives coming together to create a complicated storyline, with so many plotlines that doesn’t always find the proper conclusion. But when has parenting, parents, children and their upbringing ever been a straight road? So, I didn’t find it too much distracting. Enola Holmes is a movie that has the potential to be the perfect alternative to the utterly unrealistic and harmfully generalized stories that we feed to our children.

While Enola Holmes as a movie does also carry a narrative of typical Sherlock Holmes mystery solving, for me it was more about the journey of a woman in search of herself although she believe otherwise, a mother who believes in a purpose bigger than what the world can digest, familial bonds that grow along with us and finally about being oneself in a world bound to change yet adamant not to.

P.S. I somehow could sense the Tewkesbury family mystery way ahead, from the time the puzzle is on screen, is it the fault of storyline or my brain is way too good with finding rusting yet poisonous family creature adamant against change?

Picture Courtesy: IMDb, Boston Herald, Comic Book News, Roger Ebert, Screen Rant

 

 

Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare Movie Review

 

PC@ Pakaoo

Watching Dolly Kitty Aur Who Chamakte Sitare was like a reality check on how much, I, as a woman have crossed over almost 30 years and how much life and its experiences have changed my values and perspectives. To put it very simply I was a full-blown Dolly (played by the spectacular Konkona Sen Sharma in the movie), trying to do everything perfect for everyone around her hoping that will bring in the happiness and content she is looking for. Complicated relationships with parents early on which never gets addressed, blatantly wrong social conditionings about norms, body, gender, and almost everything, somehow becomes a fault or limitation of ourselves which our family and partners never cease to exploit amongst many others.  Worst is, you accept it, you abide by it, you change yourselves and do stuff which are against the very moral fabric trapped deep inside yourself. Yet you do it, for appreciation, for love, for validation, and in the hope that someday you right the wrongs done to you, never stopping to explore the reasons behind what happened or do a reality check on the fact that, did these many years of self-depreciations has actually proven to be any worthy.

PC@ Pinkvilla

Anyone doing anything against this mundane structure or worst-case scenario anyone who called out the fact that what is happening is unjust was kept at a distance or better shamed not because they were wrong, but they represented everything that you wanted to brush under the carpet. We were actually scared of them as they could see through our carefully shadowed yet very very fragile projective display of a self, we never related to, yet stuck on for the known devils were easier to handle than to step into the world of unknown devils. Over the initial years before the change, I have met many Kittys (role played by the adorable Bhumi Pednekar), who were amazing women who dared to move away from the norms and lived for themselves before anyone and I used to wonder were they born like this or were they brought up by some sort of humans, we are yet to discover.

Until one day something drastic happened and I myself stepped into the world of Kittys and discovered that they were neither born that way nor had some superhuman parents or not even a perfect life it seemed to be. Their world mostly was equally messier, confusing, and full of battles, but what made it so much worth it, was the intoxicating feeling of liberation that came with it. This painstakingly beautiful life was difficult but it was ours, the norms, values, decisions, happiness, pain, all of it was ours.

PC@ Scroll

I heard so many women and men discarding the movie as a third rate Ekta Kapoor sexual fantasy, now if you have read up to this part, you must have already understood why those many women might have said that. And about men, we can’t blame them either much, because it might be naturally hard for them to understand the joy of being able to decide for oneself when you have been denied that right for the smallest to the biggest decisions of life. I am not saying men have it all easy, so if you want to relate, probably think of that time when you wanted to cry your heart out but was stopped from doing so because you were a man or the time when you wanted to quit that job which was killing you but couldn’t because you had the whole family’s economic and social responsibility on your shoulders; you might be able to relate to almost 50% of the pain that women go through since the time they are born.

Now to spell it out for you, I am not advocating for Ekta Kapoor since I personally have ideological differences against almost all the content she dished out mostly, but I admire her when she occasionally supports projects like these, where the slice of life stories get the platform it deserves, credits need to be given where it’s due.

And if your problem in 2020 is to so lately realize that women are humans with all kinds of feelings (yes, including sexual feelings), even when they are single, mother, divorced or whatsoever, then whichever God you believe in, pray a bit harder, because you, my soul, is in need of a deeper divine intervention. Jokes apart, If you are genuinely someone who is yet to explore these topics stepping out of the severely wrong conditionings fed to all of us, do watch Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare movie and many others, if the visual medium is your thing, there are many books, films, people out there who are lately creating quality content you can explore and understand further. 

But if you are someone who is just out here to criticize blindly and expects people to feed to the same narrative, remember my advice above, pray a lot harder. All the best. 

Alankrita Shrivastava has always touched my heart by telling stories that resonated with those deep core feelings of women since her debut movie “Turning 30”.  She amongst many other brilliant female directors in the industry is a perfect example of how a story will get a perfect spin-off of reality and intensity when it’s told through a women’s perspective.

Yet since then, the one and only constant problem one might find about her movies is the fact that she tries to incorporate a lot of topics in one universe that the core messaging gets a bit diversified. Probably for people like us who thrive on stories, it might become an added sweet touch but mostly for the general audience, that can turn out to be confusing and distracting. Honestly, the added plot points on how her interactions change over time in the overly patriarchal workplace atmosphere or the heart-warming story arch with her own son who is far from the general norms of gender that society adheres to, or the overwhelming and deep conversation she has with her mother felt like the cherry on top of cheesecake for me. Although some other side topics of religion, moral policing, body politics, and an abrupt incidence of public violence seemed to be half baked and more like plot points included just to conclude or make a point hastily.

Minor flaws points in storytelling like these apart, the movie proudly can boast on its fantabulously capable star cast.

                                                                                                                          PC@ Netflix

Konkona Sen Sharma as Dolly proves that she is just the best out there by showcasing so brilliantly the denial even when she knows the reality, the fear, and pain of confronting her own demons, the joy of that momentary happiness of realizing her own feelings which she believed to be long-dead and the courage to finally step out of shadows. Actress, writer, and director, a brilliant one at all of it, I am a fan of this woman.

PC@ Bhumi Pednekar on Instagram

I am also super happy that Bhumi Pednekar finally stepped out of the patriotic reselling bandwagon of movies that she was recently type casted to. As Kitty aka Kaajal, she effortlessly portrays all those phases of a woman who tries to make it big in her own life defying social norms yet being humanly confused and messy. Huge shout out to the always adorable and dependable Vikrant Massey, Amol Parashar, and Kubbra Sait, who did their part with honesty and beauty. Aamir Bashir as Amit was a revelation at least to me as he played the part very naturally, looking forward to more of his work. (I will dig into his previous work, in case I have missed out on a gem). I am glad to see Karan Kundra finally out of the tormenting Roadies show life, but unfortunately, DJ Johnny felt like having a Roadies hangover, here is hoping that you get better roles to explore the craft further. Music by Clinton Serejo and Arjuna Harjai didn’t add much to the movie either, neither the lyrics nor the songs stay with you moments after it’s screened.

PC@ womensweb

Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare on Netflix is a movie that is a must-watch just as equally as the other ventures by Alankrita, like Lipstick Under My Burkha and the series Made in Heaven in Amazon Prime; if you are someone who can understand the nuances of human emotions under the seemingly surface level shenanigans we tend to display, you will not be disappointed.

Picture Courtesy: Pinkvilla, Scroll, Instagram, Pakaoo, Womensweb, Netflix

C U Soon

 

Off late I have been trying my best to shed my attachments to material tags especially related to religion, caste, and places of origin, but with regards to the food and creative sector, I am proud to be born to my homeland, Kerala. The amount of quality creative artwork that the land produces is beyond comparison, especially in the current scenario.

We are all torn between the desire for privacy and the fear of loneliness. We need each other and we need to get away from each other. We need proximity and distance, conversation, and silence. We almost always get more of each than we want at any one time. - Andy Rooney

I read this quote while researching online privacy controversies surrounding Facebook started surfacing years back. After watching the Amazon Prime release of the Malayalam movie, C U Soon, this quote came to my mind again. The dichotomy of new-age connectivity can become tricky to an extend that can be mind-numbing. 

It's been a year since I wrote a movie review; coincidence or not, the last movie I reviewed, Virus, was a path-breaking film for the Malayalam film industry considering the storyline as well as the strong performances by such a huge cast. A year later in a situation where the whole world is fighting a pandemic, where most of the movie industries are resorting to passing this phase by releasing films completed and at various stages of post-production, this bunch of extremely talented artists decides to innovate and create such a brilliant movie and I guess that's what makes the Malayalam movie industry different.

 

How well do we “really” know the people we meet in the digital world? Can technology surpass human instincts and emotions? Is there any information of ours online, that a fairly expert hacker can’t dig out? How much privacy do the online features promising to secure our information actually provide us? One is made to think a million such questions while watching the movie C U Soon and long after the movie is over too.

Jimmy played by an amazing Roshan Mathew is our typical Mallu young guy working in the UAE who keeps trying his luck in online dating regularly. On one such swiping right-left instance on Tinder, his profile matches with Anumol Sebastian played by the extremely talented Dharshana Rajendran. What starts off as a regular online infatuation, escalates quickly to a marriage proposal by Jimmy which eventually lets all hell break loose.

When situations start going out of control, Jimmy seeks help from his cousin and a professional hacker, Kevin Thomas played by the actor par excellence, Fahad Fazil; watch out where a sea of emotions are expressed intensely by Fahad using just his eyes towards the end. What unravels during these interactions is a story that will keep you on your edge throughout the roughly one and hour movie.

(C U Soon Official Trailer)

Interestingly, for a movie almost entirely backed up by technology, the backbone remains to be the emotions and struggles of our everyday lives. What is this so-called new generation romance? Does technology change the depth of any of our emotions? Does everyone get a chance for due diligence of the opportunities they are presented with? The makers never let you disconnect from these probing thoughts.

Although, it’s the director Mahesh Narayanan who upstaged everybody else with his talents which proves to be excellent in multiple areas of film making (he also brilliantly juggles the Cinematography, Writing, and Editing responsibilities of the film). To create an entire feature film using an iPhone and making the audience comfortably sink into the digitalized version of storytelling, I don't think can be every director's cup of tea.

Gopi Sundar’s background score creatively amps up the mystery of the storyline. Similarly, an impressive thriller background score in the regional cinema I saw last was by Ron Ethan Yohann in the movie Game Over (do check it out on YouTube- “Game Over- Original Score |OST|”).

It doesn’t goes to say that the movie doesn’t have minor flaws especially how some aspects of the story unfold, but it hardly affects the storytelling that one might or might not notice. Given the current situations and very limited resources, the fact that the team created such a brilliant movie is nothing short of marvelous and the whole team of C U Soon deserves all the accolades. 

Instead of creating fake conspiracies on real-life people which is the latest trend, watch such fantabulous thrillers where the movie will make you create your own conspiracy theories every half hour. 

You can watch the movie online on Amazon Prime. 

Picture Courtesy: Mathrubhumi Online, Scroll, Medium.com, Indian Express, Samayam