2021 Round of Movies

 Sometime in 2020 and a lot this year, I have kept saying, "Hindi, English mein kuch nahi rakh-kha. " There were a whole slew to see in other languages.

Also this year, regional folks have come up with their own OTT like language channels came up few decades back. Katte for Kannada, Tulu, Konkani. OYO for Gujrati, Telugu ones, numerous for Bengali.

That is unaffordable for people like me who have interests across many a languages.

I can imagine its tough to keep them under one roof. Each language movies have slightly typical styles. Context switching between languages takes some getting used to. Malaylam movies package multiple, independent sub-plots with no links to each other or to the main story. Bengali has multiple incidents; all tying up; but still multiple. Kannada has the rowdy element in the most family movie of any level. But it has co-existed on Doordarshan, Netflix & Amazon Prime so far. So please let it continue.

KANNADA

Ikkat - good work; by new generation of makers & actors. Really good one. Captured a storyline through the first lockdown in India.

Ratnan Prapancha - New movie straight to OTT. Good watch. Good Kannada dialoges & drama, road trip & twists. Nothing dark.

Katha Sangama - Kannada anthology. Good one from RB Shetty.

MARATHI

Cycle - I can't think of a sweeter movie I have seen in recent times. Set in 50s maybe. Story set in a village. Evokes emotions reminiscent of Malgudi days.

MALAYALAM

Minnal Murali - First class. Mallu Super-hero movie. It had the familiarity of Kerala setting & people, along with Hollywood elements of super-hero origin movie. Background movie for every sequence was ah heart-beating one. Like all Kerala movie, filled with 100s of characters and each one more  interesting than the other. 

#Home - Such an endearing & engrossing movie. How social media has infiltrated simple life, the drama it creates and how to use it like a strength tool. Proper filmy ending for satisfaction.

Nizhal - Thriller. Comedy moments strike right. Twists go well. And everything tied well for ending.

Drishyam 2 - Only for the D1 viewers. Just to peak at what happened next. They presented it in thriller fashion. But there is only so much that happens next.

Aanum Pennum (Prime) - Set of 3 movies. Great locations. Lovely dynamics between the characters. 

BENGALI

Switzerland - Thank you for loading it on Prime after few years. Now wish they would do it for Durgeshgorer Guptodhan.

TAMIL

Nava Rasa - Tamil anthology. Loved it. All made with top production quality. All interesting & captivating . Huge variety. Moving through the standard Indian theatre range of emotions. Each in differnet moods. My fav is Roudhram (Raudra - Anger) & Inmai (Bhayaanaka - Fear).

TELUGU

Oh Baby - Remake of Korean. Works well to see different people and situations beyond the expected stereotype in every movie. Samantha & Lakshmi are great along with other actors.

HINDI

Mimi - Good movie & perfect acting by the cast. Kept us involved with comedy through the serious actions in the first 3/4 movie and the emotions in the last 1/4 movie gave me a huge headache which only a good emotional movie can give.

Sooryanvanshi -  Finally a fun theatre worthy film. Good watch. Different dialogues, newer Mumbai & people. Songs were good. Logic for everything was explained. Yet some were still let go from old habits. Why they couldn't grab the terrorist in front of everyone in hotel lobby instead of courteously waiting for him to reach the final stage ? Few more were like just an excuse to do shanpatti action. But action was lajawab. Akshay K was superb and appearance of Ranveer & Ajay D really added thrill. I loved seeing those Helicopters scene.

Meenakshi Sundareswar -  Perfect bridge of South India in Hindi movie. 
And all the Instagram thrashing for the SI depictions can be countered perfectly if they had actually seen the movie.

Sandeep aur Pinky Faraar - Very good thriller. In classic Dibakar Banerjee style.

Sherni -  Movie has lovely jungle views. After being exposed to the working of ad world, corporate worlds, it’s nice to see the details of forest department. It’s like Jurassic Park, just a real non-cgi version. Vidya’s role in the predictable movie tradition of naïve who will be punished like Newton. There is no other purpose than as a lesson for audiences for what not to do. But except frustration no other is shown for her. 

Radhe - The masala movie did obviously stand out as weird when it released in May 2021; given that there is an occean of other options around; each in every other style & merit. But it a proprer masala with lot of good part.

Unpaused - Anthology film on Prime. Great collection of stories. Anthologies had started to give me dread after the Netflix collections of new Hindi ones. This series - nothing like Netflix ones. This was interesting without the twisty endings or anything. 

Ankahi Kahaniya - compared to other Netflix Hindi anthologies, this one was again is high on decency scale. Varied short stories with no twisty or closed ending.

ENGLISH

No Time to Die - Bond movie so naturally in theatres. Neatly wrapped endings for all.

Eternals - only other movie in theatres this year. Unique way of super-heroes Marvel movie. 

Best of the Enemies - Very engrossing movie on race discussion set in 1971. 2 very powerful lead characters and engrossing course of events. Most impressive & non-mundane was where it leads to. Adding an aspect of financial class to race and where that changes the dynamics in current times.

Monument Men - Good one worth seeing. Ensemble movie, set in post-WW2 Europe and a great one to see some some classic art pieces & some stories tied to them.

My Yearly Movies List here.