What I Watched – July 2025

Thudaram: was too dark for me. Honour killing isn’t a commonly explored theme in Malayalam cinema. The wait for Mohanlal’s magic continues. Shobana, on the other hand was totally wasted in the movie. Also check out this well-argued piece on Middle-Aged Women In Malayalam Cinema

Thug Life: The duo that made the greatest gangster movie of Indian cinema (Kamal Hassan and Mani Ratnam were under 34 when Nayagan was made), teamed up again to make, arguably, the worst ever gangster movie of Indian cinema.

White Lotus (Season 3): My idea of hell is Day 2 in a resort. Once the novelty of fancy properties wanes off, there is nothing as depressing as continuing staying in these artificial constructs. Season 3 of White Lotus was something like that for me. It dragged and failed to engage.

Piravi: When Shaji N Karun passed away in April, I ended up discussing this movie with a friend of mine who, like Karun, also learnt cinematography at FTII. Coincidentally, June was also the 50^th anniversary of the Emergency and Eachara Warrier’s tragic story was carried by the Express too. Piravi was also a peek into a Kerala that is slowly vanishing. The movie is streaming in YouTube but unfortunately, has only German and French subtitles.

Padakallam: This was highly recommended by a couple of friends. Sadly, the humour (the plot is a fantasy story involving two characters waking up in each other’s bodies) was not to my taste. Except, maybe for a scene or two, I was stone-faced throughout.

Untamed: Eric Bana is always a delight to watch. He brings the same brooding persona that we all saw in Munich. The star of this show is undoubtedly the National Parks of North America. Though set in Yosemite, the bulk of the movie was shot in British Columbia. Getting to see such landscapes through a Netflix series is any day better than viewing the FB/Insta pics posted by my US friends.

Detective Ujjwalan: Dhyan Sreenivasan has a movie out every other month. After watching this, I better understand the economics of his movies – low budget, unfamiliar faces, simple stories, and a prayer that it pays off.

Sarzameen: Prithvi appears to be desperate to break into the North Indian market. Couldn’t fathom why else would he play Kajol’s husband and Ibrahim’s dad! My plan to stick to one trashy movie a month went haywire.

Hamlet Adaptations: Please check out my post on Hamlet in which I’ve also written about the adaptations.

2025: January | February | March | April | May | June