What I Watched – October 2026

Padmaavat: Rewatched this with the kids and once again got reminded of how overrated Bhansali as a moviemaker is. And this Bollywood fixation with Rajput valour comes across as a comical farce.

John Adams: I didn’t have the time to read David McCollough’s biography of John Adams so instead tried watching the adaptation which is streaming on Hotstar. Paul Giamatti as Adams did a reasonably good job and the series covers Adams’ initial days as a lawyer, his stint in Paris and eventual foray into the pinnacle of American power. The scene where the Montgolfier Brothers fly their balloon over Paris was the most memorable one.

East of Eden: After reading the book, I never expected the TV adaptation to be able to do justice to it. While Steinbeck covers a lot of ground I must admit that the series was impressive in its ability to capture most of the nuances. The most common criticism of the adaptation was that Kathy wasn’t malevolent enough in the series. I agree. The character we get to watch is nothing remotely close to what Steinbeck created.

Ida: Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida is a movie about a young Catholic girl who before taking her vows in the seminary embarks on a journey with her aunt in search of her dead relatives. The movie shot in Black and White and set in 1962 was a slow burning meditation on the Holocaust, loss, grief and of course desire

Inside the Mind of Karl Ove Knausgaard:This short BBC documentary on one of the greatest living writers was well worth my time. It’s always fascinating to get a peek into the workstations and libraries of writers.

TMK Masterclass on Voice and Responsibility:I listened to this during a gym session. While a lot of TMK’s arguments can sound repetitive, his mind is still fertile enough for new perspectives to emerge specially when handling Carnatic Music and its intricacies.

Digger: The reviews were so polarized so this was one movie which I went in with neutral expectations. I’m happy to report that I was blown away. The movie had so many layers. Climate denialism, the geriatric leaders of the world, the military-industry complex, the oil industry’s tentacles and ofcourse the brilliance of Tom Cruise. We often tend to think of Cruise as the Mission Impossible guy. But rarely do we realize that his filmography includes Magnolia, Collateral, Tropic Thunder, A Few Good Men and of course Top Gun. Digger firmly puts him amongst the GOATs of Hollywood.

Commissioner: Even after 30 plus years, this stands the test of time. Its definitely the best Malayalam action movie of the 90s. The sexism and machismo of the 90s notwithstanding, the action keeps jumping from scene to scene and is Suresh Gopi’s best cop enactments.

Prathama Drishtya Kuttakkar:This was lousy. Poor man’s Dhrishyam.

Animals: Hard to imagine that Ben Affleck directed this. Totally avoidable

Snehaveedu: My Father-in-law, who was visiting, has this habit of playing random movies on YouTube. Thanks to that quirk, I watched this after a decade. Since I no longer have cable TV at home, gone are the days spent watching all the old classics and reminiscing of the days gone by. Snehaveedu was just what I needed. A movie to reaffirm that there’s a possible world where small joys and tragedies co-mingle and make life grand and worth living.

Khalifa: The first half hour of this movie was interesting as it got some of the nuances of Malabar right. But from there, it follows the standard done-to-death gold smuggle template and ends up disappointing

May December: Julian Moore and Natalie Portman are terrific in this movie about an actress who comes to town spend time with the family of the woman she’s about to portray on screen. Only in this case, the woman was convicted of raping her Grade VII student and subsequently married him on being released. There’s so much to unpack in the story and both Moore and Portman are at the top of their game here.

Hostiles: I’ve been reading up on the American Indians and their conflicts with the settlers. Hostiles was a tragedy which shows the intractable nature of the conflict and the ruthlessness with which both sides pursued each other. Its plot also reminded me of Saving Private Ryan – the call of duty forcing one to make sacrifices which can end up appearing ‘pointless’ and devoid of any grand purpose.

The Conversation: I tried rewatching this to see if I could better appreciate this with age. The answer is No. I still haven’t been able to get what makes this a classic. 

Agni Natchathiram:Amritavarshini brought me to this. I can safely conclude that this must be the worst movie of Mani Ratnam with probably his topic music. Illayaraja at his peak here.

The Little Things: Denzel is 70 and watching actors still pull off what they’ve excelled at for decades is a delight. (The same reason why I’ve gained a new found love for Mammootty too). Rami Malek has some malevolent look permanently plastered on his face. This makes it hard to empathise with any of his characters.

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