Perfect Days: Wrote about this here Vaastuhara: Aravindan's last movie. A friend of mine, while helping her parents shift residences from Delhi to Kolkata, reset a password for her dad as 'Vaastuhara' - The Dispossessed. Reminded of the movie that I probably watched decades ago, I found it on YouTube. Mohanlal at his peak, a … Continue reading What I Watched – May 2026
In popular imagination, the Allied invasion of continental Europe is dominated by the Normandy Landings. The opening amphibious landing scene in Spielberg’s ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and the Cold War narrative of the joint Anglo-American thrust to free Europe and clear the road to Berlin have both contributed to this narrative. The truth was that months … Continue reading The Forgotten ‘Battle for Italy’ and Naples in 1944
Pluribus: Though I don’t read Sci-Fi, I enjoy watching the genre on screen. The philosophical angles and the mind-bending scenarios always make it worthwhile. Pluribus didn’t disappoint and got me thinking about loneliness, Big Brother, conformity and free will. It was also nice to revisit the landscape of Breaking Bad – Arizona. Burn After Reading: … Continue reading What I Watched – March 2026
After reading up on the Islamic Revolution, I was on the lookout for something to watch and chanced upon this documentary titled: Iran: A Cinematographic Revolution. The 90 minute documentary chronicles the evolution of Iranian cinema beginning from the reign of the Shah till the early aughts when the theocracy was firmly in power. The … Continue reading Iran: A Cinematographic Revolution
Il Sorpasso: Wrote about this here and also about Jhumpa Lahiri Sinners: Science Fiction and Horror are two genres that I've never been fascinated with. The Oscar hype around Sinners forced me to check it out. I ended ruing my decision. How does one suspend belief to this extent? Weapons: Despite being disappointed by Sinners, … Continue reading What I Watched – February 2026
The Wuthering Heights adaptation has been all over the news for various reasons. So I first read Bronte’s novel and then went to check what the fuss was all about. The Margot Robbie-Jacob Ellordi starrer wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible too. The childhood bond between Heathcliff and Catherine was tenderly captured. The interior design … Continue reading The ‘Wuthering Heights’ Rabbit Hole
Seven years ago, I tried to read this but abandoned it after a few pages as I knew next to nothing about the political context in which the book was set. This time, with some information about the Risorgimento, I tackled the book and can confirm it lives up to its tag of a ‘masterpiece’ … Continue reading Lampedusa’s ‘The Leopard’
A couple of days after mentioning Jhumpa Lahiri in a blog post, I unexpectedly saw her in person. The Italian Cultural Centre in Delhi, as part of an ongoing series where prominent Indian writers introduce their favourite Italian films ahead of screenings, had invited Lahiri to present the inaugural film — 'Il Sorpasso'. Sruthi and … Continue reading Jhumpa Lahiri on ‘Il Sorpasso’ at IHC Delhi
Eko:This movie has created a lot of buzz and for the right reasons. While a mystery thriller story featuring guard-dogs is definitely unusual in Malayalam cinema, the WWII theatre in South East Asia being portrayed in the movie made it all the more unique. Got reminded of Twan Eng’s trilogy. The Mastermind: Kelly Reichardt reimagines … Continue reading What I Watched – January 2026
Phantom Thread: I thoroughly enjoyed this story of a conventional artist–muse relationship that slowly turns into a strange psychological duel. Daniel Day Lewis has such screen presence that his performance alone made the movie worth watching. The Sacrifice: My first encounter with Andrei Tarkovsky’s work was far from easy. The film demands absolute attention and … Continue reading What I Watched – December 2025
