'I might in the future step out of a Dileesh Pothan movie not completely satisfied, but content I'll be in the knowledge that our greatest living film-maker had failed striving to be something more than just an auteur,' notes Sreehari Nair.
Ratheesh Balakrishna Poduval's latest film Oru Durooha Sahacharyathil (Under Mysterious Circumstances), showcases both his directorial strengths and inconsistencies, starting as a compelling tale of brotherhood before shifting awkwardly into a psychological study.
'I realised how serious it was when my doctors broke down.'
'Movie plots clearly don't excite director Dileesh Pothan as much as true stories where life had come dizzyingly close to becoming like a movie and then, had fused back with life.' 'This means that a conversation he overhears at a tea shop is more likely to give Pothan a setting for his next picture than a brainstorming session inside a conference room,' says Sreehari Nair.
'I am working with him for the first time in Vikram.'
As Fahadh Faasil turns 39 on August 8, Subhash K Jha looks back at his favourite films featuring the brilliant actor.
With Joji, Dileesh Pothan has found a way, once more, to use everything he has learnt to further push the boundaries of his art, observes Sreehari Nair.
'The film-literate public in Kerala are not happy watching run-of-the-mill movies.'
Rima Kallingal and Manju Warrier give powerhouse performances in Rani Padmini, raves Paresh C Palicha.
'Mahesh Bhavana is a young man who is beaten up in the town's marketplace and who consequently pledges that he won't wear his slippers again, till he avenges the beating.' 'But Mahesh can't get his revenge that easily -- his punisher is off to a distant land. So what does Mahesh do? He waits. And the town waits with him. And we wait with him.' 'Maheshinte Prathikaram is one of those movies where I didn't know what hit me. I don't remember another movie -- at least in recent times -- that I surrendered to with such happiness,' says Sreehari Nair.
The pandemic situation in India has reached a breaking point and the only thing one can do now is stay safe and stay indoors. Here's everything OTT has to offer to keep you distracted this week.
Fahadh Faasil is in top form in Maheshinte Prathikaaram, feels Paresh C Palicha.
'If am in a plane with a superstar and a screenwriter, I would rather sit next to the writer.'
'What we have is 'masala redeemed' as opposed to just 'masala resurrected',' argues Sreehari Nair.
If Netflix and the film's producers thought they would bring younger audiences to the master's works, many who might have aversion to decades-old black and white films, they have failed with the experiment, says Aseem Chhabra.
'Kumbalangi Nights is a movie that respects women, but most importantly, it's a movie that loves them,' says Sreehari Nair.
Lovingly made, heartfelt stories that speak the truths about our lives.
It was a year of so many contradictions and contrasts that it became dangerous to talk about movies, people lost their heads discussing Friday releases, psychiatrists began dabbling in film criticism, and film critics turned into psychiatrists, says Sreehari Nair.
'Somewhere, I have to be true to myself. At this point in life, I am more interested in human drama.'
Aseem Chhabra picks the finest Indian films in the 2010-2019 decade.
Every film that Sriram Raghavan makes is a compendium of ideas and sensations that tickle him. Trying to remake a Sriram Raghavan film is like getting excited by somebody else's goosebumps, observes Sreehari Nair.
Sreehari Nair presents his Top 20 movies of the decade.
'If questioning and dethroning hierarchies is your primary motive, why not put an end to the practice of announcing your shining star, your box office draw, in big flaming letters and mentioning everyone else's name in small font at the bottom of the screen?' asks Sreehari Nair.
Malayalam film audiences, who had spent close to two decades waiting for something truly interesting to watch at the movies, seem to be finally getting their due.
If you think the film is gutsy, you are simply being blind to the truth that the whole men-are-worthless slant is saleable right now, argues Sreehari Nair.
'If you can tell the quality of a movie-watching experience, only and only by referring to set standards, you *aren't really* going to the movies,' argues Sreehari Nair.
While filled with startling insights and questions, and buoyed by terrific performances throughout, Newton suffers from a lack of end-to-end clarity. It is a near-great film but one that for some reason doesn't express itself fully, feels Sreehari Nair.
'This is a movie, which if you allow it to, will wash itself all over you, so that you emerge from it a little drenched but wide awake,' says Sreehari Nair.
'2016 was the age of convenience for Hindi movies; of down pat effrontery and planned feeling triumphing over attempts to discern something complexly beautiful,' says Sreehari Nair.
Sreehari Nair is *not* impressed by this lot of films at all.
Sreehari Nair wasn't impressed with Rangoon at all. But find out which film tops his list!
'It took a 75-year-old director to teach the reformist set of Facebook users that Evil is not an aberration, but something that resides in the most regular seeming of human beings,' says Sreehari Nair.
