One of the biggest follies of Indian cinema is its tendency to stretch—and stretch beyond. Director Blessy's Aadujeevitham (The Goat Life) in Malayalam (although it is also available in Tamil, Hindi, etc.) is a classic example of this.
The aesthetically designed studio-theatre of Chidakash Kalalaya, an Ashram-like institution founded by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award recipient scholar-guru Piyal Bhattacharya, is a haven of research, restoration, and practical application of music, dance, and drama as scripted in Bharatmuni's Natyashastra and its precious commentaries by scholars of yore.
We have seen films in which stories are narrated through songs. The classical examples of this are Hamilton, Cats and Tommy, among others. There are others, like My Fair Lady, that are not completely devoid of dialogue.
The opening number set to Ravindra Jain’s Shyam Teri Bansi elegantly portrayed the plight of Meera, who knows that the flute is being played for Radha but is still lured by its melody, even at the cost of being defamed by everyone.
The present collection of six is amongst the best of his oeuvre of over fifty original plays, written between the years 2000 and 2020
The Oscars are perhaps getting a little tired of the kind feminism that Barbie portrayed.
The crop of new faces in the film is such a delight. All credit goes to the casting director, Romil Modi. Dipak, played by Sparsh Srivastav, and Phool, by Nitanshi Goel, a social media influencer, are outstanding, respectively. Both capture an innocence of India that is still not lost.
“Last year, I depicted myself and my vision of how I perceive design through my art. It was inside a room, but rather than just simple walls or windows, it was designed all around in an array of patterns and forms.”
Dune: Part Two hits all the right notes and gives its predecessor a run for its ‘spice’. It’s like the sequel that not only lives up to the hype but surpasses it with a cheeky wink and a nod. From mesmerising visuals to captivating storytelling, this instalment leaves no sand dune unturned in its quest for greatness. It’s the kind of film that not only does justice to its forerunner but also adds its own flavourful twist to the mix. Strap in, because Dune: Part Two is a wild sandworm ride you won’t want to miss!
None of the films by Kumar Shahani and Mani Kaul, another contemporary of his times, got a theatre release, but their films were critically acclaimed in student circles, among aficionados of cinema, and in international film circuits.
