Once Upon a Time in Kollywood… & Hollywood (or) Vikram and Top Gun Have More in Common Than Meets the Eye Back in the day, 1986 to be precise, Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) took the world’s collective breath away when he flew his F14A Tomcat. Back home in Madras, Commander Arun Kumar Vikram … Continue reading
Author Archives: Prakash J
Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana (2021)
Once Upon a Time in Mangaladevi A tree’s strength lies in its roots. The strength of the recently released Kannada movie Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana (GGVV) also lies in its roots—Mangaladevi. So much so that Mangaladevi is like a character holding its own throughout the movie. For the uninitiated, the coastal city of Mangaluru derives … Continue reading
Meenakshi Sundareshwar (2021) and Alpha (2018)
How Language Can Make or Break a Film Language (or the absence of it) is a very crucial element for storytelling. During the silent era, masters like Charlie Chaplin communicated with their acting, body language, and screenplay. But once Talkies (movies with dialogues) entered the fray everything changed and there was no looking back. Apart … Continue reading
Joji (2021)
What Motivates This Macbeth? Warning: Extreme Spoilers Ahead. Yes, we all know Fahadh Faasil’s eyes speak volumes. Even in a state of paralysis he acts with nothing but his eyes. Joji, interestingly, is more about Joji, the character, and not just yet another feather in Fahad Faasil’s acting cap. What immediately grasps you when watching … Continue reading
A Suitable Boy (2020)
A Not So Suitable ‘Suitable Boy’ Vikram Seth’s magnum opus novel, A Suitable Boy, opens with a dedication in verse, followed briskly by the contents page, again in a rhyming couplet for each chapter. No such luck with the mini-series of the same novel. It opens with a lame placard: When India became independent in … Continue reading
talking talkies 