The Common Man Speaks

Terra (Bengali Short Film) Review

October 7, 2018 by Keyur Seta 1 Comment

Director Debjani Bandopadhyay’s short film Terra (which translates to ‘Land’) takes place in the mountainous regions of Purulia in West Bengal. It tells the story of an officer (Anindyo Banerjee) who works for a company that is slowly snatching away the land and natural resources of the region for monetary gains. He has a troubled relationship with his wife Bibha (Tanushree Sarkar), who is of the opposite ideology.

The narrative takes its own pace but this works well as it slowly sucks you into this intense world where the greed of few people has made life hell for many others. The peaceful location being the opposite of the conditions of the victims is established creatively. Two parallel tracks about main issue and the personal conflict of Bibha are smartly woven.

Terra short filmTerra tilts towards the victims but it doesn’t preach anything. It just presents the whole scenario as it is. But at the same time it steers clear from being a docu drama.

Despite the writing and direction departments being impressive, the technical department doesn’t cease to impress you throughout. The camerawork (Subal KR), background score and editing (Golam Mustafa Prokash) are applaud worthy.

But it’s the sound designing (Siba Sankar Das) that stands out and how. The minutest sounds of nature appear realistic even when seen on a mobile phone.

The only minus point is an incident which brings some amount of confusion. It, thankfully, doesn’t affect you much.

Acotr Tanushree Sarkar, Surojit Sen, Anindyo Banerjee and child actor Sourav Mura have come up with natural performances that play a large role in adding reality.

Overall: Terra is a finely crafted short film. It won’t be an overstatement that the director is ready to take a plunge in feature films.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Review by: Keyur Seta

Filed Under: Regional cinema Tagged With: Bengali short films, Bengali short movies, Debjani Bandopadhyay, Short films in Bengali, Terra Bengali short film, Terra short film review

Baahubali 2 has achieved the unthinkable even before its release. Here’s what…

March 26, 2017 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

S S Rajamouli’s Baahubali: The Conclusion, also known as Baahubali 2, is around a month away from its release. It would be an understatement to say that there is high excitement for the film. There has hardly, if not never, been such high degree of eagerness for a film all over India.

The Prabhas and Rana Daggubati starrer will be releasing in a whopping 6500 screens in the country. This is the highest for a film in India. Hence, the film is predicted to amass the highest box office collections ever (at least till the time Robot 2.0 releases).

In fact, the eagerness is such that, God forbid, even if the film doesn’t turn out to be that impressive, it won’t be wrong to make a prediction that its business will still be big.

Baahubali 2 posterHowever, even if this doesn’t happen, Baahubali 2 still will be achieving the unthinkable. In fact, it has already begun.

Let’s face it. The only thing that has united Indians all these decades has been cricket, whether you like it or not. But this is the first time that such a feat has been achieved by a film, at least in my lifetime. I have never seen a film bonding the whole of India like Bahaubali has. The fact that it is releasing in such huge number of screens is a proof of that.

So much so, that most of us either seem to have forgotten or are not bothered that its original language is Telugu and Tamil. (‘south Indian’ for many). Normally, one would expect a Hindi film to achieve such feat. But nobody is complaining.

Another proof of its extreme excitement is the number of views to its Hindi trailer. In just 11 days, it has garnered more than 3 crore 65 lakh views (only the Hindi trailer). On the other hand, Badrinath Ki Dulhania, a hardcore Hindi film with big stars like Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan, has managed 2 crore 81 lakh views in almost two months. Shah Rukh Khan’s Raees has been viewed just over 5 crore times in a long period of almost four months.

This speaks about the film’s pan India interest. On a lighter note, people from all over India are eager to find out why Katappa killed Baahubali. The social media is full of funny memes or posts asking this question. Seriously, how many of us ever expected a non-Hindi film to create such a scenario?

What it has indirectly shown is the power of regional cinema. The same happened last year with the Marathi movie Sairat. The film also found takers outside Maharashtra, something never achieved before by a Marathi film. This is also a wake-up call for those who shy away from watching a regional film saying it won’t interest them. If a film is high in appeal, it will cross state boundaries in India.

Like Baahubali 2 has. It’s neither a Telugu/ Tamil nor a south Indian film.

It’s an Indian film… Jai Mahishmati!

By: Keyur Seta

Hindi trailer of Baahubali 2: The Conclusion:

Filed Under: National, Regional cinema Tagged With: Baahubali 2 box office, Baahubali 2 box office prediction, Baahubali 2 Hindi trailer, Baahubali 2 the conclusion expectations, Bahubali 2 achievement

Thithi (Kannada movie) Review

June 6, 2016 by Keyur Seta 2 Comments

Director: Raam Reddy

Producers: Pratap Reddy and Sunmin Park

Writers: Raam Reddy and Eregowda

Cast: Channegowda, Thamanna, Abhishek H. N, Singri Gowda

Genre: Drama

Duration/ Runtime: 124 minutes

Rating: * * * *

Review by: Keyur Seta

The term ‘realistic cinema’ generally applies to films that are very serious or, at times, sad in nature. But director Raam Reddy’s Thithi breaks all such norms for realistic films. It shows that an utterly realistic saga can be both thought-provoking as well as a laugh-riot.

The film takes place in a remote village in Karnataka. Century Gowda (Singri Gowda) is so-called since he has surpassed 100 years of age. But he passes away at 101. How his death affects his son Gadappa (Channegowda), grandson Thamanna (Thammegowda) and great grandson Abhi (Abhishek H. N) and how everything boils down to Century Gowda’s thithi (11th day after his passing away) forms the rest of the story.

Thithi-Kannada-movieLike every well-made realistic rural flick, Thithi succeeds in the most difficult task of making you forget the outside world and get seriously involved with the life of Gowda family. But, as mentioned before, there is laughter galore throughout the duration, even in the most basic situations. This, however, doesn’t mean that there is any compromise in staying honest with the subject.

Despite, however, such high doses of entertainment, the film succeeds in asking a lot of questions and saying a lot without saying much. Maintaining this fine balance is a triumph of the writing and direction.

Coming to the fallacies, there is one twist in the tale that isn’t completely convincing. However, the many plus points and a fast pace won’t let you think much about it.

Doron Tempert’s displays his cinematographic skills despite the theme being simple and realistic theme. There is minimal use of background score (as per the need) and whenever it is used, it adds to the impact.

The makers have taken the risk of casting non-actors and to say that it paid off will be an understatement. It is simply amazing to see how each one has carried his or her role with perfection. In fact, it doesn’t seem that they are acting at all. The one to stand out is Channegowda as Gadappa. But Thammegowda, Abhishek N. H, Singri Gowda, Pooja S. M (as Cawvery) and the rest are not behind at all.

Overall: Thithi is a must watch for those interested in films driven by strong content and excellent performances. The film needs to reach out to as many people as possible through word-of-mouth.

Filed Under: Regional cinema Tagged With: Thithi cast actors, Thithi film review, Thithi Kannada movie, Thithi Kannada movie review, Thithi movie story, Thithi review

Like this blog on Facebook

Like this blog on Facebook

Pages

  • About Me

Categories

  • Bollywood
  • Cricket
  • Environment
  • Events
  • Food
  • Forgotten Moments
  • Gujarati Cinema
  • Health
  • Hollywood
  • Humour
  • International Cinema
  • Literature
  • Marathi movies
  • Miscellaneous
  • Mumbai
  • Music
  • National
  • Pictures
  • Plays
  • Poem/ Shayaris
  • Regional cinema
  • Rumour Alert
  • Socio/Political
  • Spiritual
  • Travel
  • TV
  • Uncategorized
  • Web Series
  • Young Achievers

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 41 other subscribers

Archives

  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009

Social

Copyright © 2021 · eleven40 Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in