Tag Archives: Non-Hindi

Monday Malayalam: Annmariya Kalippilannu, Kerala Does Dangal Better

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Okay, I’m going to try something.  Before, I would get a big DVD order or have a slow week at work, and post a ton of blog posts from Kerala or Tamil Nadu or whatever all at once.  And then hit a point of being busy at work and running out of DVDs or whatever and post no reviews at all for a while.  But that’s not good, this start and stop.  So, now that the big Hindi release season is about to end, I am going to try to stick to a schedule, Monday Malayalam, Tuesday Tamil or Telugu.  And then Hindi or whatever other random thing I am watching (Zindagi Gulzar Hai?) the rest of the week.   Continue reading →

Pokkiri Raja: Not the Best Rajnikanth

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I watched this movie because a) it was available from Netflix, b) it had both Rajnikanth and Sridevi, and c) it was older so I was hoping for a more grounded Rajni Sir.  Now that I have seen it, I can tell you that two of these these things were true, and one was not.

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Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi: My Least Favorite Puri Jagannadh Movie (So Far)

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I’m pretty sure this is my first Ravi Teja movie, so I can’t make any judgement there.  But it’s my fourth or fifth Puri Jagannadh movie, and I can tell you, in terms of direction, it is not as good as it could be.  I’m missing the clever little touches and sense of humor about the plot.  And I am really really missing the lighter touch with the male-female romance.

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Ethir Neechal: Dickensian!

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Did I say before that Rajshri has a TON of Balachander movies for free on their youtube channel?  They do!  I don’t know why, but who questions a miracle?  So now I have seen another incredibly early and, I assume, classic Balachander movie.  Really early actually, this film is from 1968 whereas Moodru Mudichu was 1976.

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Indra: So, This is a Chiranjeevi Movie?

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Is this my first Chiranjeevi movie?  That can’t be right!  And yet a search of my archives for “Chiranjeevi” comes up empty!  Oh! Magadheera!  He had a little cameo in that, right?  Okay, so I’ve seen him in one movie.

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Things Are Finally Hunky-dory: Humsafar Part III, Episodes 15-23 Review/Summary

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I finished it!  Thanks to my disastrous start to the new year (landlord says maybe I can move back in on Tuesday), I spent the weekend huddled in my parents’ guest room, with nothing to do but watch Pakistani soap opera’s on Netflix (yes, I did start Zindagi Gulzar Hai also).  And so I finished 23 episodes on 24 hours.  Which doesn’t sound that impressive until you remember to subtract sleep time.  Well, not that much sleep time.  Like 5 hours.

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Things Are Still Not Hunky-Dory: Humsafar Review/Summary Episodes 8-14

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In preparation for Raees, I am zipping through Humsafar, the show that made Mahira Khan famous.  It was a bit of a slog at first, but now I am addicted and am rapidly making my way to the end.  Along the way, I wanted to pause and give some summary and discussion of the episodes.  I already did 1-8 here, now it’s time to move on to 8-14.

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Things Are Not Hunky-Dory: Humsafar Review/Summary Part 1, Episodes 1-8

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As I am sure many of you know, the two big hit Pakistani soap operas, Humsafar and Zindagi Gulzar Hai, were just added to Netflix.  They’ve been available through other less-good sources (ErosNow, youtube) for a while, plus of course their original broadcast, so there is a good chance some of you are ahead of me in watching them.  Anyway, since enough people are seeing them now, and especially because Mahira Khan starred in Humsafar and is about to star in Raees, I am putting out a review/summary of the episodes in 3 parts, starting with the first 8.  There will be a little bit of non-spoiler to start if you want to decide if the show is for you before reading on.

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Moondru Mudichu: Rajnikanth and Sridevi’s First Lead roles!

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Is that right?  That’s what Wikipedia says, that they had both acted before (in child roles for Sridevi, and in smaller parts for Rajnikanth), but this was the first movie for both in which they were lead characters.  Which is UNBELIEVABLE!!!  Not just because they are so good, but because they are already so uniquely themselves, the personalities and personas familiar to me now, 40 years later.

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Kshana Kshanam: Maybe RGV isn’t Tarentino, Maybe He is More Hitchcock?

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Thanks to badgering (in a nice way) from the comments section, I finally got around to watching this, my first Ram Gopal Verma Telugu film, and my first RGV Sridevi film.  And it was a revelation!  Not that different from his later Hindi stuff, but different enough that it made me look at his whole career in a new way.

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Athadu: Angel and the Badman/Bombai Ka Babu/Assassins/The Killer

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What an interesting masala of movies (that tracks, right?  I was going to use “melange”, but that’s just French for “mix”, so why not “masala” instead?)!  My Netflix envelope claimed it was a remake of some American movie called Assassins.  But that’s just one of many many films that went into creating this one.

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Megham: One of Those Movies Where Everything Clicks Once You Find the One Character You Care About

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What an interesting movie!  I mean, of course it’s an interesting movie, it’s a Priyadarshan comedy.  There’s more human tragedy and quiet despair in a Priyadarshan comedy than in a whole Sanjay Leela Bhansali epic.

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Ready (Telugu): I Think I Might Like The Salman Version Better?

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It feels wrong to say that!  The Hindi remake is always supposed to be the watered down less good version of the non-Hindi original.  But watching this movie, I found myself missing the slight changes the put in to make it work better for the Hindi industry.

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Oru Sindoora Pottinte Ormaykku: This Movie Kept Zigging Instead of Zagging

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I know I know, I should be picking off of my list.  But ErosNow just added a bunch of Malayalam films and I got over-whelmed by options and decided to just go with the first one that popped up with Mammootty.

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Indian: Subhas Chandra Bose Has a Different Meaning for Americans

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Not the easiest thing to see as “heroic” a figure who fought along side Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany!  Yes, I understand the “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” ideology, and that in many ways the evils of colonialism could be considered equal to the sins of Japan and the Nazis, or at least related.  But supporting Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany still doesn’t seem like something to necessarily be proud of?

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Panduranga Mahatyam: Story Structure Both Ahead and Behind the Times

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I got this DVD from Netflix and watched it a while back, and much of it went over my head.  But what I could appreciate was the cool things it was doing with story structure and visuals.  So that at least I can talk about!

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Sardaar Ji: My 2nd Punjabi Movie! Love the Spunky Women!

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Thanks to a recommendation in the comments on my Halloween post, I watched Sardaar Ji!  My second Punjabi movie!  These movies are FUN!  And, they make me feel like I am a cool Punjabi woman who can handle anything, at least for a little while.

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OK Kanmani: Seriously, How Will this Work in a Different Language?

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I watched this movie months and months ago when it first arrived on American Netflix, but that was before I was blogging seriously so I didn’t pay very close attention.  I wanted to watch it again, now that the remake will be releasing soon (January 13th), and think about how this film could possibly be remade.

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Weekend Box Office: Hilariously Bad

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It’s been a bad fall.  Because, as my continuing series of posts indicates, the industry is STUPID.  Constantly giving too much money and screens to big dumb films, and not enough money and screens to small smart films.  But this weekend is so bad, it’s just funny!

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Geethanjali: Not a Story about Death, or a Story about Life, but a Story about Love

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Mani Ratnam strikes again!  Another great romance with a complicated heroine and interesting supportive hero. Oh, and I am going to assume for this entire review that you at least know the big thing that is revealed 10 minutes into the film, so if you are obsessive about SPOILERS and don’t even want to know that, DON’T READ ANY MORE!!!  But if you are fine with the 10 minute in reveal, but want to be protected from what happens in the remaining 113 minutes, keep going until the usual SPOILER marker.

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Manam: So Much Better than Paa!!!!

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I LOVED this movie!  This is going to be my new happy making comfort food film every time I get down.  Everyone is happy and good and does good happy things and has good happy things happen to them.  And even if something bad does happen, not to worry!  You’ll just get another chance in your next life!

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Attarintiki Daredi: Nadhiya Continues to be the Best

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I saw Nadhiya before in Mirchi, and was stunned by how the “mother” actress was so much more beautiful and interesting than the love interests.  That is even more true in this film, to the point that it is almost acknowledged in the script, that Pawan Kalyan was more interested in bringing his aunt home, than in spending time with her daughter who he professed to be in love with.

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Nayakan: Finally! A Kamal Haasan Movie I like!

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As you may have picked up from my Aval Shanmughi and Ambe Sivam posts, I have a hard time with Kamal Haasan.  Yes, he is a brilliant actor.  Yes, he has movie star charisma.  But it just seems like his characters have to be so perfect and so wonderful, that no one else is allowed to do anything.  But this Kamal Haasan movie, this one I liked!

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Veruthe Oru Bharya: ENRAGING!!!

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This was not the best movie to watch the same time as Pink.  Or maybe it was the best movie to watch?  It certainly helped highlight exactly why Pink is groundbreaking!  And yes, I know, it’s another one that wasn’t recommended, but it’s the last one on the Netflix list.  And I really hope it isn’t the first Malayalam movie anyone watches, because ENRAGING!!!!

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