can you vish?

  “Hey, I don’t see you around these days!” “Ohh hi! Well, I have been quite busy you know…now with the new job and all” “Even on weekends? You know I got a place quite close to your work right? I handle all these spots so that you can hang out whenever you want.” “Umm yea I guess. Maybe next week?” “Next week is what you promised me three months ago.” “Ugh…I will…try to come! My parents are coming every week anyway right?” “Your parents are good people but I care about you as well. Don’t you get it? Is there something you wanna tell me? I have seen you sharing some pretty controversial stuff about me online.” “Wait a minute. I do not think we follow each other on social media. How do you see my posts?” “Come on, you know I work in mysterious ways!” “I am not sure if I am entirely comfortable with that invasion of my privacy” “For my sake do not fret about it! Here, I have a gift for you. Wear this when you come to my place next week.” “What is this? A headscarf? Why? You know I do...

Covid brought a major upheaval to people’s lives all across the world. Lives, livelihoods, and future plans were all lost in the deadly pandemic that hasn’t died down even though a couple of years have passed by. The losses have been humongous that I do not even attempt to compare the same with the minor setbacks that we faced while planning our wedding, and a subsequent trip to an exotic foreign location. It would be fair to say that our lives were also impacted by the same. After foiled plannings, some refunded and some non-refunded flight tickets, and countless email conversations with airlines, booking agents, and insurance companies, we went over the process all over again and the travel plan was finally set in motion in the August of 2022 - a good two years after our scaled-down wedding during the lockdown days. There are numerous decisions to be made while planning a vacation, the foremost one being the destination. The destination sets the tone of the holidays I believe. Many o...

I do have mixed opinions about this latest Rakshit Shetty outing, impressing at times and faltering at others, but I am not here to talk about that. Indian Cinema is going through an unprecedented time, where the cinema industries across regions are exploring multiple territories, and viewers are also receiving cross-cultural content with open arms. Many movies, especially from the regional industries of Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam are getting released with the new tag of ‘Pan-Indian’ cinema, dubbing them in various languages in order to reach more people. The most common and practical approach adopted is to shoot the movie in the native language (KGF in Kannada, RRR in Telugu, Vikram in Tamil, or Jana Gana Mana in Malayalam) and then dub them into three or four other languages. However, while doing this, what happens in only the dialogues get dubbed while several other linguistic indicators, for example, the billboard in the local language, are often lost in translation. Her...

Most of the film festivals around us were conceived before a time when the numerous OTT platforms or even the Internet was a thing. Those days, we could only watch the movies that were screened in the cinemas near us. Film festivals were probably the only way to get a taste of cinema from around the world. Now, of course, times have changed so much that a South Korean TV show was the biggest hit of the past year worldwide. We have digital platforms offering carefully curated, critically acclaimed movies. Content has never been more accessible.  In such a time, have film festivals lost their relevance? One look at the huge crowds who turned up for this year’s IFFK would tell you the answer is a big, loud NO. Film festivals are all about movies, and yet not only about watching them. The feeling of a community action that you get when you see co-delegates with their clothe-bags and id tags, the adrenaline rush from the careful scrutiny of the screening schedule to pick the films match...

  It was Saturday night, and we had settled ourselves comfortably in and around the couch to watch the Malayalam movie Super Sharanya on Zee5. (sidenote: I had watched it in the theater already, and normally I don’t invest time to watch something a second time. However, this was a movie that I had enjoyed thoroughly and was an ideal watch with family.) As the movie progressed, we could see various characters trying in their own (some endearing, some questionable) ways to win the heart of the protagonist, Sharanya. This includes the lecturer Arun and the self proclaimed hero Ajith Menon, who tries to force his decision on her with scant regard for her opinion or consent. Now, those who have watched the movie would know that the character of Ajith Menon is a caricature of the much celebrated and glorified psychopath Arjun Reddy (or Kabir Singh or either of the Varmas). The makers have hit the bull’s eye in drawing out the problems of such a character, who is an embodiment of toxic ma...

  Planet Perillamus An excited Ethoruthan broadcasted his findings to the Inter Universe Lifeform Detection Council. ‘I have discovered life on another planet.’ ‘Oh not again, Mx Ethoruthan!’, the Chairman of the council, Dan Maraman, shot back.‘ This is the eleventh time you are making such a claim over the last six months. How many missions have we launched to verify your claim - and have even one bore any result? These voyages are damn expensive, you know.’ ‘Please hear me out, Mx Maraman! This is not like the previous cases. I have proof.’ ‘What proof?’ Senior agent Thengaenthu was intrigued. ‘Do I have permission to present my thoughts to the council?’ Ethoruthan asked Maraman, Dan. ‘Yeah! You may.’ the Chairman relented warily. ‘Okay here is the interesting part. The life forms on this planet have devised something called movies - where some of them write unreal descriptions about unreal persons, and someone else would behave like those unreal persons. These behaviors would b...