can you vish?

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...