Letterboxd — Your life in film

Building and following upon on the account of two dis/similar narrative motifs/tropes found most common in cinema (specifically Indian cinema)— of love that's pure and mutual, in which feelings are reciprocated by those involved— and of obsession disguised as love; Bhansali draws up the parallels of male behaviours and romantic motifs embodied by sensitive Ratan Singh and violent Alauddin Khalji (played by Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh respectively)— in their conquest for the "love" of Padmavati— to not only argue…

a good film that went bolder than I had originally expected in its exploration of human rights and specifically those of sex workers (though also not bold enough as it may have gone). the only parts that had me ding a few points was the extended cameo from ajay devgn completed with heroic music, which detracted a bit from the point of this woman centric film, and also the pacing of it all and the way they just did not…

Wayyyyyyyy more I Spit On Your Grave than Kill Bill. Incredibly bold of Keerthy Suresh to take this role & she totally commands it. Truly a layered & powerful performance. There’s a certain monologue scene where more than the actual dialogue delivery there’s small mannerisms she adds in that accentuate the character’s emotional state & psyche. It also needs to be said that Yamini Yagnamurthy makes magic of the cinematography here. Outstanding shots throughout & while Arun’s compositions & staging are also fantastic the DoP work…

totally maniacal. actively hostile visuals. so much so that the moment of abject preachiness towards the end kind of just wraps back around into the surrealness of the rest. one of my favorite collections of filmi musical sequences i've ever seen, which-- not to disparage the nonsequitur kind-- all serve to exponentiate the vibe. dhanush is maybe overwrought, but definitely great to watch. it's one thing to see the hellish whirlpool, and it's even more to watch him scramble and…

Incredibly fascinating, will have to see Govind Nihalani’s Drohkaal for comparison because this could be one of my favourite screenplays. But visually I think PC Sreeram does something so artful with such a gritty & realist story, it’s a beauty to look at. PC is without doubt one of the great cinematographers in Indian cinema so it’s fascinating to see him work as a director here because his eye for aesthetic is just on another level. Incredible performances across the board, Kamal of…