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A Cinematic Journey Through the 2023’s Finest

To reflect on the cinematic marvels that graced the silver screen and captivated audiences worldwide. From emotionally charged dramas to action-packed thrillers, the year had it all. Here's a curated list of the top movies that left an indelible mark on the hearts of moviegoers.

1. 2018 (Malayalam): Kerala's Tears Unveiled on Screen
One of the most poignant films of the year, "2018" dives deep into the devastating Kerala floods of the same year. The film masterfully captures the emotions and sequences of the calamity, making it a must-watch for its realistic portrayal. Notably, it secured its place as India's official entry for the Oscars, attesting to its cinematic brilliance.

2. Chithha (Hindi): A Heartwarming Bond Unveiled
"Chithha" explores the tender connection between a child and his uncle. The film stands out for its artistic camera movements, well-crafted shots, and a complementary background score that elevates the viewing experience. A testament to the power of human relationships, "Chithha" is a visual and emotional treat.

3. 12th Fail (Hindi): A Glimpse into Struggle and Triumph
Based on a true story, "12th Fail" delves into the struggles of the underprivileged, offering a compelling narrative enriched by Vikrant Massey's stellar performance. Vidhu Vinod Chopra's storytelling prowess and meticulous art direction further contribute to making this film a stand out in the cinematic landscape of 2024.

4. Leo (Tamil): Vijay's Magnum Opus in Vikram's Universe
"Leo" marks Vijay's stellar performance in this action-packed film, seamlessly fitting into Vikram’s cinematic universe crafted by director Lokesh Kanagaraj. A perfect blend of action and storytelling, "Leo" showcases the brilliance of Indian cinema in creating successful cinematic universes.

5. Viduthalai Part 1 (Tamil): Breaking Rules for the Greater Good
"Viduthalai Part 1" stands out for its meticulous character development, justifying the intense climax that unfolds in the last 40 minutes of the movie. The story revolves around Viduthalai's life as a police officer, where he makes a choice to break rules to save innocent lives. A compelling narrative that keeps audiences on the edge of their seats.

6. Ponniyin Selvan: II (Tamil): Mani Ratnam's Magnum Opus Continues
"Ponniyin Selvan: II" is a cinematic spectacle, combining the genius of Maniratnam's direction, a captivating screenplay, and the enchanting music of A R Rahman. The film is a visual feast that transports the audience to a world of historical grandeur.

7. Sirf Ek Banda Kaafi (Hindi): A Heart-Wrenching Performance by Manoj Bajpai
"Sirf Ek Banda Kaafi" is a compelling drama that revolves around Manoj Bajpayee's heart-wrenching performance. The film delves into the depths of human emotion, leaving a lasting impact on the viewer.

8. Jawan (Hindi): South Direction Meets Bollywood Romance
"Jawan" is a perfect blend of action and romance, bringing together the best of South Indian direction with the flair of Bollywood. A cinematic treat that seamlessly weaves together two distinct elements to create an engaging narrative.

9. Pachuvum Athbutha Vilakkum (Malayalam): Fahadh Faasil Shines in an Ordinary Plot
Despite its ordinary plot and basic shooting locations, "Pachuvum Athbutha Vilakkum" stands out for Fahadh Faasil's outstanding performance. His portrayal elevates the film, making it a noteworthy addition to the year's cinematic offerings.

10. Oppenheimer: Christopher Nolan's Enigmatic Creation
"Oppenheimer" is Christopher Nolan's latest enigmatic creation, promising to take audiences on a mind-bending journey. The anticipation surrounding the film is palpable, and it is undoubtedly a must-watch for those who appreciate Nolan's unique storytelling style.

Worthy Mentions:
- Jailer (Hindi): Immerse yourself in the aura of Thala's performance.
- Vadh (Hindi): Sanjay Mishra's top-notch performance and a wonderfully crafted plot make "Vadh" a standout film.
- Three of Us (Hindi): The beautiful chemistry between Shefali Shah and Jaideep Ahlawat and their neutral acting are highlights of this film.
- OMG 2: Pankaj Tripathi's subtle acting and a gripping courtroom drama continue to captivate audiences.

Haven't Watched, Haven't Considered:
- Sam Bahadur
- Dunki

If there are any hidden gems you feel are missing from this list, do share them, and let the cinematic discussions continue!

Witness the power-packed acting of Nandita Das, KK Menon, and Raghubir Yadav in a Gujarati movie. You don't get this cast easily. Kudos to Paresh Naik.
A story about Friendship, relations, and women. That is all in the old Kutch setup.
This is not an ordinary movie, it will test your patience and demand your focus all the time.
People, interested in cinematography and art of storytelling, you don't wanna miss this.

Pure old fashioned love, tons of emotions, tons of feelings and Melodious music. 

Plot: Waiting for a school time love for 17 years and reconnect, together they embark on remembering their shared past, relive the joys of first love.  
While the first half is a very simple plot - a teenage romance that we have seen in many films, the second half is all about adults trying to express and hold their feelings. Melancholy pervades throughout. 

Cast: Power-packed performances by Samantha and Sharwanand. Samantha has been on a roll as Jaanu in the movie. After Shravani in Majili (2019), S Janki Devi aka Jaanu is another gem in her list.
Sharwanand did a splendid job as a shy guy who is stagnant in his life.

Music: The movie has a soulful background score Govind Vasantha. That sets this movie apart from other movies. Govind Vasantha’s music and Chinmayi Sripaada’s lilting voice. The songs have made much impact on me but the background music is effective. 

Such music is rare to find in Bollywood these days. If you are a music fan try to listen to these songs:

  1. Pranam: The song of 2 adults remembering their School time romance.
  2. Oohale: Jaanu's fantasy of meeting her love.   
  3. Komma Veedi: The feeling of separations - after meeting their school time love.

The story will leave you in the storm of feelings, and thinking about the need for love, compassion, and support. 

The end is sad but realistic. A perfect story with fantastic music scores. A must watch for Telugu movie in 2020. 

They say that good conduct comes along with an education. The education turns you into a good human being.

Let me tell you that, Duryodhan and Ravan both had the knowledge of Shastras. They had the best teacher/Guru in their respected times.

Even though they had great knowledge, they did few of the worst deeds. This implies that only education and knowledge is not the solution for wrongdoings or corruption.

Then what is the solution? What protects us from being corrupt???

I thought!!!

I really thought a lot on this and I realized that no knowledge is useful until and unless you choose to put that into practice. One needs to have the courage to follow the rightful path. It seems easy, but it never is. You need to have the vision to see what is right. You need to have a good mentor to show you the right path.

Moreover, you need a will and courage to walk on the right path. There is no doubt that a human has great powers. Great willpower helps to tackle worst situations.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Bajiroa Mastani is the story of 18th century's Maratha Peshwa (Prime Minister) Bajirao Ballad A.K.A Peshwa Bajirao I, and her second wife Mastani, princess of Bundelkhand, with Muslim mother.

Bajirao, the elder son of Bhat Family (Maharashtrian Brahmin) fallen in love with the Mastani (Muslim); Bhat family was totally in the denial of this relationship which is obvious. But the Love is blind and brave too. Their rise of Love and fallen of lives is the story of Bajirao Mastani Movie.

The story is focused on the Bajirao's in-house politics and struggle rather than his war strategy and life span.

Astonishing acting of Ranveer Singh, Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Milind Soman, Mahesh Manjrekar, Tanvi Azmi and Raza Murad made the story stronger than it is.

Pros:

  1. Bajiroa - Ranveer Singh adopted the character so well that it feels real with his fluent dialogue delivery with all that getup.
  2. Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Direction: Devdas, Ram Leela and now Bajirao Mastani, SLB have the furious way to direct a movie, which is generally away from orthodox directions.
  3. Colors and sets used: Same as Ram Leela, the color in this movie are rich. The Aaina Mahal, (similar to Mughal-E-Azam) leaves you speechless.
  4. War scenes, now Bollywood can match the quality of Hollywood war scenes. I literally enjoyed it.
  5. Kasi Bai: Kasibai, the 1st wife and love of Bajiroa, is the unsung hero of this movie. The perfect casted character with a justified script. Played by Priyanka Chopra.
  6. Radhabai: Mother of Bajirao. Tanvi Azmi has surprised everyone with her mesmerizing acting.

Cons:

  1. Bajirao and Mastani's love is not justified. There should be more minute on how it happened. The whole story is focused on their love struggle.
  2. The End, the last 5 minutes, Bajiroa's hallucination scene is something hard to digest and looks bit dramatic thus lacks conviction.
  3. Fewer war scenes. Bajirao as a Peshwa of Chhatrapati Sahu had fought and won many huge glorious battles. To name few - the Battle of Delhi with Moghals, Battle of Bhopal with Nazam, etc. The movie would have been EPIC if both wars were covered.

Must watch movie, not because of the stardom but because Maratha Emperor is the bright part of Indian history which nobody taught us well.

My Take

Howmany time you have been told by elders, seniors, bosses or mentors that you should do everything but in limit!!! Well yes, that is also true, but you have to go beyond the limits to achieve something extraordinary. 

This is a story of limitless, selfless love. This movie has redefined the "Aashiqui" (Madness in love). 

The one dialogue of Dhanush tells the whole story: "Tuhmne bhi muhje aakhir tak chu*** banaya na, Zoya. Tuhje Pyaar karna mera talent hai, isme tumra koi haath nahi. Tumhari jagah koi aur hoti to usko bhi  me itna hi tutke pyaar karta." 

'Raanjhanaa' is about a young Hindu boy in Banaras and his unwavering love for a Muslim girl who doesn't see him as anything more than a friend.  

Things that I like:

Dhanush: He looks like another ordinary guy from your neighborhood but when he starts acting, he is better than all recent actors of Bollywood. He is a South Indian actor, although his Hindi is so nice and fluent. 
The dialogue delivery of his is insignificant. His pure Hindi dialogues are a pleasure to listen to. He justified the role of a crazy lover, who has no limits in love. I truly believe he can knock out all the heroes of Bollywood. Great Actor.
 
Swara Bhaskar: Though she has a supporting role, I am sure, everyone has noticed her act in this movie. She has evolved from Radhika Talwr, a reporter (Guzaarish) to Payal Sinha (Tanu Weds Manu) to Bindia of this movie. She always leaves her impression in every movie she works with. 

Abhay Deol: Idealistic student leader. Simple and focused on a goal. The Deol son shows that he can steal the show even by the side role. Perfect expression with too good dialogue delivery. Though his role is a small but effective act, he made it important and noticeable.

Music: A R Rehman back with his great soul love music. He really filled love in this movie.
Overall, the movie is great to watch. The humor, the pure Hindi dialogues, crazy lover, Indian Politics and the life of a young leader, you find everything interesting. 
"Hum yaha apna lahu bahaye aur aap waha aasu. Saali aashiqui na hue lathi charge ho gaya!!!" 
 
Happy Watching... 
Predictable Story and predictable dialogues.
Kabir Thapar (bunny) running behind his dream of visiting every corner of the world. Don't care attitude with focus on career.
Naina Talwar, studious girl with top ranks, wanna be Doctor. So serious about her life.
A genuine love story, Girl loves a boy but could not tell him, they meet after some years and again love happens. This time they stay together. The things that you should observe in this movie are not the main characters but supporting characters. 
  • Kalki Koechlin as Aditi. A childhood friend of Bunny (Kabir Thapar). Kalki is at her best in this role. Fearless, Free Soul, Mature.
  •  Aditya Roy Kapur as Avi (Avinash). Another childhood friend of Bunny. Drunker, flirt and directionless guy. He has grown a lot as an actor from London Dreams, Guzarish to Aashiqui 2. Serious about his role, he did really well as Avi. He gonna be another Super Star.
  • Kunaal Roy Kapur as Taran. 3rd movie appearance and that is also a cameo. Kunaal has his charm in comedy that we have seen in Delhi Belly and Nautanki Salla and yes, in this movie you will watch the same guy in more fun yet serious role. You will love the way he acts and his performance is awesome.
  • Farooq Sheikh as Bunny's Father. The surprise package is for me. The master of acting, after a decade, is acting in the movie. In the role of bit worried father of bunny. Always worrying, always supporting. I love to watch his acting even at this age. He is another Jewel of Bollywood whom we do not recognize.
Some good things about this movie, that it teaches something to us. Like Naina saying followings to Bunny:
"Zindagi mein kitna bhi try kar lo, kuchh na kuchh toh chhut hi jaata hain, toh jahaan hain wahin ka maza lete hain na!"
The friendship between Avi and Bunny is another good part of this movie, which is not much developed by the writer if he did, then the movie would have been made more sense to me. The movie has so many predictable plots and predictable dialogues that make it boring. Too many songs and all are not required not expressive, misplaced.
Ranbir Kapoor with his charm, cute smile, and excellent dance, create a nice impression on the viewer. He rules in this movie. In 1st half, fun-loving flirt stud bunny and in 2nd half more serious, career-oriented Bunny. However, I liked both Bunny.
But I expect a little more from him. Some more different scripts like Wake Up S!d.
Deepika Padukone is in her trendy plus elegant look. She acted well. And she justifies the demand for the role in the movie.
Some good try in a story like taking the story 8 years back and then coming back to the present day. This one of those movies which you can watch with your friend -family and companion, you will enjoy it a lot.



It has been around a week to an incidence of the Gang Rape on the medical student in Delhi. 

Here, I am writing my own thoughts on this. 

Many of you may find this offensive or abnormal or you will disagree and stop following my blog but if you felt so, you are already not following me. 

So many people have talked, wrote, fought and protested in various places. Asked for the Capital punishment and fast track courts and lot more. I think in reverse manner. According to me, this kind of incidence should not take place in our society. We need to make this place (our nation and the world) a better place to leave. This can't be done only by making strict laws or giving capital punishments.

Right now what people are talking and fighting about is -

  • What others need to do,
  • How should the Police work,
  • What should be the law,
  • What kind of court should be there to solve these type of cases

They think this will reduce the occurrences of such incidents, it may be. But, I doubt that and followings are the reasons:

  • Blaming Government: Flaws are into the system not in a 1 part of the system. Blaming only one person or department won't help and you cannot change the whole system without being into the system.
  • Make a strict law: The nation like India where the population is a big strength as well as the weakness, making only strong/strict laws will not help. We already have enough laws; do we follow them?
  • Tough Police: Even we have a very bad ratio of a policeman to the number of citizens. They can't cover all the parts or track everyone. They need some assistance from society.
  • Capital Punishment: A death sentence will not help. According to me, that guy should live a life of hell. He should get such punishment like cut his hand/leg/any other body part and let him live that life. This makes a stronger statement.
  • Fast-track courts: Courts will come into the picture only after the rape or similar harassment. Nothing can justify this kind of anti-social activities. 

What about the victim - a girl/lady who has suffered this? Can she live a respectful life after this? Will our society give her a chance for new beginning? Make such law which can ensure this. Make provisions where she can start her new life.

I believe in any form of civilization, there are bad people and good people. It is upon the good people whether they want these bad people to restrict or let them do the bad things around them.

If we, ourselves, make good governance, help people or atleast, be the responsible towards the society. Only then these kinds of activities will be minimized. Only because the good people are not active, as the way they should, these bad people get the chance to make such anti-social activities. What me, you, everyone needs to do is, be more responsible and take care of our surroundings. Update police/authorities about the anti-social activities happening around you, that is our duty.

I know, we all want to be at a safer side and don't want to get involved in any trouble.

I heard a girl on TV, who said that in Noida while coming back to home at late night, she found that a guy was harassing a young girl but she did not involve as she felt that might get into trouble.     

If you find something wrong happening in the car standing nearby then I am not saying that you be a hero or detective or Spy and check by yourself, but at least you can update the authorities about it. They will take care of it.

"An Awaken citizen that what we all need to be. Be responsible, know your duty and do it. The world will be a nicer place to live."

"Carpe Diem - Seize the Day, boys!!!" - the message of the movie. Seize the day, before it ends. Live up your life before it ends. An exquisite movie directed by Peter Weir that demonstrated many facets of being a teenager, and all of the passionate emotions that come with being one.

The wonderful message said in a beautiful manner.

Oh! Captain! My Captain! - Mr. Robin Williams, in the role of Mr. Keating, a professor of English with a different style of teaching. He tried to change the lives of students but some misinterpreted it. Mr. Keating introduces his students to poetry and his free-thinking attitude. The liberating philosophies of the authors he introduces to his class have a profound effect on his students.

The movie concentrates on student's life, the stress of studies, duties, and expectations. Every scene has its own importance. Robin William was at his best and wonderful support provided by Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles, Gale Hansen and Robert Sean Leonard in the role of students. The story moves a bit slow but that is the beauty. You can understand each scene. 

I love Dead Poets Society. It is in a perfect setting. Needless to say, Dead Poets Society is one of my favorite films. 

It is very influential in my decision for career and life. 

Do something which you like or enjoy, gives the live feeling in Life. 

The Movie is not saying to stop doing all those things that you're doing. But, the message is to start doing things that we like to do, to add more meaning to our life, to live life the way we want to.

Let's, Carpe Diem. Let's seize the day, guys!  Let's not just throw our-selves into a pool of duties. 

Start doing things which we like to do. Let's find the real essence of our own lives.

Carpe Diem!!!

Does anyone remember her??? Yes, she is the one unfortunate girl who was struggling to survive her identity as an Indian Female Representative in sports!!!
Surprised!!!

Two years back, people were recognizing her like " Oh she is Sania Nehwal something and she plays Badminton".
Yes, in India, only cricket is considered a sport. So, it is obvious that we know all cricketers and even the names of their spouse and children.
After P T Usha, when I heard any other female Sports person's name in news or on TV was Sania Mirza. (Oh yes that Sania Mirza who was Tennis player. Sharing a photo if you forgot her.)

She was on news for so many reasons:

  1. She was a good tennis player. Yes, she was, after getting so many ads and fame, she got distracted.
  2. Our politicians were also interested in Sania Mirza. Sonia Gandhi met her after some championship because she is Minority Community Girl. I know that she was just wanted to grab an opportunity to attract Minority Community votes.
  3. She had been into controversies because of her clothes, of her affairs and, at last, her marriage.

As she left India after marrying a Pakistani person, all of a sudden people lose Indian female face in sports.

 

Now our unfortunate girl Saina Nehwal got a chance. You must be asking why unfortunate. Here are some reasons:

  1. She is playing badminton, not cricket nor tennis. In Badminton, only one name we know is Prakash Padukone.
  2. People always got confused with Saina or Sania.
  3. She is a great player and athlete but not a model. (No offense, but it is true).

So people kept ignoring her till Sania's departure.
Nowadays, she is being recognized by media, ad agencies and so by common people.
Even after winning so many medals Sonia Gandhi didn't get time to meet her. reasons. 1) Sania is not carrying a big fan-base. 2) Sania is not from minority community (I guess).

Thanks to God, Sania, who was more known for her non-sport related things, went to Pakistan and eventually, Saina got a chance to be Indian Female Face for Sports. (Please don't talk about Anjum Chopra, she is not playing cricket anymore.)

Saina Nehwal's Career Record

Saina Nehwal's Career Overview:

Singles
Played Wins Losses Balance
Total 231 156 75 +81
Current year 47 32 15 +17
Doubles
Played Wins Losses Balance
Total 31 9 22 -13
Current year 0 0 0 0
Ranking
Category Double partner Rank Points
Women's singles 4 63096.5778

In 2010, she was awarded Khel Ratna.

I am happy that Saina Nehwal gets a chance to enjoy benefits which other sports-persons have in India. Like, being recognized, getting advertisements and making money. Though these advertisements are not solo at least she is getting some exposure.

I am happy that we have a Female icon in sports like Saina Nehwal. I hope that other female Sports-persons get a chance to represent India in different games and they make us feel proud...