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[wapkerala]

21 Grams Streaming from 10th June on Disney+ Hotstar

[wapkerala]

CBI 5 Streaming from June 12th on Netflix

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by wapkerala

21 Grams Streaming from 10th June on Disney+ Hotstar

[Show spoiler]

Any relationship to the 2003 movie?

[wapkerala]

Originally Posted by ravenus

Any relationship to the 2003 movie?

No

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by Harvey Dent

99?? why did I pay Rs. 499 for The Batman ?

The Batman 4k streaming for 149/- now, told ya.

[ravenus]

Finished watching the second season of Panchayat on Amz Prime, and I'm left with mixed feelings.

The writing in most of the episodes didn't feel as satisfying as the first season. The arc of the protagonist Abhishek (Jitendra Kumar) is stagnant now and nothing much happens with the other characters (Raghubir Yadav's Pradhan gets a couple of moments to shine). While the first season had a lot of satire, this is rather lacking in the second season where most of the episodes are bland (and some, like when Abhishek's friend visits and has run-ins with the local bestiary, were kinda stupid). I did love the episode with the drunk driver - nothing happens plot-wise, but it has a beautiful bittersweet quality suffused through it.

As with the first season I have a problem with the (occasional) use of foul language in an otherwise sweet-natured and family-friendly series. Just because it's on OTT doesn't mean you need to do an Anurag Kashyap with the dialog.

The season finale episode marks a major tonal shift for the series. I admire them for not just returning to status quo, but it was a bit like seeing a Yes Minister season ending in an IRA attack.

Panchayat Season 2 - Official Trailer | Jitendra Kumar, Neena Gupta, Raghubir Yadav | May 20 - YouTube

[ashik786]

[ravenus]

I don't recall hearing of Thoongavanam before stumbling upon the title on Hotstar, but this 2015 noir thriller (a remake of a 2011 French movie called Sleepless Night) adapted by and starring Kamalahaasan was a pleasant surprise in most part, with some cracking setups (which Kamal does a decent job of Tamizh-ising) and some brutal close quarters combat. Set mostly in the single location of a nightclub which the cops and gangsters keep going in and out of and all around, it's mean, though not as lean as it really should have been (around a quarter could have been trimmed off). But it's still one of the more reined in films from the Camel, and I had a good time on the whole.

Of course, if you have seen the original you probably needn't bother with this.

Thoongaavanam - Official Trailer - #1 | Kamal Haasan | Ghibran | Rajesh M Selva - YouTube

[ashik786]

Vikram Streaming soon on Disney+hotstar

[Harvey Dent]

July 8th is still too far

Originally Posted by ashik786

Vikram Streaming soon on Disney+hotstar

[idlebrain]

Does Disney+hotstar stream in 4K HDR/DV with Atmos for latest Indian movies? In US, Hulu is the only option for Hotstar content. All of them stream in crappy HD and audio for some of them is not even 5.1.

[ashik786]

Samrat Prithviraj Streaming soon

[ashik786]

[ravenus]

Raudra (roughly translating as scary or horrible), which I stumbled upon on Amazon Prime, seems to have been birthed by the success of the Marathi culture inspired Tumbbad. While that film was a near masterpiece of modern Indian mystery-horror, presenting a fantastic fable of human greed with incredible visual and textural detail, Raudra sadly does not match up.

It is not made explicit, but the story seems to be set sometime in post-independence India (possible the 60's or 70's) in a remote Maharashtrian village. Trambak (Rahul Patil) enters the village as a census taker and arrangements are made for his accommodation at the crumbling vada (mansion) owned by the acerbic Nanasaheb (Deepak Damle). Nanasaheb is a dominating figure both at home to his wife and daughter, and for the villagers. Daughter Mrunmayee (Urmila Jagtap) is young and pretty, and sick of her father's oppression. She seems to find in Trambak a sympathetic ear for her complaints, perhaps even an escape route from her current existence.

Apart from going about his census task in the most halfhearted manner accompanied by buffoonish local aide Bando (Anil Padvankar), Trambak seems quite interested in the regional legends, and it becomes apparent early on that this is not mere idle curiosity. He is in quest of an old temple he claims to be of a family deity. Mrunmayee posits that the information he seeks may be available in an ancient book of records carefully guarded by her father, and volunteers to steal the book for him. Even after stealing the book, they have to contend with solving the riddles contained in it to decode the location of the temple, which is said to house an ancient treasure.

While promising in outline, Raudra disappoints hugely in execution. Writer-Director Ravindra Shivaji's screenplay is lackluster and contains glaring exposition lapses. The MacGuffin of Nanasaheb's book is a clumsy one - given his innate craftiness, it seems unlikely that for so many years before Trambak's arrival he would not have made similar deductions. Worse, the film is unable to set and sustain a pace. Instead of a carefully constructed ebb and flow as Trambak follows up various clues, we get a jerky stop-start narrative. Characters are drawn with far too few shades to render them interesting. Mrunmayee could have been an layered personality, but as portrayed here (both by the writing and Jagtap's unskilled performance) is rather shallow.

Technically also, Raudra is a mixed bag. The decaying vada is an apt setting and there are some atmospheric shots (Swapnil Kedare). But several other parts of the film appear prosaic and the music - both songs and BGM - overbearing. Apart from a nicely intimidating Deepak Damle, the cast is not particularly impressive. The film is just not able to sustain a specific mood, essential for this kind of story. The worst is saved for the climax. I really don't know what they were thinking here. Perhaps they wanted to make an impact with its abruptness, but it feels as though they stopped there on account of a total deficiency of ideas on how to finish off the story.

Looking up the entry for this film on IMDB, I find a very favorable rating and almost uniformly gushy user reviews (LINK), but my own experience left me quite cold.

Raudra (रौद्र ) Official Trailer | Rahul Patil, Urmila Jagtap | 1st April | New Marathi Movie 2022 - YouTube

[ashik786]

[wapkerala]

RRR streaming now on Disney+ Hotstar in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada languages

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by wapkerala

RRR streaming now on Disney+ Hotstar in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada languages

Excellent! Was wondering if I need to get a Netflix sub to see it.

[ashik786]

[ravenus]

Watched RRR on Hotstar yesterday with mum. Since it is a long-ass movie and mum has issues with sitting on the couch so long, we split into two viewing sessions with the interval as a spacer.

I'm not quite convinced that this is the Second Coming, and I still think Eega is the best example thus far of Rajamouli's imagination, but it is pretty good as a bombastic entertainer. The best parts of course are the action sequences, where a lot of thought has gone into how one action leads to another. The story reminds me of 1985's Amitabh starrer Mard, which I had seen at the cinema as a kid and was hugely impressed with. This one doesn't quite hit the giddy ludicrousness which Mard achieved with its S&M inspired heroine, and villains that drew blood and wore Mission Impossible style masks. Also, the flashback portions here are boring, and Ajay Devgan really sucks the energy out of the film during his stint. But both Ram Charan and NTR Jr kick ass and take names and blow up a storm.

[wapkerala]

Kaduva malayalam movie streaming now on amzon prime video