2d-life;

The good place is a great entertainer - especially the first season. The climax of the first season was the highest point for me. Things did start going downhill (in my personal opinion) but the show managed to keep me hooked till the end. I certainly wanted to know how the show ends. However, I have some beef with the basic premise of the show - it is either flawed or they took the easy route. To discuss these issues, I will, unfortunately, have to divulge the intricate details of the show. So, needless to say, this post is full of spoilers . So, if you plan to watch the show, it would be better if you read this article after you finish watching the show. Else, the article might give a neat summary of the interesting ideas in the show. The basic premise of the show is that the criteria for deciding who goes to the good place are flawed. The main justification for the claim comes from two observations: For the last 500 years, no one has been to the good place (think heaven...

Android Kunjappan is a movie about loneliness at old age, but with many twists.  The movie is the story of Bhaskara Poduval and his loving son Subrahmanian (Chuppan).  Chuppan being educated and ambitious find it difficult to lead his life in rural Kerala.  Bhaskara Poduval, on the other hand, does not want to leave his home town.  Upon getting a lucrative job in a Japanese company, Chuppan leaves to Russia.  Initially, Chuppan appoints a couple of home nurses (one after the other) to take care of his father.  But, they all end up being comic disasters.  Finally, he brings a trial robot made by his company to take care of his father.  The rest of the movie is a story of companionship between man and machine.        Generally, in movies, the suffering of the elderly is caused by children who are complete jerks.  Such people certainly exist and it is worthwhile to portray their story.  However, it is important to rea...

Kettiyollaanu Ente Maalakha is the story of Sleevachan (Asif Ali), a good-natured individual ignorant of the ways of romance and sex.  Although he had avoided marriage until 35, he decides to marry to care for his ageing mother.  The rest of the movie is about his struggles in the journey forward. I would like to get a bit into the story as some of it begs discussion.  Thus, there will be some spoilers, but I believe they would not really spoil anything. Soon after fixing the marriage, he starts panicking.  He even confesses to the local priest that he is feeling stressed because of his ignorance.  However, the priest casually dismisses these worries.  After marrying Rincy, he is unable to initiate a physical relationship, causing even more stress.  Sleevachan's struggles were cracking up people all around me, and I felt, perhaps that was the director's intention.  Those very same scenes were, however, making me extremely uncomfortable....

Helen is the story of a girl's struggle as she is accidentally trapped in a life or death situation.  I did not enjoy the film because the girl's struggle disturbed me, proving that the movie was well made.  Anna Ben's (Helen) act was very convincing.  The movie certainly could have been better.  Certain cliches like Jayshankar's (Manager, Chicken Hub) character could have been avoided, especially because it does not add any value to the story.  The over-dramatised father-daughter relationship also falls into the same category.  In general, the bubbly character played by Anna Ben, in the initial segment of the movie, did not feel natural/convincing to me.  Although S.I Ratheesh Kumar (Aju Varghese) is a somewhat common trope in modern films, Aju Varghese's acting made it worthwhile.  By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62280395

"Jack and Daniel" is a robber-cop story with absolutely nothing new to offer.  The "grand" crime scenes which are supposed to excite, failed to make any impact.  If you are a fan of Dileep's comedy ( like me ) and that is what took you to the theatre, then again you will be highly disappointed.  The action though choreographed by some of the best didn't feel right.  The cameo by Peter Hein was one of the lowest points of the film.    I was so bored during the film that I dozed off for a few minutes in between.  This seldom happens with me and can be taken as a testimony of the film's quality.  I watched the movie with my cousin, and he jested I failed to enjoy the film because I missed those scenes.  So, if you are watching, make sure you don't miss any scene!

Ittymaani is a loving son living with his mother but is notorious for doing anything for money.  His neighbour, a woman of his mother's age, has three children who are his opposites -  they are well-respected in society but has abandoned their mother.  One day the neighbour has a heart attack and is hospitalised by Ittymaani.  Even after being informed of this situation, they choose to go for a trip to Munnar than attend to their mother.  To teach them a lesson, Ittymaani fakes marriage with his neighbour.  This key idea is novel and semi-interesting.  However, everything else is disappointing.  The comedy is especially stale.

Bigil is the story of a rowdy neighbourhood that is reformed through sports. This transformation is shown through a gangster father (Rayappan) and his footballer son (Michael) both played by Vijay. Kids from this neighbourhood used to roam around with knives fighting each other. However, inspired by Michael (who uses the stage name Bigil) they have started playing football and are too busy to fight. Given this theme, it is unfortunate that the movie stressed the importance of winning - a recurrent dialogue by Rayappan to Michael being "Bigil, the cup is most important". I enjoyed watching the film and would recommend it to others. That said, most of my friends did not like the movie - especially those who watch and enjoy football. One of my friends was especially pissed by the fact that almost every other shot is a scissor cut.  As I dislike sports, the fact that the football portrayed in the film was unrealistic did not even strike me. If you are looking for a "mas...

Nakshatratharattu is a film having a very special place in my life, certainly a movie that deserves a place in my reflections on movies. I was an 11-year-old kid when the movie released and had watched it in the theatre with my family. The movie touched me so much that I was sobbing through a big chunk of the movie. When the movie was over, people around me were all pointing at me and murmuring "that is the sobber". To make matters worse, people in my circles had disliked the movie and thought the movie was anything but touching. Though I shared the feeling that the movie could have been better, I strongly felt there were some beautiful ideas in the movie. Nonetheless, I could not convince anyone. As an effect, I became very self-conscious whenever I watched a movie with others. In my own privacy, I still pour out my heart in tears. To the young me, the movie was about a couple adopting "parents". The pain of the couple as they did not have a family, an...

I recently read this wonderful book "Don't sleep, there are snakes" by Daniel Everett.  It describes the author's life in the Amazon with the Pirahas, their language, and their culture.  Apparently, he once missed the greens and asked for a shipment from his friend.  He was caught in the act of having Salad by one of his Piraha friends.  The Piraha was bewildered that Daniel Everett was eating leaves and enquired if he didn't have any meat.  When Everett said he had, but he loves these leaves the Piraha responded: "Piraha's don't eat leaves.  this is why you don't speak our language well.  We Pirahas speak our language well and we don't eat leaves". Notice the striking similarity with what I had talked about in an earlier post . Everett, being a scientist, was clearly aware that correlation and causation are not the same.  But apparently, the words continued to nag him as if they had something useful in it.  I believe, the respect he h...

I was not impressed by Kumbalangi nights.  I don't mean to say it is a bad film.  It is certainly worth watching.  The cinematography is extraordinary.  Also, it has its moments - nice little dialogues.  But with all that, it is just an average film, or so I feel.  As I had explained in a post before , people expect explanations when you express dislike.  Actually, I wouldn't say I dislike, but I did not like it as much as others - the people I talked to.  And, in this case, I think I understand some of the reasons.  And I will be sharing those reasons with you. What do you feel when you hear someone saying "These impoverished people are so lucky.  Wish I had a skinny body like them"?  Movies like Kumbalangi nights elicit the same emotion in me.  The major problem poor people face is lack of money.  If you make a movie on the poor and completely take money out of the equation, that makes no sense.  Kumbalangi night...

I did not particularly enjoy Kismat (Malayalam), Pariyerum Perumal (Tamil) or C/o Kancherapalayam (Telugu), even though the reviews for these films were generally positive. My immediate response was, "how many films about inter-caste or inter-religious love (and the resulting conflicts) would they make?". My heart was craving for variety. On the other hand, I like Hunter X Hunter because it is so similar to Naruto. I have seen so many other Naruto-like anime and I have enjoyed many of them. Hunter X Hunter just deserves a really special mention. If someone informs me about a new anime similar to Naruto, I will jump on it. My heart keeps craving for more and more of the same thing. How does one address this cognitive dissonance? My own answer is as follows: I do not really care for variety. If I like something, I generally crave for more of the same. The lesser I like a particular theme, the easier I will get bored with it. It is then that I crave for "var...

Greek mythology contains tales of dangerous semi-human enchantresses called Sirens.  They seduce travelling sailors to their island using music and song to shipwreck on the rocky coasts.  Odysseus wanted to listen to the song of Sirens.  Heeding to the advice of Circe, he asks his crew to fill their ears with beeswax(so that they will not hear the song) and tie him to the mast of the ship.  He instructed the sailors that they are to leave him tied even if he orders to do otherwise.  Thus he could hear the song of the siren while escaping the treacherous end at the hands of Sirens.  This idea is called pre-commitment and is a favourite of many self-help gurus. The Tamil movie Deepavali gives an interesting twist to this story -  the hero is not Odysseus but a crew member.  Let me elaborate.  The heroine in this movie suffers from post-traumatic memory loss.  Troubled by the stressful experience of not recognising people she is supposed...

It is not uncommon to hear criticisms of unrealistic feats accomplished by heroes in South Indian films.  People are offended by the disregard to physical laws exhibited in these movies.  More often than not, the victims of these criticisms are Telugu films.  In this post, I attempt to explain, how to make sense of (or how I see) these unrealistic, physics-defying acts.  Hopefully, at least some of you would be able to better appreciate these films after reading this article. Say, for example, we are watching a Superman movie and you see Superman flying.  Does that bother you? If yes, you can stop reading right now.  This article is most probably not for you.  If not, why?  I guess it is because the storyteller has given an "explanation".  Notice that this explanation need not be there in this movie.  Someone watching Superman is expected to know that.  Now, let us come to a South Indian film.  In contrast, it appears...

I recently saw a wonderful video analysis on Naruto.  This article is a tribute and response to that video .  The video especially focusses on Naruto's ability to convince people, which he calls "Talk-no-jutsu".  This is a parody of the way techniques are named in Naruto - Jutsu in Japanese means technique and no is a Japanese proposition.  I was extremely impressed by his analysis and it helped clarify a lot of things to me.  For example, I always hated the uselessness of Naruto in Gaara arc. The extended scenes of Naruto chasing Deidara crying "Gaara o kaese" (return Gaara) were irritating. I still think it is irritating. But, he wonderfully explained how it makes sense in the greater scheme of things.  However, there are parts in it where I have slight disagreements with him.  My major disagreement is with his claim that "Naruto's talk-no-jutsu failed" during the Sasuke retrieval arc.  In this post, I will explain why it should ...

In India many believe in the principle "Satyam bruyat, priyam bruyat, na bruyat satyam apriyam, priyam ca nanrutam bruyat esha dharmah sanatanah".  It can be translated as "Speak the truth.  Speak pleasantly.  Do not speak unpleasant truths.  Even though pleasant, don't lie".  However, I do not agree with this principle.  I will explain. In the movie Harikrishnans (a Malayalam movie), Juhi Chawla feeds Mohanlal and Mammootty (heroine feed the two heroes) food with too much chilly powder and salt. Believing this principle they didn't say anything and continued eating that food. But, it had a negative effect on her. She got extremely offended that they didn't take the freedom to tell her the truth. I would have felt the same. I like it when people tell me unpleasant truths (apriya sathyam). I have often wondered why.  I believe the following interaction from the movie Prestige gives us some insight: Alfred Borden: Everything's going to be all righ...

The caption for 2d-life's Facebook page reads "reflections on the silver screen". A reflection need not always show just the beautiful side in you. It will often show the ugly. This post is going to be like that. I will be venting out some pent-up frustration, anger and irritation. So, take everything I am going to say with a judicious amount of salt. These words certainly reflect my beliefs and thoughts, but my mind might be clouded on this issue. One of the many reasons why I like anime is the fact that they are more willing to accept certain things. I am going to talk about one such "truth" never expressed in such poetic words elsewhere. This truth is the purpose of marriage. At one point in my life, I was sincerely confused about whether to marry or not. To find an answer, I sought the purpose of marriage to my elders. After talking to many people, I had collected an extensive list of lofty reasons to get married. I want to stress that not o...

Japanese society appears to be very formal and they are known for their extremely polite manner of speech. However, if you have watched any shonen anime, you would notice the hero is nothing like that. The heroes generally speak in a very casual manner with no special reverence to anyone. This has always puzzled me. Firstly, how exactly do they pull it off? Secondly, how are the parents OK with showing such behaviour to teenage kids? As someone who received a lot of criticism during childhood for the way I behaved, I was always curious to know what is the secret towards being irreverent without being offensive. And I have always hoped I would find an answer in anime. And finally, I feel I have found a key to the answer in One piece. Needless to say at this point that I would actually be talking about a certain episode of One Piece. I assure you that people who have not seen One piece would very well be able to follow this post. But, if you are afraid of spoilers, you sh...

Kalyanaraman is a movie I really like and I have watched it countless times.  It is, of course, famous for its humour, which, however, is not the topic of this article.   In the movie, Jyothirmayi is a mute.  After various attempts, her marriage is fixed.  The groom, however, elopes the day before marriage with someone else.  The girl's father requests some of the relatives present at the wedding if one of their sons could marry her.  But, they were evidently uninterested and giving excuses.  In fact, they were trying to push it on to each other. Finally, they suggest that it is better to find another "disabled" person for her.  This infuriates him.  He says "It is better if she remains unmarried.  I will protect her till I am alive and after that God will". It is understandable that under such situations one might get hurt and angry.  I do not find fault in that.  At the same time, I feel the same is true about ...

I recently realized that the Malayalam movie Santhwanam (Consolation) is a remake of the Telugu film Seetharamaiah gaari manavaralu (Seetharamaiah's granddaughter).  The basic story is as follows.  After a love marriage, the relationship between a father and son goes bad and they never communicate afterward. Years later the granddaughter returns to meet her grandparents.  The movie is about the relationship between the granddaughter and her grandparents.   I confess I generally feel the Malayalam version is superior even when the original is not Malayalam.  This is especially the case with Priyadarshan films.  I feel he is a master at adapting films to Malayalam.  The comparison between these two films is however tricky.  I think they both have their merits, but the Telugu version is a bit better in my eyes.   To begin with, Seetharamaiah gaaru (the protagonist in Telugu) is a much deeper and laudable character than Rajash...

Revenge is a common theme in movies, books or any other form of storytelling but, most do not give a justification to the act.  They either take it to be the natural course of action or condemn it.  The fact that some condemn it, means there is scope for a discussion.  I think most people would have an issue with revenge when it is exacted not on the perpetrator, but on someone related to the perpetrator.  In the 2010 Telugu movie "Maryada Ramanna", which was later remade into Hindi as "Son of Sardar" and Malayalam as "Maryadaraman", they pose a question which can be translated as "If a son can get the property earned by one's father why cannot he receive punishments for his father's action?"   The surprising thing is, even after thinking for quite some while, I was unable to find a satisfactory answer. Apparently, this stance is inspired by our scriptures.  In the 35th shlokam of the 64th chapter in the 10th skandham of Srimad B...