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Ozhivudivasathe Kali (Malyalam)

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'I have a history of violence but the public record of it will always be incomplete.'  The above lines are from Roxane Gay's memoir, Hunger. I couldn't think of better words to quote while talking about a movie that so subtly shows the undisguised violence this casteist society unleashes on its people. It starts with a group of friends who, on an election day, go to a secluded place in the forest to  spend some time together. But it's not a story about friendship. It's a story of how even friendships are shaped in a society where people inherit violence. You're either the victim or the perpetrator. It takes a huge amount of courage and constant unlearning to finally get past everything that this structure expects from you. For the victims, it's a journey that takes away everything they have and strips them of their dignity. It dehumanizes them. They have a history of violence but the public record of the violence that Indian society has subje...
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Paroma( Bengali) and Stri (Telugu)

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Paroma released in 1985 and Stri released in 1995. Paroma is a Bengali movie and Stri is a Telugu movie. Both movies won the national award for best feature film in their respective language. Paroma portrays the story of Paroma, a docile married Bengali woman whose world is confined to the house she was married into and her work is to keep the house going. Everything she does is in sync with everyone's routine because she's the one looking after the people in the house so that they keep doing what they're supposed to do. Her life takes a turn when she falls in love with a much younger man named Rahul. This docile housewife gets involved in an extra marital affair which overturns the routine she followed for so long. It also takes her on a journey of self discovery which results in her wanting to work outside of home and earn her own money. Stri, on the other hand,  is the story of Rangi. She's not married. She doesn't have children and an ail...
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Kappela (Malyalam movie)

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कहानी यह है कि कहानी रोमांचक है। कहानी यह है कि कहानी जैसी है, वैसी है। कहानी यह है कि एक लड़की है। प्यारी है। प्यार में है। इल्ज़ाम है कि लड़की अनुभवहीन है। लड़की गांव की है। बारहवीं में फेल हो गई है। घर में बाप की सत्ता है और अभाव की छाया है। एक फोन है और एक रॉन्ग नंबर है। यही फोन और रॉन्ग नंबर मिलकर जो करते हैं वो लड़की के लिए आकर्षक है। उसका भरोसा है कि यह फैसला उसका अपना होना चाहिए। यही उसका रिबेलियन है और इसी की सच्चाई की पड़ताल करना उसकी ज़रूरत। लगता है कि सबकुछ प्यारा है, लेकिन नहीं है। कुछ नज़रों का धोखा है, नज़रिए का छलावा है, मगर रोमांच है, ऐक्शन है, सच से सामना है, रिएलिटी चेक का तमाचा और लड़की के कोमल गाल हैं।  लेकिन लड़की को इतना नाइईव क्यों दिखाया ऐसा कहना विक्टिम ब्लेमिंग है। क्योंकि ऐसी कहानियां होती हैं। नाइईव न होना भी प्रिविलेज है जो बहुत सारे एलिमेंट्स से मिलकर बनता है। शुरू से डायरेक्टर आपको यह नहीं दिखा रहा था कि लड़की कितनी नाइईव है। वह आपको यह बता रहा था कि जिस भ्रम में दर्शक है, उसी भ्रम में नायिका है। जब भ्रम टूटता है तो दर्शक और न...
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Vanaja (Telugu movie)

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Vanaja is a 2006 Telugu movie directed by Rajnesh Domalpalli. Rajnesh made this movie as part of his thesis when he was studying at Columbia University. The budget of the movie was very low. I read somewhere that it was 20,000 USD. Most of the actors, including the protagonist, were first-timers. This is a story of Vanaja, a 14 year old girl who turns 15 and then 16 during the course of the movie. We get to witness two years of her life and what may have happened later is left to our imagination.  The actors have acted flawlessly.  The girl who played the protagonist is a delight to watch. She's ambitious, smart and hardworking. She's in her teenage, so her innocence is evident. But she has a fiery temper, which, I think, is necessary for her survival. She lives in a village, belongs to a lower caste family and has a girl best friend named Lachhi. She goes to school with Lachhi. Lachhi shares her books with Vanaja if Vanaja can't afford to buy books. The beautif...
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