BodhisattyaPal

Probably the most original Indian movie I have seen in years! Eight Down Toofaan Mail, directed by Akriti Singh, tells a curious story of a woman landed at the New Delhi Railway station in 1974 claiming herself as the Queen of Awadh!

This movie is actually a period drama portraying the social and political aspect of independent India in the middle of the Railway Workers Strike during the Indira Gandhi era. An undertone of satire is always evident in this exceptional movie. We witness the birth, growth and evolution of a workers strike with the arrival and eventually departure of some uninvited guests at the North Delhi Railway Station waiting room. While the main focus was always on 'your royal highness', the audiences slowly dive into the life and politics of a struggling nation.

Eight Down Toofaan Mail delivered some powerful command on the heritability of colonialism and variability of homeland. It brought back the regret of the partition and asked serious questions on the equity of the nation. The director cum the lead actress, Akriti Singh achieved something unbelievable with this luminous work of art; creating an authentic work which tells more than its scope, is a mammoth work, but she did it masterfully.

If we talk about the technical aspects of this movie, the use of the retroish hue and pallet was brilliant. The camera was sharp too, covering a unique perspective. The incoherent protrayal of Indira Gandhi through the eye glasses and veil was remarkable. The cinematography, music and art design, all complemented each other to create some memorable cinematic moments.

The movie never explored the cause of the queen's arrival, it didn't served a backstory of her; rather it focused on the consequences of changes she brought and her effect on the thought process of different lives; from rikshawala, rail workers to the station master and the prime minister! Being poetic and surreal sometimes, or sentimental and satirical at places, Eight Down Toofaan Mail is ultimately a story of intimacy and exploration, which tells to seek the royalty, pride and sense of belonging within us. A rarest jewel of Indian movies. Stunning...

I'm Your Man, Germany's Official Submission to 94th Oscars, is not a never seen before kind of high concept sci-fi. We have seen this premise too many times. This German movie goes hardly beyond that; but it is still fresh!

The highlight of I'm Your Man is its simplicity. It never tried to become any sci-fi extravaganza or to serve any mind blowing concepts. It goes gently like an easy soothing melody. It doesn't have any colossal plot twist. Inspite of having a neoteric plot, it's actually emotional, soulful and close to heart.

This is a very vibrant movie with cozy scores from Tobias Wagner. Impressive performances from the duo Maren Eggert & Dan Stevens were one of the finest things in it. The plot didn't dig deep, but it still consists of some memorable moments. The second half anyhow manage to compel you to think. The shades of Her or Zoe were always upon it; but it still managed to find a way of it's own.

I'm Your Man is basically an emotional study of soliteriness in a package of sci-fi, which is well made from every angle. Decent..

Amidst all the violence, hallucinatory chaos, body horror, erotism, wildness, extremities and weirdness; there is a warm, moving and delicate soul lying in deep; and that makes this 2021 Palme d'Or winner a distinct, unparalleled, otherworldly experience!

Titane is like an incoherently gorgeous nightmare; a neon-bathed dazzling visual masterpiece with extremely high production value, masterful scores and weirdly ambitious breathtaking imagination of a director!

I expected Titane to be a stylish art-horror with a partially unique concept but shallow story line. But Docournau took it beyond my expectations; Titane has a very deep and significant story to tell. It is about dysfunctional parenthood, degree of self-destruction, abyss of longing, grip of the machine age and offcourse the power of love!

Titane is absolutely original and incomparably unique. But still it somehow manges to remind me of Lynch's Eraserhead, Glazer's Under the Skin and some of Cronenberg's freudian horror visionaries. And inspite of this, Titane surprised and shocked me in every moments.

In an alien dimension and from an eccentric perspective; Titane tells more than its scope and touches some substantial topics terrifically. Titane is a story of a collective healing process and uncanny metamorphosis which is horrific, shocking and soulful at the same time. Will wait to experience how much wilder Docournau's imagination can become next!