hridayramshenoy

A beautifully simple yet visually captivating depiction of a schoolgirl's life in coastal Karnataka. The script is uncomplicated, drawing its tension from the everyday struggles that viewers can instantly connect with.

What truly stands out in this film is the unembellished portrayal of its characters, offering an authentic glimpse into local life, which lends the plot a genuine sense of realism. The film evokes memories of Shankar Nag's "Malgudi Days" and Majid Majidi's "Children of Heaven," creating a nostalgic charm.

One notable absence, perhaps intentional but something I personally would have welcomed, was a musical score or background track. The inclusion of local folk music in key moments could have added depth to the film's appeal, without detracting from its understated simplicity.

All in all, this is an impressive, heartfelt, and visually striking film that will resonate deeply with those who appreciate authentic indie cinema.

Fahadh Faasil is Joji, third in a family of three brothers, and thoroughly useless. The only thing more useless than himself is his engineering degree and the books on networks and programming gathering away dust in his room.

Joji lives in a huge villa in Kottayam, with his Herculean dad, two elder brothers Jamon and Jaison, a sister in law, Bincy who is Jaison's wife, and Popy who is Jamon's son.

With a lot of family money, extremely active dad, and equally enterprising elder brothers, Joji decides to carve a niche for himself - by loitering in the elaborate rubber plantations, smoking near serene lakes, and investing in highly appreciating assets that would put even bitcoin to shame - horses.

But all is not lost. He has bought an IELTS course and is intensely preparing for it - by playing it on his laptop and taking sound naps in the middle of the day. During one such extremely productive session, he is almost strangulated to death by his father for 'having taken 8000 rupees from his credit card' and gets an ultimatum to return it.

Joji tries to find out who would have done this and finally finds out it is Popy the nephew. Bursting to tell his dad and clear his name, he runs out of the house only to find that his dad is being taken to the hospital due to a heavy stroke he suffered at work in the fields.

Chances of a recovery are slim, docs say, and Joji and Popy now decide to buy a drone from the same credit card. Happy times are short lived as father, much against medical science, makes a recovery and returns home. He is so strong despite the disablement that all three sons fear he might outlive them.

And that's when the plot starts. Joji has extremely great investment ideas like horses and Jaison has thought of buying a flat for his wife Bincy but father controls the finances with an iron fist. What happens now? Watch Joji on Amazon Prime.

Note: Director Amit Masurkar is a friend. This review tries to discount that as much as possible.

'Newton' is the quintessential Oscar nomination movie and appeals with its simplicity so much so that it makes one wonder why it is so difficult to make a good movie that tells an honest tale. It comes with a very simple plot, extremely funny contextual humor, hilarious dialogue and terrific performances from all members in the lead, especially Pankaj "Mein Likh Ke Deta Hun" Tripathi.

The charm of 'Newton' lies in its simplicity - there are no song, dance and action sequences. The plot is straight as an arrow and doesn't deviate from the promise. The cinematography is excellent and every frame during the entire run-time only augments the charm of the film.

An average Indian audience will come away underwhelmed, thanks to the song and dance that one is so used to expecting from a Bollywood flick. This is not a mass entertainer and it doesn't claim to be one. And that is perhaps where the problem lies. Masurkar, in his pursuit for simplicity, has made it way too simple - so much so that the simplicity looks unnatural. Like one of the dialogues in the film itself, the movie suffers not from simplicity but "simplicity ka ghammand". Even the most ungainly marshes have a periwinkle somewhere in the vicinity but Masurkar has carefully clipped it away to make the scene look simple. Has he succeeded in making it look simple? Yes! But has he succeeded in making it look natural? Sadly, no. The ending was way too abrupt for my liking; an additional 5 min of run time would definitely not have harmed.

I would be ignoring the elephant in the room if i am not commenting on the plagiarism allegations surrounding this movie. People familiar with the creative process would understand that bringing a unique concept to life has two pitfalls: One where you don't make a start at all because you are perpetually refining the notion of what is "unique" and the second where you do bring something to life and have people say it has already been done. It is human nature to draw parallels and find similarities; the only man who didn't compare his wife to his mother and the only woman who didn't compare her husband to Salman Khan were Adam and Eve. So these allegations of plagiarism shouldn't disturb the creative because it only shows that the ones pointing the finger don't understand the creative process at all. And as Carl Sagan has so aptly said, "If you want to make apple pie from scratch, you have to first invent THE UNIVERSE!".

'Newton' redefines mainstream Indian cinema and makes for a great watch.