All stories by SREEHARI NAIR
Review: Tigers is too taken by its own courage
Rediff.com22 Nov 2018'Tigers fails to understand that the phenomenon of a million babies dying because there is not enough clean drinking water in which to mix a certain packaged baby formula may have its source in a system where deprivation runs so deep that even a small gift works like a tonic,' argues Sreehari Nair.
Review: Mirzapur is *not* a Gangster Drama...
Rediff.com22 Nov 2018...But a comedy about Class Wars. Sreehari Nair tells us why.
The Performance of the Year
Rediff.com25 Oct 2018Gajraj Rao's performance in Badhaai Ho is the finest by an actor in a Hindi film this year, applauds Sreehari Nair.
Tumbbad Review: A fairytale for grown ups
Rediff.com12 Oct 2018'What seemed missing in Tumbbad was that screwiness, that kinkiness, which shades so many of our best parables,' observes Sreehari Nair.
Andhadhun Review: The most fun you'll have in a movie theatre this year
Rediff.com9 Oct 2018'Sriram Raghavan is mainstream Hindi cinema's greatest gift to us,' declares Sreehari Nair after watching the director's latest movie caper.
Village Rockstars Review: Too good for the Oscars
Rediff.com28 Sep 2018'This is a movie, which if you allow it to, will wash itself all over you, so that you emerge from it a little drenched but wide awake,' says Sreehari Nair.
Manto Review: A highly intelligent piece of work
Rediff.com21 Sep 2018If Manto, the film, falls short of being a masterpiece it's because Nandita Das could not quite crack the Manto code: She couldn't quite see the wholeness of her subject with the same eyes that Manto saw his people. This imperfection in the film, in a way, becomes the greatest tribute to Manto, feels Sreehari Nair.
Love Sonia Review: Powerful. Poetic. Demanding. Rewarding
Rediff.com14 Sep 2018'Love Sonia is a motion picture with the ambitions of a novel.' 'When I walked out of Love Sonia this Monday night, I walked out with a hushed audience that seemed too overcome by the raw power of the film to even pause for applause,' notes Sreehari Nair.
The Gali Guleiyan Review
Rediff.com7 Sep 2018'The overarching fact of modern social behaviour isn't that we are irresponsible women and men, but that we are never quite sure, when and how to act responsibly.' 'This is the real side of every Twitter outrage, where those who tweet about stories of 'unreported domestic abuse' end up feeling superior to those neighbours who are summoned up as clueless witnesses.' 'This view of the supposed spiritual decay of our times, which is at the core of Gali Guleiyan, is thus more fashionable than perceptive,' says Sreehari Nair.
Stree Review: A Trick Movie
Rediff.com31 Aug 2018'Not only are the concerns expressed in Stree (patriarchy, consent, prejudice against women) mere excuses to touch our 'sentimental hotspots', the movie itself is a few tricks cobbled together,' says Sreehari Nair.
Ghoul makes it terrifying to be a Muslim
Rediff.com28 Aug 2018'Any Muslim who shows even the slightest hint of revolutionary thought is marked as 'infected'.' 'At that point, he is taken to the nearest Detention Centre where a procedure called Reconditioning awaits him.' 'Areas with a high Muslim population have been designated as Scheduled Religion Zones.' 'To be an active participant in this social cleansing ritual, there is only one prerequisite: You have to be an undying patriot whose friend and family is his country.'
Expect *this* from Pataaka, Manto, Sui Dhaaga
Rediff.com22 Aug 2018Sreehari Nair introduces you to three promising movies coming up.
Manmarziyaan promises violent love
Rediff.com14 Aug 2018Anurag Kashyap's lovers have no enemies to shoot, says Sreehari Nair, and so they take aim at each other.
Vishwaroop 2 Review: Slowest thriller ever made
Rediff.com12 Aug 2018This is a film where random storylines are padded together with obscure Internet facts, observes Sreehari Nair.
Review: Mulk screams so bad it mutes its distinct voice
Rediff.com3 Aug 2018'Mulk gets a lot of things right, including its vision of the country as a place where underneath the punctilious, forced-secular surface there are volatilities waiting to go off,' says Sreehari Nair.
Review: Dhadak is the movie Sairat was trying NOT to be
Rediff.com22 Jul 2018Dhadak is a film that turns Nagraj Manjule's vision into naught, only so that a few more zeroes can be added to Karan Johar's bank account, says Sreehari Nair.
Sacred Games: The Gangster as Mumbai
Rediff.com10 Jul 2018'What would a composite of Dawood, Rajan, and Arun Gawli be like?' 'What if an absconding mafia boss were to land in Mumbai tomorrow, tired from all the running, and tender his final apology to the city by narrating his story and narrating it with brutal honesty?' Sreehari Nair watches Sacred Games.
Sanju: The Master Manipulator returns
Rediff.com5 Jul 2018'In Sanju, Rajkumar Hirani has essentially found a Rajkumar Hirani story buried inside Sanjay Dutt's life.' 'Now if you think that's scary, sample the alternative: Perhaps Sanjay Dutt had been living his life to suit the narrative of a Rajkumar Hirani film,' says Sreehari Nair.
Lust Stories: Why we should love *this* one
Rediff.com27 Jun 2018Dibakar Banerjee delivers his finest work to date, and Sreehari Nair makes sure to applaud him.
Ocean's 8 is good, glossy fun
Rediff.com25 Jun 2018'In this chicks-rule-the-roost universe, the men are non-existent, untrustworthy or plain incompetent and it's the women who are providing for each other's fantasies.' Sreehari Nair applauds Ocean's 8.