Come December, newsrooms get down to the routine of preparing 'year-end list' almost with a Pavlovian proclivity. For, it is an exercise probably as old as journalism. The best and worst of what happened in the ending year is the general gist of these lists that are prepared across journalistic beats.
As a tech platform, TechRadar inevitably has plenty of such lists on mobiles, laptops and what not. But it is equally in the fitness of things that we also have a compilation on the many films on the streaming platforms, as they have become huge in the last two years.
So, we got down to picking movies that worked for us, and also ones that didn't this year. Because too much of goodness is also boring.
For the sake of even spread, we picked one each from Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada --- the languages that seem to dominate the Indian OTT spectrum. Of course, English movies have a huge fanbase in India. But we have been limiting ourselves to Indian lingos in these columns --- come to think of it --- for no particular reason.
Also, we have confined ourselves to films that were released directly on OTT platforms or had very short run in theatres due to Covid-19 (Kho Kho, Jathi Rathnalu), skipping the cinema halls. Then again, it is one of the filters that we have used to make things easy for us.
And, most importantly, this is a very subjective collection. But with films, you know, it is always the case.
PS: Being a list collated ahead of the actual year-end, a few films like, say, Minnal Murali, Atrangi Re, Madhuram have not been taken into consideration.
PS1: The films named against the sub-head Nah are the ones that didn't work for us.
Okay, off we go:
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Yay! - Sardar Udham Singh
Even if Sardar Udham Singh (Amazon Prime Video) had released in theatres we would have been tempted to include it here, for, such was its cinematic force. Historicals have largely been not a strong suit of Bollywood filmmakers. To fictionalise big events of the past on screen calls for both rigour and relish. In Sardar Udham Singh, Shoojit Sircar performed this tough balancing act with poise and pulchritude. As such the Jallianwala Bagh massacre (1919) is one of the bloodiest chapters of Colonial history in India. And Sardar Udham Singh chronicled the saga of one man who thirsted for revenge on the perpetrators of that gory dance of death. The thing about Sardar Udham Singh film was that it managed to keep the tone even --- it could have easily played up the jingoism, given the times we live in. But the director let the inherent potential in the actual events to take over.
And Vicky Kaushal's rage against the Britishers --- as delicious irony of life would have it, Vicky ended the year marrying the British-Indian actress Katrina Kaif --- seemed real and morally-backed. The layer of conviction in his performance seeped into the entire narrative and what we had on our hands was a hardy movie that was both entertaining and educative.
Another movie that impressed us was Sherni (Amazon Prime Video), with the always impressive Vidya Balan as a spunky forest officer, up more against feral patriarchy and less against ferocious animals, many of which are actually aggressive as a defensive mechanism. The film followed, with a sincere gaze, the life of a woman forest officer. The problem was that sometimes, it slipped into a documentary mode, as if it had forgotten that it was supposed to be a film. Never mind, it is just a quibble.
Nay! - Meenakshi Sundareshwar, Haseen Dillruba
Unfortunately, for us, we had quite a few flicks that proved disappointing. From the top of our head, Meenakshi Sundareshwar (Netflix). It might have been among top-most watched films on the platform, but for us it just didn't click right from the word go. We couldn't buy into the premise that two families in Tamil Nadu, Madurai to be precise, were Hindi-speaking. They weren't of North Indian origin or some such. They are shown as native Tamils, who probably for the sake of the movie, choose to speak in Hindi. And the presentation of Tamils and their tradition seemed caricaturish. The earnestness of the lead pair Sanya Malhotra and Abhimanyu Dassani cannot rescue the film from its inherent silliness.
Another film about newly married couple that slipped badly was Haseen Dillruba (Netflix). Our first impression of Haseen Dillruba was that it wasn't sure what it wanted it to be. Whether it wanted to have an edgy take on arranged marriage culture. Whether it wanted to spin a murder mystery tale around a young couple. Whether it wanted a titillating pulpy play around a family in a small town. In the end, we had a ghoulish goulash that tasted nothing.
Radhe (Zee5) too was horrendous. But it at least had the excuse of being a Salman Khan film.
Yay! - Sarpatta Parambarai
Director P Ranjith made an impressive debut with Atta Kathi that portrayed love in a small town where caste is a constant undercurrent. His next Madras was more upfront with its concerns surrounding caste. After the two films, Ranjith emerged as a credible and sincere voice of Dalits in these parts. However, in his next two films, Kabali and Kaala, starring Rajnikanth, Ranjith seemed unsure. They were neither his films, nor Rajini vehicles. Even when the films spoke for Dalits, it didn't seem convincing. But with Sarpatta Parambarai, Ranjith seems to have found his bearings again. It is an entertaining underdog sports story of a boxer on its own. But around it he adroitly fuses the snapshot of a culture of a corner of Madras that had been left behind in the 70s. The film speaks his usual Dalit politics, but in a remarkably smart way that doesn't drown his voice as a director. And Pasupathy's as a rugged boxing coach is among the best performances of the year in the country.
Mandela (Netflix) too was an endearing film from a small town. The film had a quixotic flavour right from its title. Though the ending seemed too pat, the film kept its satire heart ticking and throbbing all through. On a different year, Mandela could have walked away with the top honours.
Nay! - Bhoomi
In the last few years, Tamil cinema has been severely affected by the virus of 'messagivitis'. Directors and performers, for reasons that cannot be fathomed, seem to have come to the conclusion that the main point of a movie is to drum social service and moral advice to the viewers. But to let wokeism and activism take over the medium like cinema can only be tragic. And comic too, in unintended ways. Bhoomi was a good example of that. It was messagey, with all volume panels raised to the top. The story, its treatment, the acting all belonged to a school auditorium with puritanical masters watching. Year-end, and hence we don't want to go down that road too much.
Yay! - Jathi Rathnalu
Recently, a liberal friend of us watched Jathi Rathnalu (Amazon Prime Video) and pointed to us the larger problem of glorifying as hero characters good for nothing fellows. It was a good lesson for us --- to not get film lessons from the liberals, who expect politically correct behaviour even from a lamp post. In Jathi Rathnalu, three wastrels are indeed the protagonists. But the point of the movie is all humour. It was a riot, and Naveen Polishetty was an absolute hoot, and showed that his performance in Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya was no flash in the pan. Jathi Rathnalu is worth a watch as you wind down the year.
We also quite 'digged' Cinema Bandi, where an accidentally found camera brings out the cinematic side of an otherwise unassuming gaggle of people in a nondescript village. The film's beats are measured and low-key, and it works well with the performances that are unpretentious.
Nay! - Tuck Jagadish
Among the many film industries in India, the Telugu one is probably the best when it comes to getting the inner mechanics of commercial entertainers right. But it can also go all awry. As it did with Tuck Jagadish (Amazon Prime Video). The English word in the title has a reason, and it is silly in the scheme of things. Like in many Telugu films, this one too has big family shenanigans and larger political scheming forged together. But they are not fused convincingly, and what we are left with is an impossible story being carried forward through implausible telling. The over-the-top approach backfires. Spectacularly. And we must urgently ban Jagapathi Babu as villain.
While on the subject of ban, we must have long back restrained any attempt to remake the much-loved Hindi movie Andhadhun. Even if flawed at places, Andhadhun was a compact thriller. Once the suspense was out there was no point to it. Still, we have had two remakes of the film. Maestro in Telugu (Disney+ Hotstar) and Bhramam (Malayalam). Both were disasters, the Telugu even more so because they did not even attempt to regionalise it.
Yay! - Yuvarathnaa
Straight up, we want to say we are making an exception here. We know Yuvarathnaa (Amazon Prime Video) was not a OTT-first release. It had its theatrical run. But heck, Yuvarathnaa had Puneet Rajkumar in the lead. He unfortunately passed away this year, and in an already grief-stricken time, this was too much to take, especially for the Kannadigas who just idolised him and his illustrious family.
Yuvarathnaa, as a movie, was a middling masala entertainer. But it had its heart in the right place. It was engaging and for the most parts it did not plod. But more than anything else, it had Puneet. There sure was a lump in the throat when we watched it again after his untimely demise.
Another Kannada film that worked for us was Act 1978 (Amazon Prime Video). The social thriller made its point without screaming out from the top. That was so refreshing at a time when movies that have underlying message tend to shout in CAPITALS.
Rathnan Prapancha (Amazon Prime Video) was another movie that again took up an interesting subject. For sheer effort, the film deserved some marks.
Nay - Ikkat
Right at the outset, let us confess that Ikkat (Amazon Prime Video) did not work for us may be because of us. Allow us to explain: Normally we tend to avoid getting caught in the hype that accompanies most films ahead of their release these days. But with Ikkat, we somehow fell prey to the idea that it was going to be a laugh riot. Even though it turned out to be passable, it fell short of the laughathon that we were lead to believe that it would be. Otherwise, too, the story about a couple, on the verge of divorce, having to put off that plan, as a lockdown had been announced, seemed to stretch for comic effect. The lines did not hit right comic notes.
Yay! - Nayattu
On the OTT platforms, 2021 was a blockbuster for Malayalam films. Right at the start we got to see The Great Indian Kitchen. In one word, it was terrific. But our top pick is Nayattu (Netflix), for its slow-burn treatment of a sensitive issue, and also, in the process, making a gripping thriller out of it. It also breaks the conventional hero, heroine kind of mould and puts us in the middle of three different people, who are caught up in the same trouble because they happen to be colleagues. The unfolding of the events, even if they be enormous, is matter of fact. Even the edge-of-the-seat cops in search of wanted 'criminals' on the run, has an organic pace to it. To pull this off is pure skill.
We could also have picked Fahadh Faasil's Joji, or even his Malik. And what about Drishyam 2 (all Amazon Prime Video), which gave an object lesson on how to conjure up relevant and relishable sequels. They were all top-notch. We also particularly liked Kaanekkaane (SonyLIV). Nobody has presented the menace of cold revenge in the even gaze that Suraj Venjaramoodu came up with in this film. Our best actor award for this year goes to him. We are impetuous like that.
Nay! - Kho Kho
In a year that saw so many highs, Kho Kho (Amazon Prime Video) was a let down. To be sure, it was not bad. But coming from a national award winning director Rahul Riji Nair, the film was underwhelming. An underdog sports story, where a committed sports master has to coach a bunch of no-hopers into a fighting fight kho kho players, the film holds no real surprise. And kho kho as a sport too doesn't easily lend itself to dramatic moments that films this type demands.
Another meh effort was Nizhal (Amazon Prime Video), Again, by the standards of Radhe or Bhoomi we had set elsewhere, Nizhal cannot be classified as poor. But it sure felt undercooked. The build-up and the suspense should match with the final reveal. That didn't happen. It all seemed a bit rushed and abrupt, like the way this piece is ending.
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