A SUMMER OF MOVIES: Let's Recommend...

Image: paris.zigzag.fr

 With summer having arrived, despite this blogger's busy schedule, time to watch films has become thankfully more available. Catching up on long-time unseen films, missing recent releases that are featured on my to-watch list, opening up my viewing experience to my first Tamil movie... This summer has it all.

All this viewing activity has left me with the conviction that I should blog about two films I watched this summer:

- Lootera by Vikramaditya Motwani, a recent film I had missed and had heard so much about. Definitely one of 2013's most acclaimed movies.

- Cukoo by Raju Murugan, very excited about watching my first Tamil film in a multiplex, where? In Paris pardi!

First in line, Lootera.

I had skipped watching Vikramaditya Motwani's film despite his acclaimed body of work and the star-studded production team (A. Kashyap and the Kapoors, as well as Vikas Bahl) mainly because I have always been an unapologetic "Ranveer Singh fan... NOT".

It was however a true pleasure and surprise to see Singh in Lootera toning down his "look at my handsomeness" attitude which I used to find so jarring. His performance is commendable particularly because he succeeds in not allowing his looks to get in the way of the character, and that in itself is commendable. Sonakshi Sinha is marvelously beautiful, fragile and impetuous in her role.

The absolute show-stealer though is the script. It is an adaptation of O' Henry's The Last Leaf to Indian cinema and one wishes once again that Indian film makers would plunge into the fabulous set of stories in literature to create films with a sensitivity only they know how to achieve.

So if like me, you had given Lootera a skip for whatever reason, do reconsider and give yourself the opportunity to be immersed in a time-machine voyage to 1950s Bengal.

Cukoo, a Tamilian love story between two visually challenged young adults released in March this year but took a long while to reach Paris screens. I was thus very excited after reading the synopsis to see that the film was to be shown in French cinemas, one of them even being a mainstream multiplex near the Champs Elysées. 

This was to be the first time I would watch a film in Tamil on the big screen. Visually and musically, it was quite the experience. Cinematography and the use of the soundtrack (by Santhosh Narayanan) was skillful and pleasing. Both lead actors, Dinesh and Malavika Nair, give stunning performances. The premise was also quite an asset. 

Unfortunately, Tamizh and Sudhanthirakodi's love tale left me feeling disgruntled to the point that I even gave a thought (even though only fleetingly) to leaving the cinema hall. The film could have been a complete gem if melodrama and lengthy events that did not duly contribute to the plot had been avoided or edited out. 

The idea of Cukoo in the end was more charming to me than the actual film, which is indeed a shame and left me thinking that someone else should retake the premise and develop a sturdier plot and script.

Any films you have been watching this summer, old or new, that you would like to recommend to our readers? Please leave your comment below and happy summer!