Rewind 2023: The most underrated movies of 2023

It’s that time of the year to rewind and look back at some of the movies from various languages that got very little attention than they actually deserved. I couldn’t include certain movies that aren’t available on any OTT platforms till the end of the year. (For instance: Joram, O. Baby, 19.20.21, Baakki vannavar, Goldfish etc.. ). Note that the list contains movies that I haven’t discussed in detail in previous posts. From my previous posts, Viduthalai part 1, 1001 nunakal, Burqa, Daredevil Musthafa and Kida will surely find their names in the list. So, let’s get started with the list:

NB: Expand the movie title to read more

Haami 2 (Bengali – SonyLiv)

Haami 2 is a breezy light hearted drama that talks about parenting and asks the relevant question: Is there any need to project children as prodigy to earn money and thus push them to big stage pressure so early?. This movie conveys the message through the conflicts of other characters including protagonist Siddharth’s brother character and his fellow competitor in reality show.

Toby (Kannada -SonyLiv)

Character development is the most important part in a character driven drama and that’s where this movie sets up the standard. This movie explores many challenges that Toby faces, right from his childhood. Raj B Shetty’s menacing and career best show uplifts this revenge saga to next level. (Unfortunately, searching for a perfect time window to watch his different avatar in Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye, after its Prime video release).

Shiv Shastri Balboa (Hindi- Prime Video)

This feel-good slice of life drama works well mainly because of way, the 2 pivotal characters were shaped: Shiv sasthri, an ardent fan of Rocky Balboa movie and Elsa, a housekeeper who joins Shiv sasthri in a journey. Placement of few humour scenes and punch dialogues add to the merit of the movie.

Farhana (Tamil-SonyLiv)

Farhana traverses through the financial crisis of an orthodox Muslim family and how a call center job changes the life of the protagonist. Gradual narrative tone shift from emotional drama to a cat-and-mouse thriller and Aishwarya Rajesh’s anchoring performance makes this movie a compelling watch.

Kousalya Supraja Rama (Kannada -Prime video)

Many movies have explored the hardships of mother, especially in handling household activities. But this movie focuses more on the unconditional care of protagonist Ram’s mother even when she gets very minimal support in return and made the audience understand her character through others’ pov. Team deserve credit for delivering relevant emotional movie without entering melodrama phase.

Special mention

Koozhangal (Tamil- SonyLiv)

The only reason to keep Koozhangal in the special mention list is because its festival premiere started around 2 years ago. Otherwise, PS Vinoth Raj’s style of slowly and subtly building conflict around the Father and son is nothing short of a stellar master class.

800 (Tamil -JioCinema/Prime Video)

800 is a sincere attempt in showing different phases of the rough sea kind of the life of the SriLankan legend Muthiah Muralidharan. Right blend of Sinhalese-Tamil politics, rivalry and controversies around him makes this movie a genuine biopic.

Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway(Hindi- Netflix)

This movie is rooted on the struggle and lone fight for justice of a common woman against a system. Rani Mukherjee’s intense performance and some of the important dialogues in courtroom scenes are the major factors that helped viewers to connect with the protagonist and understand her conflict.

Neru

Sara, a skilled sculpture artist who fight against Micheal, son of a Mumbai based business tycoon after she files a rape case. Did she manage to get justice?. Neru sheds light onto this case.

In Drishyam franchise, Jeethu Joseph narrates a story where a normal family had to fight justice against accused with power and money. (There are few Drishyam references in this movie too). Here, he places a similar backdrop but approach is contradictory.
Protagonist is an underconfident advocate who feels he doesn’t have the fire to fight because he was away from practise for years. Writer duo Jeethu and Santhi managed to add a believable backstory regarding his past.

The most impressive part in court proceedings is how protagonist approaches the case. Even though there is enough scope for personal revenge, protagonist never takes that into priority. He even says ,”Even if I fails, victim should not”. Jeethu knew about the lack of twists and turns like Drishyam or Memories. He laid focus on making the narration more engrossing and he succeeded in it. For instance: Main witnesses interrogation portions and scene where protagonist validates the genuity of a pivotal evidence.

Though bit too loud towards the end, background score was so effective in portraying the ruthlessness of the antagonist and defense lawyer. Cuts were pretty fine though certain scenes involving Shanthi’s character should have been trimmed. Roohe song sung by Karthik was soothing to hear, especially when end title started rolling.

It’s always a pleasure to watch Lalettan in full flow as the lawyer reluctantly restarting his job and later executing his plan to prove the truth. Look out for his magic in the scenes where he first meets the victim and later stands with wet eyes towards the end. Answara is the real surprise show stealer as the blind victim. She was just stunning with her reactions, be it panic, helplessness or taking her strong stand (Especially regarding consent). Though Jagadeesh had limited screen space, he too did notably well. Negative character is just bread and butter for Sidhique and he was outstanding in court scenes. Writer duo gave enough build up regarding the professionalism of his character and his menacing performance did live up to the buildup.

The main negative was the placement of a main twist regarding the identification of accused. If that twist was introduced in the beginning of court scenes, case would have been closed by then. I expected Jeethu to treat court scenes in more realistic way, mainly because lawyer Santhi is also part of writing. But Jeethu took bit of cinematic liberty in narration.
If the viewer expectation is set as an emotional courtroom drama and not another Drishyam, this movie is surely worth a watch.

Kida

In a large pool of OTT releases, it is tough to unearth hidden gems, that too when release is on a comparatively lesser followed platform like Aha Tamil. This post is to list out different reasons to recommend Tamil movie Kida.

Premise: Chellaiah, an old man had to sell a goat , Karuppu (Which is favourite to his Grandson Kathir) to fulfill his Grandson’s wish of an expensive dress for Diwali. But things went against his plan.

Script and making: Writer Ra venkat knew that premise is more on the relatable side and nothing much fresh. Kida works mainly because of the way he added subplots. 3 subplots include the one involving Kaali Venkat’s drunken butcher characterVelachaami, a thug gang ready to steal anything and a couple ready to elope. The main similarity between Chellaiah and Velachaami is the way society looked up on them. Velachaami had to decide to part away from a shop due to ego clash with owner’s son. Chellaiah was judged based on his financial status. Both of them had something to prove.

Performances: Late Poo ram and Kaali Venkat are the pick of the seasoned actors.Late Poo ram delivered an outstanding performance in conveying the despair and helplessness of the character. Special mention for the scene where he shouted at his grandson. Another notable performance was that of Pandiyammal (Grandma role). Though scope of performance was less, I would like to specify a scene where she walks from a house with satisfaction. Though Master Deepan (Kathir) had amateurishness in his performance in the beginning (Very few close up shots I remember), it became a bit better in the pivotal scenes as the movie progressed.

Other technical side: Background score did a really good job in conveying the emotions in the journey of Chellaiah and Kathir. Credits to the editor for blending the subplots well enough to help viewers connect with the situations and bringing in humour scenes without overdoing it. Dialogues too

Any Drawbacks?: Predictability towards the end and the eloping subplot not adding anything significant to the narrative.

Summary and Final Verdict: This simplistic emotional drama is heart warming because of its genuine and grounded narration. This movie may not be an unforgettable experience, but will give happiness and satisfaction.

Prime video watch link: https://www.primevideo.com/dp/amzn1.dv.gti.41f8435c-2458-4c56-a5cb-8b7c826f23ff?autoplay=0&ref_=atv_cf_strg_wb

Saptha Sagaradaache Ello

Manu, driver of a politician decides to takes a risk to save the face of his boss, against the likes of his fiancee , Priya who is a singer. How that decision changed his life ? Watch this movie to get better idea.

Hemanth Rao sets the plot around 2010. Movie progresses with the couple searching to build a home near seashore to get settled after marriage. Hemanth takes the initial time before getting into the key incident because he know that the subplot is very key for the protagonist to take a risky decision.

The main difference between this movie and many of the other romantic movies is the mutual understanding between the 2 lead characters. Even when heroine shows frustration for taking wrong decision, she understands the situation of the protagonist and tries to support him without blaming him. On the other hand, he too understands her efforts of getting him out of the trouble and at a point advices not to spoil her talent for him. Hemanth also adds few supporting characters to show the dark life in jail where a person gets brutally harrassed and some shares their life experience with him.

Background score had a crucial impact in maintaining the terrorizing atmosphere inside jail and building some kind of hope within the couple. Cuts were on and off mostly . Some portions could have been avoided. Some portions were cut smartly. For instance: A portion where heroine stands in a Terrace and then cut to another location.

Coming to the performance, Rakshit shetty puts up a compelling performance in portraying the helpless nature of common man who got trapped unexpectedly and is unable to react in certain situations .Heroine too emoted really well in conversation scenes and breakdown portion towards the end. Special mention to Ramesh Indira for his menacing villain performance.

Coming to the drawback, Hemanth gave more focus on the relationship between the couples and left out the investigation part of the key incident where possibly protagonist could have a possibility of proving innocent. There wasn’t a valid justification why Achyut kumar’s character decided not to support protagonist character after a point. Part B may give better clarification. Also, I’m not big fan of the rap music added in certain portions.

I opted to watch the movie mainly because of the director Hemanth rao who directed the brilliant thriller movie Kavaludaari. For me,the wait for part B is on mainly because of the chemistry of the couples and genuine emotions that worked well in side A.

Verdict: Another impressive attempt in kannada cinema after Hostel Hudugaru Bekkagidare.

1001 Nunakal

As the name suggests, this movie, set around Dubai revolves around a group of friends starting to get into a task or game where they begin to share something they have hidden from their partners over the years. What happens when situation goes wrong?

The premise may seem similar to that of recent malayalam movie 12th man. But 12th man had more hurried approach. But here, there is a valid reason why these friends get together and starts to play the game. Initially, writer shows us the minor conflicts between two of the couples.

Later, writer organically gets into the the truth of a couple story that then led to the beginning of the game and helps the viewers to draw line between truth and lie within the couples.
The main positive of this movie is the different ways of approaching the game. There is a character who cooks up story for the game. Some revelations went away without any impact. But slowly as the game continues, conversation gets heated up. Making was good enough to capture the intensity of pain of the characters. Though some of the key plot points were predictable, Director deserve credits to keep the viewers engaged till the closure using the diverse kind of characters. Kudos to Salim Ahmed for backing the team.

Though minimally used, background score had the intensity in some of the crucial scenes. For instance: Scene showing the regret of Remya suresh’s character and the tension building in portions around a missing valuable property. There is a dialogue that Vakeel character says about Marriage and divorce (He views it like he is just helping passengers in a bus to get into another bus when one breaks down). Dialogues like that sums up the mindset of the characters. There is a character who shares the opinion that there is no need to accept blame unnecessarily for the family .

Cuts were pretty fine enough to limit the scope of every story without unnecessary exaggeration. Performance wise, Remya suresh got a short but well written character and her portrayal of pain of breaking the trust of other characters was worth mentioning. Sudheesh scaria was enjoyable as the Advocate who managed the discussion as referee. Others too fit into their respective roles.

Apart from the occasional predictability, restricted location setting becomes a key concern for the movie that takes away the x-factor. The whole story is set around a single house and its surrounding.
1001 nunakal is an emotional relationship drama that works mainly because of the relatable and effective portrayal of the scenarios within different couples where truth turns out to be lies and vice versa.

Watch link: https://www.sonyliv.com/movies/aayirathonnu-nunakal-malayalam-1000232331

Do Gubbare

Do Gubbare revolves around Rohan, an IT guy who shifts from Indore to Pune and how he creates a strong bond with his colleagues and Ajoba, the landlord of the house where he stays.

Writer pretty much knows that this story doesn’t contain much surprise or twist in it. So, he focused more on building relatable characters (Though the count is less) and making memorable scenes. For instance: Radha who is less of a maid and more of a family member, Coimbatore based colleague, Kid who loves fish, Friend character or the ever energetic old man character Ajoba. Even viewers could recollect the moments involving the tea shop owner.

Initially, we see Ajoba as a bit of a strict landlord. Director Varun takes us through how Ajoba helps Rohit in exploring the unknown place. Varun also manages to succeed in merging the subplots to the core plot. The way of portraying the final surprise through the reactions of every character really shows the quality of the director.
Dialogues were very important in the initial set up of the plot and thus further convey the intensity of situations. In a scene when Rohit asks regarding Ajoba’s friendship, Ajoba says ‘I don’t know the number of years of our friendship. It was strong enough to forget to count’. Background score gave the pleasant feel throughout the episodes. Score helps the narration in conveying the pain within Ajoba when he starts telling about his past.

Radha’s character had the fun element in her dialogues and the jovial performance of the actress made sure that her scenes were enjoyable and spread the charisma to the viewers also. Actor who did the role of Ajoba really carries the energy of the character. He gives a standout performance in the emotional breakdown scenes as well. It is delight to watch Rohit, especially in combinational scenes with Ajoba. Actor who played that role too deserve the credit.

The 5th episode had a very key conflict where Ajoba’s family members plan to stay with him permanently and how Rohit handles it. Writers seemed to miss the opportunity in building the conflict. That episode felt more like it stretched too far unlike the other episodes.
Apart from the dull moments in the fifth episode and the predictability, Do Gubbare is a simple heartwarming tale of bonding between 2 individuals in different generations.

Watch link: https://www.jiocinema.com/tv-shows/do-gubbare/3784534

Kerala crime files

Kerala crime files follow a team of cops trying to look for a Shiju, accused of a murder in a lodge. Can they find him, just with a fake address? Watch this compelling series to know that.
The most important merit of the series is that the only hope for the team is a fake address that they have. After a point of time, that address itself becomes somewhat like joke.

Director Ahmed Khabeer is not at all in hurry to reach the crime scene quickly. He initially takes us through Sharath, a receptionist in a lodge who eventually becomes the sole eye witness and then only shows the investigation part.

Writer knows the limitation of not having much surprise moments, but still manages to add the required subplots to engage the viewers. Though the investigation continues around 2011, writer smartly limits the possibility of CCTV and mostly takes the usual straightforward path. Director complements it with a narration style compelling enough to look forward for the next episodes. Unlike few other thriller movies, build up given by other characters for villain is also minimal.
Family emotions of the cops were portrayed really well. For instance: Wait for a baby for Navas’ character, Separation of Lal’s character and limited family time of Aju’s character. Humour also worked well for the most part.

Special mention to the dialogues for delivering the message regarding the difference that society shows towards a section of people and how pressure from top differs for them and a person with celebrity status. Cuts were pretty sharp enough to combine the important sub plots effectively and avoid unnecessary template conversation scenes, especially towards the end. Hesham’s background score plays an important role in highlighting the key moments and maintaining tension in the interrogation scenes. Special mention to gripping visuals as well.
Aju Varghese puts up a brilliant performance as Manoj, who was the most desperate to catch Shiju in the cat and mouse game. Compared to the actor’s caliber, Lal had nothing much to do other than giving order and yelling at the team. Navas did his job well in portraying the conflict of completing the case and taking leave for his wife’s pregnancy. Karikku fame, Zhinz shan too did notable performance as the most experienced member of the team.

The main Drawback was that subplot involving Devaki Rajendran’s character Lathika and a union member wasn’t that necessary to the narration. That should have been shortened. Writer forgot to explore more on the antagonist character. There is a scene where Aju’s character Manoj asks his Father-in-law regarding the problems faced by a cross-eyed person. I expected that kind of a story to explain the strange behavior of Antagonist. But those portions felt bit rushed towards the end.

Nevertheless, Kerala crime files is a good start to Malayalam web series on Hotstar. This series is a perfect example that impressive whodunit thriller can be made without frequent twists and turns. Waiting for next case in the next season.

Watch link: https://www.hotstar.com/in/tv/kerala-crime-files-shiju-parayil-veedu-neendakara/1260141610?utm_source=gwa

Daredevil Musthafa

This movie is about what happens if a Muslim boy Mustafa joins a school where majority students are Hindu.

Writer initially traverses us through the history of the village.Then we get to see the friendship of the key characters and then comes the entry of Musthafa. Director manages to show the shift in the intensity of the rivalry between Musthafa and the others, starting from banter to fight. Along with these characters, we get to know more about the plight of the school infrastructure and the reason behind it. Along with the main conflict, writer adds another small conflict that hurt the ego of English teacher character, which in turn gets resolved more convincingly than the main conflict.

Another major plus point is the writing of the main characters. Though Musthafa is shown as naive person, he too crosses the limit once in hurting the religious belief of another character and that adds genuinity to the character. One the friend character too changes his mind and that has been conveyed convincingly through dialogues.

Coming to the performance, the actor who did the role of Musthafa did justice to his role. Though the character had limited screen space, actor who did the role of Sports sir successfully portrayed the ability of the character to handle various situations. Iyengar character too had flawed nature of ego and competitiveness and credit for the actor.

Background score mostly scores towards the end trying to convey the emotions of thep characters. Cuts were nice enough to maintain the flow of the narrative when the conflict changes.
The main negative I felt was that director barely tries to create the friendly ambience of Mustafa along with the others and that makes the sudden shift of the central character seem bit hurried.
Daredevil Musthafa is a comedy cum sports drama (I don’t know if I can call it a period movie), that highlights the relevance of prioritizing unity and not hatred. Hurried finish may have affected the end but surely not the overall impact.

Watch link: https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0PZKXT61C9O536H6QAK40Q76NH/ref=atv_dp_share_mv

Me Vasanth rao

This movie is available on Jio cinema with subtitles. Hope jio cinema improves their support to the regional contents.

Me Vasant Rao is about the journey of Vasanth rao from normal clerk who loves music to a renowned singer whom people admire.

This movie starts with the birth of Vasanth rao and shows the conflict leading to the separation of Vasant’s mother from his father. We got to see the fight of the single parent in raising him and the way he is raised up. We then get to see multiple people that he meets and learns various lessons from them.

There are few other recent movies (Disciple, Qala) that narrates the lives of hindustani musicians. This movie is different in the way of portrayal of the protagonist. He is someone who keeps his identity in music without imitating others.He never believed in defining rules in music.He sings solely for happiness and takes his music to his heart. That’s why he was able to make a change in the mind of audience. Writer successfully create an emotional connect well enough to understand the character.

Supporting characters were written well enough to support the protagonist at crucial situations(Begum character, Friend, Mother character). Director uses optimal use of music to uplift the narration. Some of the terms related to hindustani music were new to me. (For instance: Gharana, Lavani). Happy that I got introduced to these terms.

Songs were so soothing to hear, especially Shreya ghoshal song. No wonder Rahul Despande earned national award for one of the song. Art team made the time period look authentic(Riot scene involving train). After point of time (Specifically after Vasanth met a woman and sang Lavani song), story moves slowly. Cuts could have been better to help the viewer keep engaged.

Coming to the performances, Rahul Despande did an excellent job in portraying the hardships of Vasanth rao. He portrayed the conflict of being a responsible family man and passionate singer, with atmost perfection. Special mention to the actor who portrayed the childhood of Vasanth and mother character (I have seen her in Vaalvi movie previously. Watch out for an interaction scene with Vasanth when he goes back to work). Amey did notable performance as Deenath Mangeshkar, one of the life changing person for Vasanth. There is a scene where he says, “When you want to sing and don’t get audience, that too is poverty”. That dialog shows his passion towards music.

Other than the tiring length, main drawback was that father character wasn’t having much screen space as expected.

Me Vasanth rao is a memorable ode biopic of an artist who shows his talent without trying to please people or looking for acclaim. Most recommended for someone who knows Marathi music culture .

Cliché statement to add: Not Everyone’s cup of tea.

Watch link: https://www.jiocinema.com/movies/me-vasantrao-marathi/3751217/watch

Burqa

A small bold movie that questions some of the customs in Islam. Though the total length is under 90 min, Director Sarjun manages to ask the right questions within the time period.
Najma, a nurse is stuck inside a house because her husband died recently. What happens when Surya, a goon runs into her house asking for water and later makes change in her life.
In the beginning, Najma denies to help him because of the custom. Later, we get to see conversation and arguments between these two. Dialogues were spot on.

Films involving controversial issues may have some kind of propaganda. Sarjun never tried to include any kind of propaganda in his writing. The most important thing is that Sarjun never blames religion or gender as a whole. We get to see her husband Anwar understanding her really well. We also get to see Najma’s father taking the initiative for her higher studies. Sarjun also brings in her problems in very subtle manner. I really loved the climax and the background score in that scene. Sarjun never leaves us with a solution to Najma’s problems. He raises major concerns regarding how Najma accepts her life to be, without asking questions.
Cuts were precise as every conversation scene had relevance in the movie. Arabic touch in background score gave a unique feel to the viewers. Frames were beautiful to keep the viewers engaged within limited location.

Just like Kalaiyarasan’s character says, Mirnaa had to show the pain and inner thoughts and feelings of loneliness of the character and she does that effectively. Though it’s not a challenging character, Kalaiyarasan gets a character with a painful past. He too manages to convey it really well as the movie progressed.

The only concern was that some of the viewers may feel that story is worth only for short film runtime. Lack of cinematic elements may be an issue for some .But surely not for me.
Burqa is an underrated daring movie that deserved to be watched atleast for the questions that Sarjun asks. Watch it on Aha Tamil.

Verdict: Worth the time