Blink

Synopsis: Apoorva, working as a back drama artist and part-time editor encounters a kind of hallucination where an old man approaches him to inform a truth regarding his path. Who is the old man and why is he following Apoorva?

I honestly don’t know where to start from, mainly because too much happened during the course of this 146 min Sci-fi thriller. Apoorva is shown initially as someone trying to get his life settled. He tried to attend a few interviews for editor but had to reject because of pay scale issues. Soon, the twists start to unravel and genre shifts to time-travel cum time-loop thriller and writer cum director Srinidhi Bangalore managed to succeed in maintaining the curiosity of the viewers regarding how the world of Apoorva and Arivu converge. Usage of the character of Apoorva’s girlfriend Swapna is worth mentioning.

Cuts were nice overall. Editor tried his best to reduce the complexity of the story. J-cuts of Apoorva’s phone conversion with his mother were notable. Background score mainly did the job of maintaining the tension in portions where Arivu appears. Special mention for the usage of specific colours (Especially Red). One of the melody songs was nice to hear.

Key performance to mention is Dheekshit shetty . He did a superb job in his efforts to unveil mystery and conveyed the frustration of Apoorva. Chaithra Achar was impressive though her character had limited scope.

A section of viewers may find it difficult to sit through this movie mainly because of the plot complexity. Narration could have been made more simplistic to minimize the doubts in the viewer’s mind.

As I have only watched Churuli and Indru netru nalai dealing with similar subjects, this movie was a crazy never-seen-before kind of ride , finishing with few unanswered questions.

Verdict: Worth watching on OTT so that viewers can rewind if and when needed. Try to watch it without losing continuity. Also, hoping for more quality Kannada movies to release via OTT, which can attract wider range of audience.

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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.

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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