siddhartha-khanooja

On a whim, I decided to whip up 'The Truman Show', whose premise is new in itself - a person is the unwitting star of a reality show, starring himself as the protagonist. The whole town in which he lives in is the world's most expensive set.

There's so many great elements in this film - the music (amazing), the cast (Jim Carrey deserved an Oscar nomination for this, his acting was absolutely beautiful), the themes (this film is as dystopian as 1984, if seen from the PoV of Jim Carrey), and of course, the feelings of alienation and conformity.

Watching this film is an experience. In the end, you feel as if you're also part of 'The Truman Show' audience. This rollercoaster of emotions that the film takes you through is mind-numbing.

I'll not be ashamed to admit that this is one of the first times I have cried on seeing the ending. Watching this piece of art is an experience in itself.

TL;DR - 10/10, go watch it, however you can.

This was unexpected. I went in the hall with low expectations, having literally no idea of what the film was going to be about. I had no idea of what I was in for. Boy, did I enjoy every bit of the roller-coaster ride! On the surface, it looks to be simple - a man finds his wife is cheating on him, he plans to blackmail on his wife's boyfriend to pay off his bills. That's where it gets complicated. What follows is an impressive accounts lesson, money changing hands as frequently as nymphomaniacs changing clothes, and shades of grey revealed in every character. Friendship, love, jobs, loyalty - everything bows their head to the almighty rupee (or dollar, depending on where you are from). The music is impressive. The soundtrack is among Amit Trivedi's top five, easily. The acting is, for lack of a better word, amazing. Irrfan Khan steals the show. Smaller actors could have easily collapsed under the weight that the film demanded from the lead role, but boy, he does not disappoint. Other actors (Arunoday Singh, Kirti Kulhari, Divya Dutta, Omi Vaidya, et al.) also make handle their roles with grace, but your eyes will never stray from Irrfan. One word of caution, though - this is full of dark humor, not dark comedy - don't go into the film expecting laughs and giggles.

This is the most pathetic TV show that I've had the misfortune of watching. My friends said that you can either love this show, or hate it, and I belong to the latter.

I cannot decide which part of the show is worst - the dream sequences, the atrocious and stilted acting, the music playing in every scene (to give the scenes artificial "depth"), the cheesy dialogues, and the awful plot which was supposed to add "mystery" to the show, but makes it boring instead. Don't get me wrong, inane rambling can be good at times (see Mr Robot if you don't know what I mean), but when it is done to intentionally confuse instead, you know it's time to say goodbye.

And what's up with all the gushing reviews? They are the reason why I ended up wasting my time on a one-hour long pilot, when I could have binge-watched more episodes of Mr Robot instead. Heed my advice, and give this show a miss. You will not regret it.