vedvaghela

It's hard not to compare this film to Past Lives because they explore so many of the same themes. Materialist often directly contradicts what Past Lives said. Song basically takes all the depth of her debut and throws it in the trash. I am not one to say that a director should stick to similar stories or themes, but what made the first movie so special was it consciousness and emotional depth along with a big heart and a deep understanding of love that crosses borders. Even apart from the story, the film had great stylistic choices and excellent camerawork. It was the perfect debut anybody could hope for.

With Materialists, Song seems to have given up on all of that. She settles for camerawork and progression that seems akin to a run of the mill Netflix romcom special. Even the cinematography felt overly polished. Further, the writing deteriorates to a level that almost feels shameful. I believe some of the hilariously bad dialogues has to be attributed to the actors, especially Dakota Johnson who gives zero effort in this film, but still the writing misses so many marks.

And the story is absolutely garbage. Song seems totally unconscious of the current global circumstances and expects us to feel bad for rich people (or annoying people). Even if some tropes were played for comedic effects, which never landed in any scenes, they seem out of touch with reality. Somehow the film also manages to miss the mark on handling of serious issues. Tonally too, this film is a mess. By the 60min mark, the movies devolves into a cliched hallmark romance movie.

It's truly disappointing to see Song produce a film such as this. I had the a bad time watching this movie. 2 stars for Pedro I guess, who tried his hardest relative to Evans or Johnson. But do not watch, not recommended.

Words can't describe how happy I was when the credits of this film rolled in. Finally, an indie film from my homeland that respects the craft of filmmaking and tries to service it. A film that doesn't try too hard and a film that is actually Indian in its core. And Three of Us is that film.

There's a certain sort of comfort to be found in this film. This film inherently wants you to soak in India. It wants to immerse you in the culture and make you fall in love with it all over again. The long drawn shots, the conversations and the portrayal of the natural way of life, makes you fixated on the beauty of our land and the people. It's not just Shailaja who is rediscovering her hometown, but it's also us who get to look at it with a delicate set of eyes and rediscover what was once lost in the rush of life.

Avinash Arun's Three of Us is a harrowingly beautiful and a poignant tale of finding yourself after a diagnosis of one of the worst and most heartbreaking diseases known to man - dementia. This tale of trying to gather your memories before the disease overcomes you explores many facets of life and takes you on a journey that reminds you to slow down, sit, love and enjoy what you have.

Not enough could be said about the direction and screenplay. Sky was the limit after Paatal Lok for Avinash Arun, but with this film he not only touches the limit but goes beyond it. The atmosphere he manages to create makes it irresistible to not get lost in the town of Konkan.

What I think was one of this film's greatest feat is the thread of stories that unravel and reveal information that we are hearing for the first time and so is Shailaja. We get to experience the wave of emotions that the lead is feeling and in some way get to be part of her emotional sphere, further enhancing the immersion and draw of this film. I was looking at this film with the same eyes and mind as Shailaja and I think that filmmaking genius.

Speaking of Shailaja, played by Shefali Shah gives us a performance of a lifetime. Her approach to the character made the film what it is and this word which I keep using to describe the film, "delicate", come to mind. Because that's what it was, delicate and thoughtful portrayal. Another one of the shining stars of this film was Jaideep Ahlawat, who I absolutely fell in love with over the course of 100 minutes of this film, I want to commend the screenwriters for developing a healthy and effable Indian male model who is wholesome and respectful and it never comes across as too try hard, in fact it might just be one of the best portrayals on screen of a character such as his. Special mention to Swanand Kirkire, one of the most talented people to grace this industry. Singing, songwriting, screenwriting and acting, this man excels in all.

If I could, I would show this to each and every person working in the industry. It's a shining beacon of what Bollywood should stand for and strive for. Three of Us achieves something that I thought was unachievable. It has the same touch and the same way of delicate handling as a Satyajit Ray film. It reminisces of an era of Indian filmmaking long gone by and not only pays homage to but successfully moves the genre forward.

Needless to say, watch this movie and spread the word about it. We need more stuff like this and we have to let them know what we like.

Definitely worth watching, without a doubt.

I don't think there is any "getting it" to this film. I tried watching it more carefully on my second watch, with subtitles, rewinding and pausing it to ponder but I came out the other side with only a slight more understanding of what this film is portraying. There is no rating to this. It's a piece of art. Surrealist, absurdist art. Though "Oh my Freud, Oh my fraud" would disagree with the calling it "art".

I did enjoy it more on my rewatch. The film has stellar moments of dry humor that easily escapes the viewer, who is trying to still maintain sanity till runtime of the film.

I am glad I found this piece of absurdism from Bollywood. It really does go so far against the grain that it even challenges other, more popular, postmodernist works. This becomes even more appreciable seeing it was released in 1988, where the rom-com fever was high in Bollywood. Even on an extremely tight budget, Kamal Swaroop managed to make a highly invigorating and extrapolating flick that manage to influence likes of Anurag Kashyap and Imtiaz Ali to make some of the best films of modern Bollywood.

I hope this manages to capture a more and more viewers so that Bollywood once again dares to take leaps into more experimental formats.