vogonify

This is an excellent return to form for Ricky Gervais whose earlier ventures weren't exceptional. After Life is about Gervais' quintessential middle-aged man who has lost his wife to cancer.

He struggles to cope with the loss and finds ways to hurt people around him. This would have been cringe-worthy in earlier shows of his, but here it comes across as poignant and very affecting.

4 major stars plus a few more are squeezed into a 140 minute timeline.

Most of them have moments which they own but it doesn't make them full characters. This would have worked better as a longer film with them being etched better.

Still, this is a decent film. Arvind Swami sort of wades through a unsurprising first half and comes into his own as the action builds up. Jothika gets exactly one terrific scene. Vijay Sethupathi is very good but he is one of those who suffers from a slightly incomplete characterisation. Arun Vijay and Simbu are ok in their roles.

Based on folk tales, this Assamese film weaves four stories together in an interesting mix of whimsy and depth. Each story is bizarre and thought provoking at the same time. Some are situated close to each other geographically and appear to trod the same tracts of land, but are in fact stories all alone. Some end predictably following long stretches of jaw- drop surprise while others go the opposite way.

A woman is followed by a fruit, an evil stepmother takes advantage of her husband's absence, a man captures a python so as to marry it off to his daughter and a man keeps burying his newborn babies. That's about as basic a premise as it is. Shot beautifully, Kothanodi soars wildly and is an absolute joy to watch. It reminded me of my childhood which was spent in the company of Jataka Tales and the Panchatantra. Much recommended.