Radism

A narrow escape and a sliver of hope

2024 election outcome gave a mixed feeling. Happy because the alternate outcome of brutal majority would be worse.  Happiness with disappointment because we need to survive these two, Modi and Shah for another 5 years. I was debating the caption for this writeup, It could have been worse, All is not lost….yet, A reprieve for democracy, A sliver of home amidst disappointment, Blessing in disguise for the functioning democracy. Couldn’t

ஏழாம் உலகம் (7th World) – Book by B.Jeyamohan

As per Indian subcontinent mythology, there are seven worlds below our feet – அதலம், விதலம், தலம், கபஸ்திமல், மகாதலம், சுதலம், பாதாளம். We get our food and water from there. We can’t see them. Similar to those seven worlds below us, are there worlds within our society we are not aware of? We see different classes of people daily but never stopped to ask how their life would look like. We may

Uma Ramanan

When I heard the news about Uma Ramanan, the first song that popped out of my memory is Aananda Raagam from the movie Panneer Pushpangal. Then the other songs flooded out. Songs make us remember events from our life. Songs from late 70s and 80s always take me to my hostel days at Guindy engineering college and bus rides between Madurai – Virudhunagar and Madurai – Chinnamanur. Our mess eating

Clickbait and misleading headlines

After the news came out that Israel deployed Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to pick their targets, we were bombarded with so many articles with blaring headlines with AI in it. Fighting for eyeballs media makes the headlines catchy and sensational. Many a times the headlines end up giving misleading information. If the reader is not savvy enough, they will walk away with wrong and problematic conclusions. Samples below:    

Brahmayugam – A solid psychological folklore horror

Official Trailer: Director Rahul Sadasivan in his debut movie Bhoothakalam made us sit up and take notice of him. Bhoothakalam is a well-made horror genre movie that kept us guessing whether the protagonists are hallucinating because of their state of mind or encountering supernatural powers. Rahul Sadavisan scores another ace with his second outing Brahmayugam. I would say he is one of the handful of directors from Kollywood and Mollywood

Manjummel Boys – A well-crafted survival thriller

Official Trailer: Malayalam film industry has kick started 2024 on a high. In span of two months, we have Malaikottai Vaaliban, Brahmayugam, and now Manjummel Boys. We can be lenient and add Kaathal – The Core (released November 2023) to the list. All different genre movies. What is common between them is the high confidence on the content, writing, and bold film making. Manjummel Boys is based on a true

Fast Cuts – Greatest night in pop, Devil in Ohio, The Sinner, Chestnut Man, Fool me Once

Greatest night in pop: Check your ego at the door For those who love the pop songs and the singers from the 80s, Greatest night in pop, the documentary is a great trip down the memory lane. Nostalgic and emotional. Around 40 pop icons getting together to record a song is something out of ordinary, once in a lifetime opportunity like celestial event. IIRC, this is the first-time famous singers

The Brothers Sun – An entertaining action-comedy full of fun backed by strong writing

Official Trailer: [SPOILERS AHEAD…] What if Michael Corleone didn’t take the path of his father? What if he continued with his life of a normal person away from the mafia? What if Vito Corleone’s wife had her own career ambitions? What do you get if you start with these broader questions, and build a story? You get The Brothers Sun!! We follow the Taipei gangster, Charles Sun, who is settled

Koozhangal (Pebbles) – A Visual Storytelling Masterpiece

Official Trailer:  Similar to Kadaisi Vivasayi, Koozhangal is a movie hard to describe in words and has to be experienced. If you love cinemas that are about life and closer to reality don’t miss this. The storyline is a simple one, a young boy travels with his violent and alcoholic father to bring back his mother, who has run away from home due to father’s abuse. But there is so