Sneha Jaiswal's Blog, page 126

Sajini Shinde Ka Viral Video Review

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

Sajini Shinde was just trying to have some fun on her birthday with her fellow-teacher friends. However, when a colleague accidentally posts a video of Sajini drunk-dancing at a pub on their school forum, she is slut-shamed across media and expelled from her school. Terrified of facing her family and fiancé, Sajini posts a note on Facebook and disappears. A police officer leads the investigation into finding the truth – is Sajini only missing, dead from suicide, or murdered?

Directed by Mikhil Musale, who co-wrote the script with Anu Singh Choudhary and Parinda Joshi, the 2023 Bollywood film “Sajini Shinde Ka Viral Video” unfolds like a whodunit. Radhika Madan plays the titular character, Sajini, a young teacher who goes missing after her dancing video goes viral for all the wrong reasons. Nimrat Kaur portrays Inspector Bela Barot, who heads the Sajini’s missing case, and her findings form the crux of the tale. While Sajini’s strict disciplinarian father, Suryakant Shinde (Subodh Bhave), and her tech-savvy fiancé, Sidhant (Soham Majumdar), top Bela Barot’s list of suspects, she doesn’t rule out other possibilities.

The swiftly paced screenplay, tense thrumming music, and a diverse cast of characters keep “Sajini Shinde Ka Viral Video” intriguing until the end, as the police probe keeps passing the ball to a different person in Sajini’s life. Nimrat Kaur nails her part as a no-nonsense police officer, Bela, who has no time for sob-stories or social-media activism, while Chinmay Mandlekar plays junior cop Ram Pawar, assisting her in the case. Radhika Madan is “the very girl next door” as Sajini, which is meant as a compliment because her character is a cheery, intelligent physics teacher who unwittingly lets everybody else run her life, be it her overtly strict father or the sly fiancé.

Soham Majumdar is amusingly chaotic as Siddhant, the fiancé, who seems quite nice at first but metamorphoses into a shifty snake with little credibility. It’s subtly hinted that Siddhant wasn’t the “ideal” partner he pretends to be. Sumeet Vyas has a small cameos as Siddhant’s lawyer Lalit, who doesn’t hesitate to call out his client’s problematic behavior. Ashutosh Gaikwad, portraying Sajini’s younger brother Aakash, emerges as the most amusing character, who detests his father but adores his sister. Aakash is the sole individual, besides the police, actively making concrete efforts to trace Sajini. Subodh Bhave, who plays their father, isn’t as intimidating as a popular theater artist and domineering patriarchal figure. The same goes for Bhagyashree Patwardhan, who isn’t convincing in her role as the Principal who sacks Sajini over the video; it felt like it took her an incredible amount of effort to talk tersely for her parts.

The cinematography is straightforward; however, the transitions are executed with subtle story tosses each time a scene changes. For example, when Bela and Ram Pawar discuss how Sajini’s parents must be worried sick about her whereabouts, the scene changes to Sajini’s father busy performing at a play. Bela attends the play to question him; the two have a tense exchange, where Bela is portrayed as a hardball professional. The next scene shifts to her getting home and showering her pet dogs with love, juxtaposing the two facets of her life effectively.

“Sajini Shinde Ka Viral Video” makes a compelling case for teachers, who are held up against absurd moral standards. Why should what a woman does outside of her working hours be anybody’s business, unless it’s a criminal offense? Sajini is practically crucified for being “half-naked” (according to the principal) and dancing with shirtless male hosts at an upscale pub, while her outfit is what most Delhi girls wear on a casual Saturday night out in winters. Although, it also prompts a more serious question: why does a strong, independent woman like Sajini succumb to the fear of what her father or fiancé would say? While strangers’ comments on social media can inflict significant damage to one’s self-worth, nothing hurts as much as the scorn of one’s loved ones.

With a 2 hour runtime and multiple characters, “Sajini Shinde Ka Viral Video” is able to maintain considerable suspense over whether Sajini is dead or simply on the run. And if she is dead, then where’s the body? Some of the clues and case details weren’t convincing, but some clever red-herrings do keep the viewers guessing until the end about what happened. The final climactic twist was pretty unexpected, although the writers do foreshadow multiple outcomes and give each supporting character just enough space for any kind of sudden plot surprise to not seem too strange.

Watch “Sajini Shinde Ka Viral Video” on Netflix.

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Blue Eye Samurai Review – Red-Hued Revenge Symphony

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

When you’ve nothing to live for, revenge becomes a great motivator, all you need to do is focus your hatred on something and then work towards annihilating it. And that’s what Mizu does in the animated series “Blue Eye Samurai”. She is an orphan forced to live in the guise of a man, who becomes a blind swordmaster’s protege, learning both the craft of making and wielding swords, with the goal of seeking vengeance against those who doomed her to a life of rejection, rage, and emptiness.

Set in the 1600s, “Blue Eye Samurai” is bloody epic, until episode six rolls along, like a wrecking ball, disrupting the pace, grit and fantasy-like charm of the series. Perhaps the flaws feel exaggerated because episode five titled “The Tale of the Ronin and the Bride” is excellence personified, and once episode 5 ended, I was in full mind to rate this show a 5 on 5! But then six happens. But okay, we’ll get back to that later…

Created by Michael Green and Amber Noizumi, “Blue Eye Samurai” has been animated by a French studio called Blue Spirit. The animation quality to ranges from standard fantasy-game like VFX to stunning water-painting landscapes which are captivating to watch due to their vivid colors. Across its eight episodes, this fictional action-drama follows Mizu, a young warrior who faces societal rejection due to being of mixed heritage during a time when Japan has isolated itself from the rest of the world, harboring fierce hatred for those not deemed ‘pure’ Japanese. Voiced by Maya Erskine, Mizu is a larger-than-life protagonist, who wants nothing more than to eliminate the only four white men known to live in Japan, because one them led to her ‘impure’ blood and a life of shame. The episodes follow her quest to seek out and slay a white man called Fowler (Kenneth Branagh), whose whereabouts—a heavily guarded remote fortified fortress—are highly secretive, as he has direct illicit dealings with the Shogunate and is supposed to be a persona non grata for the regime.

Titled “Hammerscale”, episode one of the show starts with the sound of fire crackling, then a forge is revealed, and the crackle is overpowered by the hammering of a sword. Soon, the scene shifts to a stunning snowy terrain, and Mizu the protagonist walks into a noodle shop looking for food and some information on Fowler. But a bloodbath ensues. It’s a violently heroic entry scene & sets a good pace for the rest of the series. Mizu wins an instant admirer in Ringo (voiced by Masi Oka), the shop assistant who trails her and wants to train under her, but the lone wolf tries her best to shake the simpleton off. Huge, stealthy, with both his hands missing, Ringo is the quintessential comic side-kick with a big heart, who stubbornly follow ‘Master’ Mizu everywhere, assuring he can be ‘useful’ and not a hindrance to her revenge mission. Over the course of next few episodes, Ringo is bound to become a fan-favorite due to his steadfast devotion and awe of Mizu’s skills with the sword. Despite her protests, he becomes her apprentice, friend, confident and shadow.

The other protagonist of “Blue Eye Samurai” is Princess Akemi (voiced by Brenda Song), a young intelligent royal who wants to rule her own destiny and not be married off to the first man her domineering father deems fit for her and the other is the arrogant Samurai. Akemi is determined to bend her father’s will to let her marry the dashing Taigen (voiced by Darren Barnet), considered the greatest Samurai in the region; however, her plan is jeopardized when Mizu defeats Taigen, among a string of other haughty Samurais when they refuse to let her meet their Dojo’s master. Taigen decides to restore his lost honor by challenging Mizu to an official duel and follows her trail. Meanwhile, Akemi runs away from her palace to find Taigen because her father arranges a new match for her—with the Shogun’s son, no less. How the paths of these three – Mizu, Akemi and Taigen – keep colliding, despite Mizu’s razor sharp focus to extract her revenge, forms the crux of the story. Mizu however keeps encountering bounty-hunters and killers on her way and the path to retribution is completely broken and blood-soaked.

The animation is a blend of 2D animation and more modern computer generated 3D models, and the artwork gorgeously recreates historical Japan, featuring ornate folding screens, golden kimonos, grand palaces, snow-laden forests, and wild outdoor terrains. It’s the musical score which makes everything fall into place, making the proceedings theatrically dramatic and always as the crucial element which elevates a particular scene from being an ordinary animated sequence. In a scene from episode 2 (“An Unexpected Element”), Mizu engages in a battle with a formidable assassin along the seashore and the animated sequence is breathtaking. The rough waters crash in the background, reflecting the orange hues of sunlight, creating a visual poetry where it seems like a wave of blood lashes against the ground where the fight takes place. “Blue Eye Samurai” transforms violence into poetic scenes of beauty and it does it best in episode 5, where a puppet show depicts a tragic story of a Ronin (a feudal lord) and his bride, and it’s set to the tune of traditional Japanese stringed instruments. As the puppet show progresses, viewers also get a flashback to a surprising phase in Mizu’s life, and the simultaneous narration is brilliant. In the present, she fights an army of armed men to protect a brothel which is run by Madame Kaji, a shrewd businesswoman whose establishment caters to kinks and also provides women for Fowler. So Mizu needs Kaji’s help to finding her way into Fowler’s fort. “Revenge is luxury for men. Women must be practical,” Madame Kaji tells Mizu in a memorable line, her cynicism is delicious irony, because she thinks Mizu is a man with the privilege to pursue revenge, unaware of the real truth.

The series engagingly weaves historical and cultural elements of Japan’s Tokugawa/Edo era, a time when military leadership practiced national seclusion, forbidding foreigners from entering its islands, and also restricted locals from traveling abroad or returning from outside. Only limited trade was allowed through one major port, and all other contact with foreign elements was forbidden, fearing the dilution of their own culture by Christian missionaries. Which is why the blue-eyed Mizu is a social pariah, considered a ‘monster’ by others, an aberration that mustn’t exist. So, she wears glasses to remain discreet and avoid attention. The acute racism she faces is one of the strongest theme throughout the tale. The unmasked spite, stones, and shower of abuses Mizu is exposed to as a mere child due to her divergent appearance fills her with an endless poison – representative of how hate creates hate.

While the Princess Akemi sub-plot did seem slightly unnecessary at first, eventually the juxtaposition of her life versus Mizu’s life offers a compelling picture of class divide. Mizu is beaten, bruised, battered and bloodied in every second turn she takes, while Akemi grows up in the lap of luxury, eating fine food, dressing in expensive silks, reading and reciting Haikus. George Takei voices Seki, a wise old man who serves as Akemi’s mentor, almost prophesies his ward’s future fate. In what would be called a “truth bomb” in modern terms, Seki harshly tells Akemi about the limited paths available to women in their time: “This is the world; it grants women a fixed number of paths—proper wife or improper whore.” Seconds later, to find Taigen, Akemi resorts to selling herself to a pimp, and then cleverly manipulates him into following Taigen’s trail by claiming she wants him to find a great price in a whorehouse for her. Akemi’s sub-plot soon becomes ‘too good to be true’, and one can only conclude that the princess has incredible fortune.

Episode six, titled “All Evil Dreams and Angry Words”, is the only chapter that felt overstretched, cliched and borderline boring. While in the first five episodes Mizu fights like a demi-God or demon, episode six annoyingly stretches the “lone undefeatable wolf” trope. It reminded of the 2023 animated series “Onimusha”, another Samurai themed tale which released on Netflix at the same time as “Blue Samurai”, where one man is constantly fighting gangs of assassins, but he has a magical gauntlet to power him up. Mizu has no such supernatural help, only the sweet Ringo to watch her back, yet she heals faster than wolverine. Fowler’s fort proves to be formidable and the antagonist himself is a worthy evil opponent, with an imposing personality that’s akin to Count Dracula. While episode six struggles to be a strong bridge between the next chapter, fortunately, the series pick its pace again in episode seven “Nothing Broken”.

Titled “The Great Fire of 1657”, episode eight is nail-biting and the story twist puts every crucial character’s neck on the line. The stakes get higher, and a major twist pushes “Blue Eye Samurai” to an ambitious scale in terms of story and scope. Politics, military might and war takes center-stage in the last leg of the series, and Mizu’s mission is almost sidelined in the larger scheme of things, but only briefly. After the constant battles, fatal wounds and barrage of blood and deaths, the last episode culminates with a staggering coup gone wrong. The show ends on a promise of a season two, and the climactic events albeit exciting, weren’t wholly satisfactory.

If there’s one thing that remains passionately consistent throughout the series, it’s Mizu’s unfaltering dedication to achieving her revenge. While she does demonstrate human emotions, she is super-human in her will, and even though her quest seems misguided, you cannot help but be in awe of her, like Ringo. Violent, unhinged, and graphic, this is an ambitious historical drama, that is meant for adult viewers with a penchant for animation.

Rating: 8 on 10. Stream “Blue Eye Samurai” on Netflix.

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Spy x Family Season 2 Episode 12 Review

And the comical daily lives of “Spy x Family” continues, with very little sign of any progress in Loid Forger’s actual mission. Titled “Part of the Family”, episode 12 of Spy x Family season two is all about Bond’s day out with his dog-dad Loid. Anya shows no interested in accompanying the two, so Loid decides to give Bond some security training instead of talking the fluffy goofball for a simple walk.

Read: Spy x Family Episode 1 Review for plot overview

This was cute filler episode that gets over in a blink, so I am not complaining about the zero plot progress. Although, Loid and Bond’s bond sees a lot of improvement in this edition, so that probably counts as progress, besides, the content lives up to its episodic title. The two of them not only train together, but thanks to Bond’s ability to see the future, the duo also ends up having an adventurous day involving a heroic feat.

Anya and Yor, on the other hand, spend a simple day at home. Anya tries her hand at origami while Yor cheers her on with 100% genuine enthusiasm. As mentioned, it’s a straightforward filler episode with nothing significant happening. The episode wraps up with a collection of happy pictures featuring all the different characters in the anime series enjoying their time, accompanied by a groovy jazz piece playing in the background. Given that it’s the end of December, there’s a casual holiday mood to it all.

You can stream Spy x Family on Netflix.

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Curry & Cyanide – Gripping Docu Plays Both Judge and Jury

One woman is accused of killing six people in her family over a span of 14 years, including a 2-year-old girl. The case, known in popular media as the Koodathayi cyanide killings, involves the alleged cyanide poisoning of six people. The prime accused is Jolly Joseph, a teacher (as she claimed) and mother to two sons.

Director by Christo Tomy, the 2023 Netflix documentary “Curry & Cyanide: The Jolly Joseph Case” is a rather straightforward string of interviews, interspersed with file footage of broadcast news snippets on the case. And as has become routine for Netflix documentaries, the creators also recreate scenes pertaining to the case for representational purposes to heighten visual engagement. This case rocked both state and national headlines in India, and news reports presented a sordid saga of an ambitious woman after easy money and a lavish lifestyle. Jolly Joseph allegedly murdered the first hurdle on the path of her dreams way back in 2002 – it was her mother-in-law Annamma Thomas.

The documentary opens with a picturesque drone shot of Koodathayi, the place where it all happened. “This could have been any house in Kerala, but what unfolded within its confines was something unheard of,” a voiceover says over the shot. What follows next is a rapid montage of news clippings setting ground for the 95-minute retelling of the killings.

Annamma’s death in 2002 was assumed to be due to a heart-attack, and no post-mortem was conducted as is common practice in middle-class families where the elderly die. Six years later, Jolly’s father-in-law collapsed and passed away in a similar fashion, and nobody thought it was unusual. Three years later, Jolly’s husband Roy was found dead in a bathroom that was locked from the inside. A post-mortem was conducted on the insistence of an uncle in the family called Matthew and the results showed cyanide in his system. Jolly told the family Roy was knee-deep in debt and must have committed suicide to evade payment. Everybody was satisfied with the explanation except Matthew, and he died in 2014. The last two victims in the case are 2-year-old Alphine and her mother Sily Shaju. Jolly married Sily’s husband Shaju a year after her death and that’s when someone on the family began to suspect Jolly’s hand in all six deaths.

With only two bodies out of the six showing traces of cyanide, there’s no concrete proof against Jolly, but the police claim Jolly confessed to all the murders. So, the documentary “Curry & Cyanide: The Jolly Joseph Case” unfolds like a lopsided “murderer profile,” where everybody except Jolly’s lawyer speaks with a sure-shot conviction that she was a murderer. The documentary largely hinges upon the testimony of Jolly’s sister-in-law, who, despite her best efforts, isn’t able to cloud the evident rivalry that existed between them. Although Jolly’s own son, who was only 2 or 3 years old at the time of his grandmother’s death/alleged murder, claims his mother had confessed to her crimes to him before her arrest. For a woman who is constantly branded as “friendly, neighborly” by people, it’s strange how the documentary makers couldn’t get one person to speak from a neutral point of view. There are no alternate theories at all.

If indeed, Jolly Joseph did kill all six people, she sure is no extraordinary serial killer, but an ordinary criminal who was able to get away with those murders because of a lackadaisical system and a prejudiced patriarchal society that undermines women. There are news reporters who exclaim shock over “how a mother could commit such crimes!”. Jolly Joseph probably took advantage of this very fact – that nobody would expect a devoted cheery mother to do any harm to anybody.

For those who don’t know much about the Jolly Joseph case, “Curry and Cyanide” offers an interesting look at how family politics, property disputes and half-hearted relations could lead to fatal consequences. Either Jolly murdered all six of them, only some of them, or none of them – but someone was able to cook up a convincing tale linking the trail of all six deaths to her. At the time of this documentary’s release, the trial into the Koodathayi cyanide killings was still ongoing and Jolly is yet to be convicted for any of the murders.

Stream the documentary on Netflix.

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Dry Day Review – Gannu Bhaiya Bumbles in Bland Boozy Drama

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

Gannu bhaiya is a day dreamer, day drinker, political worker and small-time thug who keeps getting into fights. Fed up with Gannu’s alcoholism, his wife of four years threatens to have an abortion because she doesn’t want their child to have a father who is a drunk, unemployed goon. Thus begins Gannu’s journey to straighten his life (through short-cuts).

Written and directed by Saurabh Shukla, ‘Dry Day’ begins with a lively shot of Jitendra Kumar as the protagonist Gannu, delivering a speech at a packed rally where he praises the virtues of free alcohol to rousing applause. It’s one of the most entertaining scenes of the film, and the rest of the story just doesn’t live up to its comic potential. The film traces Gannu’s journey from being a political sidekick of a powerful politician named Dauji (Annu Kapoor) to emerging as a prominent local leader in his region who promises to ban alcohol in his town to secure women’s vote, while struggling with his own drinking habit. Gannu’s transformation is triggered by his wife’s ultimatum to mend his good-for-nothing ways.

Shriya Pilgaonkar plays Gannu’s fierce wife, Nirmala, who demands that he quit drinking and pursue a serious respectable career. Ironically, Nirmala’s own identity is ‘the daughter of a teacher,’ yet she lectures to those around her about responsibility. And in an even worse little detail, Nirmala laments that her father warned her about marrying a useless alcoholic, but she wins the debate by claiming she could ‘fix’ him once they wed. Both Gannu and Nirmala are problematic characters, Jitendra Kumar and Shriya Pilgaonkar’s spirited performances don’t do much to make the movie feel entertaining.

“Dry Day” starts off as satirical look at the lives of men who let alcohol ru(i)n their lives, but soon becomes a confused drama-comedy, that’s neither funny enough nor emotionally poignant. The script doesn’t commit itself to a clear path, so even by the end of one hour of the film, Gannu is still drinking and creating a ruckus around him. Kiran Khoje stands out in her supporting role as Janki, a henna artist whose alcoholic husband drinks away all her earnings. Janki’s character is a realistic representation of impoverished working women who are crushed by their husbands’ alcoholism, pinning their hopes on politicians promising prohibition.

While the audio-visual elements are well-executed, and the cast delivers strong performances, the bland chaotic storytelling is the undoing of “Dry Day.” With a runtime of about two hours, relatively short for a Bollywood film, it is still a struggle to maintain interest in a narrative that shifts from a goon’s penchant for alcohol-fueled violence to preaching abstinence for political gain.

Rating: 4 on 10. “Dry Day” is available to stream on Prime Video.

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Rebel Moon Part 1 Review – Zack Snyder’s Spacey Justice League

If Taika Waititi gave us the ‘God-butcher’ in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’, then director Zack Snyder gives us Planet Annihilators in his 2023 film “Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire”. It’s a dystopian inter-galactic sci-fi fantasy tale about a rebel fighter trying to band together a group of fierce warriors across planets to go up against an oppressive military empire called “The Mothership”, whose generals threaten her peaceful farming village. So, kind of like “Star Wars” mashed with “Dune” and “Guardians of the Galaxy”, minus the jokes.

Written by Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad, and Shay Hatten, “Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire” begins with a voice-over explaining how The Mothership’s ruling royal family is slain in a coup led by the King’s top general Balisarius (Fra Fee), who, after taking over, works on crushing any murmurs of dissent against him. The opening scene features a gigantic military spaceship, but soon the story shifts its focus to the protagonist Kora (Sofia Boutella), a former warrior turned farmer, who now lives on a faraway moon, plowing fields with horses. Kora’s village resembles a farming cult trapped in a time bubble; all its inhabitants wear bleak-looking rags that belong anywhere between the 1800s to the 1940s. The juxtaposition is jarring and weird—they belong to a world of sentient robots and monstrous spaceships but live like peasants from medieval Europe. Although, in an anomaly, Kora’s living quarters are equipped with an automatic sensor sliding door, but inside, there are lanterns for lights. Clearly, the cult isn’t fully dedicated to their rejection of modern technology. Anyway…

The peace in Kora’s village is disrupted when Balisarius’ men, led by the evil Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein), arrive, demanding that they receive their entire harvest within three weeks. Their entry scene resembles one from a fictional World War II film, with the military men donning uniforms eerily similar to the Nazi livery. Ed Skrein’s portrayal of Atticus Noble reeks ruthlessness, creating an immediate sense of impending danger. Even during his seemingly benign interactions, like smiling and shaking hands with the village chief, I couldn’t shake the nervous anticipation that Atticus might suddenly bite off someone’s head. Unsurprisingly, Kora is convinced that the military will obliterate her community once their demands are met. So she embarks on a quest with her friend Gunnar (Michiel Huisman) to forge an alliance with rebel fighters who can help her stand against Atticus’ firepower.

Except for the lack of color (Snyder and team even make green look grey), “Rebel Moon” is an engaging space Odyssey as far as visual elements are concerned. But just like all of Snyder creations, it brims with slow-motion shots, dull colors, broody dramatic music and depressing dialogues. The color palette is dominated by sepia tones and black-grey swatches. The special-effects convincingly bring to life all the alien characters to life, including an much updated version of R2-D2 robots, that are rusty in appearance for no good reason.

For the initial twenty minutes, the film unravels as if it’s a continuation, a “Part II,” of an already established story. The characters engage in conversations with a knowing tone, creating a sense that the viewer might have missed out on a well-kept secret. This sense of being an “outsider” only diminishes after Kora finally reveals her origin story and Snyder should’ve led with it, or at least some parts of it and then led to a full disclosure of facts. The 2 hour 13 minute runtime didn’t seem to burdensome, in-fact, it’s the kind of ambitious script that might have worked better as a full-fledged series and some writers who aren’t afraid of adding some humor in the plot.

Sofia Boutella as Kora embodies the archetype of a fictional hero with a tragic past, projecting the image of a fierce warrior reminiscent of Alice from Resident Evil—capable of effortlessly navigating through hordes of flesh-eating zombies. Despite the impressive ensemble, the supporting cast members who join Kora’s fight against The Mothership fail to leave a lasting impression. Their characters are introduced through forgettable and clichéd scenes. For instance, Staz Nair’s character, a captive fighter, tames a Buckbeak-like beast (reminiscent of the Hippogriff from Harry Potter) in his introductory scene; meanwhile Bae Doona’s character finishes off a scary malevolent alien.

In essence, “Rebel Moon Part 1” seems to be either Zack Snyder’s homage to the science fiction and fantasy films he admires or an intricately chaotic fan-fiction brimming with Easter eggs. The film keeps flitting between being boring and gripping. If you are a loyal Snyder fan who watched the director’s cut of “Justice League” even after seeing its condensed version and enjoyed it, there is a high chance that you might appreciate this one too. Despite all its flaws, I would definitely watch a “Rebel Moon Part II”.

Rating: 6 on 10. You can stream it on Netflix.

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BFFs Bonding over Murders

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

It’s the 2020s and the easiest means of communicating with our friends is no longer video-calling, texting, or meeting over drinks, but simply sending each other funny memes and videos, react with an emoji and repeating the circle. One of my closest friends and I – let’s refer to her as BFF – love sending each other dog and cat videos. But ever since we lost Zoey, our pet dog, who was only six years old, to acute kidney failure, a lot of dog videos tend to make me sad. Although, I still love watching and sharing them as much as before. But to fill the void left by Zoey’s absence, I’ve begun to feed a murder of crows post lunch every day. It’s something my mother used to do before she adopted Zoey. And funnily enough, the only person I know who feeds crows is my BFF, in-fact, she even has a favourite crow, a special privilege I am yet to forge with any of the winged visitors that come to our balcony for free food. It’s a very covert operation for me, I quietly slip a plate on the balcony and immediately leave.

Since we are punctual around our house when it comes to meals, lunch is almost always at 1 pm. The crows start cawing and hankering for food by 1.30 pm if the royal highnesses haven’t been served by then. But they don’t just eat anything, for example, they have no interest in plain rice and dal, it needs to come with chicken or fish bones. So, there are days when I have nothing to give them and if I serves them a little leftover curry or just rice, they usually don’t eat it. It’s only recently that I realised that the little buggers haven’t just learned the time at which they can anticipate a plate of free serving but they’ve also associate me as their waitress. Or maybe calling myself Demeter sounds nicer – she is the Greek Goddess of Grain. Anyway… Yesterday, the murder came cawing at 1.30 pm and then dispersed with disappointment, because there was nothing to give them. At least nothing that they would’ve eaten. About 45 minutes later, I just went out to the balcony to soak in some winter sun, and one little crow let out a shriek and immediately I was surrounded by a dozen of them. For a second, I freaked out, then laughed at their acknowledgement – WHERE IS OUR FREE FOOD WOMAN? That’s probably what they were trying to ask me. Or maybe just “GIVE US FOOD, USELESS HUMAN”. Who knows.

I immediately video-called BFF to show the crows that had gathered and say “dude, they recognize me!”. But half the birds were already gone by then. Regardless, we started an excited discussion on our unlikely bond with murders. (That sounds so much cooler, so…)

BFF: These guys are very specific when it comes to what they eat okay. They don’t like anything yellow.

Me: Really? I was about to give them fried banana curry, that’s what we for lunch today, then decided against it. They probably wouldn’t have had it.

BFF: They hate chapatis.  

Me: Is it! My crows love rotis. We always keep an extra roti or two aside just to give it to the crows. Wait, I can’t believe I just said, “my crows love rotis”. Hahaha!

BFF: Imagine if someone overhears our conversation, they’ll probably think we are discussing kids and when they realise we are talking about crows, they’ll go WTF.

Both of us literally chorused “WTF” together and broke into peals of laughter.

I mean, of all the random things in the world, who would’ve thought that my closest friend and I would co-incidentally share a weird love for crows too.

Birds spotted where I live Birds spotted where I live

This year has been such a tough one for so many reasons, that these little fun conversations are often the highlight of my day. Casual birding has also become a new therapeutic hobby for me and whenever I spot a new bird in our generously green locality, I always send a photo to BFF and my partner/boyfriend/husband (same person, not three different people). They’re both enthusiastic in their responses to my photos, although a beloved aunt of mine thinks birdwatching is my newfound eccentricity. 

Well, as a new year dawns, I hope you find a new hobby too, however weird, and hopefully you already have an amazing BFF like mine to share all your eccentricities with.  

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 episode 22 Review

Hope you are here after Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 episode 21. Minor spoilers ahead.

It’s hard to believe that almost ten episodes have passed since Choso used his blood manipulation against Yuji and then disappeared upon realizing that the two are related. All that happened in Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 episode 13, and If you, like me, have been wondering what Choso has been up to since then, you’ll find your answers in episode 22 of the anime series.

Titled “Transformation – Part 2,” the episode continues with the evil twist from the last edition – Pseudo-Geto interrupts Yuji’s fight with Mahito just when the latter was on the verge of defeat. “Do you need my help?” Pseudo-Geto asks a startled Mahito with a smirk. His appearance only re-invigorates Yuji’s determination, who charges at the new arrival, demanding that he give back Gojo to the sorcerers. Meanwhile, more Jujutsu sorcerers arrive on the scene to battle, and the Shibuya arc is finally reaching its closing chapters. Viewers get a tense showdown – Jujutsu sorcerers and Choso versus Geto and Uraume. In-case you forgot, Uraume is the white-haired curse user who is extremely loyal to Sukuna, which is why they side against the sorcerers.

Pseudo-Geto uses Geto’s maximum – Uzumaki, a spirit manipulation technique that Gege Akutami named in direct reference to Junji Ito’s horror manga “Uzumaki.” MAPPA animators illustrate this technique fittingly, which manifests as a creepy spiral-shaped monster. Even if the first mention of “Uzumaki” doesn’t ring a bell, anyone who has read Ito’s work will immediately make the connection once the technique is used.

The second half of the episode puts the spotlight on Choso, who takes on Geto; the animated fight sequences with his blood-manipulation technique are riveting to watch, although things were bloodier in his face-off with Yuji. Besides the blood-fest and fights, the episode also packs in quite a few comical moments, including Yuji’s hilarious confusion over Choso referring to him as “brother.” A major revelation is made to explain how the two are related, which will fill in a lot of blanks for those who haven’t read the manga series.

Steadily-paced, with tightly packed fights and ample comic relief, this edition was well-balanced, although it doesn’t feel like the season is heading to its end. Yuji, battered beyond hope and on the verge of dying for the nth time, gets a surprise ally yet again, just in time to save him. It’s an old friend of Geto’s, so things are about to get twisty in the next chapter.

You can stream Jujutsu Kaisen on Netflix or CrunchyRoll.

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Dragons of Wonderhatch Episodes 1-2 Review

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

“In my dreams, I am flying…. I realize I’m not flying freely at all. I’m falling towards the sky.”

High-school student Nagi often dreams of a different world where fish fly in the sky and dragon-riding warriors zoom past clouds. Little does she know that this world is real and is called Upananta, which is in grave danger due to an evil villain. Unfortunately, its greatest hero, Akuta, falls to Earth and doesn’t know how to get back home. Looking to rescue Akuta, a spirited Tyme also finds his way to Earth, landing at Nagi’s house with his dragon, leading to an epic intersection of two very different worlds.

Directed by Hagiwara Kentaro, the 2023 Disney fantasy series “Dragons of Wonderhatch” (Wandahatchi: Soratobu Ryu no Shima) blends the real world with anime, so while Nagi’s life is set in regular human japan, Upananta is a colorful animated universe with fantasy figures, which is a little like Dragon Ball Z. Nakajima Sena plays teen Nagi, while Mackenyu and Okudaira Daiken portray the human versions of dragon-riders Akuta and Tyme respectively. In this series, there’s a clear boundary between the animated Upananta and Earth, and when Upananta inhabitants find themselves in Japan, they assume human forms.

Ironically titled “The Final Battle”, episode one first introduces Nagi, who is troubled by her dreams and often faints when the visions get too much. Nagi realizes her mother too had similar symptoms and tries to ask her father about it, with little avail. Then viewers are plunged into the fascinating animated realm of Upananta, and the visual contrast from Nagi’s life is striking as hell. Akuta leads a band of dragon-riders to go to war with Jairo, a nefarious villain who has sealed off a place called Pytonpyt, leading to the slow collapse of Upananta’s many floating islands. While Akuta rides a fierce giant reddish dragon, his biggest fan, the younger Tyme, rides a cute blue baby dragon called Guphin, whose character illustration & personality looks like a mash between Squirtle (from Pokemon) and Night Fury from “How to Train Your Dragon”. Jairo attacks Akuta, throwing him to modern day Japan, and Tyme tries to find a way to his idol.

With a 45-minute runtime, the pilot episode takes its time to set up the primary premise, which really doesn’t become clear until the second episode. So it’s a good thing that Disney released the first two episodes together, because the most interesting twist in the tale only comes at the end of the second edition. The makers include a lot of easter eggs and direct references to several popular manga creations, which would be fun to spot for some fans. For example, an eccentric character Saira (Sumire) who lives in Upananta, loves to collect stuff from the human world, so she is gifted an Astro Boy toy (a good salute to Manga master Osamu Tezuka). While the animated parts of “Dragons of Wonderhatch” is comical and fun to watch, things unravel at a sluggish pace in the human world. Although the cinematography for the regular live-action parts is also visually appealing.

Seen last as the enigmatic Roronoa Zoro in “One Piece”, Mackenyu once again seems to be playing a similar character – an asocial hero who loves to fight. While he definitely delivers whatever brief he has been given, Akuta’s adventures in the human world are rather mundane, and the one fight he gets into is shabbily choreographed, with confusing camera moments that do nothing to improve the violent sequence. Hopefully, the character’s trajectory will improve in the coming episodes. Meanwhile, Okudaira Daiken energetically voices Tyme, however, the actor doesn’t appear in the human world until the second episode, so it’s too soon to say anything about his actual portrayal of the character. Although, he definitely promises to infuse the mundane world of earthlings with a lot of joy, life and action.

Titled “The Secret Room”, episode two of “Dragons of Wonderhatch” is only 32 minutes in duration, much shorter than the first, but feels a lot longer due to its slow pace. Those who are looking for a fast-paced action-packed series that combines the anime world with the human world might be left wanting for more, but since episode 2 ends on a fun cliffhanger, I am expecting the series to get a lot more exciting in the next few editions.

You can stream “Dragons of Wonderhatch” on Disney Plus.

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Spinning – Graphic Novel Review

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

“Spinning”, the graphic novel memoir by Tillie Walden is like a slice of sadness wrapped in pretty paper – it’s gorgeously drawn, but steadily melancholic, from page one until the end.

“I was a competitive figure and synchronized skater for twelve years,” Tillie tells readers on the first page of the memoir, which only has one illustration – that of the protagonist entering a room, watercolor shades of blue and yellow surrounding her. And in flashbacks, the artist reveals a grim life of her preteen self, waking up before the sun to go to grueling practice sessions, taking part in competitions, winning a lot of them and yet completely despising the experience.

The strange part about Tillie’s life as a competitive skater is the fact that her parents don’t seem to have pressured her into it, or at least she makes no indication of parental pressure to keep up with the strenuous regime she so hates. If anything, her mother seems to be more than happy to not have to pay for her classes when she finally decides to quit and the father seems to be pretty supportive. I guess it’s just one of those things that we trap ourselves into, without anybody locking the door on us – we take up something nobody asked us to, and then refuse to part with it even after finding out it’s not what we want. The door is open and yet we don’t walk out.

“Spinning” is a memoir which feels like a jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces, Tillie chooses to display only certain pieces (of course it is up to her to reveal what she wants and hold back things), so as a reader, at least for me, the experiences in the graphic novel felt incomplete. There’s a gnawing feeling that either the creator is holding back a lot or well, maybe there isn’t more to the tale. Apart from her skating journey, the memoir also explores the author’s struggles at school with bullies, with making friends, coming to terms with her sexuality and finding art. Tillie realizes early on she is attracted to girls, but rampant homophobia around her makes it difficult for her to speak about it. Yes, she does meet someone, and after a brief period of happiness, there’s heartbreak.

Tillie Waldon’s fluidly flowing artwork is the highlight of this graphic novel memoir, there’s a hazy-dreamy quality to it, which makes the story nostalgic, a fitting style for a memoir. Almost 400 pages long, many chapters open with a single illustration depicting an ice-skating move and the author explaining what it is. Tillie lets the art do the talking in many panels, with no dialogues and just the expressions and movements of characters enough to explain what’s happening. Majority of the novel is in an inky shade of blue, while some pages have other shades (usually yellow) to change the mood.

It feels like this graphic novel memoir is the author’s attempt to purge all the negative emotions she attached to a certain phase of her life. Despite having a seemingly doting dad, a twin brother who she gets along with (at least the rare few panels they appear), even an ice-skating friends who is always there for her – Tillie either unintentionally or deliberately doesn’t share lighter and fun moments of her life. So “Spinning” is a gloomy read, but with beautiful artwork.

Rating: 3.5 on 5.

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