Sneha Jaiswal's Blog, page 189

‘Gatta Kusthi’ – Aishwarya Lekshmi Deserved Hero’s Finish

Rating: 3 out of 5.

By Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

‘Veera, a male chauvinist, is seeking a bride with his own preconceived set of conditions. However, he unexpectedly ends up marrying Keerthi who is the polar opposite to his expectations. What will happen when the truth is revealed?‘ – reads the synopsis of 2022 Tamil movie ‘Gatta Kusthi’.

Knowing what the film is about, there’s obviously no point complaining about the regressive/patriarchal scenes. A lot of the sexist male characters regrettably represent many men across the world who think women are inferior beings meant to serve them. Directed and written by Chella Ayyavu, the film stars Aishwarya Lekshmi as accomplished boxer Keerthi, whose parents struggle to find a groom for her. Enter Vishnu Vishal as Veera, a rich man who wants to marry someone lesser educated than him and has long flowing hair. Keerthi’s beloved uncle convinces her to wear a wig and lie about her educational qualifications, claiming two white lies won’t matter once she is married. Things get comically complicated when Veera learns his new bride isn’t a blushing dumb weakling he thought she was.

Last seen in folkore-horror movie ‘Kumari’, Aishwarya Lekshmi was the primary reason I chose to stream this film and she is the best thing about it. There’s a fun action sequence where Keerthi fights a whole gang of goons and while the action choreography could’ve been better, Aishwarya pulls off the scenes with a Rajinikanth-like swagger. It’s easy to imagine movie-goers whistling in a cinema hall as Keerthi beats the bad guys to pulp.

The cinematography is colorful, simple and complimented by a foot-tapping soundtrack. Vishnu Vishal is quite hilarious as the barely educated Veera who is raised by a chauvinistic uncle and isn’t familiar with the world of women. The film is filled with old-school tropes we are used to seeing in mass-entertainers – Veera has enough inheritance to while away his day roaming around town, getting into fights and drinking the evenings away with his middle-aged uncle friends.

Unfortunately, even though the film tries to promote gender equality, Aishwarya Lekshmi is pushed to the sidelines towards the climax and it’s Veera who gets a hero’s finish – he defeats the cliched villain and delivers a contrived emotional speech about how a ‘woman is no less than a man’. Keerthi deserved to throw the last punch. Regardless, ‘Gatta Kusthi’ was an entertaining watch but could’ve been so much more.

It’s a 6/10 from me. Stream it on Netflix.

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‘Sheets’ Graphic Novel Review – Beautifully Drawn

By Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

‘Sheets’ the graphic novel by Brenna Thummler is so beautifully drawn that even if it didn’t have a story at all, I would probably still give it a 4/5 stars for the art. It does have an interesting premise though – Thirteen-year-old Marjorie Glatt runs her family laundry business as her recently widowed father is yet to come to terms with her mother’s death. Friendless at school, and forced to deal with mean customers post classes, Marjorie feels invisible and unappreciated; but things only get more difficult when the ghost of Wendell, a boy who died too young, decides to play in Glatt’s laundry and create a mess. An evil neighbor who eyes her business doesn’t make things any easier.

The artwork had a dreamy pastel touch to it and Brenna Thummler uses a lot of pleasant pink and blue shades throughout the story, lending an uplifting mood to the tale. Readers can almost feel the autumn breeze moving through the panels, some of which look wallpaper worthy. Each character is also drawn with a lot of personality, although Marjorie has the most forgettable face, probably a deliberate decision – she isn’t the ‘popular pretty girl’, but an average teen trying to get through her day without disasters. It was Brenna’s art that won me over while reading graphic novel adaptation of ‘Anne of Green Gables’ and she recreates the same kind of magic with her panels again.

‘Sheets’ is like a slow soft splash in warm water, the kinds you want to take a dip in. The novel mixes Marjorie’s slow mundane but difficult life with the supernatural magical world of Wendell the ghost, who only appears as a sheet. Brenna builds a cute little ghost world, where dead sheets attend therapy and aren’t allowed to go to the realm of the living. But Wendell is a trouble-making rebel who shakes up the protagonist’s life.

Readers cannot help but empathize with Marjorie, who is representational of so many youngster prematurely pushed into the adult world, burdened with responsibilities that should’ve been shouldered by someone else. I was glad that the creator gave her some human friends at the end, or this could’ve been a depressing novel about a lonely young girl becoming pals with a ghost. Oh wait, that sounds like ‘Casper’! Anyway, I really enjoyed reading ‘Sheets’ and there’s a sequel too.

It’s a 4/5 from me.

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‘Remember Me’ Series Review – Nostalgic

By Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

Once upon a time, school kids needed their friends to fill up notebooks with thoughts, quotes and contact details to keep in touch. Not anymore. So, Thai series ‘Remember Me’ takes a walk down those days and is a nostalgic 14-episode series about the shenanigans of 5 school-friends growing up in a time where people still wrote letters to each other and were only just discovering the world of ‘chat rooms’. Even though the stories feature romantic plots, friendship, family and loss take center-stage in this leisurely flowing drama.

Directed by Nipitpon Muangsinun, the series stars the following actors as primary protagonists (in alphabetical order with their character names in brackets) – First Chalongrat Novsamrong (Gun), Ja Phachara Suansri (Golf), Man Supakrit Charoonmatha (Em), Mean Phiravich Attachitsataporn (Naknan), Tanatorn Saenangkanikorn (Champ) and Teshin Anusananan (Name). Viewers get to see these characters grow from naughty little boys to mature young men on the threshold of working-adult-world. The show focuses mostly on their teen years and college days; delving into the struggles of choosing a career path and following one’s heart.

Teshin Anusananan’s character Name had the most poignant sub-plot, he is terrific as the boy who doesn’t speak and suffers from a disorder that is akin to selective mutism in children. His neighbor Em pulls him out of his shell by inducting the little boy into his own school gang. Their friendship throughout the years is precious. The other character/actor that stood out in the series is Tanatorn Saenangkanikorn as the studious Champ, who shares a beautiful bond with his grandfather. First and Ja who were an onscreen couple in the series ‘Don’t Say No’ are paired opposite each other again as Gun and Golf respectively, two shy sweet school kids who become pen friends and continue writing to each other for years. First seems to have gotten better as an actor and was a lot more believable in this series, except it was slightly weird to see him cast as the ‘ugly one’, because he is probably the most good looking in the cast.

The cinematography of the show is simple, nostalgic and a lot of scenes are in slight sepia tones to give the story a retro touch. The hair and make-up department needed to put in more work, some of the characters have terrible hairstyles and it’s apparent the characters are wearing wigs. Mean who plays Naknan looked ridiculous throughout the show and even his acting wasn’t up to the mark. All the parents in the show however did a splendid job, they are all kind and empathetic; even though not all the characters have an easy relationship with their families.

Watch ‘Remember Me’ if you are looking for a ‘slice of life’ series, with minimal drama and multiple protagonists. You can stream it on YouTube.

It’s a 7/10 from me.

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‘The Least We Can Do’ Issue #5 Review

Hello new year and new issue of ‘The Least We Can Do’ by the talented duo Iolanda Zanfardino and Eliza Romboli! Things get dangerous for protagonist Uriel in issue #5 – she is tasked with an undercover mission where there’s a high risk of her identity being compromised.

(Read: ‘The Least We Can Do’ – Issue #1 Review for plot overview)

The issue begins with a heist and the panels are jam-packed with action. Readers go on a roller coaster ride that begins with a bloody fight and ends with a fancy gala filled with aristocrats. With a lot of stuff going on, character-development takes a slight backseat in this issue, however readers do get a brief glimpse into the soft side of the hot-headed Sam and Uriel sees the captain in new light too. Also, an intriguing new sub-plot is introduced – the mysterious death of a woman who was the twin sister of Uriel’s father.

While class warfare remains the primary theme of ‘The Least We Can Do’, creator Eliza Romboli also makes members of ‘Eclipse Rebels’ stand-up against heteronormativity and a nice non-hetero romance seems to be brewing between two crucial characters. As always – Iolanda Zanfardino’s expressive art breathes excitement into the story and the issue gets over in a blink!

It’s a 4/5 from me.

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‘To the Lighthouse’ – A Frustrating Read

By Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

A copy of ‘To the Lighthouse’ by Virginia Woolf has been lying around the house for years, I don’t even remember when I bought it, but do remember trying to read it and losing interest after a few pages. For no good reason, I decided to start the year 2023 with the same novel. In the latest podcast episode of Abstract AF, I explain why the book was a 1/5 star for me. So the review is filled with spoilers.

Do subscribe to the podcast. You can scroll down for the text version of the same.

Let me just summarize the plot for who those who have not read the book – the novel follows The Ramsays, a seemingly happily married couple, who aren’t very wealthy, but comfortable enough to own a beach house where they go to spend their summers in and host about 10-15 guests. The Ramsays have eight kids and Mrs Ramsay, the hostess is the primary protagonist. The first chapter starts off with her youngest son James asking if they can go to the lighthouse the next day and while Mrs Ramsay encouragingly says they can, her husband asserts that the weather isn’t right for such a visit. Mrs Ramsay laments its terrible of the father to douse the hopes of his son in such a matter-of-fact way and thinks the boy will remember the disappointment for the rest of his life. Apart from that, story is just about how Mrs Ramsay is a beautiful and entertaining hostess and loves playing a matchmaking aunty by trying to set her guests up with each other.

That’s just what the first half of the novel is about – Mrs Ramsays hosting peoples, her guests being in awe of her beauty and her husband who is a philosopher and author, being a needy attention-seeking man. Suddenly in the second half of the book readers are informed that Mrs Ramsay is dead and that nobody goes to the beach house for the next ten years. When they do, one of the guests reminisces about what a great woman Mrs Ramsay was and how her philosopher husband is nothing but a pale fading shadow without her.

So, in essence, this is about a beautiful woman hosting people at her beach house and some of her guests remembering her fondly when she dies. My interest to read this book kept dying after every page. Both Virginia Woolf’s storytelling and language wasn’t very fluid, unlike some novels where the author’s prose is so powerfully smooth that the chapters are easy to read even if the story is tedious. With ‘To the Lighthouse’, I neither found the ‘barely there’ story interesting nor the descriptions that were tediously laid between the minimal action.

As far as the characters are concerned, most of them are extremely forgettable and none of them experiences much growth, unless you consider the literal aging of some of the people in the story, since we meet some of them after ten years. If I were a literature student (which I was by the way) and had to write a character analysis for Mrs Ramsay, I am afraid I would be at a loss for quality words. I do like the fact that she isn’t your typical teen protagonist or someone naïve in her early twenties, although if the author hasn’t explicitly mentioned her age, one would never be able to guess that she is in her fifties. Her strongest character trait seems to be her physical beauty and of-course she is a loving caring mother, but that’s not a unique trait now, is it? The best picture you get of Mrs Ramsay is through the eyes and mind of a character called Lily Briscoe, she is an artist in her early 30s who thinks of Mrs Ramsay as a giver and her husband as a man who only ‘takes and takes and takes’.

Now I don’t know what the popular interpretation of Lily Briscoe’s character is, but I feel like Virginia Woolf either meant her to be a lesbian or a bisexual, because Lily’s affection for Mrs Ramsay seems to be quite strong and more than platonic. Considering the novel came out in the 1920s, Woolf obviously does clouds Lily’s feelings for Mrs Ramsay as a domestic kind of love for her way of life. Just the fact that Woolf at some point feels the need to clarify that Lily’s love for Mrs Ramsay is not limited to the woman but for the entire family and the way they live, gives some readers reason to believe that Lily had a romantic interest in the older lady. In the second half of the novel, Lily desperately feels the need to have Mrs Ramsay back in the beach house and she emotionally reminisces about their time together.  

If this really was Virginia Woolf’s subtle attempt to slip in an unrequited love plot, then it’s a move worth noting, although it doesn’t change the fact that the novel was mind-numbingly boring. Was Lily Briscoe in love with Mrs Ramsay or did she just desire to be Mrs Ramsay herself, a woman of great beauty and charm with a happy brood of children who adored her? It’s not really a question worth debating.

And now, finally, I’d just like to touch upon the significance of the title ‘To the Lighthouse’. Little James gets to visit the lighthouse ten years later, ironically with his father, because his mother is no more. And anybody who is or has been a literature student can surmise that it was Mrs Ramsay who was the ‘lighthouse’, the woman who brightened up a room with her mere presence and without her to lighten up things, those who basked under her attention are lost.  

To me, as a 21st century reader, ‘To the Lighthouse’ feels outdated, even though it has eternal themes like love and war. I couldn’t be bothered to care about a match-making aunty who lives in her own bubble, is financially stable enough to afford a cook and a bunch of people to look after their vacation home when they are not around. What were her hopes, dreams, aspirations, what does she want to be b eyond a mother and hostess? I don’t know even after 200 pages that were quite frustratingly difficult to sail through. Despite my massive disappointment with this novel, I do intend to read ‘Mrs Dalloway’ by Virgina Woolf, which is considered to be a superior work by most critics. I can only hope it really is.

‘Oh! My Assistant’ – Quick Mini-Series Review

Webtoon artist Seon Ho hasn’t been in a relationship for over two years, so when he hires a good-looking art assistant to help him out, an awkward romance blooms between the two. The 2022 Korean mini-series ‘Oh! My Assistant’ stars Song Seun Hyun as lead protagonist Seon Ho and the younger Ko Chan Bin as his new assistant Gu Mu Yeong.

Eight episodes long, this Korean romantic-comedy series is silly, slightly funny, and annoying in parts. Ko Chan Bin is gorgeous to look at, but his character Gu Mu Yeoung is weirdly juvenile, the kinds who lives in their head, drawing all sorts of wrong conclusions about things, instead of simply asking people “hey, what’s going on?”. Also, Gu Mu Yeong has more chemistry with his best-friend Haan Joon Seok (Lee Do Ha) than Seon Ho.

The actors follow the simple script that’s laden with old-school cliches but is free of excessive drama. Overall, ‘Oh! My Assistant’ is simple, forgettable and not too bad for a one time watch.

It’s a 5/10 from me.

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Ginny & Georgia – Season 2 Review

By Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

Antonia Gentry and Brianne Howey reprise their roles as Ginny & Georgia for season 2 of the Netflix series and are the beating heart of the show. For those who don’t remember – season 1 ended with Ginny running away from home with her little brother Austin on their neighbour Marcus’ bike. This was after finds out mom Georgia is a potential psycho killer from a private detective hired by the ex-wife of her dead step-dad. In a big relief, it is revealed in episode one that Ginny is at her dad Zion’s (Nathan Miller) place, so at least there’s no serious dangers or problems looming around the corner for the siblings.

10 episodes long, first-half of season two is quite binge-worthy and entertaining. While season 1 couldn’t bring about the strong bond between the lead characters, this edition does a much better job at fleshing out the symbiotic relationship between Ginny and Georgia. And even though Georgia is blinded by maternal love to protect her kids from everything, she fails to see Ginny’s struggle with self-harm and mental health issues and instead is busy ensuring her plan to marry Mayor Paul Randolph (Scott Porter) goes smoothly. There’s an interesting clash of two worlds, on one hand we see Ginny and friends navigating the hell that is American High School life; on the other there is Georgia trying to pull off dangerous little scams while working at the mayor’s office. And all of this is peppered with cleverly edited flashbacks to help explain what turned a helpless teen mom into a murderer with no remorse. The story unfolds in the winter, so the cinematography is petty and there’s a nice warm holiday vibe to the settings.

Creator Sarah Lampert tries to squeeze in as many themes, issues, sub-plots as possible, but does do justice to some of them, unlike season 1, where everything ended up feeling half-baked. Ginny’s father has the good sense to get her help, so the teen starts therapy, which was a major talking point in the show. The focus on mental health was laudable, what I didn’t like however was how almost every teen in the series is portrayed as ‘damaged’ or problematic. It’s almost like they romanticize it. For example, Ginny’s relationship with neighbor Marcus (Felix Mallard) sees a lot of growth in the show and the two actors have great chemistry, but the dude suddenly decides to have issues of his own. Viewers are given no plausible explanation except that he has ‘had episodes in the past and was on medication’.

All the actors are great; the series has some very poignant mother-daughter moments and Antonia Gentry and Brianne Howey make a terrific pair. Georgia as a character is vile, she isn’t likable at all, most of the fuss over her is only because she is pretty, and her maternal side is the only redeeming quality about her. But Brianne Howey is brilliant in her portrayal of the street-smart criminal/hustler/con-artist who is determined to give her kids a life she couldn’t have. Diesel La Torraca is endearing as Georgia’s son Austin and this season has his biological dad out of prison and trying to make things complicated for her.

The plot gets overbearing in the last three episodes, with a cliched expected twist in the end. A lot of supporting characters get too much screen space and the run-time could’ve easily been trimmed down. But I did enjoy it a lot more than season one.

It’s a 7/10 from me.

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The Sprite and the Gardener – Book Review

‘The Sprite and the Gardener’ is a real cute quick graphic novel about how a flower fairy decides to help a human girl breathe life into her neglected backyard garden. Created by Rii Abrego and Joe Whitt, the book has a palette that is slightly disorienting at first. More soft sober shades would’ve been nice but the loud panels will be attractive for younger readers.

Plot overview – Once upon a time, magical little beings called sprites would do the job of looking after flowers and gardens, but ever since humans started taking gardening too seriously, the sprites relaxed and stopped growing things. However, Wisteria, a young sprite, wants to grow flowers with her own handwork and secretly helps a girl grow more plants.

Just 86 pages long, ‘The Sprite and the Gardener’ is a straightforward summery book celebrating nature and the joy of gardening. Wisteria is a sweet character, her hair looks like a dandelion, so she can easily camouflage herself as a flower when she is in the wild. The creators establish an idealistic world where sprites and people live in harmony; so there’s close to zero conflict in the story but it does have a lot of heart.

It’s a 3.5/10 from me.

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Blue Lock Episode 12 Review

More than half the players have been eliminated from the crazy strict soccer training program called ‘Blue Lock’ in the latest episode of the anime series and things are only getting tougher for the boys.

(Read ‘Blue Lock’ Episode 1 Review if you have no idea what the show is about)

Titled ‘The Second Selection’, episode 12 has a creepy but intriguing start. After springing a nasty surprise on them after round one, Ego re-asserts becoming Japan’s best striker is not going to be easy. True to the slightly dystopian nature of the series, viewers get some impressive hi-tech training modules in the second round. The surviving players are expected to go through a grueling challenge all alone at first and are pitted against machines.

A whole bunch of new characters make their way into the episode, players who were on other teams and never faced Isagi Yoichi and gang. It was slightly annoying to notice that the player rankings weren’t refreshed in the first half of the episode. Isago still had an absurdly low number on his sleeve, but eventually the ranks are updated and turns out, the monstrous trio from team V – Reo Mikage, Nagi Seishiro and Zantetsu Tsurugi – aren’t the top three players of ‘Blue Lock’!

Stream the series on Netflix.

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‘Aquicorn Cove’ Review – Balmy Breezy Graphic Novel

The first few pages of the graphic novel ‘Aquicorn Cove’ by K. O’Neill immediately reminded me of the underrated Japanese animated movie called ‘Ponyo’. Both stories are set against a gorgeous sea-side town and have some magical water creatures in them. But apart from the basic setting, the tales are quite different from each other.

Plot overview – Young Lana goes to her seaside hometown with her father and helps the locals recuperate from the after-effects of a terrible storm. A simple trip home turns magical when Lana rescues a seahorse-like creature and learns about the fascinating underwater species whose way of life is being threatened due to over-fishing and exploitation of their resources by humans.

K. O’Neill’s art in the graphic novel is simple yet dreamy and I loved reading the breezy story. It’s a lovely children’s fantasy book that attempts to explain the problems of over-fishing and its damaging effects on coral reefs in a simple manner. I really enjoyed the illustrations and Lana’s little adventure in her hometown.

‘Aquicorn Cove’ may not be a very engaging read for older readers but is a balmy breezy graphic novel that makes you want to go on an underwater adventure.

It’s a 5/5 from me.

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Listen to – 10 Graphic Novel Recommendations Under 10 Minutes