The point Moothon starts off at and the story it ventures into eventually are
so fundamentally different that any details would take away from the experience.There is no
question about the ambition of the film. It is hard to pin down the film to a particular genre or 
language. It is as much a Hindi film as it is Malayalam. It is a drama, a mob flick and a social
commentary. It should also be noted that Malayalam star Nivin Pauly has redefined himself to play a
challenging role that challenges conventions, both of the industry and how films are
made. <br><br>
Moothon is set in a peaceful part of Lakshadweep. However, we are quickly introduced to the world of the
protagonist Mulla, an introverted kid. Bullied at school and ready to be sent away from the island
by his caretaker, he yearns for an identity. The story of Mulla in itself is harrowing, but as
soon as the audience starts to settle with the lush cinematography and the tranquil, slow life of
the island, the film takes an interesting turn.<br><br>
From them on, it is a film that covers new ground constantly and very competently. Its focus is never on one place or a particular story. Ultimately, it tackles the life of the island and juxtaposes it with
Mumbai, its underbelly and crime syndicates.
<h2>Influences are easy to find in the narrative. The film evokes memories of Salaam Bombay. The mob children
run around like in City of Gods, the villains and heroes are active volcanoes like in Satya.
Additionally, Anurag Kashyap staples can be found as well, but not with the earnest heart they come with in his
directorial ventures. </h2>
Mumbai is seen at its darkest, dingiest and most volatile. The brilliant cinematography of Rajeev
Ravi keeps the claustrophobia of Mumbai’s crowded and coagulated spaces intact, while maintaining meticulous attention to detail. The editing is fine-tuned, but the pacing of the film takes a hit, no less thanks to its unorthodox script that goes back and forth between high octane chase
sequences to peaceful conversations on a beach. The background score
too is a nuisance in an otherwise smart film. It dictates the feeling a scene must have,
ultimately having the opposing effect. <h2>
The actors, however, drive the point home. Pauly can blow up and sit in silence with the
same effect, and Roshan Mathew stuns with his elegant vulnerability. The child actors work well
within the film and Shashank Arora delivers yet another great performance. </h2>
The narrative never unfolds in its entirety. Geetu Mohandas brilliantly withholds information and
introduces red herrings, visually and with the story. The film
ventures into themes that are unimaginable in its first act, and eventually provides the audience with memorable twists. However, despite being an ambitious film that will haunt you long after you are done watching it, Moothon remains a hard film to watch with no light
at the end of the tunnel. <br/><br/>
<b><i>Written by <span class="text-gradient">Nimish K Sharma</span></i></b>  

Moothon | Review | Anurag Kashyap, Nivin Pauly, Shashank Arora, Sobhita Dhulipala

A butcher’s slaughter buffalo breaks free and runs amok in a seemingly idyllic village,
wreaking havoc and revealing a simmering darkness in its dwellers, within the first twelve
minutes of Lijo Jose Pellisery’s Jallikattu. The film wastes no time in laying the foundations
for its central conflict; energies are high, tensions seething, and the crowds tumultuous from
the get-go. 

<h2>The opening sequence sets the rhythm for the rest of the film, both thematically and literally.
Eyes move rapidly under closed eyelids before fluttering open, insects buzz around in a
frenzy, buffalo meat is aggressively cut through, wooden poles are hammered rhythmically
into the ground – all to the background score of a clock ticking that sounds more like a gong
beating down menacingly.</h2>

However, the high energy is broken by a long, silent stretch of the mountains silhouetted against a sky pierced by the first ruddy colours of dawn. This style, theme and rhythm remain true for much of the film to come – each frame quivers with life
and bursts of frenzied activity, interspersed with silent stretches of inactivity. These quiet
stretches, however, feel neither sluggish nor peaceful. They are tense moments
of dormancy before another eruption of mayhem– you don’t hear the clock ticking, not
because the clock has stopped working, but because it is being wound to start all over again. <br><br>

The film’s title refers to a popular game traditional to Tamil Nadu, where a bull is set free
into the crowd and people attempt to grab and subdue it, and prevent it from escaping. The
parallels between the game and the film are obvious. However, a real situation of a buffalo
having escaped and causing widespread destruction and fear is far from being a game – or so
you would think. 

<h2>Toxic notions of machismo and masculinity seep in, personal rivalries boil
to the surface, conflicts with authority come to the fore, the primitive id is given into and
catching the buffalo becomes more a matter of pride and superiority than protection. This is
especially strengthened by the visual of the 95-minute-long “game”, culminating in a twisted
version of the human pyramid that you see during the joyous <i>dahi-handi</i> festival.</h2>

The themes and metaphors that the film attempts to convey are obvious, but it is the
unnervingly beautiful aesthetics and absurdity that the metaphors are packed in, that make
watching the film enjoyable and fascinating. The film offers little in terms of respite, and
leaves you exhausted not because of any mental effort you put into deciphering the film, but
because of the sheer exhilaration you feel when enjoying it. <br><br>

The film explores violence and toxic masculinity without ever celebrating them. What starts
as a comedic display of men arguing with each other even as a buffalo runs amok, quickly
turns into something more sinister. By the end, two men find it impossible to bottle their
desire to fight and try to kill the other even when the buffalo is chasing them not a few feet
away. As the film sprints on with the buffalo and the characters slowly unravel, it is clear that
at its core, the film is about man’s need to dominate – be it with women, nature, or each other.

<h2>It is no longer man against the wild, but man giving into his wild instincts. This is further
strengthened by the background score of heavy grunts and chanting in a primitive language
that accompany the men turning into beasts and unveiling their animalistic side.</h2>

The narrative makes you wonder where the line between an animal, like Jallikattu’s rampant
buffalo, being a frightening threat and being a piece of meat that is someone’s property, lies.
The line is blurry in the film and crossed constantly. The men are unable to set their
individualistic desires aside long enough to end the threat. The more they get caught up in
their personal matters and neglect to treat the buffalo as a threat, the more disastrous the
consequences are. However, any and all attempts to portray the buffalo as the threatening
beast and enemy in the films do not hold a candle to the inherent brutality and bestial nature
of man. We are, and always have been - as is clear in the last scene of the film - the only
enemy that others, and we ourselves, need to fear.
<br/><br/>
<b><i>Written by <span class="text-gradient">Sanjana Bhagwat</span></i></b>

Jallikattu | Review | Antony Varghese, Lijo Jose Pellissery

Shades of a Kite brings to the screen a powerful narrative about a haunted house and the manner in which it comes to threaten the safety of a family that has recently moved there. Anna, a single mother, shifts to a house in a new city with her three-year-old daughter who also happens to be a mute. The film unfolds to reveal a sense of deep disconcertment which is achieved with dimly lit visuals marked by their deliberate instability to disorient the viewer. The handheld shots when combined with the greys on screen produce an unease, and the invocation of this very sentiment allows the film to be successful in its endeavour to be a horror story. <br><br> In terms of thought, the plot draws attention to differing ideas that conform to science and spirituality, the question of the supernatural in the logical world of mental health experts. All of this is further enhanced by beautiful animation that add a new dimension to the story. When coupled with notable graphics and convincing performances, the film indeed becomes a successful product as well as an enjoyable viewing experience for all horror aficionados. 

Shades of a Kite | Short Film Nominee

The little moments that constitute life are weaved together most seamlessly in this anthology of short films. From the loneliness of old age, and a deep desire to reconnect with someone, to the little joys of simply eating an ice cream - the thematic concerns are far and wide across the spectrum, and yet never out of synchronisation with one another. <br><br> Each story that the film offers is more powerful than the other, and is bound to stay with the viewer long after they are done watching it. The subtle, but potent commentary the narrative presents on issues of gender, misogyny are loud and clear, without falling in the trap of sentimentalism. Additionally, the film's insight on old age and mental health is noteworthy. <br><br> The performances and portrayal of all the characters enhance the stories further, ensuring that often only the eyes are sufficient to express and communicate the intended sentiment, even before the film makes it explicit for you. All of these elements together allow Jump Cuts to work on several levels, making its success well-rounded and complete in itself.

Jump Cuts | Short Film of the Month

‘Ayak’’s world is constructed with a controlled, and steady hand, taking the viewer into the story gradually, but irrevocably. The sustained pace ensures that even though the dialogue in the film is frugal, you are deeply invested in the fate of the protagonist. Manu has arrived at the Forest of Chithari to perform an age-old ritual that takes place every twenty years. <br><br>

The forest is not only the abode of innumerable secrets and unsaid things, but also of forces far beyond Manu’s comprehension. The story that began in ancient Egypt, is about to come to fruition with his arrival for the ritual. Ayak, or the potion that unites one with the gods, is soon presented to him in the most unlikely circumstances. <br><br>

As the events unfold, the film puts forth a narrative that is quiet, but stern. It employs no sudden thrills or jump scares to unsettle the viewer, and still ensures that it remains disconcerting throughout. The visuals of the vast expanses enhance it manifold, as do the smooth edit and the screenplay. The seamless weaving of all of these elements allows 'Ayak' to become a beautiful final result that is not simply defined by mystery or thrill, but also by an element of fantasy and something terrible awaiting right around the corner.

Ayak | Short Film of the Year

The short film is beautiful in terms of the pacing, the tone and the narrative it weaves using its visuals. Marked by seamlessness and sophistication, the poetry takes the viewer into a world of shadows which conceal some magical beings and all that they carry within themselves. The writing is notable and employs words smartly and poignantly to convey its intentions. <br><br> The film is specifically relevant in contemporary times for it carries an important social message, urging the viewer to not forget to light up the lives of those we may have, knowingly or unknowingly, forced into oblivion and forgetfulness, especially during the pandemic. The communication is lucid, coherent, skilled, and manages to convey it all in a moving manner. 

The Invisible Humans  | Short Film of the Month

As India remains a nation ravaged by huge protests against the NRC (National Register of Citizens) and CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act), artists have taken it upon themselves to use their work to declare their allegiance. The rap song is one of the firsts on the topic, rejecting the Indian government's decision in no equivocal terms. It uses real life footage of protest rallies and the clamping down of the authorities to convey its point. <br><br> In an increasingly political time and age, when art cannot help, but become a political expression of one's beliefs and ideologies, the song does its bit to raise a call for action and to further remind the viewer that their silence indeed is a louder comment than they realise. For a country that is up in flames in its fight against discrimination, Streetocracy is an assertion of the power of the ordinary people and their democratic right to protest.

Streetocracy | Osapraka | ft Shumais, Manosh | Expat Alive

The documentary presents a concise, but compelling account of the many tribal identities in Wayanad, a small pocket of Kerala. Along with offering a glimpse into the many threads that tie together to constitute this whole which is far from being a monolithic entity, it further introduces the viewer to the efforts of those who are trying to conserve primarily the linguistic aspect of it. <br><br> For instance, as the narrative introduces to the viewer, each tribe had songs for different occasions. These songs, in the process, became their history, and the loss of these tunes and rhymes is tantamount to a huge loss of a cultural identity we might never get back. The film draws your attention to all of these aspects of a society that operates and thrives far from our urban existence, and retains all the lyricism and poetry of its subject while doing so.<br><br> The visuals of the film are especially beautiful and are thereby able to support its subject matter efficiently, allowing the final product to be an engrossing and insightful documentary. 

Kanavu | Short Film Nominee

There are very few films in the independent space which have perfected the craft of the short film, and this one
is certainly one of those. It is based in a realistic film mode and yet, is wholly complete in itself, unlike projects that seem like part of a longer product. Everything one expects from a feature, is achieved by it. <br><br>
Kaanapedatha Malakhamar is a story of a father and his daughter, navigating their way during a pandemic. With each small interval,
the film brings the viewer new information which completes the picture, the larger vision. The art
direction is fantastic, the actors are most competent, the screenplay and cinematography are as good as
married to each other. With a form so evolved, the film still packs punches as larger social comments.
Highly impressive work.

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