Upgrade Movie Review

Upgrade movie poster

Sample the fact that District 9, the 2009 Sci-fi film was considered by the Industry to be a low budget marvel. That is because District 9 was made at a budget of 30 million USD while Star Trek (2009) had a budget that was 5 times. Now that the context is set, let's talk about the film in question. Upgrade is a 2018 Sci-fi film that beautifully mixes various genres. It has elements from cyberpunk sub-genre along with the obvious 'action' overtones. The film also has ample flavour of the dark comedy genre, in addition to an evident stamp of body horror. Though Upgrade has enough highlights from a creative standpoint, all those are elevated many notches when seen alongside the film's paltry budget. Upgrade had a budget of 3 million USD and was made 9 years after Neill Blomkamp's District 9, the low budget marvel of the time.   ...  More

Satya is a landmark in Indian Cinema

satya blog header

22 years today and Satya is still the greatest gangster flick of Indian Cinema. The film gained instant cult status for its raw appeal, realistic characters and for showcasing the underworld like no one had dared to do since Ram Gopal Varma (not even till today). Before Satya, In can only think of a single film that went beyond and threw light on the underbellies of Mumbai Crime. That film was Parinda. Satya used what Parinda created and took it to a whole new level with its rugged visuals and edgy pace.  ...  More

Breathe: Into the Shadows Official Trailer

breathe

Another Bollywood biggie joins the web-series brigade as Abhishek Bachchan marks his series debut with Breathe - Into the Shadows. Breathe is an Amazon Original property that premiered in 2017 with its first season. R Madhavan starred in the debut season opposite Amit Sadh, who played the character of Inspector Kabir Sawant.  ...  More

Bulbbul Movie Review

bulbbul recco

The phrase ‘there is beauty in everything’ is epitomised in every single frame of the new Netflix original film, Bulbbul. Produced by Clean Slate Filmz (Anushka Sharma-Karnesh Sharma), Bulbbul is a Supernatural Drama directed by long time dialogue writer and lyricist, Anvita Dutt. Tripti Dimri plays the critical role of Bulbbul and gets support from her Laila Majnu (2018) co-star Avinash Tiwary, along with Rahul Bose, Paoli Dam, and Parambrata Chattopadhyay. The film is set around the Bengal region in the late 1800s’, with a wealthy 'Thakur' (feudal landlord) family at its centre. ...  More

Recursion Book Review

Recursion

Recursion is my second Blake Crouch book (Dark Matter was the first), and I am thankful to KoolSkool bookstore for introducing me to Crouch in the first place. Recursion is science fiction at heart but is written as an out and out thriller. Unlike a lot of Sci-Fi books and films, this is not based in the future but rather set in the 2010s’, which makes it highly relatable. We are introduced to the two lead characters (Barry and Helena) and the structure of writing gives the feel of a journal, with dates marking the start of each entry. Every entry corresponds to ‘a day in the life’ of Barry or Helena, and the accounts are from the first-person point of view. This way of storytelling is engaging and as a reader, I started thinking from the point of view of the protagonists immediately. ...  More