THE STORYTELLER

By Avik Basak Ever since the release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them , I was eagerly waiting for the second film in the series. It promised to shed some light on the series' main antagonist, Gellert Grindelwald's intentions, as the title suggests. It delivers on this promise but in doing so, makes its plot a bit convoluted. It raises so many questions and plot points for the future references that it becomes ignorant about the rushed subplots it leaves in its wake. Do not think for a moment that Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald will make you feel bored though. Director David Yates and Writer J.K. Rowling pack the movie with some brilliant action set pieces and comic humour that keep you interested in the proceedings. The action scenes are adeptly placed at regular intervals to maintain a sense of adventure. The only thing that is missing is a gripping plot, which works without thinking about the sequels that are yet to come. Unlike Rowling...

By Avik Basak Well, it was a highly celebrated news among comic book fans, when Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures announced that they will share the rights of Spider-Man in 2015, allowing Marvel’s flagship character to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). While Sony continued to distribute and finance his solo outings with inputs from Marvel, the Disney owned studio got to use him in the giant crossover films. Sequels to The Amazing Spider-Man 2 were cancelled and the franchise was rebooted with the universally loved, Spider-Man: Homecoming , undoubtedly providing us with the best iteration of the wall-crawler till date in Tom Holland. Though, we saw Spidey dust off in Avengers: Infinity War , A sequel to Homecoming , Spider-Man: Far From Home has already started filming with most of the original cast returning. Now, we know that Marvel likes to tell stories for each character in trilogies, such as the Iron Man trilogy, Captain America trilogy and the ...

By Avik Basak Every now and then we find movies that are so much hyped and generate sky-high expectations. But, there seldom come those, which not only live up to those expectations but somehow manage to exceed them. Avengers: Infinity War is one of those rare films. A film, which was a decade in the making and promised to be the beginning of the culmination of MCU ( Marvel Cinematic Universe ) as we know it, does good on all its promises. It might feel faulty at times but it makes up for that in the other parts. It clocks in on a whopping 2 hours and 29 minutes, which could make a film feel overlong but in case of Infinity War , it does not feel like an issue at all for obvious reasons (22 heroes, come on!). Equipped with a fast-paced narrative, it sets us on a thrilling, edge of the seat roller coaster ride that jumps from one corner of the universe to another in a jiffy, while also making sure that they happen in a natural way without forcing anything. ...

By Avik Basak Well, as you are all aware of, there is only a few days left before Avengers: Infinity War hits the theatres and The Mad Titan, Thanos wreaks havoc on the silver screen. Like all of you out there, I am super excited about this movie, which promises to be the beginning of a kind of culmination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it now. Hence, I have been reading so much about it in articles, posts etc. on the internet. As a result, I have decided, as a fanboy, to do some writing of my own on the topic. On the internet, I have come across many theories and other stuff regarding this ‘epic’ movie but I did not find any article that mentioned the changed title cards or the changed logo that has been used in the trailers. Did you find such articles? If yes, then maybe I did not look hard enough. Anyways, let’s discuss this. The Avengers: Infinity War title card that emerges at the end of the teaser trailer and then the theatrical trailer is, if...

By Avik Basak It was back in 2008, when a newcomer director, Neeraj Pandey generated an instant fan following for himself by bringing us A Wednesday! , a movie about the common man’s wrath against terror. He followed it up with another interesting film, Special 26 , a heist film that pits a group of common men against corruption. But since then, the curve on Neeraj’s graph has seen a significant decline. If his third film, Baby suffered from some bad executions, his last project, M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story , the biopic on the former Indian cricket captain, drops off important events in the cricketer’s life that needed to be shown. Neeraj’s latest Aiyaary is not an exception to this trend. The movie starts off greatly, knocking on all the right doors but by the time it reaches its second half, it seems to lose its touch. Although, it recovers somewhat before it concludes that can be enough to keep you on the edge of your seat but it will not make you think which it ...

By Avik Basak In most cases, Marvel’s solo superhero films are not just superhero films. For example, in Captain America: The First Avenger , we got a World War II film, while in Ant-Man , we got a heist film, whereas Captain America: The Winter Soldier was made like a political spy thriller and Spider-Man: Homecoming was kind of a John Hughes high school drama. The latest instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe ( MCU ), Black Panther carries this tradition forward as it fuses the superhero genre with science fiction and political drama. “Afrofuturism” is not a new term but I am sure many of us were not familiar with it before this movie hit the screens, at least I was not. It denotes “a cultural aesthetic, philosophy of science, and philosophy of history that explores the developing intersection of African/African-American culture with technology”, according to Wikipedia. The way this film’s story unfolds and the way its science fiction backdrop works, it show...

By Avik Basak After Toilet: Ek Prem Katha , Akshay Kumar is back with another socio-drama, Pad Man that sheds light on the social taboo and restrictions that women of rural India face regarding their menstruation periods and the use of sanitary pads. The movie, directed by R. Balki, shows us the mirror of truth and raises the same old question of how can we develop as a country when we cannot uproot a basic problem like this? How can we call ourselves civilised and strong when we cannot provide the minimal importance and protection to the women in our society? Based on the true story of  Arunachalam Muruganantham, Pad Man not only asks this question but also points out how reluctant we are to act or let someone else act, even if the solution is right in front of us. The most beautiful thing about the movie is that although it talks about women’s problems and how those should be dealt with, it has a man at its centre. So, it is quite justified, when a supporting c...