It’s that time of the year again when we recap the year’s best films.
I’m sure you’ll be bombarded with such lists everywhere on the internet right now. But this year’s different for me – I missed a lot of cinema and great content in 2021 (I was taking some time off of screens) so this video is about the most memorable films I watched this year.
So it’s NOT a very exhaustive list.
Here’s goes (In no particular order):
- Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar starring Parineeti Chopra and Arjun Kapoor who gave great performances. This got a lot of mixed reviews but I absolutely loved it and in fact watched it twice. Directed by Dibakar Banerjee – Very subtle and impactful story. But, unfortunately got lost due to an extremely delayed release and maybe some negligence and creative differences with YRF that failed to promote the film properly, I think.
2. Drishyam 2 – A sequel to the 2013 Drishyam directed by Jeethu Joseph. If you’ve seen the first film, in whichever language, this one is not to be missed. It definitely holds up as a power-packed sequel – its bigger, better, more dramatic and more thrilling than the first.
SIDE NOTE: My husband had never seen a Malayalam film before and I made him watch Drishyam 1 and 2 – he’s not only a FAN now, but holds the franchise as a benchmark for all films.
Here’s the review of the film.
3. The Great Indian Kitchen – another gem from Malayalam cinema, directed by Jeo Baby. It highlights toxic masculinity and gender stereotypes, and deep rooted patriarchy in our society. What’s splendid here is that we experience all this while watching the film through the routine of the wife (played by Nimisha Sajayan) who’s life in altered 180 degrees after the wedding. She’s always seen in the kitchen cooking and cleaning every waking minute in contrast with that of her new husband’s routine whose life doesn’t seem to be affected much… and obviously there’s more to uncover as the film progresses. Brilliant storytelling.
Fun fact – none of the characters in the film are given any names. They are simply referred to as their relationship to one another. There’s a husband and a wife, a father-in-law, a mother-in-law, a cousin, a servant – perhaps because it’s showing us a generalized view of every relative including a husband and wife where roles and duties are set. No questions are asked and there’s no intentions of changing the status quo.
The next 2 films, I think, are game-changers in Hindi cinema for their subjects, even though they’re vastly different in treatment.
4. Pagglait, written & directed by Umesh Bist, is a charming film that will nudge you to question and think about status quo. The premise is about a young widow whose husband has died within five months of marriage, but she’s unable to grieve his sudden demise. The magic of Pagglait lies in its simplicity and the moments shared in silence – the moments between characters as well as the ones shared by Sandhya (played by Sanya Malhotra) with herself. I think it’s essentially about Sandhya navigating through the different stages of grief and loss.
You can catch my detailed review of Pagglait here.
5. Rashmi Rocket – I loved this one not because of its cinematic brilliance but because it has the guts to present such a unique and unexplored topic of hyperandrogenism and make it palatable for the mainstream audience. I have to admit, I know very little about this subject and gender testing in sports – so it was definitely catered towards people like me, who is almost 90% of the world’s population, I guess.
6. 55km/sec – This is a short film directed by Arati Kadav. You may remember her as the brains behind the 2020 gem Cargo. This little nugget is a reminder of lockdown 2020, except it IS the end of the world! There is no vaccine to save humankind.
There is no light at the end of the tunnel.
There isno tomorrow to look forward to.
It is the last day on Earth and life, as we know it, is coming to a definitive end.
If that synopsis doesn’t excite you to watch the film, I don’t know what will !!
On the same subject, is my next pick
7. Don’t Look Up – The film just dropped on Netflix, starring some of most prominent actors in Hollywood – Leonardo DiCaprio Jennifer Lawrence, Timothée Chalamet, Jonah Hill, Meryl Streep, Ariana Grande, Care Blanchett, Tyler Perry (there’s many more). While 55km/sec is a drama taking us through final hours before the comet hits, Don’t Look Up is an out and out satire of how the world, or shall I say America, will deal in such a situation.
It’s hilariously blunt and kinda scary of how media and the government are so one-dimensional in the way they approach crisis – the news and politics during this pandemic is a prime example of that.
Here’s a bonus – not a 2021 release but a film that I recently watch and loved.
8. The Farewell (2019) – It’s such a delightful and heart-warming film about immigrants and first generation kids navigating through traditional values alongside embracing modernism. It’s a whole lot of family dynamics and bonding, celebration of life, mindfulness, love we all have for our grandparents. Written and directed by Lulu Wang and brilliantly performed by Awkwafina … who took my breath away in the last scene
You have to watch it !!
I really want to hear from you and expand on this list. If there’s something you watched and found memorable, please share in the comments so I can also watch it too… because there’s so much out there that I can barely keep up!
Also don’t forget to follow and subscribe to the channel!!
