Geeked Out

So me and my sister went to Vizag for a few days to meet our cousin. The three of us are huge movie buffs so when we got to know that Khaleja was re-releasing on the 30th, we were hyped. We thought we could do a double feature that day by watching Khaleja and Vijay Devarakonda’s Kingdom back to back. Unfortunately, Kingdom got postponed. Anyways, we planned to get tickets in some really local theatre. Shoutout to her, she got us some amazing seats in a really fun theatre.  The rewatch on the big screen worked so much better than watching it on TV. I always believed that movies were for the big screen and that that’s when you can really enjoy it, and this just solidifies it. The crowd, the audio and just experiencing films on a massive screen is unparalleled.  I could go off on tangents during this, so please bear with me. Also, I’d be referring to Mahesh as either Babu or Raju so don’t get confused.  I loved the movie, again. In fact, this time even more than the previous...

 I watched this for the first time when it premiered on television. I was always intrigued by this movie because of Ranbir's look and because my sister used to play Zoom and 9XM at home and they used to constantly play the songs. I was not much of a music guy back then, but I loved Ullu Ka Pattha, Galti Se Mistake and my personal favourite Jhumritalaiyya. If I remember correctly, Jhumritalaiyya was my first favourite Hindi song.  I don't think my sister was at home that day, and my dad didn't want to watch it, probably because the Sanju biopic was announced by then. So me and my mom watched it. I don't think she liked it a lot, but watched it because I was interested. I don't remember exactly how I felt about it, but I know that I didn't understand a lot but that I liked it. The only proper memory I have of the first viewing was having Jeera Rice and Dal for lunch. I played Galti Se Mistake the other day and felt like I should rewatch this to see if I still like...

  I've been watching movies ever since I was 4 I'm guessing. It started with the Mayabazar CD at home which me and my sister used to play just to recreate the 'gilpam' scene, or because the greats SV Ranga Rao and Savitri were so entertaining as Ghatotkacha and Maya Sasirekha. It also started when everyday after pre primary school (we had half-days), I used to play the Cars CD at home while my mother fed me lunch. Maybe that's why I love Cars, and movies in general so much. They probably remind me of my mother. I think the big turning point for me was when I was asked to watch Magadheera by my bus-mate. It was going to play that weekend, and he hyped me up for it. I was not the same person after watching it. Magadheera is also when I realized that actors don't always act while the movie is playing, and that they're just recorded once and played over and over again. After Magadheera, I was into movies a little more. I wanted to watch more stories, and feel gr...

I've watched Telugu films all my life and I love that they're unapologetic about playing to the gallery. Doing so, they create many extremely entertaining characters. Here's a list of my favourite characters: 1. DJ Tillu from DJ Tillu and Tillu Square Siddu Jonnalagadda (who also co-wrote the films) plays Tillu to perfection. He nails the tapori Secunderabad guy. His crazy hair and funky outfits are the least outlandish part of his personality. He's a total flirt and is somehow still innocent. I disagree with the take that he's a misogynist. He was ready to marry Lilly when he found out she was pregnant without any thought. He was willing to risk his life so that Radhika could go back and get married. Whenever he says something which sounds like he's judging the woman, like when he asks about the bodycon dress, he sounds like he genuinely doesn't know what it is.  Absolutely hilarious character put in weird situations. Great dialogues and delivery too. I...

  My maternal grandparents (Ding Thatha and Ammamma) live with us, on the 3rd floor of our apartment. We live on the 2nd floor. They moved post pandemic because they weren't able to manage on their own. Before this, they used to live in Vizianagaram, the sweetest little town, in Andhra Pradesh. They lived on Addepalli Vari Veedhi, beside Peri Sastry Vidyapeeth, on the 2nd floor of a 2 storied house with a terrace on top. The layout of the house was very Lego-like. There was a small house just after you enter through the main gate, and behind that was another house. There was a staircase between these 2 houses which turned left and right after some steps. When you went left, there was a small terrace. If you turned right, you'd enter my grandparents' house. There was a big hall with a huge glass showcase which had souvenirs from all the countries they visited. To the right of the showcase, they had pictures of their kids, and their families. To the right of those frames, was...

2024 was an important year for me. I joined a great college, met a bunch of family members, and made some new friends. Obviously, I watched movies throughout the year. It was an important year for Telugu cinema as well, with movies like Kalki 2898AD and Pushpa 2 grossing massive numbers. Alongside these biggies were “smaller” movies like Gaami and KA which had large ambitions. I’m going to review the year 2024 for Telugu movies. I haven’t watched all the movies, but I’ve tried to watch as much as I could.  January: Double Engine: Indie filmmakers Rohit and Sasi released this on January 5th. I haven’t watched this yet, but it seems very interesting. The album by Vivek Sagar is super funky and the track ‘Auto Deck’ is really good. Guntur Kaaram: Trivikram and Mahesh Babu’s third collaboration was not like the first two. This one couldn’t land any of the emotions the first two did. However, Babu’s performance was satisfying to watch, as he ditched all of the “subtle” stuff he’s been d...