Kunchacko Boban gives a strong central performance, and the technical departments pitch in, too. But the writing remains superficial. The rest of this review may contain spoilers. There’s a fabulous shot that opens Officer On Duty. It’s a single take, and we find ourselves looking at a man who’s seated at his desk. As the […]

Within my A Level Economics class this week we are covering ‘perfect competition’ and students are asking ‘why are we studying this?’ The discussion leads on to what should we be studying in a secondary school economics course. I recall… Continue reading →

By Bharath Vijayakumar In Ilango Ram’s Perusu, a family that needs to grieve is caught up with a ‘Big’ problem. Or should I say, a ‘small’ problem? Or should I rather say that what should be small, is actually big, and that is the problem? Whatever, but the crux is that the family tries to […]

The Trump administration tariffs have seen retaliatory actions by Canada, Mexico and China. New Zealand exports slightly more to the US than imports = $920m surplus in the year to January 2025. New Zealand’s major exports include meat, dairy products… Continue reading →

How does a family conduct funeral rites for a corpse that still has some life in it? Sunil and Vaibhav and a game supporting cast sell this comedy, which also has some good drama. The rest of this review may contain spoilers. Halasyam is an elderly man in a village, and he is affectionately called […]

How will a common man take on an established systemic evil like dowry? Without preaching, ‘Ponman’ makes a hell of a case for how a social message can be sneaked into a very entertaining movie. The rest of this review may contain spoilers. You take a loan. You are unable to repay the loan. The […]

CentrePiece (London School of Economics magazine) published an article about creating happier lives through government spending. The UK government (Labour) will be allocating around £1trn a year to improving the wellbeing of its citizens. In deciding where the money goes… Continue reading →

By V Vijaysree A group of roadside Romeos are cycling through the dismal city streets. They can barely pedal. Their leaden feet refuse to do their bidding, but at one point, they start dancing out their angst. Next, they get on a bus. Like a gymnast on the apparatus, the lead dancer casually executes a […]

By Bharath Vijayakumar Caught up with two Tamil movies back to backup that ended up as a sort of double bill on Woman’s Day, with both movies having their say about patriarchy. And that is not the only similarity. Both movies are made by newbie filmmakers with a relatively new team. And finally, the most […]

We’ve often had conversations about the relationship between life and art. Well, here’s what was going through my mind for a few days before I stepped into a theatre to watch Flow. I had cracked the screenplay for a short film, but was unsure about the dialogues. One bunch of people liked the lines. Another […]

BERL produced a thorough report on the current economic contribution of Māori tourism as a vital component of Aotearoa New Zealand’s tourist industry. Value-added is the contribution of a private industry or government sector to overall GDP. The components of… Continue reading →

This could have been a fun equivalent of a page-turner, but the non-linear narration and the stabs at rootedness keep playing spoilsport. The rest of this review may contain spoilers. Imagine a fishing village right beside a sea with no fish. Worse, the men who go out to sea do not return, and the villagers […]

The film’s success is in blending teen angst into the glossy format of a ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’. Ibrahim Ali Khan makes a not-bad debut, while Khushi Kapoor really nails her part. The rest of this review may contain spoilers. A few minutes into Nadaaniyaan, I felt this was not going to be my kind […]