Saying Farewell To Guardians Of The Galaxy

A Fitting Farewell To Marvel’s Most Relatable Superheroes

This is #CineFile, where our critic Rahul Desai goes beyond the obvious takes, to dissect movies and shows that are in the news. Today: Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3

Dir: James Gunn

Cast: Chris Pratt, more

Playing in: Theatres

THE ONLY THING I fear as much as losing a loved one, is growing up. I know what you’re thinking. Yes, I’m already in my late thirties. It’s a figure of speech. Also, it’s not a line I expected to write in a piece about the 32nd film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). But let me expand on that.

I’ve had a hate-hate relationship with Hollywood’s superhero fix ever since Iron Man (2008) mushroomed into an endless franchise of comic-book adaptations. It’s not just hard to keep up with; navigating the maze of cross-connected, cash-grabbing continuity is a full-time job. But even in all the blurry chaos of the last 15 years, I’ve warmed up to a few of them. Especially the ones that — as absurd as it sounds for demigods who have everything and nothing to do with reality — speak to me.

Like Black Panther, for being rooted in a sense of loss and humanity. Like Thor, for being a parody of Thor. Like Spider Man, for being young and hopeful. Like Wolverine, for being broken and tired. Like Tom Cruise, for being Tom Cruise. Most of all, like Guardians of the Galaxy — for amplifying that bittersweet stage in friendship that comes right before moving on; for manifesting the brink of growing up into a trilogy of wise-cracking, winsome and wonky feels. It’s hard to dislike this gang. Unlike the Avengers, who’re mostly adults looking back in time, the Guardians are time itself. Watching them has been like — to paraphrase Andy Bernard from The Office — knowing you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.

— RAHUL DESAI

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2018: A Story Of Kerala's Hope, Humanity & Resilience

A doubt expressed by a lot of people, from the time that Ohm Shaanti Oshaana director Jude Anthany Joseph announced his movie on the 2018 Kerala floods, was if the audience in the state was ready to relive one of the most distressing disasters of the past decade. This doubt seems to have weighed on the minds of the makers too. However, after one has seen Jude’s creation, it is clear that instead of being a documentation of all that transpired, 2018 stresses more on the positives. It works as a reminder of the time when people across social strata and states came together to help and save each other.

Jude and the movie’s co-scriptwriter Akhil P Dharmajan have picked only a select number of stories, with a particular village being the focus for most parts. In a movie that is filled with characters, this approach works, because it heavily relies on the audience’s memory of the 2018 floods.

— SANJITH SRIDHARAN

Read more
Playing in: Theatres

The Kerala Story: How To Bury Truth Under Propaganda

Is it 30,000 girls who have been forcibly converted in Kerala or 50,000? Or is it just 3? Or are the elections in Kerala the right time for the government propaganda machine to churn out this ‘Kerala will become an Islamist state with Sharia law unless you vote for us’ narrative? As a film, this Vipul Shah offering stinks. The first mistake: underestimating the audience's intelligence. No matter which Indian state you come from, it’s hard to believe that 17-year-olds who join BSc Nursing have no clue about their religion. People pray before exams; people pray in the mornings and evenings (when the lighting of a lamp is a given in most homes), so when Adah Sharma asks the Muslim girl, ‘Why do you pray before food?’, she sounds ridiculous. Even worse, she’s a Hindu girl who does not know that hell exists in Hinduism! How has the concept of ‘paap and punya’ never crossed her path?

— MANISHA LAKHE

Playing in: Theatres

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