Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga

 One of the elements movie goers have come to expect is a twist, one that surprises them.  Because the practice is so common, the standards are high.  "Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga" (2023) more than meet the standards and as a bonus stars Yami Gautam.

Within days it reached number 5 on Canadian movie standings on Netflix.  It is available in a dubbed format.

Starts off with a bloodied face which gets attention and than backtracks.  Flashbacks are used to explain how we reached the current situation.  The many twists are a bit hard to accept until you see the background from another perspective and you can give yourself an "Ah Ha" moment.  To spice up the plot they have combined a diamond robbery with a  airline hi-jack.

This is not meant to be a spoiler, but to assure you the twists are well handled and will keep you awake and focused.

 To hold our attention as well as this film does requires some expertise and talent.  Here are a few contributors

Ajay Singh was the director.  He started as a second unit assistant director for "Aamir" (2008) about a very tense bomb situation.

Amar Kaushik is the first time writer and a veteran producer.  His film credits include "No One Killed Jessica" (2011), "Stree" (2018) and "Bala" (2019).  An amusing story was how he set up Yami Gautam in "Bala"  The film was about premature baldness.  She played a somewhat vain woman who married the handsome Ayushmann Khuranna (wearing a wig).  Amar told Yami to grab his hair and pull.  The look on her face was a scene stealing one as his baldness was revealed.   

For a little perspective on the sensitivity to premature baldness (including "Bala"} check out:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/09/indian-cinema-looks-at-baldness.html   

Music was provided by Vishal Mishra, an award winner composer and background singer.   His credits include "Qarib Qarib Single" (2017), "Notebook" (2019), "Kabir Singh" (2019), and "RRR" (2022). He had auditioned for Indian Idol and was rejected all but one time in which he was eliminated before appearing on television.  Since then some of his songs have become very popular.  During the Pandemic both his parents caught Covid and the whole nation was downcast and he wrote what became an unofficial anthem, "Fir Muskurayega."

Cinematography was Gianni Gianelli, Italian born.  He had done a few films in his native Italy and in 2015 did his first film in India.

The editor was Charu Takkar with 13 film credits.

Yami Gautam really stands out as Neha, an airline hostess.  Yami studied law and later did many commercials and appeared on fashion magazine covers.  She has performed in Kannada, Punjabi, Telegu, Malayalam and Tamil films.  Her film credits include "Vicky Donor" (2012), "Badlapur" (2015), "Kaabil" (2017), "Uri:  The Surgical Strike" (2019) and "Bala" (2019). "A Thursday" (2022) and "Dasvi" (2022). http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/02/the-message-is-spoiler.html

Sunny Kaushal plays the male lead, Ankit.    Film credits include "Shiddat" (2021) and "Gold" (2018)  He started out to be an accountant, but as the son of a director and brother of an actor took the plunge himself.

 Sharad Kelkar plays an agent chasing after diamonds.   Film credits include"Rustom" (2016) and had his voice used with the blockbuster "Baahubali 2" (2017).

Indraneil Sengupta played Sudhanshu Roy, another one chasing after diamonds.  Indraneil started as a model and a dancer.  His film credits include "Kahaani" (2012)--one of the best twist movies ever; "Children of War" (2014), "III Smoking Barrels" (2017) and "Doctor G" (2022).  Check http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/12/doctor-g.html

I love twists and Yami Gautam has been very reliable for an enjoyable film.  This has been tailored to her talents.  You can't go wrong.

Homecoming by Rana Foroohar

 My previous book blog was depressing about the state of the future world.  Rana Foroohar is well aware of problems, but sees room for hope and strategies.  There is a lot of meat in "Homecoming."

The Covid pandemic revealed weaknesses  and is forcing some rethinking.  The supply chain turned out to expose the global vulnerability.  Capitalism is all about profit and how to increase it.  Rana points out that efficiency is valued and favors single source.  Very often the single source is cheap and far away.  

Rana suggests that America needs resiliency which can be supplied by local and multiple sources as well as innovations.  We have been forced to find new sources and new methods. 

A few complications are the threats of military intervention and the actual one in Ukraine.  Taiwan is an obvious target and is critical as it is the top global provider for essential computer chips and semiconductors.  Rana admires the system of governance adopted by Taiwan that allows its citizens to express their opinion on a wide range of issues.  The government is ready to respond to false information (steady stream from mainland China) within hours.  China was supposed to be freer as they became richer, but that has not happened.

 A big theme is that capitalism with its emphasis on a free market trends to efficiency at the expense of resiliency.  In the name of efficiency businesses gravitate to single sources to increase profits.  In a previous blog it was pointed out a number of innovations brought  dramatic reduction in costs of transportation and communication that opened up modern growth in global wealth.  Lots of scaling up for supplies that had become part of our standard of living.  Now society needs to boost our resiliency to survive..  Check:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/02/slouching-towards-utopia.html     Much specialized equipment although designed in America is boosting manufacturing in other countries.

Climate change is the major global issue, but still the world seems content with changes that don't totally  deal with the issue.  The author draws attention to some of the key factors, overlooked.

Agriculture is the greatest threat and it tied into other complicating streams.  Single crops are normal, but harmful for biodiversity and in many cases add to supply chains.  Much of apparel comes from cotton which can be grown very cheaply far away and encourages fashion cycles going faster that in turn leads to much waste.  Many of us are aware of methane being a crucial factor in global warming, but getting food to our tables and seeds and fertilizers to the fields are major transportation inputs.  The author suggests that vertical farms can increase local control while increasing bio diversity and reducing transportation.

Housing is another major cause for climate change.  Building housing and maintaining  them against heat and cold needs to be done more efficiently.  3-D printing appears to offer cheaper costs, environmentally better and higher long term quality.  Personally I see a fundamental problem is human  desires.  Check http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/10/dream-house.html    Much of the housing price increases can be attributed to (foreign) investors who buy houses for the expected price increases.

Jobs are a crucial concern.  Automation and Artificial Intelligence assure traditional jobs will disappear everywhere.  Immigration frightens many, especially from poorer parts of the world.  Inequality is increasing with the rich able to grab a bigger share of resources.   Mankind can have more meaningful lives with a change in attitudes and structure.

Gig workers (work with temporary contracts) are also vulnerable and deserve more protection.  Germany and others have found that working with unions is good for business, but there is a lot of resistance in United States. 

Large corporations concentrate power that by itself promote inequality, but more importantly tends to diminish innovation.  Rana suggests that co-operatives (like Ocean Spray) should be encouraged and anti trust laws should be enforced and expanded as small companies do more innovation.

Two big areas are healthcare and education.

Much of healthcare requires human contact and although long distance diagnosis is increasing it is not possible to ignore human contact.  We learned from the pandemic that health care workers are vital, but they feel under assault.  Prevention is much better than cures as many nations have found, but again there is resistance from Americans to medicare.  Americans are now experiencing a decline in longevity. 

Education is another field where progress can be made for both jobs and leisure enjoyment.  Much of the student debt crisis can be the result of poor direction.  Many prospects feel they have to go to university to get a degree in order to get a job, but the world doesn't need that many degrees.  What the world needs is more vocational training for the newer technical jobs.  The world does need critical thinkers and the world wants to enjoy life more.  Although there will be more online teaching smaller classes are also a boost to education. 

Democracy is assaulted by surveillance states and needs to reassert itself and offer a better life than too many are forced to.  Quadratic voting is a new concept brought forward by Glen Weyl.  It allows voters to have digital tokens that enable them to allocate their preferences among many issues that gives them power to express their priorities.  

Inequality seems to be growing.  The very wealthy have found their best allies are those like Donald Trump who can stir up voters against their own best interests.   The huge tax cuts have enabled many companies to buy back shares.

A quote from Adam Smith that warrants more attention:  "It was not by gold or silver, but by labor, that the wealth of the world was originally purchased."  It is the workers of the world the made everything else possible and they should not be ignored.  

This is a very complex book with lots of encouraging ideas.  Unfortunately the world is full of apathetic and greedy people who stand in the way of a more resilient world that we need to survive.  The ideas are being enacted by many people, but we still need more globally minded earth citizens.  Be one of them.

  Rana Foroohar is someone more people should pay attention to.  She appears in CNN from time to time and has written other books.  Check http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2016/10/makers-and-takers.html

The Family Man

 What do all the glamorous spies do if they settle down to a wife and family?  Most of them don't and even fewer do a good job.  But still some try.

 Srikant Tiwari promised his wife he would quit his dangerous job chasing after international terrorists, but he lied.  He was too good and got pumped up with challenging scary assignments.  He loves his wife and two children, but feels obligated to the cause. 

The two seasons deal with Kashmir, the ISIL, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.  Lots of terrorists and political intrigues.  Srikant is very analytical, cool under fire and when it comes to it physical contact very effective.  Often on the same day as an "encounter" he picks up his children at school.  In the middle of  a "job" he got called to his daughter's school to deal with a misbehavior issue.  Later he had to placate the school principle by using his contacts to extricate her from a supposed legal problem.

His wife is constantly complaining about his absences and meantime we learn she is on the verge of an affair.  Eventually she tries to drag him to a marital counselor, but he walks out.  At one point he actually quits the dangerous job, but he is consulted by others.  He ends up going back partly because he is bored with his IT boss and partly as he misses the excitement.

He has been successful in keeping his job separate from his family, but accumulating enemies it is inevitable that one of them will see his family as his vulnerability.  This is a standard tool for raising tensions and they do it well.

It takes organization and talent to produce an enjoyable thought provoking series.

Raj & DK comprising of Krishna DK and Raj Nidimoru were directors, writers and producers.  The two have a Telegu language background and met studying engineering.  They emigrated to United States to build a career in software engineering.   By 2003 they had collaborated on their first film, "Flavors".  They combined directing, writing and producing over films.  Their film credits include "Stree" (2018) and "Farzi" (2023) winning awards along the way. D.K. Krishna--played in 6 episodes.  check http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/03/farzi-or-fakes.html

Music was handled by Ketan Sodha, Sachin Sanghvi and Divya Limbasia.

Cinematography was handled by Nigam Bomza, Azim Moollan and Cameron Bryson.

Editing was done by Sumeet Kotian.  His film credits include "Drishyam (2015), "Madaari" (2016), "A Thursday" (2022).and "Farzi" (2023).   Check:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/02/the-message-is-spoiler.html

 Manoj Bajpayee plays Srikant Tiwari, anti terroris fighter and father.  Temperamental role. An award winner with 95 credits including:  "Satya" (1998), "Veer-Zaara" (2004), "Swami" (2007),  "Dus Tola" (2010),"Gangs of Wasseypur" (2012), "Aligarh" (2015) and "Rustom" (2016),

 Priyamani played the wife, Suchitra Tiwari.  She has 67 film credits in Telegu, Malayalam and Hindi including "Grandmaster" (2012) and "Virata Parvam (2022).

Sharib Hashmi  played DK, close colleague to Srikant.  47 film film credits including "Slum Dog Millionaire" (2008),  "Jab Tak Hai Jaan" (2012), "Filmistaan" (2012), "Ujda Chaman" (2019) and "The Great Indian Murder" (2022).

Shreya Dhanwanthary played Zoya, a female member of the  anti terrorist group.  Shreya was born in India, but was raised in both the Middle East and India.  She graduated with a degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering.  She has written a novel, "Fade to White" (2016).  She has performed in many commercials, Telegu, Tamil and Hindi films.  She has 19 film credits.

Ashlesha Thakur played Dhriti, teenage daughter to Srikant.  She has been in some commercials and a few films including "Badrinath Ki Dulhania" (2017) and "Pagglait" (2021). 

Seema Biswas played Prime Mnister Basu.  She has 98 film credits.  Her first was an award winner with a very strenuous role as "The Bandit Queen" (1994).  Other film credits include "Ek Hasina Thi" (2004) "Water" (2005 ), "Amal" (2007), "Cooking with Stella" (2009),  "Project Marathwada"  (2016), "Funny Boy" (2020) and "Atrangi Re" (2021) .  She did several movies with Canadian directors, Deepa Metha and Richie Mehta.

Gul Panang played Solini an anti-terrorist leader and old flame of Srikant.  Gul was Miss India in 1999.  Her 33 film credits include: "Dor" (2006), "Manorama:  Six Feet Under" (2007), and "Hello" (2008.)

 Samantha Ruth Prabhu plays Rajii, a super female terrorist fighter that is more than capable of upending almost any male.  First noticed Samantha in"Eega"(2012) most unusual story line involving a lover reincarnated as a housefly, but very popular).  Samantha is bilingual with Telegu and Tamil and has won awards acting in both languages.  She has made money as a brand endorser and model and since 2012 has channeled much of her money through a charitable trust to help pay hospital bills for young children, pay for patient flights to the Taj Mahal and to meet film celebrities and boost awareness of hemophilia.  She is a delight to watch.  Her film credits include "Ye Maaya Chesave" (2010), "24" (2016),  "Mersal" (2017), "Mahanti" (2018), "Super Deluxe" (2019),  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2019/09/comparing-two-grannies.html

Lots of action, but also lots of political intrigue and domestic conflicts in a unique combination.  If that is your cup of tea you will enjoy this series.  Available on Prime.

Titles I have seen are bolded at the first mention, giving perhaps an indication of my bias, but also an awareness of experience of the cast or crew.

Thalaikoothal or Involuntary Euthanasia

Thalaikoothal was a traditional practice in a particular Tamil part of India.  It dealt with older people who were very ill, whose natural death could not be predicted.  These elderly people would be a burden on limited resources.  They also would be suffering and not enjoying life.  The solution was thalaikoothal which was a form of senicide or involuntary euthanasia.  They made it a ritual with the whole family involved.  Near as I can understand the basic principle was starvation.

 In this film we are quickly introduced to an old man comatose with tubes and oxygen around his neck and nose.  We learn the old man's name, Muthu and it is son Pazhani who tends to him with bathing,grooming, massaging and taking to a doctor.  He refuses to consider thalaikoothal although everyone around him is advocating for it.  His young daughter, about ten is cheerful and helps take care of her grandfather.   Later she reassures her other grandfather that she would do the same for him. 

 Pazhani has taken a lower paying job to have enough time to tend to his father.  He has also taken out a series of loans which he has trouble paying back.  He pledged his house for the loans.  He also got loans from his father in law and brother in law.  The loaner points out that the father will not get better, but does respond when Muthu is finally able to open his eyes and to blink to indicate yes or no.  His daughter in law had been verbally abusive, but now felt more kindly disposed and asks Muthu if he would forgive her and blinks yes. 

Through the magic of cinema we are shown the inner thoughts of Muthu who most remembers a courtship from his youth.  He loved a woman who was from a different caste that forbid him marrying her.  They both wanted to live with one another and when they privately wed she had her ring (where they had placed a ring) toe cut off.  I admit I was confused what happened next, but it seems obvious they did not marry and she was quite likely killed or chased away.

Eventually Muthu is no longer opening his eyes and the pressure for thalaikoothal resumes, from not only the loaners, but also the whole neighborhood except for his Pazhani's daughter.  The ending is not too surprising and we are shown some rituals and great sadness.

Of note was a neighboring couple who were despairing of being infertile.  The wife talks about what is natural as her husband explains about the involuntary euthanasia and why it is not murder.  She had asked him to go to an infertility clinic and he said it was not natural.  

This is a low budget film that is very well done. 

Jayaprakash Radhakrishnan was the writer and director.  He had some acting, but in 2016 he was able to convince producers to let him write and direct his own film, "Lens."  It was a socially relevant film as were his next projects.

The producer was S. Sashikanth who started as an architect and became involved with major projects.  Later he became interested in films and bucked Bollywood traditions that made producers more in charge of financing movies.  He preferred to pitch creative ideas and began producing Tamil language films in 2010.  "His film credits include  "Vikram Vedha" (2017) and "Mandela" (2021).  Check  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/04/mandela-tamil-satire-with-apt.html

Not able to find out who responsible for the music, but found words (translated from Tamil) very appropriate.  I bought music (with singer Pradeep Kumar) and will be adding it to my relaxation playlist

Cinematography was handled by Martin Donraj.

 Editing was done by Dani Charles.

Sunflowers, symbol of eternal life were in many scenes.  For some reasons chameleons were in a few scenes

Samuthirakani played Pazhani.  He has credits as both actor and director including;  "Visaaranai" (2015), "Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo" (2020), "RRR" (2022) and "Don" (2022).

Vasudhara Kashyap played his wife.    

Kathir played the younger courting version of Mathu.  He has 14 film credits including "Vikram Vedha" (2017)

Katha Nandi played the young woman Pechi courted by the young Muthu.  She is Bengali and had to learn Tamil for this role and her next with Mohanlal she will learn Maylayalam.

I wish I could track the name ,stage name and background of the grand daughter as she was a delight.

It is another perspective on the sanctity of life.  It may seem barbaric to us, but most of us live a more comfortable life.

The Next Civil War

A civil war is pretty serious business.  As Abraham Lincoln said, "A house divided cannot stand."Stephen Marcuse contends "The United States is near its end.  The question is how"?  His book explores the atmosphere and suggests a few scenarios that could burst out in a more active war

As I write this blog, a few months after the book was published there is news that quotes from an interview with Rupert Murdoch in which he admits that he believes there was no election fraud in 2020.  Furthermore we are hearing evidence that many of the Fox personalities off air also admitted there was no election fraud, but on air were promoting the big lie.  Apparently a good portion of Americans accept the lie and would vote for Trump all over again.

Do I think they are stupid?  Or are they too proud to admit they were wrong?  I believe the problem is they don't care--some are pleased Trump restricted immigration, or turned the tide against abortion, or pushed against blacks, gays and transgenders, or they dislike high taxes and onerous regulations.  That is a measure of a divided country.  The trends foreseen by Stephen Marche seem to be progressing.  A small part of his research is reflected in the following observations.

The level of violence, both rhetorically and physically has been increasing.  Groups are preparing for armed combat with training and weapons.  Domestic extremists killed 42 people in 2019.  Police brutality, one measure might be shootings, ranks much higher than other countries.

Disrespect for government authority.  Joseph Arpaio had been admonished for illegal immigrant raids, but continued until arrested and convicted, but pardoned by Trump.  Michael German, a former FBI undercover agent points out that white supremacy sympathies among police hurt domestic terrorism cases.  Killers like Dylan Roof and Kyle Rittenhouse are lauded as heroes.  Marche states "The greatest threat to the United States is not the hard right.  It is the general decline of legitimacy of the government that underlies the rise of the hard right."

Gun ownership is growing and already is well beyond any other nation.  That is through registered guns, but "ghost" guns (made from kits, 3-D printers) already account for 30% of seized guns.  Most owners claim bought for protection and for some that means from the government.

Alex Newhouse a researcher into extremist violence points out "...online radicalization starts with alienation... Social alienation comes with anger at their lot in life...the contrarian will often provide an explanation...for why they are feeling that way."  Population projections point that the United States will be a minority white nation by 2045.

The United States Constitution was a compromise.  The slave holding states were concerned the industrial north would outvote them on important issues.  Their white male propertied population was too small to compete with the north so they insisted upon counting their slaves as 3/5 of a person and combined with the electoral college it gave them parity with the north.  Those rules allowed Thomas Jefferson to defeat John Adams in the 1800 election.  The electoral college has given the south disproportionate power ever since with a notable exception during the Civil War.  After the Civil War, the south was able to institute Jim Crow which could only increase black resentments and southern resistance.  Five of the current Supreme Court justices were appointed by presidents who lost the popular vote.

A study in India focused on Hindu-Muslim conflicts.  "An increase in Muslim expenditures generates a large and significant future religious conflict.  An increase in Hindu expenditures has a negative or no effect.  The dominant culture, Hindu feels more impacted by a change in relative standing.  Whites in America also seem to feel most threatened by changes in the status quo. 

Inequality as it increases leads nations closer to war and revolution.  The Covid pandemic underlies the effects of inequality.  A comparison of nations with over 5 million population and an average of over $25,000 gross income reveals that the United States did the worst.  Not masking, not practicing social distancing and not vaccinating were political issues.  The world is inevitably going to provide other crises.  Inequality leads to a lack of co-operation needed to deal with global crises.

 Many politicians do not care about issues accept to use them for power.  Cater to and even inflame the mass prejudices.  Big money is needed to hide the desire for power.

Secession within a nation has been written into legislation for only two nations.  Canada recognizing Quebec represents a distinct ethnic population.  Also Britain recognizing a similar ethnic identity for Scotland.  Texas, essentially a one party state has generated a secession movement that prominent politicians cater to, but not quite endorse as they also have presidential ambitions.

The American people are capable of solving the big problems such as the electoral system, the legitimacy of their courts, police reform, even inequality and climate change.  The author contends "The United States, if it is to survive, requires a Constitutional Convention.  The loathing overtaking the country makes that possibility more remote every day."

The author and I are both Canadians, in other words, outsiders.  But like the whole world we will be affected how the American dilemma plays out.  Without America the world will not solve many crises such as climate change, pandemics, inequality, justice, etc.

Read the book for more scary details and citations.

Farzi or Fakes

 It starts out a bit slow, but picks up steam and is all the more enjoyable for the buildup.  Sunny, sometimes known as The Artist and his brother Firoz  live a lower class sort of life with their Grandfather.  Soon you learn they are not really related, but form a close family.  The Grandfather's printing business is about to go under.  The Artist (known for his really good fake art that he is open about) comes up with the idea of apply his skills to counterfeiting money.  After some trial and error he succeeds.

At the same time we meet two characters that are on a mission to break up counterfeiting.  Michael is a man who was busted by a reporter who falsely accused him of misappropriate behavior.  As a result he was demoted, became alcoholic and divorced, but still very concerned about counterfeiting.  Meghan is a government employee who pushes for stronger anti counterfeiting measures.  She is single with a mother pushing her to get married.

On top of these two factions we meet up with  a master crook, Mansoor who has big money and hooligans backing him.  He has developed a network for distributing counterfeit money.  A very arrogant, smart and ruthless man who is quick to recognize talent.

These three groups interact while we learn of personal concerns and criminal activities.  Tension builds.  We develop sympathy for some of the characters.  Class does not come with money.  The final episode is heart pumping with contrasting emotions competing for your attention.

There were a lot of classy people responsible for the quality.

The force behind this series and a few other films is known as Raj & DK comprising of Krishna DK and Raj Nidimoru.  The two have a Telegu language background and met studying engineering.  They emigrated to United States to build a career in software engineering.   By 2003 they had collaborated on their first film, "Flavors".  They combined directing, writing and producing over films.  Their film credits include "Stree" (2018) and "The Family Man" (2019-2021) winning awards along the way.

 Music was provided by the Sachin-Jigar team.  Their film credits include "It's Entertainment" (2014), "Badliapur" (2015), "The Family Man" (2019) and "Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui" (2021).  Check http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/01/chandigarh-kare-aashiqui-another-social.html

Pankaj Kumar handled the cinematography.  He has been able to modify scripts.  His award winning career includes "Ship of Theseus" (2012), "Haider" (2014), "Talvar" (2015), "Rangoon" (2017) , "Raat Akeli Hai" (2020) and "Atrangi Re" (2021).   Check:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2017/01/ship-of-thesus.html and catch more about Shahid at  "http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/02/haider-bollywoods-version-of-shakespeare.html

Editing was done by Sumeet Kotian.  His film credits include "Drishyam (2015), "Madaari" (2016), "The Family Man" (2019) and "A Thursday" (2022).   Check:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/02/the-message-is-spoiler.html

 Shahid Kapoor is the big draw and demonstrates why he is.   He plays Sunny, the Artist as a smart person who is low class, but is sophisticated enough to understand others of a higher class.  Way different from his earlier romantic comedy roles.  I would say he is the second best male dancer in Bollywood, but there is no demonstration in this film.  His credits include  "Vivah" (2006), "Jab We Met" (2007), "Dil Bole Hadippa" (2009),  "Kaminey" (2009), "Haider" (2014), "Udta Punjab" (2016), "Kabir Singh" (2019) and "Jersey" (2022).  Two blogs cover some noteworthy movies he has starred in  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2019/09 /arjun-reddy-and-kabir-singh.html and   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/02/haider-bollywoods-version-of-shakespeare.html

Vijay Sethupathi played Michael the dedicated counterfeit hunter.  You will both admire him and feel sorry for him.  Vijay has performed in Hindi, Tamil, Telegu and Malayalam cinema and winning many awards.  His film credits include "Puriyaatha Puthir" (2017), "Vikram Vedha" (2017),  "Super Deluxe" (2019) and "Kadaseela Biriyani" (2021).

Raashi Khanna played the other dedicated counterfeit hunter and the lead female.  As with the Michael character she is hard not to like, but also to feel sorry for.  She has also appeared in Tamil and Telegu cinema.  Her film credits include "Oohalu Gusagusalade" (2014).

Bhuvan Arora played Firoz, the "brother" to Sunny.  Bhuvan has 19 film credits including "Cham Bahaar" (2020).  Apparently the clincher for his audition was a fast talking commercial he had done and at one point is demonstrated in the series.

Kay Kay Menon played Mansoor, one of his many manic negative roles.  He has a degree in physics as well as an M.B.A.  He started his career in advertising, but soon got involved in theatre, television and films.  He has been in films in Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Marathi, and Telegu.  His film credits include   "Bhopal Express" (1999), "Main, Meri Patni...Aur Woh" (2005), "Gulaal" )2007)  "Sarkar Raj" (2008), "Mumbai Meri Jaan" (2008),  "Haider" (2015), "Rahasya" (2015) and "The Ghazi Attack" (2017).

Many other actors played supporting roles and gave the story line a lot of credibility.  In sum, the series includes a good mix of crime, action, black comedy and drama.  If you are interested in those elements you will enjoy this series. It deserves its high rating.

I have bolded the first mention of movies I have seen.

Decision to Leave

An apology is in order.  When I wrote this blog I thought it was nominated for an Oscar, but I was wrong.  Some critics had said it should have been nominated.  Having read much hype about the movie and actually having seen it I feel it is worthy of prestigious awards which in fact it has already won such as Cannes and  Bafta.

 "Decision to Leave" (2022 has been short listed for the upcoming Oscar awards.  It has already won a director's award at the recent Cannes Festival.  A big draw seems to be the director and co-writer, Park Chan-wook.  More on him later, but first a bit on the film itself.

Hae-jun is described as an insomniac detective asked to investigate the death of a man fallen from a rock climbing site.  It seems simple enough, but when Hae-jun and his partner Soo-wan approach the widow, Seo-rae with the news she takes it too calmly and arouses suspicions. We learn that Seo-rae is an immigrant from China only allowed to stay in Korea because her Grandfather had been a Korean independence fighter  We also learn that she killed her mother with fentanyl pills as requested.  Hae-jun rules her husband's death a suicide, but Soo-wan is not convinced and later Hae-jun encounters more suggestive evidence, but decides to cover it up.

He is fascinated by Seo-rae, but the script goes 13 months in advance.  Hae-jun's wife worked at a nuclear facility in Ipo allowing her to visit only once a week.  Hae -jun decided to move in order to be closer to her.  He meets Seo-rae with a new husband,  Ho-shin, an investment banker.  The next day he is found dead at the family pool.  Certainly suspicious, but more complicated.  Hae-jun agrees to help, but his wife has had enough and leaves.

Along the way  a few unusual scenes.  A few are devoted to insects crawling around and in dead bodies to demonstrate how grotesque a policeman's job can be.  Rock climbing to provide some perilous action on slippery surfaces and also to demonstrate how thorough the police can be.  A theme is the role of sleep with various discussions of what works, but Seo-rae has her own methods.  Mist was one of the requirements to create the right mood and Ipo fits the bill.

A memorable quote:  "Killing is like smoking; only the first time is hard."  

To put together requires a lot of talent.

Start with Park Chan-wook. the director and co-writer.  The DVD special features and Wikipedia were very interesting.  Known for sex and violence, but for this he has toned down (not eliminated) both elements.  He commented that audiences remember the violence, but romance is a big part of what he offers.  Humor plays a big role, but he tries to make sure it can be understood by an international audience.  The best humor reminds the audience of their own experience.  Humor off negative emotions causes confusion.   He studied philosophy in university and while there formed a cinema club.  His first film efforts were not successful and he had to write film reviews to survive.  However, "Joint Security Area" (2000) was the highest grossing Korean film to date and was critically acclaimed.  He has won numerous awards.  His film credits include "Oldboy" (2003)"Thirst" (2009), "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" (2002),  "Lady Vengeance" (2005), "Snowpiercer" (2013) and "The Handmaiden" (2016). 

His co-writer Chung Seo-kyung has helped him on all his features since 2005.  She got his attention winning a short film contest juried by him. She has done a few other projects on her own, including most recently a tv. series. Their collaboration has evolved and now essentially involves a discussion, then she does a first draft and then the two get together with two monitors and two keyboards and make revisions simultaneously.  At one time she wrote female roles, but now it is difficult to tell which wrote either of the male or female roles.  Chan-wook usually polishes the final script.

Music is composed by Jo Yeong-wook.  He has been a prolific award winner including for this film.  "The Handmaiden" (2016) is one of my very favorite film scores.  Other credits include "Oldboy" (2003), "Glove" (2011),  "The Attorney" (2013), and "The Tiger" (2015).

Kim Ji-yong, the cinematographer is another prolific award winner including for this film.  His film credits include "Miss Granny" (2014), "The Age of Shadows" (2016), "Okja" (2017) and "Swing Kids" (2018).

Editing was done by Kim Sang-beom, another big award winner, including for this film.  Some of his other credits include:  "Oldboy" (2003), "The Throne" (2015) and "The Handmaiden" (2016)

Park Hae-il plays Hae-joon.  He has also won a lot of awards including for this film.  His film credits include "Memories of Murder" (2003)

Tang Wei plays Seo-Rae.  She is a Chinese actress married to a Korean actor/director.  She is still another big award winner including for this film and in Chinese and Korean films.  Her screen credits include "Lust, Caution" (2007).

Lee Jung-hyun plays Jeong-ahn and also has won some acting awards, but is perhaps better known as a pop singer across Asia.

 Teo Yoo plays Lee June and has a surprising background.  He was born and educated in Germany and went to the U.S. and Britain for acting training.   He recently played the male lead in "Love to Hate You"  (2023).  Another film credit is "Chocolate" (2019).

Difficult to predict which film will win the foreign film Oscar, but sorting through the top nominations assures some entertaining high quality productions.

Note:  I have bolded the first mention of movies I have seen.  In this film there was a great deal of interaction between cast and crew indicating a high level of talent.