January 2021 (Escapisms #1)

A Slow Start (My Escapisms in January 2021)

Books I have read in January

It was November or October of 2020, I guess. I was ordering a lot of Tamil books in Panuval website at that time. I had saved some money and started ordering books. At that time, I had ordered two books related to Sex and one novel by Vairamuthu.

Then I heard the announcement of Soorarai Potru releasing in Amazon Prime. I planned to read the book first and then watching the movie. So, the next day, I ordered Tamil Version of Simply Fly வானமே எல்லை in panuval. It was a 400 rupees book with 400+ pages, I guess. To avoid the delivery charges, I needed to order another book of 100 rupees or more. Because in panual, if we order books which totals more than 500 rupees, we don’t have to pay the delivery charges.

So, on a whim, I picked a small novel. A short novel/novella (more like an autobiography) written by a woman named Bama. I haven’t read any Tamil book written by a woman before. Come to think of it, I didn’t care about the authors in my early stages of reading. If I liked the title and poster of the book, then I am all in for buying it. Then I had to decide whether I had to buy this book or not.

It was just a small book of 100 something pages. So, I just bought the book.

Little did I knew, the book that I had bought for avoiding the delivery charges would become a five-star book of mine.

The name of the book is கருக்கு (Karukku)

I had read only one book in the month of January. And it became one of my favourite books of all time. Till now I have rated five-star for 8 books in my good reads out of 56 books that I have read in my lifetime. (As of February 10, 2021 – Yes, today I got to know that my Ex-girlfriend is going to get married. More on that later)

The book is about the hardships faced and Happiness enjoyed in the life of a Dalit woman.

Movies I have watched in January

Last year, I had watched a smaller number of movies. I had watched less than 20 movies last year, I guess.

So, I pledged myself to watch movies as much as I can this year.

And I didn’t disappoint myself. In January, I had watched 10 movies in total. I even started recording it in an app called Letterbox. Reviewing the 10 movies is a hectic task. Even thinking about it makes me lazy. So, I thought of writing reviews for those movies in less than 280 characters. (Yes! Like a tweet)

I am going to use these review snippets in Letterbox too. Hell, I will use these in forming a movie thread of 2021 in Twitter too. That’s a good idea!

Ayirathil Oruvan (2010)

4 Stars

I watched the FDFS (First Day First Show) of this movie, with my family, 11 years back in theatre. I didn’t understand a thing back then. I loved the first half on my first watch and hated the second half. I used to hate tragedy movies. And 11 years after, and in the day of new year, it got re-released. Thought I have watched it multiple times before, I booked the ticket. This movie was the first one that I have watched, where each scene felt like a short film. It was a one hell of a movie.

Pudhupettai (2006)

4.5 Stars

I would say It’s a weird coincidence. 15 Years back, I watched Pudhupettai in the theatre with my family. Ayirathil Oruvan and Pudhupettai – both are Adult certified movies and the irony here is that I have watched both films with my family. On my first watch, I hated this movie completely and started liking it slowly. It took 7 years for me to fully understand and enjoy this movie. Selvaragavan became my favourite director on that day and I started watching all his movies chronologically then. The best thing about Pudhupettai is the way the characters have been written. Never once I have seen any movie that explored the white, dark, and grey shades of humans like Pudhupettai did.

Master (2021)

1.5 Stars

I had huge expectation on this movie because it was directed by a newbie director, Lokesh Kanagaraj – who had directed Maanagaram and Kaidhi. When I heard, he would direct a movie with a huge star like Vijay, I had my hopes high. But it was an utter disappointment. Master felt like watching two movies which preaches social messages while exaggerating the protagonist. This is a typical masala movie with the worst kind of direction possible. On the first half, it tried to be one film but ended by being an utter crap. Worst’uh!

Bhoomi (2021)

-(Minus)5.0 Stars

I know this movie is a shit movie. I watched it only because I wanted to enjoy the troll videos of this movie.

The Great Indian Kitchen (2021)

5.0 Stars

After the disastrous experience of Bhoomi, TGIK came as a bliss. The Great Indian Kitchen will leave you with full of guilt if you are an Indian male. This movie showcases the hidden patriarchy we men enjoy leisurely in our daily life and how women handles it. The menstrual blood myth and the reason for avoiding foreplay cringed the hell out of me. Best’uh!

The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002)

2.5 Stars

I planned to read the works of Bhagat Singh and his biography on February. To have an intro, I thought of watching a movie on Bhagat Singh. So, I decided to watch this movie and I liked it. Bhagat Singh was a revolutionary, an Atheist and a writer. This is enough for me to like him as a character. As a movie, apart from the stereotypical heroine and the comedy scenes, this is a decent movie. The music stirred the emotions inside me and finally, I had my catharsis at the end of this movie.

June (2019)

3.5 Stars

June gave me the Premam Vibes. June is a coming of age movie of a girl. This movie felt like a comical and cinematic version of Gantumoote. Though it had its cringey moments, the one thing that elevated the viewing experience of this movie was the bonding of the protagonist with her parents, friends, and boyfriend. It felt so real.

Mail (2021)

3.0 Stars

Mail was a fun movie. Sometimes, it made me feel that I was watching a Malayalam movie. It was realistic to the core. I enjoyed the thrilling aspect of this film. The tension it gave during the last 30 minutes was awesome and the quirky climax was satisfying to watch.