In this episode writer Aditya Mani Jha joins Deepauk and Aditya to talk about two 2024 films, both Telugu originals, and adapted-inspired from two Hindu epics - Mahabharata and Ramayana.

One is Nag Ashwin's Kalki 2898 AD and the other is Prasanth Varma's Hanu-Man. One has a stellar pan-Indian star cast with the likes of Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Deepika Padukone et al while the other has Teja Sajja, Amritha Aiyar, Vinay Rai among others. One has big budget and larger scope. The other has a big heart and novel ideas.

We talk about what the films get right, what they do not and which Hindu epic is more interesting, adaptable and more. Listen on.

Participants:

Aditya

Deepauk

Aditya Mani Jha

Edited by Anantha.

Nithilan Saminathan returns after Kurangu Bommai with a bigger canvas and a bigger star. His talents are still visible, refined even, but his latest film with Vijay Sethupathi in and as Maharaja started a discourse about rape-revenge genre in cinema, gratuitous violence, depiction of sexual abuse, and the conspicuous choice of Vairamuthu as lyricist.

Aditya joins Deepauk and regular guest Subha Rao to talk about what irked them about the film, what they liked, and where Tamil cinema must do better. And how the audience reaction in the theatres didn't inspire much confidence. The discussion contains spoilers.

Listen on.

Participants:

Aditya

Deepauk

Subha Rao

Link to Subha's opinion piece on the film in The News Minute: https://www.thenewsminute.com/flix/opinion-vijay-sethupathi-film-maharaja-is-an-example-of-how-not-to-depict-violence-on-screen

We at The Other Banana believe that director Girish AD is doing something incredible with the genre of romantic comedy and coming of age. With the recent big hit Premalu, that awed audiences across south India, we decided to take a look at all his films that show steady progression in certain genre conventions as well as successful attempts at breaking them with memorable writing, characters, comedy and performances.

In this episode, Poorvaja S, journalist from The Hindu joins Aditya and Deepauk to talk about Girish and his three films so far - Thanneer Mathan Dinangal, Super Sharanya and Premalu.

There is a lot of giggling and laughter but also some observations into what makes Girish AD unique and how he has revitalized the genre in India. Listen on.

Participants:

Aditya

Deepauk

Poorvaja

Edited by Anantha.