I think I watched over 300 movies and series in 2021, my highest yearly count, thanks to the pandemic, high speed internet and my new smart TV. Not been to a movie hall since January 2019 though. Not even for Spiderman. But not missing any of that experience either as Kathmandu’s traffic has only worsened and parking charges have gotten atrocious.
So to sum 2021 and my movie-watching experience, I revisit some of my recommendations for the year in case you have missed them. The recommendations are not all ‘5 Stars’ mind you. I am just reinforcing some movies that are definitely worth your time.
On YouTube
Ghampani (2017)
Ghampani is a lighthearted social drama, the debut work of film critic turned writer/director Dipendra Lama. It was a box office success when it was originally released. Right through his filmmaking career, Lama has given the impression of being someone rooted to society and its realities, even in his works of fiction. Ghampani is a movie that sums up Lama’s style of writing and directing stories, as well as characters and settings that are the mirrors of our society.
The movie is set in a rural village, where childhood friends Furba Tamang (Dayahang Rai) and Tara Sharma (Keki Adhikari) fall in love and disrupt the social ‘harmony’ as they are from separate castes.
Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Drama
Actors: Dayahang Rai, Keki Adhikari, Ankeet Khadka
Director: Dipendra Lama
Run time: 1hr 53mins
Dhanapati (2017)
Dhanapati is a criminally underrated movie, and deserves a lot more attention. Directed by Dipendra K. Khanal, the film stars the very talented Khagendra Lamichhane who also writes this political drama that spells only reality when it comes to narrating a common man’s life.
The film revolves around Dhanapati and his life as a common man living in poverty with his wife (Surakshya Panta) and a daughter. To send his daughter to a good school, Dhanapati plunges into politics, to some troubling consequences.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Actors: Khagendra Lamichhane, Surakshya Panta, Aashant Sharma
Director: Dipendra K Khanal
Genre: Drama
Run time: 1hr 53mins
Khatta Meetha (2010)
The Hindi-language movie gave the world Sachin Tichkule, a popular character among meme lovers and connoisseurs of contemporary online humor in our part of the world. When Urban Development Minister Ram Kumari Jhakri went on a rant against engineers and architects recently, I vividly remembered some scenes from this movie.
Akshay Kumar plays Sachin, a contractor from a respectable middle-class family who has big dreams but small coffers. With no means to pay bribes to get his hands on lucrative government contracts, Tichkule struggles to stay in business, even as his family loses faith in him.
Rating: 3 stars
Drama
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Trisha Krishnan, Rajpal Yadav, Johnny Lever
Direction: Priyadarshan
Length: 2hr 38min
On Netflix
Vanjagar Ulagam (2018)
Fifteen minutes into Vanjagar Ulagam, I realized the film’s background score was oh-so-good and re-watched it from the beginning just to pay more attention to it. Thank you for this feature, Netflix (and other OTTs).
The 2018 Tamil language crime-thriller that translates to “World of crafty people” made it to my review list just because of its sound track. In the movie, Shanmugam alias Shaam (Ciby Bhuvana Chandran), wakes up from a drunk stupor one day to find out that he is accused of murdering his neighbor, Mythili (Chandini Tamilarasan).
Rating: 3.5 stars
Genre: Crime/thriller
Actors: Ciby Bhuvana Chandran, Guru Somasundaram
Director: Manoj Beedha
Run time: 2hrs 2mins
Capitani (2019)
Capitani comes as a recommendation not only because its a Luxembourgish production, but also because the crime drama series puts its protagonist—inspector Luc Capitani—into a labyrinth of interconnected mysteries that point at multiple directions. Right from the opening shot, the film weaves an intricate web of suspense and secrets, which unfold till the very end.
And Capitani is not only an entertaining thriller but also an educational one as it provides a rare glimpse into the people and society of exotic Luxembourg. For example, it took me the whole first episode to realize that Luxembourgish language is heavily influenced by German and French.
Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Crime, thriller
Run time: 5hrs 30mins (approx.)
Actors: Luc Schiltz, Jil Devresse, Claude de Demo
Director: Christophe Wagner
Clickbait (2021)
This American-Australian miniseries is probably one of the most relevant in contemporary times. The eight-episode series is about how the internet has become a means of inciting violence, but it also does not focus entirely on technology either. Instead, Clickbait follows its humans—the characters in the story who give their unique POV in each episode.
Nick (Adrian Grenier) gets into dire situations because of the internet while his friends and family scramble to save him. Using Nick and his family to tell the story, Clickbait also mirrors the lives of millions of people who have been wronged on the internet one way or the other.
Rating: 4 stars
Actors: Adrian Grenier, Zoe Kazan
Directors: Brad Anderson, Emma Freeman, Ben Young, and Laura Besley
Run time: 5hrs 30mins (approx.)
