My Cinematic Weekend Journey
Weekends are when I typically catch up on movies and web series, usually starting on Friday. However, last Friday, June 25th, 2025, I wasn't feeling well due to seasonal ailments, so I decided to work from home. The downside of working from home is that you often end up extending your work hours, often into the time you'd normally spend commuting. Perhaps it's because you tend to start a bit later. Whatever the reason, last Friday, I finished my work with a review call from one of my sponsors, who was satisfied with my progress.
With my official work done, it was time to shift from "work from home" to "work for home." On the way to D'Mart for our monthly groceries, we decided to book movie tickets for Saturday mornig's show. With the rise of OTT platforms, it's been a while since we've gone to a theater; we usually wait for movies to come online. I'm not sure why we felt compelled to go to the cinema this Saturday.
When we left D'Mart, the bill was almost double what it usually was, making us realize it had been a couple of months since our last grocery run. While this realization was a small comfort, the amount, which used to be half of what we paid, still stung a bit. After getting home, arranging the groceries, and having dinner, our weekend officially kicked off with a Malayalam movie called "Azadi." This political thriller had an unexpected and impressive twist at the end, featuring competitive acting from Sreenath Bhasi and Lal. The movie powerfully conveyed that with sustained determination, nothing can stop you from achieving your goals, even if circumstances turn hostile. It was a perfect start to the weekend and helped us overcome the D'Mart bill shock!
Come Saturday, we arrived at the theater as planned. We usually love to be there before the national anthem and witness the first advertisement, but we were a bit late by our standards. Still, we made it just in time; after one advertisement, the movie "Saiyaara" began. I quickly realized it was a Yash Raj Production. I had a certain template in mind for a Yash Raj film, and initially, the storyline followed it: the lead female character waits for her groom in court for their wedding, but he calls to cancel the marriage because he got a promotion abroad and is marrying someone else to secure his future. After a song, the movie's details started to unfold.
Her parents motivate her to move on from the past, and she decides to take a job. On her way, she's impressed by someone on a bike. Coincidentally, she sees him in the same office where she had gone for a job interview. The story creates a scenario where the heroine forgets her diary, and the hero returns it. Since the diary has her name, Vanita, he learns it. When she asks his name, he responds that she'll find out soon. He then gets into a fight with a senior in the PR firm where she had gone for a job interview, and during the fight, she learns his name and discovers he's an aspiring singer.
After this, the story continued to follow the template I'd visualized, but then it slowly veered in another direction, completely discarding my initial expectations. I'll refrain from reviewing the movie in detail to avoid spoiling the excitement for anyone planning to watch it. However, a few things impressed me:
The dialogue "abhi kuchh pal baki hai mere pass" (I still have a few moments left) was used several times at just the right moments.
The father's advice to his son, "Apne pyar ke liye naa khudh ko khatam mat kar lena" (Don't destroy yourself for your love), when the son was ready to sacrifice everything for love.
The song that impressed me the most was "Tu Paas Hai Mere Pass Hai Aise." I'm familiar with songs until the late 1980s, and I liked this song because it was used very effectively. I still feel that modern songs often sound quite similar.
After dinner on Saturday, we watched another new release on OTT, "Sarzameen," starring Prithviraj and Kajol. What drew us to this movie was the combination of Prithviraj (a Malayalam star) with a leading Hindi movie actress like Kajol. It was about an Army Officer's duty towards the nation and his love for his son. There's a small twist when we learn that a reformed terrorist providing tips to the Indian Army was someone very close to the lead character. It was a typical action-drama movie.
Come Sunday, after breakfast, we watched episodes of the reality show "Super Dancer," which showcased some awesome dance performances by kids, including several from rural parts of India. Some of their stories are truly heartwarming; despite living with basic needs and often having no one to guide them, they've come so far and qualified for a national reality show.
It had been a while since I'd watched a movie on Amazon Prime, so I browsed and found the Malayalam film "United Kingdom of Kerala." The movie's message is how talented individuals from Kerala are not utilized by the state and often seek better opportunities elsewhere. There's a mix of success and failure for those who leave the state, with some failures being quite tragic. This message was well-constructed through the storyline of a family where the mother leaves her son with his father at a very young age to fulfill her ambition of going to the UK. The father wants his son to go and settle in the UK so that his mother can look after him if something happens to the father. One key takeaway from "United Kingdom of Kerala" was that if someone is looking for what needs to be done, they should look around carefully, and the answer will reveal itself.
Over the weekend, starting Friday evening, I watched four movies, all with different themes. If I had to rank them, the one I wrote about the most would obviously be first:
Saiyaara
Azadi
United Kingdom of Kerala
Sarzameen
It looks like it was a weekend well spent, with a mixed bag of movies. What I liked most was actually stepping out to see a movie in the theater again. After relaxing with screens, the weekend wound up with some shopping as it's sales season. I won't have this luxury next weekend, as I'll be busy executing an event in Jaipur.
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