Harris Blogs

  Though the film Neelavelicham  (‘The Blue Radiance’, Malayalam, 2023) is a remake of Bhargavi Nilayam  (Bhargavi Mansion, 1964), both must be considered independent creations and comparison must be avoided. However, I couldn’t help comparing some aspects when I watched the new film. Both movies offer excellent visual experiences. To me, Bhargavi herself is the most prominent person in  Bhargavi Nilayam . So, I didn’t have a problem with Tovino or Roshan in place of Madhu or Naseer respectively in  Neelavelicham . However, I couldn’t fully reconcile to Rima’s occupying the place of Vijaya Nirmala. I kept comparing them. It’s not about their performance, but the stark differences in their appearances and countenances. In Neelavelicham , Tovino became more important than Bhargavi to me. The song 'Pottithakarnna kinavu…’ and the scenes within it are what I loved the most about the movie. The writer’s character, performed by Tovino, makes small talk with the invis...

(Warning: Spoilers ahead!) It's April Fool's Day, and it's a coincidence that I just watched  Chungking Express  (Hong Kong, 1994) in which this young and handsome police officer is jilted by his girlfriend on the first of April. Initially, he thought it was an April Fool's prank, but she had left him seriously. He decides to wait for a month, and meanwhile eats canned pineapple slices, because she liked it very much. He makes sure every can he purchases from the supermarket had May-1 as the expiry date, which completes one month of his loneliness, beyond which there would be no pineapples for him. His lost lover's name happens to be 'May'. The first of May is his birthday too. After the monthlong wait, he looks for someone who could go out with him for the evening. But he's late. Another May, who is a worker at the takeaway joint he frequents was a prospect but while he was waiting for his lost lover, she had found another person to spend the evening wi...