Dhurandhar, and Why It Felt Personal

I had stopped going to Hindi movies in theaters. Not suddenly — just gradually. A trailer would come out, I’d watch it, feel mildly interested… and then do nothing. Maybe I’d tell myself I’ll catch it on OTT. Most of the time, I never did. Somewhere along the way, watching a movie stopped feeling like something to look forward to. It started feeling like a gamble — and more often than not, not worth taking. Even the shortcuts didn’t help. I’d skim through reviews, scroll past reactions, try to get a sense of whether it was “worth it.” But none of it really made the decision easier. If anything, it just reinforced the hesitation. The hesitation followed me even after Dhurandhar Part 1 released. I didn’t rush to watch it. In fact, I waited almost a month. But then something interesting started happening. The reactions didn’t line up. Most of what I was seeing was positive — people seemed genuinely excited about it. But there was also a noticeable pushback from some co...
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Munich...Gripping reality


When Spielberg makes a movie, it creates headlines. But this one was different. Two weeks prior to the release of Munich, Spielberg revealed about such a movie and the reasons are obvious. The movie is about the aftermaths of Black September that hit the 1972 Olympics at Munich where 11 Israeli athletes were brutally murdered after the Palestinians attacked the Olympics village. A sensationally picturised movie of the Israeli intelligence wing, the Mossad, reactivating its assasination wing to eliminate the creators of Black September forms the theme of the year's best movie undoubtedly.

I have no clue of the actors who form the part of this movie. But, almost every unknown name seemed to fit in the role with ease. There are eleven people who plotted the 1972 disaster and there are nine of them whom the Mossad end up eliminating leaving the other two in perpetual fear. The story is about how the people selected for this mission end up killing the plotters and the traumatic experience, each of them undergoes.

Steven Spielberg has taken a neutral stand in this classic. He beautifully has potrayed the ill effects of terrorism, and though the vengeance operation has been carried out, he says that nothing can be done to reduce terrorism. Though people who have plotted the brutality are being killed, new ones are filling the voids in almost the same pace, which ultimately would lead to perpetual killing. The main protagonist of the movie who leads this low key but high profile operation essays the role to perfection as an Israeli agent. His and the team's traumatic experience of the operation is depicted in a way that only Spielberg can do justice. At the end of the day, he loses his entire team in the operation. The story does not end there. The post operations trauma that he suffers is truly a heart wrenching sight. He becomes a victim of his own suspicion and bitterness.

The film not only deals with the Israeli hit back but also what is lost in the entire operation. As I walked out of the theater, I was filled with a sense of uneasiness that gripped me of the terrorism that plagues the society and happiness of having watched another high quality movie from the stable of Steven Spielberg.

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