Seshadri's Musings

More web-series/documentaries reviews… Giri/Haji – Giri/Haji (Japanese: "Duty/Shame") is a British television series which premiered on BBC Two in October 2019, and was released internationally on Netflix on 10 January 2020. Kenzo Mori (Takehiro Hira), a Tokyo detective, travels to London in search of his brother, Yuto (Yōsuke Kubozuka), who was previously assumed to be dead. Yuto has been accused of murdering the nephew of a Yakuza member, which threatens to start a gang war in Tokyo. As Kenzo attempts to navigate the unfamiliar territory of London to uncover whether his brother is alive and guilty, he becomes acquainted with DC Sarah Weitzmann (Kelly Macdonald) of the Metropolitan Police and Rodney Yamaguchi (Will Sharpe), a young half-Japanese, half-British sex worker. While searching for Yuto in London, Kenzo must also support his family back home in Tokyo. Kenzo's investigation brings him into contact with dangerous elements of London's criminal underworld...

In the last couple of weeks, I came across 2 videos that were about the meeting of our PM, Mr Narendra Modi with our Olympians and Para Olympians.  Surprisingly, I went through both the videos in full 😊 .  I don’t spend much time in politicians interacting with sportspersons as almost all of them are mostly one-sided with the politician talking about himself and what he has done for the sportsperson and that being the single-most reason for the sportsperson doing good ☹ . Usually, these interactions are only about the politicians clicking pictures with the sportspersons and furthering their own cause for staying the limelight for a longer period of time.  I remember, when India won the cricket world cup in 1983, the cricketers were welcomed by our Prime Minister that time, Mrs Indira Gandhi at her house or some public place.  The cricketers lined up and the PM spent a couple of seconds with each player and then moved on.  Everyone had lunch and then dispersed...

More documentary reviews… Operation Varsity Blues : The College Admissions Scandal – This is an American documentary film about the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal. The movie stars Matthew Modine as Rick Singer and features reenactments as well as interviews with real people involved in the scandal. One of the reviews from IMDB... I just finished this documentary, and thought it was very well done. What is atrocious, however, is that the "back door" donations (parents donating multi-millions directly to colleges to get their kids in) is apparently a legal and accepted practice. This has to stop, as it's really no more ethical than the Operation Varsity Blues scandal. Colleges can make money from their sports teams, donors who are truly *donating* without expecting something in return, as well as any government grants. That's IT. Routine auditing needs to be conducted on the admissions process, and the bribe donations that are deemed legal need to be exp...

More documentary reviews… The Thin Blue Line – Details from Wikipedia... The Thin Blue Line is a 1988 American documentary film by Errol Morris, about the trial and conviction of Randall Dale Adams for the murder of Texas police officer Robert Wood. Morris became interested in the case while doing research for a film about Dr. James Grigson, a psychiatrist known in Texas as "Dr. Death" for testifying with "100 percent certainty" of a defendant's recidivism in many trials, including that of Randall Adams. The film centered around the "inconsistencies, incongruities and loose ends" of the case, and through his investigation, not only comes to a different conclusion, actually obtained an admission of Adams' innocence by the original suspect of the case, David Harris. The "thin blue line" in the title "refers to what Mr. Morris feels is an ironic, mythical image of a protective p...

More web-series… some more Indian ones… Bombay Begums – Bombay Begums is an Indian drama web series for Netflix starring Pooja Bhatt. It explores the lives of five ambitious women from various walks of life navigating through their dreams, desires and disappointments, from boardrooms to society’s margins, in modern-day Mumbai. It was released on Netflix in March 2021. One of the reviews from IMDB... If you want to watch a boring, senseless 4 hrs drama of wrongly portrait feminism than this is your show. Special mention to this naive actress plabita borthakur. One word 'nauseous'. And these are my wife's opinion about this show - This show intending to be feministic is just demeaning women in all ways it can , Women today work so hard managing work as well as the household duties, and this show tries to portray women in a light where they are messed up, non decisive, venting out their frustrations by cheating on their partners. Kindly do not portray women of this ...

More web-series… some more Indian ones… Maharani – Released in 2021.  This is a fictional story, where Rani Bharti (Huma Qureshi) is a homemaker and the wife of Bihar's chief minister Bheema (Sohum Shah). All she cares about is her house and her husband. She wants to pack her bags and go back to the village after her husband resigns from the post of Bihar's CM. But her life takes a turn when her husband and Bihar's CM is made to announce the name of his successor. While his party members look excited to hear who has been appointed, he makes Rani his successor, leaving everyone surprised. A review from IMDB... A story blended with reality but with an ending far too fictious, Maharani is definitely intriguing thanks to the beautiful transition in the character arc of Huma Qureshi. All actors have done their job well as required. The story and writing was pretty simple, predictable and dull sometimes but the series did not seem boring at any point of time. Watch it if i...

More web-series… Indian ones 😊 … Chacha Vidhayak Hain Hamare – This is an Indian comedy streaming television series created by Zakir Khan,and starring Zakir Khan, Alka Amin and Zakir Hussain. It is an Amazon Prime exclusive series and premiered on 18 May 2018. The Second season of the show was released on 26 March 2021. Story of the series revolves around Ronny (Zakir Khan), a young lad whose life is not driven by big ambitions. All he wants is a comfortable life where he can boast about himself using convenient lies. He's the boss of his cocoon where his followers take his word for the ultimate truth, all because he pretends that his Uncle is an MLA. In the second season, as Ronny's dream of becoming a politician starts to materialize, a tough opponent Vicky enters his life who disrupts his political ambition and personal relationships. A review from IMDB... Zakir khan take a bow. A class act from start to finish. Zakir khan plays Ronnie, a boy next door in Indore....