Category: Film Review

Made in Heaven Season 2 – Review

Made In Heaven Season 2 on Amzon Prime Video

Made in Heaven Season 2 kicks off from where the Season 1 ended (sorry, no spoilers.) Tara and Karan continue to be at the helm of Made in Heaven, their wedding planning agency, albeit with an even more budget crunch and therefore, an urgency to land big fish as clientele. Similar to Season 1, Season 2 continues with episodic format of storytelling, that is, a new wedding in each episode and, therefore, a new issue of our society to look into.

Mona Singh as Bulbul Jauhri and Trinetra Halder as Mehek are two new additions to the cast in this season who elevate this series to another level with their effortless performances.

Shobhita is, as usual, flawless as the enigmatic and complex Tara Khanna. What I loved most about her was how unapologetic she is about what she wants in her life. Arjun is also brilliant as Karan. In this season, we get to see more of how a family crisis plunges him deep into the depths of personal hell and how a friend from his past releases him from his guilt of hating his mother because she never understood his se*ual identity.

The rest of the supporting cast is brilliant, too.

I binged-watched this series in two days straight. One particular moment stood out for me. In the episode on polygamy, when the husband is posing with his new wife and the first wife is looking at them from the widow glass pane, her reflection superimposes upon the face of the new wife. It was a poignant moment for me to watch.

Highly recommended for anyone looking for a gripping drama. Made In Heaven Season 2 is now available on Amazon Prime Video.

Made In Heaven Season 1 – Review

Made In Heaven Season 1

Made In Heaven Season 1 premiered in 2019 in Amazon Prime Video. It’s an original romantic drama Indian web series created by Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti. It stars Arjun Mathur and Shobhita Dhulipala in lead roles and Jim Sarbh, Shashank Arora, Kalki Koechlin, and Shivani Raghuvanshi as supporting cast.

The series follows the lives of two wedding planners, Tara (played by Shobhita Dhulipala) and Karan (played by Arjun Mathur), who are running a wedding planning agency named Made in Heaven.

The series provides a realistic commentary on the glamorous weddings in the Indian society and the hypocrisy embedded in them. In each episode, Tara and Karan plan a new wedding. They deal with tight deadlines, budget crunch, unreasonable guests, and personal grief to deliver an elegant, sometimes swanky, and oftentimes, glitzy wedding.

Tara and Arjun planning an Indian wedding

For every couple, they also arrange a video session wherein they ask the couple to share how they met and what they love in each other. They also invite the couples’ parents to share their take on their children’s impending wedding.

I loved these video sessions in the series a lot. This presents the viewers an insight into the personal lives of the couples and their families. More often than not, the younger generation is willing to accept unconventional people as life partners, which contrasts with the opinions of their parents. However, in many other cases, it is the traditional Indian wedding where no matter the qualifications and success of the bride or the education of the groom, it’s the amount of dowry that seals the deal. The bride who can break this shackle might lose momentarily but wins her life back from the clutches of the stifling, patriarchal society.

I also loved the commentary at the end of each episode which summarized all that is wrong with our society but in many episodes, was also full of hope for the future because the bride and groom in that episode had done something remarkably courageous: they had chosen love over society.

Shobhita was fabulous as Tara Khanna, a shrewd businesswoman, who comes from a humble background but steadily climbs the social ladder through a mix of cunning and hard work. This role was written for Shobhita. No one else could have played her so perfectly. Arjun is also excellent as Karan, a gay man with a fractured relationship with his mother resulting in a wounded personality. The supporting cast is exceptionally talented.

But it is the script that is the cherry on the cake, in my opinion. Using the lavish Indian weddings as a backdrop, this series examines the cultural baggage and the destructive masculinity of our society without being preachy.

I loved this series and would highly recommend it to everyone looking for a realistic and gripping drama.

Bay Yanlış – Turkish Dizi Review | Episodes 13 – 14

Let’s dive into another spoiler-free review for episodes 13-14 of Bay Yanlış (Mr. Wrong), starring Can Yaman and Özge Gürel, in this post. They had previously worked together on Dolunay.

To date, fourteen episodes have been aired. Spoiler-free review for episodes 1-5 are available here.

Spoiler-free review for episodes 6-12 are available here.

Bay Yanlış is a romantic, fun, and light-hearted drama. It features a great lead pair, a strong supporting cast, and a good script as well.

Bay Yanlış Turkish dizi poster
Bay Yanlış Turkish dizi poster
Continue Reading

Featured Posts

Bay Yanlış – Turkish Dizi Review | Episodes 6 – 12

Can Yaman and Özge Gürel are back with a new series, Bay Yanlış (Mr. Wrong), that airs on Fox Turkey every Friday 8.00 P.M. They had previously worked together on Dolunay.

Being a huge fan of Yaman, I could not afford to miss this one. To date, thirteen episodes have been aired. Spoiler-free review for episodes 1-5 are available here.

Spoiler-free review of episodes 13-14 can be found here.

Let’s dive into another spoiler-free review for episodes 6-12 in this post.

Bay Yanlış is a romantic, fun, and light-hearted drama. It features a great lead pair, a strong supporting cast, and a good script as well.

Bay Yanlış Turkish dizi poster
Bay Yanlış Turkish dizi poster
Continue Reading

The Shape of Water – Movie Review

The Shape of Water is a 2017 American romantic dark fantasy film directed by Guillermo del Toro and written by del Toro and Vanessa Taylor.

WHAT’S THE MOVIE ABOUT

Set in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1962 (Cold War-era America), the story follows a mute cleaner, Elisa (played by Hawkins), at a high-security government laboratory who falls in love with a captured part-human, part-amphibian creature. Now, it is a race against time and American and Russian foes alike to save this beautiful creature from a brutal death. Does Elisa succeed? Watch the film to find out.

The Shape of Water - Movie review
The Shape of Water – Movie review

Rating: 4 out of 5.
Continue reading