Praveen Surapaneni

Worthy watch, with very good performances! Certainly deserves a better rating, 7/10, than what it presently has.

Chanced upon this South Korean drama series, while searching from another series on Hotstar Disney+, and watched it due to the intriguing title. Watched 2 episodes, and liked it very much, and 'am going to watch all the episodes. It is a new, June/2022, Series in Korean with English subtitles. It is very well made, with very high production values, and highly genuine, and realistic cardio-thoracic surgical scenes, which almost occupy half the time in both these episodes. As is won't with South Korean movies, and Series, the Direction is superb, the acting is marvelous, and the storytelling riveting, and captivating, though sometimes the story is predictable. I recommend it as a worthy watch! ...A genius surgeon who became a lawyer specializing in medical litigation after losing everything through a rigged operation, and a prosecutor in charge of medical crimes who lost her only family (younger brother) and lover due to that operation, work together to punish people who believe that wealth and power can rank above life, and comfort the victims of medical negligence... (Wikipedia).

Suzhal (The Vortex, 2022). Amazon Original. Short series (8 episodes, of about 40 minutes each). Genre: Crime/murder mystery, police procedural. Language: Tamil (Dubbed in other Indian languages).With English subtitles. My rating: Indian Standards = 10/10. International Standards = 10/10. Just do not miss watching this series! Both my wife and myself could not avoid binge watching all the 8 episodes in at a go! In my opinion it can qualify as the Indian answer to the highly critically and popularly loved Murder mystery cum police procedural, considered to be The Best in the genre, the series, True Detective! I hope like the True Detective, (Three seasons, three completely gripping stories, with three totally different set of cast members with top notch performances), they would continue this series with each season dealing with a different story! This series clearly shows how this format of 'Series', especially the Short Series variety, is umpteen times superior than Cinema, the 2 to 3 hour format! I personally have been convinced of this fact, for the past 5 years as I watched more of the series, and less and less of movies. Today a Movie/Cinema I consider is a snack, majority of the times ending up being junk food, whereas these Series are a full course, sumptuous meals, extremely satisfying, and intellectually elevating! Coming to this story, it is not new, no story ultimately can be. But it is the screenplay, the weaving of different stories together, the perfect utilisation of all the screenplay and storytelling/writing tropes like, Chekov's Gun, Red herrings, damp squibs to create a gripping narrative around a not so unpredictable story, making it not complicated, but riveting with simply and astonishingly surprising twists at the right intervals, making it qualify as a binge watch worthy narrative, is the greatness of these acclaimed writers, and transforming that conception in to a perfect form on to the screen, reflects the greatness of the directors. Ofcourse the acting has to be and is Top-notch, because most of the actors involved are highly renowned professionals, who have won multiple awards earlier! What I loved the most about the story is the unique and heartening way in which the various red herrings were planted, exactly as expected by the viewer, but yet the surprising way in which they are resolved, not disappointing the viewer by insulting their intelligence, but by tying up those ends perfectly, lending apt climaxes to those deceptive stories everytime! That is the feature of a masterpiece of storytelling and screenplay too! Ultimately it is a must watch short series, with an extremely important social message, presented in a near perfect manner!

Kayamai Kadakka ('crossing the depraved/immoral behaviour') 2022, Tamil Independent Movie. Available on Amazon prime videos. My rating: 9/10 (Indian standard). 7/10 (International standard). A simple, very realistic film, made exceptionally well involving a Multiple Personality Disorder character, a vigilante, and an online warrior being tested when confronting a real life injustice that is not at all different from what he usually reacts violently on Facebook about! The story writing is superb, screenplay highly engaging, the performances adequate and thankfully down to earth. The director needs a big bow for not adding useless melodrama, unbearable over (re)action, and totally unwarranted action (stunt) scenes, and totally avoiding the usually unnecessary songs disturbing the flow of the story! Personally I feel the debutant director, Kiran.R, qualifies with this movie, to get a mention among one of the most promising, young international directors who need to be meticulously followed for their future work, in the present times! Ofcourse the plot does have one or two plotholes, but they are minor lacunae that does not at all insult the intelligence of the audience! The background music (BGM) certainly warrants a special mention, I found it to be exceptional and very helpful in immersing the audience in the narrative!