Sheikh Hameed

Good but not as dramatic and appealing as Apollo 13. James Horner emotive score and Tom Hanks histrionic talents overshadow Apollo 11.

Only three film personalities in the last 50 years have portrayed evil as a very powerful phenomenon stunningly well. While dead-on accurate, 2020-23 Asur's Director Oni Sen revived the debate on the age-old 'Problem of Evil [how to reconcile an omnipotent God with the presence of evil in the world] skillfully. The evil subgenre of horror has risen to unprecedented heights in the hands of Oni Sen, leaving not rusting piles of screws lathered in bloodbaths as seen in body horror like 'Evil Dead'. The 1973 Director William Friedkin's long-beloved masterpiece — assisted by William Peter Blatty's writing, and powerful performances by Max von Sydow as Father Merrin and Linda Blair as the demon-possessed Regan — remained unsurpassed all these years. People understood how evil can be so powerful to rip open the heart of a Church Father Merrin and throws out of a window Father Damien Karras. 1977 Telugu silver cine supremo NTR projected epic villain Duryodhana as 'Suyodhana' with a positive touch to the role showing audience Duryodhana as a well-educated person who knew dharma and other things much better than anyone. This path-breaking characterization of Duryodhana as a benevolent despot depicted evil in a new vein. In 'Asur', Director Oni Sen had gone further to tell why evil exists in the first place.

Very well scripted, scenes crafted skilfully to beat boredom, as most thrillers have become formula-cast [like the same people winning awards year after year], Ram Kumar's 'Ratsasan [Demon] Tamil blockbuster has the distinction of being truthfully reflecting common personality traits of serial killers. For the first time, this Tamil nail-biter could accurately visualize serial killing in a way that new navigational methods for police investigation work better instead of simply going from point to point. For example, revisiting an old clue can show new clues to bust serial killing. The opening scene sounds similar to the Gilgo Beach serial killings [1996 and 2011] in which the remains of up to eighteen people were found on Gilgo Beach, South Shore of Long Island, New York. 'Ratsasan Director movie slick editing and a taut screenplay correspond very well with the serial killing reality. Scientifically reasoned, Ram Kumar shows serial killers playing roles can shield predatory moves, but there still might be signals. Purposeful predatory serial killers like Gary Ridgway, John Wayne Gacy, Robert Hansen, Richard Cottingham, and Dennis Rader learned early to shield their darkest urges and acts. All had families and regular jobs. They developed deceptive façades of normalcy in order to live in their communities to master the ability to repeatedly kill while functioning as a normal person by developing through three distinct processes: fantasizing salacious scenarios, dissociating from unpleasant feelings, and developing a knack for chameleon-like adaptation. Ram Kumar has put them on celluloid convincingly very well.