We at The Other Banana believe that director Girish AD is doing something incredible with the genre of romantic comedy and coming of age. With the recent big hit Premalu, that awed audiences across south India, we decided to take a look at all his films that show steady progression in certain genre conventions as well as successful attempts at breaking them with memorable writing, characters, comedy and performances.

In this episode, Poorvaja S, journalist from The Hindu joins Aditya and Deepauk to talk about Girish and his three films so far - Thanneer Mathan Dinangal, Super Sharanya and Premalu.

There is a lot of giggling and laughter but also some observations into what makes Girish AD unique and how he has revitalized the genre in India. Listen on.

Participants:

Aditya

Deepauk

Poorvaja

Edited by Anantha.

In this episode we dive into the atomic elements of composition that we can observe in Raaja's music. How does he use sentence structures and motifs in his compositions? Can we really tell apart where Carnatic ends and Western touches begin in his music. Briefly we also cover one stark difference between MSV and Raaja.

Topics Covered:

What are sentences and how have they been used by Beethoven and Mozart?

How do sentence structures show up in Raaja's music?

What is a motif and why does it often form the kernel of the full composition?

How has Raaja used various motifs in his film songs?

Participants:

Mahesh

Deepauk

Bala Chidambaram

Musical References:

Subramanyena (Notes)

Kaatumalli

Sakkarakattikku

We couldn't ignore Malayalam cinema's great run in the first couple of months of 2024 so decided to talk about Lijo Jose Pellissery's Malaikottai Vaaliban which received a lukewarm to polarizing reception after huge expectations.

Right after the universally feted Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam, Malaikottai Vaaliban couldn't have been more different, a fantastical tale that eschews the diktats of narrative cinema and leaps from one genre to another with every scene. Starring Mohanlal, Katha Nandi, Sonalee Kulkarni, Hareesh Peradi, Danish Sait, Manoj Moses and others, there is a lot in the film to like and talk about.

Aditya is joined by his namesake writer Aditya Mani Jha and Mint Lounge's film critic Uday Bhatia, three people who immensely enjoyed the film to talk about what worked, the influences and whether a sequel can be expected or not. Listen on.

Participants:

Aditya

Uday Bhatia

Aditya Mani Jha

Edited by Anantha