Film Companion

Jul 24, 2024 | filmcompanion.in | Anupama Chopra

10 years ago, this month, without thinking through about what the entrepreneurial life actually entails, we launched Film Companion. The name came from a line by the American philosopher and film critic Stanley Cavell. He said: The writing about film that has meant most to me has the power of a missing companion. Our ambition was to be that missing companion, that friend you discuss movies, shows, trends and pet peeves with. You don’t have to agree but the conversation is robust and invigorating.

Jul 17, 2024 | filmcompanion.in | Vishal Menon

What if Vasanthabalan's Kaaviya Thalaivan (now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar) were to be remade today but just as an out-and-out love story between Tamil theatre veterans KB Sundarambal and SG Kittappa? "I would've probably been a millionaire if I had done this," the director tells us with a laugh. The Tamil film, which was released almost a decade back, follows the lives of two stage actors (Siddharth and Prithviraj) and the inherent competitiveness between them.

Jul 10, 2024 | filmcompanion.in | Vishal Menon

Deciding about when and how to shift between the different languages also got Roshan thinking about the politics in the usage of it. “There are a lot of questions I ruminated on like when does one shift to a language that the third person in the room doesn’t understand, why someone wants to keep a certain discussion private, when would someone use language to intimidate and more. All these questions came up when I was working on this film.

Jul 3, 2024 | filmcompanion.in | Vishal Menon

There are many similarities between the directing styles of Sudha Kongara and Dhanush, she recalls. "I still remember, during Soorarai Pottru (2020), I kept changing costumes until we got it right. And Suriya sir was like 'doesn't this girl get tired at all?'. Sudha ma'am and I were in such good sync and I would keep going back to change some small detail until it was right.

Jun 28, 2024 | filmcompanion.in | Vishal Menon

A confession scene set towards the last few minutes of Prasanna Vithanage’s ironically titled Paradise defines the ambiguity of its text. At once, you believe everyone is telling their truth even when the film has given you reasons to suspect otherwise. It ends with Ammu (an excellent Darshana Rajendran) asking her guide, a man named Andrews, if she was right in doing what she did a few days ago.