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balakrishna-sastry
Reviews
Shrimad Ramayan (2024)
Good serial but portrayal of Lakshman is distorted
The things that are really nice
- Ram & Sita acting by Sujay Reu & Prachi Bansal are great!
- Hanuman acting is also very good
- more details shown than Ramanand Sagar Ramayan
Things I dislike: I'm not a fan of Urmila being made to sleep for 14 years. It makes far more sense that her being the only daughter-in-law present after Ram exile and before Bharat coming back would be there to serve Kaushalya, not just fall asleep.
Upon seeing the golden deer, per Valmiki Ramayan, it is Lakshmana who expresses doubt on the deer being a Rakshasa. This serial totally ignores it and makes Rama say all the dialogues. Why can't Lakshman be given some quality dialogues here??
In Kishkindha Kand of Valmiki Ramayan, it clearly states that Lakshman smilingly asks ("prahasan abraveet") Sugriv how his doubts about Ram's ability to kill Vali can be resolved. Shrimad Ramayan shows him angry at Sugriv for having doubts.
Similarly, a scene about the rain suddenly coming and Lakshman getting almost angry at the vanaras for being concerned about the monsoon makes no sense. Lakshman is not so brash.
After Sugriv apologizes for his lapse, Lakshman is happy per Valmiki Ramayan. This serial shows him as still angry! Again, this mischaracterizes Lakshman.
I have only seen thusfar based on youtube releases of the episode living in America.
I am all for artistic creativity but that creativity should not distort the nature of how Valmiki, Tulsidas, etc describe the characters.
Banaras (2006)
Nice and different
Does this movie have some typical bollywood masala scenes? Sure it does. Could certain dialogues of Baba-ji have been better phrased? Possibly. Ashmit Patel's acting is perhaps just OK.
Yet, here is a movie that touches us spiritually and makes us think about human behavior and how we can evolve spiritually. It gives us examples of narrow mindedness and repentance. It reminds us how we like to think we are so rational and yet, true peace of mind can not be obtained merely through intellectual gymnastics.
Urmila's acting is great in my opinion. Raj Babbar and Dimple Kapadia play their roles well too. The movie has got some nice, melodious songs. There are some nice views of Banaras.
The movie is only around 2 hours. How often does one see that in Hindi movies? Highly worth watching.
Faith Connections (2013)
Mixed feelings
The movie had very good cinematography. It did capture the spirit of Kumbh Mela in its own way. The interaction between a few of the kids and other adults was nicely done. That being said, I think there are a few distortions in this movie.
1 - Most sadhus DO NOT smoke ganja. Yes, some do, partly to help in bearing the cold, partly to help disassociate from the body, etc. But this movie makes it look as if sadhu = ganja and that is not the case.
2 - Too much focus on missing people and wailing spouses. Yes people have gone missing but imagine up to 100 million people are attending this program and there is no drunken brawl, major incidents of theft, chaos, etc. Yet this more "happy" side doesn't seem to be highlighted much at all.
3 - The movie sort of meanders for some time, somewhat aimlessly. So that too detracts to some extent.
Worth a watch 1 time but that's it.