Ever been utterly blindsided by a film's emotional depth? That's exactly the journey Eric & Phil embarked on with "Hi Nanna." This week's episode peels back the cinematic layers of this Telugu masterpiece, revealing how a seemingly simple plot can evolve into an intricate web of fate and relationships. We share our heartfelt reactions to the film's unexpected twists, and even admit to spoiling the entire story for a family member - it was just too compelling not to discuss!
Strap in for a conversation that delves into the film's ability to balance heart-wrenching moments with nuanced character development. We dissect standout performances that made us laugh, cry, and sit on the edge of our seats. The music, while not the star, helped set the emotional tone for a story that challenged our perceptions of what makes cinema truly remarkable. And, we didn't shy away from debating whether a second watch might just nudge our ratings to a perfect score.
Finally, we wrap up with an exploration of the powerful themes woven throughout "Hi Nanna." From the significance of a canine companion to the profound portrayal of postpartum depression, we highlight how the film tackles heavy topics with grace. Our exchange culminates in a call to action: Watch this film with someone you care about, and join the conversation about how interconnected stories can shape our understanding of destiny and humanity.
IMDb Synopsis: A single father begins to narrate the story of the missing mother to his child and nothing remains the same.
🔻You can find all important links for the podcast over at https://linktr.ee/waitforitpodcast (which includes our brand new Patreon site!)🔺
🔻BACKGROUND MUSIC PROVIDED BY: Ocean by KV https://soundcloud.com/kvmusicprod Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/2OCvpHU Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/a8ctDtA7OK8 — Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 🔺
Ever been utterly blindsided by a film's emotional depth? That's exactly the journey Eric & Phil embarked on with "Hi Nanna." This week's episode peels back the cinematic layers of this Telugu masterpiece, revealing how a seemingly simple plot can evolve into an intricate web of fate and relationships. We share our heartfelt reactions to the film's unexpected twists, and even admit to spoiling the entire story for a family member - it was just too compelling not to discuss!
Strap in for a conversation that delves into the film's ability to balance heart-wrenching moments with nuanced character development. We dissect standout performances that made us laugh, cry, and sit on the edge of our seats. The music, while not the star, helped set the emotional tone for a story that challenged our perceptions of what makes cinema truly remarkable. And, we didn't shy away from debating whether a second watch might just nudge our ratings to a perfect score.
Finally, we wrap up with an exploration of the powerful themes woven throughout "Hi Nanna." From the significance of a canine companion to the profound portrayal of postpartum depression, we highlight how the film tackles heavy topics with grace. Our exchange culminates in a call to action: Watch this film with someone you care about, and join the conversation about how interconnected stories can shape our understanding of destiny and humanity.
IMDb Synopsis: A single father begins to narrate the story of the missing mother to his child and nothing remains the same.
🔻You can find all important links for the podcast over at https://linktr.ee/waitforitpodcast (which includes our brand new Patreon site!)🔺
🔻BACKGROUND MUSIC PROVIDED BY: Ocean by KV https://soundcloud.com/kvmusicprod Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/2OCvpHU Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/a8ctDtA7OK8 — Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 🔺
Welcome to your go-to source for entertainment. Wait for it.
Speaker 2:Gaming. Wait for it. Anime Plus Ultra.
Speaker 1:Mr Eric Almighty and Phil the Filipino.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they've got you covered and all you gotta do is Wait for it. Hey, everyone, welcome back to the Wait for it podcast. I am your co-host, phil Smith, aka Phil the Filipino, and joining me, as always, is your other co-host, mr Eric Almighty. And Eric, we're here the second week of the month and we are with our international feature series, and last week we did a show for late to the party, our movie, I should say, you know, romcom very grounded in reality, right. One of the things that we really enjoyed about that film is the mundane and the boring. We want, completely opposite, complete 180, for this month's international feature.
Speaker 2:This is a series that Eric has predominantly set up for us, as he has been the one to take leaps and take chances and find some films that obviously are out of our normal realm of comfortability. And, you know, throw them out there and they've, they've uh. For the most part, then, it's been a very successful series. We've enjoyed plenty of films. Well, this year has been off to a little bit of a different start, as I have been the one to kind of take that leap and say, hey, what's out there, what can I find?
Speaker 2:And one of the things was Eric could never really find that like romantic comedy or light, more lighthearted I mean, this isn't necessarily the most lighthearted thing, because there's a lot that goes on, as we'll talk about here in a moment but he never was really able to find that. It was all movies that just made me really sad. And this movie makes you sad for a different reason. As we are going to break down here in just a moment, eric, I cannot tell you. I've been looking for somebody to speak to about this movie and when I said, when you said, all right, let's commit to it, let's watch it, I was a little, I was a little nervous. I was like, all right, this is like the first time I've ever recommended this type of film to you, so you're fresh off of your experience, it is fresh on your mind and, man, I cannot wait to talk about hi Nana.
Speaker 1:You know I usually start off talking about how excited I am to talk about a film, and it's not that I wasn't excited before. But, man, this might be. You know, we say it like it feels like every time we get to a memory, a memories of murder, banshees, of Innochieran, rrr, right Like this, is it? This is why we wanted to do this series, because it's just not on the radar. I didn't hear about this movie at all, phil. This is a movie I don't ever hear anyone talk about and it came out last year. So I was bummed when the credits rolled that I had not seen this film.
Speaker 1:As a spoiler alert I absolutely am. I'm enthralled with this movie and I'm so excited to jump into it. But we made this series film not just for us but for other people to jump into international films and for that reason, this episode you can expect to stay spoiler free till a certain point, because this movie goes balls to the walls in the last hour with twist and turns and by the end I was openly weeping. I honestly was just crying a lot. So I'm excited to jump into why that was. But we'll keep things pretty clean for the first half and if you stop listening now. Please go watch High Nana.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is insane, just the world that RRR has opened us up to, because you just mentioned it. And you know, a couple of years ago, if you, I didn't even know what Tolugu was, I didn't know that it was its own language, I didn't know that it had its own subset of film within Bollywood. Like it, polly Bollywood Toliwood didn't even know that these things existed, and who knows what other gems you know we are going to find this year. But, eric, let's jump right into this thing because we have so much to discuss and, as always, we will start with a IMDb synopsis, and this film is available on Netflix. It is two and a half hours long, so it is a longer film.
Speaker 2:A single father begins to narrate the story of the missing mother to his child and nothing remains the same, and this is a film that is mostly in subtitles, but there is some English in the film as well, so there are moments sprinkled in that are a little bit easier to follow, because there is a very dialogue heavy movie. There's a lot going on, eric. I'm going to hand it over to you first because, again, you are fresh off this. Emotions are running high. Eric never texts me unless something really like just mind blowing happens while he's watching a film. And I just kept getting text after text after text and again, I have never been more validated in my feelings about a piece of artwork than I have been after today. So, eric, again you're fresh off your experience. I'll just let you kind of kick it off wherever you want with high Nana.
Speaker 1:So I don't want to say that this movie does a 180 because it's not that drastic, but you know that first hour it's setting the stage and, phil, for the story I was trying to tell and for the movie I thought it was, I thought we were kind of playing by the numbers a little bit, like it was good but nothing. Revolutionaries made me not the word, but nothing out to out there. And then the first twist happens which I did not see coming, did not see it coming and I just thought it was so clever. That's really. This movie has a charm about the way that they do these things and they're over the top like reveals, but they feel natural within the storytelling medium that's being told and I just loved that aspect of it.
Speaker 1:It should also be mentioned that, phil, I learned very early on and as the movie continued, I loved all the characters in this movie. Like there was never. I hated the characters I was supposed to hate, love the characters I was supposed to love. It just really started to flow nicely and at the end of the day this is a story about a father, his daughter and you know this mystery around the mother, like all that. All those elements combined absolutely worked for me and by the end again cannot express wiping away tears literally, this ugly cry the entire way, but in a good way, like I was. It was a good cry, like I needed it in my soul, type of cry.
Speaker 2:And let me tell you something, eric I almost I stopped the movie after the first song because I didn't know if I was going to enjoy this. So I literally had backed out and I was like you know what, no, I'm going to commit to this. I saw the trailer. I was like I'm going to watch it. And you know what, if I think it's something that Eric won't enjoy, then you know, so be it.
Speaker 2:I still will have broaden my horizons by watching a film that, again, is out of my comfort zone, and I'm so glad that I did because, like you said, the twist and turns that this story takes and the charming nature of all the characters Obviously any character or any movie that has a father daughter dynamic I'm going to have a soft spot for just because I have that relationship with with my daughter. So that's already going to be like an easy end for me. You know it's something that I easily relate to. But, again, as it's going to be difficult to navigate this, because I don't want to say all of the story is again the twist and turns, but, like, when that does happen, when we do make that shift in gear to the reveal, that's when everything really starts to take off Because, again, like you said, it does take its time and setting everything up, it's a very, very long film and I think that is something that we are just learning with these Toluca films is, you know, they're not.
Speaker 2:They don't care about runtime, we got a story to tell, we're not, deleted scenes are not a thing.
Speaker 2:It seems like here, with these types of films and I think what I'm finding, eric, is like we were big wrestling fans and a lot of people compare wrestling to a, to a male soap opera Toluca films are seem just like epic soap operas.
Speaker 2:Is what we have come to find with these films that we have watched now, but who believe obviously, another one that we watched a couple of years ago or last year, whichever it was. And that's how I'm now going to approach these, because, again, I in the beginning thought that I was not really going to enjoy this, just because there was a little bit of strange pacing all over the place. You know, there's the very long intro where they're just kind of introducing the, the daughter and the father relationship, and then it cuts into the song where he's singing about, you know, this woman and I was like, oh man, I don't. I don't know if this is going to be for me, but again, glad that I decided to stick to it. And here we are now talking about an experience that is going to sit with us for ever, probably, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the thing about it too is the performances are great, but so are, like, a lot of things with these movies are like the lighting, the directing, not only the twists and the turns, but again, all of those film elements like the performances are great. I want to definitely talk about our main two lead characters. We could talk about all of them and you could argue main three characters will probably highlight here in the spoiler-free section. But the movie is just beautifully done. It's just expert. It's an expertly crafted movie. And, phil, I'll tell you this, this movie got me at the halfway point. I'm glad you stuck with it, because I literally paused my television.
Speaker 1:I went downstairs. You know how. You had that urge to go get popcorn. I wanted, I wanted movie theater popcorn and I didn't have the time to go get it. So I got some candy, I got a drink and I came up here like I was in the theaters. I would have given anything to see this movie in theaters. And as a kind of spoiler ish to what my rating will be for this movie, it's going to be pretty high because this is an experience movie. You know, if I want to bring a friend along, it's going to be a high rating. So that's where I'm at with high Nana. I didn't see it coming. Cannot believe I missed this gem in 2023, but the filmmaking was great, the performances were great, everything about it just fantastic.
Speaker 2:I think that's a good point because again, now that you can watch this film at home, it is a film that I think would very much let itself to a group watch and put an intermission in there. So, whenever, when you find out, like, what the twist is, let everybody take a break. Process what's happening, because again you have no idea what is what is coming down the pipeline. Because when it happens, it's like, oh well, that's it, we're done with surprises. No, that's not the case whatsoever. And they even throw like they throw in multiple at the end, where it's just like what is happening.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, by the end, I by the end. The cries were like an overwhelming cry, like you know, when you've been overstimulated. That's the type of cry I had my body had to like let it out somewhere.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so this is again. You're just going to continue to open doors for us. I think, and finding you know, obviously with RR and who believe, very action heavy and this was not. This was focused on the story, focused on the emotions, focused, focused on the relationships, and, man, I told you this before we got started, like I was so desperate to talk to somebody about it that I can explain the entire plot to my sister afterwards. It took like 30 minutes and I kept forgetting shit because there's really, really upset with you about that.
Speaker 2:Well, because I told. I asked her. I was like listen, are you ever going to watch this movie? And she said probably not. So I was. I just had to talk about your fault.
Speaker 1:So never watch it.
Speaker 2:I know, I know, I know.
Speaker 1:I was told me to watch it that day because, I'll tell you this, I was genuinely concerned. Why you wanted me to watch it? Because when I asked you if it was good, your text response was well, I just need to see if you're going to react the same way I do. Like, because it's a wild ride, dude.
Speaker 2:I don't know.
Speaker 1:But you didn't like. You know how I told you are was fantastic. If by the dance scene, if you don't like it, you're not going to enjoy the movie. By the middle of this movie, by the twist, if you're not in, it's not for you and again you're not going to be in, and that's an hour and like 15 minutes of your time, so yeah, it's a, it's an ask.
Speaker 2:You know I totally get it Like we have kind of kicked off these last few months by watching really long films. And you know what, if something can, you know, hold your attention for that long, then more power to it. So I hope that people come away from us just gushing about it to to head to Netflix and again put in the time, even if you want to break it up between a couple of nights. I know sometimes people do that. I don't know how people start a movie and don't finish it. That's not me, that's not the thing that I can do. But you know, watch it with some other people and just enjoy some of the silliness, like some of the.
Speaker 2:Obviously the music is just part of this culture and you know we'll talk about that. As far as varying levels of success, I would aim and should just see how, how you felt about some of the music, but again, it is a fantastic ride in the air, like you said. You know, highlighting some of these performances are three leads, I think I think it is fair to say that there are three leads in this film and they are all excellent. The chemistry, you would think that they're a real family and they are obviously the heart and soul of the film, goes without saying. If even part of the chemistry is off with any of them in this triangle, it doesn't work, and that's why it's able to keep you invested and wanting more pretty much right out of the gate, as soon as the third character is introduced and you meet them right then and there, like I think, most people should be hooked.
Speaker 1:No, I agree and I definitely want to shout them out. Gonna definitely mispronounce some names here, especially one in particular, but the lead actor, nani, who I had never heard of before seen and this goes for all three of them starts with an M. I feel like it's silent, so it's like Bruno or Bruno the core. She was fantastic. She's an absolute gem and absolute star, stunning, absolutely in love with her. And Kiara Khanna, who plays the daughter I thought did a great job, like a wholesome daughter performance. She was really sweet. She was that cute, like oh my God type of daughter like that you see in your typical movies. But all three of them bring something special to this.
Speaker 1:Again, by the end, I'm weeping, so I can't wait to talk about that and I feel, phil, you know, before we get into that, for those of us that are sticking around just for a spoiler, free conversation let's talk a little bit about not only how this movie was received, but if we were to go back in 2023, I don't know if you've thought about this, I'm assuming you ranked it oh, where would high Nana have fallen? I think you're going to be shocked at my answer. So I'd love to know the reception and then our ratings before we shut the spoilers.
Speaker 2:I didn't even think about as far as, like last year, I didn't even consider that.
Speaker 1:Oh, my God, I added it to my list for last year, the dude was done. Watch exactly where it would fall. And I'm going to be honest with you, I have a hot take if I watch it a second time, where where it might end up.
Speaker 2:So yeah, Well, as far as how critics have received this, there are not a whole lot of reviews. Now, this is at a seven critics reviews, but it's at a hundred percent. So, listen, I assume that these seven critics are people that specialize in this type of film. Okay, that's, I haven't gone in and looked. All I know is that it says a hundred percent on Rotten Tomatoes and a 95% audience score with 100 plus reviews. And then, as far as the letter box score, the letter box average is a 3.5. So, you know, take that for what it's worth. You know, there'll probably be some people on there that maybe don't watch this type of film, or also people that are very familiar with this type of work. So, you know, just leave that there for again what it's worth. Man, I'm looking at my list here, eric. I guess should we go over what we gave it as far as grade first before.
Speaker 1:I would love to know what you graded it. I think I went higher than you.
Speaker 2:I think you did as well. I think you did as well. I gave it a four and that is because I wasn't as in. This is probably not fair, but I was not as hooked to the music as I was for an RRR, and if you're going to have these big dance sequences and you know it's obviously part of this type of film then I want to go back and I want to hear music that I want to listen to over and over again. And I'll be honest with you, I haven't really gone back and listened to the music from High Nonna, and whether that's fair or not, maybe, maybe or maybe not, but if I get, I feel like the music is a focus, I feel like that is intentional to progress parts of the story and to also tell portions of the character's feelings. Obviously, the one in the beginning is probably the most important one. So I gave it a four, but I think it probably would have gone higher if I was again that's you waited with the music, like I was with RRR.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I actually agree with you. I think you just graded harsher, which makes sense. It's kind of the difference in our scales. I'm a little more generous. You're a little harsher in some places.
Speaker 1:I gave it a four and a half and I didn't just give it a four and a half. You know what that means if you remember the end of the year awards that jumped to number three of movies in 2023. And I'm going to be honest with you, phil, I wanted to give it a five. I wanted to give it a five. So bad, but the music is just OK.
Speaker 1:There are two songs specifically that I really like that will be on the playlist that we have on Spotify each week, updated on Mondays. It's so crazy. It's S received. Well, it is great. It's her name. Yes, you know, the music is just fine. You know you mentioned some of the pacing at the beginning. I'm curious how I'd feel about that, knowing what I know now. Sure, and the build up for sure. So I definitely got to firm that up with a second rewatch. I already told my wife we're watching it. This is a four and a half because it's not just a movie that I would bring a friend with. I think I'm going to be obsessively annoying to recommend it, and four and a half are up or where that movie fits the bill, so that's where it sits for me.
Speaker 2:And that could change for me, like it does with you, if I watch it again, which I plan on watching it again, that could change to.
Speaker 1:I don't see it going. I don't see it going down.
Speaker 2:I think it's at least a four point two five. Again at Letterbox it's never going to happen, but we can keep complaining. So, yeah, I think I could easily give it a four point two five. But yeah, with the music being with me, not coming away having those songs stuck in my head the way that I did with RRR, which, again, is my only point of reference when it comes to films like this then that's why it is where it is. It is currently time for go ahead.
Speaker 1:The dance number song is just OK. Like they do have one big dance number, I can accept it, because that's like I wasn't the big fan of that one.
Speaker 2:I wasn't the fan of that one. That was the one of the beach, that much.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I didn't like it that much they had, like some, I guess, really famous singer or celebrity there.
Speaker 2:I figured that's who that was.
Speaker 1:I was like this person you pull up in IMDB. She's like the first person that pulls up on the cast, which makes no sense.
Speaker 2:Oh OK.
Speaker 1:So, but she must be really popular. Yeah so. I must be really popular, but I will just say that that's definitely something that that I wanted to call out. Yeah.
Speaker 2:So that's where we land as far as our scores. I hear anything else you want to mention before we get to the spoiler portion, because again, we're going to be talking pretty heavily about that, the twists and the turns of this film, very openly, because I have to talk to somebody about it. We're not driving to a cala together, so we have to talk about it right now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, bring a friend is all I can tell you. Bring a friend, a loved one, whoever you got to bring Phil was just talking about it. I was so excited, I was giddy for this episode to talk about it. I just saw it earlier today. I wanted it to be fresh on my mind for this episode. I knew Phil had watched it a few weeks ago. If I wish I had watched it a few weeks ago, because so I could have seen it a second time and, to be honest, I probably would have watched it a second time had I seen it when you saw it.
Speaker 1:So that's my glowing review of it, phil. This movie would have ended up in both of our top 10s I just said it was in my top five if we had redone it today. So cannot express how much you should watch this movie and I really, really implore you If you have not seen the movie, please go watch it and do not move forward, because now we are going to jump into spoilers full on spoilers. It's going to be a little lengthy because we are going to talk about the rest of this movie after that midway point in quite a bit of length. So this has been your warning. Maybe Phil will put a graphic on the screen. Yeah, but you've been warned.
Speaker 2:Go watch, please.
Speaker 1:Please, audio audio listeners. You've been warned Go watch the movie Visually. We're going to try to help you out. You heard me right? Yes?
Speaker 2:please go watch it before listening to this portion, because yeah, so just to jump right to it, I kept wondering because, again, I watched the trailer before and that's when I had message you. I was like, hey, I think I found something that might fit February as far as our themes go, and I kept wondering how is this woman going to fit in? First off, I love the idea that when he tells her stories, he, she, has to imagine people from her real life. Absolutely love that. It's a really smart storytelling.
Speaker 1:It's so smart. It's so smart, my dumb ass. Because when he's looking at the picture after they've after they've gone their separate ways from the story, when he's looking at the picture, I'm like, well, that's weird, they didn't really fix that. Why is it still her? And I? Literally, I kind of tuned down for a second. I had to rewind, like wait a minute, did I?
Speaker 2:miss something. Yeah, so super smart storytelling mechanic there. And again you saw you. You know you were fast forwarding. So I am, you know the song happens and I'm like, ok, I'm going to commit to this. And then you get to it, and then they, you know, tells the whole story. And obviously the story is getting, you know, sadder and sadder as it goes and you can just tell that something is not like off about how he says the story is ended Like she just bailed, like she just left. That doesn't make any sense, Like for the sake of her career or or whatever. And then you know he tells her that there was an accident and and that strongly implies she's dead.
Speaker 2:Yes, exactly. And you kind of buy into it Mm, hmm, yeah, because why would he want to end the story like that with her? She's already upset and I remember what it was.
Speaker 1:They showed. When they do that, they show like a scar after he had seen the picture. He showed the picture and I was like why did they do that? I saw the scar and I was like no, she's not. Yeah, no she's not alive.
Speaker 2:And the moment that really really hit me was the dog. So when the when the dog, when, like he tells the dog, why did you do this? First off and this is very prevalent in a lot of the reviews on Letterbox is that this dog? I can't remember the dog's name right now because I again, it's been a few weeks.
Speaker 1:It's a start to the P. I was just watching a blue dog, pluto.
Speaker 2:No, this dog has this whole, a whole arc. This dog has an entire side quest to itself and it is fantastic. You grow with the dog. You love the, learn to love the, learn to love the dog, the dog's fantastic Dogs tied into the daughter's name.
Speaker 2:You're worried about the dog, so good. So when he is, when the dog, you know, has led them back to her, and I'm like, oh shit, this is like that, we kick into gear right away. You know, obviously she doesn't stay away and I'm like, oh my God, this is all going to blow up in his face. There's no, there's absolutely no way he's going to be able to hold this together. And again, for some of the other themes, we'll get back to, on the beach, one of the moments where the dad is talking to I can't, we're getting ahead, I can't skip this far ahead. But we'll take take back to that moment. You already talked about it a little bit, but again the reveal that she is the mother and you know they found each other again.
Speaker 1:I think the best way to do this is to just reenact the text messages, and I feel like that's because I was all caps for the rest of the movie. My exact words hey yo, what the fuck is this twist? I'm halfway through high Nana. And then I said I said I literally was like, yeah, this movie is two and a half hours. And now I understand. And then, minutes later, oh, my fucking God, that's why the dog was running, or you fucking kidding me this. I said fuck a lot because I was so pissed the that I'm absolutely crazy. I was right there with you. I was like the damn dog, you got me kidding me. So I was, I was floored. But, phil, I want us to kind of pause here before we get to the rest of the stuff, because you know we didn't really talk about the daughter's illness in the spoiler free section the part of the movie.
Speaker 2:What did she call it? What was her adorable name for it?
Speaker 1:Sixty five roses, sixty five roses, you know and and I think, and I'm going to, I'm going to look up what the actual like illness was.
Speaker 2:Just a five roses.
Speaker 1:There we go Sixty five roses, so that was what it was.
Speaker 1:They reveal that that was adorable.
Speaker 1:But it was also kind of sad because, like, they did focus on it a lot at the beginning of the movie and it played such a major part by the end which we'll get to and you know, as a, as a parent, not getting too much into it. But not only that, but then the post-martem depression, post-partum depression that you know she feels as a mother after everything they went through, like, without getting too deep into it, like I personally related to a lot of that, like I personally related to that experience of being in the hospital and going through all that stuff. So for me, as a parent already already in shambles, so it was really, really tough and I just think the way they handled it was so nice. You know I want to come back to this point, but they really focus on love isn't real and finding that love and it's almost a film of second chances. It is a film about second chances. I love how, from that moment, everything just unfolds till we get to the end game, and I think it was done perfectly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was, like you said, kind of going through that process and their courtship and, you know, learning more about them. And let's not beat around the bush here, because you can kind of make the argument and some people were making the argument and some of the reviews. As far as Vourage, you know what's the word that I'm looking for. Kind of manipulating is a little bit too harsh of a word here, but like it's not what she wanted. And look where they are now.
Speaker 2:They don't stray away from those themes, they don't stray away from the difficult conversation and you know, maybe that's just a form of storytelling. Again, that's just very, very prevalent within these Tolugu films and I appreciate them for that. So there are, you know, just elements of a, the not most healthy relationship. Right, they say things to each other that are just awful, you know, that are simply terrible, and then they lead to other things that, if you know, maybe a didn't happen, then be never happens. You know what I mean. So I appreciate them for really leaning into those themes and not shying away from it whatsoever. But it could, because it just kind of it makes for more compelling and and heavy storytelling, which is not something that I had expected to feel when I when I watched what I thought was going to be a light hearted romcom and not being that whatsoever.
Speaker 1:No, I was like what is happening here, dude? I was like no, and again, no clue where the second half was going. And even when I thought I knew I didn't, I did not know no not at all.
Speaker 2:So you think that you're just following a man, his daughter and their, their grandfather through. You know her illness and you see him. You know, in this montage in the beginning I think that is one of the things that, like I said kind of early on, that, I guess, was as far as pacing, I was like this is a long month.
Speaker 2:It went on for a long time, like setting up this relationship and the life that he lives and staying up and talking with doctors and everything. And again, now that you are able to, now that I'm able to look at it fully as a complete story, I'm like OK, I understand this now because I don't think any of that. Anything that happens later doesn't mean as much if they don't set that up in the beginning and take their time doing so. And you know what. Shame on me for wanting to rush through it and kudos to them for pulling it off.
Speaker 1:Yeah, 100%. And you know the mom being like the villain of the movie was ideal. You had to have someone to hate. I hated her man, I hated her so much yeah she sucked, oh God sucked a lot, but this movie just did such a great job.
Speaker 1:Again they end up she just can't stay away and even though you kind of get slightly introduced to the fiance to be, you know, husband, to be her fiance, handsome man, handsome man, that's a man. But she just leaves, she just like leaves and goes there and in a way falls in love with him again, like organ. It felt organic, you know, knowing that she lost her memories and she doesn't remember anything, but she has just that natural love, like that feeling of we're meant to be together. And you know, I'm a huge fan of the movie, your Name and you already know how I feel like it's those strong ties of love for me. I'm such a sap for them.
Speaker 1:I, just I'm such I'm such a sap for them. I cry and I feel emotionally tied to it because it's just like pure love and I just did not see that in this film. Within the first hour, like I was like, oh, this is cute, like they have really good chemistry. I bet he'll have chemistry with her in the second half because she's very similar and she's taking the place of the mother. But then when you learn that the same person it just like takes this foundation and builds on it where at the halfway point I thought we were kind of starting over with this new woman and I'm like oh yeah, totally yeah, they, they really do fit in.
Speaker 2:She's kind of like three characters in one film. She's the stranger, she is the woman she used to be, and then she is the you know, the woman that has found their way, her way back to them. And that's the moment, eric, that you know. There are plenty of moments that, really, that really hit me hard, but the one where the dad, as we is revealed later that that is her dad. And I was like are you?
Speaker 1:another, another text to you. It was one of those moments where I was like why is he here? I was like that's weird.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was like how do you get?
Speaker 1:and I also thought I was thinking too. I was like how do you get here so fast? How do you know where she was? The daughter had called her dad.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:Earlier on, which makes sense. So when he shows up, I was literally immediately grabbed you. I was like the fucking dad was with them the whole time, Are you serious? This movie just continued to throw curveballs, and that wasn't even it. We're going to. That wasn't even the last one. That's the biggest one, because there's so much to hide behind it and that's when it broke, because the dad's monologue and maybe that's what got me a little too ahead.
Speaker 2:That's what got me when he said if they find, if they find their way back to each other, how are we, who are we to keep them apart? I was like that's right.
Speaker 2:You tell her. You tell her that I'm glad you divorced her. She sucked, man God. She was so awful. But, yeah, for him to stick around for a character I loved already, who was already like one of my favorites, for him to stick around through that and you know, I don't want to say choose his side Obviously he's still in her life in some ways not the way that she wants him to be but for him to stay by his side because he knew he was a good man and also because he loved his granddaughter and she knew that her mother, that his ex-wife, had lied. You know, I think to have that kind of character just has an incredible moral compass amongst a bunch of other characters that have incredible moral compasses was like insane. I couldn't believe that.
Speaker 1:When they revealed that she lied about the divorce, I was like you fucking bitch dude I was so angry, I was so mad.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So, man, you know, because obviously, the way that our are told, you learn different things in each section of the story, and I think that's just one of my if this is a constant throughout these types of films, we have to watch more. We gotta keep watching these. I can't. I can't understand how, like, we have been deprived of this type of storytelling that is just so crazy at moments that I'm like I got to watch more of these. I can't.
Speaker 1:I thought it was a style over substance thing. And it's not, it just isn't. And you know, especially you know we can't speak to all Bollywood. You know Telugu is a little different.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we watch three.
Speaker 1:We want to be sensitive to that as experts. No, no, no. We also don't want to just tie it to just traditional Bollywood, because we do understand there is a difference. But, like for these type of films like I've just, I didn't know they were capable of this. To be honest, like I thought there was kind of a ceiling and Phil, like, again, I, I'm enthralled with this movie. I absolutely adore this movie. I'm going to talk about this. I'm not just slated people for so long, and RR is one of my favorite films I've ever watched, you know. So, like, the bar is so high already. I know we'll find some disappointing ones, but these are two recent examples and I do think we need to start taking that, that medium, seriously. Phil, you talked about this several times. We're seeing more theatrical releases of Telugu films in theaters and you and me have kind of looked at each other like should we go see this?
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's like a there's basically a Telugu John Wick series going on right now that I'm like we should maybe watch this.
Speaker 1:Check it out, Check it out. But yeah, we, you know we're kind of towards the end of of the story and everything, Everything gets revealed. The reveal to the daughter heartbreaking. We get that badass moment where he turns the chair around and he's like I can ruin your fucking life, yeah that was fantastic.
Speaker 2:Flipped the table.
Speaker 1:Oh, I was like, let's go.
Speaker 2:The guy even like in. And here is where I really appreciated this, this fiance, because none of his feelings were out of line Like he. I could understand why he even stopped the ass kicking Right. He even stepped in and made sure that that stopped and he stopped him. You know other people from intervening when he walked one up to the mother, you know, and all of those things I think make for whenever a quote unquote villain, because that's obviously who he's supposed to be, because he's standing in the way of the two people that are supposed to be together, whenever they are more complex than I don't like you because you're trying to steal my woman. You know I love that trope, I don't care how often it is done. Whenever you have layered characters that are that you assume is just going to be a bad person or a villain, I don't care. Sign me up for it every single time because you layered characters for the win. Give it to me for the win.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that ending as we kind of get to that part, man Phil, I was breathless.
Speaker 2:I was texting dying.
Speaker 1:I was like all right.
Speaker 1:You know they're going to get back together.
Speaker 1:And it's not just that they saved her Right, and I think I don't know if you looked at it in this way, but it was like really obvious. You know, to me the only way she's able to be saved is because the man that she's about to marry, who she leaves at the altar, is a doctor, and all of his fucking doctor friends and family are there, and the issue is just kick the shit out of her dad, but just kick the shit out of her dad. And literally the only reason this happens, this, this surgery that has literally less than a percent chance of this child surviving, is because of everything that's happened the mother getting in the act of the mother getting into the accident, the father choosing to keep the daughter away, them reconnecting, basically by chance when they did, and everything that led up to the wedding day, for that for all those people to be in that place. Overwhelming, all of those thoughts came crashing. I was like there's no way all of the dots were connected to now Because he was a doctor.
Speaker 2:What after the accident? And yeah, it's, it was all done so well.
Speaker 1:So when they're all just one by one showing up, I just started crying, Dude. I was already holding back tears during the dad's Beach and then they just kept adding little wrinkles, them connecting, then the doctor showing up, then the daughter gets saved and they're showing her singing.
Speaker 2:At the end yeah, and she's in the beginning of the movie singing. I believe that's her right singing. I did not catch that yeah.
Speaker 1:That's the case, yeah. I'm pretty sure that's her singing.
Speaker 2:I can't wait to watch this movie again.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the fiance had just had that moment where he's like go.
Speaker 2:Like she can't love me if she still loves him Everybody in this movie seems to be an adult, except for the mother. I don't understand. Except for the mother, everyone has grown up and is in his mature, except for her. She is the main characters, brother, the main characters.
Speaker 1:The other main character, sister sister.
Speaker 1:Their minimal roles. Like Phil, I loved every character that was introduced here and how they played to be part of this story. So, yeah, that's what did it at the end. For me was just everything tying into a neat bow, almost like a form of destiny that had all of these heartbreaking, tragic, painful things not happened, they wouldn't have been able to save their daughter is basically the moral of that story to me in a nutshell, and again as a parent and with what I mentioned earlier absolute tears, absolute, just waterfall from my face.
Speaker 2:There is a film, I believe, that won the Academy Award for Best Picture back in the early 2000. It's called Crash and it's pretty heavily criticized because it's not really that good of a movie and it won Best Picture. I don't know if you ever seen Crash, eric. Have you seen it?
Speaker 1:I know for a fact that we own the DVD at one point, and I have seen it. Do I remember it? I do not.
Speaker 2:Right. So it's one of those movies where everything comes together and it's revealed that all this racist cop is saving the Black Lady and it's like supposed to be this big reveal, like, oh, we're all connected and it's. It's a shit film. I don't know why it won Best Picture this. This is the example of a film that really is tying everything together and pulling it off so masterfully. And, yeah, I'm just so glad that I that I stumbled across it again. I can't even remember how it happened. I think I probably saw, like I was scrolling through Netflix and probably saw, you know, just like the image of it, and I and I googled it, because we know we're always looking for new films to watch and, you know, took a chance. So I am just happy that I have now repaid you for RR, because you did bring that into my life, so I have now introduced this to you. I will.
Speaker 1:I never expected you to bring up a film that I would openly weep to so yeah, yeah, we are.
Speaker 1:I'll say it's close enough that we're even which is crazy on first watch. I'm telling you, phil, I may just say fuck it and give it a five. Just because I can't give it a whole point, I'm five. I'm telling you, this movie at its peak is probably a four point seven five. I don't think it'll ever realistically get to five, but just a spite letter box. I might do it after like three or four of viewings and I will probably see this movie at least three to four times. I'm definitely.
Speaker 2:I would love to have. I would love to have movie nights with friends and again, this is going to be a movie where you watch for people's reactions as well. And then this is. I mean, obviously this is one that's gonna present itself in the beginning as a pretty I don't want to say cookie cutter, but like, yeah, by the numbers. I think that's what you said earlier was it was running by the numbers until you, and then you get to that moment where everything changes.
Speaker 1:So yeah, and it's not a perfect film. Like you know, we did talk about a couple things, one thing I almost completely forgot to mention I don't know if you had this issue Again, I've only seen it once, so maybe it was my setup but, like when the music played, the music was like a little too loud and it didn't come on the beach, for sure, was way too loud right.
Speaker 1:It just didn't. It didn't feel like it fit within the film. It felt like it was blaring right. So a lot of the songs like a music video.
Speaker 2:It didn't feel like it was. It felt like a music video that was inserted. So I'd be curious to see if maybe that's a music video that they literally put into the movie, probably for that, for that star.
Speaker 1:I think that's a traditional thing yeah to do so a lot, of a lot of these films have at least one dance number for that reason. So yeah, no, I'm just again a throw away. Nitpick it was. It didn't take me out of the film completely, but I did notice it and again just absolutely love this movie. I'm watching it right now I kind of want to watch it yeah instead of getting on the play this is one thing.
Speaker 2:I guess this is kind of as one of the funny things remember in the beginning, when they first meet and the guy is like I'm so, he's like apologizing for his friend, and then he's like the main character is like I love you, he's like, he's shown my, his true colors.
Speaker 1:I'm so sorry.
Speaker 2:I'm so sorry. It's right it walks off with the dog. Yeah, so good. There's a lot of funny moments in this too.
Speaker 1:You'd argue it's a romcom If it wasn't so tear jerkingly and painful to watch.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a romcom, it's a drama. I mean, listen, remember you said RRR has every single genre of film.
Speaker 1:This is this has multiple, multiple genres of film, I'd say everything under the romance umbrella, they did it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's why I think that you know now I will view these movies through the lens of a soap opera. Just a really big, extravagant soap opera is how I'm going to go into these and I'll be a better person for it.
Speaker 1:So yeah, yeah, I think I think we've pretty much talked about everything we can from this movie. Again, this, from what I'm seeing, is also the directorial debut of somebody you know, obviously in the telegoom market. So I'm gonna I'm gonna keep an eye on this as well, because maybe there's something here, so something to keep an eye on the actors, the actresses, the director, but just the medium in general. Guys, if you've made it to the end of this episode, go watch the movie but also give some telegoom films a chance, like especially more recently. Like I mentioned, I think they are starting to make a mark and, yes, I only have like two huge examples of it, but that's more than enough for me. I've seen enough movies in other genres, other mediums, where I've seen enough. You know Phil's that way right now with Studio Ghibli, where he's like I don't know if this is for me, but that doesn't mean through.
Speaker 2:I mean at least, like I'm appealing myself to this market, even though I'm like totally, I have totally, like you know, just alienated the Studio Ghibli market. So I'll take it. It's fine, I'll take the telegoom market.
Speaker 1:But we'll come back. We'll come back to it at some point. We'll find something for Phil Sure, I'm confident we're going to find at least one. It'd be a damn shame if we watch, Like I do think, after about five collection. I think if we got to five you would stop. So I do have to be very careful.
Speaker 2:I think if I get to three I'll stop. So we'll see If the next one I don't, if I don't enjoy the next one which I'm not going to tell anybody about, by the way, we're not going to do an episode on it we don't enjoy the film. I don't enjoy the film. We're gonna, we're gonna, get it. I can't, we're gonna not get in advance.
Speaker 1:In fact, it will be coming up eventually, patrons. But before we talk about all that, Phil, if you want to kind of wrap up this episode, let everyone know where they can find us. We'll kind of close this one out. And, guys, if you'd like this specifically international feature, again, it's a monthly episode. If you're new to the show, we've got a lot more to look forward to in an entire catalog. So, phil, let everybody know where they can find that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we have watched a new international film, a new to us, pretty much dating back to, I think, the end of 2022. So the middle of 2022, maybe even. So, if you enjoyed this series and you're looking for more films and you want to broaden your horizons, just like we have, make sure to check the link tree link in the show notes. You'll find the library of all international features, as well as the rest of our episodes. Also in there you will find our social media pages, the most important ones to keep up with being Instagram, tiktok, as well as our Discord page. If you want to support the show, you can do this a couple of ways.
Speaker 2:If you listen to this show for the first time after meeting us at Brick City Anime Festival, please reach out to us and we will send you something. If you listen to like a 45 minute episode is the very first episode that you ever listened to. Or if you watched High Nana because of this, please let us know and we'll get you like a pin or something like. We'll figure out a way to get you something. But you can do a couple of things.
Speaker 2:You can tag us on social media, let us know that you're listening. Let other people know that you are listening. A like, a share, a subscribe all of that goes a very, very long way. And if you want to support us on your podcasting apps such as Spotify or Apple Podcasts, leave us those five star reviews and that is a big, big way to support the show. It helps drive us up the charts as well as gets us a little bit more exposure. But if you find yourself wanting to maybe monetarily support the podcast as well as join a really, really great, growing community here with the podcast, eric will let you know how you can do that.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of free options, guys like our socials that Phil mentioned. We also have a growing Discord platform and we do have many other ways that you can get in contact with us. But if you want to support the show a little bit more, you could support us directly on our website through Buzzsprout, or you could take those funds and move on over to Patreon, where patrons like Stefan and Briar are keeping the show going, supporting us and getting in return exclusive behind the scenes access, early access and more to episodes like this, and we're hoping to really build that content as that platform grows. You want a little sneak peek? You can even join it for free and everything else that you can do the likes, the shares, the comments cost you nothing. So if you're doing it, we truly appreciate it.
Speaker 1:If you've made it this far, we truly appreciate it. And if you saw us at Brick City Anime Festival, which is right before this episode releases, we appreciate you saying hi, coming by and bringing the vibes, because you guys keep us going for events like that one. But, with that being said, my name is Mr Eric Almighty. That is my co-host, phil the Filipino, and please don't forget, we release new episodes every Wednesday on the podcast, with bonus content on platforms like TikTok, and all you got to do is wait for it.
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