The Other Banana

Episode 141: Director Series - Bala's Pithamagan

We are back after a long gap to continue with our Bala series. This one is special. Pithamagan was special. As two stars Vikram and Suriya come together, Bala goes up a notch and delivers a film that is as timeless as it is strange and compelling. With Vikram, Suriya, Laila, Sangeetha, Karunas and Raaja's music, Pithamagan shocked and awed everyone. Equanimus joins Aditya and Anantha to talk all things Pithamagan and Bala's masterpiece. Edited by Anantha

Episode 140: Director Series - Bala's Nandha

It's been some time but we are back with the Bala series. This time we talk about the 2001 film, Bala's sophomore feature Nandha starring Suriya, Laila, Rajkiran, Saravanan, Karunas. This felt like a more assured Bala, more confident in his approach and expanding the definition of mainstream. We have the same team to talk about the film. Hari and Anantha join Aditya. Participants: Aditya Hari Anantha Edited by Anantha

Episode 139: Director Series - Bala's Sethu

A new Director Series at The Other Banana We have long debated a series on director Bala. You could say that Bala is not Bala anymore and his films are increasingly becoming difficult to meaningfully engage with but, the Bala 1999-2010 was something else. A new voice broke out in Tamil cinema in 1999 with Sethu. One of the several assistants of Balu Mahendra who will go on to make a mark in the following years, Bala ushered in an auterist sensibility with unique technique, point of view, characters and settings. The Bala universe was instantly recognizable. In the first of the series, we begin with his debut in 1999 which not only kickstarted his career but also redeemed Vikram's career and pushed him into stardom. With one film, a new star actor as well as a star director were born. Listen on. Participants Aditya Anantha Hari Edited by Anantha

Episode 138: Meiyazhagan with C Prem Kumar

We are returning after a while but with a biggie! Director and cinematographer C Prem Kumar joins us to talk about his latest film Meiyazhagan starring Karthi, Arvind Swamy, Sri Divya and others. The film has been warmly received by the audiences and is a breath of fresh air for Tamil cinema. Films with strong writing, a slice-of-life genre with male characters written as gentle and vulnerable have become rare. There is such a homogeneity of genre dominated by action, masala and violence that a Meiyazhagan deserves to be celebrated not just for how good it is but also for the mere fact that it exists. Prem Kumar joins Aditya and Subha Rao to talk about the writing decisions, what was cut from the opening scene, music and lyrics, the characters of Arul and Mei, the trimming decisions by distributors and the importance of the small and mid budget film, and more. Listen on. Edited by Deepauk.

Episode 137: On Kalki 2898 AD, Hanu-Man & Hindu Epics

In this episode writer Aditya Mani Jha joins Deepauk and Aditya to talk about two 2024 films, both Telugu originals, and adapted-inspired from two Hindu epics - Mahabharata and Ramayana. One is Nag Ashwin's Kalki 2898 AD and the other is Prasanth Varma's Hanu-Man. One has a stellar pan-Indian star cast with the likes of Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Deepika Padukone et al while the other has Teja Sajja, Amritha Aiyar, Vinay Rai among others. One has big budget and larger scope. The other has a big heart and novel ideas. We talk about what the films get right, what they do not and which Hindu epic is more interesting, adaptable and more. Listen on. Participants: Aditya [https://twitter.com/gradwolf/] Deepauk [https://twitter.com/complicateur/] Aditya Mani Jha [https://twitter.com/aditya_mani_jha/] Edited by Anantha. [https://twitter.com/anantha/]