The Other Banana

Lokesh Kanagaraj's sophomore effort is an interesting triumph of combining riveting set pieces to inject some much needed life into the Tamil masala genre. Almost universally liked, in this episode, we talk about Kaithi, the genre, and the question of where Lokesh Kanagaraj goes from here.

Swaroop RSJ and Naveen Polishetty get together to make a truly rollicking detective/suspense caper that is equal parts film noir and comedy, a mix that's as diabolical as it is fun. In our fifty first episode, @maxdavinci and Aditya are joined by film critic Hemanth CR to talk about Swaroop RSJ directed Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya, a film starring (and co written by) Naveen Polishetty, Shruti Shar...

We hit a half century! In The Other Banana's 50th episode, Anantha and Aditya talk to Hemanth Rao, director of Kavaludaari, the 2019 Kannada film. Kavaludaari is one of the latest entrants in Indian cinema's film noir. It combines the genre's trademark techniques to tell a compelling mystery story that spans decades. Director Hemanth Rao talks to us about the film, the challenges he faced in its m...

Hello, Every year, the Deepavali day is unambiguously related to Tamil cinema. So, the members of The Other Banana got together to discuss their Deepavali movie experiences ranging from early 90s to this day. We also sent out a tweet asking for others' experiences and we'll be reading out a few responses in the episode. Happy Deepavali! Happy listening. And hope you got tickets for your favorite f...

Two of us take a walk down memory lane with author, filmmaker, and film studies professor Dr. Swarnavel Easwaran  to discuss AVM Productions' cult hit Antha Naal. Featuring (then) rising star Sivaji Ganesan, Pandari Bai, and screenwriter Javert Seetharaman in a crucial role. Dr. Swarnavel's book Madras Studios is a great primer of the studio system that existed in Thamizh cinema at the time a...

This episode is more or less an ode to one of the finest films to come out the Malayalam industry this year (an industry that sets the standard high enough that this adjective is pretty high praise). Unda, Khalid Rahman's sophomore effort after Anuraaga Karikkinte Vellam, points to an evolution we hope continues on to many more films to come. Everyone on the crew enjoyed watching the film and we s...

The gang gets together to talk about the Manikandan favorite, Aandavan Kattalai. A lovely film that helps you see the lighter side of the completely heavy social issues it explores. Listen to our episode where we talk to the music director of Aandavan Kattakai, here .

The gang got together to discuss another instant classic from the Malayalam film world this year - Virus. Huge ensemble cast, complicated issue, and a number potential issues that could've derailed the movie and yet it is pulled off with such elan. A strong recommend from the crew!

 In the final episode of our romantic comedy series, the gang gets together to discuss the representations of class and caste divides in the Thamizh film Meyaatha Maan. We are joined by journalist, and author @krupage (do check out her book River Remember on the Chennai Floods here )!

 Next in our series of romantic comedies (though not according to @maxdavinci ) is the malayalam film - Om Shanthi Oshana. We're joined by long time blogger and cine enthusiast @equanimus  to discuss how this atypical film makes our list. 

 On pod 2 of our Romantic Comedy series the crew invites guest Ideallaedi  to discuss Mohan Krishna Indraganti's Sammohanam. We talk about how the film is different from the Hollywood rom coms of the 2000s as well as the characters and concerns of the film. ....We also wax eloquent for a bit on Aditi Rao Hydari....

 As part of our #GRCA series on romantic comedies the gang discussed the decidedly middling Kannada film Katheyondu Shuruvagithe. Listen, and hopefully it will get you in the mood for romance as we have better films coming up for discussion! 

The cabal is still a cabal but we are rebranding! We are now The Other Banana. Most of your feeds should be updated already but if you can't find it, please take a look at the About (The Crew) page for the updated feeds. Thank You. On to the new episode. We talk about one of Dhanush's seminal films - Velraj's Velaiilla Pattadhari or more popularly known as VIP (can you already hear the leitmotif i...

  The gang takes a little trip to the 80's Malayalam nostalgia by revisiting Chithram. We're joined on this pod by writer editor extraordinaire @supriyan  to cover a seminal moment in the history of Malayalam cinema, Mohanlal, and the film's director Priyadarshan. Big thanks to Supriya for making the time out to talk with us! You can watch the film here , listen to that lovely Neha Nair...

 In part 1 of the discussion of the film, the gain delves into the key aspects that made the film Telugu cinema's cult hit of 2018. They try to get under the skin of the characters and the milieu before we bring on a special guest for part 2. 

 The cabal finally decided to sit down and wrestle with Super Deluxe this past weekend. We were ably aided in this quest by @NadikaNadja as we dove inextricable deeper and deeper into the universe created by Thiagarajan Kumararaja. While we've all tried to come to terms with what we experienced, I think we'll all be either watching the film in the theaters again or on some streaming platform...

 In this episode @complicateur and @gradwolf are joined by Ashwathy G to discuss Aashiq Abu and Syam Pushkaran's heart wrenching film - Mayanadhi. 

 In this episode, we take a look at one of the biggest hits in Telugu cinema for 2018. DIrector Sukumar's Rangasthalam starring RamCharan & Samantha. Our guests were columnist and friend of the podcast, @KrupgaGe and popular movie critic @crhemanth. Listen in as we talk about the politics that the movie captures and how it addresses a lot of issues thanks to some stellar performances by t...

The Cabal does a bilingual film in its true spirit - with a bilingual guest. We are joined by LTP aka @localteaparty to talk about the L.V Prasad classic MISSIAMMA(1955), one of the famous films from the golden period, made in Tamil and Telugu with different casts. 

  In a fit of nostalgia, the Cabal revisits the 1985 Thamizh film classic, Aan Paavam. It also gives one of our members the opportunity to wax eloquent on the phenomenon that is Ilaiyaraja. Big thanks as always to @jestme for joining the crew to discuss one of her favorite films as well! And all music in the pod composed by the indomitable Ilaiayaraaja.

 We couldn't get everyone together when Kaala released and published a blogpost instead. With Petta releasing, we wanted to ensure we did not repeat the same. So we hauled in everyone last weekend and some of us had pretty diverse opinions in this impromptu discussion on the film. We cover everything from the film references to the politics of the movie in the discussion! 

 For our first venture into Hindi cinema, the cabal discusses the 2018 horror film Tumbbad. While most horror films tend to be morality tales, Tumbbad really differentiates itself by setting up mythology and universe that is entirely relatable. The gang loved watching the film and we hope you all do as well! 

In this episode we talk about one of 2018's best Indian films, Mari Selvaraj's Pariyerum Perumal. And to discuss this tale of a youth's struggle with the power dynamics fueled by caste hegemony we are joined by guest Vijeta Kumar (@rumlolarum on Twitter).

This week the cabal talks about Thiagarajan Kumararaja's 2011 cult classic Aaranya Kaandam. The film is available on Hotstar (though mangled beyond recognition) - as always please watch the film prior to listening!

The cabal continues its animated discussion on Virumandi in this pod. We cover the cast characters, specifically the women, the music, and the film's penchant for drawing from the real world in this session. We're joined by 2 special guests here; @jestme is on the pod again and the venerable @atlasdanced joins us this time with his unique brand of insights.