The Other Banana The Other Banana

As part of The Other Banana's efforts to bring in more technicians to the forefront, we have a special episode with a special guest now that Ponniyin Selvan Part 2 is out and the saga is complete. An effort that's achieved great success and more importantly, provided immense satisfaction and joy to experience on screen. Starring Karthi, Aishwarya Rai, Vikram, Trisha, Jayam Ravi, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sarath Kumar, Parthiban, Prakash Raj, Rahman and Sobhita among others, the film has music by AR Rahman, cinematography by Ravi Varman, editing by Sreekar Prasad and art direction by Thota Tharani.

In this episode, we have the multi hyphenate Krithika Nelson - musician, lyricist, creative producer and director, dubbin artist, associate director, and more. She dubbed for Trisha's Kundavai in the Ponniyin Selvan films, wrote the lyrics of Sol in Part 1 and was also an associate director to Mani Ratnam. She also wrote the lyrics for the soundtrack of the recent film Nitham Oru Vaanam.

We spoke to Krithika about her dubbing career, the skill and techniques that it involves, what happens inside and outside the recording studio, and her experience as a dubbing artist for the past several years. We also talk about the production of Ponniyin Selvan films, her work as an associate director to Mani Ratnam, the films' grand scale and what it took to make these two films with the biggest of actors and technicians. Krithika shared with us some great anecdotes from the time of filming, what she looks for in an actor's performance when she dubs for them, how dubbing can be different with different directors. And of course, we also talk about Trisha!

Earlier, when Ponniyin Selvan Part 1 released, we had done an episode with sound engineer Anand Krishnamoorthi on his work in the film and also the job of sound engineers, designers and mixers in general. You can check it out here.

Participants:

Krithika Nelson

Aditya

Anantha

Here's Krithika Nelson's latest independent single Nee Mattum. She wrote the lyrics, composed and sang the song in addition to directing the music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0ivuwuHEWE

Aditya's review of Ponniyin Selvan Part 1 and Ponniyin Selvan Part 2.

Intro audio from JFW Awards 2023, a recreation of PS 1 scene between Nandini and Kundavai on stage by their respective dubbing artists Deepa Venkat and Krithika Nelson.

We return with a Telugu film, a massive hit from 2022. Just when we thought only male star driven, machismo action films could do well in theatres, we had films based on romance with author backed pairs work their charm at the box office. One was Thiruchitrambalam. The other was Sita Ramam directed by Hani Raghavapudi.


Sita Ramam stars Dulquer Salmaan and Mrunal Thakur, two stars made to glisten the screen. In this episode Aditya joins Sal of Salandthebadpun on Twitter and our returning guest Amrita to talk about the film, how the romance works with the help of the actors' charm and great looks, the set and costume design, the casting of Rashmika and the way her character is written. We also talk about the fragmented politics of the film, muted but always grating in the background.


Participants:


Aditya

Sal

Amrita


Edited by Anantha.

One of our listeners think it would be a good idea for us to talk about the 2006 Chimbu Deven's historic-fiction "Imsai Arasan 23am Pulikesi".

We too think this is a great idea. 23am Pulikesi is one of the best comedies of Tamil cinema in the last 20 years featuring Vadivelu, Nassar, Ilavarasu, Sriman, Thambi Ramaiah, Manobala and many others.

We have Anantha, Ashoka and Rajiv touch upon the film, its comedy, the performances, the homage it pays to its predecessor: Uthama Puthiran, how it could be a modern office-drama masquerading as a period-piece and several other things.

ps: Rajiv has his own crime-fiction podcast on Spotify named "Detective Mathimaran". You can listen to it here.

Almost everybody agrees Lijo Jose Pellissery's Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam that released mid January of 2023 and on Netflix at the end of February is going to be the Indian film of the year? Why? We thought we'll dig in. 

Aditya watched it twice in theatres. Deepauk watched it a day before recording of this podcast. And our special guest critic, programmer, author Srikanth Srinivasan watched it thrice in theatres and a couple of more times on Netflix. With a screenplay by S Hareesh and directed by Pellissery, the film stars Mammootty, Ramya Pandian, Ashokan, Ramya Suvi, Poo Ramu among others.

The three of them gather to discuss what makes this film so interesting, the seamless Tamil-Malayalam intermingling, the filmmaking ideas and cinematography, the almost exclusive Tamil cinema soundtrack throughout the film, and the film's philosophical interventions. Listen on.

Participants:

Aditya

Srikanth Srinivasan

Deepauk

Srikanth Srinivasan's writings on the film:

A Letter to Lijo Jose Pellissery: https://theseventhart.info/2023/01/25/a-letter-to-lijo-jose-pellissery/

Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam Part 2: https://theseventhart.info/2023/01/31/nanpakal-nerathu-mayakkam-2022-part-2/

If anybody would like to watch Ratha Kanneer, it's on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F63Qhsl5010

Here is a playlist of songs that you hear in the film: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlgM21QZS6YyKtiXGxtGyMAzTVbR2Y_8R

Hello, we are back!


After a lengthy break, The Other Banana returns with a new season and with a small change in programming for this opening episode. We have two special guests - filmmaker Don Palathara who's made films such as Shavam, Vith, 1956 Central Travancore, Everything is Cinema joined us to talk about Swedish auteur Roy Andersson's A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence. Palathara's new film Family premiered at International Film Festival Rotterdam earlier this month. Aditya's writing on Palathara's cinema and review of Family are linked below in the show notes.


The second guest participating in this episode is sociologist Sherin Catherine who also dabbles in writing and acting. She's the co-writer of Everything is Cinema and Family.


Roy Andersson's films are unique in their narrative style and shot compositions. They are more anti-narrative with us just following a seemingly disconnected set of characters who are framed in painterly compositions with deep focus with most of the film in master shots. His films are existential in nature probing what it means to be human and sometimes dark and, more often than not, funny. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2014) is the third in his Living trilogy following Songs from the Second Floor (2000) and You, the Living (2007). It won the Golden Lion at the 71st Venice International Film Festival.


Listen on


Participants:


Aditya

Don Palathara

Sherin


Some writings on Don Palathara's cinema by Aditya:


On Palathara's cinema: https://www.cinemaexpress.com/malayalam/features/2021/aug/18/biweekly-binge-inside-don-palatharas-cinema-26130.html


Review of Family: https://www.ottplay.com/news/newsletter-the-church-faith-at-all-costs-in-don-palatharas-family/fc3e211676571

At The Other Banana podcast, we are aware that we haven't been paying attention to our Kannada roster as much as the others. In an attempt to address that, we got together some folks who were excited to talk about one of the finest comedies from Kannada cinema.


In this episode, Anantha and Ashoka talk about Gauri Ganesha (1991), a film directed by Phani Ramachandra and starring Anant Nag, Vinaya Prasad, Master Anand et al, with two special guests.


Alok Prasanna Kumar, an advocate based in Bengaluru who is also a columnist in various publications, joins the podcast along with filmmaker Suneel Raghavendra. Suneel is the director of the film Puta Tirugisi Nodi. Listen on.


Participants:

Anantha

Ashoka

Alok Prasanna Kumar

Suneel Raghavendra


Edited by Ashoka.