Monday, October 12, 2026

Movie Review: Drishyam: The Conclusion

Drishyam: the Conclusion, third film in the series is a brilliant murder mystery film. It is a world class film, very well made in all aspects. It is not only a crime thriller but also comedy in large part of its runtime.

It is really commendable that each part of the series has come up so well and the third and perhaps final part is as captivating as the first part. In the third part, we can also observe how each actor and actress has changed with time, e.g. the younger daughter of the family (played by Mrunal Jadhav) is growing up fast, Vijay Salgaonkar (Ajay Devgn) is now a bearded man, his wife Nandini (Shriya Saran) has lost some weight, Mahesh Deshmukh (Rajat Kapoor) looks much older and Meera (Tabu) looks different as if she underwent some anti-ageing treatment done. Only the SI, Gaitonde (Kamlesh Sawant) is exactly like he was. 

Two new characters are introduced in Drishyam: the Conclusion, one lawyer played by Prakash Raj and one S.P. played by Jaideep Ahlawat. Jaideep Ahlawat has really impressed by his performance, perhaps his career best, where he got a meaty role as well as the visibility. He is one of the major highlgihts of the film. Prakash Raj has played the role of a cunning villian, which he perhaps always dones, and the audience feels like throwing a chappal at him whenever he comes on screen. Kamlesh Sawant in his now legendry role of sub inspector Gaitonde has also played his role in such a brilliant manner and made audience laugh so much, that if there was a contest, he would be elected as the most loved role.

Highly recommended. 

- Rahul



Thursday, October 8, 2026

Little Manua

'Manua' is an informal love laden term for a calf (baby cow) at least in Bihar. 

When I came out of a shop, I noticed that there was a little manua (calf) standing near my motorcycle. I was aware that several cows and calves were let go daily on the nearby roads by their owners for reasons I didn't understand. The cows appear to be living in their own world, moving where they want to go, sitting in an elegant pose in the middle of the road near road divider, and they vanish by evening. I looked at the calf to understand what he was up to. The calf moved from one side and when he came near the dikki (side storage) of my motorcycle, he scratched one of his ears with the cover of the dikki. It just blew my mind because I had never imagined that the side storage of my motorcycle could be used for such a purpose. I felt so much proud that my motorcycle could be of use to the lovely calf. 

Afterwards, the calf just stood still and seemed to have no idea what to do next. It bothered me because I was waiting for him to move so that I could leave on my motorcycle. Hence, I gently pushed the calf by touching its back. When I pushed him, the calf seemed to feel nothing and did not move at all. Perhaps he was used to humans pushing him like that. But I was surprised that when I touched the calf, I found he was very warm as if he was coming out of a quilt (rajaai) in winter. And its skin had hair, although the hair did not hurt at all and even felt good to touch. Like gentle grass.  

After having failed to push the warm hairy calf (manua), I waited for a few more moments and then the calf decided to leave on its own. Therefore, I was able to take my motorcycle out and swiftly return home.

Even after few hours, I can still feel the touch of 'manua' calf's warm skin and it is such a heartwarming feeling. 

I am not sure if I shall ever meet that calf again, so I wish him a comfortable and safe long life. May he always get good food and a shade to sit through the days and nights. Also because winter is approaching. 

- Rahul