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 making and his career in general.

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 films.

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 and his film Kattumaram starring Mysskin is in the festival circuit garnering acclaim. His article on the cinematography and poetics of 1950s Tamil cinema (in particular Maruti Rao the cinematographer for Antha Naal) resulted in a shot from Antha Naal gracing the cover of Screen - one of the foremost film studies journals in the world. (Please email us if you would like a copy)

We thank Dr.Swarnavel profusely for sparing time to connect with us. It was a particularly insightful and informative discussion on the politics and technicalities of cinema of the period. We hope you enjoy listening and let us know what you think!

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 sincerely hope more people nationally and internationally stream it on Amazon Prime.

Also read: @complicateur with his initial thoughts when the film first released.

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!