Movies and TV shows of 2025

 Movies and TV shows of 2025

What blew me away!

Andor Season 2 -  5/5

A show about rebellion, politics, david vs goliath. The ending of Andor is known because of the Star Wars movie that came before it. But the show is a beauty on its own. Set in Starwars universe with no mentoion of the force, that is how it should be. Just humans trying their best to push back against the evils of the empire. Characters taking their next logical step. Very well acted, directed, written with set design that is the best that has been there so far!

One Battle After Another - 4.5/5 or 4/5

I keep on oscillating between the two ratings. It is definitely good. The title itself is 5/5. The movie has a momentum and it never slows. It is so typically PTA - so original, very difficult to predict what is going to happen, and things do happen. It could be today's times or it could be 70s or 80s, such is the amazing part of the movie. Plus, the ending car chase scene on the highway - maintains tension that is amazingly well done. 

Homebound - 5/5

What a sad but hauntingly beautiful movie. It is one of those real life commentary movies that you just wish was not true but you realize deep down is that this movie is actually a better side of how bad the truth is. The ending hurts, the middle hurts, the start hurts but there is a beauty between them. A tale of friendship, love, idealism, hope is there - captures the spirit of India that very few movies can. A must see film by Neeraj Ghaywan of Masaan fame!

Adolescence - 4.5/5

A kid is murdered by another kid, both young early teenagers. How does it happen, impact on parents, how police handles it, how the school reacts. All this happens in a 4 part short series that is extremely gripping. 

Anora - 4.5/5

I did not expect Anora to be this much funny as it was. Yes, it was tragic, with a lot of sex but it had so much humanity under the hood. Humanity came from unexpected places and it was heart warming. Plus, the social commentary that comes with the subject matter itself was very well handled. 

What was good!

Sinners - 4/5 

Horror movie with a lot of oomph! Also, a lot of music. It is the music that carries the film. Ryan Coogler - Michael Jordan duo never disappoints. 

Slow Horses season 5 - 4/5 

I love the humor of Slow Horses. That it is a thriller action series is bonus. Love the characters, love the arcs, extremely well done. It is amazing that I do not mind re-watching the series as well. 

A man on the inside - season 1 & 2 - 4/5

Sign me up for anything that Michael Shur (of Brooklyn 99 fame) makes. And if it has Ted Danson in it, then it has to be savored. Everything about this show is good. Michael Shur has a unique talent of creating fictional situations and then having characters have honest dialogue with each other. Such honesty and absurdity combination is a treat to watch. 

Bear season 4 - 3.5/5

At this point, the Bear seems to be on auto-pilot. We know the characters, we know what drives them, their backstory etc. So, all the Bear has to do is to make them follow the next logical step and each one is doing that. This season was a redemption season - Bear goes to Molly, goes to his mom, Sydney says no to new restaurant offer etc etc. They didn't screw it up, so overall a good watch. 

A house of dynamite - 3.5/5

I have a soft spot for political thrillers. In AHOD, there is a missile coming to US, of unknown origin. What happens next ? How does military react, how does politicians react, it is done in a Rashomon setting. A good time one-time watch. 

Blackbag - 3.5/5

Steven Soderbergh has an art of making films and I dig his art. Marriage + espionage has been tackled in the series The Americans, in a action-comedy like Mr and Mrs Smith. In Blackbag, Steven brings his own flavor of style and grace and makes it a really good one time watch. 

Weapons - 3.5/5

There are very few actors which make you watch a film because they are in it. Julia Garner for some reason does it for me - she brings mystery to her portrayal that it is difficult to ignore. Weapons is a horror film in which in one one night kids run away from their apartment and disappear. All kids belong to the class where Julia Garner is the teacher. Amazing premise for a horror film. 

The last stop in Yuma county - 3.5/5

I love these kind of diner pulp fiction movies. Ordinary characters (played mostly by unknown actors) thrown where things happen on its own, but driven by a basic human emotion, in this case, it is greed. 

Masala 

Fallout - 3/5

Wake up dead man - 3/5

Ballerina from John wick universe - 3/5

Superman - 3/5

Thunderbolts - 3/5

Lokah - 2.5/5 (could have been much better)

Life in Mar 9 to Dec 26 2025

Writing a Life-In post in the last week of Dec is equivalent to a year-end retro post. So, this is what it is going to be.

2025 didn't turn out the year it was supposed to be. At-least the way I was expecting it to be. If you had asked me in Jan'25, what would this year look like, I would have said peaceful, healthy, balanced (between work and life) but it was far away from it. The pursuit of balance is an endeavor now that will continue in the next year. 

So, what happened in 2025 then? One of the metric that we have been using to track is how many nights have I spent outside home. It is a proxy metric that captures travels and the quantum of it. In 2025, I had 

• Trip to Bandipur - 1 night
• (Work) 5 trips to Pune (1 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 3 nights) - 10 nights
• Trip to Udaipur to attend Rajasthan Kabir Yatra retreat - 1 day
• Trip to Mumbai - 2 nights
• Trip to River Tern (Papa's 70th bday) - 1 night
• Trip to Wayanad (Kanishka's dad's 80th bday) - 3 nights
• (Work) Trip to US -1 - 15 nights
• (Work) Trip to US-2 - 11 nights
• Trip to Japan - 10 nights
• (Work) Trip to EU - 10 nights
• Trip to Bekal - 2 nights
• Trip to Delhi (Buaji's 75th bday) - 1 night
• Kannur at the start of the year - 4 nights
• Stargzing + camping event - 1 night

Total - 72 nights. Out of which 46 are work related. 

Note - the above does not include the Peru trip that was planned and later cancelled. 

Each one of them in isolation was a good call. But, collectively, this is a lot of travel. 71 are just nights, if you add the days at the start/end, add jet-lag, it clearly had an impact on 90+ days. 

The other thing that happened in 2025 was health was not prioritized. The second stint at Kannur was meant to kick-start a healthy year but it soon fizzled out. I was also sick a lot this year, most so during second half. 

• Post US-2 trip, developed a back spasm and had to cancel the Peru trip. Still dealing with it. 
• Bekal - developed some stomach infection, had viral cramps and then had to come back via ambulance. 
• Had atleast 2 bouts of Flu - one during the June Pune trip. 
• Have taken at-least one sick leave each month from June - Dec. 

The travel and sickness impacted my wellness plans - 

• I was part of Base fitness till Apr - attended it partially and then finally gave up. 
• May - Aug - almost nothing. May was spent at home doing nothing to recover from US trip and plan for Japan. June was Japan+Delhi+Pune. July was River-Tern. Aug was Pune. 
• Joined Liftr in Sept, attended 2-3 weeks. Then Wayanad, Pune and later EU trip took over. 
• Re-joined Liftr in Dec 2nd half. 

While we write about the good things in the life-in series, sometimes it is equally important to document the not-so-good things. At the year-end, I am writing while I am having back spasm that is refusing to go away it seems and some dry cough. This year, I crossed 40 birth year and now the realization is coming that the body at 40 can not be treated like a college kid. Cancelling a very well planned trip is painful but in hindsight, it has been a good decision. Have been regular to the gym this past week and I have slept a lot to recoup some energies. Started MBSR meditation course. Finished a book, writing blogs and deciding to take things slow. 

With that reflection done, here is what gave me joy - 

Kanishka and I decided to do book-dates - go out to a cafe and read books. Kudos to Kanishka for coming up with this idea! 

Attended a star-gazing event. Went to see the farmland at Denkanikottai and on the way back, Kanishka booked a stargazing camp event. Saw okay-ish stars. The mattress inside the tents made the tent very cozy. Took lot of pics :) 

With Abhishek, Sonal, we did a HSR thindi car-walk - Was meant to be a walk but since it was raining, we ended up visiting places by car. Places visited - Meddi-Messina food truck (27th main), Ooran tiffins, Godavari cafe.  

We continued out Diwali ritual and made Boondi laddu this year. Tried two recipes. Funny story - when we were making it, we were also tasting and our mouths became so sweet that when the laddus were done, we thought that they are not good. But after a day, when we tried the same laddus, they tasted like amazing. Friends, family loved it as well. 

Played board games with friends - 

In more randomness, tried a goatee look for a month and colored my hair 

I typically do not post any of work-pics but breaking this. Went to Bengaluru Oota company for a team dinner social. Amazing food! 

From the travels - 

Trip to Mumbai - 

• Visited Khao galli 
• Went to NMACC (Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural centre) - Saw the fountain show, an art museum.
• Walked on the Marine drive and went to Pizza by the bay (with stomach full unfortunately)
• Small early morning hike with Nikesh. 

River Tern - 

A 30+ group to river tern out of which 18 folks were 60+. Everyone enjoyed. Hired a bus and a car. Everyone was on time! River tern never disappoints - be it Safari, food or stay! 

Wayand trip 

Always good to visit the same place after some years have passed. Visited Wayanad exactly 10 years later. There are more museums, the Banasura dam is way more organized, there is a bus service to take it to the top, lot more touristy as well. 

Udaipur - Kabir Yatra - 

Big thanks to Nikesh for the push to attend this event. He even paid for it. Loved the experience. I feel that such experiences are needed to slow you down. The music performances were awesome, but equally good was interactions with the artists over dinner. The event was organized very well and encouraged you to loosen yourself and go with the flow. We are so self-conscious so much of the time. One such activity they had organized was a dinner social where two people were paired together. The catch is that the other peson will feed you. Yes, literally feed you - they will get the food from buffet, and break it down to morsels and feed you in the mouth. So simple activity yet felt so uncomfortable till you get used to it. 

Also, the stay was at a very nice Udapur resort - Yaan Udaipur which is a 5-start property. Stay was lovely. 

Delhi trip 

Always good to meet all relatives in one place.

Trip to Japan - Part one and part two 

Trip to EU

Trip to US - 2

Whilst it was a work-trip, many interesting things happened and I am grateful to each one. By far the bet highlight was April inviting us to her home where she had her annual tradition of singing Christmas carols. Such a lovely, warm tradition and I am so thankful to her for inviting us to be part of this experience. 

Had a morning free before the flight, so walked the Mission street and clicked few murals. Also, visited the datacentre and saw where the physical servers are placed. One one weekend, hiked the Arastedro Preserve 

Also, someone tried to break into my car and cracked the rear car window. Got lucky to survive it. 

Books read / heard

Omar El Akkad's One day everyone will have always been against this - By far the best book that I have read last few years. High praise. 5/5

Wolf Hall and Bring up the bodies by Hillary Mantel 4/5

Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn Williams

I liked it a lot. A cautionary tale of our times. Deals with tech, deals with the time that I have lived, seen it shape and not all of it is for good. May write a detailed review of it. 4/5

Ancillary Justice:  (Imperial Radch Book 1) by Ann Leckie. Going to finish the trilogy and write a review. First one is very different, to narrate this complexity is no easy task. 4/5

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson - Audiobook. Good masala thriller book.  3/5

Serial - Season one - A true-crime podcast 5/5 Supposedly created the genre of true-crime. Based on a true story which is as bizarre as it can be. Very very well made. 

EU trip 2025

7 countries, 10 days. Work trip. Late-Oct, early Nov timeframe. Not the ideal time to visit

Itinerary - 

• Sat, 25 Oct - Land in Helsinki, Finland  
• Sun, 26 Oct  - Day trip to Tailin, Estonia via Ferry
• Mon, 27 Oct - At Helsinki. Evening - leave for Oslo
• Tue, 28 Oct -  At Oslo. Evening - train to Stockholm Sweden 
• Wed, 29 Oct - At Stockholm, Evening - Flight to Frankfurt, Germany
• Thu, 30 Oct -  At Frankfurt. Evening - train to Amsterdam
• Fri, 31 Oct -   At Amsterdam
• Sat, 1 Nov -    At Amsterdam. Evening - Train to Paris, France
• Sun, 2 Nov -   At Paris
• Mon, 3 Nov -  At Paris. Evening - Flight to BKR

Interesting points -

Helsinki - 

Not much to do in the main city. Though city walks are lovely. Did not explore much. Our hotel - Hotel Hobo, was really good! Visited cafe Fraser, just opposite the hotel which has been there for close to 150 years. Walked a lot in the city. Great city to walk ! 

The above is inside the main cathedral at Helsiniki. The round sphere is a replica of planet Mars, where each cm represents 10 km of Mars surface. They had hosted this within the cathedral which was interesting. 

Tailin, Estonia 

Lovely day trip from Helsinki. The ferry ride was awesome. Barely missed the ferry ride, one has to be 30 mins before the departure gate closes. Tailin is a old-style European city. Hugely hit by war, but not reconstructed to have the old city feeling. We did a old-city walking tour and did a quick stop at Museum of Torture - the highlight of the trip. The city is a great one to walk on. The walk was informative. 

Would recommend visiting here!! 

Oslo and Stockholm - No sightseeing and no photos. It was pure work

Frankfurt, Germany 

We had about 90 mins before our train to Amsterdam. 90 mins are good to enjoy a quick walk of the city

No Frankfurt trip is complete without this iconic place :)

Our train to Amsterdam was cancelled. We ended up going from Frankfurt HBF to Frankfurt-Airport station -> Koln (Cologne) Germany -> Amsterdam (via Rotterdam). We got a fellow passenger who was also taking the same route. It was good for strangers to interact.

Amsterdam - 

Once the work was over, we went to the downtown and explored the market there. The market was lively. Christmas lights were on, a pianist was playing at the square, people were happy. Seemed good to see explore this. We just walked and ate. Had Dutch pancakes, stroopwaffle, bought souvenirs, cheese. 

Next day, we took a day trip to country side to see windmills, cheese making store and show making workshop. Good fun day trip. 

We got a scare in our return to catch the train to Paris. The taxi driver was really smart and we had to run to catch the train. I was almost convinced at a point in time that we would miss it. 

Paris, France

We had a day and we did the walking tour along with just walk to Eiffel Tower. Walking tour was good, it was raining. Walking Paris was fun! We also saw the place where Princess Diana died. Also, visited a museum which was free of cost and saw Mattise's famous Dance painting. Had lunch at a bakery. Dinner was at a vegan restaurant called Maslow (interesting but okayish).  

Book Review - One day everyone will have always been against this

One day, when it's safe, when there's no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it's too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will always have been against this.

By Omar El Akkad

This book review will be a series of quotes from the book

To be outside at night requires a formal reason or else one risked harassment by the soldiers who seemed to make a military checkpoint out of every intersection. It is a hallmark of failing societies. I've learned, this requirement that one always be in possession of a valid reason to exist

Rules, conventions, morals, reality itself: all exist so long as their existence is convenient to the preservation of power. Otherwise, they, like all else, are expendable. 

The moral component of history, the most necessary component, is simply a single question, asked over and over again: When it mattered, who sided with justice who sided with power? What makes moments such as this one so dangerous, so clarifying, is that one way or another everyone is forced to answer. 

On Western liberalism -  

One of the hallmarks of Western liberalism is an assumption, in hindsight, of virtuous resistance as the only polite expectation of people on the receiving end of colonialism. When the terrible thing is happening - while land is still being stolen and the natives still being killed - any form of opposition is terroristic and must be crushed for the sake of civilization. But decades, centuries later, when enough of the land has been stolen and enough of natives being killed, it is safe enough to venerate resistance in hindsight

 

 On language - 

It may well be the case that there exists two entirely different languages for the depiction of violence against the victims of empire and victims of empire. 

On death of soul - 

No, there is no terrible coming for you in some distant future, but know that a terrible thing is happening to you now. You are being asked to kill off a part of you that would otherwise scream in opposition to injustice. You are being asked to dismantle the machinery of a functioning conscience. ... Who cares if great distance from bloodstained middle allows obliviousness. Forget pity, forget even the the dead if you must, but atleast fight against the death of your soul.  

A world that shrugs at one kind of slaughter has developed a terrible immunity. No atrocity is too great to shrug away now, the muscles of indifference  having been sufficiently conditioned. 

On Democrats in US

The problem with fixating on the abyss into which one's opponent has descended  while simultaneously digging one's own is that, eventually, it gets too dark to tell the difference

----

As a matter ofcourse, , Western officials are generally untroubled when they say things like this, that a ceasefire resolution represents a greater threat to lasting peace than the ongoing obliteration of entire people

----

The work of leaving, of aiming to challenge power on the field where it maintains the least glaring asymmetry, demands one answer the question: What are you willing to give up to alleviate someone else's suffering? It makes it impossible for one so engaged to understand, with terrible clarity that under the auspices of this machine, the prevailing answer echoing from the mouths of so many of one's own neighbors is Nothing at all. 

----

When the time come to assign blame, most of those to blame will be long gone. There will always be feigned shock at how bad things really were, how we couldn't have possibly known. There will be those who say it was all work of a few bad actors, people who misled the rest of us well-meaning folks. Anything to avoid contending with the possibility that all this killing was not the result of a system abused, but a system functioning exactly as intended. 

This book is a scream. It puts in words the feelings that one has. It is the the voice of helplessness, a cry, a prayer.  As the book says, it is an account of the ending. 

It is a must-read!