Plot Summary – Cousins, Divya, Kuttan and Arjun, fulfil their childhood dream of relocating to Bangalore. As they embrace the warmth of the city, they also face challenges that transform their lives.

Language – Malayalam

★★★★½ 

Watched on 02 Apr, 2021

Bangalore Days is one of the most wholesome films I’ve ever watched. I find it surprising how the Malayalam industry was able to make a film that is a love letter to our city before our own industry. I’ve never experienced this city as an outsider cause even when I used to visit from the US, it always felt like home so that in itself was such an entertaining and enriching experience for me but on top if that this film manages to be so layered and nuanced that you never feel like its events are beyond the realm of plausibility. I love how the story unravels from what seems like a basic and shallow film about some friends to that of a multi-level drama that has so many emotional beats and moments that make it so interesting. Anjali Menon helms the film spectacularly balancing the humour and the darker beats while also capturing the city in such a beautiful way that you feel it’s also a character in the film. The setting is effective in a film when you feel it couldn’t have taken place in another city and there’s no other city in India that could have matched the atmosphere and cultural diversity that this film required. Nazriya Nazim, Nivin Pauly and Dulquer Salmaan were all brilliant in the film and they portrayed their characters with so much believability that you honestly would trust that they were friends in real life. The stand-out performance for me was Fahadh Faasil who plays his brooding character with a rich backstory so convincingly. The soundtrack was also brilliant and the songs were so fun and had a great imprint on my brain. I highly recommend Bangalore Days, especially if you’re from the titular city!