My two favorite 2022 release Indian movies, RRR and Vikram, are bombastic action spectacles. I’ve also already written about some other 2022 favorites like Gangubai Kathiawadi and Saani Kaayidham. But I wanted to take a moment to recommend an Indian movie that absolutely held my attention, Pada. Pada is a little more low-key as it deals with land displacement and Indigenous land rights issues. But it does so using the frame work of a workplace hostage story. Since it’s based on a true incident, it never goes full genre. Pada has strong characters, uses a visual language from other story types, and remains rense throughout. It also becomes a single location movie. Really well done and worth checking out. Maybe I’ll do a fuller write up at a later date.