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The Monkey Dilemma is a space intended to calm my monkey mind that is always jumping from one thought to another, one idea to the next. Those crazies need a home, and this is it. The blog serves as an online personal journal, a self-curated magazine, a romantic escape, and mostly an ode to life and its various complexities. I write about books, quotes, poems, products, introspections, nonsense, and more. Hope you enjoy reading the pieces as much as I loved writing them.

— Kalpana Iyer

Here are the latest posts to get you started:

Rohit Saraf Feels Like Old-School Romance and I Love It

I often find myself missing the old Bollywood romance era. Films by Yash Chopra or early Karan Johar had a kind of magic that is hard to find today. The lead pairs had real chemistry, the kind that made you feel every emotion with them. When they looked at each other with misty eyes, you…

Co-Ed Season 1 Review: A Warm, Surprising Gem That Won My Heart

It is by chance that I stumbled on the Co-Ed series on Amazon MX Player. The algorithm showed the trailer to me and I thought I would give it a try. I wasn’t expecting much but I was in for a surprise. Co-Ed looks like a simple school drama at first, but it quickly turns…

Nobody Wants This: Exploring Conversion & Interfaith Relationships in India

I recently watched Nobody Wants This Season 2. If you haven’t seen Season 1 of this Netflix series, I really think you should. It deals with a topic that most interfaith love stories never touch — conversion. It’s a sensitive issue, especially among Abrahamic religions. So it felt quite bold that the makers decided to…

Netflix Movie Spotlight: Baramulla

What defines horror? We often think of ghosts, possessed souls, or strange creatures with no clear form. Yet I realized there’s another type of horror that hits harder. The ones that combine these supernatural ideas with the harsh truths of real life. This is a type of blend that creates an impact, which stays with…

Dating as a Divorced Woman

I recently watched Jovita George’s “Dating After Divorce” video on YouTube. First of all, kudos to her for creating such a video. This kind of content is still not very common, and many women, especially in the Malayalee community, hesitate to talk openly about their divorce stories. So seeing Jovita share her experience really impressed…

Amazon Prime Spotlight: The Girlfriend

I watched The Girlfriend because most of my married (girl) friends praised it. After seeing it, I understood why. The story includes the classic “evil mother-in-law” angle, which many of them may relate to on some level. What’s It About? A psycho (but beautiful) real estate agent meets her boyfriend’s equally psycho (but rich) mother,…

Movie Review: Param Sundari

When my mother heard Janhvi Kapoor speak Malayalam in Param Sundari, she said, “That’s how Tamilians in Kerala speak.” So I’m guessing Janhvi’s character in Param Sundari is meant to be Tamilian. She does say a line in Tamil at the beginning, which might be the clue. Still, it’s odd that her ammavan (Renji Panicker)…

From 26/11 to Delhi Blasts: Why the “False Flag” Narrative Must End in India

What surprises me more than the terror attacks in India is the speed with which some Indians dismiss them as “false flag operations.” For instance, a look at the comments under Faye D’Souza’s Instagram post about the Delhi terror blasts shows several users mocking the incident and blaming the Indian government instead of the perpetrators.…

Short Film Spotlight: Anuja

I was craving to watch a slice-of-life drama. Something simple, not too heavy or filled with dread. I honestly thought Anuja would be intense, given how the synopsis sounded. Plus, it’s a Hindi short film that was an Academy Award nominee. Now, why would I mention the Academy Award nomination like it’s a bad thing?…