February 2025

I decided to make it a thing now. Last day of every month, you will receive an email with my notes on the month and the best content I consumed - books, videos, podcasts, newsletters, movies, shows, etc.

February was decent. I had a good balance between socialization and deep work, health and stress, fun and work.

Among many things, I had an interesting reflection. I try prioritizing everything at work, and it sometimes makes things difficult for me - to decide the order of work. Especially with the number of things I do - Service Business, Three newsletters, No-code websites, and two communities.

When it hit me I couldn’t prioritize everything, I made two columns: Part-time and Full-time. Important tasks like client work and my newsletters go into full-time. Fun or passive activities like Telugu playlist, Newsletter hub, or subReddit go into part-time.

It gave me a clear distinction between what needs action now and what could wait. While planning my day/week, I allocate a large amount of time to full-time tasks, my family and friends, and part-time tasks. In that order.

Not sure if this is useful for you, but it was a mini breakthrough for me.

Anyway - speaking of what I consumed in February:

Movies:

1/ Game Changer

Shankar and Ram Charan shouldn’t have made it and protected their legacy. RGV’s analysis on Game Changer made total sense. “There is no big idea around which a drama is created. In Okeokkadu, the big idea is One Day CM. In Robot, the big idea is a machine falling in love with a human. There was none in Game Changer.”

2/ Prisoners

Watched it with zero expectations; loved it. At one point, the movie seemed predictable, but it wasn’t. It is not the best of the thrillers but I liked it for how it kept surprising me.

3/ Blink Twice

I have a thing for stories around serial killers, investigation, sci-fi, island mysteries, etc. Blink Twice is an island mystery. Sadly, the only Island genre I loved is Shutter Island. Blink Twice isn’t disappointing, but it’s not even close to good.

4/ Predestination

After so many people recommending me this 1000000000000 times, I finally made time. Loved the crispness of writing, but it’s predictable. I could see the eureka moments coming, but it’s definitely worth watching.

5/ Daaku Maharaj

Balayya movie on OTT is no fun. It’s a theater experience, and I can’t watch it with people not screaming. Social media hyped it for me and the movie couldn’t meet the hype in my mind. But for those who love over-the-top south indian action movies, Daaku won’t disappoint.

6/ Chhava

What could have been one of the greatest films settled for good. Abrupt cuts killed the vibe. Each scene individually is gold, but the lack of momentum through scenes made me not connect with the emotion. Vicky Kaushal was sooooo good. Can’t think of a recent Vicky movie with bad acting. Rashmika was good too. I understand why Marathis were disappointed. It is a dialogue delivery problem, not an acting problem. A dubbing artist would have solved the issue. Any other nuance, of course, Marathis would know better than me.

Before we move forward, please check out our sponsors who help me keep this newsletter free for you:

Seeking impartial news? Meet 1440.

Every day, 3.5 million readers turn to 1440 for their factual news. We sift through 100+ sources to bring you a complete summary of politics, global events, business, and culture, all in a brief 5-minute email. Enjoy an impartial news experience.

Join for free today!

Shows:

1/ Good Doctor S4

It’s a show I watch when I don’t have anything to watch. For the times you want to see something new and exciting but can’t figure out what? Yep, that’s when I watch Good Doctor. At this point, it’s kind of boring and repetitive, but the familiarity is comforting.

2/ Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spiderman

Marvel released a new animated Spiderman show and it would be brave of you to think I wouldn’t watch it. The show is okay. There are slight tweaks to how we know the original characters. Sometimes, the tweaks felt refreshing. Other times it made me go WTFFFF, eww. Some animations/fights were crazy good.

Marvel’s Ultimate Spiderman on Hotstar is the best Spidey animation I’ve watched. Top puns, teamups, and cameos.

3/ Zero Day

Started the show because it’s new and trending on Netflix. Short, six-episode series - started off really good and it was set up for crazy good sci-fi. In the end, it wasn’t as big as I expected. I was hooked till the end and at no point it felt boring. Okay-ish.

Books:

1/ Make

I finally finished Make by Peiter Levels. Peiter does my kind of entrepreneurship. He builds multiple apps, solving small problems. They’re automated, generate MRR, and he keeps building new apps while auditing the existing websites from time to time.

Make is about how he does it and what one needs to get started. If you have no clue about building, this is a great book. If not, it’s pretty basic.

More than the book, I recommend this three-hour podcast.

Blogs and Newsletters:

1/ I asked Ayush to recommend a blog that’s dense and way beyond surface-level. A Smart Bear is my best discovery in February. Nothing even comes close.

2/ Oh man, I love Z-Axis. The way Nir explains complex concepts is a place I’d love to reach one day. Best writing, Best content, How AI works.

Discover more newsletters on Newsletter Hub.

Podcasts and YouTube:

1/ I discovered this channel: Odysseas. This guy talks about basic topics, but I love how he structures his video essays. Old school, methodical, and neat. I am binge-watching his videos to pick some structures.

2/ Acquired and WTF are probably the only business podcasts I listened to. Being the watch lover I am, I couldn’t resist when Acquired published this five-hour podcast on Rolex.

3/ I had an ankle sprain in December. Found Bob & Brad channel while I was educating myself about what happened and if I should consult a physio or not. It's like two cool college professors educating you about physical injuries.

That’s my February. I should clearly read more.

Have a great March. See ya!

Love,
Vikra.