The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20220705073752/https://boards.dingoonity.org/retro-game-350rg-350/nec-pc-9801-and-pc-9821-emulator-np2kai/

He drew a single star. Then another. Then a third. A groan went through the crowd. Rajan stood up. “Three? You gave that Hollywood flying-robot film four stars!”

“Four and a half,” he announced. “Not five. Why? Because the climax fight goes on too long. Lightning should be quick, like a good punchline. And because the sequel tease at the end—the American scientist watching on a monitor—that was not for Kurukkanmoola. That was for the world. And Minnal Murali does not need the world. The world needs him .”

That evening, as Sreedharan closed his shop, he saw a little boy in a yellow raincoat standing outside. The boy had a toy mask over his face—a red cloth with two eyeholes cut out.

Gasps. He had never given four stars in six years.