The American Dream, the upcoming Telugu film starring actors Prince Cecil and Neha Krishna, will premiere on the Aha streaming platform on Friday. The film’s trailer was released last week.
The film, written and directed by Vighnesh Koushik, is produced by Pradeep Reddy.
Speaking to Silverscreen India about his directorial debut, Vighnesh said “The film is a crime-comedy drama. It is a story about a guy from a middle-class family in India who goes to the US to chase after the American dream and make it big. This film is primarily about the hurdles he faces, the people he meets, and how he overcomes the challenges that are thrown at him. The film has a hint of a crime genre too.”
Vighnesh, who is based in the US, calls himself an engineer by profession and a filmmaker by passion. The filmmaker, who has also written the script for the film said that it is based on his own experiences of studying in the US.
“This was written during the pre-Covid time and we began the pre-production about 2.5 years ago. Right from day one, it was meant to be a project for Aha. I made a pilot in the US and sent it over to Aha. After Allu Aravind saw it, Aha gave the go-ahead. That was when the pandemic hit,” he added.
Vighnesh added that nearly all portions of the film were shot in the US, including places like Illinois, Chicago, Indiana, among others, with a few days of shoot in Hyderabad, India as well. It was filmed in over a month in November 2021 and is currently in the final stages of post-production.
While Prince Cecil, who also acted in the pilot project, is the lead actor, for the other roles, the team picked US-based actors. This decision was taken due to the Covid-19 related restrictions. Neha Krishna plays the female lead, with veteran actor Subhalekha Sudhakar essaying Prince’s father. The music is composed by Abhinay TJ and the film features three songs. Sasank Vupputuri is the editor.
“People from both the Telugu states are film fanatics, with cinema being the major source of entertainment. We like to watch every film in the theatres, but the rise of technology and the growth in streaming have created a major revolution. It gives filmmakers, like me, who cannot afford to take risks, an opportunity to pursue a safe career path. OTT platforms give an opportunity to venture into mainstream cinema because even they want fresh content,” Vighnesh added.
Mj Rodriguez became the first-ever trans woman actor to win the Golden Globes, that was held on Sunday. Rodriguez won in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Drama category for her show Pose.
Calling herself a “young Black Latina girl from Newark, New Jersey who had a dream,” in an Instagram post, Rodriguez said that her win will open the door for many young talented individuals. “They will see that it is more than possible,” she wrote.
Netflix’s The Power of the Dog bagged the best film award as well as the best director award for Jane Campion, while Kodi Smit-McPhee won in the supporting actor category for his role in the film.
The 2022 edition of the Golden Globes also saw Will Smith receive the Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama award for his film King Richard, while Nicole Kidman won Best Actress in the same category for Being the Ricardos. Other actors of colour who were honoured included O Yeong-su of Squid Game, who won Best Supporting Actor – Television, and Ariana DeBose and Rachel Zegler of Steven Spielberg‘s West Side Story, who bagged awards in the supporting and lead actor categories, respectively.
Amazon Prime Video’s Black-led show The Underground Railroad won in the Best Television Limited Series category.
Japan’s Drive My Car bagged the best film award in the non-English language category.
HBO’s television drama show on the family of a media mogul, Succession, won three of its five nominations. It was named Best Television Series, and two of its actors, Jeremy Strong and Sarah Snook, won in the lead and supporting acting categories, respectively.
Disney’s Encanto won the Best Animated Motion Picture Award.
Photo Caption: HFPA President Helen Hoehne and rapper Snoop Dogg at the event to announce the nominations; Credit: Golden Globes
However, despite the Golden Globes this year reflecting more diversity than heretofore, its curator Hollywood Foreign Press Association was still shunned by the industry at large. Though all the major studios won at least one award, none acknowledged their wins.
The HFPA-curated event was also forced to proceed with no audience, including celebrities or media, for the first time ever owing to the controversy that the association has been embroiled in since 2021.
After an LA Times investigation revealed in February last year, that there were no Black members among the 87 HFPA members, the association was criticised for its lack of diversity, which many said was also reflected in its awarding decisions.
The 2021 Golden Globe nominations, for instance, were called out for not including the Black-led films Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Da 5 Bloods, both of which were Oscar frontrunners.
Although the 2021 edition of the awards was conducted without any impediments, as the criticisms around the HFPA grew following the LA Times report, actor Tom Cruisereturned his three Golden Globe awards, while stars such as Scarlett Johansson and Mark Ruffalo asked others in Hollywood to “step back” from the HFPA.
Following all the criticism, the HFPA attempted to revamp its organisation and membership structure, and introduced reforms aimed at ensuring diversity. However, these moves proved to not be good enough and the boycott against the association ended up affecting this year’s edition of the Golden Globes.
When the 2022 nominations were announced, the HFPA was given the cold shoulder by the likes of Netflix, Amazon Studios, and Warner Bros, which acknowledged the Critics Choice Awards nods that were announced the same day, but not the Golden Globes.
And on Sunday, with zero celebrities in attendance and almost the entire film industry boycotting it – notable exceptions being actors Jamie Lee Curtis and Arnold Schwarzenneger, who shared virtual notes on the event – the association brought on board members of the non-profit organisations that the HFPA provides grants and funds for, as award presenters.
Moreover, with its broadcasting partner gone, the HFPA was left with no other option but to limit itself to announcing the winners on social media and on its official website.
Actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel, Ralph Fiennes and Ben Kingsley are set to star in an upcoming film directed by Wes Anderson. The feature film will be an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s short story collection The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More, according toThe Hollywood Reporter.
The upcoming project is for Netflix, the report adds, although it has not yet been announced officially by the streaming platform.
While Dahl is primarily known for his children’s books, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More consists of seven short stories meant for a slightly older audience. One of the stories revolves around the titular Henry Sugar, who gains the ability to see through things with his eyes closed and predict the future. Cumberbatch will reportedly be portraying this character, and THR also adds that the actor will be playing multiple roles as a ‘link’ to other stories. The roles to be essayed by the other actors are not yet known.
Anderson has written the script and the film’s shooting is set to start in January, in London. It is to be noted that the filmmaker previously adapted the author’s Fantastic Mr. Fox in 2009, as a stop-motion animated comedy film.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More is not the only work of Dahl that is being adapted by Netflix. The streaming service acquired the entire catalogue of Dahl’s works in Fall 2021.
Earlier, in January 2021, it was announced that Emma Thompson, the Academy Award-winning British actor, and filmmaker Matthew Warchus would be collaborating on the Netflix original film Matilda, based on Dahl’s classic story of the same name. Thompson will be playing the role of cruel school headmistress Miss Trunchbull, while Alisha Weir will essay the titular role of gifted young girl Matilda and Lashana Lynch from Captain Marvel will be playing Miss Honey, the kind school teacher.
However, the THR report notes that Anderson’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More adaptation will be the first Dahl project to go on floors for Netflix since it acquired the author’s catalogue.
The third wave of the coronavirus pandemic in India has resulted in the postponement of several big-budget film releases.
The release of SS Rajamouli’s highly anticipated film RRR, is postponed and the makers are yet to announce a new release date. Prabhas and Pooja Hegde‘s Radhe Shyam that was scheduled to hit theatres on January 14, will now release at a later date. So willAjith Kumar‘s Valimai, which was earlier scheduled to release in theatres a day ahead of Radhe Shyam.
Cinemas across the country are either shutting down or operating at 50% capacity owing to the Covid-related restrictions.
Films that previously released in theatres and continue their run include Pushpa, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and 83. The audience has been selective despite the lack of content. While 83 failed to draw footfall, the Marvel superhero flick and the Telugu-language film raked in huge numbers. No Way Home has collected over $1 billion worldwide, and has become the third Hollywood film in India to cross the Rs 200 crore mark. Pushpa, meanwhile, became the seventh South-Indian film ever to make it to the 200 crore club.
Silverscreen India brings to you, a compilation of reviews of films that released in cinemas last week:
The Girish AD-directorial revolves around a fresher college student, Sharanya, who moves out of her home to pursue engineering in Thrissur, and the shortcomings she faces in a bid to cope with her surroundings. It features actors Anaswara Rajan in the titular role, while Arjun Asokan, Sneha Babu, Mamitha Baiju, and Naslen play the supporting roles.
For Aswathy Gopalakrishnan of Silverscreen India, while the film comes with a terrific former half, edited to a delicious rhythm, splashed with a great sense of humour, it ends as a thoroughly underwhelming work, thanks to the screenplay’s shortsightedness.
“Super Sharanya’s Achilles Heel is a poorly-written romantic track on which Girish pins the future of his heroine,” Gopalakrishnan writes. She refers to the shift in focus from the trials and trebulations of an adolescent, to the protagonist’s reduction to a meek lover that fails to carry the pace with which the film started.
Goutham VS of The Indian Express notes that the film does not bother to explain the title, and why Sharanya’s character is called super. He points to a lack of character development when the plot shifts to the protagonist’s romantic life.
SR Praveen of The Hindu reflected similar sentiments as the other two reviewers, and writes, “while the first half is quite pacy, with a good dose of humour, the script meanders aimlessly later on, not even justifying the run-time of 164 minutes.”
He calls the climax disappointing for retracting to the typical old-school romantic drama.
All the three reviewers compared the film with Girish’s debut, Thaneer Mathan Dinangal, that also focused on the adolescent mind and behaviour. While the shift from the male (in the first film) to the female perspective (in Super Sharanya) is lauded, they criticise the film for downgrading the plot development by shifting its focus.
Directed by debutante Aswin Raam, Anbarivu features musician-actor Hiphop Tamizha Adhi, Kashmira Pardeshi, Shivani Rajashekar, among others, in prominent roles.
Anbu and Arivu are twins, separated as infants. Anbu stays with his mom and grandpa, growing up rugged. Arivu lives with his father in Canada. Incidents force the twins to switch family. Their attempts of reuniting their family forms the premise, according to IMDb‘s synopsis of the film.
Vishal Menon of Film Companion, notes that the film suffers from the saviour complex, and is hardly any different from Adhi’s last release Sivakumarin Sabadham.
He writes “In Anbarivu, there’s hardly any difference between Anbu or Arivu or the Aadhi from the films he’s done before. Accents come and go and even laboured gags of a Maduraikaaran in Canada offers nothing new.”
For Ashameera Aiyappan of Firstpost, the film suffers from issues of execution. She highlighted the tokenistic existence of female characters in the film.
Although multiple films have faced delayed their release, some others might stick to the scheduled release dates. Malayalam films like Salute, Thuramukham, Hridayam, and Naaradhan are scheduled to release on January 14, 20, 21, and 27, respectively.
Actor Priyamani, who was last seen in Narappa, the Telugu remake ofAsuran, will be starring in the upcoming Telugu film Bhamakalapam that will premiere on the streaming platform Aha.
Bhamakalapam is directed by first-time filmmaker Abhimanyu. Speaking to Silverscreen India, he said “It is a dark comedy thriller film about a nosy housewife, who gets into trouble due to her character and how she overcomes it. Priyamani plays the main character of the housewife and most of the story happens within an apartment complex in Hyderabad, with a bunch of characters.”
Abhimanyu had written the script during the lockdown, about a year ago and had pitched it to SVCC Digital, who later teamed up with Aha, green-lighting the project.
The filmmaker mentioned, “Bhamakalapam means a play of women and we have a handful of female characters in the film and the plot is driven by all these women primarily. The main character is a middle-aged housewife in her 30s, and Priyamani was one of the top three names that popped up. Apart from her, actors Sharanya Pradeep, Shanthi Rao, Pandian will also be seen in prominent roles.”
Jay Krishna, who has written the dialogues for the film, said that it is the first time he is working on a project in the thriller genre. “This is more of a story-based comedy and has funny situations. There are deep characterisations, which makes writing the dialogues easier since the sketch of roles is already given.”
The film went on the floors in September 2021 and was completed in December. It was shot by cinematographer Deepak Yaragera and Justin Prabakaran has composed two songs for the film, with Mark K Robin scoring the background music. Bhamakalapam is in the post-production stages, currently. The release date has not yet been announced but is expected to stream on Aha in February.
With Covid-19 cases increasing exponentially in the country, several states, including Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, have imposed restrictions on how theatres function.
With the Delhi government shuting down its cinema halls and occupancy being capped at 50% in several states, big-budget films like Radhe Shyam, RRR and Jersey, which were slated to release in theatres in January, have been postponed. The situation has also led to uncertainty regarding the release of other films, including Ajith Kumar-starrer Valimai.
With the current situation, it is likely that several films might opt for an OTT release. Here are seven new films and shows releasing on OTT platforms this week:
1. Hype House Season 1 – Netflix (January 7)
Hype House is a collective of TikTok personalities based in Los Angeles. The Netflix series will give an inside look at social media’s most talked-about stars as they navigate love, fame and friendship while creating content and living together.
2. Dear Mother – Netflix (January 11)
Dear Motherrevolves around Jean-Louis, whose heart stops beating. With the help of his wife and a friend, he tries to understand the origin of this mystery. He must also confront his Oedipal issues and ask his mother an unthinkable question.
El Deafofollows young Cece as she loses her hearing and finds her inner superhero. Going to school and making new friends can be tough. Having to do both while wearing a bulky hearing aid on your chest? With a little help from her superhero alter ego, El Deafo, Cece learns to embrace what makes her extraordinary.
5. Kaun Banegi Shikharwati – Zee5 (January 7)
In Kaun Banegi Shikharwati, a former king, who has a dysfunctional family, devises an outlandish plan to unite his estranged daughters. Meanwhile, an income tax investigation looms over the palace’s hidden treasure
7. The Tender Bar – Amazon Prime Video (January 7)
Directed by George Clooney and based on the best-selling memoir of the same name, The Tender Barfollows an aspiring writer pursuing his romantic and professional dreams. From a stool in his uncle’s bar, he learns what it means to grow up from a colorful group of local characters.
Pushpa: The Rise, the pan-Indian film starring Telugu actor Allu Arjun in the lead role and which released in theatres in December 2021, is set to stream on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, post its theatrical run, a source in the know confirmed to Silverscreen India on the condition of anonymity.
The first part of Pushpa, which was released on December 17, features Allu Arjun as the titular character Pushpa Raj. Produced by Mythri Movie Makers and directed by filmmaker Sukumar, the film is set against the backdrop of red sandalwood smuggling. Besides Allu Arjun, the film also stars actors Rashmika Mandanna and Fahadh Faasil, while Samantha Ruth Prabhu makes a guest appearance in a special song.
Speaking to us, the source said, “Amazon Prime Video has bagged the streaming rights of Pushpa and the tentative date as per agreements with producer, to stream the film, is January 7. Pushpa has fetched a total of Rs 250 crore which includes all language theatrical rights, OTT rights, audio and satellite rights.”
Soon after Silverscreen India got the confirmation, on Wednesday afternoon, the streaming service announced officially that the film will premiere on the platform on Friday. It is available to watch from 8 pm onwards in Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Tamil.
Pushpa was met with tremendous success at the box office upon its release. While it entered the 100-crore club within a couple of days of its opening, it also became the seventh South Indian film ever to cross the Rs 200-crore mark at the box office. It also became the biggest film in India in the post-pandemic era, surpassing the nett collections of the Marvel film Spiderman – No Way Home.
Apart from its home turf, which is the two Telugu-speaking states, Pushpa also released in Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi in other states. The film’s Hindi-dubbed version has also performed remarkably well, earning over Rs 15 crore in its third weekend, bringing up its total to Rs 62 crore overall. Pushpa in Hindi has performed particularly well in the Northern markets of Maharashtra, Gujarat/Saurashtra, and Odisha, and could potentially surpass Sooryavanshi in some regions in the long run.
Irked by the “offensive” and “stereotypical” portrayal of a Ukrainian character in the second season of Netflix‘s Emily in Paris, Ukraine’s cultural minister Oleksandr Tkachenko has issued a complaint to the streaming service, The Guardian reported.
Made by Sex and the City creator Darren Star, Emily in Paris follows the life of the titular character, played by Lilly Collins, a marketing executive who is hired by a Parisian agency Savoir. The first season aired in October 2020. Subsequently, the second season of the show premiered on Netflix on December 22, 2021. Both the seasons are primarily set in Paris.
While the first season was a huge hit in the US, the series was criticised, particularly in France, for stereotypical portrayal of the city and its residents. Several local reviewers and critics lashed out at the show for portraying and normalising cliches about French culture.
The show’s makers, this time, are facing backlash over the problematic portrayal of a character named Petra, a Ukrainian woman in Emily’s French study class.
In the show, Petra, played by Ukrainian actor Daria Panchenko, is afraid of being deported and has bad fashion sense (in a show with well-dressed characters). She is also shown stealing expensive clothes and accessories while she is out shopping with Emily in one of the scenes.
Taking offence to the portrayal, Tkachenko according to a Mirror report, said in a Telegram post “In the 1990s and 2000s, Ukrainian guys were portrayed mainly as gangsters. Over time this has changed. However, not in this case.”
“In Emily in Paris we have a caricature of a Ukrainian woman which is unacceptable. It is also offensive. Is that how Ukrainians are seen abroad? (As people) who steal, want to get everything for free, be afraid of deportation? This should not be so,” he added.
Speaking to the publication about Netflix’s responce to the complaint letter, Tkachenko said “They thanked me for the feedback. But they heard about the concern of Ukrainian viewers with the image of a Ukrainian woman. We agreed that in 2022, we will be in close contact to prevent such cases.”
Collins, in an interview with Elle UK, in December before the release of the second season of the show, had said that the creators have made changes in terms of representation following the criticism that the first season garnered.
“For me as Emily, but also as a producer on [the show], after season one, hearing people’s thoughts, concerns, questions, likes, dislikes, just feelings about it, there were certain things that spoke to the time that we’re living in and what’s right, and moral and correct and should be done. And [that was] something that I felt passionate about. [The producers] all believed in the same things. And I really wanted diversity and inclusion in front of and behind the camera to be something that we really put our focus on, in a lot of ways. Hiring new people in front of the camera, also giving new storylines to different characters, which was really important,” she said.
Just as Indian cinema had seemingly found a nice balance between theatres and OTT, with a big-screen release like Pushpa and Netflix’s Minnal Murali receiving equal praise, the country has been hit by the Omicron variant of Covid-19 leaving the film industry in disarray. States like Kerala, Delhi, Karnataka, and Maharashtra have announced various restrictions like night curfews and the shutting down of theatres. This has led to much uncertainty surrounding upcoming theatrical releases.
SS Rajamouli’s RRR appears to be on track for its January 7 release as of now, but Shahid Kapoor-led Jersey, which was supposed to hit theatres on Friday, has been postponed.
With Omicron leaving the fate of theatres in question, it is likely that more films will opt for a direct-digital release.
On that note, Silverscreen India brings you a list of six upcoming films and shows that are releasing on OTT platforms this week.
1. Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts(January 1) – Amazon Prime Video
Set to premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video on New Year’s Day in India, this reunion special is a first for the Harry Potter franchise. It will focus on the personal accounts of the actors who essayed the films’ three primary characters: Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Rupert Grint (Ronald Weasley), and Emma Watson (Hermione Granger).
Additionally, several other notable film alumni will be joining the special, such as producer David Heyman, filmmakers Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell and David Yates, and actors Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Fiennes, Gary Oldman, Tom Felton, and many more. The special is produced by Warner Bros.
An Aha original, Senapathi is a Telugu film starring veteran actor Rajendra Prasad in the lead role. In a previous conversation with Silverscreen India, director Pavan Sadineni mentioned that Senapathi is a crime drama that is loosely inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s 1949 Japanese film, Stray Dog.
The film marks the OTT debut of Rajendra Prasad, and it is produced by Sushmitha Konidela and Vishnu Prasad under Gold Box Entertainments.
3. Stay Close (December 31) – Netflix
Starring Cush Jumbo, James Nesbitt, Richard Armitage, Stay Close is a mini-series that Netflix calls,“ominous, suspenseful, emotional.” As per IMDb, it follows the lives of three people – a photojournalist, a soccer mom, and a homicide detective – who get affected by a “terrible event” from the past.
4. Kitz(December 31) – Netflix
According to Netflix, Kitz revolves around a waitress from Kitzbühel, who seeks revenge on the girl she blames for her brother’s death. Do to so, she infiltrates the “glitzy world of a group of wealthy Munich teens.” Created by Nikolaus Schulz-Dornburg and Vitus Reinbold, this German suspense drama series features actors Sofie Eifertinger, Bless Amada, and Valerie Huber.
5. Keshu Ee Veedinte Nadhan(December 31) – Disney+ Hotstar
Starring Malayalam actor Dileep, who has been accused of sexual assault, Keshu Ee Veedinte Nadhan is directed by Nadhirsha and written by Sajeev Pazhoor. The comedy-drama also features an ensemble cast that includes actors Urvasi, Harisree Ashokan, Jaffer Idukki, Kottayam Nazeer, Kalabhavan Shajon, Hareesh Kanaran, Anusree, and Swasika.
6. Cobra Kai Season 4(Netflix) – December 31
The fourth season of the American martial arts comedy-drama Cobra Kai will release on New Year’s Eve. The series is a sequel to The Karate Kid films. Created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, it stars Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, and Xolo Maridueña. The series’ plotline on Netflix reads: “Decades after the tournament that changed their lives, the rivalry between Johnny and Daniel reignites.”
Actor Naga Chaitanya, who was last seen in Sekhar Kammula’s film Love Story, is set to collaborate with filmmaker Vikram K Kumar on a web series, a source close to the makers confirmed to Silverscreen India on condition of anonymity.
This project will mark the actor’s debut in the OTT space.
While official word on this is still awaited from the makers, our source tells us the upcoming series will stream on the Amazon Prime Video platform. “The web series will go on floors next month, January 2022. It belongs to the thriller genre. The pre-production work is nearing completion and the team is almost ready to go for the shoot,” adds the source.
Before the series goes on floors, the actor-director duo of Naga Chaitanya and Vikram Kumar will be resuming the shooting schedule for their upcoming film, Thank You. According to the source, the last schedule of the film will begin in mid-January and the makers are looking to wrap up filming by February.
Thank You is a romantic comedy film based on a screenplay written by BVS Ravi. It is produced by Dil Raju. With SS Thaman scoring the music, the film has veteran cinematographer PC Sreeram handling the camera. Raashi Khanna plays the female lead opposite Chaitanya.
“From February, the promotions for Thank You will begin, and we want to start promoting the Amazon series by May-June, by which time we should have a sizeable amount of work done for it,” the source adds.
Apart from Thank You and the web series, Chaitanya also has a couple of other projects lined up. He will be sharing screen space with his father Nagarjuna in the upcoming film Bangarraju, and is set to make his Hindi debut with Laal Singh Chaddha.
In the last couple of years, Netflix has dominated the Christmas movie space by releasing a whole range of movies for the festive season. Starting from early November, viewers are bombarded with over-the-top, cheesy romantic films set amidst snowy, picturesque landscapes. Movies like A Christmas Prince and Holidate are testament to this.
This year, the streaming platform released over 15 such movies in a span of two months. Some of them were new releases, while some were older Christmas films that Netflix chose to distribute, in time for the festive season. For instance, the Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding starrer Last Christmas (2019) arrived on Netflix in mid-November. The film’s plot was drab and it ultimately turned out to be a disservice for its viewers, due to its shocking twist at the end of the movie.
The streaming platform continued its tradition of releasing Christmas movies in other languages as well, this year. 1000 Miles from Christmas is a Spanish film, while The Claus Family (2020) was in Dutch.
As this year’s Christmas season comes to a close, Silverscreen India ranks all the new Christmas movies released by Netflix in 2021 from best to worst.
1. A Boy Called Christmas
Based on Matt Haig’s bestselling book of the same name, A Boy Called Christmas is the origin story of Santa Claus. Three young children are left in the care of their aunt Ruth (Maggie Smith), after their single father is called away on urgent business. To keep their spirits up, aunt Ruth tells them a story of how Christmas traditions came into being. She spins a tale of a young boy Nicholas (Henry Lawfull) who has lost his mother recently. After his woodcutter father Joel (Michiel Huisman) disappears to find the mystical land of Elfhelm, Nicholas tries to find him with his trusty mouse and reindeer.
While the plot of A Boy Called Christmas is not groundbreaking, its heartfelt storytelling from Maggie Smith, endearing characters, a star-studded cast including Kristen Wiig and Stephen Merchant, and great visual effects make it the best Christmas movie of this year.
Starring Nina Dobrev as a perpetually single journalist Natalie Bauer, Love Hard is a Christmas movie about a catfish situation. In order to get out of her dating rut and find someone good, Natalie signs up on a dating app where she discovers Josh Lin’s (Darren Barnett) profile. Feeling that she has finally found the one, she flies to his hometown to surprise him and discovers that she has been catfished. Moreover, she finds that the real Josh (Jimmy O Yang) is nothing like she expected him to be. (Well, obviously).
It might be surprising to see Love Hard rank so high on the list but it is a breezy and lighthearted film that does not take itself seriously. The plot is riddled with cliches but the movie does capture the Christmas spirit through montages of caroling, traditional dinners, and matching Christmas pajamas.
3. Single All The Way
Last year when queer romantic comedy The Happiest Season was released during the Christmas season, it managed to boot every rom-com cliché in the book. While Single All The Way sticks to a conventional plot, its queer-focused romantic storyline is refreshing and the movie does it effortlessly.
Social media manager Peter (Michael Urie) is planning to go home for the holidays but does not want his parents to think that he is still single. So, he persuades his best friend Nick (Philemon Chambers) to pose as his new boyfriend.
As we said, there is nothing new about this plot and the acting and dialogues could seem cringey, at times. But in the spirit of Christmas, it is a fun holiday movie watch, with an added bonus of Jennifer Coolidge’s performance as aunt Sandy.
4. A California Christmas: City Lights
Credits: Netflix
The sequel to last year’s A California Christmas, this film follows the wealthy Joseph (Josh Swickard) and his girlfriend Callie’s (Lauren Swickard) relationship. After dating for a whole year on Callie’s farm, Joseph proposes marriage. However, the engaged couple has a tough time ahead of them after Joseph is called to San Francisco due to familial obligations.
The movie relies on the easy chemistry between the leads and it works. The problems between the couple are non-existent but it is still engaging to watch, as the film deviates from the usual snow-covered setting that Christmas films thrive on. It is almost always warm and this is a refreshing change. A California Christmas: City Lights is yet another sappy romantic comedy but this time around, it does not make for a bad watch.
5. A Castle for Christmas
A renowned author Sophie (Brooke Shields) faces a career crisis after receiving backlash for killing her series’ main character. In order to escape from this, she travels to Scotland to find the castle where her father worked as a groundskeeper. She falls in love with the castle and wishes to buy it but finds herself at loggerheads with the duke who owns it.
Nothing ever happens in A Castle for Christmas and this is exactly why the film is tolerable and ranks in the middle. Plus, Brooke Shields and her enviable eyebrows are always fun to look at.
6. David and the Elves
Credits: IMDB
In this Polish comedy, David is a young boy whose parents never seem to have time to celebrate Christmas. When he runs into Albert, an elf who has left the North Pole, the two team up to try and track David’s grandparents.
David and the Elves is one of those movies that you can watch while you are in the next room and one would not have missed a thing. With a bland storyline, mediocre performances, and a surprising number of profanities from the characters, this movie fails to invoke the Christmas spirit.
Four sisters reunite for Christmas vacation in a mansion but they just do not seem to get along. To make matters worse, their estranged father shows up out of the blue, casting a huge shadow over their holiday plans.
Ideally, Christmas movies are supposed to be joyful to watch but this film is filled with endless amounts of drama and bickering that it almost becomes frustrating for its viewers. It is also ironic that all their surnames are Christmas but none of their actions seem to invoke any sense of warmth or merriment.
8. 1000 Miles from Christmas
Credits: Netflix
1000 Miles from Christmas is riddled with so many cliches that it becomes hard to overlook it, in the spirit of its genre. A 30-something man Raul (Tamar Novas) who is cynical about the festival is sent to a small town for work. Over there, he meets a woman who sets out to change his perspective on the holiday.
A typical story of the Grinch who hates Christmas and the village that adores it, this film is boring and unoriginal. Plus, the main character Raul’s unlikeable and cynical nature is the driving force for why viewers will not be able to sit through the film.
9. The Princess Switch 3: Romancing The Star
Ranking last, this last installment in the Princess Switch series is unbearable from start to finish. Perhaps, it is the non-existent plot and conflict, bad writing, or the fact that there are three Vanessa Hudgens personas. A precious Christmas artifact gets stolen in the fictional land of Montenaro, and the three Vanessa Hudgens team up to retrieve it.
The film is a mind-numbing watch with endless swapping among the three (apparently, different) characters and the supporting cast doing very little to entertain the audiences. If Princess Switch 3 teaches us anything, it is that the makers should have stopped with the first one.
Netflix has announced that the second season of Bridgerton will premiere on March 25 next year. The announcement about the return of the period drama series’ was made on Christmas Day coinciding with the one-year anniversary of the show’s debut. Bridgerton has been produced by Shondaland, a production company run by television writer and producer Shonda Rhimes.
Netflix released a short 51-second video featuring the cast members for the announcement.
This season features actors Jonathan Bailey, Simone Ashley, Charithra Chandran in the lead. According to a report by Deadline, the new season will focus on Lord Anthony Bridgerton’s (Bailey) search to find a suitable wife. When Kate Sharma (Ashley) arrives from India, he begins to court her younger sister Edwina (Chandran). However, Kate decides to thwart their courtship after she discovers that his intentions are questionable.
Speaking about the new season to Variety, executive producer Shonda Rhimes said, “I think there’s a powerful, interesting, romantic couple at the heart of it. They’re an incredibly interesting and exciting pair. I like to watch them.”
The series also stars Adjoa Andoh, Lorraine Ashbourne, Harriet Cains, Bessie Carter, Shelley Conn, Nicola Coughlan, and Phoebe Dynevor. Actor Julie Andrews will also return as the voice of the character Lady Whistledown.
Based on the best-selling novels by author Julia Quinn, the first season was watched by 82 million households around the world.
The success of Bridgerton led to the creation of a spin-off series focusing on the character Queen Charlotte who has been portrayed by actor Golda Rosheuvel. Apart from this, the show has also been renewed for a third and fourth season.
Bridgerton is created by Chis Van Dusen who also serves as the showrunner. However, this season will be his final one and the show’s writer Jess Brownwell will be taking over for him in the following seasons.
Since its premiere last year, the show has been praised for its racially inclusive cast and garnered nominations in categories such as Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Period Costumes at this year’s Emmy Awards.
Aanand L Rai and his writing partner, Himanshu Sharma, rarely ever make a simple film. Their first outing with Dhanush,Raanjhanaa, is deemed problematic, but the writing informs the characters and their decisions. The point is not to compare Kundan’s mistakes against Zoya’s and see who is more wrong. At least, that is not the filmmaker’s point. He is fine with the mess staying a mess, which is why it is never easy to feel one thing, and only one thing, about his films.Atrangi Reis no different. It is a mess too and can be endearingly so at times. But, unlikeZeroor Tanu weds Manu, the writing isn’t rooted enough to make the mess feel inevitable or entertaining.
Vishu (Dhanush), short for S Venkatesh Vishwanath Iyer – not that long a name, but that never stopped a Hindi-speaker from making fun of it, is studying in IMS Delhi to be a doctor. He is in a relationship with his Dean’s daughter, Mandy, and is on the way to his engagement when he’s kidnapped and made to marry Rinku (Sara Ali Khan). Rinku is a young Bihari woman who has failed to run away from her house at least a few dozen times. The rest of the film is about the man she is running towards and what happens when she catches feelings for someone else on her way.
When we are first introduced to Rinku, she is running. Away from her home, but towards the camera. For a moment, I thought she was playing a bad actor in a film within the film. Sara Ali Khan is hyper-aware of the camera’s gaze; she is so pleased with the fact that she’s an actor that she tends to overdo it. But, for a change, it works for her. As someone who is trying to outrun her pain and family, it is understandable that she doesn’t know how to underplay her emotions. She is theatrangi, after all. She has to bring all the colours because Vishu barely has any. Even if Dhanush tries and partially succeeds in conveying this man’s psyche – someone who is so sheltered that he jumps at the first opportunity to fall head over heels in love with an exciting woman, there is barely any convincing reason for him to behave the way he does. Even Akshay Kumar isn’t as sparkly as the magic around him suggests.
This isn’t to say that there isn’t anything good about the film. An Anand Rai film is rarely without merit. See how Dhanush’s broken Hindi informs Vishu’s bad Hindi. And his Tamil isn’t ornamental either. Vishu speaks long stretches in Tamil when he is faced with an extreme situation. Not just that, the language barrier is used interestingly between the couple. When Vishu wants to express his love for Rinku but doesn’t want her to understand it, he says it in Tamil. But when he wants Rinku and the audience to know that he shares an affinity for her, he switches to Hindi. The film is also clever in the way it delays the reveal. The Sara that’s with Sajjaad looks slightly different from Rinku, but we don’t think much of it until we find out that she is her mother.
Even so, I didn’t appreciate the way the film chooses to follow Vishu’s journey closely instead of Rinku’s. Why write a complex person with an interesting character arc when you are busy empathising with the simple man in love with her? If only the film chose to work from the PoV of Rinku, with only sporadic glimpses into Vishu’s pain as a man in love with her, we would’ve gotten a thorough understanding of her trauma and the film would’ve been better for it. Not that we can blame it, but the film is preoccupied with Dhanush. Yet, Vishu holds his left cheek lovingly while celebrating a kiss planted by Rinku on his right cheek. I mean, that’s just amateur hour.
As the film ends, the credits begin to roll with ‘A film by AR Rahman‘, followed by the names of the filmmaker, writer, and producers. This is rather fitting because, without Rahman’s music and Kamil’skaabil words,Atragi Re would’ve failed to convince us of anything it intended to. At a vital point in the film, where the viewer is introduced to the plot twist and is invited to gradually learn more about it, Arjith Singh knowingly croons: “Dil thoda jazbaati hai//Bhar jaata hai baaton se.” As if mental illness is just a side-effect of having a passionate and feeling heart and not an actual health issue that needs medical supervision. As much as I appreciated the well-placed verse that made my eyes well up, that is also the issue I had withAtrangi Re. Despite having a protagonist who is a doctor and a best friend who is a psychiatrist, his first reaction when he encounters a patient is to put her in a museum – the film’s take on trauma and mental health is comically offensive and uneducated.
*****
This Atrangi Re review is a Silverscreen original article. It was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the movie. Silverscreen.in and its writers do not have any commercial relationship with movies that are reviewed on the site.
In Basil Joseph’s Minnal Murali, Kurukkanmoola, a remote Kerala village, turns into a theatre for a clash between two children of the same god. Jaison (Tovino Thomas), a friendly young man, and Shibu (Guru Somasundaram), the depraved pariah of the village, both get struck by an unusual bolt of lightning one night that grants them superpowers. Thereafter, their everyday problems become the epicentre of a greater calamity, the showdown of which happens in a well-choreographed climax sequence.
However, Minnal Murali’s apex isn’t its humour or action sequences, but a penultimate scene where an unrequited love finds a tender closure. The man opens up about his feelings, the woman listens. She cries and pats his cheeks. He promises that he will never leave her side. When he walks out to what could be his death, she watches through the window. That night, he will be exposed before the world, but he does not care for she has seen his soul. An unlikely moment in a superhero movie where the film declares that its heart lies not with the eponymous hero but with the antagonist.
Basil in his third film as director, looks unrecognisable, largely thanks to cinematographer Sameer Thahir. His camera stays rooted and emotional, with an uncompromising eye on the story, well removed from flamboyance. There are some excellent sequences, such as the one where the old tailor and his foster son talk about a man who sacrificed his life for others. The subdued music, careful editing and Thahir’s brilliant camerawork turn a burning green room into the sacred venue of a divine act.
From the outside, the contrast between Jaison and Shibu seems too familiar, too reminiscent of American movies. The former is the chosen hero. The latter, his dark alter ego. The fateful bolt of lightning that fell on them looks like a prank played by the universe. Shibu’s deep-rooted nihilism will be challenged by Jaison’s faith in the goodness of life. But the film has an amusingly-different interior.
The two characters are not driven by material ambitions or masculinity-related issues but by a deeply personal quest for love. Basil and his writers, Arun Anirudhan and Justin Mathew, substitute the pessimism of Western superhero movies with scenes about empathy and romance.
Basil draws familiar elements from popular movies (CID Moosa, Naran), to tap into Malayali nostalgia. The first song sequence in the film has a campy, comic-book texture. The film’s selling point, its localness, evokes too much déjà vu. The quirky elements – Jaison’s peculiar sense of fashion and the presence of a female martial artist in a village square, or the pop-coloured walls and the placement of popular Malayalam film songs in different situations – have come to be too typical a set-up in new generation Malayalam cinema. Look at the scene where the men of the village, dressed up for Christmas carol, barge into the government hospital because their Santa Claus has met with an accident. The joke is murdered by the familiarity of the idea.
But the narrative maintains an interesting restraint. It criss-crosses between Jaison’s and Shibu’s life, and between the past and the present. The differences between the two emerge from the contrasting treatments their near-identical childhoods received from society. Jaison, an orphan, was adopted by a kind local tailor. Shibu, abandoned by his father, starved for three days after which he resurrected (the film does not reveal how). The village is kind towards Jaison, an exhibitionist. Shibu always stayed in the shadows. Jaison looks like he had been preparing for his superhero avatar all his life. His biceps, chest and sculpted calf muscles announce his arrival before he delivers the first punch. Shibu’s power lies hidden, unmasked only occasionally by a new, confident grin on his face.
Shibu’s fascinating character arc compensates for the innate cliche of Jaison’s construct. The former looks like a piece that walked out from a museum, carrying relics from his past around. A photograph in his torn, penniless purse, a decades-old pencil portrait treasured at home, and the tag of inherited insanity the villagers have attached to him. His transformation into a super-villain is seamless and poignant.
Tovino Thomas has an easily likeable quality which comes in handy in Minnal Murali, where he plays a puerile man-child. He does not let his tough physique come in the way of Jaison’s subdued quality; there is so much gentleness in his eyes. Sometimes, he is the second fiddle to Bruce Lee Biji (Femina George), his close friend, who gets a delicious part in the climactic scene. While fighting Shibu, Jaison does not emit a heroic scream or a macho glare but stays as boyish and uneasy as he had always been.
But Guru Somasundaram’s semi-theatrical, immensely-gratifying performance is the real gift to the viewers. He brings to the screen the force of a wounded animal. When Usha (Shelly Kishore) bestows on him the smallest acts of kindness and love, Shibu is taken aback and overwhelmed, like someone who has never known tenderness. He is majestic, in perfect sync with the film’s grand scale.
On reading a little into the plot of Minnal Murali, one could see that the localness of the film is not limited to its setting. Its parochial view on bloodline reflects a mentality that is essentially casteist. Jaison, the son of a hero, ends up becoming a hero. Shibu, the son of an outcast, sets out to burn the village. The characters are trapped in their ancestry. Incidentally, the giant wheel placed in the background of the climactic fight resembles the circular nature of their lives. The lightning must have been a work of the universe, but Shibu and Jaison end up living a life that an utterly insular society designed for them.
*****
This Minnal Murali review is a Silverscreen original article. It was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the movie. Silverscreen.in and its writers do not have any commercial relationship with movies that are reviewed on the site.
An uncensored version of Churuli, director Lijo Jose Pellissery‘s Malayalam film, premiered on the SonyLIV OTT platform, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) told the Kerala High Court on Wednesday.
The court had issued notices to the CBFC and the film’s makers on December 9 with regards to a plea filed by a lawyer named Peggy Fen over the usage of offensive words in Churuli.
In response to this, CBFC’s lawyer told Justice PV Kunhikrishnan on Wednesday that while a censored version of the film was cleared for public viewing with an ‘A’ certificate, what was eventually released on the OTT platform was the uncensored version. Earlier, CBFC Thiruvananthapuram’s Regional Officer Parvathy V had released a statement to the same effect in November.
Following the CBFC’s submission in court, Fen’s counsel sought time to modify their petition taking this into account.
As no one was present to represent Pellissery, the court listed the case for hearing on January 7.
Churuli was released on SonyLIV on November 19. The fantasy mystery thriller, starring Chemban Vinod Jose, Vinay Forrt, and Joju George, is based on the short story Kaligeminarile Kuttavalikal by Vinoy Thomas. The film’s screenplay is written by S Hareesh, author of the popular novel Meesha.
The film faced mixed reactions for its use of cuss words from the general public, political parties and social media users. While some say the language used in the film could be considered a part of the character portrayal which the context demanded, others feel it could have been avoided.
In her petition, Fen claimed that the words and phrases used in the film “outrage the modesty of women and children, leaving the viewers irritated and distressed.” She further urged the court to issue orders to take down the film from the OTT platform. Her petition also argued that the film did not display any statutory warning on the screen when showing characters consuming alcohol or smoking as is mandatory under the law.
During the previous hearing on December 9, a video clip from Churuli was played in the courtroom and the judge observed that the dialogues were “atrocious.”
However, during Wednesday’s hearing, the justice noted that while Fen may have a good case, she should consider approaching a civil court instead.
With Christmas just around the corner, several new films are lined up for release in both theatres and on OTT platforms. Actor Ranveer Singh‘s83 will hit the big screens on Friday and get the ball rolling.
Several movies that already released in theatres are also set to make their streaming debuts. These include actor Silambarasan TR‘s Maanaadu, which will stream on SonyLIV from Friday, Salman Khan-starrer Antim: The Final Truth, also premiering on Friday on ZEE5, and actor John Abraham‘s Satyameva Jayate 2, which arrives on Amazon Prime Video on Thursday.
Also this week, several new films are set to premiere directly on OTT platforms, including Atrangi Re and Minnal Murali.
Here’s a list of seven new films and shows releasing on OTT platforms this week.
1. Atrangi Re (December 24) – Disney+ Hotstar
Starring Dhanush, Akshay Kumar and Sara Ali Khan, Atrangi Rerevolves around a love triangle between Rinku, Vishu, and Sajjad. Rinku gets forcibly married to an already-engaged Vishu. Their relationship gets further complicated when Rinku’s lover Sajjad shows up.
2. Minnal Murali (December 24) – Netflix
In Minnal Murali, a tailor finds himself with special powers after being struck by lightning. He must soon take down an unexpected foe if he is to become the superhero his hometown needs.
3. Encanto (December 24) – Disney+ Hotstar
This Disney film tells the tale of the Madrigals, an extraordinary family who live in a wondrous, charmed place called an Encanto. Each child is blessed with a magic gift unique to them, except Mirabel. But when the family’s home is threatened, Mirabel may be their only hope.
4. Don’t Look Up (December 24) – Netflix
In the star-studded Netflix film Don’t Look Up, two astronomers need to go on a media tour to warn humankind of a planet-killing comet hurtling toward Earth. However, the world remains indifferent. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Timothee Chalamet, Rob Morgan, Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, Tyler Perry, Ron Perlman, Scott Mescudi, Cate Blanchett, and Meryl Streep, along with American pop-singer Ariana Grande.
5. WWW (December 24) – SonyLiv
When Vishwa’s girlfriend is taken hostage during the national Covid-19 lockdown, he helplessly sees it unfold on a video call. Vishwa is soon forced to save her life from a distance.
6. Being The Ricardos (December 21) – Amazon Prime Video
In this biopic, Hollywood couple Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) and Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem) are riddled with shocking personal accusations, a political smear, and cultural taboos. Together, they face personal and professional obstacles that threaten their careers, their relationship, and their hit television show, I Love Lucy.
7. Yearly Departed (December 23) – Amazon Prime Video
Hosted by Phoebe Robinson, this comedy special features seven outspoken female comedians who lay to rest the year that never seemed to end.
Few genres have been as popular worldwide, in recent times, as the superhero genre. The idea of a powerful individual or group of individuals saving the world from imminent threats has proven to be immensely entertaining. Every film industry has emulated this concept. India too has seen several versions of a superhero: from Shaktimaan to Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt’s upcoming film, Brahmastra, and the Malayalam film Minnal Murali, the appeal of a power-fueled being rising to the occasion has been felt here as well.
The fourth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe brought out several new stories and characters like Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh). Many of these films received acclaim and broke box-office records. Most recently, Spiderman: No Way Homebecame the biggest post-pandemic movie. It raked in $600 million worldwide and made it into the 100-crore club in India.
While the superhero genre seems best suited for theatres, many such stories are also being adapted to the small screen in this pandemic era. Jeremy Renner-starrer Hawkeye and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier were both successfully formulated as television shows.
Given the abundance of superhero content, it’s hardly surprising that not all of them managed to make a mark. And so, Silverscreen India has curated a list of the best superhero films and series of 2021, alongside a list of the year’s let-downs.
WandaVision is about superheroes Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision(Paul Bettany) and their seemingly idyllic, suburban life in Westview, New Jersey. Pegged as the official start to the fourth phase of the MCU, superhero fans were not sure what to expect from the show. Set three weeks after the events of Avengers: Endgame, viewers were unclear about how the show would proceed and the creators milked this uncertainty. Wanda and Vision’s life seems straight out of a television show – quite literally. It emulates popular TV shows like Modern Family, The Office,The Brady Bunch, The Dick Van Dyke Show and I Love Lucy and uses multiple references from them, to throw the audience off track.
An off-beat superhero series, WandaVision struck a chord with critics and viewers with its themes. Dealing with loss, grief, and identity, the limited series subverts the typical narrative by blurring the lines between a superhero and a supervillain. In addition to this, its strong antagonist, action sequences, and unique character development make it a memorable superhero story.
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, this Marvel film stars Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Meng’er Zhang, and others. Shang-Chi, who goes by the alias Shaun, works as a parking valet in San Francisco. However, his past catches up with him and he is soon forced to confront the mysterious Ten Rings organisation run by his estranged father.
While origin stories are a staple of the superhero genre, Shang-Chi is refreshing because of its unique characters, funny dialogues, refined action sequences, and authentic representation of Asian culture.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
The third and final instalment in the Spider-Man Homecoming series, this film has broken multiple box-office records.
After everyone finds out Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is Spider-Man, he goes to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and asks him to cast a spell to make everyone forget his true identity. However, Peter’s constant interference causes the spell to backfire and accidentally opens up the multiverse. Soon, villains from other universes, like Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina) and Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), show up and wreak havoc on Peter’s life.
Living up to the hype, Spider-Man: No Way Home is a thoroughly entertaining ride from start to finish. Catering ably to its loyal fanbase, the film has no dull moments and is filled with surprise reveals. Plus, it boasts of big and memorable performances from some seasoned actors.
The God of Mischief is back and this time, his tricks will just not fly. After Loki (Tom Hiddleston) escapes with the Tesseract in Avengers: Endgame, he ends up at the Time Variance Authority, an organisation that works to keep people from disrupting timelines. What follows, is a mind-boggling plot about variants of Loki, apocalypses, and the end of time as we know it.
Garnering both critical and commercial acclaim, Loki is a fitting exploration of the titular character’s personality and fate. Ending on a cliffhanger where the multiverse is unleashed by the creation of several timelines that cannot be contained, the stakes for the second season of Loki are higher than ever.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League
Released with much fanfare, Zack Snyder’s Justice League follows Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) and Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) in their quest to maintain the status quo after the death of Superman (Henry Cavill). When Steppenwolf decides to gather three mother boxes to transform Earth into his homeworld, Wayne and Prince decide to stop him. In order to achieve this, they recruit a group of metahumans to protect the planet from threats.
Despite being four hours long and having the same plot line as Joss Whedon’s 2017 version, Zack Snyder’s Justice League was still a significant improvement on the theatrical release. With better cinematography and engaging characterisations, it finally managed to give DC fans the Justice League film that they deserved.
Five Superhero Shows/Films That Let Us Down in 2021:
Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) was the last of the five original avengers to get an origin story and the film does not do justice to the character. After the events of Captain America: Civil War, Natasha Romanoff is on the run from the government and is staying at a safe house in Norway. However, she is drawn into a conspiracy surrounding her traumatic past and joins forces with her sister Yelena (Florence Pugh) to get to the bottom of it.
While Black Widow does manage to answer most of the questions about Natasha’s past, the film is underwhelming. The stakes are not high enough and the villain is weak. For a character as important as Natasha, the film fails to give her the send-off she truly deserves.
Directed by Andy Serkis, the sequel to Venom (2018) sees Tom Hardy reprising his role as Eddie Brock and the alien symbiote Venom. Eddie is trying hard to adjust to hosting Venom when he is immediately posed with a new challenge: serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) also becomes host to a symbiote and dons the persona of Carnage.
While the movie is superior to its predecessor, its mediocre and predictable comedy and action scenes do not leave a lasting impact on us.
Thunder Force (Netflix)
Some films are a letdown but others are just plain bad. Starring Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer, Thunder Force is a bland and boring take on the superhero genre. In a world where sociopaths have been granted superpowers, two estranged best friends Lydia (McCarthy) and Emily (Spencer) team up to solve the issue after the former accidentally injects herself with a serum granting her powers.
The plot of Thunder Force is not groundbreaking and the laughs are few and far between. Coupled with bland characters and predictable storylines, there’s hardly any entertainment here.
What If? (Disney+ Hotstar)
What If? is an animated anthology series that explores alternate versions of important events that have taken place within the MCU. Many of its stars, including Hayley Atwell, Benedict Cumberbatch, Sebastian Stan, and Chadwick Boseman, have lent their voices to animated versions of their characters. While the premise of What If? is an interesting way to explore alternate timelines of the multiverse, the animation is weak in certain parts and the storylines are not as engaging as they can be.
The Eternals are a group of immortal beings whose purpose is to defeat a group of monsters called the Deviants. Having lived around human beings for centuries, they have witnessed the rise and fall of civilizations and no event has gone by without their knowledge. However, they are never to interfere in the actions of humans. Having gone their separate ways a long time ago, the group is forced to reconvene when the Deviants resurface with the ability to absorb the Eternals’ power.
The main reason for Eternals’ downfall is its lengthy exposition and flashbacks. While a good origin story demands these things, it becomes quickly tedious here. With an unworthy opponent and seemingly mellow conflicts, the plot lets down the star-studded cast and their earnest performances.
As hundreds of new TV shows debuted this year and with many fan-favourites returning, television and OTT platforms helped people get through another year of the pandemic.
The year 2021 has been truly diverse in terms of genres. There were superhero shows like Loki and WandaVision, murder mysteries such as Only Murders in the Building, and some great historical shows like Dickinson and Underground Railroad.
From HBO Max’s Gossip Girl to Nickelodeon’s iCarly, 2021 was also the year of revivals and reboots.
Interestingly, shows that exposed wealth and privilege were the most popular choices among audiences. Squid Game quickly became the most-watched show on Netflix, raking in 142 million household views in its first four weeks. Other shows such as Lupin received praise for their enthralling plot and earnest performances.
Several young adult shows returned to our screens this year too. Sex Education came back with its third season raising questions on gender binaries and infertility, and of course, featuring lots of sex and drama. Mindy Kaling’s Never Have I Ever also returned providing a few laughs and some mindless entertainment.
However, as always, there were questionable and bad shows as well. Riverdale came back to our screens with its sixth season and now there is a parallel universe called Rivervale – as if one Riverdale was not enough. Other shows that failed to impress the audiences and critics alike included the CBS crime procedural Clarice (which focuses on Silence of the Lambs’ FBI agent Clarice Starling after her encounter with Buffalo Bill) and the live-action version of the popular neo-noir anime series Cowboy Bebop.
Silverscreen India has rummaged through these shows and made a list of five of the best and worst shows of 2021.
Five Best Shows of 2021:
What We Do in the Shadows (2019- Present)
Credits: FX
Created by Jemaine Clementine and Taika Waititi, this comedy-mockumentary series follows four very old vampires as they navigate life and death, and try to keep up with the modern world. Living in Staten Island, the vampires Nandor the Relentless (Kayan Novak), Lazslo (Matt Berry) and Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) are at least a few centuries old while their roommate Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) is around a 100 years old. They are joined by Nandor’s human assistant Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) whose ultimate wish is to be turned into a vampire.
Over the course of three seasons, this group has seen a lot of things – mistakenly killing a very important vampire, transforming as bats and ending up in an animal shelter, and now, taking over the vampiric council without having any knowledge of how to run it. Much of the show’s comedy arises from the vampires’ false sense of superiority and their inability to be in touch with the real world. Thankfully, Guillermo manages to clear up (sometimes after creating) most of their messes. What We Do in The Shadows is a light-hearted, well-written series whose best asset is the fact that it does not take itself or its characters too seriously.
What We Do in The Shadows is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
Squid Game (2021)
There is a reason why this South Korean show is the most popular series in the world right now. In this series created by Hwang Dong-hyuk, 456 desperate and broke people sign up for a children’s games competition where the winner receives 45.6 billion dollars. Unbeknownst to them, these are actually deadly survival games where loss results in death. As people become frantic to survive, shaky alliances begin to form and some do not hesitate to take extreme measures to achieve their goal. Squid Game exposes the dangers of capitalism and exploitation of the poor and it does so in a thrilling and nerve-racking manner.
Despite releasing over three months ago, the hype around the series has not died down. From people throwing lavish Squid Game-themed parties to Indian content creators coming together to participate in a ‘fun’ version of the game, the show’s influence has been unparalleled and riddled with irony. Hwang has also announced that he is working on Squid Game 2.
Squid Game is streaming on Netflix.
White Lotus(2021- Present)
A satirical comedy series, White Lotus focuses on a group of idyllic guests and the employees of a Hawaiian luxury resort over the course of a week. As the days go by, complex truths about the guests and the staff emerge resulting in uncomfortable, and sometimes, downright shocking confrontations.
Created by Mike White, White Lotus boasts a strong ensemble cast, including Murray Bartlett, Alexandra Daddario, Jennifer Coolidge, Sydney Sweeney, and Connie Britton. The show touches upon wealth, classism, gender, and race dynamics through compelling drama and dark twists, making it one of this year’s unmissable shows.
White Lotus is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
Reservation Dogs (2021- Present)
Another gem of this year, Reservation Dogs was created by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi. Moving away from vampires and superhero Norse Gods, Waititi takes on the coming-of-age genre. This show focuses on four Native American teenagers who live in rural Oklahoma. As they struggle to deal with the recent death of their friend Daniel, the foursome team up to commit petty crimes as a means of funding their plans to leave for California.
With a realistic plot and a touch of magic realism, Reservation Dogs is heartwarming and effortlessly funny in equal measure.
Lauded for its representation of the Native American community, the show is notable for hiring only indigenous writers and directors, and having a cast and crew comprised almost entirely of indigenous people.
Reservation Dogs is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
Succession (2018- Present)
Succession is yet another former low-key show that blew up this year. This HBO Max original follows the uber-wealthy Roy family, who run one of the largest media conglomerates in the world. With patriarch Logan Roy (Brian Cox) at the centre, the show explores his professional and personal relationships with his family. And with each of his four children having a personal agenda to establish themselves on the top, the drama is endless.
Backed by convincing and dynamic performances, Succession is a witty, dark, and sometimes comical, take on the power and political struggle of this dysfunctional family.
Succession is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
Five 2021 Shows That Let Us Down:
Gossip Girl (2021- Present)
When HBO Max announced the reboot of the immensely popular Gossip Girl (2007-2012), expectations soared. Known for depicting the scandalous exploits of the privileged and wealthy residents of Manhattan’s Upper East Side, the original show was high on the drama, fashion, and entertainment. However, the new Gossip Girl is a shadow of its predecessor. Despite a similar setting, the show does not deliver. Its characters and storylines are neither charming nor provocative, making it a dull and uninteresting watch. Plus, a major downfall is that it reveals the identity of gossip girl at the very beginning, which effectively defeats the whole point of the show.
Sex/Life (2021- Present)
Like the title suggests, this Netflix show is heavy on the sex lives of its boring and one-dimensional characters. It follows a suburban mother of two who begins to fantasize about her college ex-boyfriend to alleviate her sexual frustration. And soon enough, he re-enters her life causing chaos and confusion in her marriage.
While on the surface, Sex/Life looks like a show that you can hate-watch, it is so much worse than that. The shallow premise is only the beginning; bad acting, annoying characters who deliver cringe dialogues, and downright bad writing make this an unwatchable show.
If you don’t want to take our word for it, Sex/Life can be streamed on Netflix.
And Just Like That (2021- Present)
Revivals and reboots seldom capture the essence of the original and this show does not manage to break the cycle. And Just Like That, the revival of Sex and the City, is set 11 years after the disastrous and racist film, Sex and the City 2. It shows protagonists Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) living out their 60s in modern-day New York City. There are new characters and more contemporary storylines where the three women try to stay up-to-date with the ever-changing city.
However, the show fails to make its mark. For starters, there is no Samantha (Kim Cattrall) whose independence and spunk were the original show’s driving force. Despite being only three-episodes-old as of this writing, the series has already managed a big disservice to loyal viewers by killing off Carrie’s husband Mr Big (Chris Noth) almost immediately.
No matter how hard the show’s creators try, And Just Like That is ultimately no different from the previous movie instalments. It revolves around a group of privileged white women who are out of touch with reality. And this time around, it is no fun to watch.
Tiger King 2, the sequel to the popular true-crime documentary Tiger King, was received poorly by critics and viewers alike. Making no new contributions to the existing and already established story and featuring poorly-shot footage of several subjects, including Carole Baskin, the sequel is an uncompelling drag.
The documentary can be streamed on Netflix.
I Know What You Did Last Summer (2021- Present)
Belonging to the slasher genre, I Know What You Did Last Summer already has a familiar storyline. A college student Lennon (Madison Iseman) returns home to discover that an unknown assailant is stalking her friends for their involvement in a fatal accident the previous year. With a plot that is no different from the 1997 film of the same name, the show has nothing new to offer and only tries to bank on the nostalgia of its predecessor. Even the personal relationships and dynamics between the main cast add nothing to the plot except routine sequences of sex and hard drugs usage.
I Know What You Did Last Summer has an overused story that creates an underwhelming effect on the audience.
Two big-banner films – Pushpa and Spider-Man: No Way Home – released in cinemas within a day of each other this week, proving to be crowd-pullers despite offering primarily non-Hindi content.
Contrary to expectations, Pushpa clashed with the Marvel film and continued to perform at the box office.
Anupam Reddy, secretary of the Telangana State Film Chamber of Commerce, noticed that as Pushpa released, occupancy for shows screening Spider-Man: No Way Home, that was running successfully at 100%, has reduced to a 90%. “More shows are screened for Pushpa, as it is a regional content,” he told Silverscreen India.
Silverscreen India brings to you a compilation of reviews, from both critics as well as the audience of films that released offline and online.
For Aswathy Gopalakrishnan of Silverscreen India, while the film has a working-class hero, it “is sternly cold towards the plight of the forest-dwellers and workers caught between the state and the mafia. Sukumar erases the several layers of history from the forest and shoots the woods in wide-angle lenses”.
Mukesh Manjunath of Film Companion, reflects similar sentiments and writes, “The red sanders, which has driven the people mad after power, gives Pushpa a sense of identity and respect. But the story settles for using it as a mere theme to stack set pieces on, instead of exploring what Pushpa might be willing to sacrifice for it”.
For Sankeertana Varma of Firstpost, while the film promises craft and thought, it fizzles out in prioritising the temptation to create a superhuman hero. “A hero who can hurt someone in creative ways gets whistles. But three hours is a long time and claps and whistles can only take you so far,” she says.
Pushpa which released in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam has collected Rs 45 crore (net) in all languages, as per a Box Office India report, and over Rs 38 crores in just the Telugu-speaking states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The third part in the Spider-Man: Homecoming series released in India, on December 16, a day ahead of its global release on December 17.
It features actors Tom Holland, Zendaya and Jacob Batalon, who reprise their roles as Peter Parker, Michelle Jones or MJ, and Ned Leeds, respectively. The film also features Benedict Cumberbatch who essays Doctor Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The story follows Peter Parker alias Spider-Man as he fights multiple villains from earlier Spider-Man films who return after Doctor Strange unleashes the multiverse to help Parker.
For Anupama Chopra of Film Companion, the film is the exact the tonic that was needed in the post-pandemic era. “Some of the action sequences hover on the edge of impersonal and the film’s midsection hits flat notes. But [director Jon] Watts gathers the various narrative threads and yanks up the adrenalin with skill.”
Pradeep Menon of Firstpost says “Full credit to the film that, despite it feeling unwieldy at times, it manages to ensure too many villains don’t end up spoiling the broth. Neither does the excess of feel-good drama and checkbox-ticking on display.”
The film has managed to earn a whopping Rs 33 crore (nett) on its first day, Rs 20 crore on the second day, and Rs 26 crore on the third day, thereby, taking up the tally to Rs 79 crore, according to a Box Office Indiareport.
According to the report, multiplexes around the country are seeing houseful shows and it has managed to overtake collections of some of the biggest releases in the last few months.
The Hollywood film has beaten the total amount collected by Akshay Kumar-starrer Sooryavanshi in West Bengal and East Punjab. The film was the highest grosser after theatres re-opened post the Covid-19 induced lockdown. Across India, the film has clocked in the third-best opening post-pandemic after Vakeel Saab (Telugu) and Master (Tamil), the report stated.
Blood Money, the upcoming Tamil film starring actor Priya Bhavani Shankar in the lead, is set to premiere on ZEE5 on December 24. The film’s teaser was released by actor Vishnu Vishal on social media on Wednesday.
Produced by Irfan Malik under the Emperor Entertainment banner, Blood Money is directed by filmmaker Sarjun KM, who last helmed the segment on valour, Thunindha Pinn, in the Netflix anthology Navarasa.
Speaking to Silverscreen India, Sarjun calls Blood Money a newsroom drama. “In Gulf countries, there is a law where if one murders someone or kills them by accident, the crime can be excused if the victim’s family accepts money as compensation. The law cannot punish the offender after that. This film is spun around this idea. Blood Money happens in Chennai but it follows a case in Kuwait and the Tamilians who are stranded there. The case comes to the newsroom and the film is about how they deal with it,” the filmmaker adds.
While Priya plays a journalist in the female-centric film, Kishore, who also featured in Thunindha Pinn, will be playing one of the stranded Tamilians. Panchu Subbu, newcomer Aravind Sundar, Shirish, and Srilekha are part of the cast as well.
The story of Blood Money is written by Sankar Dass. “The writer had given it to the platform and I was approached to direct it in December 2020. We were supposed to finish it during April, but due to the pandemic, we couldn’t travel,” Sarjun reveals.
The film, which went on floors in February, was finally wrapped up in October. It has been shot in Chennai, Dhanushkodi, and Azerbaijan by cinematographer G Balamurugan.
Satish Raghunathan has composed the background score for Blood Money, which does not feature any songs. The 90-minute film is edited by Prasanna GK.
About working on OTT films, Sarjun says, “The good thing about OTT platforms is that they clearly draw lines between designations and I can serve as a director only. It is more like the Hollywood studio working style where the script is provided and it is only a matter of execution.”
Meanwhile, Sarjun has also finished an independent film on a social issue featuring actor Kalaiarasan. This film, whose title has not yet been announced, is being sent to international film festivals. He will also be helming a web series for Y Not Studios. This project is in its early stages.
Award-winning filmmakers Jane Campion and Guillermo del Toro revealed that some of their films were possible only because of streaming platforms, during a Directors on Directors interaction for Variety.
“This film would not have been made if Netflix hadn’t stepped up and said, ‘We will take this risk,'” said Campion. The New Zealand-based filmmaker recently won the Best Director award at the Venice International Film Festival for the film that stars Kirsten Dunst alongside Cumberbatch.
The Power of the Dog has also garnered seven nominations at the upcoming Golden Globe Awards, including for Best Motion Picture (Drama) and Best Performance by an Actor in a Lead Role (Cumberbatch).
For del Toro, on the other hand, his upcoming stop-motion animated film Pinocchio has been greenlit by Netflix. Noting that the theatrical experience is “beautiful and moving,” the filmmaker, who won the Academy Award in 2017 for his film The Shape of Water, added, “I hope it’ll never go away. It will wane and rise. And at the same time, I must say, in my personal story, many projects I would’ve never been able to shoot I’ve been able to have financed because of [streaming services].” Del Toro’s Nightmare Alley, meanwhile, is scheduled for a theatrical release on December 17.
The question around streaming platforms and films releasing on them has been a point of contention among filmmakers.
For instance, Patty Jenkins, who directed the Wonder Woman films, termed movies that release on streaming platforms “fake” during a panel discussion at CinemaCon in September. It is to be noted that Jenkins’ film Wonder Woman 1984 followed a hybrid release – premiering simultaneously in theatres and on OTT – due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jenkins, who has a series deal with Netflix, said that she views streaming and theatrical experience as two different things that require different skill sets.
Earlier, Steven Spielberg, a vocal critic of streaming platforms, announced a multi-year collaboration between his Amblin Partners and Netflix. In 2019, Spielberg had stated that films releasing on OTT must not qualify for the Oscars. He had further urged audiences to go to the cinemas instead of opting for Netflix.
Shyam Singha Roy, the upcoming Telugu film starring actor Nani, will stream on Netflix after its theatrical run, the director of the film, Rahul Sankrityan, told Silverscreen India.
The film, which is backed by producer Venkat S Boyanapalli under the Niharika Entertainment banner, is set to hit theatres on Christmas Eve (December 24).
Shyam Singha Roy will follow the normal protocol of a four-week window between its theatrical release and digital debut, said the director.
It is to be noted that Nani’s last two films, V (2020) and Tuck Jagadish (2021), both premiered on Amazon Prime Video. Shyam Singha Roy will mark the Netflix debut of the actor.
Also starring actors Sai Pallavi, Krithi Shetty, Madonna Sebastian, Rahul Ravindran, Murali Sharma, Abhinav Gomatam, among others, Shyam Singha Roy is a romantic period drama that features Nani in the title role. His character will have both Telugu and Bengali ancestry.
The film will include several cultural references to Bengali society. It will feature Calcutta in the 1970s, with references to historical events that took place in West Bengal during that period.
Sai Pallavi plays a devadasi (a female artist offered in service to god), while Shetty essays a modern-age character and Madonna plays a lawyer.
Shyam Singha Roy will hit the screens in all four South Indian languages. Dubbed versions in Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam will release simultaneously with the original Telugu film.
Speaking about the film’s OTT release, director Rahul said, “Netflix is my next love after theatres. That is where I watch a lot of content and it is super exciting to witness its growing popularity and that of other platforms as well. These OTT platforms do not have any limitations and provide filmmakers with a wider audience.”
Ahead of the big lineup of Telugu films like Pushpa, RRRand Shyam Singha Roy, scheduled to release in theatres in the coming weeks, the Andhra Pradesh High Court suspended the state government’s order on the reduction of ticket prices in cinema halls and theatres. Theatre owners argued that the government intervening in the ticket prices was not “appropriate” and it is up to the theatre owners to decide on the prices. Subsequently, the court granted permission to sell the tickets at the old rates.
Even with the boom in business for theatres across the country, new titles continue to hit OTT platforms. Here are seven new titles you can stream this week.
The series starring actors R Madhavan and Surveen Chawla is created by Manu Joseph. Decoupled revolves around a separating couple who navigate through their crazy marriage. The show’s logline reads, “A misanthropic writer and his startup-founder wife juggle their impending divorce with the absurdities and annoyances of life in their affluent world.”
The Hindi drama thriller is a nine-episode series. Directed by Manoj Pillai, the series stars actors Ravi Kishan, Ankita Sharma, Ritwik Bhowmik. According to the streaming platform, the story follows Sanket, an intern doctor studying at a government hospital. He discovers a massive medical entrance exam scam that has been running for years, lured by greed becomes a part of it, only to lose everything that his perfect life was made of. “Now, determined to find his father’s killer, he turns into a whistleblower, unaware of how deep the rot runs.”
3. A California Christmas: City Lights– December 16 (Netflix)
It is a sequel to the 2020 film titled A California Christmas. The official logline reads, “A year after their romance took root, Callie and Joseph are leaving the ranch for the family business in San Francisco — with wedding bells on the horizon.”
Nearly after two weeks of theatrical run, the Mohanlal-starrer Malayalam period drama will be releasing on the streaming platform in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. The official synopsis reads, “Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea is a biopic on a real-life character who is considered one of the greatest naval chiefs of India. Set in the late 15th century and early 16th century, the movie is based on the story of the fearless seafarer of the Malabar Coast, Kunjali Marakkar, who later became the naval commander of the Zamorin (Samoothiri), the Ruler of Calicut, and defeated the Portuguese in a naval battle.”
The courtroom drama’s plot revolves around a chartered accountant, played by Vinay Pathak, who is arrested for an economic offence. He is defended by Rohan Vinod Mehra. Actor Ranvir Shorey plays Parsi public prosecutor and Gul Panag plays the accused CA, Vinay Pathak’s wife.
This South Korean television drama series, according to IMDb, is about “a woman who repeats death and reincarnation as a person for 600 years and remembers her past lives, and a man who cannot die because he has been an immortal for 600 years”.
The American-French comedy-drama series stars Lily Collins in the titular role. Created by Darren Star, the first part of the series premiered on Netflix in October 2020. Following that, the series was renewed for the second season. The story follows Emily who lands her dream job in Paris. According to the streaming platform, in the second season, “As Emily finds her footing in Paris, the fallout from a night of passion could send her stumbling into trouble.”
Gaalivaana, the upcoming web series starring veteran actors Radikaa Sarathkumar and Sai Kumar, is a thriller set in a coastal town, says its director Sharan Koppisetty.
The series is produced by BBC and Northstar Entertainments and is set to stream on ZEE5. Gaalivaana will mark the debut of Sai Kumar in the OTT space.
In conversation with Silverscreen India, director Koppisetty says, “Gaalivaana means a cyclone or tornado in Telugu. The web series is set against the backdrop of a coastal village in Amalapuram, Andhra Pradesh. It revolves around two families – one is Radikaa’s and the other is Sai Kumar’s. They get involved in a murder case and the crime happens during a cyclonic night, hence the title. The series is essentially a murder mystery.”
Other cast members include Chandini Chowdary of Colour Photo fame, Chaitanya Krishna, Nandini Rai, Thagubothu Ramesh, and Ashritha Vemuganti. Chowdary and Chaitanya play Radikaa’s children, adds Kopisetty.
The series will comprise of six episodes, which will each run for about 40-45 minutes.
Gaalivaana went on floors in November and about 50% of the shooting has been completed. The filming is scheduled to be wrapped up by January 2022. The series is shot by cinematographer Sujatha Sidharth. Hyderabad and Amalapuram are the primary locations.
The filmmaker tells us that the series is expected to be released in March 2022.
Meanwhile, Koppisetty will once again be teaming up with actor Satya Dev for an upcoming Telugu film. The director reveals that the film, which marks their sophomore collaboration, will fall under the dark comedy genre. The actor-filmmaker duo previously collaborated on the investigative thriller Thimmarusu, which was released in theatres in mid-2021.
“The upcoming film is expected to go on floors sometime in March 2022. The script work has already been completed and the casting is underway,” says Koppisetty as he signs off.
Films this week have continued to follow the hybrid model and have release in cinemas as well as on OTT platforms this week. Box office collections have picked up mostly over the weekends.
Other films that have released include Milan Luthria’s Tadap marking the big screen debut of Ahan Shetty and featuring Tara Sutaria. They have managed to have a good first weekend at the box office, earning Rs 13 crore.
Silverscreen India brings to you, a compilation of reviews of films that have released both online and offline all through last week.
Vasanthabalan’s Jail, starring GV Prakash Kumar revolves around three youngsters from a colony which houses the displaced – Karnan (GVP), Rakki (Nandan Ram) and Kalai (Pasanga Paandi) – who get mixed up in drug trafficking and gang violence. This is followed by tragic consequences.
Nithya Gnanpandithan of Silverscreen India, calls it a generic, poorly-made gangster drama with an identity complex. Highlighting lack of engagement as an issue, she adds that the film “tells us a lot but doesn’t care to show us anything.”
For Ranjani Krishnakumar of Film Companion, “Jail takes a condescending approach to the lives of the people it seeks to represent,” and adds that “the message about displacement and the lives of these men in crime never feel organically connected.”
Ashameera Aiyappan of Firstpost, calls the film superficial and disappointing. The film falters despite its well intentions. However, she adds that the blue-yellow colour palette stands out. “The combination gives an interesting tone to the film — one that’s warm but distant.”
Elamaran of Blue Sattai fame dons the caps of actor, director as well as writer for Anti Indian. “Baasha dies just few days before the assembly by-election for Mylapore constituency while the election campaign by the political parties are in full swing. Various obstacles faced to bury the deceased are revealed,” according to IMDb‘s synopsis of the film.
For Sinndhuja, of Silverscreen India, while the film is one that is set to appeal to the masses and to humanity, at large, it surprises with an engaging ending.
For Kirubhakar Purushothaman of The New Indian Express, the craft is straightforward. “With a limited budget, Maran has pulled off a decent film that isn’t worried about nuances. No aesthetic brilliance, no compositions that draw attention. It may be technically inferior, but the content makes up for this.”
Vaani Kapoor And Ayushmann Khurrana Promote Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui
The Ayushmann Khurrana and Vaani Kapoor-starrer film revolves around Manu, a bodybuilder from Chandigarh falls in love with Maanvi, a Zumba teacher, who reveals that she is a trans woman.
For Anupama Chopra of Film Companion, the film is successful in some ways and faltering in others. “Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui is both – a necessary and laudable conversation starter but also an airbrushed and simplistic view of the struggle of a trans woman to find love and acceptance.”
However, she notes that there is less emphasis and screen-time on Kapoor’s character’s past and what she has had to endure.
Pradeep Menon of Firstpost, appreciates the film for employing a trans character as one half of the lead. For him, the film “spends considerable time giving us a sense of what Manvi has gone through, the struggles she has endured (and still does) to carve out a space for herself, to be the person she is within.”
Monica Rawal Kukreja of The Hindutan Times, credits the director and writes, “Abhishek Kapoor shows immense maturity, sensitivity and restraint while dealing with the story of a trans woman, and showing it onscreen in a respectful manner.”
All the critics have applauded Vaani Kapoor’s performance, who they said, did not overdo the role.
However, despite its well intentions, the film has come under fire. Kapoor was in the eye of the storm that criticised her casting- a cis heterosexual woman – over that of a trans woman. It has been slammed for transphobia and trans erasure.
Activists have highlighted that this shows the Hindi film industry’s long history of the stereotypical portrayal of members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
As of Sunday, the film has collected Rs 7.50 crore nett approximately over two days, according to Box Office India.
