A prime accused in the recent attack on filmmaker Prakash Jha on the sets of his upcoming web series Aashram 3, is a Bajrang Dal leader who was previously convicted of murder, according to NDTV.
Suresh Sudele, the Prant Pramukh (regional head) of the Bhopal Unit of Bajrang Dal, was one of the seven men arrested for the attack on the sets of Ashram in October. All seven were let out on bail just a day later, states the NDTV report.
On October 24, a group of Bajrang Dal members had smeared ink on Jha’s face and also vandalised the sets. Members of the group reportedly alleged that Aashram, starring Bobby Deol in the lead, was an ‘assault’ on Hinduism. They threatened that they would not allow the show to be filmed till the title of the show was changed.
According to the police, the accused got bail as the Ashram team was not keen on pressing charges. Charges levelled against Sudele and others were minor and thus, they were able to get bail immediately, the report states. However, legal experts suggest that due to Sudele’s past and criminal record, stricter action should have been taken against him, it adds.
Sudele was reportedly convicted for the murder of Bhagchand, a Bhopal-based businessman, in 2011. He was let out on bail four years later. Legal experts, therefore, believe the police should have immediately moved the court to get Sudele’s bail in the murder case cancelled after the attack on Jha, the NDTV report states.
“Suresh Sudele organises the attacks and many including the state Home Minister praise him. He is on bail in a murder case. If the government will shelter such people who have broken laws then how will we build a film city and generate more employment? He should be sent to prison immediately, it’s unfortunate that the state government is sheltering him,” PC Sharma, former state law minister and Congress leader, told NDTV.
After the attack, the Producers Guild of India had said in a statement that it condemns “the brazen acts of violence, harassment and vandalism faced by the crew.”
Ashram also faced issues earlier in 2020, when a Jodhpur court had issued notices to Deol and Jha after an advocate moved the court claiming that the web series hurts religious sentiments. Recently, in January this year, the makers were booked by Rajasthan police for allegedly promoting discrimination against SC/STs.
The first season of the web series was released in August 2020 on the OTT platform MX player.
Pon Manickavel, the upcoming Tamil film starring actor-choreographer-filmmaker Prabhu Deva, will premiere on Disney+ Hotstar on November 19, the OTT platform announced on Wednesday. The makers also released the film’s trailer on the same day.
Written and directed by filmmaker AC Mugil Chellappan, Pon Manickavel is backed by V Hitesh Jhabak under the Nemichand Jhabak banner with B Ganesh serving as the executive producer.
Speaking to Silverscreen India, Mugil, who has earlier collaborated as a writer on the Prabhu Deva directorials Villu (2009) and Engeyum Kadhal (2011), calls Pon Manickavel an “emotional action thriller.”
“Prabhu Deva plays the title role and his character is inspired by the real-life IPS officer Ponn Manickavel, who was posted in Salem when I was studying in college there. He was known as a strict officer and made an impact on me then. Prabhu Deva and I were initially looking to work on another project, but that did not take off. So then, I narrated a line of this script to him and that’s how it all started,” he adds.
Pon Manickavel revolves around a certain incident that happens in the personal life of the protagonist, says the filmmaker. “The story starts in Salem and travels to Chennai. It revolves around a police officer who happens to witness an incident. He then thinks about how much a common man in his place would have been affected by it. The story is about how he confronts the situation and whether he abides by the law or not. While the real Ponn Manickavel has inspired the characterisation of the cop character, this story has nothing to do with him otherwise.”
Mugil always wanted to cast Prabhu Deva, though many felt the actor was an unconventional and risky choice for the role of a cop. “On the first day, we shot with him in a police costume. He looked and felt apt, and that’s when I gained confidence,” says the director.
The film went on floors in 2018 and was wrapped in 2019. It was shot in Chennai and Salem by cinematographer KG Venkatesh.
Pon Manickavel also features Nivetha Pethuraj as the wife of Prabhu Deva’s character. The cast includes late filmmaker J Mahendran and Suresh Menon, as well as Bijesh, grandson of veteran comedian Nagesh.
Regarding the OTT release, the director says the decision was made by the producers. However, he is optimistic about it and cites other films such as Soorarai Pottru and Jai Bhim, which have made a mark after having released digitally, as the reason for his confidence.
After Pon Manickavel, the director says he will be working on a “sentimental” film script revolving around a mother.
At some point in its latter half, Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham, a chamber comedy directed by Ratheesh Balakrishnan, overreaches and crosses the realm of entertainment. The riot of colours on the screen, which had initially seemed like a happy departure from the muted palette of Malayalam realist movies, starts to hurt the eyes. The wacky sense of humour the film wears on its sleeves turns iterative. The central issue, the disappearance of a treasured piece of jewellery that tests the limits of the already crumbling marriage of Haripriya (Grace Antony) and Pavithran (Nivin Pauly), becomes too petty to pay any attention.
The film does recover, although partially, close to the climactic scene. Yet, one cannot shake off that bitter aftertaste. How possible is it to resume a discarded trial of laughter?
Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham has a clever design. Its prime location, a Munnar hotel that the couple moves into for a three-day vacation, a final attempt to save their marriage, has a tacky aesthetic symbolic of the financial and mental abuse the hotel staff quietly endure. The walls, the couches and the uniform of the employees are colour-coded. The exhausted machinery of a blood-sucking enterprise.
Every bit of the chaos that unfolds in the hotel stems from this labour exploitation by an industrialist who, we come to know, is holidaying in Sri Lanka. The film’s title suggests that the kalaham (commotion) was caused by the wife (Kamini) and the gold (kanakam), but as it turns out, capitalism is the real villain.
Ratheesh bases the movie’s formal style on television soaps. He picks the popular soap opera themes – mousy men and their dominant female partners, a woman crying over her gold jewellery, and a middle-class marriage in trouble – and turns them on their head to make them more human. What moves Haripriya to the verge of an emotional outburst isn’t the loss of the jewellery but the utter lack of love in her marriage. Everyone likes to push around Joby (Vinay Forrt), the good-natured manager of the inn. He is not timid but patient and earnest, qualities that are not well-received in a society where the arrogant and the dishonest are generously rewarded, where the might is always right.
The context and the details in the background are fascinating. But the movie’s driving force is its stream of visual and verbal gags, some of them hilarious and a lot of others laboured.
The comedy is heavily dependent on performances. Jaffer Idukki, who plays Sura, a stranger at the inn’s bar who pokes his nose into the theft case, is an absolute delight even when he is blathering and stretching out a joke. He puts to good use his Idukki tongue and stage-acting skills to become the best part of the film. Jaffer Idukki is a man deeply tied to his surroundings, a boon and a bane at once. Take him out of his familiar turf, there might not be much he could do. Yet, the candour in his acting style is unique. One of the film’s funniest bits is his confrontation with a senior novelist (Joy Mathew) about a fancy expression in one of his stories.
Nivin Pauly, who had been groping in the dark post Premam, fits perfectly here, losing his superstar robe to play the clown and keenly participating in self-effacing jokes. The actor looks at ease, a tremendous weight off his chest, like someone glad to be home after a rough journey. Pauly leads a dream ensemble that embodies the spirit of the movie.
Making a comedy, these days, must resemble ziplining. In the last 100 years, the movie audience has consumed numerous kinds of comedies. So much so that a significant section of them, who are not passive viewers, know a joke before it gets cracked. They have learned to hold their laugh midway to look for the joke’s moral consequences.
In Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham, Ratheesh goes for the kind of comedy which is unbridled, characterised by a risky disregard for the norms. He takes confident digs at new Malayalam cinema’s reverence for political correctness. In the title credits, he not only chooses to use his caste surname but draws attention to it with a tongue-in-cheek voice-over. Not that flaunting a caste surname in movies deserves a badge of honour, but it successfully sets the tone. Sometimes the characters respond to an SOS call with a repartee. The film sympathises with the two women, Haripriya and Shalini (Vincy), but that does not stop it from mocking them, putting them in awkward situations where they cut a silly figure in front of the men.
But then, it is foolish to assume that irreverent humour could never go wrong. It is funny when Sathyan, a bellboy, tells Joby with a straight face that he would never steal because he is a “good Nair boy.” But when Manaf (Rajesh Madhavan) emphasises his minority status for the third time, or when the film, after it hits a thick wall of vapidity, makes the two women go into a nasty scuffle, one can only maintain a grim face. Not only are they misplaced but also bland, embellished with an unwarranted background score. Ratheesh does a good job of setting up the ground for comedy, but he fails to flesh out the characters and create a dynamic narrative sprinkled with natural humour. To be politically correct or not should be much easier than making a movie that never turns boring.
*****
This Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham 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.
Actor-producer Suriya, who was last seen in Jai Bhim, responded on Thursday to questions raised by politician Anbumani Ramadoss on the authenticity of the film and allegations that it shows the Vanniyar community in a poor light.
In a statement addressed to the politician and shared on social media, the actor said it was not the intention of the makers to insult any individual or community with the film, which was meant to highlight the trials faced by the tribal communities.
Jai Bhim, written and directed by TJ Gnanavel, features Suriya as a lawyer who fights for justice for people from the Irular tribal community. The film, which deals with topics such as caste inequality and police brutality, is inspired by a real case at the Madras High Court, fought by Justice Chandru, in the 90s.
However, the Suriya-starrer has also attracted some controversies. Right after its premiere, a section of social media users called out a scene where Prakash Raj’s character slaps another for speaking in Hindi. Others had taken issue with the use of a symbol associated with the Vanniyar caste (a fire urn) in a calendar in another scene. This calendar was later digitally modified by the makers.
And on Wednesday, in a four-page statement, Anbumani Ramadoss of the Pattali Makkal Katchi, a party that represents the interests of the Vanniyars, alleged that the film shows the community in a bad light. He put forth nine questions regarding the film, including why the bad cop was named Gurumoorthy when, in the real case, his name was Anthony Samy. He also questioned the usage of the Vanniyar symbol in the calendar at the inspector’s house.
In his reply statement on Thursday, Suriya clarified that the film is a fictitious take on real events and pointed out that it carries a disclaimer to that effect as well. Adding that unintentional errors had been corrected (referring to the modification of the calendar design), the actor said, “I agree with you that no one has the right to insult any community or group in the name of creative freedom. Likewise, I hope you will agree that creative freedom should also be safeguarded from threats.”
With regard to name of cop character, Suriya said, “A journalist had mentioned that the same name hints at another community. If we keep second guessing like this when it comes to antagonistic characters, there will no end to it. Such ‘name politics’ will only distract those who must come together to fight injustice.”
“I am doing my best to better the lives of my fellow human beings. I have the good wishes and good will of people from all over the country. I have no wish or need to insult anyone to promote myself. Let us all walk the path of righteousness and work for equality and brotherhood. Thank you for your understanding,” he concluded.
Speaking to Silverscreen India, film observer and writer Stalin Rajangam says, “In Tamil cinema, this a period where stories of the oppressed are being told. There has been a shift towards including such hitherto unheard voices, thanks to the movement in that direction spearheaded by Pa Ranjith. And now many people from other groups, like Suriya, are also joining the movement to voice out for the downtrodden. This film also falls within that bracket. Such films are gaining momentum lately and they will garner all sorts of attention, including controversies.”
Noting that the calendar cue could have been avoided, Stalin adds that though the film is based on true events, it is ultimately cinema and is thus bound to incorporate imaginary elements and characters. “For example, in Ramayana, Ravanan’s character is a symbol of evil but he is not, as a person. Similarly, to show that the character is from a dominant community, the makers probably kept that scene. It is but a reflection of society. Anyway, the makers of Jai Bhim have gone ahead and changed the scene now.”
“What we need to observe is the pattern of controversies that are thrown at films like these that talk about the oppressed,” he adds.
J Balasubramaniam, a faculty member of the journalism and science department at Madurai Kamaraj University, echoes Stalin’s views and notes that films should be allowed due creative freedom. “The film is made within the existing social structure. Subtleties, such as the calendar scene, will not be noted by the majority of the audience. Instead, what they will get is the message about the atrocities against the tribal people and the evils of police brutality.”
“Jai Bhim is playing a big role in spreading this necessary message about how the oppressed are treated in society,” says Balasubramaniam, adding, “Just keeping a title like Jai Bhim, that too for a film headlined by a popular star, is itself quite progressive for Tamil cinema, which has had films named after castes in the past.”
Aditya Chopra‘s Yash Raj Films is all set to enter the Indian OTT space. Chopra is earmarking Rs 500 crore for YRF’s OTT arm that will be called YRF Entertainment, according to a press release.
The statement says, “Aditya Chopra wants to contribute towards raising the bar of digital content production in India. He wants to match global standards of vision and storytelling with stories that are rooted in India.”
Noting that YRF has “huge plans” and will roll out their strategy soon, the press statement adds that home-grown scripts for new OTT projects are currently in the works.
The note adds, “Aditya Chopra is of the opinion that OTT has the power to showcase truly Indian stories to the world. Being the first and only true blue Indian studio, YRF wants to tell the best stories to global audiences in the most visually grand way possible. Platforms like this are now bridging the language barrier and exposing cultures and talents to the world. Aditya Chopra wants to shift a gear and really scale up the OTT space in India to match international standards.”
The 50-year-old filmmaker and his studio have been working on floating the OTT venture for the past two years and reportedly already have several new projects lined up.
The production house is entering the OTT space at a time when streaming platforms are thriving in the country. According to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry, in 2020, digital media grew by 6.5% to reach Rs 235 billion and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22% to reach Rs 425 billion by 2023. Paid OTT subscriptions crossed 50 million for the first time in 2020 and are only expected to grow in the coming years.
Meanwhile, YRF has several films lined up for release in theatres. Chopra also announced recently that he will make his Broadway directorial debut in Autumn 2022 with a Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayengemusical.
Gully Boy director Zoya Akhtar is all set to direct a live-action musical based on the Archie comics for Netflix, the streaming platform announced. Titled The Archies, the film will be set in the 1960s.
Talking about this collaboration, director Akhtar said in a press release, “I am super excited to have the chance to bring The Archies to life. It was a large part of my childhood and teenage years. The characters are iconic and globally loved, which is also why I am a little nervous. I have to make sure the film stokes the nostalgia of a generation that grew up on the comic and yet resonates with the young adults today.”
Archie Comics CEO and Publisher Jon Goldwater added, “We know that these characters have global appeal, and translating them into other settings and cultures is just the start of what we have planned for future multimedia adaptations”.
Pratiksha Rao, Director, Films and Licensing, Netflix India, stated, “The characters, adventures, and friendships in Archies have found fans across the world for generations. With Archie Comics, Graphic India, and Tiger Baby, we have an extraordinary opportunity to recreate the world of Archie comics, this time as a live-action musical. Zoya has an incredible and unique ability to make stories and the characters in them relatable, making them feel like they are an extension of our own self. We are thrilled to partner with her in bringing to life the world of Archies to fans and our members in India and around the world.”
The extremely popular comic is about the adventures of teenager Archie Andrews and other key characters – Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Jughead Jones, and Reggie Mantle – in the fictional town Riverdale. Recently, the comic even inspired the television series Riverdale. Archie (as an individual) debuted in December 1941, in Pep Comics No. 22. However, in the late 1950s artist Dan DeCarlo gave Archie the look that defined the look of Archie Comics for the next half a century.
It has been speculated that the Akhtar film will see Shah Rukh Khan’s daughter Suhana Khan, Sridevi and Boney Kapoor’s younger daughter Khushi Kapoor, and Amitabh Bachchan’s grandson Agastya Nanda making their debut with the film. No official confirmation about this has been made yet.
Squid Game will have a second season, confirmed director Hwang Dong-hyuk. “It’s in my head right now. I’m in the planning process currently. But I do think it’s too early to say when and how that’s going to happen,” he told the Associated Press.
While Netflix has not announced a second season for its biggest title ever, Hwang said at a red carpet celebration for the show on Monday, “I almost feel like you leave us no choice. There’s been so much pressure, so much demand and so much love for a second season. So I will promise you this, Gi-hun will be back and he’ll do something for the world.”
Squid Game is “an imaginative, unorthodox story in which 456 contestants risk their lives in a mysterious survival game for a chance to win 45.6 billion won,” as per Netflix. All participants play one game each day as they race towards the prize, and the price of failure is death. It is written and directed by Hwang, who has films like Miss Granny (remade in Telugu as Oh Baby! with Samantha Akkineni) to his credit.
The show amassed over 142 million household views in the first four weeks since its release on September 17, with the majority of views coming from outside its home market. It also ranked as the streamer’s top program in 94 countries, including the US.
Hwang first conceivedSquid Game as a film and began writing it in 2008, right after his debut. “That was a time when I frequented comic book stores. As I was reading a lot of comic books, I thought about creating something like a comic book story in Korea,” he said.
However, he shelved the idea and continued work on his other projects, as it seemed “unfamiliar and violent” then. “There were people who thought it was a little too complex and not commercial. I wasn’t able to get enough investment and casting was not easy,” he added.
The series examines human nature and how we change from childhood to adulthood by showing adults revisiting and playing children’s games. Hwang said, “I wanted to write a story that was an allegory or fable about modern capitalist society, something that depicts an extreme competition, somewhat like the extreme competition of life.”
The cast of Squid Game comprises actors Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Oh Young-soo, Wi Ha-Jun, Jung Ho-yeon, Heo Sung-tae, Anupam Tripathi, and Kim Joo-ryoung, among others.
Big-budget films, including actor Rajinikanth’s Annaatthe, Akshay Kumar’s Sooryavanshi, and Vishal‘s Enemy, released in theatres for Diwali last week, drawing massive footfall and bringing cinemas across the country back to a state of normalcy.Dulquer Salman‘s Kurup will also release in multiple languages across theatres in India on Friday.
With several big-banner films beginning to opt for theatrical releases, theatre owners are hopeful of a box office revival. At the same time, several new films and shows are releasing on OTT platforms. Here are seven new titles to stream this week.
This Nivin Pauly-starrer revolves around a single day in Hill Top, “a once-grand, now-drab hotel in downtown Ernakulam, where a constantly bickering married couple, Pavithran and Haripriya, checks-in for a jolly stay.”
“An Interpol-issued Red Notice is a global alert to hunt and capture the world’s most wanted. However, a daring heist brings together the FBI’s top profiler (Dwayne Johnson) and two rival criminals (Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds),” reads the official synopsis of the film.
3. Special Ops 1.5 (November 12) – Disney+ Hotstar
Special Ops season 1.5, created by Neeraj Pandey and starring actor Kay Kay Menon, a prequel toSpecial Ops on Disney + Hotstar, goes back in time to 2001 and explores the formative years of Himmat Singh, the character played by Kay Kay Menon, as an R&AW agent and how he uses his “wits and intelligence” for a different operation.
4. Home Sweet Home Alone (November 12) – Disney+ Hotstar
Home Sweet Home Alonerevolves around Max Mercer, a mischievous and resourceful young boy who has been left behind while his family is in Japan for the holidays. When a married couple attempting to retrieve a priceless heirloom sets their sights on the Mercer family’s home, it is up to Max to protect it from the trespassers.
5. Always Jane (November 12) – Amazon Prime Video
Jane, a transgender teenager, lives with her typical family in rural New Jersey. Her family, the Nourys, “wear their hearts on their sleeves and find irreverent humor in daily life, while Jane sets her sights on life beyond their small town.”
6. Squad (November 12) – Zee5
This ZEE5 Original film narrates the story of an STF squad tasked with the responsibility of protecting the granddaughter of a renowned scientist, who holds the blueprint of a lethal cyborg programme.
7. The Shrink Next Door (November 12) – Apple TV
Inspired by true events and an original podcast by the same name, The Shrink Next Door follows the decades-long manipulation and exploitation by psychiatrist Dr. Isaac “Ike” Herschkopf (Paul Rudd) and his longtime patient Martin “Marty” Markowitz (Will Ferrell).
The All India Shia Personal Law Board has sent a legal notice to filmmaker Mira Nair, Netflix and the producers of A Suitable Boy over the portrayal of a ‘Tazia‘ (replica of Imam Husain’s mausoleum) in one of the web series’ episodes, Outlook India reported.
As per the report, the notice from Syed Mohammed Haider Rizvi, the president of the board’s legal cell, raised an objection to a scene in the fourth episode of A Suitable Boy Season 1. It states that “at 43:30 minutes…you have desecrated a ‘Tazia’ when you have shown it falling to the ground. This particular scene has not just hurt the sentiments of lakhs of people (belonging to different religions, faiths, beliefs, and walks of life) who consider a ‘Tazia’ to be the most sacrosanct and keep it [on] the highest pedestal, but has also invoked religious fervour of sorts amongst them.”
“Tazia is a replica of the mausoleum of Imam Hussain, who stared into the eyes of imminent annihilation but refused to bow down to evil and an oppressive ruler Yazid, who, in consequence, killed him and almost his entire family on the sands of Karbala in Iraq,” the notice further reads, adding that though the Imam was martyred centuries ago, his “message of peace and humanity still resonates in the hearts and minds of people at large and has been a source of solace and courage during their testing times.”
The notice further states that ‘Tazia’ is not just any religious relic, but something so sacred that the whole Taziadar community keeps and guards it with their life until it is laid to rest on the 10th of Moharram or the Chehallum or other days throughout the Muharram mourning period.
Further, the notice cites Section 295 of the Indian Penal Code, which reads, “Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings… with the deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens of India, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representations or otherwise, insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or both.”
“It is needless to say that any act of yours which is contrary to what has been instructed above would invite initiation of criminal proceedings against you inter-alia under section 295 of the Indian Penal Code, besides initiating further suitable action against you, at your risks, costs and consequences throughout,” concludes the notice.
According to the report, the notice was delivered to Mira Nair, the series’ director, and her co-director Shimit Amin. Others who have been mentioned in the notice are the producers, Lydia Dean Pilcher and Aradhana Seth, the distributors BBC studio, Vinyard Films, and Netflix, and finally Ministers Anurag Thakur (Information and Broadcasting) and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi (Minority Affairs).
Previously, the series had landed in trouble when an FIR was registered in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, based on a complaint from the youth wing of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The show was accused of hurting religious sentiments for showing a scenein which a Hindu girl kisses a Muslim boy in a Hindu temple. A call to boycott Netflix emerged on social media soon after.
Actor Sarah Jessica Parker, renowned for playing Carrie Bradshaw in the Sex and the City series, has slammed the “misogynistic chatter” around the show’s upcoming sequel, And Just Like That…
Speaking to Vogue recently, Parker said, “There’s so much misogynist chatter in response to us that would never happen about a man. ‘Does she have grey hair?’ I’m sitting with Andy Cohen, and he has a full head of grey hair, and he’s exquisite. Why is it okay for him? I don’t know what to tell you people! Especially on social media. Everyone has something to say. ‘She has too many wrinkles, she doesn’t have enough wrinkles.’”
She added, “It almost feels as if people don’t want us to be perfectly okay with where we are, as if they almost enjoy us being pained by who we are today, whether we choose to age naturally and not look perfect, or whether you do something if that makes you feel better. I know what I look like. I have no choice. What am I going to do about it? Stop ageing? Disappear?”
And Just Like That… is HBO Max‘s reboot of Sex and the City, with Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis set to reprise their roles as Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte, respectively. Kim Cattrall, who played Samantha Jones in the original series, will not be part of the new show that will premiere on the OTT platform in December.
The upcoming 10-part series is executive produced by Parker, Nixon, and Davis, along with Michael Patrick King, Julie Rottenberg, Elisa Zuritsky, and John Melfi.
It will follow the three women “as they navigate the journey from the complicated reality of life and friendship in their 30s to the even more complicated reality of life and friendship in their 50s.”
The writers’ team includes King, Rottenberg, Zuritsky, Samantha Irby, Rachna Fruchbom, and Keli Goff.
Parker told Vogue that in addition to the current pool, the makers also added new actors as well as writers belonging to diverse backgrounds, to make sure the show is “reflective of where New York is right now – post-Covid.”
Black actors Nicole Ari Parker and Karen Pittman, along with Mexican-American and non-binary actor Sara Ramirez and Sarita Choudhury, who is of English and Bengali-Indian descent, were brought on board.
“In no way were we interested in tokenism,” said Parker. “You can’t bring people on the show and not let the camera be with them!”
The Sex and the City series went on for six seasons, from 1998 to 2004. It was created by Darren Star based on the book of the same name by Candace Bushnell. The popular show also spawned two films: Sex and the City (2008) and Sex and the City 2 (2010).
The makers of Jai Bhim, the recently-released Suriya starrer, have digitally altered a scene featuring a calendar carrying a symbol that denotes a particular caste and replaced it with the image of a Hindu god, in order to avoid communal dispute.
Suriya’s 39th film, Jai Bhim is written and directed by TJ Gnanavel. The actor, who also produced the film under his 2D Entertainment banner, plays a lawyer who fights for justice for the people from the Irular tribal community. The film, which deals with topics such as caste inequality and police brutality, is inspired by real events that took place at the Madras High Court. The real-life case was fought by Justice Chandru in the 90s.
While the film received a largely positive reception, a scene featuring the antagonist, which shows a calendar carrying a symbol (a fire urn) that is said to denote a particular caste, drew flak from a section of the audience. While some took to social media and questioned if the symbol was necessary, others termed it a “deliberate mistake” and an “indirect attack” on the Vanniyar caste.
It is to be noted that Anbumani Ramadoss, leader of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), a political party that represents the Vanniyar caste, has a tattoo of the symbol in question on his arm. According to The New Indian Express, members of the caste believe that the community was born out of fire and thus, the fire urn became their symbol.
Soon after the symbol appearing in the scene became a subject of controversy, the makers of Jai Bhim digitally altered it to an image of the Hindu Goddess Lakshmi.
This is not the first time Jai Bhim has caused a stir on social media. Previously, the film faced flak for showing “hate” for the Hindi language in a scene featuring actor Prakash Raj, whose character slaps another for speaking in Hindi. Subsequently, Prakash Raj, in an interview with News9, responded to the controversy and said that people only saw the slap but not the agony of the tribal people, which “exposes their agenda.”
Jai Bhim released on November 2 and is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
As a Tamil person who does not speak Hindi, after watching the new Netflix movie Meenakshi Sundareshwar, I felt a complete review could simply consist of ‘Hindi Theriyathu Poda‘ for a headline, followed by a period in the body of the article. I say this because Tamil people are clearly not the target audience for this film set largely in Madurai, where Tamil families speak in Hindi among themselves and to everyone, including potential employers and restaurant annas. At one point, our heroine pours her heart out to a random paatti (grandma) in a train (from Bangalore to Chennai) in Hindi and I really hoped the latter would respond with ‘Hindi Theriyathu Podi‘, but no such luck. The paatti instead complies with her wish for a sad song – in Hindi, of course.
The worst of it is, the film’s story does not require it to be set in Madurai or Tamil Nadu at all. It is a very generic – and very boring – romcom about a long-distance marriage. Girl and boy meet and have an arranged marriage, boy has to leave her behind with his joint family, while he goes to a different city to advance his career and prove himself, cue forced conflicts in the relationship, followed by a rushed resolution and then, of course, happily ever after. This would have worked just as well if it was set in, say, Lucknow. Better even, since all the Hindi would not be so distracting. Or maybe that is the point. To distract from how empty this movie is by giving us something to raise our eyebrows over. To evoke some sort of reaction. Because the leads surely do not with their non-existent chemistry.
Abhimanyu Dassani matches the film to a T in that he too is completely bland and lifeless. His Sundareshwar is one of the least interesting romcom leads I’ve ever seen. I was earnestly hoping his wife would leave him for the much more charming other man (Varun Rao). But again, no such luck.
If Dassani seems to be barely making an effort, Sanya Malhotra as the titular Meenakshi makes up for that by trying only too hard. Her Rajinikanth (sorry, Superstar Rajinikanth, or should I say ‘thalaivaa‘) impressions reminded me of those poor toddlers that parents trot out in front of guests to act out movie scenes. She has clearly practised it a lot but the results are horrifyingly caricaturish. In fairness, I can see Malhotra making a decent romcom lead in a film with some substance. By which, I don’t mean a serious movie, just something with a bit of a soul.
Meenakshi Sundareshwar, however, is not that movie. It is as soulless as they come. It looks beautiful but is vapid. Through most of the movie, I was convinced the director, Vivek Soni, had to be an ad-maker. A lot of the montage shots – and there really are a lot of them – can be cut and used as is in any advert. The shot selections, the way the place is captured, the clothes, the houses, the people – they are all very pretty to look at. But while that may be enough for an advertisement, we do expect a little more from a feature film.
There’s nothing engaging here, nothing to hold a person’s attention for the 140+ minute runtime, that honestly felt twice as long. Around the halfway mark, there’s a scene that could have served as the climax. Sundareshwar’s father realises his son is not the useless fellow he’d pegged him for. The boy has proved himself and the father emotionally acknowledges that. Then, the dad checks out for most of the rest of the film. How I wished I could have too!
*****
This Meenakshi Sundareshwar 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.
Chloe Zhao’s Eternals is an ambitious film. She has packed origin stories, the end of the world as we know it, and the eternal question of ‘should humanity be saved?’ into two hours and 36 minutes. That is a lot and it definitely feels like it.
Eternals is about 10 superhero immortal beings created by the Celestials to save Earth from their diametrically opposite beings, the Deviants, who are horrendous beastly creatures. The team includes the matriarch Ajax (Salma Hayek), Sersi (Gemma Chan), Ikaris (Richard Madden), Thena (Angelina Jolie), Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), Sprite (Lia McHugh), Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), Gilgamesh (Don Lee), and Druig (Barry Keoghan). Having been around for centuries, they have witnessed everything and have lived among humans for a long time now. But, despite their abilities, they are never to interfere in the actions of human beings. However, they have all gone their separate ways in the last few centuries.
In present-day London, Sersi is attacked by a Deviant when she is out with her human boyfriend Dane (Kit Harrington) and fellow Eternal, Sprite. The altercation not only results in the return of the group’s strongest member, Ikaris, but also leads to them finding out that the Deviants can now absorb energy making them harder to kill.
With this new information, they decide to travel to reunite with the rest of the Eternals. Sometimes, they find them in the weirdest places – Kingo is a Bollywood superstar whose upcoming film has one of the worst dance sequences ever known to mankind.
The plot of Eternals is complex enough as it is given that there are 10 characters, but Zhao also spends a lot of time showcasing their role in human history by transporting us to ancient Babylon, Mesopotamia, and even the Gupta Empire. She charts their arrival, their adventures, and their fallout through these sequences. The flashbacks are numerous and tedious.
As in any movie, there are dramatic reveals and twists. However, they do not have the intended effect because the exposition is just that draining.
The Eternals still have an archnemesis that they need to combat and the fact that they are just beasts is very underwhelming. For immortal beings with extraordinary powers, one would expect a more worthy opponent.
Despite these shortcomings, Eternals is unlike any Marvel film that we have seen. It is a visual masterpiece. This is Zhao’s forte and she does not disappoint – the special effects and the natural landscapes are stunning.
The actors also do a fantastic job. Chan’s portrayal of the group’s de-facto leader is memorable. She brings a certain vulnerability to a powerful and compassionate character who rises to the challenge. Similarly, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo and Harish Patel as his trusty valet are effortless in the way they add humour to the movie. Surprisingly, the only let-down among the actors is Angelina Jolie. Her acting prowess is wasted in a rather one-dimensional role, making Thena, the literal Goddess of War, a disappointing character.
While most Marvel films sprinkle diversity to seem progressive, this film actually champions the cause. Eternals effortlessly gives us (nearly) realistic portrayals of Asians, showcases a kiss between a gay couple, and features the first deaf superhero.
At its best, Eternals is a visual journey worth taking, but as a superhero film, it fails to make the mark.
If you found Eternals‘ take on the genre refreshing, here are seven other movies and shows that also flipped the usual superhero narrative.
Starring Elizabeth Olsen, Kathryn Hahn, and Paul Bettany, WandaVision follows Avengers Wanda and Vision who have moved to the suburbs in Westview, New Jersey to enjoy an idyllic domestic life. But there is a catch. Their life is straight out of a television show – quite literally. The show begins in the 1950s like a sitcom with the married couple trying to hide their superpowers. This is especially bizarre because WandaVision picks up three weeks after the events of Avengers: Endgame. It also references and generously utilises television tropes from a wide range of sitcoms, including modern-day shows like The Office and Modern Family.
An Emmy-nominated series, WandaVision takes a unique approach to a superhero origin story. Instead of giving its audience most of the details right at the beginning, the miniseries confuses them and even hints at Wanda being a villain before revealing her true destiny in the show’s penultimate episode. The in-depth focus on trauma, grief, and nostalgia also sets it apart from the regular Marvel superhero films, where such themes receive only a passing mention.
This 2019 film directed by Todd Philips is based on the famed villain from DC comics. Joker is set in the 1980s and follows Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a mentally-ill man who is shunned and mocked by the society he lives in. Working as a party clown, Arthur is a failed stand-up comedian who lives with his ageing mother, Penny. After a series of events where he is constantly subjected to apathy and neglect, Arthur feels betrayed by everyone and adopts the persona of Joker. He also inspires city-wide violent riots and protests against the rich and privileged of Gotham City.
While Joker is a villain origin story of sorts, it is mostly a poignant tale on mental illness, trauma, and the ill-effects of the class divide. Unlike other stories on comic book characters, this stand-alone movie is more an intimate character study than an action-packed take on the supervillain.
A group of vigilantes who call themselves ‘The Boys’ take on powerful and corporate-run superheroes who are morally reprehensible and corrupt. The Boys are led by Billy the Butcher (Karl Urban) while the group of superheroes, known as the Seven, are led by Homelander (Antony Starr), a popular but megalomaniacal leader. Billy also believes that Homelander is responsible for his wife’s disappearance.
The Boys is based on the comic book series of the same name and is a satirical take on Marvel and DC superheroes. Showcasing superheroes as individuals who abuse their power and leave a trail of destruction, the series depicts the horrors of a world where these corporate heroes are idolised and given a free hand.
Venom(Netflix)
In the Marvel comics and director Sam Raimi’s Spiderman series, Venom is a villainous alien symbiote who latches onto Spiderman, wreaking havoc on his life and surroundings. However, in the 2018 film Venom, the symbiote is showcased as a hero of sorts after latching itself to reporter Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy). While Venom’s original plan involves its species taking over the planet, it slowly begins to bond with host Eddie and the two forge a reluctant partnership.
This deviation from the original comics was well-received by the audience and spawned the sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021).
The Incredibles franchise (Disney+ Hotstar)
This hugely successful franchise follows the lives of the Parr family who have superpowers. In the first film, Bob Parr (Craig T Nelson) also known as Mr Incredible, begins to feel bitter about the mundaneness of his suburban life. When he is called on a secret mission, he is only too happy to oblige. However, he is captured during an assignment and his family hatches a plan to rescue him.
While The Incredibles seems to be a regular superhero story, a lot of its themes and plots make it an atypical film. For instance, the government programme to hide the identities of superheroes, the public’s frustration with them, the problem of collateral damage, and the primary focus on the Incredibles’ familial bonds set it apart from other films in the genre.
Unbreakable (Disney+ Hotstar)
Directed by M Night Shyamalan, Unbreakable was released at a time when superhero films were not yet mainstream. And that is what sets this movie apart from the barrage of superhero films that followed.
Unbreakable is a simple film that tells the story of David Dunn (Bruce Willis), a security guard who is the lone survivor of a fatal train crash. He is contacted by comic-book expert Elijah (Samuel L Jackson), who tells David that he has special abilities and fits all the necessary requirements of a superhero. Unlike other superhero films, Unbreakable does not rely on special effects and mass destruction to make its point. It gives us a realistic portrayal of a man with superhuman abilities.
Hancock (Netflix)
Starring Will Smith as the titular superhero, Hancock tells the story of a brash and irresponsible superhero who becomes a public menace. Despite having superpowers, Hancock is despised by the public for the damage he causes. However, his life changes after he runs into public relations expert Ray (Jason Bateman), who promises to revamp his image.
An action-comedy, Hancock is truly an offbeat superhero movie for its comic elements, bizarre (and often questionable) twists, and a main character who is disliked by the very people that he is supposed to protect.
Jai Bhim, the Tamil Suriya-starrer that was released on Amazon Prime Video on Tuesday, has been receiving flak from a section of social media users for showing “hate” for the Hindi language in a scene featuring actor Prakash Raj.
Suriya’s 39th film, Jai Bhim is written and directed by TJ Gnanavel. The actor, who also produced the film under his 2D Entertainment banner, plays a lawyer who fights for justice for the people from the Irular tribal community. The film, which deals with topics such as caste inequality and police brutality, is inspired by real events that took place at the Madras High Court. The real-life case was fought by Justice Chandru in the 90s.
While the film opened to largely positive reception, a section of people on social media have called out a particular scene where Prakash Raj (playing a police officer) slaps another character for speaking in Hindi and asks him to speak in Tamil. Many took offence to this scene which, they felt, depicted hatred towards the Hindi language.
Screenshots of section of tweets that called out the scene
Rohit Jaiswal, whose Twitter bio reads ‘Film Critic | Influencer | Trade Analyst‘, said he was “really heartbroken” after watching Jai Bhim and added that the scene “was not needed” and he hopes “they cut it.”
Jaiswal continued in a follow-up tweet, “We wait for Tamil films. We support them, we request the makers to release [them] pan India. In return, we don’t want anything but just love. If not love, then at least not humiliation.”
Meanwhile, another social media user named Arun Pudur, shared clips of the same scene from the original Tamil version as well as the film’s dubbed versions in Hindi and Telugu, and pointed out that while the scene remains the same in Telugu, the Hindi version has the cop telling the other character to “speak the truth” instead of saying, “Speak in Tamil/Telugu.” He added that this “clearly shows there was no need to hate Hindi in Tamil or Telugu versions.”
Screenshots of reactions in response to the backlash
On the other hand, several others defended the scene and applauded it for bringing attention to the issue of Hindi imposition.
“Actually, the police character has connected all loose ends. He knew the answer. So, he gets frustrated when [the one being interrogated] speaks Hindi just to escape the conversation. Hence this scene. Ethically, this scene may be wrong, but Hindi imposition is horrible here [in Tamil Nadu]. So return gifts,” a social media user named Karthik said in reply to Jaiswal.
The makers of Jai Bhim have not commented on the issue so far.
Here are seven new films and shows releasing on OTT platforms this week.
1. Meenakshi Sundareshwar (November 5) – Netflix
In Meenakshi Sundareshwar, a newlywed couple is forced to face the hassles, hiccups and the hilarity of a long-distance marriage that arise due to a unique job prospect.
2. Narcos Mexico Season 3 (November 5) – Netflix
Narcos Mexico chronicles the true story of the Guadalajara cartel’s ascent and the Mexican drug war in the 1980s.
3. Akkad Bakkad Rafu Chakkad (November 3) – Amazon Prime Video
According to the official synopsis, Akkad Bakkad Rafu Chakkad, inspired by a real-life scam, is the story of Bhargav and Siddhant who, driven by their own struggles and losses in life, get together to open India’s first fake bank branch. It starts in a small town called Hoshiargarh and snowballs into the biggest banking scam in India.
4. Father Christmas is Back (November 7) – Netflix
When their long-lost father returns home for Christmas, four feuding sisters need to get a crash course on family togetherness.
5. The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (November 5) – Amazon Prime Video
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain is the true story of the eccentric British artist Louis Wain, whose playful and psychedelic pictures transformed the public’s perception of cats forever. The film, set in the early 1900s, will follow Wain as he seeks to unlock the “electrical” mysteries of the world.
Tryst With Destiny comprises of four stories that explore “characters from widely different backgrounds” who “struggle for control of their destinies”.
7. Love Hard (November 5) – Netflix
Love Hard stars Nina Dobrev as Natalie, a journalist and a hopeless romantic struggling to find love in Los Angeles. Things begin to look up when she swipes right on Tag, a dreamy guy from the East Coast. Taking a leap of faith, she boards a flight to surprise him for the holidays, only to discover that she’s been catfished by Tag’s childhood friend Josh, who is equally unlucky in love.
Mohanlal‘s upcoming Malayalam film, Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham, has opted for a digital release and will premiere on Amazon Prime Video. K Vijayakumar, President of the Film Exhibitors United Organisation of Kerala (FEUOK), told Silverscreen India that this was “the producer, actor, and director’s decision.”
“We [the association] are not with Marakkar now. They already collected the advance from the theatres and returned it. They did not keep their word. And it’s okay,” he said.
Written and directed by Priyadarshan, Marakkar narrates the story of Kunjali Marakkar, the fourth and the last of the Malayali naval leaders deployed by the Samoothiri of Calicut to fight in the war against the Portuguese in the 16th century.
Marakkar‘s producer, Antony Perambavoor, who was serving as the FEUOK’s Vice President, recently quit the association following a fallout with several exhibitors regarding the film’s release. Shortly thereafter, Onmanoramaconfirmed the film’s digital release.
“Being the Vice President of the exhibitors’ association, if he makes a film and gives it to OTT platforms, it’s not fair. Maybe he realised this and that’s why he resigned,” said Vijayakumar. “But we have not yet taken his letter up for discussion. A committee meeting will be held later to decide what is to be done about his resignation.”
Silverscreen India tried reaching the producer for a response but to no avail.
While Marakkar is a big banner film featuring a superstar of Malayalam cinema, Vijayakumar feels the makers’ decision to forgo a big screen release will not really affect theatres in Kerala. “There are other superstars as well in Malayalam,” he noted. “We are getting their films. So cinemas will not face a problem. In cinema, stars are not paramount. Content is the base of a film. If one or two superstars opt to go away from theatres, we don’t care about it.”
One of the other star films headed for cinemas is Dulquer Salmaan‘s Kurup. The film was initially set for a digital release, on Amazon Prime Video on November 12, but will now release in theatres instead. “The film was already slated for an OTT release. But, based on our request, he [Salmaan] returned [to cinemas],” said Vijayakumar.
Kurup will be the first big star film in Malayalam to release in theatres in Kerala amidst the Covid-19 pandemic post the reopening of the cinemas there on October 25.
“In addition to this, Mammootty‘s film, Bheeshma Parvam, will release on December 20,” the FEUOK President added.
Marakkar will be Mohanlal’s second film after Drishyam 2 to go for a digital release. Drishyam 2, which also released on Amazon Prime Video, was again produced by Perumbavoor.
“We will not take any action against Mohanlal, but he should remember what gained him stardom. I think he will realise and come back to theatres as he cannot survive on OTT platforms. Not only him but others as well. They will definitely all come back to cinemas,” Vijayakumar said.
Carole Baskin, who appeared in the Netflix documentary show Tiger King, has sued the streaming giant for using “unauthorised film footage” of her in the show’s sequel, Tiger King 2.
Her request to restrict the makers of the show from using any film footage of the Baskins or Big Cat Rescue, the non-profit animal sanctuary owned by the Baskins in the show’s sequel was however, turned down by a Virginia court.
The complaint filed by Carole and her husband Howard and acquired byThe Hollywood Reporter, demanded an order that would restrict Netflix and Royal Goode Productions from using any film footage of the Baskins or Big Cat Rescue, in the show’s sequel or in any advertisement or promotion for the same.
The trailer of the second season of the series that released recently “predominantly depicts the Baskins as a central element,” the complaint noted.
Turning down Carole’s request, the court noted, “While the Court understands the Baskins’ frustration, it does not appear that inclusion of Defendants’ footage of the Baskins will cause any immediate harm that cannot be compensated with monetary damages. Importantly, the Court merely finds that the Baskins are not entitled to the extraordinary remedy of a temporary restraining order, which would be entered before Defendants have had an adequate opportunity to respond.”
Carole and the Big Cat Rescue were both featured in the first part of the docuseries, which premiered on Netflix in 2020. The show centered on her feud with American businessman and private zookeeper Joe Exotic, who was involved in the mistreatment of the big cats. The two were popularly known as each other’s arch-nemeses. The series followed Carole and Joe Exotic’s journey and concluded with the arrest and conviction of the latter for animal abuse and attempt to murder Baskin. He is currently serving a prison term of 22 years.
She had earlier slammed makers, Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin, for straying from their stated motive behind the show, as well as for connecting her to the disappearance and death of her former husband, Don Lewis.
“I don’t know how they put out a Tiger King 2 when Joe Schreibvogel’s [Joe Exotic] in jail and I’m refusing to be played again,” Baskin wrote. “Rebecca Chaiklin [director of the docuseries] said she wanted to ‘clear the air’ about what they did to me in Tiger King. I told her to lose my number. There is no explanation for such a betrayal and false portrayal,” she added.
As per the complaint, “Far from being a documentary motion picture that seeks to expose the illicit trade of big cat private ownership, breeding, and cub petting, Tiger King 1 is a seven episode series focused primarily upon portrayal of Joe Exotic as a sympathetic victim and Carole as the villain.”
In addition to this, the complaint states, “The Tiger King 1 series wrongly attempted to suggest that Big Cat Rescue abused its animals by keeping them in very small cages while not making clear that the animals actually reside in expansive enclosures.”
Since its release, the Baskins, among others, have been vocal critics of the show.
Tiger King was viewed by 64 million households within the first four weeks of its premiere in March 2020.
The second season of the documentary series will follow the theme of “cons, scams, and cautionary tales” according to the OTT platform.
Tiger King 2 is set to premiere on Netflix on November 17.
Jai Bhim, directed by TJ Gnanavel, is a fictionalised account of a real incident. A young man from the Irula tribal community in a Tamil Nadu village is wrongly charged with theft and arrested by the local police. One night, he goes missing from the police station. His pregnant wife, with the help of a Chennai-based lawyer, Chandru, a man with a conscience in a space teeming with corrupt and greedy individuals, helps her fight the case against the cops.
It is a phenomenal story where the Goliath, the arrogant state police machinery, is taken on by a group of Davids armed with nothing but the law. Suriya, a mainstream star with a great fan following in South India, plays the lawyer, who is, essentially, a supporting character to the protagonists, Senggeni (Lijomol Jose, whose fantastic performance shoulders the film) and Rajakannu (K Manikandan).
Jai Bhim, a powerful political salutation and slogan, is not verbalised in the film. But the phrase captures the film’s objective – to inform the viewers of the atrocities committed by the larger society on the impoverished minority communities, and more importantly, to instil the hope that truth and justice will eventually prevail, thanks to the work of good people.
However, a noble objective and a great story do not always translate into good cinema. Jai Bhim moves the audience, albeit into believing that the world is made of blacks and whites, the virtuous and the evil, a simplification a good writer will not voluntarily undertake.
The film recognises Chandru as a hero right in the moment of his introduction – an over-the-shoulder slow-motion shot of him leading a protest, sloganeering, his fist raised high in the air. There is no ascend to heroism but a plain – lazy, if one may say so – declaration through typical hero shots and revolutionary music that he possesses all the qualities to be admired.
One might wonder how different the film would have looked had Chandru been treated not as an angry editorial but as a human being in flesh and blood, who did not know the answers to every question on ethics and morals. In an early scene, a senior police officer tells him, “We are as human and socially conscious as you are,” and Chandru shoots him down with a sneer.
Suriya earnestly tries to fill the vacuum in the character construction to some extent. He keeps everything understated. Inside the courtroom, he does not scream but maintains a low profile. He breaks into a half-smile when he is interacting with Senggeni’s daughter. Although the film divulges nothing about where Chandru comes from or what drives him to be the social crusader, Suriya manages to give an impression that there could be a fascinating personal story to him.
If Chandru is a hero for being good at what he does and possessing a good heart, Senggeni, despite her integrity and an incredible will to survive in an unfair world, is portrayed as a powerless person. The film turns soppy whenever the Irula tribe members are on the screen. The close shots of violence inside the police station cell rob the tribal members of dignity and gradually turn the viewers immune to the horridness. The camera, in random shots, watches the victims writhing on the ground as the cops’ lathi sticks land on their bodies. The women shriek, the children wail. The police violence, a little while into the film, becomes a clinical activity, and the painful screams, meaningless noise.
Vetrimaaran’s Visaranai (2016) used a confident new formal language to talk about custodial violence. The prison scenes in Jai Bhim match the gruesomeness of Visaranai but miss the point by several miles. Visaranai wanted to inform the viewer of the cynicism the State is founded on. The narrative dashes towards a pitch-dark ending where the viewer witnesses, rather uncomfortably, the execution of a crime in which they indirectly participated.
In Jai Bhim, the depiction of violence is not sensitive but the result of a tasteless attempt at creating and heightening the drama. In a courtroom scene, when a forensic doctor mentions finding chilli powder on the body of an accident victim, the film, in extreme close shots, demonstrates the police using the powder on a civilian. And the scene is stretched out, pounding the details into the viewer.
To draw an immediate comparison, consider Kosa, Mohit Priyadarshi’s searing debut drama set in Bastar, centred on the illegal arrest and subsequent disappearance of Kosa, a tribal boy. It opens to a scene that blends subjective and objective, documentary and fiction, in which the boy is walking from home to work, meeting fellow villagers on the way and exchanging pleasantries. The scene ends in a long shot where a police vehicle stops him and picks him up; the camera’s gaze is cold but the spectator feels the chills. Kosa, indeed, does not speak the language of the mainstream, unlike Jai Bhim. But isn’t mainstream cinema ready for a revival? Could the new Tamil cinema dismantle the old walls and become more inclusive while adhering to the codes of a worn-out language?
Jai Bhim is an important work that brings to the OTT sphere a story that happened on the fringes. In all fairness, it gets a lot of things right about the line between mainstream and the outcaste, about the innate cruelty of the police system in India. However, its refusal to stay human and its tendency to drown out the truly powerful silences and whispers in an ocean of screams make it a lousy work.
*****
The Jai Bhim 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.
It must not be easy to make a drab film when you have stalwarts such as Ratna Pathak Shah and Paresh Rawal in the cast but in Hum Do Hamare Do, director Abhishek Jain finely demonstrates it. The film, conceived as a comedy of errors set around a young man, an orphan who assembles a fake family for himself, is a challenge posed to the audience and the film critic; it drains one of all the will to laugh or write about it.
Consider this pivotal moment in the film, where the protagonist Dhruv (Rajkummar Rao), an entrepreneur, meets Anya (Kriti Sanon), a vlogger, and falls in love with her. There isn’t much to see or listen to. Two well-dressed people seated next to each other at the lobby of a five-star hotel. He assumes she is talking to him, but she is not. She is making a call using Bluetooth earphones. Out of the blue, she turns towards him and asks him to teach her some magic tricks. She has mistaken him for a magician because a man in a tux at a high-end hotel in Chandigarh has to be a magician. A few minutes of similar paltry exchanges later, the scene ends, waving a red flag at the viewers. Hum Do Hamare Do is a parade of banalities.
The most perplexing element in this early scene is the unflinching impoliteness of Anya. She is too impertinent to be real, but in the film’s universe, her sassiness and stupidity are adorable qualities that immediately make her fit to be a romantic-comedy heroine. The film doesn’t make any effort to convince the audience that this character could be, regardless of the poor first impression she makes, worthy of their attention, that she isn’t as shallow as the vlogs she makes for a living. Instead, the film dashes into a more feeble part, where Dhruv arranges a fake family for himself to marry Anya, a traditionalist.
The central idea, in all fairness, isn’t pointless. Hum Do Hamare Do is a giant leap from the Hum Saath Saath Hain era, when a person in Hindi cinema was nothing if he or she didn’t have a wealthy upper-caste Hindu joint family to fall back on. Although the 2021 film places a similar conventional family at the heart of an individual’s existence, it states that a perfect family is not always made of people who share blood ties or a surname. Hirozaku Kore-eda, in his glorious film Shoplifters (2018), had revised the definition of family, expanded it to a humane and liberal institution. Hum Do Hamare Do’s Dhruv wishes for that nourishing space called home and he finds it in Anya, his foster father Purushotham (Paresh Rawal) and the latter’s old flame Deepti (Ratna Pathak Shah).
The issue here is that Jain and his team cannot develop this idea into a watchable drama, where the stakes seem believable and the jokes, amusing. The narrative is a pile of exhaustingly contrived situations. The central conflict, for one, is unreasonable. There isn’t a valid reason for Dhruv to lie to Anya, who fell in love with him for his kindness and naiveté. To begin with, their romance hardly goes beyond the genericness. When they are together, they don’t elicit that spark or emotional intensity one expects to see in two youngsters head over heels in love. Rao rehashes his signature stutter-and-panic act that made him the gallery’s favourite ordinary man. The fabric of his talent looks dangerously thin now.
The saving grace is the other couple in the film, played by Pathak and Rawal. Once almost married and later, for most of their life, pretending to be strangers, their predicament in playing fake parents to Dhruv makes sense. Purushutham’s lack of refinement collides with Deepti’s reticence, making for some hilarious and warm moments.
The romance between an old-generation couple is now Bollywood’s favourite genre – yet another leap from the family dramas of the last millennium when parents were portrayed only as asexual individuals. Here, Rawal and Shah share sparkling chemistry, much more impressive than what the younger couple bring to the film, although one can’t help thinking what a better screenplay could have offered these actors.
Hum Do Hamare Do is one of those films that ends miles before its final scene. Somewhere right after its halfway point, the film runs out of resources and starts to pant; every scene that follows is a ghost of a hundred movies and soap operas that the viewer has seen before. Emotions are played in a loop, passively, as though the makers were fed up with making the film. When the credit starts to roll, the viewer might feel relieved, not just for themselves but also for the actors, for they made an earnest effort to breathe life into a dead movie.
******
This Hum Do Hamare Do 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.
Novelty in movies isn’t necessarily creating something that never existed before. In Thinkalazhcha Nishachayam, a Malayalam language drama, director Senna Hegde takes the viewer to a simple, familiar setting, inhabited by characters who have appeared on the Malayalam screen, big and small, from the beginning of time. Hegde does not reuse them passively to evoke some fleeting laughs. He inserts into the scenes witty lines that sprout from the setting, rich in local flavour, and directs plenty of sneers at the patriarchs who throw their weight around the weaker members of their household, hypocrites and spineless men who look for undeserved respect.
Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam unfolds in a lower-middle-class house in Kanhangad, a region in Kerala’s northernmost district which had been lying beyond the vicinity of Malayalam cinema for a long time. The film opens to a fascinating scene. The camera, placed at a distance, watches a bunch of men under a dim street lamp, whose banter informs the viewer of the context. A police vehicle enters the scene, washing the frame in yellow and red. Between the lines of a formal inquiry, the men exchange pleasantries, signifying the way of life in a close-knit community. In the next scene, a woman with a Christian rosary around her neck persuades her neighbour to accompany her to a temple festival in the evening, to watch a ganamela (a film music concert) featuring movie playback singers.
Hegde and his co-writer Sreeraj Raveendran, who has also done the film’s cinematography, focus on the characters’ behaviour, verbal and non-verbal. There are plenty of endearing moments. The camera goes from room to room, between interior and exterior, following people engaged in various activities. Men are loud and animated, and women, relegated to being flies on the wall, whispering secrets and sorrows to each other. The story takes a backseat here. Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam is driven by a pleasant potpourri of human interactions.
Every character brings a load of life to the modest premise, thickening it to a delicious consistency. The cast, all newcomers who look like they know Kanhangad inside out, deliver a terrific performance, sans any signs of inhibition. A teenager jovially greets his friend’s father, who responds with a scowl. The boy pipes up, “Is that a walking statue?” At the first meeting between Suja (Anagha Narayanan), the protagonist, and her fiance, Lakshmi Kanthan (Anuroop), he shoots at her a bunch of carefully thought out questions to analyse her marriageability. “Everyone wears maxi (nightie) around here?” he asks her, disdain in his voice. “Yes. Though, my father wears it only to bed,” she replies dryly, and he shudders.
At the centre of the film is the imminent wedding of Suja, the youngest daughter of Vijayan (Manoj KU), a Kuwait-returnee, and Lalitha (Ajisha Prabhakaran), fixed without and against her consent. The house starts to see an influx of friends and relatives, who bring a history of friction. A shy, but amiable young man has to tolerate the hurtful behaviour of his father-in-law. A banker, whom the sister of Suja had rejected for a man with a low-ranking job, goes around the house offering financial help to the family, the easiest way to regain his social standing.
A tug-of-war between material wealth and human values, a staple element in rural dramas, runs throughout the film. Vijayan cannot fathom why his eldest daughter (Unnimaya Nalppadam) chose a bus driver as her life partner. The man protests violently when Suja makes a similar choice by eloping with an unemployed young man. Hegde refuses to romanticise the oft-repeated statement that love could replace money in a marriage. The parting letter that Suja writes to her family is a comedy of clichés, packed with lines picked up from fluffy film songs.
Hegde, however, cannot find a meaningful conclusion to the chaos. After Vijayan’s household explodes in tension, pieces flung around and wrecking people and their plans, the film hits a dead-end. The writer-filmmaker opts for a simplistic sitcom/soap-opera solution for a complex feature film problem. Kanhagad’s patriarch learns a lesson the hard way, from an outsider who barges into the venue, flaunting her modern way of thinking. The idea fits, but the scene resembles a poor joke, much inferior in quality to the healthy humour the narrative had been serving until then.
Sreeraj Raveendran’s camerawork is fluid, perfectly capturing the momentum in the writing. The two songs (composed by Mujeeb Majeed) are forgettable; they do not add anything significant to the narrative and only bring to it unwarranted pauses.
The hipness in Hegde’s approach to filmmaking, notably, doesn’t reflect in the film’s worldview. In the end, the filmmaker leaves the traditional middle-class setup intact, careful not to upset its old norms. The young women, who are unemployed themselves, feebly defend their partners rather than raise their voices when they are humiliated in public. To be a more rounded, scathing satire about the traditional system of arranged marriages and middle-class households, a film has to look a little more into gender politics and the various forces at play inside our families. Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam, however, chooses to be a benign, heartwarming entertainer.
*****
This Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam 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.
With Diwali coming up next week, several highly-anticipated films are lined up for theatrical release, including Annaatthe, Enemy, Marvel’s Eternals and Sooryavanshi.
Meanwhile, OTT releases are still going strong. Here are eight new films and shows releasing on streaming platforms this week:
Jai Bhim (November 2) – Amazon Prime Video
Jai Bhim, starring Suriya, delves into the lives of a tribal couple, Senggeni and Rajakannu. According to the official synopsis, when Rajakannu gets arrested and eventually disappears without a trace, Senggeni seeks the help of lawyer Chandru (Suriya), who takes it upon himself to unearth the truth and bring justice to the tribal women of the state.
Army of Thieves (October 29) – Netflix
In this prequel to Army of the Dead, a mysterious woman recruits bank teller Dieter to assist in a heist of impossible-to-crack safes across Europe.
Call My Agent: Bollywood (October 29) – Netflix
Call My Agent: Bollywood is the Indian adaptation of the popular French series Dix Pour Cent. In it, four savvy, street-smart talent agents manage fragile star egos and real human emotions to save their agency from closure after the sudden death of the founder.
Dybbuk (October 29) – Amazon Prime Video
In Dybbuk, Mahi, a newly married woman, brings an antique Jewish box into her home. When Mahi and her husband Sam begin to have paranormal experiences, they soon learn that the box is a dybbuk containing an evil spirit. The couple seeks the help of a rabbi to unravel its mystery and attempt to survive the ordeal before their child is born.
Hum Do Hamare Do (October 29) – Disney+ Hotstar
Hum Do Hamare Do features Rajkummar Rao and Kriti Sanon, as Dhru and Aanya, who are in love and want to get married. Dhruv, who has no family, goes out to ‘hire’ parents. The hired parents, however, have their own personal history.
Aafat-e-Ishq (October 29) – ZEE5
This ZEE5 original film revolves around Lallo, a 30-year-old recluse who yearns for love. She works as a caretaker and her life changes when she inherits her employer’s property.
Maradona: Blessed Dream (October 29) – Amazon Prime Video
This biographical series is based on the life and career of legendary football player, Diego Armando Maradona. According to the official synopsis, the series delves into his life and prolific career, from his humble beginnings in the town of Fiorito in Argentina, to his game changing career through Barcelona and Napoli. It will also portray his key role in taking his national team to the World Cup win in Mexico in 1986.
Luis Miguel: The Series Season 3 (October 28) – Netflix
This series dramatises the life story of the Mexican singer, Luis Miguel. The plot will explore the difficulties Miguel faced to balance his family and professional life.
Television show MasterChef Telugu issued a statement against the non-payment claims of actor and the show’s host Tamannaah Bhatia and called them “false”. The production house also said that they have incurred a loss of Rs. 5 crores due to the actor’s busy schedule.
The show’s makers also said that they have approached the Bangalore Civil Court & Commercial Court regarding the same.
Recently, the actor’s lawyer had informed ETimesthat she is being forced to take action against the production house backing MasterChef, Innovative Film Academy due to “non-payment of dues on MasterChef Telugu and unprofessional conduct”. ” “Due to the non-payment of dues on MasterChef Telugu and unprofessional conduct by the production house Innovative Film Academy, Tamannaah Bhatia is being forced to take legal action. Despite the continuous non-payment and unprofessional approach, she cancelled other commitments and was determined to complete the entire project. However, since the production house has overnight stopped communication with her, she is now forced to consider filing a legal suit against them, ” the actor’s lawyer had informed the publication.
Refuting these allegations, the production house in a statement issued on Wednesday said, “Abiding by the contract, IFA has paid Tamannah a total amount of Rs. 1.56 Crores for the sixteen days of the shoot that are done. The full shoot schedule was supposed to be completed between … June 24th and … September but it is still not finished, owing to her other commitments. Due to the enormous delay by the artist, this has resulted in a loss of more than Rs. 5 crores for the production house towards a huge standing cost of 300+ crew. The balance amount of Rs. 50 lakhs was supposed to be released, as per the agreement, after the completion of the two days of shoot for the finale which is still not shot. Despite Tamannah not furnishing her availability for the finale shoot, IFA has always maintained they will still pay her for those days once she comes and shoots the finale.”
“At this juncture, Tamannah has demanded Advance Payment for Second Season association as well in order to complete the finale shoot of the first season, which is shocking to us as we have not prepared for it. As per the agreed terms, any difference should be dealt with by arbitration but Tamannah took it to the media recently. As a responsible organization we have taken the legal step on this subject and we shall keep you informed of the progress,” the statement further read.
Bhatia is yet to reply to the statement.
Meanwhile, the actor will next be seen in Maestro alongside Nithiin. The film is the official Telugu remake of the Hindi film Andhadhun. She also has a few other Telugu films in the pipeline, including the Gopichand-starrer Seetimaarr and Gurthunda Seethakalam, which is directed by Nagasekhar. She also has another Hindi film titled Plan A Plan B with Riteish Deshmukh upcoming.
Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam, the Malayalam film that bagged two awards at the 51st Kerala State Film Awards, will release on SonyLIV on October 29, the makers of the film announced on social media recently.
The film, written and directed by filmmaker Senna Hegde, won the state film award in the Second Best Film and Best Story categories.
Speaking to Silverscreen India about his third directorial, Hegde, who has also written the screenplay for the film along with Sreeraj Raveendran said, “It is a comedy-drama revolving around families. It is about an engagement which has to be done immediately since the groom has to go back to a job in the Middle East. The only day they find is a Monday (Thinkalazhcha), as referred to in the title. Basically, the film deals with the whole family dynamics, relationships, love and hate,. The film happens in a span of two days and what happens in between is the essence of Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam.”
Fahadh Nandu has written the additional screenplay for the film. Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam is backed by Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah under the Pushkar Films production banner. It will be the second Malayalam film to release on SonyLIV after Kaane Kaane.
“The whole thought-process of the film started in 2019. We have had different drafts and versions since then. Since I live in a small town, most of the core incidents that happen in the film are taken from real life- incidents which have happened around me. Basically, I took that thought and cultivated the story,” said the filmmaker who hails from Kanhangad in Kerala, where the film is also set.
“Not many films have used the slang that is used here. The lingo is different. I am hoping that it will add freshness to the film,” he said. The director added that film’s cast is majorly debutants or actors who have done minor roles earlier.
“I usually sync sound, so people have to know the dialect. With no dubbing involved, we cast people locally by conducting auditions and having workshops. There are no heroes-heroines. Only family,” he said.
The film features Anagha Narayanan, Aishwarya Suresh, Ajisha Prabhakaran, Anuroop P, Arjun Ashokan, Arpith PR, Manoj KU, Ranji Kankol, Sajin Cherukayil, Sunil Surya and Unnimaya Nalappadam.
The film was shot in January 2020 in Kanhangad by Sreeraj who handled the cinematography. Shooting was wrapped up in 23 days.
Speaking about its release, Hegde said that though the ideal situation would have been to release films in theatres, the team has opted for an OTT release since theatres in Kerala only opened on Tuesday and there are already several films awaiting release.
“There are hundred odd films waiting to be released in theatres which will be opening at 50% occupancy. Along with these films, there are many festival releases from other languages that are considered big films. We don’t have big stars and we may not get enough screens, and I won’t blame them (theatres) for it. We need to wait for four or five months to get the right time. We felt that it is too long, and luckily SonyLIV saw the film and approached us. We felt that it will be a good platform for the film,” Hegde explained.
Filmmaker Prakash Jha was attacked on the sets of his upcoming web series Aashram 3 in Bhopal by a group of Bajrang Dal members who smeared ink on his face and also vandalised the sets, NDTV reported.
Members of the group reportedly alleged that Aashram starring Bobby Deol in the lead was an ‘assault’ on Hinduism. They threatened that they will not allow the show to be filmed till the title of the show was changed.
“They made Aashram 1, Aashram 2 and were shooting Ashram 3 here. Prakash Jha showed in Aashram that the guru was abusing women. Does he have the guts to make such a film on a church or madrasa? Who does he think he is?” Bajrang Dal leader Sushil Surhele told NDTV.
“Bajrang Dal challenges him, we won’t let him make this film. So far we have just blackened Prakash Jha’s face. We are looking for Bobby Deol. He should learn something from his brother (Sunny Deol). He made such patriotic movies,” he added.
Videos shot by a reporter on the scene showed Bajrang Dal members chasing down crew members, catching at least one of them and beating him with a metal light stand.
The police told the news organisation that nobody from Jha’s team has filed any charges, however, those involved will be identified and arrested.
“Action will be taken against those who disrupted the shooting and vandalised property today itself. They will be arrested,” senior police officer Irshad Wali said.
“Anti-social elements ransacked vehicles created trouble. Crew members of Aashram will be given fill security and it will be ensured this does not happen again,” he added.
Condoning the incident, the Producers Guild of India said in a statement, “The Producers Guild of India strongly condemns the brazen acts of violence, harassment and vandalism faced by the crew involved in the production of the series Ashram in Bhopal. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident and the Guild is alarmed to note the frequency with which the production and exhibition sectors are severely and illegally disrupted by various elements with impunity”.
However, filmmaker Hansal Mehtaurged the Guild to directly address the authorities rather than issuing such statements.
Earlier in 2020, the web series had faced flak and a Jodhpur court has issued notices to Deol and Jha after an advocate moved the court claiming that the series hurts religious sentiments. Recently, in January this year, the makers were also booked by Rajasthan police for allegedly promoting discrimination against SC/STs.
The first season of the web series was released in August 2020 on the OTT platform MX player.
Directed by Kaarthikk Sundar, Oh Manapenne revolves around overachiever Shruthi and an underachiever Karthik, whose paths cross, and they decide to collaborate over a business venture. “With hearts at stake, will the partnership take-off or crash land?” reads the synopsis on Disney+ Hotstar.
For Sinndhuja of Silverscreen India, “In Oh Manappenne, the meeting of a man and a woman seems to have been preordained – as preordained as the Indian matchmaking network with its various filters would allow, anyway.” She adds that the remake could have been better as it seems to have directly taken inspiration from its original.
Vishal Menon of Film Companion, reflects similar sentiments, and says that the film “will only leave you with even more respect for its original and its actors,” and calls it a boringly faithful remake.
While Praveen Sudevan of The Hindu, has not watched the original. He says “the film starts feeling contrived. Writing seems to be the prime suspect. There are oft-too-seen Tamil cinema character traits.”
However, he highlights Bhavani Shankar’s performance, as against the conventional female roles in Tamil cinema.
Heads and Tales on Zee5 is another film which has released this week. Featuring Suneel, Divya Sripada, Chandni Rao, and Srividya, among others, the film has been directed by Sai Krishna Enreddy, and written by Sandeep Raj. The story revolves around “three women, as they deal with tough times in their romantic relationships, they also learn to take control of their personal lives and stand up for themselves,” according to Zee5’s official synopsis.
Photo Caption: Heads and Tales poster
For Ashutosh Mohan of Film Companion, the scattershot film has a philosophizing preamble with a weak pretext, that “manages to become an ordinary drama about two very different strangers helping each other solve their problems.”
Although with an IMDbrating of 7.6, the film has not garnered great reviews from the critics.
Bengali web series Indu has also released on Hoichoi. Featuring Ishaa Saha in the lead role, the story follows the life of Indu who enters a new stage of life after her marriage. Eventually, dark secrets that threaten her life come into the picture.
