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Sardar Udham: Story of a revolutionary etched with pain, passion and courage

The film belongs to Vicky Kaushal, who essays the title role with subtlety and an underlying ferocity, all at once. He is a man with a single-minded mission and never loses focus…writes Troy Ribeiro

Film: Sardar Udham (Streaming on Amazon Prime); Duration: 162 minutes.
Director: Shoojit Sircar. Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Shaun Scott, Stephen Hogan, Banita Sandhu, Kristy Averton and Amol Parashar. Rating: ****

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar in 1919 may be an incident etched in the memories of all Indians owing to its mention in our history textbooks, but not many know about the valour and sacrifice of Sardar Udham Singh, an ordinary lad from the holy city, who witnessed this tragedy up close and personal.

He was haunted by the memories of that traumatic day for 21 years before he took revenge by assassinating Michael O’Dwyer, the then Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, upon whose orders General Dyer opened fire.

How Udham Singh joins Bhagat Singh’s Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) and moves to London and there, with the help of others who are a part of the revolutionary movement, including a British woman, Eileen Palmer, eventually manages to shoot O’Dwyer and his trial thereafter, form the crux of this film.

The tale is straightforward, albeit narrated at a languid pace, but the plot, narrated in a non-linear manner, goes back and forth in time to establish the rationale behind Udham’s resolve and provide a glimpse of his early life and his journey as a revolutionary.

The film belongs to Vicky Kaushal, who essays the title role with subtlety and an underlying ferocity, all at once. He is a man with a single-minded mission and never loses focus.

Each year of the wait to achieve his goal is a struggle and he portrays that with brutal honesty — whether it is seeking refuge under various aliases or doing odd jobs to buy time or hone his skills. His body language, broken English, unbridled confidence and fearlessness, all exude the aura of a revolutionary and freedom fighter.

The screenplay by Shubhendu Bhattacharya is taut and well-researched, throwing light on several historical facts unknown to many. The period is recreated with honesty and one is transported there.

The dialogues are crisp, yet hard-hitting, particularly O’Dwyer’s scathing speech at Caxton Hall before he is shot, reiterating that “It is the right and the duty of the British to rule India”. One can feel Udham Singh’s anger upon hearing these words, further strengthening his resolve.

The cinematography by Avik Mukhopadhyay is atmospheric and enriches the scenes with unparalleled brilliance. His lens brings alive each frame with candour and the story with it. Particularly noteworthy is the heart-wrenching Jallianwala Bagh massacre scene where the pain and pathos of those injured and dying are palpable.

The end of the film, may be known to us and predictable, but the surge of patriotism and the awe-inspiring feeling for Udham Singh is something Shoojit Sircar manages to arouse in each viewer. The dauntless unremorseful Udham Singh, with Bhagat Singh’s photograph in his clenched fist as he lies motionless, becomes an everlasting memory.

Overall, with a runtime of 162 minutes, there are moments when you feel the viewing is a bit tedious.

Shortlisted for India’s official entry to the Oscars

The process of selecting India’s official entry for the Academy Awards is in full swing at the Bijoli cinema in Kolkata. Leading the shortlist are the Vidya Balan-starrer “Sherni” and Shoojit Sarkar’s “Sardar Udham” starring Vicky Kaushal in the titular role. Giving them competition are 14 regional language films, including the Malayalam ‘Nayattu’ and the Tamil ‘Mandela’.

Filmmaker Shaji N. Karun and a panel of 14 other judges have been given the task of zeroing down on the film that would best represent India at the world’s largest carnival of cinema — the Oscars, which will be held on March 27, 2022, at the iconic Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California.

Both “Sherni” and “Sardar Udham” were released to wide critical acclaim this year on Prime Video. ‘Sherni’, directed by Amit Masurkar of “Newton” fame, is the story of a woman forest officer who tries to bring things under control after a tigress runs amuck, leading to a human-animal conflict.

Vidya Balan’s performance in the film was widely applauded and the film was praised in particular for its realistic approach to storytelling and making use of humour at key places to drive home its message.

“Sardar Udham” is a historical biographical drama based on the life of Udham Singh, who assassinated Michael O’Dwyer, who was the Lt-Governor of Punjab when the Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place in 1919. “Sardar Udham”, directed by Shoojit Sarkar, too, has been appreciated particularly for its technical brilliance and the use of silences and moods to steer the story.

Vicky pens note to director

A day after the release of his film ‘Sardar Udham’, actor Vicky Kaushal penned a thank you note to filmmaker Shoojit Sircar for casting him in the film and giving him an experience that “took a lot out of him and gave a lot more in return.”
“Thank You @shoojitsircar Sir for taking me back in time and making me meet your #SardarUdham. An experience that took a lot out of me and gave a lot more in return,” he wrote on Instagram.

‘Sardar Udham’ is a biopic of freedom fighter Sardar Udham Singh, who assassinated Michael O’Dwyer, the former Lieutenant Governor of Punjab in British India in 1940, to avenge the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Late Irrfan Khan was originally supposed to play the role of Sardar Udham in the film. Dedicating the film to Irrfan Khan, Vicky added, “This one’s for the two friends that you always wish to keep alive, Udham Singh and Irrfan Saab.”
Alongside the heart-warming note, Vicky posted a few BTS images from the sets of the film. Vicky will be seen next in ‘Sam Bahadur’, which is based on the life of India’s first Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw. (ANI)

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Ayushmann Khurrana excited about diverse India

SRK turns 55: Ayushmann wishes with a quirky twist

The actor has explored various Indian cultures with his films “Meri Pyaari Bindu”, “Bala”, “Dum Laga Ke Haisha”, which have been set in small towns. He shot extensively in the Northeast for his upcoming film “Anek”….reports Asian Lite News

Actor Ayushmann Khurrana says that he has always been fascinated by the diverse culture of India.

The actor has explored various Indian cultures with his films “Meri Pyaari Bindu”, “Bala”, “Dum Laga Ke Haisha”, which have been set in small towns. He shot extensively in the Northeast for his upcoming film “Anek”.
He adds this love for tradition and customs was inculcated in him as a child.

“I have been fascinated about the cultures and traditions of India since I was a child. My parents ensured that they taught me about how diverse my country is and inculcated the interest to know more and respect the different cultures existing in India,” he says.

Ayushmann feels Indians are fortunate to experience incredible diversity of a country that needs to be cherished deeply. He says, “As Indians, we are blessed to soak in so many cultures and experience so much richness of diversity.”

Besides Anek, Ayushmann will be seen in the movie “Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui”, directed by Abhishek Kapoor. He will be sharing the screen with actress Vaani Kapoor in the film.

He has also started the reading of “Doctor G”, which also stars actress Rakul Preet Singh. It will be directed by Anubhuti Kashyap.

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‘Un paused’ Anthology With New Themes

Filmmakers Raj and DK, Nikkhil Advani, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Avinash Arun and Nitya Mehra will explore the themes of new beginnings and moving on through five different short films, which have been shot during the ongoing Covid pandemic.

The five short films comprise the anthology “Unpaused”, the trailer of which was released on Tuesday.

Raj and DK have made “Glitch”, starring Gulshan Devaiah and Saiyami Kher. It is about a hypochondriac man who meets a strange girl on a blind date.

“Creating ‘The Family Man’ was a liberating experience for us as content creators, and the assurance of thinking unconstrained encouraged us to extend our collaboration with ‘Glitch’. We loved making the short, as we tried a new style and genre! It was a bizarrely unique experience shooting it during the pandemic, and with all kinds of restrictions,” said Raj and DK.

Then there is “Apartment” directed by Nikkhil Advani, starring Richa Chadha, Sumeet Vyas and Ishwak Singh. It will throw light on how a woman spirals into a maze of self-blame and attempts to end her life when she finds out about her husband’s sexual indiscretions.

For Advani, “Apartment” allowed him to “explore complex emotions in a simple way, one that the traditional format would never have permitted me to do”.

Tannishtha has directed “Rat-A-Tat”, featuring Rinku Rajguru and Lillete Dubey. In the short, the protagonists will be seen confronting loneliness and forming an unlikely friendship during lockdown.

Giving an insight into her story, Tannishtha said: “In such unprecedented times, new beginnings are the only hope for many across the world… Shot under lockdown rules it was both exciting and challenging to bring alive the story. I hope the viewers relate and connect with it the way we connected and felt while making it.”

Avinash Arun has helmed “Vishaanu” with Abhishek Banerjee and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan leading the cast. The story is about a young migrant family who after being thrown out of their rented house during lockdown, decides to illegally sneak into a lavish flat.

There is also Nitya Mehra’s “Chaand Mubarak”, featuring Ratna Pathak Shah and Shardul Bharadwaj. The story is about an affluent middle-aged single woman who is forced to seek help from a young rickshaw driver to run errands during lockdown in Mumbai.

“It felt great to be back on set and back on shoot after months of being indoors. I was happy that Amazon said it wasn’t just about lockdown, but it was about them wanting us to tell stories that reflected positivity and that’s how ‘Chand Mubarak’ came about, because I wanted to actually celebrate an unlikely friendship,” Nitya Mehra said.

The Hindi anthology film will release on Amazon Prime Video on December 18.

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Middle-Class Melodies: Feel the regular humdrum of life

Middle Class Melodies (Telugu film with subtitles, on Amazon Prime); Cast: Anand Deverakonda, Varsha Bollamma, Goparaju Ramana, Prabhavathi Varma, Chaitanya Garikipati, Divya Sripada; Direction: Vinod Ananthoju; Rating: * * * (three stars)
At first you would think Vijay Deverakonda dubbed for him. Anand Deverakonda does sound a lot like his superstar brother, blame it on genetics more than anything else. For all other practical purposes, going by what you see here, Anand seems focussed on carving a very different space from the Vijay Deverakonda trademark.
Middle Class Melodies — don’t go by the title — is not a musical, nor does it have any reference to melody. The title is used to convey a feel of the regular humdrum of life. For a more direct impact, perhaps, Middle Class Chutney (or Middle Class Flavours?) might have seemed more apt, considering the film is a comedy drama about a young man’s obsession to whip up the perfect Bombay Chutney, and his dream to set up an eatery.

Anand Deverakonda plays Raghava, a hothead who takes pride in whipping up the perfect Bombay Chutney. While his temper seems to be a legacy of his father (Goparaju Ramana), Raghava picked up the nuances of preparing his special dish from his mother (Surabhi Prabhavathi). He dreams of opening a tiffin centre from where he can sell his Chutney, and he hopes his Bombay Chutney will make him famous one day and be the pride of Guntur, his hometown.


Vinod Ananthoju’s film is narrated simply and with adequate humour, throwing in the obvious message about the importance of chasing one’s dreams. Writer Janardhan Pasumarthi’s focus seems primarily on setting up a feel-good experience for the audience, and little else.

For that reason, the film never really had much of a story to tell and tends to drag in portions. Ananthoju, Pasumarthi and company come up with interesting characters and situations that maintain a feel-good mood all through.

In turn, interesting characters translate to good performances. Anand Deverakonda is clearly not cut out for larger-than-life outings, but he does impress as the guy next door with a big dream.

With roles increasingly being written around realism and authentic mannerisms, this is a great time for Anand to be labelled a promising young actor. Varsha Bollamma looks apt for her role of Sandhya, while most others in the cast are adequate. Goparaju Ramana as Raghava’s father is truly impressive.

Middle Class Melodies leaves you in a happy space, never mind the film’s shortcoming.

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Neither Scary Nor Funny: Laxmi On A Mission Of Vengeance

Laxmii.

Twist in the tale comes when Asif is possessed by the spirit of a transgender woman named Laxmi (Sharad Kelkar) who is out on a mission of vengeance…writes ….VINAYAK CHAKRAVORTY

Laxmii; Cast: Akshay Kumar, Kiara Advani, Sharad Kelkar, Rajesh Sharma, Ayesha Raza Mishra, Manu Rishi Chadha; Direction: Raghava Lawrence; Rating: ** (Two stars)

Every now and then, it seems, Akshay Kumar cannot resist giving in to the urge to churn out boring humour. The last time he did it was in Diwali last year, with Housefull 4. He is back this Diwali with a film that would make Housefull 4 seem like a classic.

The problem with Laxmii is not that it is mindless. The problem is the film is just not funny enough, despite playing to the gallery. Director Raghava Lawrence, who makes his Bollywood debut with this film, collaborates with Farhad Samji (incidentally, the man who helmed Housefull 4) in a bid to recreate his 2011 Tamil hit Muni 2: Kanchana. What may have seemed funny nine years ago clearly fails to make the cut today.

Uh, yes — there’s the social message part. Laxmii tries being a satire of sorts against obsolete customs and rituals, but the effort defeats itself owing to the sheer plasticity of the narrative. The film also tries making the politically correct noises about the transgender community, as well as Hindu-Muslim harmony.

That last bit is specially highlighted through the film’s lead duo of Asif (Akshay Kumar) and Rashmi (Kiara Advani). He is Muslim, she is Hindu and so her parents (Ayesha Raza Mishra and Rajesh Sharma) won’t accept Asif. Twist in the tale comes when Asif is possessed by the spirit of a transgender woman named Laxmi (Sharad Kelkar) who is out on a mission of vengeance.

Although promoted as a horror comedy, Laxmii is neither scary nor funny. The film is too haphazard in its storytelling to leave any sort of an impact. It reminds you of the brainless Bollywood efforts of the eighties and the nineties where ‘script’ was something that seemed to be written on an ad hoc basis, even as the film was being shot. You get that feeling often while watching Laxmii — as if they didn’t have a bound script to start off with.

The thing that baffles you the most is the random stereotyping in the name of creating ‘quirky’ characters. Everything about the film is a caricature, owing to the blind cliches that plot points as well as characters bank upon. Crafting a comedy out of the story of a transgender who is gunning for revenge would always seem like a tall order in formula-obsessed Bollywood. The makers of Laxmii never show the inclination to overcome that challenge.

There is very little that a cast can do if the writing of a film is poor. In the case of Laxmii, the film wholly rests on Akshay Kumar’s duality as the rationalist Asif who turns into Laxmi on becoming possessed. Akshay cuts an impressive picture as Asif, but then that’s the easier deal of his role. When it comes to being Laxmi, he resorts to sheer hamming and little else. Most of the balance cast are props in the overall scenario, although Sharad Kelkar hits a few interesting notes when he is not giving in to the temptation to overdo his act as the original Laxmi.

As a final product, Laxmii was always fated to bomb — irrespective to what tweak they have given to the film’s title.

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Halal Love Story: Crafting Humour With Simple Twist

Halal Love Story (Malayalam film streaming on Amazon Prime); Cast: Indrajith Sukumaran, Joju George, Grace Antony, Sharaf U. Dheen, Nazar Karutheny; Direction: Zakariya Mohammed; Rating: * * * and 1/2 (three and a half stars)…writes Vinayak Chakravorty

Halal Love Story crafts humour out of the sensitive issue of Islamic belief without being trivial about it. If that balancing act seems accomplishment enough, director Zakariya Mohammed and his co-writer Muhsin Parari reveal plenty of other cinematic qualities along the way.

The story is set against the backdrop of a village in Kerala. A local Muslim group believes in the power of art to reach out to people, and they use street theatre as their medium. Zakariya uses the folk art only briefly in his screenplay, to underline the fact that despite staunch religious diktats ruling the community there is a dormant aesthetic sensibility embedded somewhere in their minds.

The street theatre artistes use their craft to talk of the essence of Islam, as well as denounce George Bush’s decision to attack Iraq and the capitalism that American cola brands represent. The group looks for a wider reach, and reckon a telefilm could be an ideal vehicle.

The committee running the group, however, feels that cinema can be prone to showings things that are deemed ‘haram’ (forbidden) in Islam. The challenge of creating a ‘halal’ film falls on the elderly committee head Rahim (Nazar Karutheny), and the school teacher Taufeeq (Sharaf U. Dheen). The duo approaches an assistant director named Siraj (Joju George), though Taufeeq decides to write the film to ensure the end product stays ‘halal’. For the sake of chemistry and to maintain sanctity of relationships, Siraj and Taufeeq decide to cast a real-life couple, Shereef (Indrajith Sukumaran) and Suhra (Grace Anthony), as their film’s lead pair.

Halal Love Story is a satire, but only just. The film does not dig deep while commenting on either Islam or cinema, the two props that uphold the plot — or the conversation on marital gender politics it interestingly raises, only to forsake. The initial portions of the story are laced with subtle humour on expected lines, as Siraj and crew struggle to can the perfect shot with a bunch of bumbling artistes.

The ‘film within a film’ plot finds parallel subtexts in the individual stories of a few among its cast and crew. These stories are used to depict how similar as well as different life and art can be. But rather than talk of too many characters, the narrative focusses on the married life of Shereef and Suhra primarily, and how working in the film disrupts their emotional equation. For the first time, Suhra sees many reasons why their marriage, perceived all along by both as a perfectly happy one, is not necessarily so. Zakariya also gives Siraj a story unto himself, as the director struggles to find an escape in his work, from his personal pangs. These sub plots are finely woven into the narrative, and never unduly stand out.

The film is simplistic in its storytelling, technical execution as well as the comments it leaves. Early in the film, two characters discuss good cinema that can reach out to children and one of them suggests Iranian films, particularly Children Of Heaven. You spot a lot of the Iranian idiom in Zakariya’s cinematic style — in the way he conveys deep emotions effectively, without losing grip of a feel-good storytelling style.

Halal Love Story elicits effective performances from actors who have been perfectly cast. The film might be a tad predictable, but it makes up for the fact with storytelling that holds your attention all along.

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Taish: A Non-Linear Visual Treat

Bejoy Nambiar's 'Taish' to be out on Oct 29 as film and web series

Taish (streaming of Zee5); Cast: Pulkit Samrat, Jim Sarbh, Harshvardhan Rane, Kriti Kharbanda, Ankur Rathee, Zoa Morani, Sanjeeda Sheikh, Saurabh Sachdeva, Abhimanyu Singh, Armaan Khera, Saloni Batra, Kunika; Direction: Bejoy Nambiar; Rating: * * and 1/2 (two and a half stars)…writes VINAYAK CHAKRAVORTY

Taish banks on a very basic formula of honour and revenge that even the most commercial of Bollywood makers stopped peddling a while back, though Bejoy Nambiar serves it with polish. The story unfolds against the backdrop of good-looking London and nearby locales, using a cast that fits the characters well. For some novelty, you get a choice in formats — you could watch Taish as a six-episode series, or as a feature film.

The option in format isn’t the only experimentation about Taish. Nambiar and co-screenwriters (Anjali Nair, Kartik R. Iyer and Nicola Louise Taylor) adopt a non-linear approach in storytelling, which — by mainstream Bollywood standards at least — is not something commonplace. It makes the narrative seem more interesting than it actually is.

That the operative mood is of murderous rage is established in the opening sequence, with a bloody showdown that unfolds in the washroom of a posh pub in London between young Sunny (Pulkit Samrat) and the gangster Kuljinder (Abhimanyu Singh). The encounter leaves Kuljinder in a vegetative state, and soon the gangster’s younger brother Paali (Harshvardhan Rane) and gang are baying for Sunny’s blood.

Things get complicated because Sunny is in town to attend a wedding. Krish (Ankur Rathee), the younger scion of the affluent Kalra family, is getting married to Mahi (Zoa Morani), and Sunny is like family. All hell breaks loose when Pali and gang arrive at the venue and declare they will find and nail the assailant, or ensure no wedding takes place.

The narrative moves into flashbacks to trace the reason for Sunny’s violence, and also sums up the plot. Nambiar is subtle in the way he introduces important characters — Krish’s elder brother Rohan (Jim Sarbh) or Rohan’s Pakistani finacee Aarfa (Kriti Kharbanda), for instance — as well as vital plot spins. The idea is meant to render a slowburn treatment to the episodes.

Yet, for all its visual and cinematic treatment, Taish lacks an innate ability to connect. There is a fiery idea, there are the characters that struggle with demons of the past even as they wage a tooth-and-nail fight to finish — yet these protagonists fail to reach out and connect. You don’t feel for them or their misery, for the simple reason their emotional dilemmas are not altogether original, or convincing.

As the story moves into its last episode, several situations that unfold surprisingly seem forced. It’s almost as if Nambiar and team were in a rush to wrap up their tale with a sleekly executed chase sequence and some filmi melodrama.

A major hitch for many will be the elaborate use of Punjabi dialogues. Pali and the gangsters’ family and friends hail from a Punjabi background and, for the sake of authenticity, Nambiar lets them converse in Punjabi. The resultant long stretches of conversation could make you feel like you have logged into a Punjabi gangster movie without subtitles.

The show hinges on Pulkit Samrat, Harshvardhan Rane and Jim Sarbh, and the male leads make most of interesting characters that the big screen hardly accords. Kriti Kharbanda as Aarfa and Sanjeeda Shaikh as Jahaan are primarily in the story as romantic interests, but the script does offer them the stray moments where they play a part in moving the story forward.

Along with the lead cast, the writers of Taish are adequate in the way they imagine even the minor players in the story. Saurabh Sachdeva as Pali’s sidekick Sukhi and Zoa Morani as Mahi deserve mention. Nineties starlet Kunika makes a pleasant appearance in a small role.

Taish hawks familiar vibes of vengeance. It has a strong idea overshadowed by storytelling that fails to connect. The cast is brilliant in the way it brings alive the characters, and yet the characters have to often go through contrived situations to simply carry the story forward. You have some superb songs, yet strangely these only serve to slow down the storytelling pace. Taish is a labour of ironies.

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Mirzapur 2 Hits The Right Note

Mirzapur 2

Lots of guns and lots of blood, high drama and hint of sleaze, cuss and explosive dialogues, and a cast in good form with a few exciting new additions. Mirzapur 2 ticks the familiar boxes. So, does the show live up to the hype?

Yes and no, depending on what you were expecting.

If you are happy to see a lot more of what we already sampled in season one, then Mirzapur 2 works just fine. The series faithfully caters what hardcore fans will log in and look for. But if you wanted this boondocks saga to scale a next level of any kind, it doesn’t quite happen over 10 episodes.

Mirzapur 2.

Season two had been promoted all along as a revenge story and, going by where the first season ended, it was obvious that gunning for vengeance would be Guddu (Ali Fazal) and Golu’s (Shweta Tripathi) sole motive, after they lost their loved ones to the brutality of Munna Tripathi (Divyendu Sharma). The storyline, however, incorporates several other subtexts of retribution.

Beena (Rasika Dugal), wife of Mirzapur’s towering Bahubali Akhandanand Tripathi, or Kaleen Bhaiya (Pankaj TripathI), emerges as one of the most intriguing characters in the new season, with her personal revenge agenda. Bahubali Rati Shankar Shukla of Jaunpur was gunned down last season, and his son Sharad (Anjum Sharma) has his little payback plan. Various other minor characters we met in season one, including Kaleen Bhaiya’s right hand man Maqbool (Shaji Chaudhary) and the politician’s moll Zarina (Anangsha Biswas) find reasons to seek vengeance as the episodes rolls.

Revenge, it seems, is the favourite pastime of Mirzapurians when they are not selling ‘kattas’ or carpets.

Series creator Puneet Krishna weaves volatile subtexts as these into the main story to set up the entire narrative. Essentially, storytelling in Mirzapur 2 is mostly about outlining what course the individual lives of the protagonists take, as well as introducing a few new characters.

The season opens with Guddu, Golu and Guddu’s sister Dimpy (Harshita Gaur) on the run after the shootout at the wedding of Lala’s daughter Shabnam, which closed season one. Guddu is still gravely injured. Golu, toughened by circumstances, is learning to live by the gun.

As the episodes roll, Dimpy will eventually fall for the smooth-talking Robin (Priyanshu Painyuli), a fixer who can get anything done. Golu is torn between her emotional angst and hunger for revenge, while Guddu is attracted to Shabnam (Shernavas Jijina).

All this, even as Kaleen Bhaiya’s reign continues. Munna Tripathi (Divyendu Sharma), Baauji (Kulbhushan Kharbanda), Guddu’s father Ramakant Pandit (Rajesh Tailang) and SSP Ram Sharan Maurya (Amit Sial) get character arcs that hold promise in the initial episodes.

Among the new additions, Vijay Varma enters the series as Bharat Tyagi, scion of a family of Bihari strongmen, and very much here to stay. Isha Talvar as chief minister Yadav’s daughter Madhuri seems interestingly positioned in the plot. She accounts for a major plot spin.

Mirzapur 2

Unfortunately for the season, these characters struggle to live up to the potential they initially promise. A big problem with many web series is that the cumulative runtime is far more than what the story deserves. Mirzapur 2 suffers from that problem. The show could have been wrapped up within seven or eight episodes. Instead, unnecessary minutes are wasted on melodrama, item dances and random shots at romance and violence alike.

The season is essentially about reiterating certain cliches we already knew, about the heartland underbelly. It rehashes the idea that smalltown dons are invincible unless they kill each other, that cops merely act as stooges and ministers are self-seeking monsters, and all of the above are soaked in amorality and a lust to gain supremacy in a never-ending bloody war for turf.

These are thematic stereotypes we have seen many times before, including in season one of this show, and on Mirzapur 2 gets the boost of impressive production value. The pace and storytelling is efficient till the point where the story builds up, but tends to ebb in some of the latter episodes.

The show is redeemed by its cast. To make the battle for Mirzapur more intense this time, the plot spreads beyond that small town. From Siwan to Balia to Jaunpur to Lucknow, many more bigwigs enter the fray to wrest the throne of criminally lucrative Mirzapur. Every actor, perfectly handpicked, does a fabulous job, especially the primary female cast. Rasika Dugal, Isha Talvar and Shweta Tripathi are flawless.

The series ends on a similar note as season one, with a big shooutout scene, though the impact is not half as exciting. For those who love post-credits scenes, hang around till the end. The post-credits shot of Mirzapur 2 leaves an important character with an interesting twist. Also, it reassures fans that season three is on way.

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A Suitable Boy Gets Mixed Response

One of two things happen when Mira Nair tries making an Indian film in India. She crafts a story that is beautifully authentic and inspired by India that is (think Salaam Bombay! or Monsoon Wedding). Or, she tries recreating an India that was, in which case the outcome is beautifully plastic (think Kama Sutra)…writes Vinayak Chakravorty .

Nair’s new web series talks of an India that was. The show diligently tries to belong to the former lot, but tends to gravitate to the second category.

Maybe it was the challenge of adapting Vikram Seth’s book of the same name. A massive work of fiction comprising nearly six lakh words would seem difficult to capture in six episodes.

Or maybe, just as it was blatant in the case of Kama Sutra, Nair was out making an Indian film in India for the West (you could say that idea defines all her India-centric works, but at least Salaam Bombay! or Monsoon Wedding managed to fall into an engaging storytelling rhythm).

The trouble with A Suitable Boy is despite so much story to tell, the narrative tends to flag. It is a script drawn from one of the most eventful phases of Indian history — early fifties when a newly independent nation was discovering sovereignty — and yet it struggles to capture that essence. The screenwriting is by Welsh veteran Andrew Davies, who seemed so much in comfort zone adapting Pride And Prejudice, Vanity Fair, Bleak House or Sense And Sensibility and, not to forget, co-writing House Of Cards. Yet, an element of laziness seems to take over the storytelling as Davies attempts to craft an Indian story.

‘A Suitable Boy’ (Photo Courtesy: Netflix)

A major problem is also the language. Based on an English novel and adapted by British writer Davies, the primary language of the dialogues is English. It seems okay watching upper crust Indians speak in the language at home and outside — even Tabu’s exquisitely executed courtesan Saeeda Bai looks passable mouthing English dialogues. The trouble with opting for English audio to watch the show is it really seems awkward when Vijay Varma’s Urdu teacher converses in the language with his ward, or when the ‘kattar’ Hinduvaadi politician (played by Vinay Pathak) vehemently makes a point in English.

On the other hand, watching the show in Hindi throws up a different glitch. Since it has been shot in English, there is naturally no coherence between lip movement and the uttered words. Seen with Hindi dialogues, the ironically Indian story looks like a product of messed-up sound engineering, to the point of being ludicrous.

Davies’ story based on Seth’s novel starts off on a bright note. We meet Lata (Tanya Maniktala), a student of literature who is strong-willed, intelligent and free-spirited. Her mother insists it’s time for her to get married, though she can’t help falling in love with the Muslim boy Kabir Durrani (Danesh Razvi), a history student in the University. Lata’s problems in life are quite removed from those of Maan (Ishaan Khatter), youngest son of revenue minister Mahesh Kapoor (Ram Kapoor). Maan sees the statuesque Saeeda Bai (Tabu) perform at a family function, and falls head over heels for her.

These stories of love run in tandem with a socio-political portrait of India the narrative tries drawing up. Mahesh Kapoor canvasses for a law that will render the Zamindari system obsolete. The year when the story begins is 1951, and the embers of Hindu-Muslim tension that started during Partition are still very much alive.

The episodes unfold rolling out these subplots and many more, as sundry characters join the plot. Despite so many characters and narrative threads, you soon begin to realise the storytelling lacks life. There is very little that happens in Lata’s and Maan’s lives that can be deemed surprising.

The series works because of its production merits and acting. Besides, for all flaws you may spot in the script, Mira Nair delivers the minimum quality you may expect from a cinematic product tagged with her name. This is a good-looking show all through, and Nair’s eye for detail while setting up the specifics of a specific societal milieu is always commendable — right from her days of Salaam Bombay! and Mississippi Masala. She reveals the nuances here, too.

Nair has assorted an interesting cast, and her ensemble of actors do brilliantly to bring the characters alive, toplined by a majestic performance by Tabu as Saeeda and Ishaan Khatter’s spirited rendering of Maan Kapoor.

The fact is established long before the first episode ends that Tanya Maniktala has a dazzling smile. Only, she needn’t have flashed it at every half a chance — her screen presence looks promising enough. The advantage of having a talented cast reprising roles is almost every frame has some nuanced turn of acting on display. Actors like Ram Kapoor, Rasika Dugal, Namit Das, Mahira Kakkar, Shahana Goswami, Aamir Bashir or Manoj Pahwa don’t have to try too hard to convince in any role. The show hugely benefits from that fact. Then there are the likes of Randeep Hooda, Ranveer Shorey, Vinay Pathak, Vijay Varma, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Vivaan Shah, adding appeal with limited but soundly effective footage.

Despite these stellar performances, you realise the evident truth as the episodes roll. A Suitable Boy struggles to be a story that holds your attention. The series seems overwhelmed by the odds it might have scaled, and merely manages to showcase India as a culture and country in a way numerous western filmmakers have already done before.

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Putham Pudhu Kaalai: An Anthology Of Emotions

Tamil superstar Suriya unveils title track video of 'Putham Pudhu Kaalai'
Tamil superstar Suriya unveils title track video of ‘Putham Pudhu Kaalai’

If OTT has directly benefitted in terms of viewership owing to lockdown, the outcome of the situation has also served digital content well. A bunch of films and web series drawing plot ideas from lockdown have flooded OTT platforms. You have a new instance in the Tamil anthology, Putham Pudhu Kaalai (translates to A New Dawn).

Five well-known filmmakers down South have collaborated to direct a story each in this episodic film. These films do not have any link with each other except the fact that all five are set against the backdrop of lockdown. Overall, the idea obviously was to make a feel-good commercial film that reaches out to the largest possible audience, drawing advantage of OTT’s burgeoning global reach, so none of the five stories probe any facet of human relation too deeply.

Sudha Kongara Prasad at Irudhi Suttru Thanks Giving Meet

The first of five stories, Sudha Kongara’s Ilamai Idho Idho (Youth, Here We Come), sets a light mood. Francis Thomas and Shruti Ramachandran’s writing is evenly paced as the widower Rajeev (Jayaram) invites girlfriend Lakshmi (Urvashi) to stay with him for a few days. Twist in the tale comes when lockdown is suddenly announced even as Lakshmi is still at Rajeev’s place, and his daughter and son-in-law arrive. A not-too-heavy narrative scores primarily due to Kongara’s simplistic storytelling. The director uses a younger set of actors (Kalidas Jayaram and Kalyani Priyadarshan) to enact Rajeev and Lakshmi every time they feel young and romantic in each other’s company. The charming little rom-com is enriched by good acting and interesting use of music (GV Prakash).

Gautham Vasudev Menon directs Avarum Naanum (Him And Me), a story about a young girl (Ritu Varma) who comes to stay with her grandfather (MS Bhaskar) amid lockdown. The two have been estranged for years, and the story (Reshma Ghatala) moves along predictable lines to narrate how the girl discover her ‘thaata’ all over again, and misconceptions are cleared. Strictly, it is not a story that demanded the backdrop of lockdown, but the film is well shot (PC Sreeram) and the two protagonists share a few remarkable moments.

Anthology films have a dead giveaway. The placement of your film often becomes an indication of how appealing it is, compared to the others in the collection. In a film comprising five stories, for instance, it doesn’t take much to realise the placed bang in the middle could be the weakest link.

Suhasini Maniratnam’s Coffee, Anyone? would seem to face that disadvantage, although the film has been co-written by Suhasini along with her husband, the masterly Mani Ratnam. You find the odd Mani Ratnam trademark moment as two sisters (Anu Hasan and Suhasini) visit their mother, who lies in a coma. Much to the disapproval of the two women, their father (Kathadi Ramamurthy) has brought their mother home when hospital care would perhaps seem practical. The film tries to make a point about the power of love and familial bonds to heal, but ends on a rather contrived note. Also, you don’t spot any reason why this story should be set in the time of lockdown.

Andrea Jeremiah brings alive the fourth story, Reunion, directed by Rajiv Menon, who also co-writes along with Adhithya KR and Krishnaswamy Ramkumar, and functions as cinematographer. Vikram, an affluent surgeon (Gurucharan), lives with his mother (Leela Samson) and their life is about to be thrown in a turmoil when Sadhana (Andrea), a bar singer and an old friend of Vikram turns up. The young doctor returns from hospital to discover he has come in contact with a Covid patient, so he isolates himself in the house. With lockdown announced, Vikram’s mother suggests Sadhana stay with them, and the girl agrees. Of course, there is a twist about Sadhana that pushes the plot. Menon uses music (Nivas K. Prasanna) to subtly define Sadhana’s past bond with Vikram, as well as take the story forward. Watching Reunion, it would seem like the story needed a longer runtime to come alive. Menon does adequately while narrating his tale in the short format, though he fails to add an impressive punch in the end.

Anthology films often reserve the best for the last, and this surely happens here. Writer-director Kartik Subbaraj’s Miracle is a winner all the way, a brilliant parting shot. A couple of smalltime goons (Bobby Simha and K. Muthu Kumar) are in dire need of money. Amidst lockdown chaos they figure out a crooked way to get their hand on a big stash. Of course, there is a catch in what happens next. Miracle is the sort of story you don’t want to reveal much, except that it is smart, funny and ironic. Shreyaas Krishna’s camera makes interesting use of bright hues and darkness to bring alive various phases of the tale, and the film is deftly cut by Vivek Harshan.

No matter how you react to the rest of the stories, Miracle is guaranteed to leave you in a merry mood.

Putham Pudhu Kaalai manages to entertain within the limitation and challenges of the short film format. Although not an outstanding effort, the film overall is an entertaining, and certainly worth one watch.

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