On Streaming, Punjab Provokes. Plus QnA With Manikandan

Punjab As The Site Of Streaming's Most Provocative Explorations

With titles like Kohrra, Tabbar and Masoom, streaming offers an increasingly nuanced portrayal of the Punjabi sociocultural-scape, unlike the boisterous stereotypes of Bollywood, writes Manik Sharma.

IN a scene from Netflix’s Kohrra, policeman Balbir Singh (played by Suvinder Vicky) tells his colleague Garundi (Barun Sobti), in an inebriated condition, “Tenu ptaa hai saade Punjab di problem ki hai, saada mitti pao attitude” — i.e. Punjab’s habit of burying the obvious and moving on. The idiomatic tendency that Singh refers to echoes a landscape that has trained itself to look past its wounds as opposed to licking them. This is after all a place that has had to suffer the Partition, contemplate insurgency and accommodate a drug problem that refuses to go away. Singh’s character also embodies an emerging portrayal of Punjab on streaming. Relegated to loudmouthed characters and stereotypical tics by mainstream Hindi cinema, this contemplative but discomfiting view, brave enough to frame tragedy as a way of seeking humanity, feels rather welcome.

Also Read | Kohrra: Netflix's Ambitious Police Procedural Is Rewarding — & Disturbing

In Sony LIV’s Tabbar, a middle-class family finds itself in the throes of a mafia circus that sends the reluctant patriarch Omkar Singh down a dark path. Easily the performance of 2021, Pavan Malhotra’s embodiment of Omkar hinted at the hidden intensity of every Punjabi, who casually warps life through bursts of laughter and glasses of lassi. By positioning vice and virtue under the same roof, Tabbar argues that not everyone here has derailed as part of a collective. Some have staunchly resisted the tides of persuasion. Under each canopy that casts a shadow there exists this desperation for dignity. The two in a sense, support the other’s existence. It’s why a father must murder and maim so his family can at least stand the chance of a re-evaluation.

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'I Don't Aspire To Understand The Universe'

Manikandan chats with Subha J Rao about making it in the Tamil film industry, what drives him to better himself with every successive project, and how he navigates life.

SOME years ago, when Manikandan was still an upcoming actor trying to make his place in tinseltown, an assistant director requested him to share his room with an accompanying artiste. Manikandan resisted as much as he could, before finally giving in. Some thought he was being arrogant, others thought he was acting too big for his stature. Only Manikandan knew the real reason.

The next morning he walked to the sets to find many sniggering at him and laughing — the accompanying artiste had told everyone how he struggled to sleep because of Manikandan’s snoring. “It felt like a slap, like my deepest secret had been revealed to all, without my consent,” recalls the writer, director and actor. “Growing up, many people have recorded me snoring and made fun of me. But after I entered the industry, I went to great lengths to protect myself from ridicule. I did not travel in public transport at night, I did not sleep in front of others, and then this happened.”

And so, when Manikandan first heard the script of Vinayak Chandrasekaran’s Good Night, and the character of Mohan, who snores and struggles to find love, he just had to say yes. The film recently completed a 50-day theatrical run and is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

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