OTTplay Reviews: Meg 2; Hunt For Veerappan

Meg 2 & The Historic Stupidity Of A Prehistoric-Shark Sequel

This is #CineFile, where our critic Rahul Desai goes beyond the obvious takes, to dissect movies and shows that are in the news.

Dir: Ben Wheatley

Cast: Jason Statham

Playing in: Theatres

I love watching trashy creature features on long flights. That’s how I watched The Meg (2018), somewhere over the Atlantic, while a polite German co-passenger got drunk next to me. My logic is that if I see a movie about the depths of this planet from the very top of the planet, maybe it’ll feel more fantastical and distant — and by extension, perhaps I’ll enjoy the lunacy of such stories without any hang-ups. So you can count on me enjoying an airplane thriller in a submarine not named Oceangate.

Unfortunately, my viewing experience of Meg 2: The Trench — the sequel to the big-budget B-movie about a prehistoric shark being more facially expressive than Jason Statham — has unfolded at sea level. So I’m embarrassed to report that the unapologetic stupidity of this film is not fun anymore. The scariest moment occurs when Statham mumbles a bunch of complicated words like “illegal dumping of radioactive waste” with considerable strain. It sounds like one of those verbal puzzles. The megalodons can munch on as many human snacks as they want, but they have nothing on the sheer horror of Hollywood action heroes trying to act.

The Hunt For Veerappan: Netflix Docu Uncovers The Man Behind The Outlaw

This is #CriticalMargin, where Ishita Sengupta gets contemplative over new Hindi films and shows.

Dir: Selvamani Selvaraj

Stream on: Netflix

SELVAMANI SELVARAJ's The Hunt for Veerappan opens with a crucial query: Who is Veerappan? The question is as old as it is redundant. There is little about the dreaded outlaw that is unknown. His exploits which included the smuggling of sandalwood and ivory, his ability to use the forest as a shelter and cover for over three decades, his notorious kidnappings for ransom and killings of people, and his cruel death in 2004 have been part of public memory, so is that image of a gaunt man donning an enormous moustache with a rifle in hand. But in Selvaraj’s urgent outing on the bandit, this procedural-tied probe is answered with touching warmth. “Who is Veerappan?” “My husband,” comes the reply.

In more ways than one the distinct nature of this exchange, where a familiar narrative is rendered an intimacy of access, defines Selvaraj’s fascinating new non-fiction. The four-part docu-series tells a story that is known to all but the filmmaker punctuates it with empathetic curiosity and investigative rigour resulting in a complexity that reveals more than it shows. The Hunt for Veerappan is at once a case study in storytelling economy and a sincere intent that translates into leaning on facts more than sensationalism.

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