Swatantrya Veer Savarkar: An Inflated, Provocative Piece Of Propaganda |
This is #CriticalMargin, where Ishita Sengupta gets contemplative over new Hindi films and shows |
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| RANDEEP HOODA’s Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, a biopic on the contentious and polarising politician and activist, is everything one expects it to be. The film is an inflated piece of propaganda that bares its fangs to incite, provoke and incense. It distorts facts freely, elevates Savarkar to a degree above reproach or query, and reduces a complicated life story to a one-sided retelling with flattened principals and a diluted core. (Stream top-rated movies and shows across platforms and languages, using the OTTplay Premium Jhakaas pack, for just Rs 199/month.) This, of course, is nothing new. Hindi films for long have had a biopic problem which manifests in deifying the central protagonist with unquestionable veneration. The gaze towards the person is so elevated that all curiosity diminishes into impression. Hooda reiterates this approach. His indulgent film, which he has written and directed, is aesthetically and narratively inclined towards propping up Savarkar(essayed by the actor himself). During its sluggish runtime, Swatantrya Veer Savarkar makes space just for Hooda as Hooda makes space just for Savarkar. It is only his face that is perfectly lit while the others languish in darkness. There is a sickening vanity to Hooda as a filmmaker and performer, matched only by the way he chooses to depict the man at the center. |
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Kunal Kemmu’s Madgaon Express Is Among The Funniest, Most Original Comedies Of Recent Times |
Madgaon Express, at its giant heart, is about friends catching up with each other after aeons |
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| | Cast: Pratik Gandhi, Divyenndu, Avinash Tiwary |
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IN Kunal Kemmu’s Madgaon Express, his supremely funny directorial debut, three male friends want to validate their friendship by doing that one thing Hindi films have taught them: travel to Goa. The aspiration starts from 1998, back when they were in school. Parental supervision hindered it. They try again post-college but a drunk accident jeopardises their impromptu plan till the ball finally starts moving in 2015 when they make the trip by train. Madgaon Express is backed by Farhan Akhtar’s Excel Entertainment, the same production house that has popularised the genre (Dil Chahta Hai, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara) and restricted it to rich people. In the projects greenlit by the studio, travelling is a means to an end as affluent friends lose and find themselves. The characters look a certain way, the wind sweeps their hair in an aesthetic direction and everything becomes a concern except money. Succinctly put, these are also the films which the protagonists in Madgaon Express fed on. All but one. — I.S. |
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Road House: Reclaiming The Highway To Hell |
This is #CineFile, where our critic Rahul Desai goes beyond the obvious takes, to dissect movies and shows that are in the news |
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| YOU’VE SEEN IT ALL BEFORE. A troubled beast with a past gets a second chance. He gets a bouncer gig in a small town. He becomes a cult figure there, fending off baddies and turning into an unlikely messiah. Rescues their favourite bar. Meets a pretty woman. Befriends a book-loving little girl. All is good — until it’s not. Land sharks bring out the big guns. Beast suffers; town suffers. His adopted life is attacked. Everyone gets hurt, lots of blood and explosions, but the day is just about saved. With Doug Liman’s Road House, you’ve literally seen it all before. The brooding drama is a remake of the 1989 Patrick Swayze-starrer of the same name — where a feral outsider named Dalton tames his demons in a new setting. |
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Shōgun Fan? Your Logical Next Stop Is Rise Of The Ronin |
Should you find yourself enjoying Shōgun, but then wondering what next in terms of scratching that samurai itch, there is one title you will find quite compelling: Rise of the Ronin. Karan Pradhan writes. |
WE’RE past the halfway point of FX’s Shōgun and it’s been quite a ride so far. In the interest of avoiding spoilers and for the uninitiated, the show tells the story of John Blackthorne, an English sailor shipwrecked in 17th Century Japan. Blackthorne becomes embroiled in the complex political machinations of feudal Japan, navigating the treacherous relationships between warring samurai clans and the Jesuit missionaries vying for influence. As he learns the language and customs, Blackthorne rises to become a trusted advisor to the powerful Lord Toranaga, who is scheming to become the next shōgun, the supreme military dictator. The series explores the cultural clash between East and West, as Blackthorne must choose between his English heritage and the Japanese way of life he has come to embrace. |
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| The one newsletter you need to decide what to watch on any given day. Our editors pick a show, movie, or theme for you from everything that’s streaming on OTT. |
| Each week, our editors pick one long-form, writerly piece that they think is worthy of your attention, and dice it into easily digestible bits for you to mull over. |
| In which we invite a scholar of cinema, devotee of the moving image, to write a prose poem dedicated to their poison of choice. Expect to spend an hour on this. |
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