Dhurandhar: Aditya Dhar Marries Spectacular Craft With Deeply Skewed Politics
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Given his merit, one is tempted to imagine a world where Dhar makes films devoid of biased choices, but Dhurandhar also brings to mind a more worrying question: what if propaganda is not the crutch but the fuel to his filmmaking? Ishita Sengupta reviews.
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| | | Cast: Ranveer Singh, Sanjay Dutt, R Madhavan, Akshaye Khanna | | | | ADITYA DHAR, who gentrified propaganda with Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019), has made an accomplished Pakistan-set Hindi film with Dhurandhar . As a producer and director, his career leans on perpetuating bigotry in the garb of persuasive filmmaking. And while this continues with his sophomore feature, he also displays more curiosity about the neighbouring country than most outings peddling similar politics have of late. This perverse obsession is so extreme that if Dhurandhar were a teenage boy, one would assume he has a crush on Pakistan. At one level, Dhurandhar is a bafflingly intricate gang-war film based around Karachi’s Lyari locality. Two rival groups, one headed by Rehman Dakait (Akshaye Khanna) and the other by Babu Dakait, are up against each other, but things really come to head when Babu kills Rehman’s son. The murder unleashes a bloodbath, and a triumphant revenge elevates Rehman from a politician’s right-hand man (Rakesh Bedi used for comic relief) to an aspirant minister. From here, Dhar, also the writer, goes all gory and brutal, tracking Rehman’s journey from a grieving father to a ruthless man willing to sell arms and his soul for power. Binge-watch Ranveer Singh’s hits like '83, Simmba, and Kill Dil by getting an OTTplay Premium subscription to unlock content across multiple top platforms with one plan. |
| | Kuttram Purindhavan: The Guilty One — An Effective Pasupathy Elevates This Crime Thriller Built On An Icky Twist |
Kuttram Purindhavan is a gripping, well-acted crime drama elevated by Pasupathy’s performance and strong character moments, though its rushed, unconvincing final twist weakens an otherwise solid series, writes Anusha Sundar.
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| | Dir: Selvamani Muniyappan |
| Cast: Pasupathy, Vidaarth, Lizzie Antony, Lakshmipriyaa Chandramouli, Munnar Ramesh | | | | KUTTRAM PURINDHAVAN: THE GUILTY ONE is a typical whodunnit. There is a crime, a heinous one in this case, a criminal on the loose, multiple suspects and reasons aplenty to suspect them, an underdog cop, a man caught by half-truth and guilt for not revealing it, situations that can make anyone look like a criminal, and finally some misleads that take you and the police to different directions. Despite the cliches of a crime thriller, Kuttram Purindhavan works at its possible best by resting its case in the form of a string of situations, characterisations, and a strong Pasupathy fronting this series. Stream the latest films and shows with OTTplay's Power Play monthly pack, for only Rs 149. With seven episodes averaging about 30-40 minutes each, Kuttram Purindhavan takes off from the perspective of Bhaskaran, who, along with his wife, is the only guardian of their grandson, desperately in need of an operation. The elderly couple are banking on Bhaskaran’s retirement money, which is due soon. That means, there should be absolutely no case of criminal records, eventually giving rise to moral conflict that Bhaskaran faces while wanting to come out honest in Mercy’s case. On the other side is Gowtham (Vidharth), a cop who has been sidelined for an on-duty incident with no fault of his, who takes up probing Mercy’s case as his own. Up until the last few episodes, Kuttram Purindhavan builds the circumstances each of these characters goes through. Bhaskaran, who confides only in his wife about what he witnessed, share an excellent chemistry with her. It not only drives the narrative but also concludes the arc in the final episode, when the wife gives the payoff to the final act after the climax. Lizzie Antony, who plays an always-conscious and petrified wife, complements Pasupathy, who holds the fort together for the family. |
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