RIFLE RANGE BOY

Manorathangal (Minescapes, Malayalam; 2024) An anthology based on stories by MT Vasudevan Nair After the release of the Hema committee report, the murmur, which started in 2019, is heard once again. More new victims of the Malayalam film industry are voicing their bad experiences out in the open. The report results from the Government's investigations into the alleged rise of sexual misconduct, exploitation and #MeToo complaints against big players of Mollywood. The report's contents paint badly for the safety and working environment for the fairer sex. The report paints a picture of Mollywood as run by a mafia of senior directors, producers, and male actors who call the shots and decide which actress gets chosen and who gets the boot. To make it to the cast, the new actresses would have to endure much humiliation, denigration, and assault. The report prompted many Malayalam Movie Association chief members to resign to clear their names. On one hand, civil societies assert that...

Unpaused (Anthology of 5 episodes, Hindi; 2020) Unpaused: Naya Safar (5 episodes; 2021) As the numbers of Omicron variant cases continue to rise, allegedly after a large congregation of unvaccinated pilgrims made it all the way to the Holy Land, now is an opportune time to reminisce the good old days when a virus from Wuhan labs jumped ship and affected humans. It is mind-boggling to fathom how much this pandemic had jolted the core of our existence. It goes without saying that the pandemic has affected everyone in so many ways. Economically, it affected all, predominantly those on the lower rung of the food chain. Interestingly, the ten of the richest globally has doubled their wealth at the end of the second wave. Inconspicuously, Covid infection started as a concern only for the affluent and frequent flyers as they picked the bug after globetrotting. The poor were not so concerned then. Soon, the tables turned. Living in a restricted living space and close proximity between family m...

Nava Rasa (Tamil, 9 Expressions) Miniseries, Netflix Quite early in my life, I have come to realise that there is nothing sacrosanct in numbers. They are just there to aid calculations and the day-to-day running of our lives. What started as a way to measure the land area for the landowners to tax their subjects has come to rule every aspect of our life. We find ways to glorify numbers as and how we deem fit. One for one God, Two for two opposing forces of Nature, Three for the three arms of divinity (either trinity of Father, Son and Holy Ghost or Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva combo as you wish), Four corners of space, Five fingers or the Five Elements of Nature being air, water, fire, land and sky (Pancha Bhootam) and so on. Each number is feted for its uniqueness. The number 8 signifies good fortune amongst the Chinese diaspora. Probably because of its symmetry, both along the X and Y axes, it denotes balance which is quintessential of the ying-and-yang order of things. The Number 9, on the o...

Ajeeb Dustaans (2020) Netflix This anthology of four stories is based on the topic of discrimination. With its rich civilisation that had stood the test of time against repeated foreign powers who are hellbent on destroying their culture and looting their wealth, India is again under the scrutiny of modern people to find faults in its societal makeup. Well, the colonised can go on ranting about how the invaders destroyed their rich tapestry way of life and life sciences that were light-years ahead of their barbaric invaders. They can complain of how the British and their ingenious strategies of 'divide and rule' derailed the natives' societies even now, long after leaving their shores. But for how long? Shouldn't the post-colonial countries wise up already? Like Japan, which was beaten to a pulp and bombed to smithereens after the Second World War. Rather than being sore with their aggressors, did they not embrace the victors' technological advancement to rise from ...

Kutty ♥️ Story ( Short ♥️ Story, Tamil; 2021) Maybe because our attention spans get shorter, we seem to be content with short stories rather than full-length feature films these days. With the democratisation of viewing platforms, we, the viewers, never had it so good. Not only we get new faces to act, but we also have storylines that break the traditional, predictable plot of boy meets girl, meets opposition, but love conquers all.  Securing finance for new ventures had always been difficult for moviemakers. Banks and other financial institutions were not forthcoming with loans. Hence, the association of producers and the Mumbai mafia and their associates. The Mafia dictated who could act and even approved storylines. Their network ensured only certain Moghuls could rule the silver screen. All that came to nought when OTTs paid their clients upfront and were liberal with their storylines. Herein also lie the problem, some say. They allege that breaking India forces try to portray ...

Paava Kadhaigal (பாவ கதைகள், Sinful Tales, Tamil, 2020) Netflix Miniseries S1, E1-4. From a movie-making, storytelling or cinematographic point of view, this anthology of four stories hit the nail and gets an all-star rating. It also deserves an A+ for the attention-grabbing edge of the seat type of suspense in my books. It is all hunky-dory for entertainment value, but somehow, I could not help it but compare it to the novel 'Mother India' which came out in 1927 when the heat of self-rule was very much in everybody lips. It can be described as a polemic book that attacked the practices, religion and every fibre of Indian society. Katherine Mayo, the author, a historian by training, thought that India was not fit for self-rule and independence looking at India's treatment of India's women, animals and the untouchables. What do you know? Despite all the leaps and bounds that the society had bounced, the storytellers decided that the old formula of societal discrimination...

Sillu Karupatti (சில்லுக்கருப்பட்டி, Tamil; 2019) Netflix Picking a movie from a list of Netflix is like opening a box of chocolates. "You never know what you gonna get!..." I was pleasantly surprised by my choice. Sometimes it is the movie unheard of with an equally unfamiliar cast may be the one with the most exciting storyline.  This movie is an anthology of four unrelated stories with love being the common theme. Its four stories try to show that the emotion that releases butterflies in the tummy, the special feeling called love, at different age groups. Love needs are different at various times of one's life, and it carries a different meaning at other periods of their lifetimes. The first story revolves around teens and love blossoms in the most unromantic place of all, the city dumpster. A slum-boy who scavenges the trash comes across some greeting cards, memorabilia and a photograph of a young girl. Curious how the girl would be in real life, he follow...