How to spur nationalism?

Dhurandhar (Stalwart, Hindi; 2025)
Director: Aditya Dhar

https://www.filmbooster.fi/en/film/1703284-
dhurandhar/overview/

How does one stir up a country against its enemies? How does one remind them of the wrongdoings their enemies committed? This is it. Make a film like Dhurandhar. It is so good that even the supposed enemies enjoy it. Pakistan and the Gulf States have banned it, yet it remains the most illegally downloaded Hindi film by Pakistanis of all time. Even in the 70s, when Amitabh Bachchan was at the peak of his anti-hero era, Hindi films did not attract many Pakistanis. 

At an official event, Pakistanis were observed dancing to a song featured in the 'banned' movie, much to the dismay of the leaders. The movie's catchy soundtrack, performed by a Bahraini rapper in Arabic, is causing a stir among viewers. Fans are creating their own clips and dances to the song. Reels from Pakistan show Pakistanis highly praising the film, calling it top-quality and realistic! Some Pakistanis may have experienced the vibrant days of 2000s Karachi, particularly in Liyari Town. Even now, Karachi remains labelled as the second most dangerous city after Caracas.

The entire film is a summary of blaming Pakistan for all of India's problems. And they succeeded significantly. It begins with disastrous concessions to the demands of the Kandahar hijackers in late 1999, when Mazood Azahar had to be released. Mazood went on to establish JeM (Jaish-e-Mohammed) and was the mastermind behind the 2001 Parliament attack and subsequent unrest in Jammu and Kashmir.

Ajit Doval, who first gained prominence during the Kandahar hijackings, makes a notable appearance in this film. His role is superbly portrayed by R Madhavan, who is unrecognisable beneath all the makeup. Through a fictional operation, Dhurandhar, an Indian spy, is inserted into Pakistan. In real life, Doval, while serving as a staff member at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, went undercover to gather intelligence on Pakistan. On one occasion, he disguised himself as a beggar to retrieve hair from a barber's shop to assess radioactive traces in scientists' hair, aiming to determine Pakistan's nuclear activities. Like Doval, the film's protagonist, Hamza, enters Karachi as a Baloch vagabond, attempting to infiltrate Liyari town.

Liyari was controlled by warlords involved in various illegal activities such as Indian rupee counterfeiting, extortion, and drug trafficking. They were feared even by the Karachi police. A fact: turf wars made Rahman Baloch @ Dakoit the de facto leader. Through a deal with the Pakistani government, Rahman Baloch established his own police force, school, and social justice system for the residents of his territory. It was a country within a country, as President Musharraf acknowledged in an interview.  

In reality, a dedicated Police Superintendent, Chaudhry Aslam, was determined to end the violence in that part of Karachi. The story skillfully weaves Hamza's assistance into the Superintendent's plan to eliminate Rahman Baloch. Also drawn into the unfolding events is the ISI chief, Major Iqbal, who might be connected to the 26/11 Mumbai attack.

The writing on the wall is very clear. This film aims to foster patriotism among Indians, whom they see as having been too meek under the previous government. A quote from Zia ul Haq, following their 1971 defeat in the civil war, is evidence of this. He is said to have vowed to 'bleed India with a thousand cuts'. All the minor skirmishes happening around India serve as proof of this.

If you think this three-and-a-half-hour presentation is too long, it isn't over yet. Be prepared for Part 2 in March 2026.

 

The stunts and violence, although quite gruesome, are carried out professionally, comparable to those in any blockbuster on the international stage. The continuity holds well despite the complex plot and side tracks. The recreation of Liyari is fantastic; even the residents of Liyari are demanding a share of the box office takings. Meanwhile, Dhurandhar continues to gross more at the box office and is likely to set a record of some kind soon.

Flipperachi (Hussam Aseem)

Hanumankind

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In Bad Taste!

The Shameless (Hindi, 2024)
Written & Directed by: Konstatin Bojanov

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15437986/

The director initially aimed to make a documentary after acquiring the rights to William Dalrymple's book, 'Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India'. Due to financial constraints, he ultimately produced this feature film instead. The subject of this film was drawn from one of the nine stories (lives) in the book.

This multinational production has been hailed as a bold, provocative queer movie that highlights the challenges faced by the modern Indian woman. It even gained recognition at the Cannes Film Festival. Of course, it did. Any film that presents a bleak view of India tends to succeed internationally, just like Danny Boyle's 'Slumdog Millionaire' in 2008. Portraying India as grimy, lawless, lacking culture, and saturated with toxic masculinity appears to be a favourite pastime. Nothing has changed since Columbus 'discovered' the New World, and the Portuguese were accompanied by Gujarati seafarers from Durban to Kalikat. The colonists assume the role of bearers of truth, burdened with the task of educating the 'less civilised'.

A sex worker named Renuka escapes from a brothel after killing a police officer. The worker lives incognito next to a Hindu religious family. The family belongs to the devadasi community and is preparing to 'send off' their teenage daughter, Devika, to the highest bidder to serve at a temple. 

In the historical context, during the pre-colonial era, it was customary to 'marry' pre-pubescent girls from lower castes to Goddess Yellamma, dedicating their lives to the goddess's service and temple duties. These girls often became concubines to wealthy men and, in some cases, accumulated wealth themselves. Since 1988, this tradition has been outlawed, and the temple has distanced itself from their plight.

So, the filmmakers decided to portray a non-existent problem as significant. Essentially, they equated the drug-addicted, hard-drinking prostitute with the girl from the devadasi community, who is handed over to the temple—both as sex workers, one due to social circumstances and the other in the name of an archaic religious practice. Coincidentally, the two girls develop a romantic attraction and plan an escape, with the police and the girl's mother close behind. A Hindu nationalist party is also involved in this complex situation. 

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A language war!

Parasakthi (Tamil, 2026)

Director: Sudha Kongara

https://letterboxd.com/film/parasakthi-2026/watch/

2026 is an election year for Tamil Nadu. The year started with a bang with two Tamil movies with explosive political themes. The highly anticipated Vijay of the newly minted party TVK, and his alleged last film, Jana Nayagan, is stuck with the censors for unknown reasons. Some insiders reckon that the dialogue is highly spiced with political innuendo or outright condemnation of his opponents, such as the DMK and the BJP.

The second movie, which did not pose a threat to Vijay’s heavyweight, not surprisingly, was cleared easily. This movie, starring Sivakarthikeyan, the game show host who found fame through sheer grit, is a historical drama based on the 1965 riots in Tamil Nadu against the imposition of Hindi as the national language. This film turned out to be a propaganda movie through and through, putting DMK and their former leaders as the sole defenders of the Tamil language. As DMK controls the whole of Kollywood, movies are and have been the mouthpiece of the ruling class. By controlling movie distribution, production and theatres, they maintain cultural and political dominance in Tamil Nadu. Through this movie, the ruling party hopes to present a false narrative to new voters, the Gen Zs, that only DMK can keep the Tamil language 'alive'.

DMK and its predecessor, DK, have been thriving on the same ‘divide and rule’ policy that the British employed to quell Indian resistance. DMK makes the Northerners their bogeyman. They subscribe to the now-defunct Aryan Invasion theory and create an aura that the Hindi-speaking people from North India are out to wipe out the Tamil language and culture. Within the state, they also accuse Brahmins of usurping others' opportunities with their perceived oppression of the rest of Tamil Nadu with Brahminical ideologies. 

The scenario for the 2026 state election is like this. With the spate of BJP wins in recent state elections, increasing the BJP’s popularity and the entry of actor Joseph Vijay into politics, are making DMK stakwart Stalin feel hot under his tall collar. His party has promised to eradicate Sanathana Dharma, but continues to be seen performing poojas for blessings. 

Recently, the perennial issue of teaching Hindi in schools resurfaced. DMK, the self-appointed defender of the Tamil language, had categorically put their foot down to deny compulsory teaching of Hindi in government schools. 

With the same rebel yell that they shrieked in 1965, DMK is entering the latest elections, and this movie lays the groundwork of their campaign.

Resistance to the introduction of Hindi into the Tamil Nadu school system has persisted for the longest time, even when the region was under the Madras Presidency. In 1937, under British rule in India, the Indian National Congress ruled this region, led by Rajaji. Congress, in preparation for self-rule, was toyying the idea of Hindi as the National language. The issue came up again just before Independence and again when the Constitution was drafted in 1950. Nehru promised Tamil Nadu that a grace period of fifteen years would be given before Hindi was made the official language. 

EV Ramaswamy, revered by DMK as the champion of Tamil, is also affectionately known as 'Periyar' (the Elder) and is anything but a bastion of the Tamil language. He had once condemned the language as barbaric¹, and it is not compatible as a modern lingua franca or for scientific purposes. 

It is ironic that in the 1930s and throughout the 1960s, the Dravida Party was hell-bent on opposing the Indian Congress Party over the language issue. Now, it has joined forces with Congress and is opposing the Central Government led by the BJP. Regardless of which party is in power, the DMK will oppose the Central Government. Remember, in the years before Partition, the Dravidian Party wanted to accede to Pakistan? And EV Ramasamy declared 15th August 1947 as a day of mourning.

https://www.reddit.com/r/IndianHistory/comments/1qcmlrf/1
965_tamil_student_protest_against_hindi/

This movie tries to retell events that led to the 1965 Hindi imposition riots. Nehru died in 1964, as the deadline to make Hindi the official language of the country approached. University students, instigated by Annadurai and Karunanithi, initiated demonstrations in multiple cities. The story tells a romanticised version of a docile elder brother who tries to save his young brother from harm. The elder brother has a violent past that resurfaces as a vengeful IPS officer who wants to squash the Tamil rebellion once and for all. In the midst of all this, a few figures from the past are shown, painting a DMK-friendly picture of them saving the Tamil language and its culture from being overrun by enemies from the North.

Historians and people who lived through the 1960s vehemently oppose the movie's alternative history of what actually transpired during that time. Others, including the Youth Congress group, are 'up in arms' about the negative portrayal of their former leaders. They scream for the film's banning.

(P.S. In the modern world, people are expected to learn as much as they can, including all the languages of the world. Alternatively, use Google Translate! Also, language is not everything, as seen in the later years. Andhra Pradesh, which was created along linguistic lines, was divided into Andhra Pradesh and Telangana because of economic imbalances.)

1. https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/nirmala-sitharaman-says-periyar-dismissed-tamil-as-a-language-his-was-a-push-for-reform/cid/2088564#goog_rewarded

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Against the grain

Sister Midnight (Hindi; 2024)

Written & Directed: Karan Kandhari

This is a peculiar film. Peculiar in a way that feels intriguing. It is a dark comedy, but it keeps viewers unsure about where the story will go. With minimal dialogue in most scenes, we often see the actors simply staring at each other in many shots. These awkward moments heighten the comedy. Then, suddenly, a rock song blares in the background—not in Hindi, the film's spoken language, but a psychedelic Cambodian tune.

A mismatched couple, married through arranged means, moved into the not-so-affluent, or rather, slum area of Mumbai. The groom, a painfully timid man, failed to fulfil his conjugal desires for his newlywed bride. In fact, he does not even come close to her. He even leaves the room when she is changing clothes. Being a good wife, the bride just waits for her husband to do what is needed. On her part, she is clueless about what to do at home. She neither knows how to cook nor manage the household. Her neighbours do not seem so unapproachable either. The husband leaves early in the morning, takes care of his meals, and returns late, often drunk. His reason for not telling her before leaving is that he is afraid of waking her.

The story continues with the bored housewife taking a job as a cleaner, experiencing fainting spells, developing a taste for eating live birds, and having vivid hallucinations. When the couple finally makes love, the husband suffers a heart attack and dies during the act. Interestingly, the wife simply keeps the husband in the house without arranging a funeral.

While watching this film, I was reminded of quirky classic comedies like Stephen Chow's 'Kung Fu Hustle' - nonsensical yet entertaining. This debutante director suddenly decided to include a clip from Akira Kurosawa's 'Seven Samurai', where a ronin (a masterless samurai) roams aimlessly, trying to do the right thing. In 'Sister Midnight', the protagonist is trapped in a similar situation—in her case, a marriage—and must explore the correct path with a future lying ahead. Symbolically, this reflects the story of life. We are parachuted into this existence, given some survival tools, and expected to forge a future—rightly or wrongly. We must discover ourselves, chart a course, and rebel against the currents to make it work.

That, my friend, is the profound take-home message from this strange movie.

Good show, 4.5/5.

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A peek into 1960s West Bengal...

Arohan (Ascent, Hindi; 1983)
Director: Shyam Benegal

imdb.com/title/tt0083575/

This movie serves as an eye-opener on the political changes in West Bengal. After the East India Company handed over administration of its prized colony to the British Crown in 1858, following the Sepoy Rebellion (also known as the First War of Independence), Calcutta was designated as the Capital of India. The crown built many learning institutions to help the natives aid in the British Raj administration. 

The British realised their mistake in 1905 when Lord Curzon partitioned the region of Bengal into two parts, the West and East, which later became the basis of the Partition of India. The erudite society was also very argumentative and resistant to the colonial government. 

This combative demeanour continued with their son of the soil, Subhash Chandra Bose, who was unceremoniously forced to resign from the Chair of the Indian Congress party. His militant, perhaps left-leaning approach to seeking self-rule was in tune with Gandhi's, as well as the British and the INC's approaches to independence. 

The post-British era saw the leftist movement remain active, particularly through academia and among disgruntled workers. The period from 1967 onwards was seen as the Communist 'golden era'. CPI-M took a stronghold on the running of the State. From 1977 through 2011, the CPI-M Left Front ruled the State. To be honest, in the first ten years, it achieved notable success in land distribution, agriculture, universal education, poverty reduction, and societal restructuring. Slowly, nepotism and misrule crept in. They were highly successful in deterring foreign investors and were primarily responsible for the relocation of many multinational industries and factories. Bengal's loss was another state's gain, e.g. Tamil Nadu. In 2011, Trinamool Congress defeated the Left Front with the support of rural Bengal.

The movie highlights the cruel transition period in rural Bengal circa late 1960s, where the poor sharecroppers are caught between the greedy landlords and the Naxalite movement. The initial arrangement was for the sharecroppers to pay a portion of their harvest as rent to the landowners. Hard times hit the sharecroppers, and they approached the landlords for loans. The illiterate peasants are cheated through one-sided agreements that they cannot read. They are instead employed as wage-earning workers. The younger ones among them head to the city, but go astray after being cheated blind.

The sharecroppers are also harassed by the Naxalite movement, which encourages them to rebel against the landlords. Amidst all this, there is the most violence, upheavals, and unending court trials that never see the light of day. The story is told in a melodramatic manner. In the parallel cinema of India, the movie portrays the plight of a poor farmer and his extended family during these trying times. It depicts the cruel turn of events for family members who migrated to the bright lights of Calcutta, only to face worse living conditions and disastrous outcomes. In the leading role, Om Puri won a National Award for his part.

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Not a joyride!

Crazxy (Hindi; 2025)
Written and Directed by: Girish Kohli

https://www.filmfare.com/reviews/bollywood-movies/
crazxy-movie-review-71820.html

When Girish Kohli shared his story, nobody believed it would sell. The idea of a lone man driving around in a car telling his story did not excite them. Therefore, Kohli turned to Sonny Shah, who agreed to finance and play the lead role. The end result turned out to be a real head-turner and an edge-of-the-seat, high-octane thriller. It is a road movie of a different kind, where most of the action and storytelling take place within the confines of the car, on the highway, and through phone conversations.

There are a few flashbacks and a video conference; otherwise, Sonum Shah is the only actor in the film. In the finale, his teenage daughter makes a brief, touching appearance. The caller ID images provide us with a rough idea of the other character's demeanour and role in their life.

I recall an instance when a medical officer, a mother, was busy at work in the Emergency Department, attending to a room full of sick children. Anxious parents were making a fuss, complaining about the long wait, the staff shortage, and the precariousness of their children's situations. They quickly shifted their anger toward the doctor, whom they perceived as incompetent. They became silent when the receptionist told the parents to bear with the doctor as her daughter was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. 

That sums up the multitasking some professionals must undertake to responsibly execute their assigned tasks while fulfilling personal duties as a father, spouse, or child to their loved ones. Even in times of adversity, they must put on a brave front to give their subordinates undivided attention; they must remain pillars of strength despite the uncertainties they face. They must act professionally amidst all the turmoil in which they may be immersed. The world shows no sympathy for individual needs; it considers the bigger picture. An individual is merely a minute speck within the greater scheme of the Universe.  

The film begins with Dr. Abhimanyu Sood packing a bag filled with ₹5 crores in cash into his car. Dr. Sood, a general surgeon, finds himself in a predicament. A teenager he operated on for appendicitis dies due to complications, and he is squarely blamed for the death because of his antics outside of work. He has admitted to snorting cocaine. His lawyers have advised him to pursue an out-of-court settlement, as his chances of winning in court are slim. Therefore, he is making his way to drop off the money at a disclosed location.

It was April 1st. The radio was blaring, with April Fool's pranks filling the air. So when someone called him on his phone to inform him that he had kidnapped Sood's estranged daughter and wanted a ransom for the exact amount he was carrying, he was sure it was just a prank. 

Sood had previously left his wife and their daughter with Down Syndrome on less than amicable terms. His new girlfriend is eager to begin a fresh start. Juggling emotionally draining calls to verify the legitimacy of the claims and conversations with his current crush, Sood finally realised he had not been a good person. He had been unfair to his young daughter and wanted to make amends. He decided to use his stash of money to rescue her.

His situation becomes more precarious as his lawyers press him to deliver the money. His car tyre developed a puncture and needed to be replaced. To top it off, Sood's patient in the ICU requires urgent surgery. Sood assigns his inexperienced, reluctant junior surgeon to perform a major surgery under his direct video supervision via mobile. 

Despite being a solo performance with limited dialogue and a monotonous background, it succeeded in gripping its audience and maintaining their attention until the end. 4.5/5. Recommendable.

P.S. It is based on the 2013 Hollywood film 'Locke', starring Tom Hardy.

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The good can be perpetrators of evil too!

Vanavaas (Exile, Hindi; 2025)

Director: Anil Sharma

I was watching this Hindi movie with my wife. It was a melodramatic film in true Bollywood style, invoking filial piety or at least making children feel guilty for not caring for their elderly parents in their twilight years. Sending elderly parents to specialised institutions to cater to their specific needs was never in any Indian dictionary.

The aged father, a widower who still resides in the home of his deceased wife, is suffering from worsening dementia. Despite his physical incapacity, he is a proud man with his own ways of doing things and is caustic with his words. He had built a beautiful house and amassed other properties. He lives with his three adult children, their respective wives, and their children.

The father is still determined to be the head of the extended family and makes crucial family decisions. Probably due to their upbringing, the sons remain silent about the father's tantrums and idiosyncrasies. The wives constantly complain about the father's antics, but no one is willing to budge.

So, when the family made a pilgrimage to Varanasi, the six adults decided to lose their father in the crowd. Without his dementia medications, they thought he would not be able to communicate with passers-by and would not return, eventually withering away in oblivion.

For the record, Varanasi offers avenues for end-of-life care. Facilities are available for individuals diagnosed with terminal illnesses to spend their remaining days in the town, where they can be cremated and have their ashes immersed in the Ganga River afterwards. After all, the Kashi-Visvanath temple is believed to be the abode of Lord Shiva. Varanasi is supposed to be Siva's summer residence. The idea of spending one's final days in His presence makes perfect sense.

In true poetic fashion, sympathetic vagabonds from Varanasi eventually bring the father back to his family home. The children had already sold their family home and were liquidating another property.

My wife, still believing that goodness is very much alive and thriving on Earth, refuses to accept that any child would have the gumption to essentially 'kill off a parent'. In a group of six children, none would agree to stoop so low as to bite the hand that brought them into the world. She insists that the plot is one-dimensional and has deviated significantly from reality. In her mind, no way any human worth his salt would do anything like this.

Scrolling through actual crime cases over the years, I understand that the human mind has no boundaries. It is capable of performing the most profound things and, at the same time, being manipulated or brainwashed into believing the impossible. It is a common occurrence to see how one dominant character can wrap the weaker around his finger to work like an automaton. Case files from the Nuremberg trials, which document the banality of evil, are testimonies to this. In more sedate times, the Stanford Prison Experiment showed that good people can be transformed into perpetrators of evil.

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