2018 was the year that saw several web-series make their way into the mainstream in India. Netflix launched its first Indian series and it took the Indian online audience by storm. The youth is no longer ready to accept the desi saas-bahu dramas for casual entertainment. The success of Game of Thrones and other shows has created a demand among people for Indian productions of a similar kind, if not of the same calibre. Here are four web-series that changed our televisions this year.

Sacred Games

The show was the first of many Indian web series launched by Netflix this year, along with others lined up for release next year. Boasting a cast of Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Saif Ali Khan and Radhika Apte, Sacred Games well and truly became the figurehead of the Indian web-series scene.

With cutting edge dialogues, brilliant background score and cinematography, Sacred Games is not your everyday TV serial. Follow the story of how a poor boy killed his way to the top of the Bombay underworld and how his legacy intertwines with a police officer who couldn’t be further removed from him. One takeaway is certain, “Desh sankat mein hai.”

Mirzapur

After the success of Sacred Games, Amazon Prime Video emerged with the web-series Mirzapur. It housed brilliant performances with special mentions for Pankaj Tripathi and Ali Fazal.

Imagine Gangs of Wasseypur but with more brutality, violence and gore. A shady businessman and his family rule over the city of Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh but their reign is under threat as rivals vie for blood and new challengers mushroom within the city. Will Kaleen Bhaiya’s clan prevail or will there be a new ruler of Mirzapur?

Yeh Meri Family

Dear 90s kids, remember when you had hopes and aspirations that you thought would actually come true? Would you like to revisit that time of your life? Well then, this is the show for you!

Yeh Meri Family follows a young boy and how he sees and feels about the world he lives in – from his first crush to a typical birthday party of the time. The production team should be lauded for the hard work they have put in to make this show as authentic as possible. You can see this hard work if you are able to read between the lines. If you grew up in the 90s, this is the perfect show for you to revisit your childhood, laugh, smile, cry and feel like a child again.

Breathe

Light-hearted, comforting and nostalgic. None of these words describe Breathe at all. The Indian audience has a soft spot for grey areas with heroes and villains who in their own ways, do the right thing.

It’s fast paced and enthralling. With strong performances from R. Madhavan and others, this show will make you question where your own morality lies.

The Impact of Web Series on TV

As more and more people in India get connected to the internet, the potential for online streaming services in India is huge. The web-series mentioned above and many others that aired before this year have challenged the norms of the daily viewer and offered a variety in style and genre that few other platforms can offer. As Indian production houses set up their own streaming portals, it seems that the existing TV serials need to up their game if they want to survive the incoming onslaught of web-based content.

The liberty with which explicit language and imagery has been used in some of these series has stirred up a debate on censorship of online content which may soon end up being a landmark debate in the Indian entertainment industry. While the Indian TV serial has a large audience among the middle aged, the youth is slowly drifting away from cable TV and moving to diverse content on the internet.

Will India’s TV houses move on from saas-bahu dramas or is there another twist in the tale?

The post 4 Indian Web-Series In 2018 That Changed How We Watch TV appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

After the recent reverses BJP suffered in the assembly elections, many scions of so called liberal media have got busy theorizing the loss as anti-incumbency. Arguments are repeatedly being made across liberal platforms that people in the three states BJP lost power, voted on local issues and against their respective state government.

It appears a full-fledged campaign has been initiated, and to ensure its success many seasoned journalists are volunteering of their own accord, coming up with their bucket list of why it’s not Modi’s defeat. Their collaborative attempt is straight focused, to chart out a perception, basis which brand Modi is isolated of all defacing attributes.

One common tool being deployed in this perception game is counter factual information. With a judicious use of irreconcilable facts and unverifiable public opinion it’s concluded that the defeat lies solely and squarely on the incumbent, on whom the voter’s ire was directed. Through reams and reams of similar fantasy material based on imaginary field conversation, Modi’s image is rather amplified as the only savior.

What Is That Feedback Loop Through Which We Can Gauge Modi’s Popularity?  

As ordinary consumers of news information, how do we ascertain the truthfulness of the narrative that the vote was against the Chief Ministers, Ministers and BJP MLAs in the just concluded assembly elections, and not against the misrule of the center?

How do we precisely establish that the brand Modi escaped without any dent to its brand value more so when he attended no less than 29 rallies covering 53 constituencies across these states.

It can be argued that Shivraj and Raman lost only because of Modi, and for that they also have their invincible track record to boast of. In other words, it can be said that if 2G and Coal gate despite being the crimes of the central government had cascading effect on the fate of states, so did demonetisation and GST. Under similar circumstances when in 2013 Sheila Dikshit lost the elections, the buck stopped at the then Manmohan Singh government. The media nodded in concurrence and emphasized it.

UPA-2 continued sharing the blame for the state losses long after it was removed from center. In fact the UPA-2’s misrule was publicized so much that its misgovernance example continues holding weight even today, and occupies central theme in NDA’s election campaigns, 4 and half years since NDA came to power. From Prime Minister to party president, no one from the BJP leaves an opportunity to invoke the failures of the Singh government. Not to mention their obsession with Nehru, which drives them further back in time and helps ascribe Nehru, in addition to his daughter, grandson and great grandson for all the ills of the state going to polls at any point of time.

Now BJP vexed with Nehru-Gandhi family is not something of their own making. Here again a section of liberal media owing to their information clout, made it an issue more worthy of discussion. Dynastic relationship became that particular evil, deserving of being purged. Strangely enough for a country where reference, contact, inheritance, recommendation and jugaad are but a way of life.

Lakhs of farmers have marched to Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata barefooted from far off places yet for the liberal media it’s not a statement against Narendra Modi. Patels, Marathas and Jats the better off agrarian castes are holding cities on ransom to get reservation, yet for the liberal media it’s not a statement against Modi.

So what exactly is authentic public opinion? And, is there any way to gauge it?

Because the self-claimed pioneers of public cause in liberal media are surely not in a position, neither intellectually nor morally, to reflect upon the masses’ thought process. Pending their redemption citizens can take cues from the countless democratic assemblies happening around their vicinity. An active engagement with our adjacent public space would help us get a far better understanding of the true public opinion.

A cursory look around our countryside for one would tell us that there is a grave agrarian crisis right next to our doorstep. A mad rush of students at the nearest metro or railway station would tell us what big a crisis unemployment is. Over the past couple of years large scale protests have happened across the nation, on subjects ranging from agrarian distress, unemployment to reservation. All of this put together paint a far more clear public opinion which conclusively points to the center’s failure.

The post 2018 Election Results: Is ‘Liberal Media’ Coming To Modi’s Aide? appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

Noida: The grand opening of the 12th Edition of Delhi International Arts Festival took place at Marwah Studios in film city Noida with huge audience waiting for all interesting programs to happen.

Delhi International Arts Festival is the India’s signature arts festival. In its 12th year it has the participation of artists from 21 countries and 200 Indian artists. Padma Shri Pratibha Prahlad internationally acclaimed danseuse is the founder festival Director of this iconic festival. The five days program at Marwah Studios started with the inauguration of Painting Exhibition by Gauri Sahni where colorful paintings were displayed for the general public to enjoy the art.

YoYo Guest from China, Larry T. Hill of Australia and Yash Kapoor of Canada along with Indian Artists formally opened the event. “We are lucky that for the first time Delhi International Arts festival has extended its boundaries to Noida and Marwah Studios has been opted as the venue for it. We have planned whole sum entertainment for the audience which will give enough education and information to people,” said Sandeep Marwah President of Marwah Studios.

A dance recital in Kathak by Anu Sinha and troupe followed by thrilling performance by seven members of Shanghai Traditional Arts Centre, China, an interesting performance by Larry T. Hill an Australian Artist and followed by Yash Kapoor Hip Hop Performer from Canada. Later Sandeep Marwah honored all the artists with festival memento.
Prasiddha Foundation and Forum for Arts Beyond Borders design the event. International Chamber of Media And Entertainment Industry, Asian Academy of Film And Television, Radio Noida and MSTV supported it. Ministry of Culture, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Tourism Government of India and Government of Delhi blessed the festival.

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Abhishek Kapoor’s latest film Kedarnath starring Sara Ali Khan and Sushant Singh Rajput is Devdutt Pattanaik-esque in its essence. Just like the mythologist’s work, this film also seems to celebrate the apparently ‘innate’ ability of Hinduism to promote syncretism and invokes the memory of a puritan past of the golden age of Hinduism.

It is ironic that in the song ‘Namo Namo Shankara’ sung and composed by Amit Trivedi, there is a phrase ‘Adi Dev Shankara,’ which is a reference to Shiva, the deity. But Adi Shankara was also Adi Shankaracharya – a Hindu philosopher of the 8th century. In an article titled ‘How Adi Shankaracharya united a fragmented land,’ Pattanaik, talking about Adi Shankaracharya’s non-dualist maxim: jagat mithya, brahma satyam (the world is an illusion, only Brahma is the truth), opines, “This doctrine of reducing the world to mere illusion, popularly known as maya-vada, enabled Shankara to do something remarkable: unite a land with diverse communities and diverse, seemingly irreconcilable, worldviews – from the Buddhists, the Mimansakas (old Vedic householders) and the Vedantins (the later Vedic hermits), to the Shaivas, the Vaishnavas, and the Shaktas…”

Commenting on the same teaching of Adi Shankaracharya, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, in the concluding paragraph of Riddle No. 22 in ‘Riddles in Hinduism’ writes, “…What is more ridiculous is the teaching of the Great Shankaracharya. For it was this Shankaracharya who taught that there is Brahma and this Brahma is real and that it pervades all and at the same time upheld all the inequities of the Brahmanic society.”

The politics of Kedarnath is, exactly what Dr. Ambedkar was suggesting decades ago, to propose a brand of all-pervasive, benevolent Hinduism. The film would like its imagined audience to celebrate the secular fabric of our nation. But the one question that needs to be asked is, who is dictating the terms of such a fabric?

Muslim Representation In Hindi Cinema

While watching the film and the representation of the Muslim community in it, one cannot help but ponder the dynamics of the public versus the private domain in Hindi cinema.

The private domain of the self-sacrificial Muslim characters in Hindi cinema always remains a mystery to the audience. Remember the symbolic last shot of Kabir Khan in Chak De! India, where he just shuts the door? Or Rizwan only navigating public spaces like airports and bus stops in My Name is Khan?

In Kedarnath, while Mukku’s Hindu wedding is given sufficient amount of screentime, the Muslim wedding of Mansoor’s best friend is hardly shown (Mukku is played by Sara Ali Khan and Mansoor by Sushant Singh Rajput). On the contrary, a song is thrown in to show the brewing romance between the leads. This lack of interest in the private domain of the Muslim community adds to the mystery around the community which leads to gross stereotyping of Muslims on screen. Why I argue Bollywood is Islamophobic is precisely because of this.

The othering of the Muslim community happens on a regular basis in Hindi films. Bollywood uses this trope of making a Hindu actor play a Muslim role and vice-versa to promote itself as a secular industry. In films, where you see a ‘bad’ Muslim, a ‘good’ Muslim character is introduced to balance things out. This fear of offending the Muslim community arises out of the years of stereotyping and sidelining the Hindi film industry itself has indulged in.

Shiva As A Post-Hinduism Symbol

In the film, Mansoor almost begs to be accepted as a part of Kedarnath by flagging the historicity of his community’s contribution to the place and how ‘they’ have always been there. In Kedarnath, the chants of Shiva are normalised but the namaz has to be an isolated, underwhelming affair.

In one scene, Mansoor prays to Shiva so India wins the cricket match while an awestruck Mukku looks on, part surprised and part shocked. Here, Shiva becomes a post-Hinduism symbolic representation of faith accessible to people of all religions. There is an effort of subsumption that is at play here with regard to Shiva. It’s not a surprise, therefore, that in this Kedarnath where a Muslim man prays to Shiva for India’s victory in a cricket match, Allah can never enjoy the same status as Shiva as the former is relegated to being the inaccessible supreme while the latter is freed of that trapping and thus becomes a spiritual symbol.

In retrospect, this idea of the Muslim ‘outsider’ begging to be a part of the mosaic of the dominant order (the nation-state) has been a leitmotif in most films involving Muslim characters.

Kedarnath As An Instrument Of Invoking The ‘Golden Past Of Hinduism’

Why Kedarnath is important is because it is symptomatic of a larger effort by a section of the academicians and historians to glorify the past of Hinduism (which apparently is inclusive) and pits it against the more evident, aggressive historical interpretation by the BJP and other right-wing parties. But one must not miss a point here.

This effort is a crude one to validate Hinduism by dint of construction of a ‘glorious past’ which was free of all contemporary evils. This effort is a further step in the ongoing process of marginalisation of the Dalits and Muslims of this country by pitting two different interpretations of Hinduism against each other.

This should be read as a larger strategy adopted by the two leading parties – the Congress and the BJP to strengthen the binary of national politics and further silence the voices of the marginalised. Not only the parties, almost all so-called ‘national’ news channels and newspapers are also guilty in this effort to contain categories.

The nature of coverage of recent results of five assembly elections that were declared a few days back is illustrative of what I am talking about. It’s high time we understood that the political spectrum of our country is not limited to just the Congress, BJP or the Left. What is noticeable is that the Brahmin leaders of many parties have jumped into this bandwagon of proving the sanctity of ‘true Hinduism.’

No wonder the Mamata Banerjee-led-TMC is suddenly organising post-immersion rallies after Kali Puja in West Bengal. In her speeches, she has started differentiating her party’s ‘brand of Hinduism’ from that of the BJP. And no wonder Rahul Gandhi feels the need to invoke his benevolence as a Kashmiri Brahmin.

In cinema as well as in politics, there is a trend to make a Hindu ‘normal,’ which is to suggest that this ‘normal’ Hindu isn’t Islamophobic or casteist. This trend has dangerous implications for the politics of our times as once again, marginalised identities are being appropriated under the broader rubric of Hindu majoritarian order.

The post Kedarnath Is The Latest In A Long Line Of Films That Attempt To Validate ‘True Hinduism’ appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

Bollywood films can never be complete without songs and soundtracks. It certainly would be no overstatement to say that songs and music form the heart and soul of a Hindi film, right from Hardy Sandhu’s ‘Naah’ to Atif Aslam’s “Dil Diyaan Gallaan” saw countless chart busters.

This year, it has been no different. Bollywood has churned out some top-notch melodies this year around as well. Here’s a list of top 7 songs that have rocked my personal playlist in 2018. I am quite sure 10,000 different people would have 10,000 different opinions. Your playlist could be completely different from mine. Do leave your comments below.

So, here’s a list of some popular songs from the 2018 playlist

1. Dilbaro (Raazi)

While the film became immensely popular because of Alia Bhatt’s stellar act and Meghna Gulzar’s tight direction, the film’s soundtrack too left an everlasting impact on the listener’s mind because of the catchy lyrics and soulful music. Out of all the songs within the film’s soundtrack, “Dilbaro”, sung by Harshdeep and Shankar Mahadevan stood out for me. The song is penned by veteran lyricist Gulzar, who happens to be the director’s father, and beautifully captures the bond shared by the father-daughter duo.

2. Dhadak Title Track

The song became an instant success because of its hummable lyrics and breath-taking vocals. Shreya Ghosal and the composer duo of Ajay-Atul collaborated to bring us one of the best songs of the year. The picturesque surroundings acted as the perfect stage for the lead pair to express love. The bright and colourful locations of Rajasthan add a majestic touch to the song. Also, a feeling of fragility and rawness portrayed in the song’s music video makes you listen to the song again and again.

3. Binte Dil (Padmaavat)

The best thing about Padmaavat’s soundtrack was its richness. Songs symbolize almost every human emotion.  “Binte Dil “, sung by the ever-so-talented Arijit Singh and penned by AM Turaz beautifully captures Allah-ud-din’s burning desire to get a glimpse of Rani Padmaavati. Ornamenting the song are colourful lyrics portraying a myriad of human emotions, ranging from lust to desire to seduction and everything in between. If I could describe the song in a single word, I’d say it is intimate.

4. O Saathi (Baaghi 2)

How can any list of popular songs be complete without Atif Aslam? 2018, in all fairness, had Atif Aslam’s name written all over it. This lad from Pakistan churned out one hit song after the other in 2018. “O Saathi” from the Tiger Shroff starrer “Baaghi 2” is one of them. The film set the ticket windows on fire and emerged as one of the highest-grossing Bollywood films of the year. One of the major reasons behind the film’s success was its hit soundtrack.

Playing the song ‘O Saathi’ reminded me of all of my childhood crushes. The lyrics and the music are easy on the ear and do not sound laboured at all. The number is both soulful as well as peppy. Not to forget, Atif Aslam’s mesmerizing voice makes you forget everything else while you’re listening to the song. Also, what makes the song memorable is the music video. Tiger Shroff and Disha Patani are shown together throughout the duration of the song and one has to say that they do look cute together.

5. Kamariya (Stree)

This one’s for all the party lovers out there. If you were to take my opinion, I’d say it is one of the best dance numbers I have ever heard. The lyrics are quite catchy and easy to remember. There’s an element of naughtiness portrayed within the song and the lyrics of the song bring out that naughty feeling really well without making it look vulgar. And, and, and how can we forget Nora Fatehi’s electric dance moves? She’s the best thing about the song. Vocals, provided by Astha Gill, Divya Kumar, and Sachin-Jigar are fun and peppy. Also, there’s a sense of rawness that adds significantly to the overall charm of the song. I bet this song would be on every DJ’s list. Going by the song’s popularity, one can easily say that ‘Kamariya’ from “Stree” is the year’s most popular dance number.

6. Dariya (Manmarziyaan)

The film might have bombed at the box office, but the charm of the film’s soundtrack became immensely popular with the masses. ‘Daryaa’ sung by Ammy Virk and Shahid Malliya throws ample light on the pain and tribulation one goes through after parting ways with his/her beloved. The song is notable for its moving lyrics, penned by Shellee.  Ammy Virk’s voice complements the melancholic mood of the song. The song became an instant chart buster in various regions of north India owing to its strong Punjabi essence and flavour. I must confess this one would remain in my playlist for quite a looong time…

7. Dekhte Dekhte (Batti Gul Meter Chaalu)

Atif Aslam gate-crashes this countdown yet again. This one is a recreation of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s qawwali titled ‘Sochta Hoon”. Additional lyrics for the song were penned by Manoj Muntashir. The song borrows heavily from the original version, but that doesn’t take anything away from Atif Aslam, who adds a pinch of freshness to the song with his moving voice. Atif Aslam has always been known for his melancholic and melodious songs and it was no different in this case. The fact that the song’s music video garnered more than 20 million views on YouTube within 24 hours of its release speaks volumes about the song’s popularity and mass appeal.

 Other notable mentions:

• Bum Diggy-Diggy Bum-Bum,
• Dil Chori
• Tera Yaar Hoon Main
• Dilbar
• Paaniyon Sa
• Qaafirana

The post Rewind, Press, And Play: Bollywood Hits That Ruled Our Playlists This Year appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

कारवां-ए-मोहब्बत को दिए अपने एक इंटरव्यू में नसीरुद्दीन शाह ने बुलंदशहर की घटना के बारे में बात करते हुए कहा, “एक गाय की मौत को ज़्यादा अहमियत दी जाती है एक इंस्पेक्टर की मौत के बनिस्बत”।

इस बयान को एक खास समुदाय और धर्म के लोगों से जोड़ कर देखा जा रहा है। हालांकि नसीरूद्दीन शाह ने इस वीडियो में किसी भी धर्म को निशाना नहीं बनाया है लेकिन बीजेपी समर्थकों और ट्रोलर्स की ट्विटर पर बाढ़ सी आ गयी है। ठीक वैसे ही जैसे 2014 में आमिर खान द्वारा दिए गए बयान पर लोग उन्हें भारत विरोधी और गद्दार की संज्ञा देने लगे थे। कुछ वैसा ही नसीरुद्दीन शाह के साथ भी हो रहा है।

उत्तर प्रदेश नवनिर्माण सेना के अध्यक्ष अमित जानी ने अभिनेता नसीरुद्दीन शाह के बयान की आलोचना करते हुए उन्हें पाकिस्तान का हवाई टिकट भेजने का दावा किया है। अमित ने कहा कि नसीरूद्दीन शाह को अगर भारत में डर लगता है तो उन्हें पाकिस्तान चले जाना चाहिए।

अमित ने कहा कि उत्तर प्रदेश नवनिर्माण सेना ने शाह के लिए पाकिस्तान का 14 अगस्त का हवाई टिकट बुक करा दिया है जो उनके घर भेजा जा रहा है। जानी के मुताबिक नसीरूद्दीन शाह को भारत में डर लगता है लेकिन नसीरूद्दीन शाह ने वीडियो में एक बार भी नहीं कहा कि उनको भारत में डर लगता है जबकि उन्होंने यह कहा था कि उनको फिक्र होती है कि अगर कल कोई भीड़ उनके बच्चों को घेर लेती और उनसे उनका मज़हब पूछती है तो वो क्या जवाब देंगे क्योंकि उन्होने अपने बच्चों को कोई मज़हबी तालीम नहीं दी है।

वह एक पिता के तौर पर अपने बच्चोंं की चिन्ता कर रहे थे। उन्होंने यह भी कहा कि देश में जो माहौल बनाया जा रहा है वो जल्दी सही होता नहीं दिखााई देता। उन्होंने कहा कि जागरूक नागरिक के तौर पर देश का माहौल देखकर गुस्सा आता है जैसा कि अन्य जागरूक नागरिकों को भी आना स्वाभाविक है।

शाह ने नहीं कहा उनको डर लगता है लेकिन फिर भी चलिए मान भी लेते हैं कि उनको भारत में डर लगता है, तब तो तथाकथित देशभक्त जो शाह को गालियां दे रहे हैं और गद्दार कह रहें हैं उन्हें शाह का डर दूर करके शाह को गलत साबित करना चाहिए। बल्कि यह लोग तो उन्हें गालियां देकर और पाकिस्तान का टिकट भेजकर कहीं ना कहीं उन्हें सही साबित करने पर तुले हैं।

अगर किसी को अपने घर में डर लगता है या कहीं कुछ गलत लगता है तो वो अपने घर के लोगों से ही कहेगा ना, या फिर किसी और के घर में जाकर रहने लगेगा। 

इस बयान को मीडिया भी तोड़ मरोड़ कर पेश कर रहा है। मीडिया में उनकी नकरात्मक छवि प्रस्तुत की जा रही है। मीडिया को देश के हालात नहीं दिखते। शाह जी ने बुलंदशहर हिंसा पर भी बोला था तो बहस सिर्फ आधे बयान पर क्यों हो रही है? या यूं कहें कि फर्ज़ी हेडलाइन के साथ आधे बयान को दबाने की कोशिश की जा रही है।

बुलंदशहर हिंसा का मुख्य आरोपी अभी भी फरार है और उसने जिन 5 लोगों के खिलाफ एफआईआर दर्ज करवाई थी उनमें से 2 तो बच्चे थे बाकी के आरोपियों को पुलिस ने निर्दोष बता कर छोड़ दिया है।

एक न्यूज़ चैनल यह दिखा रहा कि अगर कोई विदेशी कम्पनी इस बयान को देखती है कि भारत का माहौल खराब है तो वो भारत में निवेश करने से डरेगी। अगर ऐसा है तो संविधान से अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता के अधिकार को हटा देना चाहिए। अगर निवेश और बाज़ार का इतना डर है तो सरकार से सवाल करना चाहिए कि अभी तक योगेश राज को गिरफ्तार क्यों नहीं किया गया लेकिन मीडिया चाटुकारिता के सिवाय करे तो करे? और ना ही डराने वालों से सवाल किया जाता है। सारा हल्ला शाह के आधे बयान पर मचाया जा रहा है।

The post नसीरुद्दीन शाह को पाकिस्तान का टिकट भेजना ही डर के माहौल का सबूत है appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

2018 has been one of the most bewildering years in Hindi cinema history. A year when a small but wonderful film like ‘Badhai Ho’ made bigger bucks than massive piece of trash like ‘Thugs of Hindostan’, the ‘thugs’ of which were clearly on a mission to loot our money (I conquered these ‘thugs’ as I didn’t watch their movie). Big budget commercial entertainers have always made tons of money irrespective of their quality. Just take the example of a pile of trash like ‘Happy New Year’ or a mind numbing exercise in foolishness called ‘Kick’ which made much more money than what I hope to earn in my 7 lifetimes. These films raised certain questions in my mind. Why would our audiences pay so much money and travel to cinema halls to watch something which doesn’t offer them anything remotely interesting or logical? Why would a sensible person waste his/her hard earned money on a senseless movie? Well, this year we, as a collective cinema-going audience, have whole-heartedly rejected such star vehicles which offer nothing beyond glamour and cool locations. ‘Race 3’, a film which had honestly lesser logical sequences than a B-Grade American video action film, also flopped after having a great opening weekend when the ‘Bhai’ fans thronged the theatres to catch their idol’s newest presentation of his mannerisms. One film which should have tanked miserably but made loads of money was the depressing ‘Baaghi 2’, the most nonsensical Tiger Shroff film, taking into consideration his past films which were equally bad.

There are two more big spectacles waiting for us this year in the form of ‘Zero’ and ‘Simmba’. Though ‘Zero‘ looks very interesting as it subverts the romantic genre by including very unlikely characters, ‘Simmba’ doesn’t show much promise beyond being the same regular masala flick which Rohit Shetty has mastered with the ‘Singham’ franchise. But what does look promising in the coming 2019 is the release of some really interesting films that I look forward to. Abhishek Chaubey’s ‘Sonchiriya’, Zoya Akhtar’s ‘Gully Boy’, and whatever Sriram Raghavan comes up next after the tremendous ‘Andhadhun’ which is not just the best film of 2018, but also one of the best thrillers Hindi cinema has ever seen.

We also have the usual big ticket films like ‘Bharath’ which do little to invoke any sort of excitement other than the fact that it is being directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, who has never made a bad commercial film. Even ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’ was quite a lot of fun and I personally had a blast watching it. Let’s hope for an equally rewarding 2019 where we get to witness interesting ideas, executed in an entertaining and thought provoking manner.

The post 2018: When Big Films With Small Ideas Tanked Deservingly appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

By Akhil Paliath:

Everybody likes youth and young people. They are shiny, energetic and look great in promotional material. But the burden of having to solve every single problem facing the world sometimes becomes too much and we are left disappointed with our GenX.

Inspired by a similar post in the New Yorker, here is a selection of the 20 most disappointing people in their 20s, in the development sector in India.

Signed up to be a volunteer teacher but spent all his time uploading pictures of his students on Instagram with hashtags like #educationrocks and #mybundlesofjoy.

Sameera Krishnamurthy, 25
Works at a donor agency headquartered in Delhi. Spent two weeks pressurising her grantees to include an expensive evaluation in their project. She then refused to fund it because it was a ‘non-programme’ expense.

Aravind Karnani, 24
Visited a homeless shelter once just so he could add #humanitarian to his tinder profile.

Rohan Patkar, 25 
Joined a nonprofit founded by his parents to professionalise the organisation and revolutionise everything. In his first month Rohan promoted himself to ‘Chief Innovation Ninja’, put up some posters, changed the layout of the cafeteria and then gave a TEDx talk about his achievements. It was not a great talk.

Anjali Patkar, 23
Rohan’s sister. She still works at the nonprofit and attends every team meeting. Nobody is sure what she does or which department she is a part of.

Kumar Pashupathy, 23
Kumar practices laughing in front of a mirror every morning so that he can laugh convincingly at the ‘jokes’ that his executive director makes.

Claire Stewart, 23
Raised fifty thousand dollars from her parents to found a nonprofit to fight against the negative portrayal of snakes in Hindi movies.

Radha Venkatraman, 23
Complained about surviving on a social sector salary as her driver drove her home to her Cuffe Parade penthouse.

Kriti Kruti, 25
Raised a hundred thousand dollars for a pilot program that only worked with four people. Two of them dropped out mid way. He still thinks the pilot was a success.

Azam Merchant, 29
Spend six months working at a multinational before moving to the social sector. He now introduces himself as a ‘private sector guy’.

Stephanie White, 20
Intern. Got the word ‘kranti’ tattooed on her forearm in devanagiri script as an act of rebellion against her parents. It was misspelled.

Shireen Jehangir, 26, 
Wrote about attending the Coldplay concert under the ‘social service experience’ in her MBA applications.

Supriya Singh, 26
Spends all morning talking about how she has stayed back late to work every day this month. Still hasn’t turned in the one page report she was asked for two weeks ago.

Karan Nathani, 27
Outnumbered by women on his team. Mansplains about the dangers of mansplaining at every weekly meeting.

Piyush Ambani, 29
Started a family foundation so that his wife would have something to do with her time. The foundation focuses on women’s empowerment.

Shomit Sen, 28
Had a nervous breakdown at a site visit in Patna and checked-in to the closest Taj.

This was originally published on India Development Review. You can read it here.

About the author:

Akhil Paliath: Akhil works with Central Square Foundation(CSF), as a part of the team helping the Gujarat education department design and implement a long-term quality improvement plan to improve learning. Before joining CSF he worked as a consultant with Lumen Consulting, a social sector consulting firm, and with Dasra as a part of the team that managed multimillion dollar initiatives such as the Dasra Girl Alliance and the Dasra Adolescent Collaborative. Akhil has a Masters in International Affairs from the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna as well as bachelor degrees in financial markets and international relations from the University of Mumbai and London.

Pictures used for representation only.

The post Best Of The Worst: The 20 Most Disappointing People In Their 20s appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

Dear SRK,

This is the first time I am trying to contact you and please forgive me that I choose an open letter to do so, for other options would have even feebler chances of reaching you.

I was 11 years old when I became your fan. Well, I didn’t know at that time what a fan exactly meant. But I just wanted to have a favorite like others and I chose you. For years, I would get happy every time your films did well, I would feel proud when you were called number one, I would be sad when your films didn’t do well, and if that was a fan, I was a big one.

In the last few years, I would fight with others if they said your career is over, I would fight when they said your films are no longer the highest grossing films of that year. For sometime I wanted your films to be the biggest, to make the biggest box office collections, but when I realize that it may not be possible I accepted that you have aged. I have accepted that you may get fewer film offers now and I have accepted that your films may no longer be the highest grossing film.

But what hurts me most is your choice of films. Yes, you have chosen some crap scripts, Jab Harry Met Sejal and Happy New Year to name a couple of them. While I accept that you are no longer the star that every director wanted to work with, doing films like those is something which is beyond our understanding.

This is a difficult time if you are an SRK fan but I will be your fan till I die. For me, you have done enough business with your films, given enough profits to your producers. For me, the most important thing, sir, is to see you acting in a good script.

I respect your intelligence sir but you have not been able to read your fans’ pulse. Your fans want to see you act in good scripts, that’s it. Please don’t do films for the sake of doing films or for the sake of doing business. The money will come with good scripts. We just want to see in a film where you can show your acting prowess as you did in movies like Darr and Devdas.

Sir, I love you and I am writing this out of sheer disappointment. If you continue doing crap films I will still watch them and will still love you because I already know and believe that you are the best. But an actor has to prove himself with each and every film. He tries to win hearts with his every film but I am afraid with such scripts you haven’t earned any new fan. The fans that you have are still those who were your fans 10 years ago. The kind of films you have done in the last 10 years haven’t done justice to your acting skills, sir.

If my words have hurt you I apologize deeply sir, because that’s the last thing I would want to do, to hurt my favorite hero, my childhood hero. I am writing this because I want the world to know that my hero is the best actor in the world. I am writing this because I am hurt.

Please try to listen what your fans have to say.

I will always love and respect you!

Yours always

A Fan

~D

The post An Open Letter To Shahrukh Khan, From The Heart appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

When famed actor Naseeruddin Shah’s reaction on mob violence and lynching has sparked a row, the short film ‘Skin of Marble’ turns out to be even more relevant for his impressive role.

He did not mind splitting up the hero from the heroine in reel life. While he gets angry at the unique imp that has come out of the bottle in real life. Like a traditional father in the film, he approaches the stunning Violet, persuading her to maintain a distance from Param, his son. He wanted to marry his only son to a girl the family chose. Above all, his promise to the girl’s father was supreme for him.

In the film, he acted differently from his real life personality as a father. In reality, he is worried for his children if a mob happens to ask them of their religion, just the way a Lodi Sultan asked the Sufi poet Kabir’s religion. It was this dread which causes him apprehension and he sees no near improvement in the situation. This has bothered him to the extent that he has appealed to every person to get angry but not to be scared.

Filmed in the aftermath of the partition, the film surely somewhere depicts an imitation of present-day violence also. Gory clashes with communal angles are the reality of today’s life also.

Since independence, we have faced communal clashes but our political leaders seem to find good in this tendency. Just like the film’s female lead character Violet offers herself to the crooked fanatics holding swords in their hands, innocent people continue to lose their lives in communal clashes or lynching even today.

Is violence in the country of Gandhi a proven mark to achieve the political ascendancy?

We are at present crying for discarding communal considerations in our traditional society. Just like the hero’s father in the film, wily politicians are reaching their cloaked aspirations by utilising communal sentiment.

The conflict of choosing between privileging the political cause and standing for the anti-social elements is nothing new in the country’s historical perspective. The current situations someway corroborate with the anger presented through the meaningful movie.

In the meantime, Uttar Pradesh BJP President Mahendranath Pandey said about Naseeruddin Shah, “In one of his movies he played the role of a Pakistani agent. I think he is growing into that character now.”

Featured images for representative purpose only.
Featured image source: LargeShortFilms/YouTube and Jagadeesh Nv/Reuters.

The post Skin Of Marble: Naseeruddin Shah’s Reel And Real Thoughts On Communal Violence Are Similar appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

फिल्मों का सतहीपन कभी-कभी आपको बहुत परेशान करता होगा। मुझे भी करता है। मनोरंजन को एक नया आयाम देने की कोशिश हो रही है, मनोरंजन के नाम पर कंटेंट मैनीपुलेशन का चलन सा हो गया है।

माना कि टीवी के बनावटी ठहाकों ने बहुतों को खुश किया होगा लेकिन विचार करें कि बनावटी ठहाकों के लिए फिल्में बनाने का चलन टीवी के कॉमेडी नाइट्स एवं सर्कस से शक्ति नहीं पा रहा है? स्वाभाविक व्यंग्य स्वत: उत्पन्न हुआ करता है। हास्य-व्यंग्य दरअसल आरोपित ना हो तभी भाता है। बनावटी तालियों व ठहाकों के मकसद को लेकर बना सिनेमा सतही मनोरंजन से अधिक नहीं दे सकता है।

आज की हॉरर हिंदी फिल्मों एवं एडल्ट कॉमेडी फिल्मों का ओवर-मैनिपुलेटेड कंटेंट मनोरंजन को लम्बी उम्र नहीं दे सकता है। सिनेमा स्वयं अपने भविष्य का नुकसान करने वाला साबित ना हो इसके लिए निर्माता को नज़र एवं नज़रिया दोनों बदलने होंगे। उन्हें विचार करना होगा कि वर्तमान परिदृश्य में इस तरह की फिल्मों को स्वीकार करने के लिए क्या भारतीय समाज तैयार है?

हिंदी फिल्म ‘क्या कूल’ के संस्करण का पॉर्न वेबसाइटों पर प्रमोशन किया गया। सेंसर की ओर से इसे ‘ए’ सर्टिफिकेट के साथ पास किया गया। एडल्ट फिल्में धोखा देने के लिए प्रेरित करती हैं। हंसी मज़ाक में ही सही लेकिन एडल्ट कॉमेडी फिल्में धोखा देने की प्रवृत्ति को बढ़ावा दे रही हैं। सिर्फ मनोरंजन के उद्देश्य को लेकर बन रही फिल्मों से परहेज़ नहीं, किन्तु यह ज़रूरी नहीं कि वो वाकई मनोरंजन करेंगी। मनोरंजन की परिभाषा को दरअसल निर्माता एवं बाज़ार अपने हिसाब से गढ़ रहे हैं।

एक ज़माना था जब बीआर इशारा की बोल्ड फिल्मों की धूम थी। उनकी फिल्म ‘चेतना’ ने एक साथ कई नई बहसों को जन्म दिया था। इसने फिल्मों में सेक्स-चित्रण, यौन-शुचिता और नैतिकता के साथ-साथ सेंसर बोर्ड पर भी सवाल उठाए। ‘चेतना’ में रेहाना सुल्तान ने एक कॉल गर्ल की भूमिका निभाई लेकिन उनका किरदार पारंपरिक वेश्याओं (सेक्स वर्कर) से नितांत अलग था।

हिंदी सिनेमा में यह चरित्र पहले भी आ चुके हैं। रेहाना देह को सक्षम मानती हैं, साथ ही दिमाग का भी इस्तेमाल करती हैं। इशारा की फिल्मों ने व्यस्कता को अधिकार की तरह रखा लेकिन इशारा की फिल्में सतही-नीरस एडल्ट फिल्मों से काफी आगे थीं। आप चाहे तो इशारा के काम को सी व डी ग्रेड में रख लें, किंतु उनके सिनेमा की गुणवत्ता कम नहीं कर सकते।

कंटेंट की वैचारिक धुरी के आधार पर यह फिल्में कूल थीं। आपकी फिल्मों की कहानी सतही आइडिया से उत्पन्न नहीं थी। आज की एडल्ट हिंदी फिल्मों की कथा में इशारा की तरह गंभीरता नहीं नज़र आती हैं। एडल्ट कॉमेडी फिल्मों से गंभीरता की उम्मीद करना बेईमानी सी बात होगी लेकिन इससे वो सामूहिक ज़िम्मेदारी से बच नहीं सकती।

रामसे की हॉरर फिल्मों में मौजूद सेक्सुअलिटी में सतहीपन-स्टीरियोटाइप में वैचारिकता की घोर कमी थी। विक्रम भट्ट की हॉरर फिल्मों में खुलापन तो ज़रूर है लेकिन रामसे की तुलना में दूसरे किस्म का है। आधुनिक ज़माने में ‘सेक्सुअलिटी’ एक दबा हुआ सा लेकिन अभिव्यक्त विषय बन गया है।

हेट स्टोरी के कई संस्करण आ गए हैं। दशकों पूर्व ‘कर्म’ में देविका रानी और हिमांशु राय के बीच सीन को लेकर काफी तर्क-वितर्क हुआ लेकिन सिनेमा में एडल्ट कंटेंट नहीं रुका। शॉर्ट टाइम कलाकारों को लेकर वो फिल्में बनने लगीं, फिर एडल्ट कॉमेडी फिल्मों की धारा विकसित की गई। हंसी मज़ाक को व्यस्क एंगल देकर एडल्ट कंटेंट जारी रहा।

कभी अनजान कलाकारों को लेकर रिलीज़ हुई एडल्ट फिल्मों में आज जाने-पहचाने कलाकार भी काम करते देखें जा सकते हैं। अब की ‘एडल्ट’ फिल्में सतहीपन-स्टीरियोटाइप को चुनौती देने के नज़रिए से बन रही हैं लेकिन सतहीपन से मुक्ति की राह इतनी सीधी भी नहीं हैं। यह दरअसल विचारधारा के संकट का दौर है।

आज भोजपुरी सिनेमा इस बात को सम्मान मान रहा कि उसने सी व डी ग्रेड की फिल्मों अथवा मॉर्निंग शो की फिल्मों को खत्म कर दिया है लेकिन क्या वो नहीं भूल रहे हैं कि सफाई अभियान में गंदगी की ओर झुक गए? उसका घोर रूप से हिस्सा बन गए?

भोजपुरी सिनेमा का खुलापन शब्दों से होकर फिल्मांकन-संगीत व दृश्यों तक पहुंच गया है। कहानियों से हटकर चर्चा करें तो वहां आ रहे आईटम गानों में सेक्सुअलिटी की बड़ी संकीर्ण परिभाषा नज़र आती है। बड़े शहरों में अब सुबह के शो वाली सी-डी ग्रेड हिंदी फिल्में नहीं नज़र आती हैं।

छोटे शहरों-कसबों व गांवों के सिनेमाघरों में टाईमपास के लिए यह फिल्में अब भी दिखाई जाती हैं। इनके निर्माताओं को नामकरण के लिए पुरस्कार से नवाज़ा जाना चाहिए लेकिन फिल्मों को किस श्रेणी में रखा जाए, इस पर आप भी विचार करें। कांति शाह की फिल्मों को आप किसी कतार में रखते हैं? व्यस्क फिल्मों के लेखक भी बड़े कलाकार किस्म के हैं। एडल्ट कहानी-पटकथा लिखना जोखिम वाला काम होता है, क्या वो अपनी सृजनात्मक क्षमताओं को व्यर्थ नहीं कर रहे हैं?

कहा जाता है कि इस किस्म की फिल्मों से कला व सार्थक की कामना नहीं करनी चाहिए, क्या इनकी चिंता से जन्म लेने वाली मुख्यधारा व्यस्क अथवा एडल्ट कॉमेडी फिल्मों से भी कामना नहीं करें। हॉलीवुड की एडल्ट फिल्मों में भी सतहीपन होता है। वहां की ए ग्रेड सिनेमा में खुलेपन का असर देश में बन रही फिल्मों पर हुआ, यहां के सिनेमा में खुलापन परोसने वालों का तर्क देखिए। एडल्ट फिल्मों के दर्शक घोर अवसाद की स्थिति में होते हैं। मन व काया पर कामुकता का विस्फोट करने वाली फिल्में आदमी का काफी नुकसान करती हैं।

मानवीय रिश्तों पर फिल्में बनाने वाले फिल्मकार/निर्माता भी कंटेंट में खुलेपन को बड़ी चतुराई से डाल रहे हैं। कुछ यूं हो रहा मानो वो नहीं किया तो फिल्म चलने वाली नहीं। इधर देखने में आ रहा कि किरदार का गाली अथवा अपशब्द बोलना लाज़िमी है। साहसी फिल्मों के सारथी लोग सेक्सुअलिटी को व्यक्त करना साहस मानते हैं।

गालियों व कामुक प्रसंगों का प्रसार समाज में उन्माद की स्थिति नहीं बना रहा? अपराध व सेक्स के मेलजोल से बनी कहानियों का चलन सिनेमा में काफी समय से है। इस मामले में किरदार व कहानियों में बदलाव तो हुआ लेकिन प्रेरणा टाईपकास्ट रही। विज्ञान व आधुनिकता के ज़माने में भूत-पिशाच की हॉरर फिल्में बननी चाहिए थी?

ज़्यादातर स्त्री आत्माएं कामुक व बलाजान सुंदरी क्यों बनाई जा रही हैं? जिस कलाकारी व खुलेपन से आत्माओं का रूप-रंग गढ़ा जा रहा, उसे देखकर मालूम पड़ता है कि फिल्मकार ने उन्हें देखा है। रामसे व कांति शाह की हॉरर फिल्मों में भूत-पिशाच अमूमन कुरूप व डरावने किस्म के रहे, इनके रूप-रंग की एक नयी परिभाषा हिंदी की मुख्यधारा फिल्मों ने रची।

एडल्ट सर्टीफीकेट पर रिलीज़ हुई फिल्मों में मौजूद खुलापन पारिवारिक फिल्मों को भी मायाजाल में खींच लाया। आज के ज़माने से पहले ‘कॉमेडी’ का मतलब केवल हास्य-व्यंग्य हुआ करता था। कॉमेडी में सेक्सुअलिटी का पुट देकर एक नए किस्म के हास्य-व्यंग्य (फूहड़ता) को रचा गया। कहना होगा कि इस किस्म के प्रयोग मूल विधाओं को बर्बाद कर रहे हैं।

अनेक बार काफी वैचारिक कामों को अनावश्यक आइटम गानों द्वारा खराब होते देखा है। हिंदी में अब बन रही व्यस्क फिल्मों को शायद इन हिट गानों से भी प्रोत्साहन मिला होगा। सिनेमा में सृजनात्मक संभावनाओं की अपार क्षमता हुआ करती है, एक मामूली से कहे जाने वाले प्रसंग को कहानी में ढलते देखा है। अभिव्यक्त करने के पचासों तरीके फिल्मकार आज़माया करते हैं। सृजनात्मक महत्वकांक्षाओं ने फिल्मकारों को अनावश्यक चीज़ों तक पहुंचाया। क्या वो आवश्यक चीज़ों तक जा सकते थे? सिनेमा को गैर-ज़रूरी चीज़ों से बचाए रखने से ही सतहीपन से मुक्ति मिलेगी।

The post कॉमेडी के नाम पर फूहड़ता परोसना कब बंद करेगा बॉलीवुड appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

We have had this debate for a long time now about standing up for the national anthem. If you oppose it, you are tagged anti-national so, before someone takes the stance against this forced patriotism please make sure that you have bought a house in Pakistan. The supporters of this enforcement assume that everyone who criticises has a house in Pakistan where they can go.

“Nobody’s patriotism should be attacked because of the foolish decisions of a whimsical state.” – Arun Kant Shukla

When you visit a cinema hall for watching a movie, you go there to enjoy, relax and have fun – but you feel uncomfortable when there’s a bunch of people holding guns on your head forcing you to stand up for the national anthem.

There have been instances where the so-called nationalists have beaten up handicapped people for not standing for the national anthem. The idea of India that I subscribe to is one in which India is a free country where all its citizens are free from this kind of coercion.

The theater halls still continue even after Supreme Court order making standing up for anthem optional from mandatory. The multiplex has increased the duration of the time we spend in the cinema hall with 40 minutes for ads, national anthem, trailers and other crap they force us to put up with.

I have made it a point to arrive late after booking movie tickets online to miss the national anthem along with 25 minutes of ads being played by PVR and Inox. I am not going to let anyone force me to stand up for the national anthem during a film screening. The point is that I would normally stand up during a function because I do respect my country, but a movie hall is not a place for it. People go there to relax and enjoy the movie, it’s not acceptable to force them to prove their allegiance towards national anthem there.

The government should be listening and working with citizens to solve the many pressing issues faced by the nation rather than having a debate on playing the national anthem and policing who is standing up or not.

These kind of incidents are funny especially when they become the parameters for showing our ‘patriotism’. The same argument was used during demonetization on people standing in the ATM lines who were compared to soldiers standing in Siachen – the perfect display of nationalism.

I have a feeling that people will stop going to movie halls if this continues.

The post ‘I Go Late For Movies To Avoid Standing Up For National Anthem’ appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

SPOILER ALERT

I loved Zero.

There, I said it. You are probably judging me. I did too – as the notes of ‘Mere naam tu’ soared, I felt the sinking feeling of falling in love with what I had most determinedly decided I was going to despise.

Yes, the film has many problems and there were many irresponsible dialogues in the three-hour long saga. And people are right when they say the film is unbelievable – it is supposed to be. Zero is about a vertically challenged man whose dreams are as big as anyone else’s. Why shouldn’t they be?

Peel back the entertainment to see how proudly Zero celebrates absurdities – and that is only partly why the film won my affection. It’s a film that can either leave each of us with something or nothing at all – like a real-life romance does.

Sample these sequences from the popularly hated second-half:

#1
Bauua ran away from Aafia and his family on the day of his wedding and has been superstar Babita Kumari’s close aide for a year. But amidst the glamour that he has chased all his life, Bauua realises he wants Aafia more. To get back to her, he has to leave Babita’s side and this world that shares his love for a spectacle. But how does Bauua leave something that he abandoned everything else for? He challenges Babita’s pride and delusions, inciting her to humiliate him and throw him out. He compels her to reduce him to nothing, much like how Babita saw him on the dark road in Meerut where she rebelliously kissed an inconsequential man – the same man that Aafia had almost married. Babita (played magnificently by Katrina Kaif, who might have done a character justice for the first time in her career) obliges and severs all strings of attachment, setting Bauua free.

#2
Bauua realises that he’s lost much more than whom he loves and destroyed by Aafia’s loathing, he roams around the neon-lit US city as if in a dream, stripping himself down layer by layer – his expensive watch in a violin player’s case, his coat to a homeless person till he’s robbed of all his belongings in a dark alley. Beaten, bleeding and down to his underwear, Bauua finds himself in the bustling city square. There he looks around, smiles and starts dancing like everyone’s watching. Then Bauua sets about restoring himself – for Bauua is incomplete without his page 3-ready look. He reverses his movements through the city, collecting everything he had lost and given away. At the end of the sequence, Bauua emerges whole. He turns his guilt and grief into a purpose – of winning his love back. He has the clarity of someone who has built themselves up from nothing.

And that’s what Zero said to me. If you find the courage to change your decision, you might find yourself with nothing – at point zero. And that might be where you find yourself – where you find everything. A miracle.

#3
Bauua has a trick up his sleeve – every time he waves a hand across the night sky and counts back from ten to zero, a star falls. After he betrays Aafia, Bauua discovers that he has lost the ability in an embarrassing incident. Babita Kumari pokes him by saying that he might have broken someone’s heart. True to her instinct, Bauua only regains his magic once he’s reunited with Aafia. But his magic emerges as strong as him now. Bauua transforms the landscape with a thousand shooting stars – an elaan of his love.

#4 and 5
There is a beautifully quiet moment in the film. Aafia is in the control room of the space centre while Bauua is sitting in an isolated deck overhead, still, as if in wait. Aafia looks up at him and silently gestures to him to change his decision of going to space and risking his life. A subdued Bauua, with tears making his eyes gleam instead of the usual mischief, gestures back for her to change her decision of marrying someone else. Both remain resolute. On the day of the space mission’s launch, Aafia realises she is making a mistake and leaves her wedding to go back to the space centre. With every step that Bauua takes to get the spaceship ready to take him away and prove his worthiness, Aafia moves closer to him. She reaches in time. As they share words over the intercom, it is clear that if Bauua quits the mission, he will get his happy ending with Aafia. But he decides to not go back on his commitment. If he does, he wouldn’t be able to level the ground with Aafia – and it is a story of love between equals. So, with another life-changing countdown, Bauua leaves for Mars – as his love waits for him on Earth.

It’s a story about fantasies and love, about discovering yourself and your limitations, about finding more than yourself. Zero is a love story that’s like any other SRK love story. But it’s also a film that surpasses any of his other romances – because of its absurdities, its outlandishness, its courage and its belief that anything is possible.

The post Nothing Short Of A Miracle: Why I Absolutely Loved ‘Zero’ appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

फिल्म की तारीफ में भले ही यह बात कही जा रही हो कि फिल्म ने एक संवेदनशील मुद्दे को उठाया है लेकिन वास्तव में फिल्म को चलाने के लिए उस संवेदनशील मुद्दे का इस्तेमाल किया गया है। हिंदी फिल्मों का यह पुराना तरीका है हीरो को स्टैबलिश करने के लिए रेप का सहारा ले लो। कहानी में एक रेप की घटना डाल दो और फिर एक पुरुष उस रेप का बदला लेगा।

इस फिल्म का भी प्लॉट यही है लेकिन फिल्म में रेप जैसे संवेदनशील मुद्दे को बुरी तरह से बेचा गया है। निर्भया केस को लोगों ने शायद रेप का ब्रॉन्ड बना दिया है। मुझे पता है मुझे इन शब्दों का इस्तेमाल नहीं करना चाहिए लेकिन यहां यही हो रहा है।

पूरी फिल्म में इस मुद्दे को इतना ड्रामेटाइज़ किया गया है, बात-बात में इतना लेक्चर दिया गया है कि आप ऊब जाएंगे कि बस करो। और हां, अगर इस फिल्म के किसी किरदार को रेप के दर्द और डर को समझाना है तो उसे उसके किसी अपने के साथ रेप होने की घटना की कल्पना करवाई जाती है, चाहे वह कोर्ट की जज ही क्यों ना हो। अगर आप रेप की संवेदनशीलता को समझते तो इस तरह की चीज़ों का सहारा नहीं लेते।

विलेन से अगर रेप की बात उगलवानी भी है तो उसे एक दूसरी लड़की का रेप करने के लिए उत्सुक करवाया जाता है। यह मज़ाक नहीं तो क्या है?

रोहित शेट्टी, मुझे आपके रेप के मुद्दे पर फिल्म बनाने से ऐतराज़ नहीं है लेकिन एक बार आप इस सिलसिले में कुछ रिसर्च भी करते कि एक रेप सर्वाइवर को किन परिस्थितियों से गुज़रना पड़ता है और समाज को इस मुद्दे पर किस तरह बर्ताव करना चाहिए।

सेक्शुअल हरासमेंट पर फिल्म पिंक भी बनी थी लेकिन उस फिल्म ने इस घटना की संवेदनशीलता को समझा था, हम औरतों के पक्ष को समझा था, आपके जैसा इसे अपनी फिल्म बेचने के लिए और एक पुरुष को हीरो के रूप में स्टैब्लिश करने के लिए इस्तेमाल नहीं किया था। मेरे साथ भी सेक्शुअल हरासमेंट की घटना हुई है और हमारे समाज में अमूमन लड़कियों के साथ जीवन में कभी ना कभी सेक्शुअल हरासमेंट की घटना होती है, मेरी जैसी हर लड़की को आपकी यह फिल्म ओछी कैटेगरी की ही लगेगी।

जहां तक फिल्म की बात है इंटरवल से पहले यह पूरी तरह एक कॉमेडी फिल्म है, जिसमें रणवीर सिंह ओवर एक्टिंग की पूरी दुकान हैं। कॉमेडी का मतलब ओवर एक्टिंग तो कतई नहीं होता। कॉमेडी एक बहुत मुश्किल जॉनर होता है। एक कलाकार के लिए दर्शकों को रुलाना आसान होता है लेकिन दर्शक को हंसाना उतना ही मुश्किल होता है लेकिन इन दिनों फिल्मों में इसका सरल सा तरीका ओवर एक्टिंग ढूंढ लिया जाता है।

रणवीर सिंह एक बेहतरीन एक्टर हैं, उन्हें इस मध्यम रास्ते को क्यों चुनना पड़ता है मुझे समझ नहीं आता है। पूरी फिल्म में कुछ ही जगह वह खुद को एक मैच्योर एक्टर के रूप में स्टैबलिश कर पाए हैं और अंत में अजय देवगन की एंट्री के बाद वो वापस से एक कमज़ोर एक्टर नज़र आते हैं।

फिल्म में जज रणवीर सिंह के इमोश्नल डायलॉग से पिघल जाती हैं और इमोश्नल होकर उनकी बात को सच मान लेती हैं। मुझे यहां बताएं कि कौन से कोर्ट में इमोश्नल डायलॉग को प्रूफ के रूप में देखा जाता है? हां, बेशक यह फिल्म है यहां कुछ भी संभव है लेकिन यह मत भूलिए यह कोई कॉमेडी या साधारण से विषय पर बनी फिल्म नहीं एक संवेदनशील विषय पर बनी फिल्म है।

वैसे फिल्म रोहित शेट्टी की थी तो लॉजिक की उम्मीद करना बेवकूफी भी थी लेकिन इतना ही कहूंगी अगर फिल्म में लॉजिक नहीं था तो इस संवेदनशील मुद्दे से खेलना भी नहीं था आपको।

फिल्म में कानून की भी पूरी तरह से धज्ज़ियां उड़ाई गई हैं। फेक एनकाउंटर को जस्टिफाई किया गया है। फिल्म में जब लड़की मदद के लिए पुलिस को फोन करती है तो पुलिस दारू पीकर सो रहा होता है लेकिन रेप होने के बाद तहकीकात में बिना किसी मेहनत के बस दोषियों को ठोक देता है, क्योंकि यहां भी हीरो की हीरोगिरी दिखानी थी एक रेप सर्वाइवर का इंसाफ नहीं। फिल्म में रेप की बात पर बाहरी गुस्सा दिखाना या ज़ोर से चिल्लाना ही रेप के प्रति संवेदनशीलता नहीं होती।

फिल्म में एनकाउंटर का पूरा एक नकली सीन क्रिएट किया जाता है, जिसमें रेप के दोषियों को भड़काया जाता है ताकि वह पुलिस स्टेशन में मौजूद किसी दूसरी लड़की का रेप करने के लिए उत्सुक हो जाए। यहां उन दोषियों को रणवीर सिंह यानी सिम्बा नपुसंक कहकर भड़काता है कि ये तो नपुसंक हैं यह तो रेप कर ही नहीं सकते। कोर्ट में इनके वकीलों को इनका मेडिकल सर्टिफिकेट दिखा देना चाहिए था कि ये तो रेप करने के काबिल ही नहीं।

यहां रोहित शेट्टी क्या बताना चाह रहे थे कि एक मर्द रेप करने के काबिल होता है? जो नपुंसक होते हैं वो असली मर्द नहीं होते वो रेप क्या करेंगे? तो क्या जो नपुसंक नहीं हैं वे सभी रेप करने के लिए एलिजिबल हैं?

और हां, दूसरी बात आपको यह समझना चाहिए कि नपुंसकता एक मेडिकल कंडीशन है इसका मज़ाक उड़ाना भी असंवेदनशीलता की हद पार करना है। एक रेप के दोषियों की तुलना आप उस मेडिकल कंडीशन के लोगों से नहीं कर सकते।

कुल मिलाकर मैं यही कहूंगी रोहित शेट्टी आप एक्शन मूवी बनाते हैं और आप उस जॉनर के एक अच्छे डायरेक्टर भी हैं प्लीज़ इस तरह के संवेदनशील सामाजिक मुद्दों के साथ खेल मत कीजिए।

The post रोहित शेट्टी किसी को हीरो दिखाने के लिए किसी का रेप दिखाना ज़रूरी नहीं है appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

Last night, I happened to watch the ‘The Actresses Roundtable 2018’ – an annual feature by film critic Rajeev Masand – on YouTube. The 1-hour video celebrates some bold voices and memorable films that made a mark this year. It also marks the return of Rani Mukherjee (with ‘Hichki’), who was last seen on screen four years ago. One of the main topics of the discussion is #MeToo, the movement that shook India this year, with women speaking out on sexual violence and harassment, and naming the perpetrators. Everyone knows Bollywood was (rightly) jolted too.

Rani dominated most of the discussion on #MeToo, with her awful, regressive views. I was wondering if I’d heard correctly when I heard her tell women to take responsibility of their own actions, to learn martial arts (umm, what?), and then blame women (the mothers who raise boys incorrectly), for the awful actions of men. Let me break this down here.

Cringe #1: “As a woman, you have to be that powerful within yourself, you have to believe that you’re so powerful, that if you come into a situation like that, you have the courage to say, ‘Back off!'”

Sorry, what? “Power within yourself” isn’t a switch that you can just turn on, and which will drive potential harassers and rapists away. We live in a country where an act of sexual violence happens every few minutes and where the understanding of consent is still not a reality. If this ‘method’ worked, we wouldn’t need a law against sexual violence. Rani speaks from a place of utmost privilege, assuming that this so-called inherent power switch will ‘save’ women. She is ignorant of how saying “Back off!” isn’t an option when several crimes are perpetrated by men misusing positions of power. She also forgets how thousands of survivors of violence are from marginalised communities, and how an act of violence can shake you, and make you fear for your very life. It’s like saying Nirbhaya should have called the rapists ‘Bhaiya’. These approaches blame survivors and completely take the onus away from men to not harass and assault women in the first place.

Cringe #2: “Everything relates to what you want out of your life.”

NO ONE ‘wants’ to be raped and harassed and assaulted and stalked. Real life isn’t always like ‘The Secret’ by Rhonda Byrne where what you get, is what you attract. Let’s not give a philosophical spin to sexual violence, please.

Cringe #3: “Obviously the way my voice is, and the way I look, half the people run away with that only.”

Why crack a self-deprecating ‘joke’ about this issue? It perpetuates stereotypes about which ‘kind of women’ are harassed. Not a single other woman on the table is amused when Rani says this. The lack of a reaction is the best reaction in this case.

Cringe #4: “It is important for women to believe in themselves and say, if they don’t want this to happen, it’ll not happen.”

WHAT? Thousands of #MeToo stories across the world have been shared only in the past year. Did all of us ever believe this would happen to us? Did we always believe that some of our friends, our relatives, employers, colleagues, influencers, actors we admired, and our lawmakers and law enforcers would turn out to be harassers and rapists? Rani’s holier-than-thou speech is alienating and highly ignorant.

Cringe #5: “Kick him between his legs and give him a jhaapad of his lifetime, that he remembers ki ‘Yeh ladki ne maara tha’, so he remains fearful and doesn’t do it to the ladies hereforth. You have to have the courage to protect yourself.”

That is again, no solution to how real and widespread sexual violence is. It completely puts the onus on women by telling them they are responsible of their own protection, forgetting that no one should ever feel unsafe in the first place. Rani is ignorant of the power dynamics at play, how cornered and vulnerable one can feel, how scared and shaken one can feel. “Kick him” and “give him a jhaapad” are no real and practical solutions to fight how deeply rooted violence and harassment is.

Cringe #6: “[The women who feel cornered] are the women we need to talk to and say, ‘Yaar, you guys need to change.'”

At this point, it’s only been a few minutes since Rani started, and I’m exhausted already. Kya saviour complex hai aur kya survivor-blaming hai. First, tell women to put on their “power switch” and drive sexual violence away AND then change yourselves and learn how to give a jhaapad to men. Sab kaam women only have to do. The perpetrators here are no where in the picture, because yaar, boys will be boys. Thank goodness for Anushka Sharma at this point, who jumps in and politely points out the problem.

Cringe #7: “In school na, please make martial arts compulsory.” *thak thak thak*

Deepika Padukone rightly responds, “We’re now jumping ahead and talking about self-defence. I am saying, why should it even get to that stage?” Sure, anyone who wants to learn martial arts, totally should. It’s a great, empowering skill. But to learn martial arts to have to protect yourself from violence? It’s a very problematic take that blames women, establishes a wrong notion of ‘strength’, and completely takes the onus away from the perpetrators of the violence. To make it worse, Rani even acts out a few karate chops – while again, no one reacts.

Cringe #8: “It is women who are making these boys, who are doing this.” 

Rani moves on to blaming mothers now. Throughout this whole time, she doesn’t pause once to put the onus on a single man. Why are we saying that women are responsible for shaping and transforming and ‘correcting’ the men in their lives? We don’t want this labour and baggage and we never asked for it, just like we never asked to be harassed. Ultimately, Rani is saying that women are only responsible for the horrible things that other women have to face.

Watch from 34:40 here if you want to feel the cringe for yourself:

Featured image source: CNN-News 18/YouTube.

The post Cringe Watch: 8 Regressive Things Rani Mukerji Said About #MeToo At One Go appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

Alpha female is Dipika Kakar as she was declared the winner. Holding the trophy she reacted it was the most beautiful experience of her life. She applied her mind in the game all through the fifteen weeks. Her strategy was clear and she overcame all the hurdles till the last.

She knew how to emerge victoriously. Dipiika thought it better to choose the white suitcase which contained the forty per cent amount of the winning prize. Though Sreesanth remained in the second position, he bade good-bye to the reality show as merely a brother.

Romil and Karan Vir Bohra were confident in the race to the finale but their fate ended like Surabhi Rana. If Dipika has got the Big Boss title, Deepak won the hearts of the people. From zero he emerged as the hero of the game.

On being questioned of her small town background Deepak made it clear that he never used his rural background for his success during the show. He maintained he felt a sense of satisfaction and delight in lifting the suitcase in view of his family’s financial position.

His father also supported Deepak’s decision. He told that he travelled by air for the first time in his life. He wore costly shoes for the first time. He expected a lot from his son and advised him to remain steadfast on his natural game.

He did not forget saying that his son had brought fame to his family and village. How emotional was father-son meeting view on television? Deepak has won everyone’s hearts by his singing capability. Mastermind Vikas Gupta was seen favouring him two days prior to the show’s end.

The struggle of the Bigg Boss house inmates continued till the last moment. The routine battle for doing better than one another in this cut-throat show was what attracted the avid television viewers. The show inmates were passed their days and nights in a way totally ignorant of the outside world.

This limited period show somehow affirmed love could not be wholly rejected from the personal plasticity. They treated one another on the basis of their attainable behaviour. They would not change even an inch despite constant snubs.

They felt very much demoralised to their fellow contestants the way they angrily reacted to a notable extent of personal confusion. Before it bursts into infuriated tumble the anguished person did not break for long but soon became conscious of their amity and fondness. Although they were alert to their right or wrong actions, behaviours and fights in the secluded house yet they wondered if they could live in cohesion.

The post Dipika Kakar Proves She Is The Alpha Of Big Boss appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

Around the closing time of the film, the main character, Stefan, shouts “I am out of control!” Among all the other things that could have rang a bell in my head, the one thing that really got me thinking was – haven’t we all heard our politicians say this in one or the other way?

In case you are wondering what I’m talking about, let me tell you that the standalone movie of Netflix’s Black Mirror dropped on December 28 and the world just went crazy. Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is the first interactive film by Netflix which allows the viewer to remote control the actions of its protagonist. Many of us who saw it couldn’t stop ourselves from calling it a cinematic revolution. It is indeed a giant step in content creation but more than that it is an experience which makes the viewer question their choices including the choice of experiencing it.

The movie is a lot like a functional democracy and probably is much more self aware than it has to be. At a certain point in the film, we feel sorry for Stefan because the choices we made on behalf of him have really awful consequences. If history is anything to rely on, most of us have felt sorry, on numerous occasions, for choosing a leader we wanted to but didn’t need to. However, Netflix does provide you an option to go back and re-think your choice and choose again accordingly. Unfortunately, that option is not available in real life but even if the chance was given to  people to re-asses their choice of leader in a democracy, how sure are we that they (us) would not choose the same option (mistake) again?

Stefan is asked to build a game on a book called Bandersnatch, which contains parallel story-lines and multiple endings. When the head of the company asks him if the game is ready, he says he needs time as he “wants to build the game exactly like the book.” Now, it’s not a coincidence that most countries today have a book, the Constitution, which has guided them to build their respective nation-states. Every leader around the world who has/had been elected in a democracy has always claimed that he/she has always followed the book. It is also interesting how Stefan fails again and again to create a perfect game because ideally a perfect nation doesn’t exist.

Black Mirror has always been successful in making strong statements on various issues ranging from modern love to the misuse of technology but with Bandersnatch, a meta-masterpiece in my opinion, Charlie Brooker, the Show-runner, has perhaps taken it one notch higher and questioned the way a democracy is functioned in today’s world. Given the way people of different countries have chosen their leaders in the past decade, it is scary to think of the relevance of Bandersnatch in our lives. May be the intention was to make us realize how our day-to-day choices affect our life in a bigger way but I’m sure that Charlie Brooker and his director had kept the current political scenario in mind before writing it.

After all, they were just trying to make a movie. A movie is nothing but a collection of glorious lies much like most of our governments.

The post The Political Relevance Of Netflix’s ‘Black Mirror: Bandersnatch’ appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

रणवीर सिंह और सारा अली खान की एक्शन एंटरटेनर ‘सिम्बा’ सिनेमाघरों में रिलीज़ हो गई है। रोहित शेट्टी की फिल्म ‘मसाला एंटरटेनर’ फिल्मों में अगली कड़ी है। एक्शन व कॉमेडी रोहित शेट्टी की फिल्मों की पहचान रही है, सिम्बा में भी वही बात है। अक्षय कुमार व सिंघम फेम अजय देवगन का कैमियो फिल्म का मज़ा बढ़ा देता है। सिम्बा और सिंघम की जोड़ी को देखकर दर्शकों का दिल खुश हो गया है। फिल्म को अच्छा रिस्पांस मिला है।

बाजीराव सिंघम के गांव शिवगढ़ का रहने वाला अनाथ लड़का संग्राम भालेराव उर्फ सिम्बा (रणवीर सिंह) बचपन से ही पुलिस में जाना चाहता है। पुलिस की वर्दी के ज़रिये पैसे कमाना चाहता है। यही ख्वाब उसे भ्रष्ट बना देता है। ड्यूटी निभाते हुए उसका एक ही एजेंडा होता है कि वह जायज़-नाजायज़ तरीके से रुपए हासिल कर सके। इसी बीच उसका तबादला गोवा में कर दिया जाता है।

सिम्बा की पोस्टिंग गोवा के मिरामार इलाके में है। रोहित शेट्टी और गोवा पर एक पूरा आर्टिकल लिखा जा सकता है। मीरामार में खतरनाक दुर्वा रानाडे (सोनू सूद) का राज चलता है। रुपए का लालच या यूं कहें जल्द अमीर बनने की चाह में सिंबा, दुर्वा रानाडे से हाथ मिला लेता है। वो राज करने के सपने देखने लगता है। इसी बीच उसकी मुलाकात शगुन (सारा अली खान) से होती। धीरे-धीरे यह रिश्ता प्यार में तब्दील हो जाता है। एक घटना की वजह से लालची सिम्बा का हृदय परिवर्तन होता है। बेईमानी ईमानदारी में बदल जाती है।

कहानी पूरी तरह से फॉर्मूला स्टीरियोटाइप है। सिम्बा के किस्म की अनेक कहानियां बॉलीवुड में गढ़ी जा चुकी हैं। भ्रष्ट अफसर का बाद में सच्चा सेवक बन जाना लेकिन फिर भी आंखों को भाता है। लार्जर देन लाइफ कथाएं हमें पसंद आती हैं। कमियों के बावजूद ऐसी फिल्में देखी जाती हैं।

सिम्बा के दोनों हाफ ठीक हैं। मनोरंजन के लिहाज़ से फिल्म निराश नहीं करती। सेकंड हाफ में कहानी थोड़ी फिसलती नज़र आई है लेकिन अजय देवगन उसे बचा ले जाते हैं। सिंघम व सिम्बा का कनेक्शन फिल्म का रोचक पहलू है।

रोहित शेट्टी टिपिकल फिल्म मनोरंजन में बेहतर करती रही है। फिल्म से होकर एक अच्छा संदेश भी मिलता है। रणवीर सिंह फिल्म की जान हैं। लार्जर देन लाइफ छवियां ऐसे किरदारों को लोकप्रिय बना देती हैं।

फिल्म संवेदनशील मुद्दे को उठाती है लेकिन मनोरंजन से अधिक उसकी परिधि नहीं है। फिल्म को चलाने के लिए ऐसे तत्वों का प्रयोग किया जाता रहा है। रोहित शेट्टी भी वही कर रहे हैं, हीरो को लार्जर बनाने के लिए।

सोनू सूद, सिद्धार्थ जाधव, आशुतोष राणा एवं सारा अली खान ने रणवीर का अच्छा साथ दिया है। आशुतोष राणा, रणवीर सिंह को एक डिपार्टमेंट में देखकर अच्छा लगता है। सिद्धार्थ जाधव प्रभावित करते हैं। रणवीर के सिम्बा शो में सारा अली खान को बहुत अधिक स्पेस नहीं मिला है। सारा बेहतर संभावना की नायिका हैं। आज नहीं तो कल उनके मद्देनजर भी कहानियां लिखी जाएंगी।

एक टिपिकल रोहित शेट्टी फिल्म को जिन चीज़ों की दरकार होती है। फिल्म में सारे तत्व मौजूद हैं, लोकेशन, एक्टिंग, एक्शन, डायलॉग्स, कॉमेडी, रोमांस तथा एक लार्जर देन लाइफ हीरो सभी हैं। मनोरंजन का मसाला है। सार में कहूं तो ‘सिम्बा’ विशुद्ध रोहित शेट्टी स्टाइल की फिल्म है। रणवीर-रोहित के दीवाने इसे मिस नहीं करना चाहेंगे।

The post रोहित शेट्टी की टिपिकल मसाला मूवी है ‘सिम्बा’ appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

Art doesn’t see any famous surname, it doesn’t follow any favoritism, it is above all, it is pure and this is amazingly proved by a true artist and girl of substance Kangana Ranaut. Everyone knows her exceptional story of rags to riches, her failures and her success.  Unaware of the darkness of Bollywood, she debuted in 2006 with the movie Gangster. An unconventional romantic thriller which brought her every possible award of that year and established her as an actress who knows how to act.

Today she is a star, is the beating of many hearts and has a unique place in the Hindi film industry. She is one of the highest paid actresses and now the co-director of a high budget film. Some say she is very competitive. If one works in any firm or any industry, competition is natural and it is necessary. There are many actresses in industries and categories too.  A-listers, B-listers, offbeat actress, star-daughter or wife, and many other useless categories but Kangana Ranaut is above all and is far ahead of her peers.

She has won three national awards and now she is ready with  her magnum opus Manikarnika which is the costliest woman-centric film, which makes her unique in every sense. If we see achievements of her peers like Deepika Padukone, Sonam Kapoor, Anushka Sharma who debuted one or two years after Kangana, who are also doing great work but they stand one place below the queen. Neither do they have any national award nor any women-centric highest grosser.

If I see the kind of art she showcases and her peers showcase, she is again bagging the first position.  The kind of movies they do and she does, speak a lot about this and make her unique. They are far behind Kangana. If I consider performances, forget about her recent performance, her peers are not close to her performance in her debut movie itself.

She is vocal and is termed as a person who is difficult to work with. She is the catalyst who has fastened the process of making a special position for a woman in the industry. She is the trailblazer while her peers follow her. She has done great work and is doing many other amazing things. She has achieved all this without any big star or any godfather. She is intelligent, brave and beautiful. She is not a conventional heroine. She is unique and every step she takes makes her stand out.

Featured image source: Nadeem Hassan for Hindustan Times via Getty; Shekhar Yadav for India Today Group via Getty.

The post Kangana Ranaut Has Always Been Ahead Of Her Peers And Her Latest Movie Proves It Further appeared first and originally on Youth Ki Awaaz and is a copyright of the same. Please do not republish.

Over the years, we’ve been flooded with films and TV series dealing with vampires, ghosts, and other forms of paranormal beings. Some of them have been spooky while others have been nothing less than a laughing riot (no pun intended). Central-American filmmakers seem to be spicing up the genre by adding some Mexican flavour to it. Netflix’s latest horror show titled Diablero is a great addition to the endless list of horror films and shows on Netflix. No, it’s not similar to ‘The Haunting of the Hill House’. One can breeze through the series’ first season. The first season is comprised of eight episodes.

An Overview

Demons are running berserk throughout the city. There’s chaos everywhere. Amidst all the paranormal chaos, lives our lead protagonist named Elvis (Horacio Garcia Rojas). He’s a Diablero (a ghost hunter of sorts). Then, we have father Ventura (Christopher Von Uckermann), a novice priest who happens to be searching for her missing daughter. After father Ventura’s daughter is kidnapped by paranormal forces, he joins forces with Elvis and his team in a bid to save her daughter and restore peace and order.

The Good

First thing’s first, it was indeed refreshing to see a Mexican web series dealing with something other than the notorious drug cartels. I guess all of us have had enough of Narcos and El Chapo. There are people (I must include myself here) who are done with watching gang wars involving Mexican drug cartels. We need something different. I mean, you cannot keep on showing the same thing over and over again by adding some salt and pepper to it. Diablero does an excellent job by overthrowing the stereotypes.

The Performances

Also, the performances of all the actors are reasonably good. Horacio Rojas plays Elvis Infante, a cool-dude type of a Diablero. He loves to drink and has a lighter side which makes him look cute. The girls watching the show are bound to go awwww… He seems a bit careless and has lost everybody except his sister Keta (Fatima Molina). Despite being flawed, Elvis looks lovable. Also, Rojas as Elvis holds together the ensemble cast quite easily.

Keta seems to be far more level-headed than his hot-shot brother. There’s a point in the series when Keta unleashes all his powers. She’s the ideal sister, who steers her brother out of trouble on quite a few occasions. Despite all the level-headedness, she seems to have a vulnerable side. This is because she happens to be mourning the loss of her child. She talks less and her arguments are substantiated. Fatima as Keta has a breezy on-screen presence.

Then, we have the uncanny Nancy, played by the bubbly Giselle Kuri. To be very honest, she’s the most interesting character and seems to house a lot of demons and spirits within her body. Nancy and Elvis seem to share a friendly bond. There are a few flashbacks to suggest that Elvis helped Nancy when she was in dire need. She’s our lovelorn lady who develops feelings for the priest.  I mean, you’d be able to guess that there’s something cooking between them once you start watching the show. Elvis nurtures a softer side for Nancy and protects her whenever she runs into trouble with the demons.

And lastly, we have our good-boy priest named father Venture, played by Christopher Von Uckermann. He wants to become a Bishop and keeps on reiterating time and again that he had a life before entering into the priesthood. He seeks Elvis’ help after his daughter Marciana is kidnapped by the demons. Uckermann’s presence is quite contained but effective. He’s our no-nonsense priest who is quite straightforward.

To top it all, the entire cast revolves around Horacio. It just felt that the ladies have been underutilized. Hope they get a meaty role if the series returns for a second season.

The Script and Screenplay

What works well for the show is its run time. Each of the episodes is tightly-knit and does not feel stretched. One can watch it without using too much brain. The show follows a water-tight script which makes the show crisp and to the point. The show has its moments of laughter, and surprisingly, they do not appear incongruous.

The Verdict:

Diablero, with all its ups and downs, makes for a decent watch. It doesn’t have something extraordinary but sticks to the basics and nails them. Watch it if you are fond of demons and old Mexican folklore.

Rating:

7.5/10

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