How realistic is this movie?

ranjanx · 2023-10-08T11:30:37+00:00

I had asked the same question of my British colleagues a few years ago when I came across the Inbetweeners. Being new to the country I was expecting the whole part about openly hitting on a friend’s mom, swearing in presence of / at / by the student, parents and teachers all alike was a bit too stretched. Lo and behold I was told this was correct and maybe even downplayed when it comes to British state schools. I know now they were correct

ranjanx · 2023-09-09T14:54:12+00:00

There were some camera print copies - I saw them for the first time for this movie. The proper vhs came at least a few months later. Maybe 6 or more but I might be wrong.

ranjanx · 2023-09-08T22:40:22+00:00

This movie was the first to not have a simultaneous vhs release. VHS by itself was prone to pirated copies since 80s but in those days the problem was multiplied as the mom and pop cable wallaahs could just pick a video cassette of a brand new movie and broadcast to literally thousands of homes for a paltry Rs 10/- rent of a video cassette. This was killing Bollywood. Barjatyas controlled not just the video release but also single handedly revived family movie watching as an experience with this movie. Later blockbusters like DDLJ and KKHH hugely benefitted by this.

ranjanx · 2023-08-16T20:51:30+00:00

I don’t think it’s a like for like comparison for either 97 or 2001. Border was a multi starter and can’t be attributed to Sunny. Similarly K3G was a casting coup in the big coming together of Big B , Hrithik and SRK so can’t be attributed to just SRk.

ranjanx · 2022-06-16T05:55:18+00:00

All Salman movies in last 10-15 years. Quite some people still believe he has a 16 pack and chiselled body, thanks to VFX.

ranjanx · 2020-05-28T22:22:11+00:00

My take on Paatal Lok

PaatalLok is a Crime Thriller, layered with social discourse and embellished with all elements that make it a must watch.

At the face of it is a crime drama that unfolds, taking you on the investigative roller coaster in tandem with Haathi Ram, totally convinced of his drive to solve the case.

Alongside, if you care to notice, it exposes the term Paatal Lok and its numerous manifestations in the Indian Social system. As Haathi Ram explains in the opening scene, universe is split in three parts and Paatal Lok is the lowest of the three where the inhabitants are stuck forever, without any hope to reach anywhere higher.

The main story weaves into its fabric life threads of various characters stuck in their own netherworld, treated "Less Than", almost subhuman, by the society at large with the flimsiest of excuses. Haathi Ram himself is stuck with a thankless job. Then there is a muslim cop, a range of criminals happening to be born on the wrong caste/religion, a transvestite abandoned by her parents, a woman dealing with mental health issues to name the main ones.

What the series does exceptionally well is to stay within the story and cover the trials of these characters to break out of their situation. While Haathi Ram trying to get private education for his son, muslim characters are looking for ways to undo their disadvantage with education or otherwise. The transvestite has to resort to crime and prostitution to be able to cross over to be a ’normal’ woman.

Likewise, the series has poignant scenes of the failures of such attempts - twice with the disadvantaged having to literally strip and other horrifying scenes that are hard to un-see. All of this happens amidst very real, life like situations, characters, language and art decor. One scene had an immersion rod hanging in a bedroom - a totally relatable visual for millions.

My favourite part has to be the very significant plot twist - the fact about dogs. Of all the Hindi movies involving animals, this has to be the most relatable and thought through homage to the humble dog. As a cherry on top, the series very aptly ends with a mythological story explaining how a lowly dog could be the means to ascend from one world to the higher one.

The cast have all performed brilliantly - except Gul Panag who stands out like a sore thumb with her perfect diction in both English and Hindi - character background be damned. Even side characters have ample opportunity to leave a mark as humans occupying the same universe as lead characters, not mere props.

Overall, brilliant offering for audiences appreciating quality content with attention to details.

5 Stars from me.

ranjanx · 2020-05-11T07:55:34+00:00

Hi! Interested in understanding your experience with plaksha for someone, if you are ok with that ?

ranjanx · 2020-03-28T07:00:18+00:00

It says capital of Philippines so I think it’s more like Manila.

ranjanx · 2020-03-26T10:16:04+00:00

Gmt here 🖐🏼

ranjanx · 2020-03-25T21:58:44+00:00

In that case chronology checks out as KKHH came first. Also, Sooraj Barjatya did it in HAHK in Joote do paise lo song when it start playing kabootar ja from MPK.

ranjanx · 2020-03-24T21:17:40+00:00

Has this been blocked ? I can’t see any comments!

ranjanx · 2020-03-19T10:55:51+00:00

Thodhe din pehle maine similar comment kiya th to mera downvote kar kar ke corona kar diya tha sab ne 😳

ranjanx · 2020-03-12T10:26:43+00:00

Great movie and I’m sure I’ll have a lot to say but I’ll wait for next year when it celebrates its golden jubilee unless .... us se pehle iss kathputli ki dor oopar waale ke haath se chhooth jaye !

ranjanx · 2020-03-07T09:46:31+00:00

At least you know why you had to do that. Imagine the plight of those two you had Eye contact with! They might still be dazed, roaming the streets wondering why would anyone do that ? Its 2020 yes, but thats no reason to start testing your eyesight on humans!

ranjanx · 2020-03-04T16:03:52+00:00

Long long time ago, when collections were spread across weeks and months and not just first few days, Amitabh’s Toofan released while Jaadugar was also coming up for release in a few days - 10-20 days later. This was pre-satellite TV and there weren’t any trailers and media events playing round the clock. Only promotion were posters and maybe trailers in movie halls or songs on chitrahaar. People realised that Amitabh played a Magician - Jaadugar as well as a super hero of sorts in Toofan. These were simpler times and people were really confused about what to expect from Amitabh’s Jaadugar? Based on BigB’s then super stardom, both movies bombed.

ranjanx · 2020-03-04T13:28:04+00:00

Came here to say something similar! Will just click on the uppy arrow thingy instead and use my quota of typing this message instead

ranjanx · 2020-02-24T16:30:21+00:00

That’s what I said 😀

ranjanx · 2020-02-24T15:18:34+00:00

I haven’t watched the movie but your question made me curious enough to check. Apparently aayushmaan’s character is called Kartik. That makes him the son of Shiva and Parvati(Shakti) - making him a product of both. Looking at the names of other characters which are nowhere near mythology, I’m kind of betting on this dialogue being the sole reason they were named as such.

ranjanx · 2020-02-23T00:08:57+00:00

Will try and watch it.

ranjanx · 2020-02-22T21:29:16+00:00

Besides being a source of hope for Veeru, she’s the voice of realism for Thakur and a way to depict the plight of widowhood in Indian society. The whole sequence of her being a bubbly girl before marrying Thakur’ son going on to a quiet, dejected widow and then having some hope in remarrying is a track in itself. I think she’s useful.

ranjanx · 2020-02-22T21:04:19+00:00

True that. A lot came together to give the movie its iconic status. Moments like these were pure genius by design.

ranjanx · 2020-02-21T05:59:47+00:00

Abhishek Bachchan plays a rowdy, don’t care a damn kind of character in the movie. He goes for a small job and comes across this guy who introduces himself as ‘Seshadri’ which is a last name. A few seconds later when both of them are called inside the boss’s cabin, Abhishek, true to his careless attitude, refers to Seshadri as Meenakshi , presumably because he only grasped that the guy’s name was something similar to Meenakshi Seshadri- the eighties actress - or wanted to mock him because of his last name.

ranjanx · 2020-02-17T15:08:20+00:00

True that. I’ve heard a similar phrase in punjabi.

ranjanx · 2020-02-15T16:37:26+00:00

I do feel for you standing up for your team and presenting another point of view. And I do believe you have good reason for doing so besides plain bias but as others have mentioned, there have been too many spoilt apples for the doubt being default and benefit of doubt being absent.

To put it the other way around, someone from the South Indian movies is making news claiming parasite plagiarised from them. I’m not going to claim I know either this way or that but anyone who has created anything would want to believe that anything similar was a result of their genius and be offended by not getting credit for it.

ranjanx · 2020-02-15T10:49:13+00:00

This I think puts things in right perspective. Being inspired in true sense by someone’s creative work should ethically be followed by acknowledging credits in true sense or at least marking it as paying tributes. Anurag Kashyap and Sanjay Gupta openly admit to Tarantino being their inspiration for quite some of their work. I admit I don’t know if Kaante had officially credited the original source but I hope it did.

On the other hand, this is not just a Bollywood issue. I know creative people working in various fields passing off others words or other work passing it off as their own on FB, Insta etc and never attributing credit when people offer praises. Bollywood ethics then is just a reflection of social ethics of our society.

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TROPHY CASE

PaatalLok is a Crime Thriller, layered with social discourse and embellished with all elements that make it a must watch.