But in reality, how many such messiahs come forward to rescue the powerless multitude ?Here is where Jai Bhim takes a nosedive into fantasy. I guess a society based on monstrous discrimination does need Chandru to stand up for the voiceless. Suriya is most comfortable in the messianic role imbibing his compassionate character with an unreasonably steep amount of empathy. The survivalist narrative, punctuated by cries of anguish and whoops of triumph, is a terrific star-vehicle for Suriya who steps in 30 minutes into the plot, to play the heroic lawyer Chandru who, we are told, habitually fights cases for the downtrodden. This loud but hard-hitting film on poverty and police brutality is set in the 1987 and based on a real-life incident where an innocent man from the destitute Irula tribe in Tamil Nadu was taken into custody and beaten to death. Jai Bhim, the chant of the followers of the champion of the downtrodden Baba Ambedkar which in present day context of socio-economic disparity, has even more relevance than what it had 20 or 30 years ago, is a relevant work, lacking in nuance but never short of genuine feeling. Not flawless by any stretch of the imagination. Not in a society where the conscience is a luxury.
Besides being a thoroughly entertaining thriller it opens up wounds that never healed. There are many reasons why it must be seen. Dhamaka is one of Netflix India’s most hard-hitting films in recent times. I see Kartik winning all the best-actor awards this year. This is his best performance to date, and one that puts him ahead of all competition. His journey from a self-serving scumbag to a conscientious newshound is convincingly achieved by the young actor. But it is Kartik Aaryan whose powerful performance holds the film together. The supporting performances specially by Amruta Subhash as the Boss and Soham Majumdar as the Voice, are bitch-perfect and pitch-perfect, respectively. These master-technicians put a dizzying spin to the out-of-control lives of neurotic characters, playing live on television. Besides Kartik Aaryan the other heroes of this tactile thriller are Monisha Baldawa-Amita Karia’s editing and Manu Anand’s cinematography . It is a powerful parable on injustice and discrimination delivered with brute force that spares us none of the violence that a situation of social inequality breeds and bleeds into a compromised nation. Taking off as a terrorist-negotiator thriller, Ram Madhvani’s film moves into areas of storytelling where terrorism merges into opportunism and good intentions are regurgitated in a pukey mess. What remained during the month was not always brilliant, but sufficiently exciting, if not consistently so, then frequent enough to be considered encouraging.
But there were more misses like Lionsgate Play Originals’ abysmally improper Hiccups & Hookups where Lara Dutta and Prateik Babbar attempted to act cool as sexually uninhibited siblings, and Voot Originals’ Illegal which is reason enough to illegalize all stretched-out sequels. The low-tide month was not without its bright moments. Netflix’s Meenakshi Sundareshwar though a charming portrait of a marriage between two earnest Tamilians, lost its way in translation. Feature films on OTT hit all-time low this month with Zee 5’ Squad. November was not a particularly favourable month on the digital platform.
Ex-Stream Benefits is a column where senior journalist Subhash K Jha picks what the best streaming platforms had to offer across the previous month.
0 kommentar(er)
