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‘Love Storiyaan’: The Series is Proof That Love Conquers All (Even Middling Craft)

What hurts the six-episode show is its brisk 25-35 minutes runtime per episode, which results in complex issues being magically resolved or narrative lighthouses appearing out of nowhere.

Dharmatic’s Love Storiyaan, created by Somen Mishra and featuring a roster of six (seriously diverse) directors, comprises choices ranging from the awkward and ordinary to the sublime.

Just like The New York Times’ Modern Love column – which has now spanned two seasons of a hit series (including two Indian offshoots in Modern Love: Mumbai and Modern Love: Chennai), this one is inspired by India Love Project – curated by Priya Ramani, Samar Halarnkar and Niloufer Venkatraman – featuring real-life accounts of people defying social norms to complete their love stories.

What remains befuddling is the hybrid approach, where the filmmakers interview the real-life couples and their next of kin, but then shoot scenes reconstructing the anecdotes using lookalike actors, with the real-life person’s voiceover in the background. In theory, I think I can see what the filmmakers are going for – but the choices are not quite as seamless as one might imagine.

What hurts the six-episode show is its brisk 25-35 mins runtime per episode (quite possibly prescribed by the streaming service to make the series as ‘bingeable’ as possible) It results in complex issues being magically resolved or narrative lighthouses appearing out of nowhere and oversimplifying the challenges of relationships spanning decades into bite-sized pieces of ‘content’, so it can be described as ‘wholesome’. Which again, is not to say Love Storiyaan is an insincere show. It’s fully aware that by releasing in a time when conforming is the rule, merely endorsing these trailblazers is a political act. Most of these episodes here, despite some stretches of dubious craft, ensure they end up as cathartic at least – a solid starting point.

A still from ‘Love Storiyaan’.

An Unsuitable Girl

Directed by Hardik Mehta, who has shown a wild range of temperaments from his breakout in Amdavad Ma Famous (2015) to Netflix series Decoupled (2021), this episode is an urban Bollywood rom-com setup. Aekta, a 33-year-old writer/editor based in Delhi, meets Ullekh, a journalist based in Mumbai, the old-fashioned online way—in the comments section of her lifestyle blog. The conflict arises when Aekta’s two daughters from her first marriage have to approve of their mother’s partner before they can take it forward. The way Mehta reconstructs it using actors, I could imagine Manav Kaul and Shefali Shah playing Ullekh and Aekta in a fictitious version of this story.

The strongest bit of this episode is Aekta confessing to discovering her self-worth in her job as a writer/editor, the ‘light’ in a dark, lonely marriage. There’s a playfulness to the story which makes it ripe for a Bollywood adaptation. Mehta employs that in a reconstruction scene, like one of Aekta’s daughters showing her hostility to Ullekh in a sweet, savage manner. The story is all trumps and the “cuteness” of it is all that remains in the end, overcoming Mehta’s stagey craft.

A still from ‘Love Storiyaan’.

Love On Air

The Northeast has always been a tricky place for Hindi films, and the cultural awkwardness continues in Vivek Soni’s Love On Air – following two rival radio jockeys falling in love in Meghalaya. Soni’s directorial debut Meenakshi Sundareshwar was infamous for Hindi-fying Madurai, and here you see him trying to be more cognisant of that fact with Nicholas and Rajani’s love story. However, the gaze continues to be an outsider’s, with hints of exoticisation most visible in a voice-over straight out of Bollywood.

Nicholas is a Christian man, divorced, playing up the facade of a casanova (he brags about how he would go on multiple dates every week), which is a way to mask his drinking problem. Rajani, a headstrong, Hindu woman, in a steady relationship when she meets Nicholas, slowly begins to embrace the ease she feels around him. The surprise package of this segment is their cupid – Mandira, a devoted, visually-impaired listener for both Nick and Rajani’s programmes.

The inter-faith couple comes together despite opposition from her parents, and talks about how the ‘fairytale’ was tested during Nicholas’ periods of alcohol addiction. It’s a sombre moment that grounds the episode. When Nicholas, Rajani and their son Mahyaan pay a surprise visit to Mandira – a tearful reunion worthy of cameras – to Soni’s credit, he keeps rolling after they leave. After promising to ‘stay in touch’, Soni films the loneliness in Mandira’s life. It’s a touching ode to those who magnanimously bat for love, even if they only have their solitude to live with.

A still from ‘Love Storiyaan’.

Homecoming

Shazia Iqbal’s episode about a Hindu-Muslim couple eloping from Dhaka, Bangladesh, in search of their happily-ever-after in Kolkata – is one of the finer episodes here. Their daughter recounts how Sunit and Farida moved to Kolkata, thinking they were going to a large-hearted country. However, the recent polarisation has evoked the images of 1973 – the year Sunit and Farida had eloped from Dhaka – when they were surrounded by radicals on both sides.

Iqbal touches upon the hardships the couple had to face, especially with the contrasting pictures of their youth and their weather-beaten faces today. Sunit came from a rich family, while Farida was from a politically influential family. Neither could have imagined a time when they would be struggling for basic necessities. To Iqbal’s credit, the focus is always their unconditional love of five decades. The episode follows Sunit and Farida going back to their homes in Chandpur – which is hardly picture-perfect. Sunit’s parents and his close relatives have all passed, while Farida’s brother is frozen through most of their first interaction. However, a text slide later tells us how the brother meets Farida and Sunit, and requests the crew to not film them. While it could be viewed as a ‘happy ending’ the episode also draws focus to the pointlessness of the hurt and rage inflicted by people on themselves.

Raah Sangharsh Ki

Akshay Indikar’s episode is my favourite one in Love Storiyaan for how Utopian and idealistic it feels. Rahul, an IITian-turned-activist for adivasis meets Subhadra, a Dalit activist. Their common ground for social justice aside, they have very little in common. Rahul hails from a Brahmin family of engineers in Kolkata, something Subhadra knew nothing about when she agreed to marry him.

Indikar’s film benefits from Subhadra’s presence – a firecracker of a person, being matter-of-fact about her life and their relationship. Rahul, a man who speaks with sophistication and thought, almost comes off as the ideal partner. Hearing about where Subhadra began, and being witness to her personal, as well as academic growth is one of the most inspiring arcs I’ve seen recently. Indikar’s film doesn’t hide the fact that Rahul and Subhadra’s journey being rosy at all points, especially when Subhadra candidly confesses that she’s had thoughts of leaving Rahul. “But then I think – will I find anyone like him? Unlikely,” she says with a laugh. Seeing Subhadra find the vocabulary to voice her thoughts against patriarchy and caste bias, which has denied her so many opportunities, left me feeling giddy with its glimpse of what a just society would look like.

Faasle

Archana Phadke’s episode about a Malayali woman, Dhanya, and an Afghan man, Homayon, meeting during college in the USSR, is visually the most refined one. This is a rare episode, where the re-enactments of Dhanya and Homayon’s anecdotes seem organic, especially with Homayon mentioning how he was reminded of Rekha, the first time he laid eyes on Dhanya outside their Dean’s office.

In terms of sheer logistics, it could also be argued that Dhanya and Homayon’s is one of the most rigorous love stories in the show. The couple recount how she had to wait for four years to convince her parents to marry Homayon, who explicitly states that eloping was never an option like in the Bollywood movies. Shortly after they marry, Homayon is stranded in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, causing Dhanya to follow him there, which meant a significant mortal risk. It’s almost poetic how following her husband to one of the most oppressive environments for women on earth also becomes her key to lifelong freedom and equitable companionship.

Love Beyond Labels

A love story between transwoman Tista and transman Dipan is a lot of ground to cover in about 30 mins, but Colin D’Cunha does well to take us through the beats. Tista, assigned male at birth, found herself drawn towards sindoor khela – a ritual for married women to conclude Durga Puja festivities. Meanwhile, Dipan found himself drawn to sports and his father’s shirts. Growing up with shame in conservative localities, both Tista and Dipan talk about their struggles, periods of self-loathing, and finding peace with their identities.

There’s a sharp touch from D’Cunha, when Tista is recounting how neighbours would complain to her mother about her. She sighs saying she would feel bothered for a bit, but soon go back to acting like her favourite heroine. It’s a fine, irreverent moment puncturing all the trauma out of the picture.

There are moments in D’Cunha’s episode that feel staged, and voiceovers that take us out of the story. However, the Dharma aesthetic is most prominent here [in a good way], and if this has to be the gateway to sensitise the Indian middle-class about the trans community, then D’Cunha and his crew should consider themselves successful.

‘Shershaah’ Trods Familiar Path of Countless War Films but Steers Away from Mindless Jingoism

The story of Vikram Batra is largely predictable but is saved from being a complete disaster with some redemptive moments.

A new Amazon Prime Video drama, Shershaah, tells the story of a Param Vir Chakra awardee, Vikram Batra (Sidharth Malhotra), during the 1999 Kargil War.

As a war film, it has an inherent disadvantage of narrative fatigue: the subgenre, often serving predictable storylines, has almost exhausted its arsenal. But there’s a silver lining, too: the default format of such Bollywood productions – marked by bloodthirsty jingoism, convenient realities, and heightened propaganda – is so low that even a relatively level-headed film stands out.

Alternating between Vikram’s past and present, Shershaah follows his early days in the army, when he’s posted in Kashmir, as a Lieutenant in 1998. Most Hindi films, parroting the Delhi party-line, have a poor record of depicting the Valley’s complex political realities.

Fixated on nationalist chest-thumping, such movies solely see the conflict through the lens of soldiers and terrorists. Shershaah at least tries to be different. Vikram seems amiable and helpful, mingling with the locals, recognising the importance of being a humane army officer.

A still from ‘Shershaah’.

But writer Sandeep Shrivastava and filmmaker Vishnuvardhan dilute the initial promise with predictable plot turns. The film achieves this through two main means: foreshadowing and reveal. The former is so obvious that it spills out the latter.

In an early scene, for instance, while talking with an old man, Vikram tells him that he doesn’t see his son, Arslaan (Afnan Ashia), these days. This exchange is so heavy-handed that it only means one thing: the young man has become a militant and plans to cross the border. (The film soon confirms this assumption.)

Also read: Movie Review: The List of Travesties in ‘War’ Is Long

Later, a Naib Subedar, Bansi (Anil Charanjeett), tells Vikram that he’s recently become a father, showing his daughter’s photo. This bit, too, looks like a trite build-up. To no one’s surprise, Bansi is shot dead, and Vikram holds the same photo while looking at the officer’s dead body. There’s an echo of this scene towards the climax, when Vikram calls an Army Major (Nikitin Dheer) a “shield”, a reliable bulwark against the enemies. We can almost product what will happen soon.

Vishnuvardhan’s inability to create original heartfelt moments hurt this film. Even its narrative framing via a voiceover — Vikram’s twin relaying his brother’s entire story in front of a live audience, resembling a very TED-talk like set-up — is quite unconvincing, explaining a film that doesn’t need much explanation.

A still from ‘Shershaah’.

When Shershaah relaxes its guard to tell Vikram’s personal story, centered on his college girlfriend Dimple (Kiara Advani), the result is as insipid. We get such awkward lines – “Palampur ka seedha saadha launda”, “mujhe neend bhi nahin aati”, “mauka dekh kar dhar liyo bandi ko” – that the earlier portions seem thunderingly nuanced. But upon closer inspection, this entire subplot makes no sense.

Given that Shershaah essentially arises from a long speech, Vikram’s brother knowing (and sharing) the intimate details of the college romance is way too far-fetched, even for a Dharma Productions film. To make things worse, this subplot plays in a flashback where, due to contrived writing, Vikram and Dimple are recounting their love story to each other. (Now that is narrative fatigue.)

Also read: ‘A Call to Spy’: A Sobering Look at War Without Exaggeration or Dramatic Twists

We hear a lot about Vikram’s passion for the Army. But the film offers only superficial explanations: a) He was a hardy and stubborn kid; b) he was inspired by Chetan Anand’s Param Vir Chakra (1988). When a film has such pedestrian writing, its main hope rests on the performances. But Malhotra lacks the brute intensity and the screen presence of a celebrated army man. Advani, too, is forgettable in a formulaic role.

This could have been a comprehensive disaster if not for some redeeming elements. Unlike other war dramas, Shershaah resists the easy calls of jingoism. It tries to show some compassion towards the Kashmiris, where Vikram talks about earning their trust. (This attempt doesn’t go beyond mere lip service, though, as the film eventually depicts them as brainwashed masses who must be saved – but it is still a refreshing departure from most Bollywood productions that don’t even care for basic decency.)

A still from ‘Shershaah’.

There’s one bit of layered foreshadowing that works: Vikram, as an army man, being oblivious to rules and hierarchy. It produces some funny scenes, but it also prepares us for the climax, where he transcends those very rules to become an exemplary officer. Some familiar beats, such as Vikram’s interview on TV intercut with his friend’s and family’s reactions, land well.

Even during the intense war scenes – shot and edited with impressive rhythm and momentum – the film doesn’t drown in Islamophobic dog-whistling or repulsive self-absorption. Towards the end, Vikram even tells his subordinates, “I’m not going to give you a loud lecture on patriotism. You’re patriots, that’s why you’re here.”

But the more remarkable, even surprisingly moving, part about the film is that it understands the essence of war: that it is insanity, and the battlefield courage – especially the kind shown by Vikram – comes to those who embrace madness, valour, and patriotism with such ferocious intensity that it is impossible to distinguish among them. (At one point, a fellow officer tells Vikram, “This is madness.”) The film ceased to exist for me in those moments, and I could only think about the 24-year-old who didn’t think twice. Who was he? What drove him?

What compels some people to snap all cords with rationality — even when that irrationality is for a higher purpose? Shershaah only posits stale simplistic answers and, as a result, dilutes the portrait of exceptional courage that it tries to purportedly honour.

‘Toofan’ is a Mediocre Rehash of Tired, Old Bollywood Cliches and Tropes

Only once does Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra surprise the audience with an element of subversion that comes as a pleasant surprise.

A certain kind of popular Hindi cinema relished staple tropes: hardy hero, servile sidekick, convenient coincidences, contrasting characters, parental opposition, perilous romance — and of course, template songs. Pleasant escapism became a formula; a formula became a depressing time machine. Bollywood has done some heartening course correction over the last several years; now most shoddy films find newer ways to fumble. But Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Toofan, premiering on Amazon Prime Video, insists on using a dial-up connection in the age of streaming platforms.

It’s all in there: a violent extortionist, Aziz (Farhan Akhtar); a respectable doctor, Ananya (Mrunal Thakur); a funny sidekick, Munna (Hussain Dalal); a fastidious coach, Nana Prabhu (Paresh Rawal); debilitating odds; fighting underdog; and an impossible dream, a national boxing championship. And so it begins, a step-by-step reconstruction of an old formula. Aziz gets injured in a fight, goes to a local hospital, sees a doctor, who turns out to be Ananya (of course). They start on a rough note, keep bumping into each other, and – you know how it ends, don’t you? There are enough contrasts. Aziz and Ananya: feared and loved, Dongri and Dadar. Aziz and Aziz: a ruffian and a softie (who spends his free time with the kids at an orphanage; those scenes are filmed with as much finesse as some foreign correspondents describing ‘poor’ Indians).

Ananya sees the compassionate side of Aziz through – what else but – a coincidence. Aziz watches a three-minute YouTube video of a Mohammed Ali match and wants to become a boxer. Nana, a renowned coach, finally decides to train Aziz, but he turns out to be – what are the odds! – Ananya’s father. Sometimes you think the film is operating in some sly meta mode. In an early scene, for instance, Ananya mocks a nurse (Supriya Pathak) defending Aziz, saying, “Uske haalaat bure hain [oh, his circumstances are bad]” – borrowing a line from Hindi potboilers verbatim.

Toofan also stays loyal to the Bollywood playbook (“if a recent approach has been successful, borrow its crucial elements”). So, we’ve some Gully Boy vibes: a poor Mumbai underdog as neglected as his locality — rough around the edges, an evident victim of class divide – training to win a prestigious championship. There’s even a rap song here (besides other similarities: same production house and a co-writer, Vijay Maurya). And if such derivations aren’t enough, the central conceit itself, a boxing drama, is stale, an overfed sub-genre that burps in clichés.

Rehashing popular ideas to make a crowd-pleasing entertainer isn’t a dealbreaker. But unlike any creative adaptation, Toofan is mindless adoption. Mehra, whose films have become progressively worse since Delhi 6 (2009), seems way too complacent, isolating his drama from the possibilities of discovery. Yet a small subplot – politically relevant, subverting genre expectations – stands out: Nana being a bigot. Moreover, giving that role to Rawal, who is right-wing and a vocal champion of the current dispensation, is a casting coup. The writing becomes sharp whose candour takes you by disconcerting surprise. “We should keep Muslims at an arm’s length,” says Nana early in the movie. The film continues to explore his mindset, interrogating and busting his vicious bubble. Later, Nana refuses to order food from a Muslim restaurant, even telling his liberal friend (Mohan Agashe), “Hinduism is in danger because of people like you”, and objects to his daughter’s marriage citing “love jihad”.

Bollywood films hardly depict Hindu fundamentalism, and they definitely don’t do it via an otherwise positive character (Nana is a loving father, an honest friend, a sharp coach). There’s an excellent scene where his friend tells Nana, in reference to him coaching Aziz, that his real religion is boxing. But this is still a Mehra directorial [who last made Mere Pyare Prime Minister (2019)], so this subplot is only effective till a point: Ananya hardly questions her father’s bigotry (her defiance only goes as much to say, “Aziz isn’t like this”) followed by some ‘balancing’ act where Aziz’s landlady tells Ananya to change her name to “Amina” and, when the couple disagrees, orders them to find a new house.

Illogical twists

The rest of the film continues being thoroughly mediocre, popping illogical twists. One of them, transforming the second half, makes no sense at all. Centered on Aziz’s moral conundrum, it contradicts his views in a short span. (People can be contradictory, but the theatrical plot turn doesn’t give you the sense that the makers are self-aware.) Even that twist’s revelation, through CCTV footage in a sports complex, demonstrates a lack of even bare-minimum effort to convince the audience. Since this is a sports drama, we get, probably for the ten-thousandth time in the history of cinema, a training montage. This trope, much like the rest of the movie, is quite stereotypical – except for split screens trying to make it look ‘different’. In fact, Mehra isn’t directing such a segment for the first time. His 2013 film, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (also starring Akhtar), had a similar stretch set to a song (also scored by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy), where a tormented athlete subjected himself to a punishing regime (also featuring tires and ropes).

Like Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Toofan manufactures simplistic villains to mould our sympathies. Aziz’s final opponent, a brawny figure with a murderous stare, doesn’t even look like a person. A bigger villain (Darshan Kumar) – once defeated by Aziz, now a boxing federation official – resurfaces with a glass eye. The dude could have tattooed “douchebag” on his forehead, and even that would have been more subtle. Besides, the climactic twist, centered on Evil Eye and Nana, is so predictable and ludicrous that even mediocre film students would have discarded it from their first drafts. Yet it bookends Toofan like a badge of honour, marking a new chapter in Bollywood embarrassment.

Actor Radhika Apte Calls Increased OTT Platform Scrutiny ‘Terrifying and Sad’

“I hope we understand that there has to be freedom of expression, and people need to be far more tolerant about the fact that there will be disagreement in life,” Apte said.

Mumbai: Actor Radhika Apte, whose series Sacred Games and Ghoul and films Lust Stories and Raat Akeli Hai have released on the streaming service Netflix, said it is “terrifying” that over-the-top (OTT) platforms are facing government scrutiny.

“I hope we understand that there has to be freedom of expression, and people need to be far more tolerant about the fact that there will be disagreement in life. That is the way of life. I find it terrifying and sad that this is where we are headed,” Apte told PTI in an interview when asked to comment on the intervention of the authorities in the OTT space.

Following the controversy over Amazon Prime Video’s web series Tandav, streaming platforms have come under the scanner. Last month, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting announced that a “code of ethics” and three-tier grievance redressal mechanism would be applicable to OTT platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ Hotstar, news publishers and digital media.

Streamers have been a new source of employment for the entertainment industry, says Apte, who believes the digital space is a medium that can thrive under the freedom of expression.

Also read: No Government Appointed Members in Self-Regulatory Body, Javadekar Tells OTT Platforms

Apte said apart from providing diverse content to the audience, OTT platforms serve as a bridge between artistes and makers, both domestic and international. “The platform has given a lot of opportunities and employment. The platform is too new. What OTT has offered is the viewership, and it is brilliant.

“We will have to wait and see how things pan out in the next four to five years, whether it makes actors internationally viable, we mix up actors or projects, or more collaborations. Things don’t happen overnight,” the 35-year-old actor, who divides her time between Mumbai and London, added.

Apte is excited about her next digital platform release with producer Anand Gandhi’s upcoming sci-fi comedy series OK Computer, which is currently streaming on Disney+ Hotstar VIP. Created and directed by Pooja Shetty and Neil Pagedar, the show imagines a near future where, for the first time, Homo Sapiens meet Robo-Sapiens.

As sci-fi continues to be a lesser tapped genre, the actor said, working on the series was a “refreshing” experience. “What I liked is that it was a mockumentary, and that was the most exciting part about it. There is a risk involved because it is a new experiment. I surrendered to the vision of the directors,” she added.

Also read: From ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’ To ‘Tandav’, It Is Now Easier To ‘Hurt’ Sentiments

In the past, India has seen a few titles in the sci-fi genre like Satyajit Ray’s 1969 film Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne and Shekhar Kapur’s Mr India, the 1988 film starring Anil Kapoor, Sridevi and Amrish Puri. Arati Kadav’s Cargo, which released last year on Netflix, is the most recent offering in this space.

“Storytelling in all these films have been unique. Cargo and OK Computer are the most technologically advanced projects [in the genre]. Just because the genre is similar, it doesn’t mean they can be compared,” Apte said, adding some of her favourite sci-fi films are 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Fly and 1982’s Blade Runner.

“People are ready to see good work. We underestimate our audiences constantly. If the content is engaging, they will watch it. If it’s not, they won’t watch it [irrespective of the genre],” she noted.

The caricaturist absurd comedy in OK Computer is the brainchild of directors Shetty and Pagedar, Apte said. Playing the role of Laxmi Suri, an artificial intelligence scientist in the series, was a “risk”. “It is not in my comfort zone at all, so it was exciting to take that risk and see how it works. I feel that this comedy is very original. It is something new for [the] audience and actors as well. If it is successful, the credit entirely goes to them, but if it fails then we did not do our job very well,” she added.

OK Computer also stars Vijay Varma, Jackie Shroff, Kani Kusruti and Rasika Dugal.

(PTI)

Bombay HC Asks Amazon to Take Down Film Over Use of Actor’s Photo Without Consent

Actor Sakshi Malik has alleged that the film ‘V’ has used her photo without consent. The court asked the filmmakers to delete the scene.

New Delhi: The Bombay high court has directed the Amazon Prime Video platform to take down the Telugu film, V, until the makers of the film delete a scene in which an actor’s photograph was allegedly used without prior permission.

Justice Gautam S. Patel on Tuesday heard a defamation suit filed by model and actor Sakshi Malik against Venkateshwara Creations Pvt Ltd for allegedly using her photograph without permission in their movie.

The film released on Amazon on September 5, 2020.

LiveLaw has reported that that case dates back to 2017 when Malik commissioned a photographer to prepare her photo portfolio. The actor shared some of those photos on her Instagram account.

Malik’s advocate Saveena Bedi said Venkateshwara Creations Pvt Ltd had used her photo without her permission in the film, representing her photo as that of a commercial sex worker in the story.

According to the suit, this was an unauthorised invasion of privacy and unauthorised use of private material.

Also read: Amazon Prime Video Apologises Once Again for ‘Tandav’

“It seems to me self-evident that it is not possible to use the image of any person for a commercial purpose without express written consent. If images are to be used without such express consent, they must be covered by some sort of legally enforceable and tenable licensing regime, whether with or without royalty. Simply using another’s image, and most especially a private image, without consent is prima facie impermissible, unlawful and entirely illegal. In a given case, it may also be defamatory, depending on the type of use,” the court said.

The order copy was made available on Wednesday.

“The fact that the image has been illicitly used is bad enough. It only makes matters worse when used in a plainly derogatory and demeaning vein,” Justice Patel said.

The court directed the OTT platform to take down the movie within 24 hours until the scene is deleted.

“It is not acceptable for them (movie’s makers) to merely pixelate or blur the images. The entire sequence, which has the image of the plaintiff (Malik), is to be removed immediately,” Justice Patel said.

Malik’s advocate Bedi had argued that the actor has a huge fan following on social media and has also appeared in a few Bollywood songs.

Justice Patel in the order noted that the contentions raised by Malik and her lawyer were correct.

“Indeed, I do not believe there is any other way of looking at it,” the order said.

The defendant claimed that they had contracted with an agency to procure the image and had assumed that prior approval would have been taken from the woman, whose photo was to be used.

The court, however, noted that this argument of the defendant seemed “less than compelling”.

“Surely any right-thinking motion picture producer would have insisted on seeing an approval or consent by the model or person who is featured or to be featured,” Justice Patel said, adding that this must be the standard procedure everywhere.

The court said once the defendant has made the necessary alteration and deletion, the same will have to be shown to Malik and her advocate.

“Only after this, I will allow defendant 3 (Amazon) to re-release the movie,” Justice Patel said, posting the matter for further hearing on March 8.

(With PTI inputs)

‘Tandav’: Allahabad HC Stays Arrest of Amazon Prime Video Head Aparna Purohit

A criminal case has been lodged against Purohit and the makers of the web series ‘Tandav’, which is accused of denigrating Hindu gods and goddesses.

Allahabad: The Allahabad high court on Thursday ordered no coercive action against Amazon Prime Video’s India Originals head Aparna Purohit, who is facing an FIR for the alleged derogatory depiction of Hindu deities in web series Tandav.

A bench of Justice Sidharth granted a temporary reprieve to Purohit against the arrest while reserving its verdict on her anticipatory bail plea.

While reserving the ruling, the bench said no coercive action should be taken against Purohit till the pronouncement of the order.

While pleading for anticipatory bail for Purohit, her counsel submitted to the court that the web series was only a work of fiction and there was no intention of the applicant to outrage the religious feeling of any community.

Also read: Bollywood Is a Major Target for Right Wing Groups Looking for Signs of ‘Hinduphobia’

A criminal case has been lodged against Purohit and the makers and actors of the web series, including its director Ali Abbas, producer Himanshu Krishna Mehra and writer Gaurav Solanki in Rabupura police station of Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Budh Nagar.

The FIR was lodged on January 19, 2021 on the complaint of Balbir Azad of Raunija village of Greater Noida area.

In his complaint, Azad had alleged that the series depicted Uttar Pradesh and its police in a poor light.

It also said the series had deliberately denigrated Hindu gods and goddesses.

The complainant had alleged that even the prime minister of India was depicted as an anti-democratic individual in the web series, which also carried deliberate remarks aimed at disturbing caste and communal amity.

It was also alleged that the makers of the series wanted to disturb the peace and tranquillity of society to make money.

(PTI)

UP: Another FIR Against Makers and Artists of Web Series ‘Tandav’

The complainant in the fresh case alleges inappropriate depiction of the UP Police, Hindu deities and adverse portrayal of a character playing the prime minister in the political drama.

Noida: An FIR has been lodged against makers and artists of Amazon Prime’s web series Tandav in Uttar Pradesh’s Greater Noida, police said on Tuesday.

This is at least the third FIR to be filed in Uttar Pradesh against the makers of the web series.

The complainant in the fresh case, lodged around 10 pm on Monday, alleges inappropriate depiction of UP Police personnel, Hindu deities, and adverse portrayal of a character playing the prime minister in the political drama, according to the FIR.

In the latest FIR at Rabupura in Greater Noida, the accused have been booked, among others, under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, according to the FIR accessed by PTI.

The FIR names as accused the series’ director Ali Abbas Zafar, Amazon Prime’s India head Aparna Purohit, producer Himanshu Kishan Mehra, writer Gaurav Solanki and actors Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia and Sunil Grover.

Greater Noida deputy commissioner of police Rajesh Kumar Singh said, “A local resident has made a complaint at the Rabupura police station in Greater Noida over depiction of Dalit insult, casteism and content inflammatory to religious sentiments in the web series Tandav besides showing people on high-positions engaging in inappropriate talks.”

An FIR has been lodged against the director of the web series, Amazon Prime’s India head, the actors and writer. Since the SC/ST Act has also been invoked in the FIR, a gazetted officer will probe the case, Singh added.

Also Read: FIR Against Amazon Prime’s ‘Mirzapur’ for Depicting UP District in ‘Bad Light’

The FIR has been lodged under Indian Penal Code sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 505(1)-1B (making any statement, rumour or report with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public), 505(2) (statements conducing to public mischief).

Charges under the Information Technology Act have also been invoked in the case, according to the FIR.

The cast and crew of Tandav, faced with FIRs in Uttar Pradesh and social media clamour by a section demanding the series’ ban, had on Monday issued an unconditional apology if their fictional show had unintentionally hurt sentiments.

On Monday, an FIR was lodged at Hazratganj police station in Lucknow against Amazon’s India head of original content, Aparna Purohit, series director Ali Abbas, producer Himanshu Krishna Mehra, writer Gaurav Solanki, and an unknown person on Sunday night.

Another FIR was lodged in Shahjahanpur against Abbas and actors Saif Ali Khan and Zeeshan Ayyub on a complaint by BJP MLA Vikram Veer Singh from Katra constituency at Katra police station.

Watch | Digital and Online Platforms Now Under I&B Ministry: What Does This Mean?

The move, which essentially allows a form of regulation and censorship for both OTT platforms and online news portals, is being received with apprehension.

On November 9, 2020, the government of India issued a notification bringing online and digital platforms under the ambit of the I&B Ministry.

The move, which essentially allows a form of regulation and censorship for both OTT platforms and online news portals, is being received with apprehension.

To add to this, the government has also limited FDI investments for digital media publications to 26% of equity.
This limitation has recently resulted in the shutting of operations for HuffPost India, a US-based media platform reporting in the country.

Netflix’s ‘Delhi Crime’ Wins Top Prize at International Emmy Awards 2020

The International Emmy Award is organised by the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (IATAS) in recognition of the best television programs.

Mumbai: Netflix’s India Original series Delhi Crime, helmed by Indian-Canadian director Richie Mehta, has bagged the best drama series honour at the 48th International Emmy Awards.

Told from the perspective of the Delhi Police team investigating the crime that made global headlines, the series deconstructs the case of the 23-year-old physiotherapy intern who was abducted and gang-raped in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012, before she was abandoned on a Delhi road.

Her injuries were so grievous that she died in a Singapore hospital a fortnight later.

Mehta, in his acceptance speech during the virtual ceremony on Monday, dedicated the honour to all the women who not just endure violence that men inflict on them, “but are also tasked to solve the problem.”

In a statement later, the director said the award is the collective victory of the cast and crew who worked tirelessly to make the show a reality.

“I never anticipated getting here – it’s the culmination of years of work by hundreds of people, sometimes in total isolation and defiance.

“‘Delhi Crime’ is a complete labour of love, born out of sadness, anger, frustration, and ultimately, compassion. The entire team from start to finish should take a bow for giving their all to this vision,” Mehta said.

The series featured actor Shefali Shah as Vartika Chaturvedi, whose character on Delhi Crime was based on former Delhi Police DCP Chaya Sharma who cracked the case of the brutal gang-rape within 72 hours.

Shah, who was watching the ceremony live, celebrated the show’s win in a post on Instagram.

Also read: By Focusing on Police, ‘Delhi Crime’ Misses Important Aspects of the 2012 Gangrape

“And just like that, we made history. So so so proud of DC,” she posted alongside the show’s poster.

Delhi Crime, released in 2019, received massive acclaim for its sensitive retelling of a horrific crime that shook the entire nation.

Performances by its ensemble cast, including Shah, Rasika Dugal, Adil Hussain and Rajesh Tailang were particularly appreciated by the critics.

Dugal, who played idealistic police officer Neeti Singh in the series, said she is particularly happy for Mehta.

“He’s put in so many years of hard work and he had immersed himself in the project in such a special way. I have such deep respect and admiration for him. I’m so happy for him and so grateful that his work has been acknowledged,” she told PTI.

Hussain and Tailang took to Twitter and congratulated the entire team for the win.

“Delhi Crime wins the Emmy International Awards for Best Drama. Congratulations @RichieMehta unmatchable @ShefaliShah dearest @rajeshtailang and whole team Big Big Congratulations,” Hussain tweeted.

Tailang said: OMG …. #delhicrime grabs @iemmys. Congratulations to the whole team. @RichieMehta @KaplanAaron @kohlipooja @apoorva_bakshi @ShefaliShah_ @_AdilHussain @RasikaDugal @CastingChhabra.”

Monika Shergill, VP, Content, Netflix India, congratulated the show’s entire team for bringing home India’s first International Emmy trophy.

“Led by the incredible Richie Mehta, the amazing cast and crew told an important story with sensitivity and responsibility. Winning Best Drama Series is a testament to the brilliance of India’s outstanding creative community. We hope this is the first win of many for Indian stories that are watched and appreciated by the world,” Shergill said.

Two other Emmy nominations from India included Amazon Prime Video’s Four More Shots and Arjun Mathur for his role in drama Made in Heaven in the best comedy and actor categories respectively. Both couldn’t register wins.

While Four More Shots, created by Rangita Pritish Nandy, lost to Brazil’s Ninguem ta Olhando (Nobody’s Looking), Mathur lost to 13-year-old Billy Barratt for his role in UK’s Responsible Child.

Responsible Child also bagged the Best TV Movie/Mini-Series award. Directed by Nick Holt, the movie follows the story of a 12-year-old boy and his experience of the UK legal system that puts him on trial for murder.

Glenda Jackson, 84, bagged the best actress award for her role in Elizabeth is Missing.

For Sama won the best documentary award.

Narrated and directed by Waad Al-Kateab along with Edward Watts, For Sama focuses on Al-Kateab’s journey as a journalist and rebel in the Syrian uprising.

The Non-English Language US Primetime Program category saw a tie, with 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards and La Reina del Sur season two bagging the honour.

The Short Form Series award was bagged by #martyisdead from the Czech Republic while Old People’s Home for 4-Year-Olds from Australia took home the award in Non-Scripted Entertainment category.

Brazil’s Orphans of a Nation won the top honour in the Telenovela category.

Last year, Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer McMafia won the best drama series award at the International Emmy Awards.

Actor Richard Kind hosted the ceremony from New York.

The International Emmy Award are organised by the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (IATAS) in recognition to the best television programs initially produced and aired outside the United States.

The awards are presented annually in November every year.

Caste, Class and Populist Political Anxieties in ‘Paatal Lok’

The web series covers the many fault lines of Indian society, but refrains from making any political or moral commentary.

Paatal Lok (Netherworld), the newly popular web-series on Prime Video, falls within the new waves of neo-noir Hindi series and movies that invoke the idea of socio-political matrices of the hinterland of Bharat and its complex connection with urban India. ‘Bharat’, as pointed out by a vernacular journalist character in the movie, is different from urban India that the English media revolves around. And urban India, as the central character Hathiram Chaudhary (Jaideep Ahlawat) explains to his junior colleague in the very beginning of the series, is characterised by different class-space matrices of crime.

The use of populist lingo and mythological tropes such as Lutyens Delhi (Ashoke Road, Aurangzeb Road) as Swarg Lok (Heaven), Vasant Kunj, Noida, and Mehrauli as Prithvi Lok (the earth) and Jamna Paar as ‘Paatal Lok’ introduces the viewer to the identity-faultlines of Delhi. Chaudhary is posted in the outer Jamna Paar Police Station and he postulates how cracking crime in the middle class spaces of Prithvi Lok can get him promotions as both in the elite and marginal localities in the city, crime is suppressed through monetary and muscle power.

Also Read: Paatal Lok: A Descent Into Hell With Stories and Back Stories

Chaudhary and his family is a prototypical representation of a vernacular white-collar middle class in the metropolis, which attempts to navigate the English-vernacular socio-cultural divide. His son Siddharth (Bodhisattva Sharma) struggles to fit into both of these worlds. His posh schoolmates ridicule him for his father’s ‘uncool’ name or his lack of English skills, and his neighbourhood boys gang, whose expression of machoism is tied to a vernacular subjecthood, rejects Siddharth as an English-medium student.

Hathiram takes up the investigation case for the planned assassination of an English media journalist Sanjeev Mehra (Neeraj Kabi), who is referred to (by himself and his employer) as a ‘left-liberal’ for his past professional-ideological legacy of questioning the presumably right-wing political status quo. It is interesting how the term ‘left-liberal’ – often used in the right wing populist lingo as a metaphor for the elitism of a section of English media that counters the ruling regime in today’s India – is used in this series to indicate its alleged ideological ambiguity. Mehra uses this self-referential term interchangeably with the ‘prominent citizens of the country’ and also, with ‘the clichés’ (for his colleague wanting to dig up the ‘human’ stories of his would-be assassins belonging to the social margins). He also puts himself in the same bracket with the names of journalist-activists from the real world (such as Gauri Lankesh).

It becomes apparent in the course of the series that Mehra and his ‘left-liberal’ demeanour swings with the political wind. This leaves us to wonder whether the makers of Paatal Lok intend to portray the onslaught on media freedom or opportunistic media persons, or a convenient combination of both.

Anxieties around violent masculinities from the margins of society are contextualised with trajectories of the caste, class and gender violence inflicted on the four accused youth. The powerful portrayal of Dalit assertion to defy upper-caste dominance, the violence experienced by one of the accused Tope Singh (Jagjeet Sandhu) and his family, the Manjar mobilisation in Punjab, and the Dalit Samaj Party lead by a Brahmin in Chitrakut provide a strong background narrative that lays bare the complex local-national political networks and how that affects the fate of the accused youth.

Other tropes

Several other tropes from actual socio-political incidents are chipped in with haste to flesh out the individual histories of the subjects. Characters such as Vishal Tyagi (Abhishek Banerjee), the main anti-hero character, takes refuge in the Gujjar collective despite being an outsider and the almost mythical dacoit-turned-Robin Hood, Donullia (Akshay Sharma), who is looking out for his Gujjar caste-group, add texture to the storyline.

However, the four characters accused of planning to assassinate Mehra do not seem to have much agency except for being trapped and used amidst a complex and corrupt politico-industrial nexus. The peri-urban or rural spaces they occupy are marked by a wild lawlessness that is captured in the fantasies of the urban middle class as the ‘wild west’, a perfect fit for a crime thriller. This pattern has been popular in the neo-noir genre that has been thriving for the past decade through movies and series such as Gangs of Wasseypur Mirzapur and Shanghai among many others.

The way different elements from the socio-political reality of post-2014 India are brought into the narrative of Paatal Lok may make one wonder whether the makers attempted to put together a self-reflective project before the majoritarian middle class that overwhelmingly supported the ruling right-wing political regime. However, one must note that the series resonates with the sentiments of the urban middle class largely because of its portrayal of politics (across party lines) to be inherently messy and corrupt, having the power to sabotage the efficiency of other institutions of democracy, such as the media and the police.

Overall, the series’s strong acting performances and slick screenplay keep the viewers captivated. It subtly touches upon the many social fault lines and issues without making a strong political-moral commentary on any of them, and hence largely consolidating viewers across the political spectrum.

Dyotana Banerjee is an adjunct faculty at Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar. Her research focuses on caste-based spatial segregation and Dalit politics in Ahmedabad. She can be reached at dyotanab@gmail.com.