Qissa Controversy Ka: SSR and Nepotism!

14th June 2020. Bandra West, Mumbai. It has been 12 days since Sushant Singh Rajput has left the world. We accept it or not but, his death has impacted us to a great extent more than any other death in the film fraternity. There are uncountable rumours regarding his death and it is really shameful that it took a Death to realize the roots of Nepotism and Favourites that run in this industry! In the blog post, I would just like to share some radical views about the statements and the controversies that evolved after his death.

                              

• JUDGEMENTALITY: Probably after the Nepotism debate, the most talked-about reason for his suicide is the Rhea Chakraborty And Mahesh Bhatt angle. Just because intimate pictures between Mahesh and Rhea have started doing rounds on the internet, the public has come to the conclusion(let alone an assumption) that there is something brewing between the two. Well, it is very obvious that the partner/spouse is suspected in that case but reaching conclusions without evidence is absolutely incorrect. Moreover, Sushant ended a 6-year-old relationship with Ankita Lokhande and then that did not propel him to take this drastic step. Then, it seems weird how can a 2-year-old relationship with Rhea push him to suicide! Moreover, society has become judgemental (as usual) towards Rhea (because in our patriarchal society men are 'allowed' everything) and declared her a murderer! Moreover, the capability and the genius SSR was (💔) a fight between a  couple is normal since, we do not know the reason for the fight, calling it a purposeful fight directed by Mahesh Bhatt is absolutely incorrect.  

                                                     

• NEPOTISM:  There has so much that has already been spoken and that is absolutely correct and Karan Johar is definitely at fault. One focus that really needs attention in this is the fact about the Indian hypocritic audience. We cannot skew Nepotism to only the producers for showing us, but also the audience for investing in it (case in point 'Dhadak/ Student of the Year/Kedarnath)! As Akshaye Khanna has said previously said, "If you ask a random person walking on the street if he would like to watch X person's movie or Akshay Kumar's son Aarav's movie, the person would obviously pick the latter." This statement does make sense. Nepotism exists everywhere but we single out the INDIAN film industry because for every other field there is an 'entrance test' like for Medical it is NEET/Engineering is AIEEE/IIT which is definitely not there in the industry. For star kids, it is all getting into the family business by giving 'look tests'. For an outsider, it is always about the entrance test or the 'BIG BREAK' if they need to get into the industry. Funny enough, the star kids get multiple chances to prove themselves but outsiders have only 1 movie to prove their mettle. This is definitely wrong and there can be a little hope of change especially because the audience NOT present on social media drives approximately 60% of the box office collection so if you want to boycott star kids, this news should reach that section/Tier-3 cities of India. Even in Hollywood, Nepotism tried to exist but tremendously failed otherwise we would have had Colin Hanks (s/o Tom Hanks), Patrick Schwarzenegger(s/o Arnold Schwarzenegger) rocking the box office but barely people know them. Of lately, actress Adah Sharma has also pointed out that how in spite of a supporting role in Dharma's 'Hasee Toh Phasee', she was not allowed to be part of the promotions and it was only Sidharth and Parineeti doing the entire thing which pretty much clears as to why people are upset majorly with Karan Johar.

                                                       

•  FUN FACT: Even after being in the Hindi film industry for over 9 years now, Taapsee Pannu has still not featured on Vogue India's Cover Page whereas, in the June 2018 and August 2018, Jhanvi Kapoor and Suhana Khan featured on it. Why? Maybe because Karan Johar and Vogue Editor Anaita Shroff Adjania are close friends? Or is it not a phenomenon of Favouritism? Moreover, Taapsee has never been invited to Koffee with Karan as well.

                                                          

• ELITISM IN NEPOTISM: Surprisingly, even amongst the 'privileged' star kids, the phenomenon of Elitism seems to be present. Surprisingly enough, it is suspected that this elite group mainly consists of the Johar, the Pandeys, the Kapoors (majorly Kapoors) it is really disheartening to see actually some good products of nepotism like Akshaye and Rahul Khanna (s/o actor Vinod Khanna), Rohan Mehra (s/o actor Vinod Mehra) etc lost among the glossy showy kids from the airport looks. It is definitely no surprise to see Archana Puran Singh's son, Sanjay Kapoor's daughter, Sridevi's younger daughter gracing the big screen in 2-3 years and we, the audience paying to watch them (for sure).

                                                        

• MILKING OPPORTUNISTS: Definitely, Divya Khosla Kumar has the best PR team! She knows how to receive attention and single out someone who spoke up against the 'music mafia'. If T-Series was promoting 'talent', why are the majority of the songs are sung by Tulsi Kumar (an awful singer) and Dhvani Bhanushali (daughter of Divya's relative) whose music singles are every time produced and presented by T-Series? If they were good singers, why didn't other music labels run after them the similar way they run after Darshan Raval, Asees Kaur etc? Not far behind is yesteryear actor Sonam Kapoor who should realize that it was Mr Kapoor's karma that she was born there (good or bad, we leave it for Mr Kapoor to decide). Yes, it is definitely not her fault that she was born at Mr Kapoor's house but it is definitely her fault if she is arrogant, stubborn and justifying her place in an industry she literally walked into. Not to forget, Mrs.Ahuja's BFF Swara Bhaskar who is out supporting Karan Johar.

                                                        

• THE REAL VILLAINS: We have had enough of Blame Game. One of the real villains is INDIAN AUDIENCE. Since a long time, the Indian Society is a Hypocritic Society and we refuse to accept this fact. These days we criticize Nepotism, a few days/months later we shall be watching their movies and making them the next superstar and a potential outsider (currently Kartik Aaryan) will lose out on films the same way Sushant lost out Ram Leela/Befikre because Ranveer had a two 50crore+ and a 100 crore+ grosser and Sushant just had 1 movie over 50 crores (Kai Po Che) back then. The reason the Indian Audience needs to be called out is, if these things did not affect their movie-going experience Bigg Boss would have not run for 13 seasons! Apart from Karan Johar, it is really surprising that reports do not comprise of Sajid Nadiadwala's name: a man who launched Tiger Shroff, Nandish Singh, Bhagyashree's son and is currently launching Ahan Shetty (Sunil Shetty's son) with the RX100 remake. It seems like a pact that KJo will launch the Kapoors whereas Naidiadwala shall launch others. It is fairly surprising but true if such kind of pattern is observed in the near future. Moreover, the silent villains include the paparazzi which since their birth have been feeding people with newsfeeds of airport look/no makeup look etc. The Media has always been autocratic and if anyone attacks them it becomes a way of curbing 'Right to Freedom of Expression'. Therefore the double standards of Indian Audience and the Autocraticity of Media need to be checked before calling out to producers like KJo, Sajid Nadiadwala because after all, they are in the business of making money: money the audience provides!

                                                

As for SSR, it was very heartbreaking that he found this way out. He did inspire a lot of us because of his humble and hard-working nature, being there for everyone (people claim). It is really heartbreaking and shocking to see him go, but we look forward to his last Wonderful Work in Dil Bechara which unfortunately releases on Disney+Hotstar on 24th July 2020. I hope that people may thank you for inspiring them when they stand on stage after an achievement!

                                               

                                                    

Synopsis Collection: The Love Less Ordinary!

“Are u sure you don’t want anything else Mr.Rajiv?” asks a disinterested Sheena. “No, thanks that will be all! BTW are u free this evening?” replies Rajiv. “How abt u complete ur painting Rajiv? And next time please pls don’t ask me any such thing!” replies Sheena. “Come on Sheena, we are neighbours as well. Why so cold?” asks Rajiv. “Thank u for providing me with some business Rajiv! U may leave!” says Sheena and leaves Rajiv at the counter of her paint and stationery shop to settle other things in her store. Rajiv is perplexed and leaves.

Back at her one bedroom apartment, we are introduced to Sheena and her daily life. She reaches her house, unwinds herself, contemplates, speaks to her mother who keeps requesting her to meet boys for her marriage and she replies to it by saying “I’m 40 ma, I am not getting married after that.” and as soon as she says this, there is a knock on her door and it is Rajiv. “So what are your plans for today evening since you are back early Sheena Ji??” asks Rajiv grinning. “Rajiv what do you want?” asks Sheena with exhaustion on her face. “Nothing! Just came to ask your well-being.” Replies Rajiv and he leaves.

A few days later, Sheena is cleaning her store and “Sheena” comes a voice and continuing her work she says, “Ms.Sheena” and then turns and asks, “How can I help u?” to Mr.Shorey, a businessman, who says, “Can you please provide me with a huge canvas, the best box of paints and brushes and a picture of yours which I want to paint.” Dumbstruck at this request, Sheena reprimands to him saying how dare he could do such a thing and ridicules him  which makes him leave her shop.

That evening, she shares her disgust with her mother who tells her to enjoy the moment of attention from a single rich man. Sheena is pissed at this and shouts at her mother which makes Rajiv come into his apartment. “Can I offer you a cup of coffee, Sheena? U look stressed.” Asks Rajiv, a bit scared. 

Sheena smiles. Rajiv goes back to being his usual self. “So aunty again asked you to get married?” asks Rajiv. “Well yes! Actually Rajiv it’s just that an arrogant stubborn man came into my store and he asked me for painting types of equipment and a picture of mine.” Replies Sheena. “Woah! So many guts! Impressive. I want to meet this man.” Says Rajiv. “Sure. Why not! He is Shorey, that flirt builder.” Replies Sheena. “And u said no to him!” exclaims Rajiv. “Well yes, I hate such type of men.” Says Sheena. “U know what, u r crazy Sheena!” says Rajiv commandingly. “That’s why u r the only person I can trust beyond doubt. U have the same craziness as me.” She replies. And they share the coffee.

A few days later, Sheena returns home and finds a gift outside her door. She picks it up and walks in. It has a specific style of greeting on it that makes it very hard for her to believe. She calls up a phone number but to no avail. She opens it to find that it is just a simple plain painted canvas. She gets worried. She immediately leaves her house and sees that Rajiv is entering the building. Rajiv greets her but she doesn’t respond and hurriedly calls an auto and leaves somewhere. She goes to a house in a low-grade vicinity but does not find anyone there. Instead, she picks up a photo frame and keeps it close to heart. She returns home and sees another similar canvas painted with the same style of greeting. She is dismayed and weeps as she looks at the picture. Rajiv enters and sees her in tears and like a good friend, sits down with her and they start a conversation.

“Rajiv there is one thing I have never told anyone about, not even my mother. And I am sharing this with you. You see there that I have got another canvas with the same style of salutation as the previous one and the style of salutation could only be done Sahil, someone I had imagined to spend my life with.” Says Sheena.

“Where is he? What happened then? Asks Rajiv innocently. “Sahil is no more in this world. My brothers killed him.” Replies Sheena. She continues, “That is the reason I left the house. Came here. Took a loan and started my own shop.” “But why did they kill him?” asks Rajiv. Sheena hands over the photo frame she is holding to Rajiv and says “Sahil was an enunch.” And Rajiv is dumbstruck.

                                     

        

“But Sheena how could you love Sahil? I mean generally, people meet in colleges, restaurants and then fall in love. Where did you meet Sahil?” asks Rajiv. “I met Sahil at a friend’s daughter’s ceremony some 5 years ago. Initially, he was a very snob behaving as if he was Mr.Shorey but later on I spotted him at another friend’s ceremony and naturally this time I started the conversation. Talking to him, I found him to be a very positive person who just intends to make an impact of his own. Time passed and we became friends, better friends and it barely took me time to realize that I really had fallen for him. And then, he started sending me letters, whose font style was very different from others. And since yesterday I have been receiving these painted canvases, God knows why. Surprisingly, the style of salutation happens to be Sahil’s. And I don’t know why Rajiv but I think it’s Shorey who is behind all this.” Sheena says. “Sheena, why do you think that the style is Sahil specific? Let me have a look” asks Rajiv. “Sheena hands the greeting over to him. “Sheena, it’s not a difficult task to interpret this greeting. Anyone can!” replies Rajiv. “So, it means Shorey can, as well.” Replies Sheena.

Sheena observes sadness behind Rajiv’s happy face and asks him. “Rajiv what’s happened. I can easily see the sadness behind your happy face, tell me what’s it?”  “I am officially divorced now, Sheena.” Replies Rajiv. “U were married Rajiv?” asks Sheena. “Yes, but was separated for the past 8 months. Since we never spoke of love before today, we never brought up the topic.” Replies Rajiv. “Why did you end up getting divorced Rajiv?” asks Sheena. “I was married to Cynthia, a friend and the daughter of a wealthy businessman. I was in love with someone else, but then under her father’s pressure and her obsession for me, I had to marry her. Someone has rightly said, that when you bring a girl to your house, you should always love, respect her because she left her family just to be with you. I know that this is important but then we had no story to start with. I was married under pressure to someone who was obsessed for me. I actually wanted to get rid of Cynthia so that is the reason I treated her in an alienated fashion. Soon enough, she got upset and sent me a divorce notice which I gladly signed. But losing a friend always hurts Sheena.”

“So who do u love now Rajiv?” asks Sheena. “Sheena, u will soon know. That is the biggest hint I will give you.” Replies Rajiv and Sheena also doesn’t press him further.

The next day Sheena storms into Shorey’s office and shouts, yells at him for sending those paintings and that salutation. Shorey says he has no idea about those greetings nor the painting. Sheena alleges him of treachery with people and also accuses him of holding back Sahil. Since Sahil was quite a popular social activist type of a person, he was popular in the city. Shorey laughs it off and says “ Such a**h**** were rightly beaten to death They deserve that dog-type of a death. They are nothing more than a shame to society.” And saying this he asks Sheena to leave his office. Back home, Sheena finds a stack of canvases outside her door and one final salutation.

She knocks Rajiv’s door but to no reply. She takes the stack inside and reads the final salutation, “ Dear Sheena, I tried a lot but could not restrain myself. I have always loved sending you the salutations u could have never imagined. It was me who taught Sahil calligraphy and knew you even before you shifted. I tracked you down after Sahil’s death and here I was to look after you. It was me who all this while sent you these canvases and once you join all of these canvases together, you will realize who I loved. What initially started off as the role to keep my brother’s word could turn into my own love for you. I would be doing treachery with my brother if I asked you out so that is why I am writing it down. Sheena, I love you, hope that you acknowledge the love I have for u. Your friend, Rajiv.”  Sheena then recalls all the incidences and realizes that all this while, the person who she shared things with was Sahil’s brother. And then she opens the paintings and joins them together to find that they form her face. She simply smiles and next we see, Sheena rising for the enunch community just like Sahil and somewhere from within the crowd we see Rajiv dressed up as an enunch cheering the one he loves- Sheena.

Anticipated Cast:

Sheena: Vidya Balan
Rajiv: Ranveer Singh
Sahil: Rajkummar Rao
Mr Shorey: Ranvir Shorey

Synopsis Collection: Dhund.

“Yes Meeta, come around at 9:30 pm with your niece to my place. I would certainly like to put her to test before I employ her as my daughter’s caretaker.” Said a workaholic Subhagi(VB) and a mother of one-year-old Pia whom she took from the crèche and went home.

Subhagi is a divorced workaholic whose job does not permit her to spend a lot of her time with her one-year-old daughter Pia. She is desperate to find a caretaker of Pia, believing that at least Pia shall be home with a nanny while she is at work.

Her doorbell rings and it is Meeta, the caretaker of the neighbouring house who has got her niece, Reshma(AB) as a nanny for Subhagi’s daughter Pia. Seeing Pia cry, Subhagi ensues Reshma with the task of stopping Pia’s cry which she is able to stop within seconds. This convinces Subhagi that she can trust Reshma with Pia and thus takes her documents and employs her in haste.

Meanwhile, Subhagi is also fighting the custody case for Pia with her ex-husband Kanishk who is a doctor by profession. In honest terms, Kanishk is not interested in keeping Pia but has to give in to the demands of his mother, Bina(SS) who desperately wants her granddaughter with her and so out of options, Kanishk is facing Subhagi for the custody case.

A few days later, Subhagi’s lawyer calls her and reprimands her for not being present in the court in spite of the notice being delivered to her house and because of this reason, the court rules the judgement in favour of Kanishk and asks Subhagi to hand over the custody of Pia almost immediately to Kanishk’s family. Subhagi is shattered and is furious that Reshma did not handover the notice. She immediately dials Reshma but the phone is out of reach. Subhagi believes that Reshma might have taken Pia to the doctor for the regular vaccination and herself waits till she gets home to confront Reshma that evening.

Subhagi reaches home and there is no one there. She tries calling Reshma a couple of times but to no avail. She seemingly begins to get worried and runs around in the neighbourhood calling out their names but receives no reply. She even goes to meet Meeta and it turns out that Meeta is not at home and has gone to the suburbs of the city. Subhagi recalls Meeta telling her that Reshma belongs somewhere to the south suburbs of Mumbai and so Subhagi literally goes and scans the place but has no results. She comes back home dismayed expecting Reshma and Pia to come home soon. She falls asleep and is woken up by the banging of the doors by Bina who is there to take Pia. She manages to convince Bina that Subhagi is missing and drives off looking for her daughter.

She reaches the clinic only to know that Reshma had come there with Pia, a day before yesterday and had taken a list of allergic medicines for Pia; which are prescribed when long trips that are undertaken. Subhagi gets worried and feels helpless. She decides to go to the police station but on the way back she realises that if she went to the police station, the police would believe that she just staged her daughter’s kidnapping to prevent compliance with court’s orders.

Bina and Kanishk now know that Pia is missing and they reprimand Subhagi for hiding her but Subhagi constantly tries to convince them that she did not do any such thing and Bina finally calls the police. Inspector Dev(VK) listens to Subhagi and Kanishk’s side of the story and decides to have a look at any evidence suggesting Subhagi’s justification. He comes to know about Subhagi’s reason of not approaching the police station, her stint at the doctor’s and the caretaker. To be sure of what happened, Dev goes and meets Meeta who makes a shocking revelation that she was paid by Reshma to introduce her as her niece to Subhagi, as well as Meeta, claimed to have noticed Reshma’s extraordinary interest to nanny Pia. 

Subhagi is shattered. She does not believe what has been going for quite some time and is moved to tears. Dev asks for the documents of Reshma.        When she hands them over to Dev, he simply smiles and throws them down claiming that they are all false and her case is at a dead end. Bina continues to allegate that it is all Subhagi’s set up to prevent handing over of Pia but Dev doesn’t agree that Subhagi is guilty.

That evening as she is drawing the curtains, Subhagi sees a beggar roaming about and realises that he may be of some help. He goes to her and tells her that she may find both of them at the main brothel of the suburbs. Subhagi goes there with him only to be knocked unconscious by the brothel owner who keeps her at the brothel and gives the beggar some money and he leaves. When she regains consciousness, she tells the brothel owner the entire story and shows her Reshma’s photo seeing which the owner says that she did have Reshma works for her but used to go missing for 4 hrs daily in the afternoon but didn’t know where. She also gives her Reshma’s old number and asks her to contact Akeel(TRB), the organ thief/girls supplier who got Reshma to that brothel and used to take her out every day. The brothel owner also tells her to go to ‘Zanzibar’ because Akeel was a frequent visitor there.

As Subhagi leaves the brothel, she gets a ransom call if she wanted Pia and Reshma alive. She hurriedly takes out all the money and reaches the place only to be greeted by Pia’s toys. Meanwhile, the police also reach and she tells Dev about all the developments. Dev initially does not believe her but on checking her call records he believes she isn’t lying and this time when Bina claims that Subhagi is plotting, he silences her. Thus, gives confidence to Subhagi that indeed he believes Pia was kidnapped. Later on, further investigation suggests that actually, it was a prank call and that there were no intentions of hurting the Subhagi.

Subhagi reaches Zanzibar and begins to enquire about Akeel but no one talks about him with her. She sits down on a couch and keeps pressing the couch in nervousness. One of the waitresses observes her and tells her that her actions match to those of another woman who recently visited a guy named Rambo. Subhagi further enquires about Rambo and the waitress just tells her that he comes every day around 7 pm and ‘picks’ up girls from the bar and sells them after drugging them. Also, he arranges for donors for an illegal organ transplant. She shows the waitress the picture of Akeel and she tells her that it is Rambo. Listening to this, Subhagi is disheartened and pleads that Pia is safe.

Around 7pm, Subhagi sees Akeel entering but waits for the waitress to signal to approach. She approaches Akeel and begs to know about the location of Reshma to which he says that he has no idea and had come to her a few months ago asking to be a liver donor for earning some money as she was in desperate need so that was why she used to take her every day for 4 hours for medication once she had agreed to sell herself every day.

He also states that she met him and claimed that everything was fine and she would lead a happy life soon. Akeel pities Subhagi and offers her a picture that fell from Reshma’s purse one day during her medication and hands over to Subhagi. Subhagi notices Reshma with a baby in the photo.

Behind the photograph, Subhagi observes a name ‘Maaya Studios’ and decides to trace it. She reaches Meher Studios which is renamed to ‘Maaya Colour Labs’ and as soon as she gets off the car, she hears Pia’s cry for her mom. She runs in the direction of the voice and reaches an abandoned shop where she sees all bloodshed- Reshma dead, Bina Dead, Kanishk dead and Pia crying with her face covered with blood.

                                                                                                                    

Subhagi shrieks and wakes up realising it was just a dream and that it is morning and the shop was open. She goes onto see that her phone had missed calls of Dev and Kanishk and she ignores all of them thinking that she has to find Pia all by herself.

Meanwhile, Dev reaches Zanzibar and is waiting for Akeel. The waitress tells them about Subhagi’s appearance and that she met Akeel and left with some photographs. Dev and others are now clueless whom to follow and so decide to trace Subhagi’s phone location.

At the photo studio, the owner tells that he had clicked that photo a few weeks ago and particularly remembers because that lady in the picture(Reshma) was extremely possessive about the baby and didn’t even let the baby interact with him when at the studio and in fact scratched him when he tried to touch the baby. From his records, he gives the address and the phone number to Subhagi and she leaves.

Upon reaching the place given to her by the owner, Subhagi is greeted by an empty old house. She enters the house to see that there is nothing but just a photo of a pregnant Reshma, a man and an old woman. She comes out of the house with the picture only to be greeted by Reshma’s neighbour who details her about the incidents. She narrates that Reshma was pregnant when she shifted in this place with her mother-in-law. Her mother-in-law used to constantly nag her for not working and making excuses and a poor and disheartened Reshma used to find solace in her neighbour. Her husband had died leaving her with their only child and a mother-in-law to nag. She could not work because of her condition and her mother in law refused to work. Subhagi then enquires about the money to which she replies “An old lady used to come there every week, meet Reshma’s mother in law, give her a bundle of cash and leave.  That lady was quite rich as she always came in a big car and used to meet Reshma’s mother in law and leave. Whenever she was in the house Reshma was not allowed to enter. A few days after shifting, Reshma went into labour and it was her neighbour and her husband who took her to the hospital and stood by her. Since Reshma gave birth to a girl, her mother in law disowned them and her neighbour welcomed her to stay. But in a day or two, Reshma’s daughter fell seriously ill and they took her to the hospital and gave her some money for hospital expense. But the next day when we went to see her, both Reshma and her daughter were missing.”

Subhagi reaches and realises that the hospital Reshma went to was none other than her husband’s workplace. She straight away rams into her husband’s chamber and accuses him of kidnapping Pia. Her husband dismisses her allegations as false and baseless and calls up Dev. Dev arrives there and listens to both Subhagi and Kanishk’s story and believes that both of them are right. Dev decides to investigate the hospital staff and finds out that Reshma did come with a baby girl as the baby was suffering from Hepatitis and had damaged her liver but within 2 days of her admission Reshma’s daughter was discharged due to her lack of funds.

Subhagi and Dev now are able to connect the dots and realise that Reshma’s stint with Akeel and her time at the brothel was simply because she needed money for her child’s treatment. But Subhagi fails to understand that why would she kidnap Pia. Subhagi suddenly realizes that around the same time Pia was suffering from pneumonia and she had asked Kanishk to get Pia a bed as the hospital was running to full occupancy. Dev realizes and immediately calls in for the records of who was admitted after Reshma’s daughter on the bed and it is found out that it was Pia, who was given the bed. A nurse steps in and tells the trio that after being discharged from the hospital Reshma did return with her daughter who was dead by the time she returned. She goes onto say that Reshma did not weep once beholding the sight of her dead daughter in her hands and quietly left. Dev then asserts that Reshma took note of all the things, earned a little money and presented herself as a nanny to Meeta who introduced her to Subhagi but the question still lingers, “Why Pia?”.

That night Subhagi returns home, goes to Pia’s cradle and wears the blanket around her which she was made by Reshma in the love of Pia and starts sobbing bitterly. A hand wavers over her head and it is that of her mother-in-law who apologises to her for all the trouble caused and promises her that she would never separate Pia and her and instead would ask Kanishk to revoke their divorce. In the flashback, we see that the woman who used to give money to Reshma’s mother in law was none other than Bina who did it because Reshma’s mother in law was a worker at Bina’s house in the early years and had built a rapport with her and also she became Bina’s confidante which Reshma’s mother in law benefitted by blackmailing Bina later on.

The story shifts to the present day where Dev trusting his instincts and believing them calls in Akeel for interrogation. After some rigidity, Akeel reveals that he did Reshma and Pia after Reshma kidnapped her and was absconding. He goes onto tell that he condemned Reshma’s moves who replied, “It’s not wrong to take back your own child and leave.” He then tells her that he had fallen in love with her so he was willing to do anything and that she asked him to get her mother in law killed. He had also made passports for Reshma and the baby to leave on a ferry to Colombo. Rest he did not know about.

Fearing that Reshma would be leaving the country that very day, Subhagi, Dev and Bina race towards the ferry bound to leave and start searching for Reshma. Subhagi spots Reshma near the deck and approaches her. Reshma then threatens that she will jump into the water if they don’t stop. She then says that her daughter was innocent and as a mother she did go to extents to protect her daughter but no one helped her so she was running away from them with ‘her’ daughter and no one had the right to stop her.

From behind Dev calls out to her and tries to reassure that it is not her daughter she is holding. Subhagi breaks down and requests Reshma to hand over her daughter. Reshma stays still for some time and sees the baby’s face and hands her over to Subhagi and snatches the quilt which she says was meant for her daughter but then gifted it to Pia believing that Pia could survive only after her daughter died.  Saying this she jumps into the water and engulfs the quilt tightly, she suddenly feels being caught only to find that Subhagi had jumped after her to prevent her from dying but Reshma forcefully let goes of Subhagi’s help and goes down into the deep waters.

Subhagi then wakes up in the hospital with Kanishk on one of her side and Pia on the other. She sees Bina smiling commandingly right in front of her. Kanishk apologises and asks Subhagi to remarry her which she defers it. Bina says that Subhagi was indeed ‘Subhag’(destined for good) to have a second chance with her family, unlike Reshma who got none and walks off.

Intended Cast:

Subhagi: Vidya Balan

Reshma: Alia Bhatt

Dev: Vicky Kaushal

Kanishk: Deepak Tijori

Bina: Swaroop Sampat

Rambo/Akeel: Tahir Raj Bhasin

Paatal Lok Review: Goes from Paatal Lok Straight to Swarg!

Amazon Prime Video came out with a neo-noir thriller series 'Paatal Lok'. The series stars Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh and Neeraj Kabi, Abhishek Banerjee in the lead roles with Gul Panag, Deepak Tiwari, Rajesh Sharma supporting this able cast. This 9 episode series is directed by Avinash Arun and Prosit Roy and produced by Anushka Sharma. 

                                                     

What's Good: Acting: Terrific acting performances by such a talented cast but it is Ishwak Singh's Imran Ansari who stands out and shines. Story: The story is undoubtedly the real king of Paatal Lok. Dark, Gritty, Merciless and Ruthless storyline is extremely phenomenal and totally leaves you in splits. Cinematography: The story needed a good complement from the cinematography which is delivered to it by the ace director and cinematographer. Technicalities: The technicalities of the series is decent however choppy editing in parts makes things appear a bit hammy. Relevance: The relevance of this series resonates a 10-fold as per the current times.

                                     

What's Bad: Forced Melodrama: Even though it is meant for the side story purpose, the melodrama in episodes 5&6 unexpectedly take the front seat and thrill gets lost in somewhere amidst the melodrama. An additional episode: Perhaps removing either of the episodes mentioned above would suffice!

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Anushka, the producer never disappoints! And this time also, she did not! 'Paatal Lok' qualifies for a MUST WATCH only if you can tolerate violence, cuss words and blood.....lots of blood! I am going with 3.75 stars for 'Paatal Lok'. Do watch it! It deserves a lot of love and appreciation!

                                       

Qissa Controversy Ka: IMDB Ratings!

Worldwide, the ratings from the movie portal Internet Movie Database (IMDb) ratings play a huge role in determining a person's mind to watch a particular movie in the theatre or at home! Even though these ratings neutralize over time, IMDB ratings continue to be a major driver of a person's choice to watch a movie in theatres or not which contributes to its box office collection that describes a movie's fate as a Flop/Average/Hit.

                                 

Of recently, the platform has been grossly been misused because even if a movie is a good movie and worthy money-spinner, it does not get it due credit at the place where it matters the most: The Ticket Windows and gets declared as a Flop. There are certain movies which in spite of no content and poor ratings still manage to rake in money, the movie in question being Baaghi 3 (2020) which raked in 95 crores at the Box office, undeservingly. Another instance where the movie worked because of the only star power is Race 3 (2018) which managed 166 crores at the box office. While as fore-mentioned movies deserve the IMDb ratings they have, their box office collection speaks otherwise!

                                              

Great movies like Chhapaak (2020), Thappad (2020), Mulk (2018) all flopped and have low IMDb ratings even though they were great movies. They even have a decent amount of star power to attract the audience to the theatres but unfortunately, all of these folded below 35 crores and were all mid-budget affairs. However, with time the rating of Mulk has neutralized to a worthy score of 7.2/10, the others have a long way to go! So why do these movies with good content, decent star value fail? The most likely answer for this can be attributed to the rise of Hyper-Nationalism in the country. All of these fore-mentioned movies had a prominent figure of the movie who opposed certain particular government policy and thus their movies faced boycott. The biggest example is Chhapaak, which deserved a higher box office collection than what it earned eventually.

                                              
                                                                       

This can also be confirmed by the success of movies which depict extreme nationalism. The mammoth success of movies like Uri (2019), Kesari (2019), Toilet (2018) are a testament to this fact. Not saying that these were bad movies, it is just that these movies did not 'deserve' the rating they have on IMDb (all over 7). For example, at the time of release, Uri was riding high with an IMDb score between 9.5-10 which I believe this movie did not deserve. This 9.5-10 score on IMDb reflected in the movie's collections where it earned 245.55 crores and was an all-time blockbuster. Same goes for Kesari and Toilet.

                                                     
                                                                 

All in all, not saying that the phenomenon of hyper-nationalism is wrong (since we never saw it for the longest time until 2014), it is simply incorrect to MIX a movie and a person's personal political inspiration. We have seen this phenomenon rise exponentially and making money so now, it has started affecting the kind of cinema we see. The recently released 'Commando-3' movie was absolutely a decent action movie where all of a sudden towards the last 20 minutes, 'unity' and 'nationalism' sprung up and a strictly average movie became 'good' in the eyes of the public and managed to break-even at the ticket windows! Another instance where the love for the country developed out of nowhere was in the movie 'Pagalpanti' (2019) which too, earned decently but (gladly) flopped due to its high budget! For example, for Commando-3 people were like 'Message was Good only if the direction/execution could have been better.' This fact suggests that even a bad movie might do wonders at the box office if it has a 'nationalistic' flavour to it! If we start mixing Cinema with Political Aspirations, the cinema shall be headed into a direction where creativity and novelty shall take a backseat and each and every movie shall end up having a nationalistic touch to them!

                                               

This phenomenon of 'rating down' something due to credentials was first observed when Snapchat CEO said: "He shall not expand in poor countries like India and Spain." Post which, our countrymen uninstalled Snapchat and rated it 1 star whereas Spanish decided to work harder and prove him wrong! So we can observe that our countrymen chose a 'more-convenient' way of dealing with the situation than actually put in the effort to prove him wrong. It is highly likely a similar approach was taken in case of the fore-mentioned movies without even thinking the effort and time that goes into making a movie (can vouch for it having worked in one!) Hence, we need to clearly separate Cinema as a different industry and politics as a different industry. Intermingling the two, would lead to a disastrous result and monotonous movies!

Maska Review: Smooth, Flavored and Long Lasting Maska!!!

Amidst this quarantine period, we have been supported by various OTT platforms for our entertainment. Netflix released their own movie, 'Maska' starring Manisha Koirala, Prit Kamani, Shirley Setia, Nikita Dutta and Jaaved Jaafri! 'Maska' follows a basic premise of a Mother-Son relationship explored through dreams and the age-old family cafe 'The Rustom Cafe'.

                                            

What's Good: Acting: It is such a delight to watch the beautiful and super talented Manisha Koirala onscreen. She is absolutely delightful. Prit is great as Rumi. Nikita is terrific as Mallika. It is Shirley Setia who as Persis is inconsistent as a Parsi girl. Plot: The plot is absolutely simple, straight forward and adorable. Simplicity is Charming. Technicalities: The technicalities are good and decently done. 

                                    

What's Bad: Second-Second Half: The last 20 minutes of the movie is a bit of a letdown but can be overlooked considering the journey it takes! 

                                    

Final Word: 'Maska' comes close to being the next 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham' but falls short but is nonetheless a delightful and amazing watch! It is probably the better takes on a Mother-Son relationship and should not be missed! I rate 'Maska' 3.5 stars! Watch it and make you quarantine worthwhile!

                                   

Thappad Review: Crisp, Hard and Deserved!

Even after days of viewing this movie, it has been incredibly difficult for me to review this Taapsee Pannu starrer movie. For everyone considering that it was 'just a slap', Thappad in this movie is just a Metaphor. The movie also stars Tanvi Azmi, Ratna Pathak, Kumud Mishra, Geetika Vidya Ohalyan, Manav Kaul, Dia Mirza, Maya Sarau and Pavail Gulati. It is directed by Anubhav Sinha previously known for 'Article 15', 'Mulk' etc.

                                                

What's Good: Acting: There is absolutely nothing that can be picked out. Perfection by an ensemble cast. Screenplay: For a subject like this, the screenplay could have faltered but Anubhav Sinha and co-writer Mrunmayee Lagoo do it with such finesse and perfection, there is not a single false note. Story: Its biggest strength is the writing. The movie is not at all male-bashing but shows the positive side of men as well. The climax choked me! Music: 'Ek Tukda Dhoop' shines and shines on. Technicalities: Editing, Background Score, Cinematography, everything is PITCH PERFECT.

                                     

What's Bad: NOTHING! At most, apart from 'Ek Tukda Dhoop' none of the songs make an impact.

                                           

Final Word: 'Thappad' is just a metaphor in the movie. Thappad is Anubhav Sinha's and the BEST FILM  in at least the last 10 years and features Taapsee's BEST PERFORMANCE so far. It's not about smashing the patriarchy or anything, it is just the story of a regular housewife who refuses to brush things under the carpet for 'family honour'. Thappad is near to PERFECT FILM. In my 4 years of blogging, I have never rated a movie so high but Thappad is an ABSOLUTE WATCH and gets 4.75 stars! I cannot stress the fact that how much perfection the film has obtained and the fact that it should NOT BE MISSED AT ALL! There can be a whole length and so much to discuss about this movie! Please let me know if you are willing to discuss!

                                            

P.S. If you have seen the movie, PLEASE encourage your FAMILY & RELATIVES but do NOT miss it!