Member Reviews

Do Patti begins with scattered shots of paragliding gone wrong and a stakeout on a bridge, followed by a woman in a police station telling the cops her husband tried to kill her. Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba, released in August, also has a stakeout on a bridge, and its first scene is a woman in a police station telling the cops her husband is going to kill her. Both films are written by Kanika Dhillon, both are Netflix releases. Did no one think it was a problem that the films start the exact same way?

Dressed in the exact same attire as her newly wedded sister at her reception, the lookalike twin poses right next to the bride and groom as if fulfilling Bollywood’s bawdy fantasy of saali aadhi gharwali in a tasteless, thunder-stealing move.

For a long time, one believed that a compelling cinematic narrative shows more than it tells, and expresses more than it explains. However, the recent content spurt on OTT platforms seems bent on cerebrating the opposite. Do Patti is yet another addition to the long list of films that skip theatres for a streaming service. It reduces the art of storytelling to a mere artifice for meaningful cinema. These films end up delivering the message but little else.

Anu heads to Varanasi to immerse her mother’s ashes in Ganga. During the trip, she meets a sage, who hands over an ancient relic to her and dies under mysterious circumstances. Though Anu is instructed to give it to a temple priest in a village, she is reluctant to take the initiative. What connects her to the relic, an ancient temple and the fifth veda?

Julio, the son of a single parent Susan Miranda, requests his mother to adopt an infant who’s left stranded on the streets. Braving past several financial challenges, Susain raises Julio and Regalo, who are extremely fond of one another. As adults, they hope to make a career in football. However, when a personal setback tests their equation, Regalo has a tough choice to make.

With Indrajith no longer around and Ravan drowning in sadness, Ahiravan wreaks havoc on the Lankan dynasty. Hanuman is surprised to realise he has a son – Makardhwaja, who opposes him initially but makes amends later. He also finds unexpected support from Ravan’s former aide Harshasringa in his quest to free Ram and Laxman from Ahiravan. Who has the last laugh?

Shailee and Saumya are twin sisters who lose their mom early in life. Ever since, they don’t get on well with one another and Shailee is soon shifted to a boarding school. Many years later, Saumya falls for Dhruv, an adventure sports enthusiast and son of a politician. Shailee, unexpectedly, returns to her home town and tries to be the party pooper in their relationship. Where’s the tale headed?

After his tryst with hell for many years, Jung Jinsu, the brain behind the New Truth, is back and recognises the growing prominence of the Arrowhead in the society. Jinsu realises he may not be the only one to be resurrected back to the land of the living. Does resurrection eventually mean damnation or will it pave the path to true salvation?

A lot of the splendour in Sean Baker’s Anora lies in its treatment – where we might be shown one thing, but deliberately made to feel something else. For example, the film opens with a discomfiting panning shot featuring barely-clothed exotic dancers performing with neon lights around them. However, Baker scores this scene with a loud, winsome techno song taking what is a distressing visual of young women forced to work a job that fetishises them, and drains the self-pity out of it.