Tag: Dharmatic Entertainment

Posted on

Accused: A nuanced character study of women in power

Director Anubhuti Kashyap does an interesting gender flip with the backdrop of Me Too. In this case the victim as well as the accused is a woman. Using this as a microscope the film looks at society’s double standards on how men feel threatened by a woman rising to the top. A strong aspect of Accused is the same sex relationship of Konkana and Pratibha Ranta. Their bond is portrayed in a matter-of-fact way like any man and woman in the same situation.

Starcast: Konkana Sen Sharma, Pratibha Rana, Aditya Nanda, Mashhor Amorahi and others

Director: Anubhuti Kashyap

Genre: Thriller/drama

Writers: Sima Agarwal and Yash Keswani

Producers: Karan Johar, Somen Mishra, Apoorva Mehta and Aadar Poonawala

Production Company: Dharmatic Entertainment

Running time: 1 hour and 46 minutes

Streaming site: Netflix

There is an important line in Anubhuti Kashyap’s Accused streaming on Netflix. It goes like this Jab Aadmi successful hota hai to hum kehta hain deserve karte hain but when a woman reaches a powerful position, we doubt Aisa Kya Kiya hoga. This statement pretty much sums up the core of Accused. After the story of male doctor practicing gynaecology Anubhuti once again chooses a medical workplace for the film. But this one operates in a very different zone.

Konkana and Pratibha as a queer couple in Accused

The story of Accused in simple terms focuses on Konkana Sen Sharma’s Geetika Rao and Pratibha Ranta’s Meera. The two are in a solid relationship with plans of adopting a baby. Geetika is a celebrated doctor who is known for her hard work as well for her no-nonsense nature. Geetika Rao has a tough exterior and is not necessarily likeable. Meera on the other hand is the more emotional one. The difference in their personalities is not a hindrance for their co living as things are going stable. However, all that changes due to some anonymous mails hinting at sexual misconduct. Geetika Rao’s reputation faces a major hit. Complaints about her being a taskmaster are common but this time around the nature of accusations threaten to destroy both her professional and personal career. This is the story in brief.

A strong aspect of Accused are the characterizations of both Geetika and Meera. There are portions in the movie where Geetika comes across as very self-centered. A heated argument between Konkana and Pratibha is a solid example of this. Also, the way Geetika does certain things makes the viewers think that she is actually guilty of the accusations levelled on her.

Meera on the other hand is not reduced to a submissive spouse. There is both vulnerability and strong inner strength. She wants the previous normalcy to return but at the same time Geetika’s distant attitude makes things difficult. The dynamics have an organic feel as both Konkana and Pratibha feed off each other wonderfully.

As the mystery is unraveled a different layer comes out which is how and why Geetika was framed for sexual misconduct. This is where the film slips into a feministic zone on how men feel threatened by a woman achieving high position. An important monologue of Konkana Sen Sharma reflects this. At the same time there is a psychological insight too into the mindset of Geetika on why she is hard with her colleagues expecting absolute efficiency.

In the end Geetika accepts her flaws and rejects the promotion of dean saying that she still needs to work on herself. The patch up of Konkana and Pratibha has some heartfelt dialogues ending the movie on a high.

Both Konkana and Pratibha handle the tricky subject matter with ease. Konkana is of course a seasoned performer, but Pratibha is the surprise package here capturing the different shades of Meera with admirable precision. Aditya Nanda as Meera’s colleague with some unspoken feelings does a good job too. Mashhor Amarohi as the investigator has his moments as well.

Technically speaking the production design coupled with the atmospherics add to the mystery. One major issue with Accused is the portrayal of Me-Too movement. There is a surface level treatment to the entire subplot. The significance of Me-too gets somewhere lost in the thriller treatment.

Final word: Accused is a largely satisfying thriller/drama especially for the solid acting and the themes it tackles.

Posted on

Call Me Bae: A breezy coming of age story

Director Collin D’Cunha manages to create a strong sense of sisterhood, the journey of Ananya Pandey’s Bae in carving her own identity comes across as sanitized but still the show has enough spunk

  • Starcast: Ananya Pandey, Muskkaan Jaferi, Gurfateh Pirzada, Varun Sood, Vihaan Samrat, Vir Das and others
  • Story: Ishita Moitra, Samina Motlekar and Rohit Nair
  • Director: Collin D’ Cunha
  • Producers: Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta and Somen Mishra
  • Production Company: Dharmatic Entertainment
  • No of episodes: 8
  • Streaming site: Amazon Prime
  • Music: Rochak Kohli

Collin D’Cunha’s Call Me Bae focuses on the transformation of a rich housewife Bella aka Bae (Ananya Pandey). The show begins with Bae getting ousted from her sasural when she is caught getting cozy with the gym trainer played by Varun Sood. From here we go to a brief flashback establishing her rich lifestyle. Mini Mathur plays Bae’s mother Gayatri. She takes it upon herself to set the daughter’s marriage with an equally rich guy Agastya (Vihaan Samrat). Their relationship starts off a great note, but soon the marriage takes a big hit because of Agastya’s detachment. It is during this time that Bae falls for Varun Sood’s Prince Bhasin. What adds to Bae’s woes is the attitude of her mother who distances herself. Now Bae has to fend for herself and in this process her path crosses with that of Satyajit Sen (a delightful Vir Das). Satyajit Sen is a news anchor modeled on the likes of Arunav Goswami. Aiding Bae in the growth is Muskkaan Jaferi’s Saira Ali.

Call Me Bae focuses on the transformation of a rich housewife Bella aka Bae
Bae’s path crosses with Satyajit Sen (Vir Das)

First and foremost, the tonality of Call Me Bae is not of the typical riches to rags storylines. Ananya Pandey’s Bae doesn’t sleep on a footpath and nor do we see her hustle in local trains. The process of finding a place and job doesn’t become a big hassle. There is a lot of tongue in cheek humor in the way the writers have written Bella. Once the viewers get adjusted to this tonality there is quite a bit to enjoy.

What makes the series work in spite of the sanitized situations is the characterization of Bella coupled with Ananya Pandey’s winsome act. Some of Bella’s quirks jell perfectly with the personality of Ananya and the actress raises many chuckles in portraying Bella’s cluelessness. One of the humorous bits include a scene where Bella sprays hand sanitizer on a beach bench. At the same time, she also aces the emotional scenes like the one where Bella sees her husband Agastya being close to another girl. The process of Bella becoming a more layered person has been wonderfully portrayed by the actress. Also, to the credit of Ishita Moitra and co Bella doesn’t drastically transform into a down to earth person. Her quirky nature is very much there but at the same time there is a subtle growth.

What also works for the series is the camaraderie between Ananya Pandey and Muskkaan Jaferi. Muskkaan Jaferi’s character enters at a crucial point and soon becomes an important ally. Muskkaan Jaferi’s comic timing is simply wonderful, her one liners add a lot to the show. Through her performance Muskkaan Jaferi makes you wish that you also had a strong friend like her.

Vir Das’s act of an arrogant and oversmart journalist is clearly reminiscent of Arunav Goswami’s antics. The character is more of a caricature but still Vir Das does a splendid job in making the viewers detest him. There is a devilish glee in the way Vir portrays him. The confrontation scenes between Ananya and Vir spice up the show in a major way.

Vir Das as Satyajit Sen
Ananya Pandey and Vir Das confrontation scene

Mention must be also made of the equation between the characters of Ananya Pandey and Gurfateh Pirzada. Gurfateh Pirzada plays Bella’s colleague Neel. Neel also contributes significantly to Bella’s progress, there is also a cute love story. Gurfateh Pirzada pitches in a fine performance making his presence amply felt. Varun Sood as the lovable gym trainer also has his moments.

As mentioned in the beginning director Collin D’ Cunha brings a strong sense of sisterhood. This sisterhood is reflected through not just the track of Muskkaan Jaferi. There is also Niharika Lyra Dutt as Tammarrah Lisa Mishra as Harleen. These two women also become an important part of Bella’s life.

Towards the end the series gets into a serious territory of Me Too and also data privacy. These important themes needed stronger writing, also the cinematic liberties taken by Colllin D’Cunha here becomes hard to digest. Thankfully though the series doesn’t get into a preachy zone. The costumes of Ananya go perfectly well with the pitch of the series. initially they are very glitzy and over the top but in the later episodes they are more subdued.

Rochak Kohli’s music has a good mix of fun and emotional songs particular mention must be made of Churaaiyaan.

Ananya Pandey in Churaaiyaan

Call Me Bae is a perfect watch for those like frothy entertainment without going very deep.

Posted on

Showtime: An Entertaining But A Clichéd Take On The Inner Workings Of The Film Industry

Emraan Hashmi has always worked best when playing characters with grey areas and ‘Showtime’ is one more example of that.
  • Main Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Mahima Makwana, Rajeev Khandewal, Mouni Roy, Shriya Saran, and Naseerudin Shah
  • Director: Mihar Desai and Archit Kumar
  • Producer: Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta, Somen Mishra, and Mihir Desai
  • Music Director: Anand Bhaskar
  • Cinematography: Vivek Shah
  • Genre: Drama
  • Episodes: 4
  • Published in: Southfirst

The story of Showtime has an outlandish but interesting premise.

Raghu Khanna (Emraan Hashmi) is the heir apparent of a studio named Viktory, started by his father Viktor Khanna (Naseeruddin Shah).

The son and father have very different approaches towards filmmaking and the movie business. As a result, they are constantly at loggerheads.

Raghu’s latest production is Pyaar Dangerous. Raghu tries to bribe critics to give good reviews.

A critic of the news samachar is unwell therefore he asks the junior Mahika Nandy (Mahima Makwana) to review the film and say only positive stuff.

Emraan Hashmi in ‘Showtime’. (X)

Raghu’s aide Ziko (Gurpreet Saini) even gifts her the latest smartphone. But on TV, Mahika brutally blasts the film adding that she was given a bribe for a positive review. The review and Mahika’s confession go viral and she loses her job.

But that very night, Viktor Khanna invites Mahika to his home, where they have a heart-to-heart conversation. Mahika expresses her wish for Viktory Studios to return to the heartfelt films they used to make.

After a few hours, Viktor passes away and things take a ludicrous turn when it is revealed that Mahika is Viktor’s granddaughter.

Naturally, Raghu gets the shock of his life but things don’t end there.

The lawyers read out Viktor’s will, which says that the ownership of Viktory Studios has been handed over to the granddaughter.

This changes the lives of Raghu and Mahika forever. Nothing more can be revealed as numerous parallel subplots are integrated into the main story.

Analysis

Showtime works best when it focuses on the characters of Emraan Hashmi and Mahima Makwana.

The interpersonal dynamics and how Mahika takes on the big challenges after the initial shock give the show some of its best moments.

Emraan Hashmi has always worked best when playing characters with grey areas and Showtime is one more example of that.

His Raghu Khanna is supremely brash, hurting people close to him like his love interest Mouni Roy who also plays an item dancer with aspirations of becoming a heroine.

But beneath the brashness, there is also a vulnerability to him that comes through strongly.

Performances

Mahima Makwana in ‘Showtime’. (X)

Emraan Hashmi does a brilliant job of portraying the different shades.

Mahima Makwana also does well in showcasing the switch of a Mahika Nandy from a regular girl to an assertive boss lady.

Among the supporting characters, Rajeev Khandelwal makes the biggest impact. He plays an obnoxious superstar who outlives his stardom but continues to throw tantrums. The actor has a blast in portraying the eccentricities.

Showtime also tackles some important questions regarding South Cinema Vs Bollywood and what should be prioritised more — script or superstars.

What doesn’t work for Showtime is the overtop and formulaic approach taken by the directors.

Directors Mihir Desai and Archit Kumar try to merge real with reel ageing superstars losing touch with reality, and sexy item girls struggling to make a mark as actresses. But this showcase of Bollywood’s dark side offers nothing particularly new.

Also, many actors have been woefully underutilised. These include Naseerudin Shah and Mouni Roy.

Final take

Showtime can be watched if you like some harmless fun and Emraan Hashmi’s acting.

https://thesouthfirst.com/entertainment/showtime-webseries-review-an-entertaining-but-a-cliched-take-on-the-inner-workings-of-the-film-industry/