March 4, 2024 – Rigobertha Reviews

March 4, 2024November 13, 2024

Maamla Legal Hai: An Entertaining Legal Satire Led By A Delightful Ravi Kishan

At times the series feels like an OTT version of Subhash Kapoor’s ‘Jolly LLB’. But still, this Rahul Pandey’s directorial is very much its own best.

Main Cast: Ravi Kishan, Nidhi Bist, Yashpal Sharma, and Naila Grewal
Director: Rahul Pandey
Producer: Amit Golani and Biswapati Sarkar
Music Director: Nilotpal Bora
Cinematography: Milind Jog
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Rating: 3.5/5
Episodes: 8
Published in: Southfirst

Subjects revolving around courtrooms and lawyers always make for an interesting subject. Reason: They represent a form of hope for a common man as Saurabh Shukla’s judge Sunderlal Tripathi says at an important juncture in Jolly LLB 2 (2017).

Subhash Kapoor’s Jolly LLB films engaged the audience thoroughly with witty dialogues and touched upon different social topics.

For example, Jolly LLB (2013) was about a hit-and-run case. It was about the death of some labourers who were run over by a land cruiser while sleeping on the footpath.

Jolly LLB 2 was related to a fake encounter. To begin with, in both films, the protagonists are not very likeable advocates. But they grow a conscience as the plot moves along.

Synopsis

Now, you have Maamla Legal Hai set in the district court of Patparganj. The eight episodes portray a variety of eccentric cases inspired by real-life stories.

VD Tyagi (Ravi Kishan) is a street-smart advocate who aspires to become the bar association president. Tyagi excels at finding loopholes in the legal system to win cases.

He has two assistants who are hilariously nicknamed as law and order.

Sujatha (Nidhi Bhist) dreams of having her chamber one day.

Vishwas Pandey (Anant V Joshi) is the court manager.

Ananya Shroff (Naila Grewal) is a Harvard-returned advocate with dreams of providing legal aid to the underserved. However, she faces a harsh reality in Patparganj.

In simple terms, the story deals with the wacky nature of the district court and some small-town problems.

Director Rahul Randey deserves distinction marks for how he packages serious issues while maintaining the entertainment quotient.

He touches upon how the strikes of lawyers affect the cases, the connubial rights of prisoners, etc.

Among the many bizarre cases, my favourite one is that of a husband who wants a divorce because his wife does not feel shy during their wedding night.

This may be as unbelievable but at the end of the episode, you have a newspaper clipping showing how this had really happened.

The web series also makes a strong statement on how law and justice are two very different beasts; they should be the same in the ideal world though. This comes out firmly in an episode where Naila Grewal’s character faces a moral predicament while tackling a case.

Well-written characters

The characters have been written with a lot of care. A good example of nuanced writing is Ananya’s constant dilemma regarding her idealism that clashes with pragmatism.

Though she is well-versed in law, there are junctures where the reality sets in and Ananya‘s desire to deliver justice takes a step back.

Similarly, Ravi Kishan’s VD Tyagi may come across as very cunning but he has his humanity, which comes out strongly in a particular episode.

About the performances, Ravi Kishan leads the ensemble with his brilliant performance. The actor does a swell job of portraying the transformation that his character goes through, from being shrewd he comes to understand the power bestowed on him.

However, the complicated relationship of Tyagi with his father needed to be better explored.

At times, the show gets into a melodramatic zone, which doesn’t gel with the overall tonality.

Among the other actors, Nidhi Bisht also makes a big impact with her comic timing and matches up to Ravi Kishan.

Naila Grewal, as an outsider to this bizarre world, also fares well in portraying the existential crisis.

Anant V Joshi’s character is pretty similar to the one in 12th Fail (2023), but he is still fine in what he does.

Verdict

Maamla Legal Hai is a hilarious satire that needs to be watched for its social commentary and striking performances.

https://thesouthfirst.com/entertainment/maamla-legal-hai-web-series-review/

March 4, 2024November 11, 2024

Laapataa Ladies: A Well-Made Feministic Tale That Shouldn’t Be Missed

After making a respectable debut with ‘Dhobhi Ghat’, Kiran Rao goes a step ahead with this ‘Laapataa Ladies’— a perfect example of feel-good storytelling with solid content.

Main Cast: Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Shrivastava, Ravi Kishan, and Chhaya Kadam
Director: Kiran Rao
Producer: Kiran Rao and Aamir Khan
Music Director: Ram Sampath
Cinematography: Vikash Nowlakha
Genre: Comedy – Drama
Rating: 4/5
Published in: Southfirst

There are two ways of making a feminist movie. One is the heavy drama mode where everything is amped-up and the other is feel-good storytelling where the focus lies on subtlety without compromising on the core.

Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies belongs to the second category.

On more than one occasion, the film feels like a warm hug.

Synopsis

The story of Laapataa Ladies is about two newlywed brides — Phool Kumari (Nitanshi Goel) and Pushpa Rani/Jaya (Pratibha Ranta).

Sparsh Shrivastava plays Deepak Kumar, the husband of Phool Kumari. On the way back from marriage, Deepak and Phool go through multiple modes of transportation — from a scooter and bus to a train.

A still from the film ‘Laapataa Ladies’. (X)

His friends and family eagerly wait to welcome the new bride. Things take a drastic turn as soon as the bride is unveiled. It turns out that Deepak mistakingly brings another man’s bride instead of his.

This is all because of the multiple newly-married women onboard the train in the same costume.

Naturally, Deepak’s world turns upside down with his dreams of married life crashing.

After the initial shock, Deepak decides to look for his bride along with finding the whereabouts of Pushpa Rani’s family.

Adding to this already chaotic situation is the dubious local cop (Ravi Kishan knocking it out of the park again with his second release of the week).

Director Kiran Rao and her writers have touched upon heavy topics like the importance of education, self-reliance, and the unnecessary practices and diktats women are subjected to.

But at no point does the film feel heavy-handed, this is because of Kiran Rao’s treatment apart from the sharp writing.

Best parts

‘Laapataa Ladies’ is a comedy-drama. (X)

My favourite portions in the film are those involving Phool and her interactions with a street vendor, a beggar, and a chai wali.

There is a unique bond that Phool forms with an elderly lady named Manju Maai (a delightful Chhaya Kadam).

Manju Maai was a victim of domestic abuse. Her husband used to drink alcohol and physically abuse her. His justification is that violence should be allowed in love as it is a way of showing affection, this seems to be an indirect attack on Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Arjun Reddy (2016) and the recent Animal (2023), although it could be unintentional.

Back to Laapaata Ladies, Phool learns important things from Manju Maai and in the process, she becomes self-reliant. There is so much warmth in the way Phool forms a bond with the three, it is a delight to watch.

My other favourite portions of the film are the ones involving Pushpa Rani/Jaya. There is a certain mystery involving her character, she is more than happy to stay away from the person she is married to.

Pushpa Rani develops a strong friendship with Deepak’s Bhabhi and encourages the women to find their voice.

She also plays an important role in Deepak eventually finding Phool.

Performances

Laapaata Ladies has many scenes of rib-tickling humour from the fantastic Ravi Kishan. His comic timing coupled with the dialect is top-notch.

At no point, did his performance come across as hammy. In simple terms, Ravi Kishan has an absolute blast as a cop who loves taking bribes but still has a conscience.

Both Nitanshi Goel and Pratibha Ranta are wonderful in their respective roles.

Sparsh Srivastava as Deepak also sparkles in his well-written role. He brings out the sensitivity of Deepak in a pitch-perfect manner.

Ram Sampath’s music is in perfect sync with the film’s nature. Sajni sung by Arjit Singh is a soothing number as is “Dheeme Dheeme” sung by Shreya Ghoshal

The one slight flaw of Laapataa Ladies is a minor subplot involving a crooked politician. It has been patchily written.

Final take

Laapataa Ladies is a small movie with a big heart, highly recommended.

https://thesouthfirst.com/entertainment/laapataa-ladies-hindi-movie-review/

March 4, 2024November 30, 2024

Social Dramas Shift From Theatres To OTT Space

A rundown of how gritty stories are of late being made more for the OTT platforms, both as films and web series.

Published in: Southfirst

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many changes in the film industry. The uncertainty of what works and what doesn’t work on the big screen has grown bigger than before.

The demand seems to be more for larger-than-life entertainment — whether it is Pushpa: The Rise (2021), RRR (2022), Pathaan (2022), Jawan (2023), or Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (2023).

Sure, there are also the likes of Vikrant Massey’s 12^th Fail (2023), which sprung a huge surprise. But many films which did well since COVID-19 are full of action and heroism.

Of course, movies with messages when mixed with entertainment — social dramas — do reach more audiences.

For example, in Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan, director Atlee touched upon some pressing grassroots issues like poor facilities in government hospitals and farmer suicides among others.

In Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani — a mainstream love story, director Karan Johar made some important points on inclusivity, the side effects of toxic masculinity, etc.

However, commercial trappings don’t always gel with issue-based films. For example, take Bheed (2023). It was mainly a story about the mass migration of workers during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Director Anubhav Sinha chose to insert a love story which didn’t gel in the overall tonality of Bheed. It was the commercial elements like these that hampered the film in a big way.

Now, let us look at the social dramas streaming on the OTT platforms:

OTT space sees influx of social dramas

After the advent of OTT, many social issues have come to light on screen.

For example, Manoj Bajpayee’s Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai (2023) was a legal drama based on the trial of Asaram Bapu who raped a minor. This movie garnered a lot of acclaim for the realistic portrayal of the courtroom along with Manoj Bajpayee’s performance.

Pankaj Tripathi’s Kaagaz (2021) was about the struggle of a farmer who was declared dead in official papers. This social drama got decent reviews with particular praise for Pankaj Tripathi’s performance as a common man.

Vidya Balan’s Sherni (2021), again a social drama, dealt with the protection of wildlife which includes saving tigers.

Now, even the big production houses and stars have made a foray into OTT. I will start with King Khan.

Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies made a few films on some important topics — Love Hostel (2022), Darlings (2022), and Bhakshak (2024). Darlings is a co-production of Alia and Shah Rukh Khan.

Love Hostel

Vikrant Massey and Sanya Malhotra’s Love Hostel was set amidst the background of families and Khap panchayats resorting to honour killings.

Sanya Malhotra played a Hindu girl named Jyothi in it, while Vikrant Massey played a Muslim named Ahmad. They stay in a protection home after marrying without the consent of their respective families, but this protection home does not guarantee their safety in any way.

Bobby Deol as Dagar is seen in the role of a ruthless mercenary who is hired to kill these young lovers.

Director Shankar Raman made this chilling film that questioned the self-appointed custodians of society.

The subject of Love Hostel isn’t particularly novel but what made this film click was the taut narration coupled with the trio of Vikrant Massey, Sanya Malhotra and Bobby Deol.

As the ruthless mercenary, Bobby evoked fear with just his demeanour. Dagar is someone who believes that his actions are necessary to keep the social fabric intact and the actor got the nuances of the character spot on.

Vikrant and Sanya as young lovers also made a striking impact; they aced the dialect apart from sharing a wonderful chemistry.

Bhakshak

Bhakshak, directed by Pulkit, was based on the real-life incidents of sexual abuse that happened in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur shelter home.

Bhumi Pednekar played the role of a small-time independent journalist who wants to bring out the reality of this shelter home.

In the recent past, the portrayal of journalists in movies has been quite objectionable. But here, the director did an authentic job of depicting journalism and journalists.

The scenes of sexual exploitation were also shown with the required sensitivity, never bordering on exaggeration.

Bhumi Pednekar aced her role as did Sanjay Mishra and Aditya Srivastava, among others.

Darlings

Jasmeet K Reen’s Darlings is a dark comedy/thriller about two Muslim women; Alia Bhatt as Badrunissa—the daughter and Shefali Shah as Shamshunissa—the mother.

Badrunissa faces both physical and emotional abuse from her husband Hamza (a scary Vijay Varma) but is always hopeful that he will change.

Shefali Shah’s Shamshunissa is more practical as she already experienced abuse from her spouse.

Darlings does have tonal issues in the second half but for a debut director Jasmeet K Reen did a good job in showcasing the unequal power structure of marriage and also the usage of the bustling chawl (lower middle class colony) which became a character in itself.

After Darlings, Alia Bhatt co-produced Poacher, a web show on another important social issue, which is about the poaching of elephants.

Richie Mehta is the director. His follow-up to Delhi Crime works as both an investigative thriller and human drama. It makes the viewers do some serious soul-searching about the need for peaceful co-existence between man and nature.

The Railway Men

Yash Raj Films is mostly known for producing big-scale entertainers. But, of late, it came up with a web show on a social issue — The Railway Men.

Of course, they have produced films like Chak De India (2007), Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year (2009), etc. However, The Railway Men, produced by Aditya Chopra is a different entity altogether, as the series is based on the sensitive subject of the Bhopal gas tragedy.

Shiv Rawail made his debut as a writer cum director with this one. The debutant focused his lens on the little-known heroes of the Indian Railway who put their lives at stake to save thousands of people from the lethal gas.

The subject of The Railway Men is not an easy one to handle but Shiv Rawail showed a lot of maturity aided by some powerful performances from Kay Kay Menon and Babil Khan, among others.

More social dramas

Director-producer Karan Johar also sprang a pleasant surprise on the eve of Valentine’s Day with the docu-series Love Storiyaan (2024).

Love Storiyaan (2023) focused on real-life couples across age groups and states narrating their stories of resilience and strength. The narratives could have easily fit into a movie but he chose to do a docu-series.

Arjun Varain Singh’s Kho Gaye Hum Kahan (2023) is a friendship-based story on the loneliness of Gen Z in the digital era.

Zoya Akhtar also is a commercially successful director but she chose Kho Gaye Hum Kahan‘s story for the OTT space.

This increase in social issues in OTT platforms has its positives as more authentic presentation is possible. But at the same time, there is also the danger of theatrical experience being reduced to just larger-than-life entertainment stories.

https://thesouthfirst.com/entertainment/trend-alert-social-dramas-shift-from-theatres-to-ott-space/