Thamma Is A Bloodless Vampire Film With No Teeth Or Bite
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The fifth outing in Maddock Films' horror-comedy multiverse, Thamma is a remarkably unremarkable feature. The film's individualism is consistently sacrificed at the altar of crowd-pleasing humour, writes Ishita Sengupta. |
ADITYA SARPOTDAR'S Thamma is a nothing film. It is so vacuous that had the review ended with one line, the remaining blank space could have passed off as method writing. It is so empty-coded that candy floss, in comparison, would be more weighted. It is so ineffective that the cautionary tobacco advertisements attached to theatrical releases prove to be more potent. And, it is so vacant that if the film were a piece of land, it would make for a lucrative real estate deal. My thoughts are getting garbled here, but then thinking about Thamma should not be a full-time job, yet here we are. Hindi films have been suffering for a while. Post-pandemic, viewing patterns altered, and as a result, the semantics of storytelling changed. Five years in, a pattern has emerged. Big-budget films are being mounted with increasing frequency, stardom has gained renewed leverage, and narratives are drowning in self-reflexive references. Another trend is afoot: franchises. One could view this as a response to the COVID-19 uncertainty that most production houses today are working overtime to track a connection among their films. Maddock Films was one of the early movers, and their intricate plots validated integrated worldbuilding. But their latest feature doubles down with damning certitude that franchises have run their course. |
Milap Zaveri's Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat Is Really, Really Terrible
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Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat is what happens when data drives filmmakers and reels inform filmmaking choices. It is what happens when content is baptised as storytelling and a droning background score is mistaken for music.
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MILAP ZAVERI'S Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat is the worst film of the year. I say this knowing that there are a few months left, that art is subjective, and the response it evokes is objective. I also say this because there is more strategy than heart involved in the making, and despite every tear and slo-mo being curated for cheers, Zaveri’s new work is gratuitous, concerning, and I will go out on a limb and say, is really terrible. Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat is what happens when data drives filmmakers and reels inform filmmaking choices. It is what happens when content is baptised as storytelling and a droning background score is mistaken for music. It is what happens when Milap Zaveri makes another film when none of us are looking. In an ideal world, Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat should not happen, but here we are; what do we do? Watch classic romantic tales like Sanam Teri Kasam, Raanjhanaa and more with OTTplay Premium. Get JioHotstar, Zee5, Sonyliv, Fancode, Discovery+ and 25+ OTTs at just Rs 149. Zaveri’s feature revolves around two people who derive all their sexual energy from saying no to each other. If this sounds extreme, you should try watching the film, which is an extreme sport in itself. Vikramaditya Bhonsle (Harshvardhan Rane, the in-house sadboi) is a politician whose mother died in childbirth. Since then, his personality comprises two things: being cocky and annoying. He accidentally meets Adaa Randhawa (Sonam Bajwa) and is obsessed. Given his nature, seeking her permission in the matter escapes him, so after confessing feelings, he ends up straight at her house with sweets and wedding cards. Adaa is not pleased. — I.S. |
The Perfect Neighbor: The United States Of Horror
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The documentary reveals a perfect storm of cultural rot: problematic gun-control laws and mental-health negligence cross-breed with institutionalised racism and sinister self-defence rules, writes Rahul Desai.
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GEETA GANDBHIR'S The Perfect Neighbor unfolds like a found-footage horror film. The genre usually riffs on reality, and remains rooted in the fear of seeing things we shouldn’t see. But this 97-minute documentary is rooted in the fear of seeing things we should see. It’s a broad-daylight horror movie — primarily constructed from police bodycam footage — in which the ‘characters’ are already haunted by the ghosts of systemic prejudice. The natural is scarier than the supernatural, especially in an America that’s built on the validation of white paranoia. The documentary reveals a perfect storm of cultural rot: problematic gun-control laws and mental-health negligence cross-breed with institutionalised racism and sinister self-defence rules. It’s unlike anything I’ve seen before in terms of both technical urgency and bullet-proof critique, which is saying something, given the deluge of shock-and-awe Netflix true-crime projects that have desensitised the whims of modern America in recent years. Fascinating documentaries on JioHotstar that can help you broaden your horizons. Watch them with your OTTplay Premium subscription.
The Perfect Neighbor plays out in a middle-class Florida neighbourhood. The “cinematographers” — who, in this case, are two beat cops from the Marion County Sheriff Department — arrive at the house of one Susan Lorincz, an irritated and self-serious white woman who complains about the Black kids in the area and their ‘mischievous’ antics. Unlike the other homes, her door doesn’t overlook the main street; it’s to the side of the house and cordoned off (or “protected”) by those all-American picket-fences. It’s as if she refuses to have the same visual perspective — of a racially diverse and lively young neighbourhood — as the others. We see Susan express her grievances and accuse one of the parents, Ajike, of bodily harm with a cardboard sign. We hear the kids playfully yelling “Karen” in the background. The cops hear out both sides politely and professionally. You can sense them sympathising with Ajike, while also trivialising the rage of Susan. One of them makes a point: “You’d rather have them play around here than go out robbing cars”. The racial identity of the place is established. |
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