Trade Talk: OTTs City Of Dreams outshines theatre releases again
While Sudipto Sens The Kerala Story continues its dream run at the box office, the new releases Jogira Sara Ra Ra (the title itself is offputting), Aazam: Rise Of A New Don (please stop glorifying gangsters), La Vaste (poor Omkar Kapoors film about disposing unwanted corpses gets disposed on delivery) and Auhaam (a thriller with no takers) look as tempting as a visit to the dentist. 100516200This is what a personnel from a prominent multiplex chain had to say about this weeks new releases: Faulad ki himmat chahiye aisi filmon ko dekhne ke liye aur us-se bhi zyada himmat chahiye inhe release karne ke liye (you need to have a braveheart to see these films you need to be even braver to dare to release them).The problem with the above is not that they are offbeat, edgy films (they try to be all of these). The problem is, they are bad films which would have been rejected even if they were shown pre-Covid, and before OTT took over.This week again OTT takes the lead with the third season of Applause Entertainments City Of Dreams which miraculously escapes the curse of the second and third season to sustain its storytelling momentum even the third time around. A solid plot, a stellar cast and Nagesh Kukunoors astute understanding of power politics in the game of thorns (not thrones) ensures the spectators undivided attention to the end.The same is true of Malayalam director Jude Anthany Josephs 2018. A blockbuster in Malayalam, it releases today in Hindi in the Northern belt. Although a lot of the originals flavour is lost in translation, the Hindi version is still worth a lot more than the average original release in Hindi nowadays which espouses a politics of divisiveness.If 2018s message of humanism is universally relevant regardless of the spoken language, Disneys The Little Mermaid is also all heart. Its message of love-conquers-all may seem like a stretch at a time when so much of cinema the worldover, including Anurag Kashyaps Cannes-do-no-wrong Kennedy is all about hatred and bloodshed. 100510165Sadly animation films dont do well in India.
Friday, May 26, 2023 at 5:42 am