Screen Time: Taking on the Patriarchy
It’s all about women in this month’s line-up. A gun-toting saas-bahu trio, a nononsense cop, a resilient mother, and a political heir are some of the memorable female characters who challenge the status quo.
Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo (Hindi)
Disney Hotstar
Dimple Kapadia is having a rollicking time as an actress. After playing the badass head of a covert spy organization in the blockbuster Pathaan, the gorgeous actress is back in all her gun-toting glory in Homi Adajania’s new series as Savitri, a matriarch who runs a cooperative for women in the fictional town of Hastipur. It’s actually a cover for a flourishing drug trade. Their product, Flamingo, is the drug of choice. It brought back memories of a really bad ’80s film called Gunahon Ka Faisla, in which she mows down the baddies who’ve wronged her (the only thing memorable about her character is a ridiculous headpiece). Savitri is aided in her enterprise by her two daughters-in-law, Kajal (Angira Dhar) and Bijlee (Isha Talwar), and her daughter, Shanta (Radhika Madan). The men are merely foot soldiers. Savitri is in big trouble when an adulterated version of Flamingo causes the death of a politician’s son. The cops are after her and so is a deadly rival, Monk (Deepak Dobriyal). Replete with action sequences where the women pull some pretty cool stunts, the series could have been a bit tighter but it is an enjoyable ride nonetheless. Not to sound repetitive, but watch it for Dimple. In one scene, she cuts out the tongue of an intruder. There’s grace and menace, in equal measure.
Dahaad (Hindi)
Prime Video
You can’t go wrong with pretty much anything born from the creative minds of Zoya Akhtar (creator) and Reema Kagti (co-directing with Ruchika Oberoi). The fact that Dahaad belongs to my favorite genres of all time—police procedurals—was icing on the cake. The eight-part series has Anjali Bhaati (Sonakshi Sinha) along with her boss Devi Singh (Gulshan Devaiah) in hot pursuit of a psychopath (Vijay Varma) who preys on women belonging to a “backward” class, enticing them to elope and then killing them with cyanide (this is not a spoiler; it’s revealed in the first episode). The performances are top notch. Sonakshi Sinha gets to flex her acting muscles and it’s quite a kick to see her in uniform, though she does come off as more annoyed than required in almost every scene. But that’s a quibble. Vijay Varma, in top form, plays the twisted Anand Swarnakar—professor by day and killer by night. Think of his performance in Darlings. He turns up the creep factor up by ten. Gulshan Devaiah is solid as Sonakshi’s boss who’s trying to get a handle on his own marriage while fighting off his admiration for her. Especially tender is the father in him as he encourages his teenage daughter to spread her wings, even though they live in a world where women are treated horribly. Dahaad is full of such finely etched characters.
Purusha Pretham (Malayalam)
SonyLIV
It’s another fun police procedural, which gets better and better! Director Krishand comments on the quirks of human nature without getting all too serious about it. Sebastian (Prasanth Alexander) fancies himself to be a top cop but it’s all talk. His junior, Dileep (Jagadish), is his closest confidante. Failing to identify a body they’ve fished out from the local lake, they bury it after three days as per police protocol. Then Susanna (Darshana Rajendran) turns up claiming that the body is none other than her dead husband. To add to the chaos, the body “disappears” and Susanna and Sebastian are up in arms against each other. There are twists and turns galore, the bodies pile up at a staggering pace, and the mood shifts consistently. With horror, drama, and comedy, the action just doesn’t let up. We also see a dark side as people rush in to claim these unidentified bodies for their own vested interests. As is the tradition with Malayalam cinema, the acting is top notch, the story (by Manu Thodupuzha) taut, the script (by Ajith Haridas) brilliant, and the cinematography (by Krishand) delectable.
Thuramukham (Malayalam)
SonyLIV
Set against the backdrop of laborers protesting the infamous “chappa” system practised in the ’40s and ’50s at the Mattancherry harbor in Kochi, Kerala, this period drama is an adaptation of B.K. Chidambaram’s eponymous play, scripted for this film by his son, Gopan Chidambaram. Metal tokens or chappas were thrown at laborers seeking work and those who caught them would be picked for a shift at the local dock or wharf. Superstar Nivin Pauly brings his charisma to the role of Mattancherry Moidu, a laborer who starts off as an impressionable youngster but soon crosses over to the other side, going against his fellow workers. The story is told through the struggles that his family faces—from his father (Joju George) who goes missing, and his stoic mother, a compelling Poornima Indrajith, to Moidu’s brother, Hamza (Arjun Ashokan), who sympathizes with the union workers. This Rajiv Rai directorial is consistently engaging.
Sengalam (Tamil)
ZEE5
For those in the mood for a meaty political thriller, this nine-part series revolving around Sivagnyanam’s (Sharath Lohistashwa) family and their hold over Virudhu Nagar is the perfect binge show. Sivagnyanam’s older son, Rajamanickam (Pawan), is a shrewd politician with hefty ambitions while the younger son prefers to do business. To maintain his dominance, Raja needs to marry again after the death of his first wife. He weds Suryakala (Vani Bhojan), the daughter of a rich businessman. There is that proverbial twist when Raja loses his life in an accident and the unassuming Suryakala is shoved into the spotlight when she’s named the political heir by Sivagnyanam, who is now in for a rude shock. In a parallel story, Rayar (Kalaiyarasan) and his two brothers are seeking revenge against Sivagnyanam’s family. Kudos to the writers and creators for writing strong female characters who are not side attractions but the ones who run the show.
Baisakhi Roy is a culture writer and journalist based in Ontario, Canada. Her work has appeared in The Globe and Mail, Huffington Post Canada, Chatelaine, Broadview and CBC. Formerly a reporter with The Indian Express in India, Roy is an avid Bollywood fan and co-hosts the Hindi language podcast KhabardaarPodcast.com. Email: baisakhi.roy@gmail.com
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