Secrets of the Saqqara Tomb- Astounding Archaeological Adventure

 After 'My Octopus Teacher’ won Best Documentary Feature last year at the Oscars, Netflix raised the bar as far as the quality of documentary features go. That led me to find another gem that released the same year on Netflix, Secrets of the Saqqara Tomb. Now I am no Egyptologist and my knowledge of archaeology may be as dry as a desert, but that doesn’t mar my fascination to discover the buried secrets of Egypt’s dead. In fact, it draws me to watch everything tomb-related. So exploring the secrets of the Saqqara Tomb came naturally and what I stumbled upon as a viewer were precious moments of exploration, excavation and excitement. Through the documentary, we are presented with parallel stories as a motley bunch of experts- archaeologists, historians, masters of language and script and osteologists reconstruct a different reality, lived 4,400 years ago. What they unearth is a treasure trove that generations of Egypt’s archaeologists have been unable to do- reveal the Saqqara Tomb that houses the hidden secrets of a high-ranked priest called Wahtye and his family’s mysterious deaths. Several ornate coffins and tombs are pulled out of the layers of sand and limestone under the pyramids. Workers toil in the heat of the sun breaking their backs to carefully dig out articles of daily use like games people played in the 12-13th century, artefacts and antiques shaped like cats and a beautiful sculpture of a lion. Excavators carefully climb down deep and suffocating shafts to fish out entire mummies and scattered skeletons. Particularly gripping is the discovery of a well-preserved mummified animal among heaps of domesticated and deified cat mummies that turns out to be the first lion ever to have existed in Egypt! Delicately spread out over an elaborate course of over two hours, we are able to enjoy an immersive experience of a lifetime that spells definitive results for the archaeological history and scientific advancements of Egypt. Usually a documentary of this nature could end up feeling very clinical, dull and ruminative, what sets the documentary apart is its ability to keep the viewers focused on the progress of each excavation while adding a human angle of the thrill and achievement of its ultimate discovery. The search for the deepest and darkest tales of erstwhile dynasties and generations demands an extremely exhausting level of passion, commitment and hard work that sets locals apart from the distant foreigner who may trip upon Egypt’s pyramids. Seeing Egypt through the indigenous perspective helps give a rich emotional context to the proceedings, we are as invested and nervous about the results as the researchers, who shrug off the sweat and toil as long as it gives them a chance to witness or get in touch with their history. British documentary director James Tovell gives us a piece of precious ancient Egypt, unravelled by modern Egyptians for whom these findings leave an indelible mark just like the hieroglyphs in the inner sanctum of the pyramids, often life-changing and unforgettable. 

I’m not done yet- Endearing One-Man Act, Bollywood style!

Love him or hate him, with his flourishing and much loved eponymous show on Sony, ace comedian Kapil Sharma, is the undisputed king of stand-up comedy in India and has been pretty much sitting on that throne for close to a decade now. He won the Great Indian Laughter Challenge in 2007 and since then there has been no turning back. He went on to win six seasons of Comedy Circus on Sony and after several other TV stints, found his footing as an established TV comic show entertainer with Comedy Nights with Kapil in 2013 on Colors. If you still doubt his credentials, here’s what his resume looks like: Ormax Media rated Sharma the most popular Indian television personality in April 2016. Forbes India ranked him at 11th and 18th in their Celebrity 100 list in the year 2016 and 2017 respectively. In 2013, he was awarded the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year in the entertainment category, and was ranked third in the Most Admired Indian Personality List by The Economic Times in 2015. (Courtesy: Wikipedia). His rise and rise are not without a few stumbling blocks though. 

He has been constantly in the public eye for several controversial tweets. His infamous drunken brawl with his comic rival on the show once, Sunil Grover which led to their eventual fall-out is perhaps what earned him much criticism and the audience’s ire. Frequent stories about his hedonistic tendencies post his success, celebrities’ complaints about his indisciplined ways while on shoot and the highly mocked Family Time with Kapil couldn’t mar his ranking as much as his issues of alcoholism and depression. He has been written off several times during his career only to emerge stronger and apparently, adequately rehabilitated. His film career may have flopped before it even took off but his forte of humorous repartee and highlighting the common man’s life through his earthy jokes have held him in good stead to help revoke his career. What is it then about this overtly ambitious, unflinchingly gregarious and frequently visible TV personality that we can look forward to seeing in Netflix’s I’m Not Done Yet? 

For all those people who account for his following in millions (he has 39 million followers on Instagram), the OTT show shares a rare glimpse of Kapil where the camera is turned on his personal life, successes, failures, struggles, family, love life and upbringing. It is peppered with all the makings of a regular Bollywood potboiler, so well-scripted is it- with dollops of emotion (we see him talk about his father’s death and its repercussions), class conflict (his wife Ginni was from a rich family unlike him) and love and passion (for his family, comedy and entertainment) that ultimately leads to a happy ending full of fame, money and celebrity status. It was refreshing to have someone who has become the nation’s poster boy for laughter to open up about his suffering with depression and his rags-to-riches story (Kapil Sharma’s net worth in 2022 is estimated at INR 245 crores+). At the end of the day, to not buy in to the intense personal connection that he builds with his audience becomes impossible through the show- a trait that helps him retain his irrefutable status till date.

I rate I’m Not Done Yet *** stars.

I’m not Done Yet is now showing on Netflix.

Looop Lapeta- As thrilling as running on a treadmill

Starring Taapsee Pannu and Tahir Raj Bhasin in lead roles, Looop Lapeta gets its casting perfect considering both these promising stars seem to be running from one role to the other, if we are to go by the number of projects they seem to star in these days. Tom Tykwer’s German film Run Lola Run is the original story to which this Indian adaptation pays tribute but comparisons aside, this film could have held its own if not for the overzealousness of its makers when it comes to experimentation. Considering the film thrives on the repetitive nature of the plot, where one’s choices will determine what the end result may be, one has to keep the audience fully invested in the characters and have viewers rooting for them till the finish line. This is probably where you need extremely good actors or star power to tide over the loopy narrative and chunky editing. Savi is an ex-athlete who is rescued from committing suicide by the good-hearted but shady Satya. The rest of the film is about how she has to return the favour and save his life from his criminal boss Dibeyendu Bhattacharya who has entrusted a quick money-making deal on Satya in a do-or-die, time-bound challenge. Unfortunately, despite sincere performances from the cast, the film’s slow-paced and indulgent first half tests the viewers’ patience too much to actually pique their interest for the actual fun in the second-half. The jumpy interludes, quirky colour filters and repetitive attempts at humour further slow down the narrative. The highlight for me were the two simpleton brothers Appu and Gappu trying to loot their father’s jewellery store with their hare-brained strategies who stand out in a crowded milieu of eccentric characters. Looop Lapeta may have been a taut comic thriller if it were cut by at least 30 minutes and did not feature so many redundant flashbacks and intercuts to constantly try and keep us engrossed. By the way, it’s a bit unsettling to know how Indian cinema has unflinchingly come to a point when it is cool to point the middle finger at your father after making expletives like the f-word the most common expression in OTT vocabulary. I am no moral or culture police but dread to think what’s coming next. 

I give **1/2 stars to Looop Lapeta.

Looop Lapeta is now showing on Netflix.

The Power of the Dog- Ruthless, Raw and Introspective

 

The Power of the Dog is a film that delves deep in to perception vs reality- how people seem to be and how they really may be. Phil and George are two brothers and ranch owners in Montana. Set in 1925, this is an age when women driving a car is scoffed at and a man who is seemingly fragile may be termed effeminate or a faggot. Boorish and imposing, there’s Phil played by Benedict Cumberbatch, a man of the soil, who wears his grubby appearance with pride and doesn’t mince his words, often sharp tongued and hardhearted. His brother does not seem to share his devotion for their mentor Bronco Henry and is starkly contrasted in personality to his brother with his genteel and mild mannerisms. So when George marries the widow Rose who also brings in her docile son Peter to the ranch, he invokes Phil’s ire who is quick to show his displeasure and disapproval of the match. This sets the stage for a game of intimidation, where Rose slowly and surely slips into alcoholism to cope with the constant subjugation and bullying of Phil. Peter who Phil looks down upon for his delicate ways and his subsequent intrusion in to his life, is equally curious as he is wary of Phil. Peter earns Phil’s respect as he shares Bronco Henry’s eye for seeing beyond the obvious. This breaking of perceived barriers is what the film rides on as it unravels what lies beneath a human’s being obvious exterior. Jane Campion explores a compelling plot, inviting the viewer to engage in breaking stereotypes, peeling the layers off each character, scene by scene till they are laid bare. 

The Power of the Dog may take us back by a century but the thought-provoking narrative is as relevant today as it was then. I rate this film **** stars. Like a weary horse, it may trudge slowly but is a rewarding journey for those who stay with it till the end. It leaves you with a lingering sense of human fallacy and duplicity. 

The Power of the Dog is now showing on Netflix.

Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui- Welcome to a ‘new normal’ love story

Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui as the name suggests is a love story, albeit an unconventional one, if you have watched the trailer. So first things first- what’s it about. Well, boy meets girl. Boy falls for girl only to realise that girl was a boy before she turned in to a girl. Going by its unusual theme, this film could have gone downhill easily, but because it is led by the Champion Crusader of all Unconventional Love Stories, Ayushmann Khurrana, the film succeeds in engaging as well as entertaining viewers right from Scene 1. The love story is rather convincing thanks to the chemistry between Ayushmann and Vaani Kapoor. The latter seems to be having fun with perhaps her boldest role till date. 

The message of the film seems to suggest that love can conquer all barriers and does so without being dangerously preachy thanks to its regular dose of humour courtesy the supporting cast especially Ayushmann’s two friends and his family. As a basic concept, the love story of a trans girl could have got limited to being a very niche film, to be enjoyed by an evolved audience but director Abhishek Kapoor manages to push the right buttons to make this film as commercial as possible with its peppy songs, pacy editing and blunt dialogues. The film is ultimately peppered with common issues in people’s lives like family feuds, barriers of religion, the struggle to prove oneself, physical imperfections, social impositions, closed or conservative mindsets and so on. While one may wonder if Chandigarh is a convincing backdrop for a theme so foreign even in cosmopolitan metro cities of India, the film’s biggest weakness is perhaps that it tries to make an ambitious statement on non-conformity. To base a film like this in an atypical setting like Chandigarh, to have a  family of Jatts come to grips with the ‘new normal’ love story of a trans girl and a boy, to squeeze in a Hindu-Muslim love angle in the mix and the grand finale where the hero of the film must triumph amidst all odds is all a bit filmy to say the least, taking away from the otherwise credible premise of the main love story. Yet, in post-Covid times, a film like this with its heart in the right place gets my vote for what it is worth.

I would go with *** stars for Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, definitely recommended for the lead pair’s performances and for the director’s conviction to make a film like this with such unabashed pride, no pun intended.

Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui is now streaming on Netflix.com.

Kara Para Ask- Turkish delight

My knowledge of Turkish cinema and television series was next to zilch when I stumbled upon Black Money Love or Kara Para Ask. My little idea of Turkish life was restricted to my reading of Orhan Pamuk’s The Museum of Innocence and that literally was my window to a different world, a modern and affluent Istanbul. What I still remember about this book, is the sheer passion of its love story that makes it palpable, moving to a point that it becomes eternal. That same intensity is found in Kara Para Ask that starts off as an unlikely match between Ömer Demir, a cop investigating his fiancé’s death and Elif seeking answers to her father’s murder, when both victims are found shot dead together in a car. The story at a lengthy 164 episode count takes its time unravelling its convoluted plot, which often seems incredible but always riveting. The television series beats your average daily soap owing to a fantastic lead pair- Tuba Büyüküstün and Engin Akyürek live and breathe in to their characters, propelled by the force of an equally powerful supporting cast. This is not your typical whodunnit story, we already have recognised the main antagonist in the early few episodes. Everything else is however, overshadowed by the weight of the turbulent love story, which takes on epic proportions drawing from class conflicts, individual perceptions, the European lifestyle vs traditional ties, family feuds, widespread corruption, devious crimes, endless deceit and selfish motives. We get expansive shots of the historically renowned and yet defiantly urban Istanbul rendering a backdrop that is vibrant, with the Bosphorus sea an imposing and omnipresent witness to the city’s progressions and digressions. Director Ahmet Katıksız is nothing short of a fine craftsman, painting a trajectory for the characters that see them becoming varied shades of grey and sometimes slipping away to the darkest realms of black. Even elegant Rome gets sufficient screen time, not limited to its typical architectural marvels but living through its terraced restaurants, modern living spaces and cobbled walkways. 

The novelistic narrative engages the viewer just like you can’t wait to read the next chapter of a suspense thriller, making you binge episodes by the dozen without feeling exhausted. You will have to invest some time in picking through the complex themes the story ultimately weaves in, exploring human nature, the hand of destiny and the machinations of a wilful socio-economic system that manipulates the wronged. I haplessly beheld the absolutely electrifying and convincing portrayal of Elif and Omer as they struggled through the plot, not only are they beautiful as a pair but rarely is there a moment when they fail to convey their love and anguish, if not through words then through their eyes. 

Even if soapy in parts, I would any day buy in to a story that enmeshes so much drama without missing the plot. It is worth the watch because of man’s universal need to see the triumph of good over evil and love over war. 

I rate Kara Para Ask **** stars, this is one of the best love stories I have seen in years!

Kara Para Ask is now streaming on Netflix.com.

The Khan who played Saif!

The decade of the 1990s was the exclusive domain of the three Khans- namely Salman, Shah Rukh and Aamir Khan. It was never going to be an even turf therefore for the latest entrant in the ‘Khan’daan – newcomer Saif Ali Khan. When he debuted with his film Parampara in 1993, incidentally with one of  the three superstars with the Midas Touch Aamir Khan, he looked least perturbed by the fact that he could be royally (no pun intended) overshadowed by the bigger superstar in the early days of his career. This was not just a one-time decision he made as evident by the spate of ensemble or double-hero film he went on to take up throughout his career. 

Parampara could hardly be recognised to have helped him gain a footing as a credible actor. His following films though like Yeh Dillagi and Main Khiladi Tu Anari with action and stunt star Akshay Kumar, both incidentally in 1994 definitely got him in the reckoning as a saleable star who complements other male leads instead of threatening them. This compatability is probably the reason for Saif’s continued success in later films like Dil Chahta Hai, Hum Saath Saath Hai, Kal Ho Na Ho and Omkara. Here was an actor who instead of getting overridden by the more flamboyant and popular superstars was actually able to add a dash of comedy and healthy on-screen camaraderie to make a film more wholesome and edgy.  

This is not to say that Saif has been a failure when it comes to his solo-lead roles. Hum Tum and Salaam Namaste are films to his credit where he was seen romancing the top female actors of the millennium without missing a note. The turn of the century is perhaps when Saif was tested the most as newer actors like Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan and even Shahid Kapoor were entering the fray or establishing their own fan base. Not forgetting the overpowering impact of the three Khan Supremos and the other strong actors who were steadily delivering some hits like Ajay Devgan, Akshay Kumar and Sunil Shetty, the playground was both crowded and competitive. Perhaps sensing that the romantic genre will not hold him in good stead for long, Saif changed tactic and jumped into the action-thriller genre with the zippy, zany Race franchise. So well-received was his portrayal of the character of Ranvir Singh, that both films in which he played this role went on to become blockbusters. Even if one were to argue that all the credit for the success of these films cannot be given to him alone considering Akshaye Khanna and John Abraham alongwith Bipasha Basu, Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone and Jacqueline Fernandes were part of them, the fact that he was the only main character retained for both speaks for itself.

The argument remains though that this is not an actor who seems to take himself too seriously. In Cocktail and Love Aaj Kal he lets the female leads of his films take centrestage, almost letting them enjoy screen presence as much as he does in these films. The female actors of these films shine on, not deterred or relegated to secondary status as is usual. Perhaps it is such nonchalance that allows an actor to embrace three significantly lesser known actors and lets them take the film forward as he does in Go Goa Gone in 2013. Again, he managed to surprise his audience with a film in which he does more when he does less. He is part of a motley gang in this film, adding star value but happy to let the ‘boys’ glisten the screen. Go Goa Gone is not known as a Saif Ali Khan film therefore for obvious reasons. It works as a sum of its parts, not trampled by the handiwork of one senior star as is wont to happen in Bollywood. However, despite the success of this film, the next five years saw Saif’s filmography take a turn for the worse with duds that he would hardly be pleased of today. Almost when he was being written off as Kareena Kapoor’s lesser known husband, he bounced back this time on a new platform superstars were shying away from known as OTT. Sacred Games arrived as a thunderstorm for a Hindi-film audience used to the staple heropanti of its superstars. Here was a hero who seemed vulnerable, bland and failing…the man who is a reluctant confidante to the antagonist and the reason why he is suddenly important to the story. Saif as Inspector Sartaj Singh is mellow, seething and yet alert to what could be the biggest crime operation he will ever be a part of. He is not the dashing, boorish and ass-kicking cop Bollywood dishes out ever so often and makes us hoot for joy. This is a complex character who is ably led towards a nail-biting finish thanks to other colourful and thrilling characters who make us root for him in this cat-and-mouse chase. 

So he is a fine actor who comes good in meaningful roles in a small budget. If that’s the inference you have made till now, think again. Picture this: It is the tail end of 2018. Aamir Khan delivers a disappointment called Thugs of Hindostan. So does Shahrukh Khan with the fatal and clairvoyantly titled Zero. The third Khan of the Holy Trinity, Salman goes a step further, milking run-of-the-mill franchises for the third time in Race 3, following it up with the equally unpalatable Dabangg 3. The Khandom suddenly suffers a massive fall and there is no one left to pick up the pieces. Enter the man who no one expects to score a hit with Tanhaji in 2020. The film goes on to become the highest grossing box office hit with Ajay Devgan in the titular role and Saif Ali Khan licking his chops as the detestable Udaybhan Singh Rathod. 

Not one to stop at the clearly well-earned OTT success, Saif chose Tandav as his second go with the medium that gave him a second life as an actor. This role was miles away from his Sartaj act, as Samar Pratap Singh is no scapegoat. He is a kingmaker, discreetly calculating his every move and taking consistently cruel decisions while looking cool and calm outside. Just when you thought he is ready to rule as the serious actor who demands to be taken seriously, he belts out Bhoot Police last year and Bunty aur Babli this year, proving that this man is a bag full of surprises as far as his roles go. His career graph may be speckled with knots and crosses galore and he may not be synonymous with the star value that the other Khans bring to the table, but his confidence in staging an unforgettable act that keeps him in the reckoning is now well-known. Makes you wonder if this isn’t the way it should be for every actor. Instead of trying to constantly be in the eye of the audience, why are most of our superstars afraid to experiment, break out and try the road less travelled? What a smorgasbord of films we could have if only they did!