Anuj Kumar

There is no shot of Taj Mahal in Kanu Behl’s Agra. There are no sprawling gardens that dot the city of monuments. Instead, the fearless chronicler of our society’s hidden fractures and fault lines focuses on the cramped spaces, repressed desires, and the incommodious mindscapes in the mofussil town that the city holds beneath its touristy topsoil. It is the Agra that Sahir Ludhianvi referred to in his critique of the Taj Mahal when he said that the monument symbolised the exploitation of the poor by the elite. Behl is more matter-of-fact, but there is a distinctive rhythm to his storytelling. It is like the movement of a worm under the skin that is difficult to ignore or resolve.

In 2019, when De De Pyaar De hit the screens, the unapologetic take on unconventional love worked because of being emotionally honest without being melodramatic. Six years later, director Anshul Sharma returns with a cheeky sequel, in the middle of the wedding season, that is again bold in idea and joyful in spirit. Filled with a heavy dose of family chaos and generational clash, it follows Ashish Mehra (Ajay Devgn), the middle-aged divorcee in love with the much younger Ayesha (Rakul Preet Singh). Their spirited romance faces another litmus test as this time Ayesha takes Ashish home to introduce him to her self-proclaimed progressive Punjabi family.

Staying honest to its gritty and grounded base, the third season of the acclaimed police procedural tackles the interstate human trafficking of young girls and women. Shefali Shah returns as the unflinching police officer Vartika Chaturvedi, who has now been promoted to DIG but is on a ‘punishment’ posting in the North East. Inspired by the Baby Falak case of 2012, as the news of a battered infant left in the trauma centre of AIIMS assumes national importance, Madam Sir hits the ground running. She is joined by her reliable team, led by Neeti Singh (Rasika Dugal) and Bhupendra (Rajesh Tailang).

Those who remember the tumultuous eighties would attest that the landmark Shah Bano case reshaped Indian secularism and the fault lines of identity politics for decades. But beyond the courtrooms, objections from clerics and political outrage, a story of faith, human dignity, and a woman’s rights unfolded within the four walls. Cast within the realm of fiction and point of view, this week director Suparn Varma reimagines the story of a devoted wife abandoned post-remarriage, her husband’s instant triple talaq, a brutal severance of support, and a fierce battle for maintenance that ripples a domestic dispute into a national debate, with deep socio-political ramifications.

At a time when taking umbrage is a national pastime, horror comedy is an imaginative form of creating an entertaining social commentary. With Stree and Bhediya, Maddock Films gave the genre a new life and carried the mood and message forward with Munjya. However, this meeting of natural and supernatural almost hits a dead end this week as the banner seems to be ‘marvelling’ at sustaining a desi multiverse rather than telling a compelling story. Inspired by blood sucking vampires from Hindu mythology, Munjya director Aditya Sarpotdar and his troika of writers have created a fascinating world based on the co-existence between humans and betaals and how the self-seeking creatures in both species are destroying this balance. However, both the text and the subtext remain undercooked, and what we get tastes like an adulterated Deepavali delicacy.

In Lord Curzon Ki Haveli, Anshuman Jha, known for his role as a lover boy in twisted love stories, tells the story of one eventful night, weaving it with mystery, history, and dollops of dark humour. A classic chamber film with crime at its vortex, Lord Curzon Ki Haveli unfolds in a summer home in the UK, where two couples gather for dinner. Rohit (Arjun Mathur) tells Dr Basuki (Paresh Pahuja) and Ira (Rasika Dugal), the guests of his wife, Sanya (Zoha Rahman), that there is a dead body in the large trunk in the drawing room. What seems like an innocuous joke, ignites a heated conversation, revealing the cracks in the relationship between Dr. Basuki and Ira. Gradually, we get a taste of the true menu of the dinner.

Out of Karan Johar’s young proteges, I find Shashank Khaitan’s voice the most influential in taking the Kuch Kuch Hota Hai conversation forward. Film after film, he creates the portrait of the young upper-middle-class Punjabi/ Marwari youth caught between the values inherited from the family and what the Internet defines as modern.

In May 2020, the newspaper image of a wiry Saiyub holding an unconscious Amrit in his lap on a scorched highway in Madhya Pradesh came across as an antidote to the raging virus. Fate has its own destiny. It was not just a melancholic picture of abiding friendship, Saiyub took Amrit home when a section of the media was projecting Muslims as super spreaders. Journalist Basharat Peer tracked the story of two friends to their village in eastern Uttar Pradesh for The New York Times.