Introduction: At a recent dinner gathering there was spirited
discussion about
the new documentary “Mumbai Mafia: Police vs the Underworld” released by Netflix
in Jan 2023 was discussed. This was
group friends who has been alumni
of top schools in India (IIT, IIM). To
my surprise there was support and sympathy for the fake encounters (extrajudicial execution performed by
police personnel in order to cover up evidence of unlawful killings or
executions.). I shared some statistics of
killing innocents through the inhuman acts of fake encounters in India or Philippines. I was surprised to see how an international streaming platform
like Netflix can provide a legitimacy to
the fake encounters ! so I saw the
documentary and few more recent films based
on True crimes. This made four films/documentaries
this week.
1) 1)"Mumbai
Mafia: Police vs the Underworld” documentary @ Netflix. Jan 2023
2) 2)"Trial by Fire”
a TV series at Netflix with seven
episodes, based on True story of deadly Uphaar cinema fire ((my
rating 7/10)
3) 3) "Shantaram”: episode TV serial apple TV+ semi-biographical by the author of the book,
a fugitive from Australian prison hiding
at Mumbai slum ( 7/10)
4) 4)"India: The Modi question” documentary by
BBC two=parts , Broadcasted on January 17,24 2023 Banned in India using the
emergency power.
The history of Indian crime
films dates back to the early days of Indian cinema. In the 1930s and 1940s,
crime dramas and thrillers were popular in the Indian film industry. However,
these early Indian crime films were heavily influenced by Hollywood crime
dramas and often portrayed crime in a romanticized or glamorized way.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Indian
cinema began to develop its own distinct style of crime films, with films such
as "CID" (1956) and "Waqt" (1965) showcasing a more
realistic portrayal of crime and its consequences. These films also dealt with
the social and economic factors that lead to crime.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Indian
crime films began to explore more complex themes and characters, with films
such as "Zanjeer" (1973) and "Ardh Satya" (1983) delving
into the psyche of criminals and police officers. These films also highlighted
the corruption and inefficiency of the Indian legal system.
In the 1990s and 2000s, Indian crime films
shifted towards more action-oriented and commercial films, with films such a,
Black Friday, "Satya" (1998) and "Company" (2002) dealing
with themes of organized crime and the Mumbai underworld Several films about
Gujarat 2002 riots like Parzania. Firaaq, “final solution” (all banned in Gujarat),
“Kai po che” were based on recent events.
Today, Indian crime films continue to evolve and explore new themes and styles, with films such as
"Badlapur", “gangs of wasseypur”, Talwar , Drishyam (2015), “Indian’s
daughter”(BBC , banned by GOI), “Pataal
Lok” , “Sacred Game Delhi crimes”, “Bad boys billionaire.” “The attacks of
26/11”, “Hotel Mumbai”, “Mumbai diaries 26/11” showcasing a more nuanced and gritty portrayal
of crime in India with fiction
My reviews:
1) "Mumbai Mafia : Police vs the
underworld" I like to watch documentaries another crime documentaries
such as "Bad Boys Billionaires" . I found the Mumbai Mafia little superficial meant for
Mac-Audience, It missed many points that I mentioned
about the large and growing number of fake encounters in
India, Philippines etc . To the credit of documentary it did cover how the
diety-fication of these encounter specialists by media and people turned
in to cricket like score card and they ended up being in jail ! See the comments under
trailer and see how many viewers calls Pratap Sharma a real
hero . Fortunately, the narrative of Nextflix does not support the fake
encounters. (My rating 5.5/10)
2) “Trial by Fire” : The Seven-episode series is based on
the book by the same by same name by Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, who
lost their two teenage children in the fire. Fifty-nine people died and many
more were injured when a faulty transformer started a fire in the
theatre during an afternoon show of Border in 1994. In took 25 years of consistent
perseverance gave final justice . The theater
owner Ansar brothers finally
got jail , but got out of jail in six months. The show
is slow but powerful portrayal of challenges in getting the justice. There are also small side stories like couple of Anupam Kher and Ratna Pathak which are incongruous and irrelevant to the main story. In India, we are inured to injustice,
resigned to the fact that the rich will go unpunished. We see this repeating with the recent disaster
in the city of Morbi in Gujarat, India, where the suspension bridge collapsed
with causing the deaths of at least 160 people . The builder has no
prior experience in construction! (
7/10)
3) "Shantaram": This is 12-episode American drama-crime
thriller based on the true-life story and novel by author Gregory
David Roberts, Shantaram centers on an Australian character named Lindsay, aka
Lin. After his personal life spirals out of control, Lin is sentenced to a
long, tough prison term. He manages to escape, however, and makes his way up to
Mumbai, India. He is befriended by a strange character named Prabaker (acted by
Sharaf) , who takes Lin to his native village slum. The locals take Lin in and
rename him Shantaram. The slum life, underground Mafia, corrupt police, politicians
are well portrayed and reconciles with the rest of the crime films in this blog. The British
actor Charlie Hunnam (Picked from his role in film “son of anarchay") has given
impressive performance.
The original film was having John Depp ,
Amitabh Bachhan ( I guess playing roe of
Khaderbhai Khan) and Mira Nair as the directors. The movies is in
making verry much after the book published in2003. There may be season II. It inspired
me to see “Dharavi” also a TV series
in 2022 made with Bollywood well known stars
4) India: The Modi question”: documentary by
BBC two=parts , Broadcasted on Jan
17,24 . Last two weeks I have been attacked by the BJP/Mod/Hindutva fans who has not seen the film, but are now asking me
share the image as the film is banned in India and blocked at youtube,
twitter,Vieo etc. Here is the link. When you click I will get your
request and I will grant. Lot
more to say about this documentary. However
practically none has been able to see it yet , I will wait for my review.
you have to make a request for the permission and I will grant it. You do not need to download. Stream to your device. You can air play on big TV (better). This 1080P HD image.
