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After a long wait of four years, ‘Made in Heaven’ released its second season this August. It is just as visually stunning and inspiring as the first.

In 2019, we were introduced to the lives of Tara (Sobhita Dhulipala) and Karan (Arjun Mathur) who work as wedding planners for grandiose families in Delhi, all the while struggling with personal issues. Beneath the surface of extravagant celebrations, the show explores various prejudices and challenges faced by the families involved.

Season 2, released in August 2023, picks up a few months after where season 1 ended, with Tara now finalizing her divorce proceedings and Karan trying to mend his relationship with his mother. Each episode delves into a unique scenario, using it as a backdrop to address a distinct issue. This season deals with problems ranging from the caste system and domestic violence to self-love and tender parent-child dynamics.

The two additions to the cast, in the form of Meher (the new Production head) and Bulbul (the new auditor), add significantly to the storyline. Meher battles with acceptance as a transgender woman while Bulbul grapples with navigating a situation where her son is accused of molestation.

(The next paragraph contains spoilers)

The biggest power of this season is how, multiple times, it stuns the audience by making the not-so-obvious decisions. This is done when you see a bride going ahead with marrying her abusive fiancé, when Jauhari turns out to be the good guy instead of the bad, or when the protagonists Tara and Karan make questionable, morally grey decisions.

One prevalent critique this season is the lack of depth while addressing some of the issues. A thorough examination of the complexities of the social issues tackled is prevented because the show immediately moves on from one subplot to another. The space for fruitful discussion seems saturated because of this. In certain instances, this season appears to offer quick lessons for each problem. This has resulted in a preachy undertone.

Despite this, season 2 remains a visual treat. The performances, production design and costumes are nothing short of grand. The beautiful aesthetics and the fast pacing keep you immersed. ‘Made in Heaven’ thus does an excellent job at both awing and inspiring you.

Read also: Dilution of Discrimination

Featured image credits: India Today

Arshiya Pathania

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A look at one of Amazon Prime’s latest offering, Hunters, a show which is fictional in nature but is based on reality.

 

The story of this web series takes into account many historical factors, such as the holocaust, Operation Paperclip, which was a post World War 2 american operation in which around 1600 Nazi scientists were brought to the U.S.A, wih the legacy of nazi hunters such as the Mossad and Simon Wiesenthal. The show features many familiar faces such as Al Pacino, who needs no introduction, Logan Lerman, who played Percy jackson, and Josh Radnor of How I Met Your Mother. The show revolves around how Jonah (played by Logan Lerman) sets out to seek revenge for the death of his Grandmother and encounters Meyer Offerman (Al Pacino) and his crew of nazi hunters, and the story revolves around the uncovering and foiling of a nazi plot to establish a fourth reich.

 

Before getting into specifics about the show, it would be remiss not to point out the major controversy around the show. In the first episode, Meyer describes an incident to young Jonah of human chess in Auschwitz. The gruesome and dark incident had been made up by the director, perhaps to elicit an emotional response from the audience. The Auschwitz memorial called out the show on twitter stating “Auschwitz was full of horrible pain and suffering documented in the accounts of survivors. Inventing a fake game of human chess for Amazon Prime’s Hunter is not only dangerous foolishness and caricature. It also welcomes future deniers. We honor the victims by preserving factual accuracy.” This certainly brings into question ideas of responsibility even in the realms of fiction, especially if borrowing factors from history, even more so when these are based on the pain and suffering of real survivors.

 

Coming to the show itself, it follows most tropes that you would associate with a show like this, a young protagonist being led by an older mentor/ father figure, a group of rag tag individuals fighting a great menace, the antagonists and their henchmen being completely one dimensional. Where the show does differ is that there is a sense of self awareness about it, not in terms of over the top violence or gore, even with several torture scenes, the gore is not excessive. Where the show is self aware is in little skits placed around every episode which divert completely from the show while explaining a plot point or social commentary, an example of such is the use of a game show in the episode to look at the reasons for anti semitism in America.

The plot line of the show was interesting and well written, and It is definitely a good and easy watch to waste away the hours in quarantine, but prepare to be left with a cliffhanger which is an glaring indicator of a season 2.

Feature Image Credits: Techradar

 

Prabhanu Kumar Das

[email protected]

A look at one of Amazon Prime’s latest offering, Hunters, a show which is fictional in nature but is based on reality.   The story of this web series takes into account many historical factors, such as the holocaust, Operation Paperclip, which was a post World War 2 american operation in which around 1600 Nazi scientists were brought to the U.S.A, wih the legacy of nazi hunters such as the Mossad and Simon Wiesenthal. The show features many familiar faces such as Al Pacino, who needs no introduction, Logan Lerman, who played Percy jackson, and Josh Radnor of How I Met Your Mother. The show revolves around how Jonah (played by Logan Lerman) sets out to seek revenge for the death of his Grandmother and encounters Meyer Offerman (Al Pacino) and his crew of nazi hunters, and the story revolves around the uncovering and foiling of a nazi plot to establish a fourth reich.   Before getting into specifics about the show, it would be remiss not to point out the major controversy around the show. In the first episode, Meyer describes an incident to young Jonah of human chess in Auschwitz. The gruesome and dark incident had been made up by the director, perhaps to elicit an emotional response from the audience. The Auschwitz memorial called out the show on twitter stating “Auschwitz was full of horrible pain and suffering documented in the accounts of survivors. Inventing a fake game of human chess for Amazon Prime’s Hunter is not only dangerous foolishness and caricature. It also welcomes future deniers. We honor the victims by preserving factual accuracy.” This certainly brings into question ideas of responsibility even in the realms of fiction, especially if borrowing factors from history, even more so when these are based on the pain and suffering of real survivors.   Coming to the show itself, it follows most tropes that you would associate with a show like this, a young protagonist being led by an older mentor/ father figure, a group of rag tag individuals fighting a great menace, the antagonists and their henchmen being completely one dimensional. Where the show does differ is that there is a sense of self awareness about it, not in terms of over the top violence or gore, even with several torture scenes, the gore is not excessive. Where the show is self aware is in little skits placed around every episode which divert completely from the show while explaining a plot point or social commentary, an example of such is the use of a game show in the episode to look at the reasons for anti semitism in America. The plot line of the show was interesting and well written, and It is definitely a good and easy watch to waste away the hours in quarantine, but prepare to be left with a cliffhanger which is an glaring indicator of a season 2. Feature Image Credits: Techradar   Prabhanu Kumar Das [email protected]]]>

While everyone was going crazy over Avengers: Endgame being the last film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s current phase, others were signing petitions demanding a new ending to Game of Thrones season 8, and then there you were not caring 3000.

Before I am mistaken for someone who is against fandoms, let me clarify that I am not. One of the biggest obstacles that people belonging to this community that follows or likes the same entity of pop culture face is the tag of being “childish” or “mainstream”. These labels, I believe, are extremely unfair and slightly hypocritical. I, for one, am in the This Is Us fandom.

Fandoms arise because a book, movie, tv series or comic had something with which people could connect and relate. Marvel and DC comics or films gave that little 10-year-old hope, that good can defeat the evil or how superheroes exist, maybe inside all of us. F.R.I.E.N.D.S. was able to make many people laugh and happy after they had hit a low. Harry Potter series was more than just Wizardry and Witchcraft, for  it was as much about courage, goodness and friendship. The memes on adults surrounded by children in movie halls for Toy Story 4 is a testament to how these are a connect with our childhood.

The most popular ones suffer because they are always seen as mainstream, people doubting them for only “trying to be cool” and accusing them of following it because “everyone is watching this nowadays”.

But when Hannah Gatsby said, “I identify as tired”, we could all relate.

Not belonging to these fandoms does not make you a bad person or a person with lesser taste, in any way.

Some people simply watch these shows or films for the mere pleasure that comes out of it. Not knowing plot lines or details is not considered to be the biggest sin for us. I will reiterate, we all have our fangirling/ fanboying elements activated by different stimuli, but our passions vary in intensity. While legendary shows went on for many years, non-fandom people tend to find starting such shows daunting. The level of commitment and energy that is involved in watching 14 seasons of Supernatural, the whole Star Wars series, 15 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy among many, many more of “this is amazing, you should watch it”: very intimidating.

On speaking to such people, I realised, these group of people are simply Legen-wait for it-LAZY. On seeing that passionate friend of yours reiterating and trying to express how amazing something is, on the inside non-fandomers feel sorry for the effort wasted. It is not the absence of awareness or even questioning of the abilities of what writers can create. But simply having full insight and realising what does not appeal to you.

Maitreyi Pandey of Kamala Nehru College, who has never watched F.R.I.E.N.D.S. commented, “So, I believe a show or an association with a fandom is a very personal thing. Though, at times, I do feel annoyed when people keep on discussing about the one show over and over again and keep on pushing you to watch it. However, I never have felt the need to join the bandwagon, because if I don’t connect to the show, no matter how good it might be, I will not watch it.”

Whether it is F.R.I.E.N.D.S. versus How I Met Your Mother, Marvel vs DC, Hunger Games vs Divergent—for these people, the debate goes on. Unless someone brings up Brooklyn Nine-Nine, in which case there is no competition.

With the good comes the evil. Similarly, this new idea of “real” fan and “fake” fan has arisen. For those who have never seen or experienced this, you have been very privileged because the level of social bashing one can receive over the smallest of errors is on an all-time high. I remember how someone I know had mistakenly written John Snow, instead of Jon Snow. A wave of social bashing hit her before she even understood where she went wrong. Similarly, despite my really enjoying GoT (Game of Thrones), this statement will always be seen with suspicion till I can name the whole family tree correctly. So, when someone says to me, “You know nothing…”, I am okay with it.

If you binge every show on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, Hulu and whichever new platform has come up, or even if you simply are too lazy or uninterested, either path is okay. With these platforms having left television far behind, we can see that the quality of story lines, plot twists, character developments and other tricks up a writer’s sleeve are endless.

I can only reflect on a time when GoT was to me the best show ever made, but This Is Us changed my mind, and frankly tomorrow night Chernobyl might. Each story competing with the others, and writers, creators and directors being challenged, we can learn to appreciate where we have come from only Sciences and STEM being applauded, as now even the artistic capabilities are seen with awe. All is well till we remember that compulsion is an illusion.

So, while some people googled which house the Sorting Hat will put them in, others chose not to, does that not sound like a fandom of its own?

Feature Image Credits: Geeks on Coffee

Shivani Dadhwal

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No, this is not a scathing review or self-propelled rant towards any show or film. This editorial is more like a plea for Indian directors to give us the kind of content we deserve.
Piqued with curiosity, I, like many other Amazon Prime users, decided to binge-watch the show called Four More Shots Please, and, as the title of this article suggests, it was disappointing. The premise of the show is exciting enough to garner the initial interest, but the characters fail to make a niche for themselves; they almost feel too caricatured to fit into the Indian variant of the classic Sex and The City storyline. One of the show’s few redeemable features is the female friendship which is devoid of male bashing, but by giving us stock characters that fail to grow out of their stereotypical base, it falls into the category of entertainment which is all gloss on the outset, and thereby, fails to provide us with the real stories we need, and deserve as an
audience.
The kind of progressive content that is available to us has always centered around a privileged,
upper-middle class setting that does not resonate deep within most of our psyches. It has
always been surface level talk so far, and only a few features like Lipstick Under my Burkha
have actually delivered the content they promised. Contemporary media would have one believe that functional alcoholism and sexual promiscuity are the defining factors of being “progressive”. Our colonised minds have accepted this as “radical” thinking, and we have
become ignorant of the fact that progressive thinking entails the ability to make this choice for oneself.
Just like an advertisement for a sanitary napkin that shows a clichéd white jeans trope whilst
completely forgetting the reality of periods – where women navigate their daily routines in
sarees alongside religious restrictions that are often imposed by our grandmothers – the content that we as millenials consume is nowhere close to addressing the off-putting, yet important issues that are consciously or unconsciously brushed beneath the carpet.
An incomprehensive portrayal of sensitive issues can often do more harm than not covering it in its entirety – it can create a false image, which is far from reality and gives the idea that such issues only affect people from a certain section of the society, when in actuality, these issues are all-pervasive, and they might affect certain sections more depending on the socio-political situations. The lack of intersectionality has created a mockery of these issues amongst those who need to unlearn and relearn the most about it. Various forms of tokenistic feminism have reduced the importance of issues to a degree from where its damage is irreversible, and hence,
even the “progressive” films do more harm than good.
With hopes riding high on the new release, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha to Aisa Laga, we hope that
directors go the extra mile and do more work than hiring top actors, shooting at exotic locations, and using catchy issues for the sake of it. And as viewers we must say “No, thanks” when tokenism is visible on the surface.

Feature Image Credits: Gulf News

Vijeata Balani

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