The savagery of racial injustice has come to haunt humanity, yet again, with the brutal murder of George Floyd, 46, on the streets of Minneapolis in broad daylight. The incident instantly made headlines because law enforcement agencies were involved while a 17-year old had the presence of mind to film the brutality on her phone. These bellicose emotions often hurled towards visible minorities is no less ‘xenophobic’ in nature — from the Greek Xenos, meaning “stranger” or “foreigner”, and Phobos, meaning “fear”. In short, it’s a fear or hatred of that which is perceived to be foreign or strange. On those lines, Axone (‘Aa-Koo-Ne’) is a praiseworthy narrative and an attempt to address that systemic xenophobic mentality towards the culture and the people from the North-Eastern states of India. Also, I love movies that are made with the capital city of India, New Delhi, as a backdrop, and I assure you that there are only a few of them.
By the way, I’d suggest not reading any further than this if you haven’t watched the movie yet (it’s playing on Netflix right now) and if you don’t want the spoilers to ruin all the fun.
Tech publisher TechCrunch reported yesterday that the world’s largest video streaming service Netflix (NLFX) has posted a loss of net subscriber base in the U.S. fixing the blame on hikes in subscription costs. Netflix’s loss of U.S. subscribers happened for the first time in eight years and it also missed its targets for overseas customers. Shares of Netflix tumbled more than 13% in after-market hours on July 18.
Netflix’s continued subscription price hikes might finally have reached the end of some customers’ patience in the U.S., judging from an overall paid subscriber decline the company reported in its quarterly earnings for its fiscal second quarter 2019 results. The company’s overall growth for paid subscribers climbed by 2.7 million worldwide, but it actually added 2.83 million new subscribers around the world — while losing around 130,000 net in the U.S. to account for the difference.*
Last year I wrote a piece on the creative freedom currently afforded by several streaming platforms such as Netflix’s. And the plethora of critically acclaimed movies and TV series, including Oscar winners, that audiences are served on demand some of which otherwise wouldn’t have seen the light of the day being ruthlessly entangled in financial disputes, creative controversies, or sheared mercilessly under the garb of censorship laws across the globe. That creative freedom allows viewers to watch immersive content in high-definition at a nominal rate while bestowing acclaimed filmmakers like Martin Scorcese, Alfonso Querón or David Fincher a safer platform to pursue their innovative endeavours without having to think about compromising their intellectuality, least of all getting jammed in the filmmaking process due to stringent production cost controls. As always I will attempt to look at the subscriber slump from a customer’s viewpoint to analyze if the dots could be connected in innovating the viewer’s experience.
To simplify the challenge in clear terms, how might we innovate the viewing experience to keep the audiences engaged? The launch of Apple TV+ has just made the online video streaming service industry that much more interesting, it joins a bevvy of other subscription services offering loads of original content. So what could Netflix do in order to retain or enhance its customer base regardless of this slump they are facing? I have 3 creative solutions.
I just finished with the third season and it was probably the most thrilling to say the least. Let me just say that ‘Stranger Things’ is a true homage to the retro ambience of the early 1980’s American pop culture era, and how? It recreates an excellent template by exploring the styling of that decade so vividly, such as the characterization of the cast, soundtrack which is oh-so 80s no doubt, the environment, cars, and gadgets. The overall design of the series is just plain noteworthy — take a closer look at the poster. Doesn’t it resemble an Indiana Jones flick poster? And now, even the cold-war propaganda has been showcased with all its Soviet savagery in Season 3. Need I say it’s a breathtaking combination of supernatural horror saga that rides over an investigative drama led by a band of ‘nerdy’ kids as its central characters, and paired with the awesome psychokinetic abilities of ‘Eleven’ or “El” they venture around Hawkins to hunt the paranormal. That makes the series a lot more deserving of meritorious attention. Except when El has a gory nose.
On the basis of the last gripping episode of Season 3, “The Battle of Starcourt”, there was a subtle hint of an oncoming Season 4 in the series. Although, before get on to debating that aspect, there’s this scene in the final episode at the end where Eleven discovers through Joyce (Winona Ryder) that a note had been written and addressed to her by Jim Hopper, El’s guardian parent, who wanted to talk to his daughter. That emotional note is written with such profound zest (and narrated by Hopper / David Harbour with such poise) it’s a lesson in ‘existence’ for when someone feels totally depleted and miserable. Words of wisdom that I’d easily visualize every doting father on this planet would like to share with his teenage kids. Needless to say I’m a stickler for such nuances in anything I observe, and it’s easily one of my favourite parts about the series, an evidence of how well-written the script is just like any other Netflix show. You’ll concur with my sentiments after you go over the text and watch the episode too, it’s poignant.
Jesus. The truth is, for so long I’d forgotten what those even were. I’ve been stuck in one place. In a cave, you might say. A deep, dark cave. And then I left some Eggos out in the woods and you came into my life. For the first time in a long time, I started to feel things again. I started to feel happy. But lately, I guess I’ve been feeling distant from you. Like you’re pulling away from me or something. I miss playing board games every night, making triple decker Eggo extravaganzas at sunrise, watching Westerns together before we doze off.
But I know you’re getting older, growing, changing. I guess, if I’m being really honest, that’s what scares me. I don’t want things to change. So I think maybe that’s why I came in here, to try and make stop that change. To turn back the clock. To make things go back to how they were. But I know that’s naive. It’s just not how life works. It’s moving, always moving, whether you like it or not. And yeah, sometimes it’s painful. Sometimes it’s sad. And sometimes, it’s surprising. Happy.
So you know what? Keep on growing up kid. Don’t let me stop you. Make mistakes, learn from ’em. When life hurts you, because it will, remember the hurt. The hurt is good. It means you’re out of that cave. But, please, if you don’t mind, for the sake of your poor old dad, keep the door open three inches.
A heinous crime has taken place in the capital city of New Delhi, a young woman has been barbarically violated and her boyfriend has escaped with some injuries right in the heart of a bustling metro. It doesn’t take time for the first responders to comprehend the sensitivity of this brutal act which is perpetrated by 6 disgusting individuals in a moving bus. One of the challenges for DCP Vartika Chaturvedi (a brilliant Shefali Shah) is to assemble a task force already on the brink of breakdown from a paucity of funds and lack of infrastructure to a shortage of manpower, to deal with the situation. In all their efforts to apprehend the criminals at the earliest, the law enforcement officers find themselves in a vicious tug of war with both the enraged public, a biased media and some politicians who would walk any length to fix the blame squarely on the department and the “security lapses”. That the police force serves its citizenry diligently and with the utmost integrity to curb anti-social activities despite their unspeakable conditions is part of the narrative of Netflix’s newest original TV-series called Delhi Crime. The storytelling has such truthfulness and bitterness to it that I couldn’t watch it without wiping tears. Thankfully, unlike the other police drama, the unfortunate Powder, the makers have confirmed that Delhi Crime will be an anthology series with the same characters.
In all this, as a cat-and-mouse game is unravelling, a team headed by an investigator named Sudhir Kumar (Gopal Dutt Tiwari) is on its way to the nab one of the culprits in Rajasthan, he’s having an interesting conversation in the vehicle on the implications of a diverse Indian society. Although divided by class, it is at the pinnacle of global economic development on one hand but fighting abject deprivation and illiteracy on the other. His profound explanation for the justification of horrific crimes against females signals a larger implication for an entire generation of Indians to come. Read on.
Scenes from Delhi Crime (2019) S1E3 (Courtesy Netflix)
ड्राइवर: सर, क्या आप ने इससे पहले ऐसे कभी कुछ देखा है? सुधीर कुमार: अरे बहुत कुछ देखा है. ड्राइवर: नहीं Sir. मतलब, हां हां, crimes तो बोहोत है पर ऐसा नहीं कोई किसी के साथ ऐसे कैसे कर सकता है ? सुधीर कुमार: Simple है यार. Economics है. अमीर और गरीब के बीच का फर्क जितना बढ़ेगा crime भी उतना ही बढ़ेगा। क्या है, अमीरों की वजह से अब काफी पैसा आ गया है society में, लेकिन वह गरीबों तक पोहोचता नहीं है। तो वह छीनने की कोशिश करते है, जिसकी वजह से अनबन पैदा होती है। Normal है, सारी दुनिया में यही हो रहा है. ऊपर से हमारे यहां तो बोहोत ज्यादा अनपढ़ youth है। Sex Education है नहीं लेकिन Internet पे free porn है, जो उनके मासूम दिमागो पर असर डालते है, उन्हें समझ नहीं आता क्या करे। वह औरत को एक चीज़ की तरह देखने लगते है और चाहते है वह सब उनकी ज़िन्दगी में भी हो। नहीं मिलता तो छीनने की कोशिश करते है, बिना अंजाम की परवा किये। खोने के लिए वैसे भी कुछ नहीं उनके पास। ड्राइवर: Simple है…. hmmm…. और Sir, आप को यह सब कैसे पता? सुधीर कुमार: हर दो हफ्ते में घर जाता हूँ ना, काफी लम्बी drive है, तो सोचने के लिए काफी टाइम होता है मेरे पास।
Driver: Sir, have you ever seen anything like this before? Sudhir Kumar: Seen too many like this. Driver: No…I mean, yeah, there are many violent crimes, but not like this. How can someone do this to another person? Sudhir Kumar: It’s simple, it’s economics. The bigger the gap between the rich and poor, the more the crimes. You see, the rich have brought more money into society but it’s not reaching the poor, so they try and take it. The result is more strife in society. It’s normal, it’s happening all over the world. Add to that the explosion of uneducated youth here, they have no sex education but get free porn online…which affects their adolescent brains. They don’t know how to interpret it. They objectify women and wish they could have that in their lives. If they don’t get it, they take it, with no regard for the consequences. After all, they have nothing to lose. Driver: It’s simple…hmmm…and how do you know all this, Sir? Sudhir Kumar: Every two weeks, I go home, it’s a long drive, I get a lot of time to think.
To mention The Haunting of the Hill House as a bone-chilling experience is a gross understatement. Being inquisitive by nature, I wanted to know how differently has the series been treated from the 1999 Liam Neeson starrerThe Haunting that I had watched, based on the same Shirley Jackson novel? A movie understandably has a limited timeframe to tell the story whereas Netflix’s scope for a narrative is much larger, and hence the eagerness to see this novel cinematic approach. But, halfway through the first episode and I was getting the goose-bumps already, though that might be complimenting the show a lot. It’s horror after all! Trying as hard as I might to complete the series, I decided to create a simple 6-point plan based on my experiences, so that everyone can enjoy the show; ‘enjoyment’ is being ambitious here, but I do hope it works.
Rule #1. Instead of focussing on the screen just prefer to remain distracted in doing something else, stuff which requires focus & brain processing. This way you could avoid being totally numbed by the scary experiences, no guarantees though. Ha!
Rule #2. Definitely not worth watching during nighttime. Because that’s when the horror truly becomes mind-nerving and horrifying.
Rule #3. Without any discredit to the creators of the show, I’m going to constantly remind everyone it’s a work of fiction, with probably some creative freedom exercised. So let’s not try to take the plot & the visuals seriously, at all.
Rule #4. Lower the volume and avoid headphones if you can. There will be long moments of silence then a sudden a frightening scream. Eeek!
Rule #5. Binge-watching is a no-no, if you can. When you start watching any series you can’t help but watch all the episodes in rapid succession. But try not doing it with this one.
Rule #6. Not watching the episodes all alone and definitely not in complete silence. When you have both there’s a chance you might be scared to death easily.
The Haunting of Hill House has won some great reviews with none other than Stephen King posting his views in a tweet. Looking back, it’s a horror series, but it’s also a tragic saga of the Crain family that just isn’t about ghosts and goblins. Enjoy the chills!
THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE, revised and remodeled by Mike Flanagan. I don't usually care for this kind of revisionism, but this is great. Close to a work of genius, really. I think Shirley Jackson would approve, but who knows for sure.
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