FULL AnA 369_Full audio

Both: [00:00:00] This is a News Laundry Podcast and you're listening to The Awful and Awesome Entertainment Rap.

Hello, hello. Welcome to The Awful and Awesome episode number 369. My name is Abbas.

Nainika Rathore: And I'm Nainika.

Both: And when the guards are away, the inmates will play. The inmates are back after a long time.

Nainika Rathore: Yeah, it's been a really long time. How have you been Abbas? All good on your end?

Both: I'm very good. Bombay is very hot.

Uh, how is it in Delhi? Yeah.

Nainika Rathore: Uh, it's been weird. Very rainy for a while and it's got hot again. So yeah, we're feeling the climate lashes, I guess, but not as bad. It's

Both: raining here. It's raining here right now also, but it's like there's no wind. So it's very weird.

Nainika Rathore: Well, it's not as bad as Hurricane Milton.

Both: I hope not.

You know, it isn't.

Nainika Rathore: My heart goes out to the people, but yeah,

Both: yeah. Uh, so today we're going to be talking about, uh, two films and a very buzzy popular. Actually, [00:01:00] we're going to be talking about four things, uh, two movies, one, uh, very prestigy TV series, which has won a lot of awards. And a standup special, uh, which I happened to catch a couple of days ago, we're going to be talking about control spelled CTRL by, uh, Vikramaditya Motwane, which premiered on Netflix a couple of days ago.

We're going to be talking about Joker 2, the sequel to the very successful first Joker film starring, uh, Joaquin Phoenix. Uh, we're going to be talking about Shogun, which was a rage at the Emmys this year. And we'll talk about Ellen DeGeneres is. Uh, come back special, uh, also apparently her last special called for your approval.

So, uh, let's start with, uh, controls. Absolutely. Which, uh, which premiered on Netflix is directed by, uh, it's

Nainika Rathore: buzzy on Netflix right now. I think it's being pushed also like with a lot of people, it will show up at your homepage. So, you know, go ahead and try it out, but yeah, I'll tell you why exactly you should maybe try it out, I guess.

Both: So I'll just give a little gist of, uh, controls. Control is directed by [00:02:00] Vikramaditya Motwane. It stars Ananya Pandey and Vihaan Samath as a popular social media couple. When the relationship goes amiss, Pandey resorts to an AI app to erase his digital existence. Uh, so, Nainika, did you watch Control? What did you think?

Nainika Rathore: I did watch the whole thing. I, in fact, caught it yesterday to make it in time for the recording. And I, well, I am not, I mean, I'm definitely veiled. Not over or under, but I will say I liked it. I mean, I don't have anything like right off the bat. I don't think I have anything negative to say. I think it's more just like an evolved discussion about I think AI ethics and how the movie deals with it, etc, etc.

But on the whole, I don't have anything against the movie. So, you know, I won't be, I'll try not to be such a passive

Both: aggressive review. It's like, I don't mind. I've lost my,

Nainika Rathore: I've lost my buzz. I should have started with something a bit more powerful, but no, I liked the movie. I liked the movie. What about you?

Both: I liked it more than I thought I will. Um, I am,

Nainika Rathore: [00:03:00] but,

Both: uh, he has had like, I'm not like a diehard fan. I really liked Udaan because I was, uh, At kind of the same place of the protagonist of that film when I watched it, I was studying dentistry and I didn't want to study dentistry and you left

Nainika Rathore: after a few semesters studying dentistry, but hey,

Both: actually, yeah, actually, fun fact, I, I bunked my microbiology exam to go watch watch what is so

Nainika Rathore: sweet.

That is so sweet. Do you still have the residual urge to tell people

Both: to floss? Yes, I do. Yeah. I haven't seen trapped. Uh, I liked, um, Lutera, uh, when, when, uh, I like Lutera more as I see it, uh, uh, each time, like when I think trapped caused me a

Nainika Rathore: lot of anxiety as a film. So I had to be like, take breaks, pace the room.

Yeah.

Both: Okay. And, uh, then he made this, uh, web series for Amazon prime, uh, last year, which was called Jubilee. Oh, yes. We've all caught

Nainika Rathore: Jubilee. Yeah.

Both: Yeah. [00:04:00] So I, I'm. I think overall, I am a fan of his work. I always look forward to what he has

Nainika Rathore: to say. Did you watch the film where he, um, who's the person, Sonam Kapoor's brother plays a vigilante?

Bhavesh Joshi.

Both: Bhavesh

Nainika Rathore: Joshi. Superhero. No, I

Both: haven't seen Bhavesh Joshi either, but I've heard really good things about it. I've

Nainika Rathore: heard good things. I think it did pretty bad and then it suddenly became a cult success once it ended up on streaming sites.

Both: On streaming, yes. So,

Nainika Rathore: Motwani has always been one of those filmmakers who really has his, you Pulse on the culture like he really has his finger on the pulse of the culture.

You really think. Also last

Both: year I spoke about Indra's emergency on an episode of Hafta, the documentary that he did. That I was really really impressed by. Yes,

Nainika Rathore: so he's always been somebody who's had interesting ideas about the culture and interestingly has translated into mainstream cinema and I think he's mainstream cinemas Currently with Hindi cinema, I think he's one of the more interesting filmmakers we have.

So it only seemed fair that he tackled a topic, uh, such as AI and, you know, how it can impact lives. [00:05:00] And I think he treated it, uh, with a certain amount of sensitivity towards it. Overall, I mean, I think the fact that, you know, so Essentially, Ananya Pandey is dating this person and they start a channel together, which a lot of, you know, uh, couple celebrity influencers, etc.

do, and then the relationship obviously becomes deeper as and when their channel on YouTube also grows, and it's entirely about, you know, when they're posting, who they're posting with, which brands they're working with, etc, etc. So it ends up in a public faux pas where Ananya Pandey finds out that her boyfriend is, uh, you know, he's, he's cheating on her.

So it's really upsetting. She downloads this AI assistant and is like, you know, delete every trace of my boyfriend from my internet life. And then it starts to like take control over her life in really strange and dark ways. And he really gets to the heart of the emotional matter to it. Like, you know, any of us could be in the position where we're like so heartbroken over somebody mistreating us that we're like, I want this [00:06:00] person completely out of my life.

And I have the technological tools to do it. I will do it. So she gets caught in a really vulnerable moment. And I think that is what Motwani did very well, the vulnerable moment at the heart of it all.

Both: I think, I think we should mention that, uh, about 80 percent of this film is like a screen life movie.

Oh yeah. It can be streamed

Nainika Rathore: on TikTok. It's on a vertical screen.

Both: Yeah. You can, you can, you, you're watching the movie screen as if it's a screen of a device that the protagonist is using. So, uh, I think that, that whole. Bit was very well done. We've seen like a couple of films in the last couple of years, which have used this trick.

There was a Malayalam film called see you soon, which did the same thing. There was a thriller, Hollywood thriller called searching, which I highly recommend, which is about a person who has gone missing and how they do the whole thing to social media and everything. I actually really liked Ananya Pandey in this one.

She did a good job. I think [00:07:00] she did the preppy

Nainika Rathore: role of, you know, an influencer, slightly haughty, slightly, she's definitely like in front of the public, uh, in like a camera. So she knows how to, she plays that pretty well.

Both: Also, I, this, this film gets the award for one of the most relatable moments that I've felt, which was where there is like a long, long chunk of this film where, uh, she's trying to get into the email of her ex boyfriend and she can't remember the password.

So she, uh, she clicks on the forgot password thing, which leads her to another account. So she's like, forgot the she gets an OTP and yeah. And, uh, it's, it's very weird because this has happened to me multiple times and throughout this whole thing, it keeps cutting back to Ananya's face through the webcam.

She just has to express the frustration through her facial expressions. And I think she does that very well. Uh, I also think the AI model, um, His name is Alan because Ananya's name in this film is Nella. So she sort [00:08:00] of does the ulta of her name. I think that part is also very well done. What's interesting is Motwane started writing this film in 2020, where I think Chad GPT and AI was still like a couple of years ahead.

So it's again, one of those weird things that by the time it came out. Took the film to come out, the technology has kind of caught up with us. And today, AI assistance and artificial intelligence, not such a weird thing. It is not. It's pretty

Nainika Rathore: concise. I mean, that's exactly what people are doing now. I think Chad GPD is like really integrated into people's lives.

Both: As, as, as someone who's part of the youth of this country, Nainika, and my generation, which is on its way out and your generation, which is. Coming in. Did you feel the film was a little outdated? Did you feel that the Instagrammy things that they're showing are, uh, is something that an older person looking at how younger people use internet is, is, is that the feeling you got?

Nainika Rathore: Hmm. I, okay, great question, but I honestly don't think so. I think it captured, she's what, 22, 23 at this point. So I feel like it's got to

Both: When, when we see, [00:09:00] see them start dating 18 and then it skips five years ahead. So she's 23. Yeah.

Nainika Rathore: Yeah. So I feel like it did a decent job. I guess like now there's also a lot of internet presence has moved on to communities like discord, et cetera, which maybe weren't captured as well.

But I guess, you know, the Instagram aspect of it, having to, you know, show your life in a certain way is still pretty much the same. Um, so I didn't feel like it was outdated in that regard. Uh, I mean, I guess the. Politics of the film regarding technology, maybe whatever I think, but I don't think the aspect of how they portrayed like a 22, 23 year old that felt outdated.

That felt fine to me, I guess.

Both: So the trailer, when I saw the trailer, it gave the impression that, uh, um, she's asked this AI bot to erase her ex boyfriend from all the digital memories. And then the person actually goes missing. This is all in the trailer. So the, the sense that I got was the, the AI has somehow become sentient and it has actually taken out to the person in real life.

But when you watch the movie, it's not that it's something something different. And the [00:10:00] twist that's played in the film, it's not very hard to guess that this is what it will be. Um, so I thought the second half of the film was a little, little Weaker as compared to the first half, the buildup, the thrill of, uh, the person condescending.

See, the movie

Nainika Rathore: takes a hard, like hard shift at the midpoint. So up till then it's just like Herbie, like there's a, in the initial half of the movie, there is this foreboding sense of something bad is going to happen, which you can imagine, right? Because she's taking really extreme steps. So you can tell that something is about to happen, but you're, you're like, okay, something bad will happen.

Something bad will happen, but then it starts going really bad. Um, and I'm not Huge believer in say conspiracy theories so the movie like some aspect of it the second half at least is too adjacent to a conspiracy theory to me which is I was just like okay relax chill out a little but no no it's completely fair like it's completely conceivable in this day and age that something like this might happen and uh certain corporate actors might be the ones behind it.

So, you know, I, I mean, we've [00:11:00] all been seeing what's been happening with Boeing, I guess. So, so, yeah.

Both: Yeah. I think overall, I also enjoyed the film. I just think that, uh, uh, there is a, like a revelation that happens, uh, uh, for the Vihaan Samath character who's, who plays her ex boyfriend. Yes. Vihaan Samath has

Nainika Rathore: been doing well for himself lately.

I must say. Yeah. He was

Both: also in Call Me Bae also. Also paired with

Nainika Rathore: Ananya. And he was also in that show that the two of us watched and discussed, I think, last year, last to last year, where he tries to date in Bombay, but it's really difficult for him.

Both: Oh, yeah. Very long name. I forgot the title. Jim

Nainika Rathore: Sarb was his little imaginary friend.

He talks to this little action figure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Crazy.

Both: So, uh, yeah, overall, I think, uh, it's very watchable control. Uh, it's under two hours. I think it's one hour, one hour, 40 minutes,

Nainika Rathore: very sharp, very cut film. Honestly, didn't you think it was like a Black Mirror episode? [00:12:00]

Both: It was, but so what?

Nainika Rathore: Yeah, I mean, fair.

It's just, he just took some creative liberty. So it just felt like a Black Mirror episode to me, like the exact same way in a, for Black Mirror episode where it's like, Technology and the human emotional web sort of, you know, coming face to face and then it becoming complicated because of that. So it was pretty much that.

Uh, I did still enjoy it. I would a hundred percent recommend it. It's a short movie. It's a quick movie. It will leave you with something to chew on. Um, do you personally use ChatGPT, Abbas?

Both: Uh, Uh, since, since I don't have an employer right now, I can be frank and say, yes, I do. Uh, but, but I use it to like make the first draft of something like, just give me an outline.

You know what? This is very funny. Um, I many a times use chat GPT when I have a writer's block. Because when I, when I use, when I give it a prompt and chat, GPT throw something at me, my first instinct as a writer is like, then you're like, I might as

Nainika Rathore: well pick it up. Fair, fair, fair. Uh, I'm being a [00:13:00] military to be a do about it.

Because I haven't used it at all. I think it's been like a year or so that I have not even used it even once. Because for some reason, I'm just like, no, it's weird. Why should I be having a computer telling me what to do? It's just my anti authoritarian. But more importantly, there's people who is like, so there's one, one of the bigger subplots of the movie is she starts talking to the AI assistant about.

her feelings. Um, and you know, the AI assistant is like, you know, it's nice, like it's therapeutic to talk about certain memories. So he shows her a picture and he gets her to talk about those pictures, et cetera, et cetera. Um, and a lot of people have been doing it. Like I've been hearing on Twitter where they're like, I'm using chat GPT as a therapist.

I have trained my AI model to respond to me when I have an emergency. I'm like, what are you people doing? I cannot even. Imagine putting myself through that. It just feels way too strange to me and I think I'm still coming to terms with the fact that we've managed to create us collectively as humanity.

We've managed to create something that is almost sentient. I mean, sentient, I guess. [00:14:00] Uh, I can't wrap my mind around it and I still feel like I'm making that emotional adjustment to it. It's like we've created a golem out of nothing and everyone's just super normal and chill about it. And I'm still like, Hang on a little, like, can we, can we process this before we move ahead?

So I'm still going through that period, I guess.

Both: Oh, wow. Okay. This is, this is new because I thought as a younger person, you would be more prone to take to it. Uh, I mean, I get where you're coming from, but. Like everybody's been saying, this is the worst this technology is. It's only going to get better. It is going to get a far better.

It's going to get

Nainika Rathore: far better. That's for sure.

Both: Yeah. But, but yeah, using a, an AI bot as a therapist, probably not the best idea. I don't know. Probably not the

Nainika Rathore: therapist idea. Kudos to kudos to the villain of the movie, which was that guy who was running that company. Um, the thing I will say about him, he's, uh, he's described

Both: the real life figure.

Nainika Rathore: Who was he supposed to remind me of? He looked like, he looked like Martin Shkreli [00:15:00] to me, the guy who got, purchased the patent for the AIDS medication. But anyway, I just thought of

Both: Aryan Khan, like the first thought. But why would I? Aryan

Nainika Rathore: Khan doesn't own a company that is run, anyway. But the point is he's described as a bit of an asshole, like one of those rich daddy's money assholes.

And then he comes onto the screen and he feels, you Exactly, like an asshole with like rich daddy's money. I was like, damn, you got the characterization really right. Like if I, if a character is supposed to be a villain and I get really pissed with them, I feel like they've done a great job. Like, uh, yeah.

Both: I think he's supposed to be a composite of all these. Elon Musk type tech bros, because his, his, uh, his, uh, differentiating factor is that he wears a cap on a suit. Okay. That's crazy. Yeah. Yeah.

Nainika Rathore: Possible. Okay. Okay. Quickly, quickly. Spoiler alert, but I'll still like say it. You can skip like. 50 seconds or something.

But there's that scene at the end where they're like, you know, she's finally in prison and the lawyer is like, you can't even sue me because you [00:16:00] never read Terms and Conditions. So you don't even know that you're not allowed to sue us. And I was like, fuck, that is true. Because this recently happened where this couple went to Disneyland and the husband was at one of the restaurants run by Disneyland and he ate something that triggered an allergy and he passed away.

And his widow, which is pretty much something they should be suing an organization over. But when the widow went to court, they're like, you purchased a Disney Plus hotstar, whatever Disney plus subscription and under the terms and conditions, it says that you can't sue us. So, so it's crazy. And I remember for a while there was like a lot of, um, you know, like activism around the fact, especially in like data privacy and data security, where they printed out terms and conditions for major social media sites.

And they were like, some of them are as long as say, like five, six meters. And most of them require you to at least be at a college reading level to even comprehend what's going on in there. Um, so yeah, I mean, I just, I feel like the conversation around, you know, what the corporations are doing to us through a medium as powerful as the internet [00:17:00] and how we're supposed to deal with it is scary.

Like, I have friends who are like, I am disappearing off Google, Chrome, photos, everything. I'm going to build my own internet in the shed of my own house with a computer. So yeah, that is, it's a movie that left me with a lot of dread, I guess.

Both: Uh, my favorite thing was that towards the end, uh, they show that this AI chatbot now has celebrity avatars and there was Veer Das, Tanmay Bhatt, Anurag Kashyap and I wondered how many, how many, how long the list was and how they shortlisted that this is going to be okay.

I guess they

Nainika Rathore: were just all their friends. Yeah. But yeah, Tanmay Bhatt had a few cameos in the film. So for his enthusiasts, maybe go watch it.

Both: Cool. So yeah, control is a recommendation from both of our end. You can go check it out on Netflix. It's streaming right now. All right. Before we move on, I'd like to tell you all about the U.

S. election and El Sina project to debunk myths and tell difficult stories. Journalism needs independent newsrooms. That's why Srinivasan Jain, one of India's [00:18:00] finest reporters, is collaborating with Newslaundry and the News Minute, where readers and viewers make public interest journalism possible. Thanks to public contributions, we were able to get Srinivasan to do viral, high impact reporting during the Lok Sabha elections.

Now we've set in motion even more ambitious plans. Srinivasan has brought you stories after traveling across Israel and the West Bank, covering the Gaza conflict on the Israeli side. Eve of the one year anniversary of the violence, two episodes are out and the third one will release on Monday. But now he'll travel to America to bring his unique take on the fascinating Trump versus Harris battle.

In the process, he'll tell the stories you will not see on the mainstream media. All of this can only happen with your support. To contribute to this project, head on to news laundry.com/sena. The link is on your screen and pick an amount that works for you. Make journalism great again. All right. Uh, Danica, before we go to Joker 2, actually, let's go to Joker 2.

[00:19:00] So, uh, I'll, uh, uh, tell you a little story before we start talking about Joker 2. Okay. So we're recording roughly like two days before this episode goes out, right? So, uh, our producer messaged us that we are going to be discussing Joker 2 and I was trying to schedule my whole thing, where can I fit in watching Joker 2?

So we're recording this episode at 5pm and I thought, you know what, on the day of the recording, I can catch a 1pm show of Joker 2 and it'll be fresh in my mind. Too ambitious. And I'll watch it. So then I head out to the PVR nearest to my house. Uh, I, I. Travel about, uh, uh, uh, a half an hour. I reach the, uh, PVR at around 1245 mm-Hmm.

for a 1:00 PM show. Mm-Hmm, . I go to the ticket window and I'm like a joker to 1:00 PM show. So the guy at the ticket window looks up at me and he says this beautiful line, he says. Sir, you are the only one who has to watch this movie. We haven't sold any tickets yet. He didn't say like, we haven't sold tickets or anything.

He said, you are the only one who has to [00:20:00] watch this movie. He clocked you for who you are.

Nainika Rathore: But were you the only person in the theater watching it? No, so listen, sir, the

Both: show got cancelled. It won't happen again. He's like, sir, give me 10 minutes, I'll tell you what's going to happen. I was like, okay. So then I went, I like passed my time for 10 minutes, I came back.

And I was like, what happened, sir? Is the show going on or not? So then this guy again, who should probably do comedy. He's like, sir, Joker 2 has become Joker, the show is cancelled.

Nainika Rathore: Oh, no. So unfortunately, I wasn't

Both: able to watch Joker 2, uh, Folly Ya Do. I'm devastated because

Nainika Rathore: I was hoping I'd be able to share this deep psychological wound with you Abbas, but unfortunately looks like it can't be.

But I'll

Both: set up Joker 2 for you. So Joker Folio 2 is the musical sequel to Joaquin Phoenix starrer Joker. Joker from 2019. It stars Phoenix and Lady Gaga, who plays his love interest, Lee Quinzel, uh, also known as Harley Quinn from the comics. So, Nainika, tell me what you thought about Joker 2. Also, tell me what you thought about Joker 1, [00:21:00] because I realize this is your moment, because this is the one time, Where I absolutely detested a comic book film when I watched the first one, it's, it's, and I was like, this is Nannika's moment where she's like, Oh, this is nerd to shine where a boss likes all things, comic books, stupid DC Marvel.

Well, here's your moment. Here's the film. The first one I absolutely detested. First of all, I'm

Nainika Rathore: going to revel in my superiority for like five minutes at least. Like, yeah, a lot of these movies are so shit, Abbas. And I'm glad you're catching up to the idea. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Okay, sorry.

Both: Joker is an exception.

Nainika Rathore: Uh, you know what, fine. I'll take maybe a few more years of propaganda, I guess.

Both: Very quickly, tell me your, uh, like your relationship with the first film and then you can tell me what you thought. My

Nainika Rathore: relationship with the first film, I think I tried watching it on OTT and I fell asleep, which is also what happened to the second movie, Loki.

Uh, I went to watch a super, like, this is like [00:22:00] 10. 30 in the morning show. Okay. And, uh, I was well rested. I was just like, yeah, it's not like I'm gonna get sleepy. I'm well rested, fresh in the morning. I kid you not, 20 minutes into the movie, I dozed off for like 15 minutes. And I woke up and Lady Gaga is like singing on screen and it's absolute pandemonium and I'm like, yeah, it's like I've woken up into a nightmare.

Uh, it was a long fucking movie. It was an absolute drag. I thought of just leaving. And I was like, yeah, it's like I've woken up Uh, I had to make sure somebody went with me in order to, you know, like, I wouldn't walk out of the theater just like midway, just like, you know what I'm checking out. Uh, yeah, I mean, the first movie I'm familiar with the plot.

I could never have the patience to sit through and finish the whole thing, but it's essentially the story is like how somebody deeply powerless and neglected in society. Finally, you know, they lose their shit and they,

Both: you know, they come into madness.

Nainika Rathore: They descend into madness. They finally say enough is enough when it comes to all the [00:23:00] pain that's been inflicted upon them and they somehow try to take revenge or try to have power and which is why it also became popular among certain internet factions, especially like your incel, incel adjacent people who are like, you know, I've never, we've never felt powerless.

We've never felt powerful in the society. We've been okay. kicked down by people, laughed upon by people for not fitting in, for not being the right kind of social animals, whatever. Um, so yeah, I mean it got pretty popular. I think it had that messaging that people really clung on to. Um, and then the second one is just like, it's really funny how they set it up.

The first one's like, it doesn't matter if you don't fit into the society, you can reclaim power. You're going to be violent, but maybe you can reclaim some dignity for yourself. And the second movie, he just, they just. strip him away of every last little bit of dignity that they can to be like, fuck you for liking the first movie in a way, I guess.

Essentially. Yeah.

Both: I wanted to ask you about that because that's the one aspect that's been spoken about a lot that the sequel is almost shitting on people. It is, it [00:24:00] is, it is. It

Nainika Rathore: absolutely is. Like, it's very clearly that, you know, the, the, I think in a way it's like, Todd Phillips is the director, right?

Todd Phillips was like, I made the first movie, it got adapted, you know, it was, the movie was sort of adopted by really weird people. So now I must make a sequel to ensure that the legacy of the first movie remains pristine by everybody who liked it for like, weird fucking reasons, doesn't like it anymore, very weird.

Um, but essentially the second movie is like Joker is in prison and uh, he's trying to find his way out and he's struggling between the identities of being Joker or Arthur Fleck. Well, I think the deal of the first movie was Arthur Fleck. The person was a very neglected, denigrated personality and then, you know, he turns into Joker, his alter ego, which is a bit more evil, a bit more powerful.

So the second movie is like, the first movie has the clear theme of like, two different personalities. The second movie is like them trying to bring the both of them together to be like, there's no actual Joker. It's [00:25:00] not like you suddenly changed into a new person. You were always the person who was capable of that level of violence, um, which is one of the central themes.

And then the second movie, like it's meandering, it goes nowhere. And on top of that, it's a musical, which is, it's like, sorry, why are you trying to torture me? Like, what's up? Like, they were like, Purposely let's make the most drabby as film and also make it a musical, which is holy shit. Uh, I don't know what you mean to say,

Both: but then they got Lady Gaga, right?

Who's a legit musician. Does she not add to the, she is a

Nainika Rathore: legit musician. She is a very smart person just in general. She is incredibly talented. However, and I'll be very honest with this. And I, and as someone who really loved Lady Gaga at some point. I think she chooses her projects thinking what can get her the most amount of prestige and not necessarily whether she wants to act.

So her, she did, um, what is the first movie with Bradley Cooper? Uh, A Star is Born.

Both: A [00:26:00] Star is Born. A

Nainika Rathore: Star is Born. Um, I think she did it clearly because it's like romance has always been a prestige genre, right? And this particular story has been adapted again and again. So it's always Already a well known prestige project that she committed to and got the awards out of the next one she did was house of gucci which again right biopics a genre that is prestigious that is something that is academy fodder house of gucci was a terrible movie i slept off for a huge chunk in the middle of it and i was in the theater like 11 30 to 3 a.

m watching it so you can imagine i was just like falling asleep midway it was terrible Terrible. And I walked out of it feeling pissed. And then I watched this again, Joker 2, Folly Others, again, one of those movies that is like a prestige genre, because it's supposed to be dark, it's supposed to be gritty.

And Joker won already, you know, a lot of awards. I think,

Both: I think Joaquin Phoenix won the Oscar for it, right? So she

Nainika Rathore: is Picking projects with this, you know, how she's like, Oh, she, I must get my EGOT status. So [00:27:00] she's not picking, I mean, she already has an Oscar, I guess. I don't know how many more she wants, but you know that she, I think she is chasing acting projects with more of like a idea in her mind about what is the most amount of prestige I can chase.

And honestly, I don't know. I think she needs to do something else on it. I don't think she's a bad presence on screen, but her project selection is absolutely horrendous.

Both: Again, for those who don't want to know the ending gets to skip ahead. So what does Joker 2 end with? So Joker 1 ended with this very, um, sort of, uh, this very psychotic thing where he's arrested, but he has, he has created such an unrest in society that those rioting, uh, break him out.

And the last frame was essentially him revealing in the fact that now he's found his tribe of these anarchic people who are out to, uh, you know, Uh, sort of dismantled society from the bottom up. So how, what does Joker 2 land at in the, in the end?

Nainika Rathore: So in the end, he goes to court [00:28:00] and he's unable to, I mean, Harvey Dent is like, Oh, I'm going to prove you guilty.

And he's like, Oh, Harvey

Both: Dent is in this movie. Just

Nainika Rathore: as he's just bringing the affair, like he's persecuting him. That's all.

Both: Okay. Um.

Nainika Rathore: And Joker is like, I'll represent myself. He loses the case. He admits to all the counts of murder. So it's like, it's almost like he's been made powerless. He's like, yeah, I did this.

Also, I did that. Also, I did everything. I'm a terrible person. And, um, he just, ultimately just ends up back in prison. And there's a terrible scene, which I think was cut from Indian cinema, which was, uh, he gets, uh, sexually assaulted in the prison that he's at, the guard. So it was just really weird that you build up the first movie, trying to make him to be this character that can reclaim some sort of power.

And then the second movie will literally actually have a scene where he's getting sodomized. Um, anyway, so he breaks out of, he finally ends up in prison again and spoiler alert, uh, 15 seconds, skipping, whatever. He gets killed by one of the inmates. He gets shanked and the inmate is like, uh, you know, I used to, [00:29:00] I used to look up, uh, you know, look up ad when, when I saw you on the TV screen and now I'm in the prison with you and you went to court and you completely admitted to all the wrongdoings and that's pathetic and he kills him for that.

So essentially he becomes, uh, in the first movie he becomes a messiah for a certain type of people. In the second movie he's like, I can't rise up to that messiah hood so they kill him for it. Which essentially was just the end and which is again, I feel like for the people who like the first movie, I think it's a very unsatisfying end, but also I guess it's a comment on what happens socially when you, you know, when you rely on powers like violence and anarchy, because they're not sustainable long term, you don't really become, you can't become an icon out of it.

Both: And

Nainika Rathore: Lady Gaga's Harlequin also gets attracted to him because he is, um, Because he's Joker and then when eventually he gives up power, she's like, yeah, I'm not interested in you anymore, which is so real of her, I guess. Um, I think the movie borrows heavily from, uh, I, [00:30:00] what's that Scorsese film, New York, New York is what I've been reading about.

The

Both: first one, the first one was very heavily influenced by this film called King of Comedy. Okay. Um, which, which I highly recommend you watch, which where. Uh, Robert De Niro played this, uh, so in the, in the original Robert De Niro plays this talk show host tonight show kind of a show, but in King of Comedy, he plays the struggling comedian who wants to be big and it's, it's assumed that Robert De Niro took the role in Joker because he considered that Like the logical next step for the king of comedy character that had he become the comedian he wanted, he would become this arrogant prick who would just call people on his show and insult them.

Um, so yeah, uh, Joker one, just a movie that does not work for me, despite the, uh, despite the fact that it's based on a comic book based on Batman, which is one of

Nainika Rathore: my favorites. Yeah, based on a

Both: mythology that I really like.

Nainika Rathore: He really built up Joker as a [00:31:00] character from the ashes, I guess, you know, that's when he really became popular.

Everyone, he was, everybody was trying to like, and like

Both: you said, there is no, there's no, Like, it's just about how much pain can you inflict on a character, which just gets very boring after a while, like, give me something where, give me something to root for. I just don't want to sit in a movie theater and be beaten down with, uh, you know, with one bad thing after the other.

So I don't know, maybe I'll catch Joker 2 whenever it comes in streaming because clearly nobody

Nainika Rathore: See, honestly, the songs and the singing really put me off because it's like on one end it's trying to be a serious film and on the second end he's just randomly breaking into song and I was just like What the fuck is happening

Both: to this?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Nainika Rathore: Very, very strange viewing experience. Um, I would not have gone for it if I didn't have to review it. So I guess that tells you, but if you're like, guess what?

Both: Nobody else is going either.

Nainika Rathore: But in case you're [00:32:00] going and you do like the film and you were someone who liked the first film, then maybe I mean, tell us about it. Tell us why you liked it. And if there's something you liked about the second film. Um, and Lady Gaga. I don't know. I mean, somebody needs to one of her friends need to go up to her and tell her that she should choose better projects.

But yeah, I guess I don't know. I mean, it's also weird because Joaquin Phoenix is like known for not Reprising characters like he is. I don't think he's done that many sequels. So it's surprising that he decided to come back for a second one for Joker and also like a really weird one.

Both: Yeah, I don't I think this certainly something that spoke to him about this character because he's not done any other comic book films also.

So I don't know. It got him an

Nainika Rathore: Oscar. So it's not like he can. That's what it

Both: got him an Oscar. And it's just it just was a. Like, I mean, some, some things you got to do for the paycheck, man.

Nainika Rathore: I don't think he, I don't think he was ever short of money, but I guess whatever. Sure, I don't know. It's funny that Scorsese is like, [00:33:00] Todd Phillips really wants to pay homage to Scorsese all the time and be like, he's my hero and make movies in his image and Scorsese just doesn't care.

He's like, yeah, all right, I guess. Uh, that must, that must, that must hurt a lot, I guess. So, yeah.

Both: Ouch. Is that an origin story of another Joker? We'll never find out.

Nainika Rathore: I hope, I hope not because I can't tolerate having to watch and review it.

Both: Okay, cool. So those were our thoughts about Joker 2.

Nainika Rathore: All right, Abba.

So you managed to catch the Ellen DeGeneres for your approval, her latest and last stand up comedy show. What do you have to say about it? Please enlighten us.

Both: Okay. So this is her first, uh, stand up special after she was, uh, in her words, quote unquote, kicked out of show business because apparently she was a horrible boss on her talk show.

Uh, she was abusive towards her employees and some of them even, uh, accused her of Uh, people at the senior level of, uh, being making racist comments and, uh, some, you know, [00:34:00] inappropriate touching and stuff also. So she wrapped up her show, I think two years ago, and she became this big no no in the, in show business.

And all of this was, Really escalated because the whole messaging of her show was used to end by saying be kind and she used to give this messaging that it takes nothing Yeah, if you have a lot of LA money,

Nainika Rathore: I don't trust any be kind nonsense. Uh, get real. That's like a South Delhi auntie being like, get, uh, be kind.

I was just like, well, are you kind to your domestic help? Get real.

Both: Ouch. So Ellen DeGeneres, I mean, uh, even before she ever did her talk show, uh, the, her daytime talk show, she was actually quite a forced to be reckoned, which she was one of the most popular female standup comedians of the nineties. And also she had a such, and also

Nainika Rathore: her and the fact that she came out as a lesbian in her character, yes.

In her career. Pretty early on in her career was, uh, yeah. Something that was very, you know, powerful. I mean,

Both: it was, yeah. So she alludes to that, but when she came [00:35:00] out, uh, uh, in the nineties. Her show was actually taken off air because it was considered too controversial. Then she had this whole comeback narrative where she voiced Dory from Finding Nemo.

And that film became a huge success. Then she had a couple of stand up specials. Uh, okay. So for your approval, when it starts, it, I mean, Um, you know, there's this new genre of comedians who've been cancelled coming back through standup specials. Uh, we had Aziz Ansari, uh, Louis CK has done a couple of them.

And so the, so the special starts with, you know, this really pretentious thing where Ellen is looking in the mirror and you can see footage from all her old comedy specials and everything. Like this is her life reflecting back on her quite literally and so on and so forth. And she's walking to this. And we can hear snippets of her past and everything.

And then the show starts and for the first 10 12 minutes she's doing like good observational stand up comedy like she used to. She's talking about [00:36:00] how you don't get space to park anymore and how cars have changed and all of that. And that's all funny. That's all very typical Ellen DeGeneres, but you're waiting.

When is she going to get to the part, uh, where she's going to talk about the controversial bits, right? And then she does, and she keeps, she does this, uh, you know, she, she does this, uh, uh, stick where she keeps referring to a piece of paper. And then what, what else happened? Oh yeah. I, I, I got some hens and she spoke, speaks about hens and everything.

And then she finally gets to let's see what else happened. Oh yeah. I got kicked out of show business. And then what she does is she. Talks about how what she took on was larger than what she expected, like she was just a simpleton comedian who never wanted the life of the daytime talk shows. That excuse doesn't work.

That excuse

Nainika Rathore: does not work. You better, I mean, see, I understand going into popularity you expect a level of things to come at your way and then it becomes bigger and bigger as your show becomes bigger and internationally acclaimed at some point, right? Yeah,

Both: yeah, yeah. So

Nainika Rathore: yeah, I [00:37:00] mean, hire more people, like get people who can keep you in check.

Um, and which is clearly not happening on the show. Exactly.

Both: So, so. I was waiting. Okay. I was like, okay, so are you going to build up to, okay. I was a simple comedian who didn't know I was going to get so much success, but then I got the success. So I should have been responsible. No, she actually diverts it to everybody came after me because I'm a woman and I'm gay.

That's why straight men get away with this all the time. That cannot be your excuse that straight men get to do horrible stuff and get away. Uh, but they come after women because I'm a woman. It was really, as the show goes on, it, it got more and more her trying to. You know, as somebody

Nainika Rathore: talking about how men get away as somebody, I get it that you're a woman and you're gay in a society that was homophobic and you face a lot of homophobia.

You probably have millions of dollars in your bank account right now. So talking about, you know, how people I don't know. I mean, your money is still with you. Your prestige [00:38:00] is still with you. You just, you stopped working on a show that you'd been working on for, I don't know how many seasons of Ellen were there at that point.

Like by the time she shut it down. I

Both: think the show ran for like 13 years and it was a daily series and thousands of episodes. It

Nainika Rathore: was a daily thing. You had, she was one of the most recognizable people at some point. So it's crazy that, you know, she talks about the fact that I couldn't get away with it.

Um, In fact, she very much did get away with it. No reckoning came for her. Um, it's not like people that she could thoroughly and deliberately mistreated over and over the years were like, uh, no, we're suing you for money. We're taking all your wealth away. We're beating you in the public square. None of that happened, right?

So talking about, I didn't get away with it is a bit too much.

Both: Yeah. Yeah. No, it gets I mean, the narrative just keeps getting twisted where she's like, I'm older now, so I don't care about what people say. And it seems like you never

Nainika Rathore: cared about what people said at any point. So don't. Yeah.

Both: Yeah. The audience is really like, they are Ellen fans.

So whatever she's saying, they're laughing a lot of applause. There's one bit which is actually [00:39:00] going viral for On TikTok and Instagram for all the wrong reasons, which is just before she ends the special where she says, uh, I'm a strong woman. And then she gets like a minute long standing ovation. Uh, so yeah, the, the, the jokes start drying up as the, as the special goes along.

And, uh, like I, I, I do think Ellen DeGeneres is funny. She does know how to write good jokes. I don't think that

Nainika Rathore: was ever, there was ever a lack. Yeah, exactly. And when the special

Both: starts. I thought, okay, this is going to be one of those where she's going to, you know, fall back on her talent and she does for like 15 minutes and then it goes down.

See, clearly it was

Nainika Rathore: very evident that she had yes men surrounding her at the show at all times, which is why she became what she became. And it's evident that that never really went away. She still has people around her who do not, who have never given her a sense of moral righteousness or what she should have done as a boss.

I don't know. I mean, it's fine if you come out with like, uh, with a standup comedy comic show after you've been publicly. [00:40:00] Publicly, you know, I guess canceled for being the kind of person you are. And then you don't even have a drop of remorse in you. It's just strange to me. You're apologizing, but it's a halfway does either just don't apologize for it.

Just stand on your feet and being like, yeah, I was a terrible person. That's what happens when you're running a show and you're caught in resources and you can't always be nice to each other. I would honestly respect that far more than whatever this was.

Both: So, I mean, uh, just the last word on this, um, it's not, I mean, if I had to play devil's advocate, so there's been this slew of, uh, people being called out, like Ellen Lizzo also, I think, got in trouble for being a taskmaster.

And I think Jimmy Fallon was called out for being, uh, the flip side of this is like, see, none of these. None of these, like having a daily talk show, uh, touring with this massive entourage and putting up a show or like, again, Jim it for Jimmy Fallon, putting a tonight show every single day. None of these come under the purview of like regular jobs.

These are high stressful jobs [00:41:00] where you have to put on a performance and anything even slightly less than perfect will reflect badly on the artist. Do you not think that in that high stress situation, there will be times where I'm not saying that making racially charged comments or inappropriately touching someone is, uh, is, is, is okay.

But the idea of being a tough boss, does that not come with the territory that you are running this? Essentially this massive circus every single day.

Nainika Rathore: Honestly, I don't think it is about being a tough boss, because there are very difficult things that can be executed on a day in day out basis. It's about you being the kind of leader that just doesn't care for, because there's been a lot of scenarios.

I think when the I'm not sure if this is a Jimmy Fallon show. Somebody else was being considered that when somebody was comparing that when Conan was taken suddenly off air, he was far more respectful to his employees, to the people around him who had worked on the show. As opposed to his

Both: employees, his comic relief, like all his employees started showing up on his [00:42:00] kid.

Nainika Rathore: Yeah. So it was just like, there are ways you deal with something like this. And it's fine. It's, it's, it is a high stress job. You can't work around that. But, uh, show business takes on this thing where people see fame is. As bad as a drug it gets to you. It warps your sense of what is happening And when you're consistently at all points the center focal point of an entire project running together You have a sense of importance about yourself that is way inflated from just like your day to day being right?

So I guess in that sense you really need to make a superhuman effort to remain grounded I mean ellen probably at the center of the ellen show was just like if she asked for I don't know a vial of protein blood right now because you're going on air in 50 minutes and I need it. It would appear for her.

I don't think a single person should have that level of power. And if they do, there should be somebody keeping them in check. So, so yeah, if you're planning to be very famous, uh, you better. Yeah. When, when

Both: you said, when you said famous, like a drug, I felt like saying Nanika, trust me, I know.

Nainika Rathore: I'm glad you do.

No, and I'm glad you came out of it, uh, [00:43:00] completely healthy. Well, and see, yeah, that's true.

Both: I had to check myself. Yeah, the three

Nainika Rathore: letters that we get at News Lottery after doing A& A that fame has really got into your head. I know, I

Both: know. It's okay. I'll do a stardom special about it someday.

Nainika Rathore: Where you will absolutely not take any responsibility.

Absolutely not. It was all Nainika's fault. Yeah, absolutely. And they came for me because I'm a cool guy who likes Marvel. And that's the most disrespected community in the world. That's true.

Both: Ouch. Okay. Let's not go there. Um, but yeah, Ellen, uh, I, I, I think you can skip it. I don't think it's a must watch. I was expecting something a little more moving and something which, uh, where she took responsibility.

Do you know

Nainika Rathore: that fun little factoid where they were Plotting a chart, like a chart of the popularity of the name Ellen for baby girls and how it was really popular. And then 1998 and then suddenly the graph drops at around 98 or something and then it drops again around 2000s. One of these, so someone's like, what happened in [00:44:00] these years?

It's like 1998, Ellen came out, Ellen Degeneres came out, so they stopped naming baby girls Ellen. And then it further dropped when Elliot Page, who was formerly Ellen Page, came out as a lesbian. So they were like, then it fell off even further. So, so yeah, I guess. It's a cursed name. Probably. Who knows?

Both: Okay.

Nainika Rathore: Before we move ahead, I have a special announcement for all our subscribers in Mumbai. We are organizing a special News Laundry News Minute meetup for our subscribers in Mumbai on October 13th. The subscribers can meet Manisha Pandey and Dhanya Rajendran, who will be visiting Mumbai for the IFP festival season.

Our subscribers have free access to this event. If you want to attend the meetup and attend this event, right to subscription at newslaundry. com and we will get back to you.

Both: Hey, nice. I might also be there. So come say hi to me also. All right, let's move on to the last topic of the day, which is Shogun, which was a show that won Not a gun

Nainika Rathore: Well, it won a lot of Emmys, so

Both: it won a lot of Emmys. [00:45:00] Uh, so what is Shogun You Ask? It's a historical drama created by Rachel Condo and Justin Marx. It's based on a 1975 novel and is centered around a British sailor who becomes a samurai in the 17th century Japan, and is caught up in a past struggle between rival wall lords.

It's streaming right now on Hot Star, uh, uh, Danika. You happen to catch Shogun? Yes. I'm sorry. I, my God, was not able to catch this. either. Uh, but it has been compared to like the scale of game of thrones and all these prestige big budget TV shows. So tell me, how much did you watch and what did you think of it?

Nainika Rathore: I watched the whole thing. Oh, you watched the whole thing. I was procrastinating on something else. So whenever I'm doing that, my watching record is Amazing. Perfect. Um, anyway, I was, uh, I watched the whole thing. The episodes, I think it is 10 episodes or eight episodes, 10 episodes. Each episode is like 50, 55 minutes.

So it's a bulky show. Um, and clearly it's very well produced, very well made. I must say that [00:46:00] completely and deserving of the Emmy nominations. It got completely, I think. Um, so yeah, the story is essentially this, um, British sailor is on a quest to find Japan and at that point Japan, this is 1600s or so, Japan was controlled by the Portuguese and the Spanish and this was one of their trade outposts.

So they used to trade a lot of things and English are like, okay, we must find Japan and establish a trade connection with them. Um, And of course there's that war about the Protestants versus the Catholics happening, uh, where the Portuguese side are traditional Catholics and the English people are Protestants.

So they obviously have like fights amongst each other. So this, uh, establishing a territory in Japan, establishing an English territory in Japan is very much about trade, but it's also about like national pride. So the guy is, um, uh, Blackthorn, John Blackthorn is the name of the, uh, I like how you're wiping your forehead every five minutes, like you're in a UFC show.

You come back from one round of boxing, then wipe yours.

Both: I'm so excited with your, with your description. Then what happened?[00:47:00]

Nainika Rathore: Essentially lands up on the shores of, I think somewhere near Osaka. I don't know. Actually,

Both: I have a question. So since Since the bulk of it is set in Japan. What's like the language of, uh, ation

Nainika Rathore: Japanese? You'll have to read a lot of subtitles. Oh, okay. Fortunately for me, I love subtitles, so it went very well.

Okay. I love a little reading work as I watch.

Both: That's a very, that's a very, like I've never seen someone express love their love for subtitles. So

Nainika Rathore: I learnt English through subtitles, so I will never say no to subtitles. I think they're great. Uh, so , uh, the entire, I mean, the language of course is Japanese and it's really funny because after I started watching the show, I.

Picked up on like little little Japanese words like Arigatou gozaimasu, things like that. So it's like,

Both: anime watcher? I am not an anime

Nainika Rathore: watcher. I do have friends who love it and talk to me about it, but I personally have never watched any. Um, but, uh, the show, the plot [00:48:00] is again, it's a very political plot because he reaches the shores of Japan at a time where there's a transfer of power taking place where the older regent is now he's passed away and his.

heir is too young to take over from him. So he leaves the, he leaves the control with four masters, five masters were looking after like different, different kingdoms. So the one that it is focused on Toranaga sama, he looks after Tokyo, Edo essentially, which is what it was called then. Um, And the fight is with the Lord Master who sits in, out of Osaka and they're fighting about, you know, who will get the power, one of them wants to kill the heir and take all the power for himself, the others have some trade interests that they're trying to, so very much like a Game of Thrones esque plot, but way less violent and in a way, because it really talks about how, you know, like you can clearly see the Japanese cultural difference, where in Game of Thrones, they'd be like, I must slay my enemy in the most brutal way possible.

In this show, it's all about, well, we don't like you. Can you [00:49:00] please kill yourself by sundown tomorrow? And they're like, fine, I'll kill myself and then actually kill themselves by sundown the next day.

Both: So

Nainika Rathore: yeah, so it really shows you that the Japanese culture is like, I mean, they value life in a way where you're like, you should be the one, you know, control of your own destiny, you should get to kill yourself.

So. So it's not as violent as Game of Thrones would be, it's as politically intense for sure because they're consistently planning, plotting what to do, how to appeal to people in a specific way that they can consolidate power, et cetera, et cetera. Is it

Both: as raunchy as Game of Thrones?

Nainika Rathore: No, no. And it shouldn't be.

Then why has

Both: it got so many Emmys? Well, no, I thought sex and violence were the two things that that made for great drama.

Nainika Rathore: Maybe, maybe it's the politics that makes for a great drama. Oh, that damn thing. Who knows, who knows, that damn thing. So it's really funny. Again, it's not as violently intense as Game of Thrones.

It's pretty like it moves slowly. There's a lot of deliberation, a lot of conversation. So it's like a bit of a cerebral show. The end, the, uh, The end of the show is [00:50:00] based around a poetry competition where they're like, they get into competition. Wow.

Both: Okay. Yeah.

Nainika Rathore: We're doing a poetry competition. Definitely

Both: not like Game of Thrones.

Yeah.

Nainika Rathore: No, I mean, but like even the poetry is like political and thought out. So like, in a way, like Game of Thrones, but less, less violent. They're not, But does it,

Both: uh, does it close the loop? Like does season one end with a definitive end? The season one ends

Nainika Rathore: with a definitive end for sure, but I think it does leave space for something else to come.

But it's not like you're not ending on a cliffhanger, you end, I'm sure it's going to get renewed for a second season. Yeah, it has been. There's only a Shogun season 2. Yeah, so we will get a season two, but the season one is like pretty good standalone in and of itself. And I like the characters, I like how they do a very beautiful job of showing the Japanese culture.

Yeah. Um, especially the medieval like warrior culture and how political culture and how things move, how conversations happen, I think the costuming and the locations are done very well. So I will say that it was very well produced. And yeah, it was, it was a good show. What's the, what's

Both: the name of the character you said?

[00:51:00] Uh, Tora,

Nainika Rathore: Tora Nagasama. He is, he is played by Hiroyuki Sanada, who was also in John Wick 4.

Both: Oh, got it. So he's the one who's, uh, who's fighting for, to, to preserve his land.

Nainika Rathore: Yes, yes, yes. He's fighting to preserve. So does

Both: he at any point say, because he's

Nainika Rathore: unfortunately he doesn't, but I wish he did so that you would watch it.

But yeah, it's

Both: does, uh, does it, does the, does it, it's streaming on Hotstar? It is streaming on Hotstar. Does Hotstar give you the option to watch it in Hindi dubbed version of it?

Nainika Rathore: I didn't try that out, but if it does, please watch it and please watch a Bhojpuri dubbed version.

Both: Yeah, then he has to say, yeh hai.

Cool.

Nainika Rathore: All right.

Both: I was, I waited for like three minutes to crack that joke. Yeah, you had a lot. When you said that name, I wanted to crack it right there. But I let it build up a

Nainika Rathore: little. You would. Yeah. Definitely. I can see you in 15 years doing a, you know, apology comedy.

Both: I recently found out that, uh, the [00:52:00] Sanjay Dutt

Nainika Rathore: film Vaastav,

Both: uh, the Bhojpuri title was Tuhar Ke Thok De Be.

Nainika Rathore: Oh. They

Both: got right to the point.

Nainika Rathore: Well, on that note.

Both: So yeah, please watch Shogun. I have been behind on this. I do plan to catch up on it. I also plan to read the novel, which is also quite hefty and thick. So yeah.

Nainika Rathore: On that note, 100 percent a recommendation. Yes. So please thumbs up, please watch it. And, uh, yeah, I mean, it was glad coming back after really long and recording.

Thank you, of course, to Anilji and our lovely producer Priyali, without whose effort this wouldn't be possible.

Both: Okay, so with that, we come to the end of this episode. Thank you, Mr. Athor.

Nainika Rathore: Thank you, Mr. Momin.

Both: And it's a wrap. And I'll see you in Mumbai.

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