Awful and Awesome Ep 346: Maamla Legal Hai, Irish Wish, The Gentlemen

While discussing the headlines:

Tanishka: Kangana Ranaut was declared BJP’s candidate from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh…It’s the audition she’s been doing for years now.

Nainika: That too on Twitter…which is why you should keep posting on social media.

Tanishka: Shitposting is great!

Nainika: Doesn’t matter what your mom says. You should always be on your phone. One day it could result in a Lok Sabha seat.

This and a whole lot of awful and awesome as Nainika Rathore and Tanishka Sodhi discuss the series Maamla Legal Hai and The Gentlemen , and the movie Irish Wish .

This episode is outside the paywall. Watch it, enjoy it, and subscribe to Newslaundry, so you can tune in every week.

Have something to say? Write to us at newslaundry.com/podcast-letters .

General elections are around the corner, and Newslaundry and The News Minute have a series of ambitious coverage planned. To support our journalism, choose an election project and contribute here .

. Timecodes

00:00 - Introductions

01:10 - Headlines

04:02 - Maamla Legal Hai

23:42 - NL TNM Election Fund

24:35 - The Gentlemen

36:40 - Irish wish

47:04 - Letters

References

General Elections 2024 Fund

Maamla Legal Hai

Irish Wish

The Gentlemen

Click here to download the Newslaundry app on Android. And here for iOS.

Produced and recorded by Priyali Dhingra and Shubang Gautam, edited by Umrav Singh.

. Sting: [00:00:00] This is a News Laundry podcast, and you're listening to Awful and Awesome.

Nainika Rathore: Hello, hello, and welcome to the Awful and Awesome entertainment wrap. I'm Nereka and I'm Tanishka. We're finally reunited after a really long time. So Tanishka, what are we talking about this week?

Tanishka Sodhi: We are discussing Mamla Legal Hair, Irish Wish and Gentleman.

Nainika Rathore: Hmm. That sounds like quite an interesting line.

I think combined, we have watched all of it. Yeah, all of it. I think bits and, uh, if you put together, I think there's very little that we've left out. So, we have a great, uh, success rate this episode, which makes for a great discussion. Yeah, except

Tanishka Sodhi: half of one movie, which, uh,

Nainika Rathore: you'll find out about what it is.

Exactly. Um, So the full episode of Awful and Awesome is outside the paywall this week, uh, much like our other podcasts, NL Hafta and NL Charcha. You can catch the full episodes of these podcasts on our YouTube channel. [00:01:00] Just a reminder that we rely completely on subscriptions, on your support, and we don't take any ads.

We urge you to support us and become a paid subscriber of News Laundry. Our subscription plans start for as low as rupees 300 per month. You can also check out our other subscription plans at newslaundry. com slash subscription. Become a subscriber today! And help us support independent journalism.

Tanishka Sodhi: So before we get on with the show, let's start with the headlines for the week.

Number one, uh, Bollywood star Kangana Ranaut was declared BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh. I've seen. Quite

Nainika Rathore: interesting. I've been seeing the news coverage around it. It's the audition

Tanishka Sodhi: she's been doing

Nainika Rathore: for years now. On Twitter that time. Which is like the most successful somebody's been off of Twitter.

Yes. Um, interesting. So there is a success rate. There is absolutely. Which is why you should keep tweeting and keep being on your social media. Doesn't matter what your mom says about your phone. You should be on your phone. Who knows? One day it could result in a Lok Sabha seat. Exactly. [00:02:00] Randeep Hooda Savarkar tanked at the box office.

The film managed to collect rupees 9 crore at the box office till Tuesday, according to the Hindustan Times.

Tanishka Sodhi: Multiple properties of hip hop star Sean Diddy Combs were searched by the U. S. Department of Homeland Security. The musician is facing multiple civil lawsuits over alleged sexual assault and sex trafficking.

Nainika Rathore: My God, this story is horrifying. I don't know if you've been following it for a while. I haven't actually. So, um, it first came to light a few months ago. I think the singer Cassie? I'm not sure. I'll get, uh, Cassie, like, basically came out of the accusations about how, while they were in a relationship, he was really sexually coercive and would keep her intoxicated and sexually assault her, and it was really bone chilling the entire narrative.

And then I think she finally went to the authorities. They looked into it and realized that there'd been rumors circulating about Diddy for a while, and he's, like, a very well known, like, he did rap for a while, and then he took off. He's switched over entirely to being like a music mogul of sorts and a producer, etc.

And [00:03:00] it's just bone chilling that the amount of, you know, rumors circulating about him have finally come to light. And he was being investigated by the feds. Like it is not. He's not been convicted yet. Not yet. They're just carrying out the investigation. So they sealed off his home the other day to actually carry out the investigation.

But what like the accounts of what happened with Cassie are

Tanishka Sodhi: horrifying. But it's great to be that it's taken seriously. Yeah. I don't think in India, though, that really happens. I mean, 2018, even in the music and entertainment

Nainika Rathore: industry, all the accusations never really came to light. But, uh, yeah, I mean, I hope the victims find peace through this.

Uh, superstar Kamal Hassan in a recent interview with the Hindu revealed that the shooting for Indian two and Indian three has been completed. Additionally, he's all set to make a cameo appearance in Kalki 2898 AD. I have no idea what any of those things

Tanishka Sodhi: are.

Nainika Rathore: Uh, yeah. I think we're revealing our ignorance a little so we won't get [00:04:00] much into that.

But yeah, I mean, I hope people are happy about Indian 2 and Indian 3 being completed. I hope there are fans out there that are happy. Yes. And we will also be once

Tanishka Sodhi: we watch Indian 1 for sure. So let's get on with the show. We'll So mamla legal hai. Right. We'll discuss that first, which is a courtroom comedy drama, which stars Ravi Kishan, Nidhi Bish, Naila Grewal, Anjum Batra, among others.

Sameer Saxena, also known for Panchayat, Kota Factory and Tripling, serves as the showrunner. It's available on Netflix. What were your first thoughts of the show? Ooh, Uh, see, on a first watch, I thought it was

Nainika Rathore: genuinely fun to watch. First

Tanishka Sodhi: watch? How

Nainika Rathore: many watches have you?

Tanishka Sodhi: As in just like,

Nainika Rathore: you know, just when you're not thinking too much about it.

Yeah. Maybe later when I process it a little. I haven't watched it multiple times. Okay. I was like, you're really thorough. No, uh, so just like, I actually watched it on the train, like all the episodes, one after the other. So I didn't like get to sit and properly digest, you know how it usually happens. They

Tanishka Sodhi: are very watchable.

You can watch them one after the other. You can watch them all together. Like [00:05:00] the

Nainika Rathore: proper Pinch worthy. Like, you know how you people used to say you're binging Netflix, which was a thing before our attention spans got fried, it was a proper, proper bingeable show. And I watched the episodes and on a flick of first quick run, it's like, it's really, it's enjoyable.

It's funny. It's funny without being slapstick. Like it isn't, it's also slapstick in places, but it doesn't like, it's not poorly executed. So the humor definitely really gets to you. Like it's definitely appreciated. Yeah. The humor entirely lands. What I really also love is like the whole Pat Pat Ganj quote, like it's built.

Quite realistically. So I feel like the show the person who actually wrote and executed like the writer's room probably was very fairly aware was a lawyer himself was fairly aware of what happens the nitty gritties of court and I think the showrunners also spend some time in the court. Absolutely. And I feel like the court also looks like I feel like the set is decent.

So it's a whole, it's set, I actually wondered for a minute if this was in the co oping shot. No, I felt like the set was built because in certain bits and pieces it clearly looked like the set had been created. Yeah, because it

Tanishka Sodhi: would take elaborate, or [00:06:00] Yeah, it would

Nainika Rathore: take a lot of like, and I also feel like, why would Patpat Dhanchkot give like, a permission to do a random TV series to be shot there for I don't know how long.

Which

Tanishka Sodhi: Yeah, that's

Nainika Rathore: true, but, uh, it was quite realistic. I really did like that. The humor lands, it's the characters are likable. You do kind of root for them when you're watching it. Is there a butt? Yeah, eventually. But I feel like that's a more meta butt, but it's like on a first watch, I felt like, uh, the characters are quite cute.

I was really rooting for the characters. Court manager guy, I think it's Anjum Batra plays the person and he's quite cute. Like his introduction is this person lawyer goes up to him to ask him that, you know, where can I get my license, et cetera. And he's like, I'm like the donor of this court as a reference to suits, which made me realize that, you know, suits when it initially came out was actually not really big in the States at all.

The audience was entirely Indian. Like we loved, I mean, I'm one of them too, but it really picked up. [00:07:00] in America much later when it finally came on Netflix, which is quite recently, but initially suits was like a normal, like your average TV watchable kind of a, like a soap daily soap, I guess, equivalent to them.

And they didn't care about it as much, but we loved it. And we binged the hell out of it. And I feel like, uh, I feel like at least people who went to college, like around my time, like plus minus two, three years, like, especially the ones who went to like study law, I think a good chunk of them were just inspired by suits.

I don't know.

Tanishka Sodhi: Have you studied

Nainika Rathore: I have not. Okay. Like, but just like, you know, my peers who ended up actually doing law. I feel like I actually

Tanishka Sodhi: think like my law school friends miss on

Nainika Rathore: the show a lot

Tanishka Sodhi: and just go to dramas in general because they're too

Nainika Rathore: close to it. Right. So they're like, what the hell like

Tanishka Sodhi: analyze it.

Yeah, exactly. I mean, if it

Nainika Rathore: shows being made by about your profession, then you tend to be like, this is bullshit. This is stupid. You don't know anything, which is a fair and it's lawyers. Yeah, exactly. And it's lawyers. They anyway have that argumentative blood in them. Uh, so I do feel like. Suits had like a far more influential run [00:08:00] here than it did there in its country of origin.

Uh, so yeah, I mean, I feel like, you know, that you can clearly see that those courtroom drama things are very, they've recently picked up pace. I don't know how many legacy courtroom dramas I remember because they're very much a part of the American cultural lexicon. There's

Tanishka Sodhi: sodium, there's uh, Boston. It's a good

Nainika Rathore: way.

Yeah. So they've had a bunch of those law and order, I guess, law and order, so many seats, so many of them. And we've had what, uh, India's maybe had like jolly LLB probably. It was guilty minds, Guilty. Oh, Indian. It's a show. Okay. Okay. I haven't.

Tanishka Sodhi: Oh, it's so good. That's actually I loved it so much. It's just one season.

It came a year or two ago by Shefali. And so my expectations were really high from Mamla Legal Hai because that show was just done so well. It was a very good legal procedure. Because I think, uh, Even suits. I mean, there are a lot of cliches. I feel like that is why it's

Nainika Rathore: popular in India because it employs a lot of daily soap cliches.

But as you, [00:09:00]

Tanishka Sodhi: you know, as you grow old and as you watch and binge watch more, your expectations also sort of change. So Guilty Minds really changed that for me. It was a breath of fresh air and I'm really waiting for season two. So I was really excited for Mamla Legal Hair because of that. And I think Enjoyed it a lot, but it didn't land.

Nainika Rathore: So what worked and what did not work for you?

Tanishka Sodhi: So the first episode I was, uh, I really liked it, but I was left sort of, um, I felt like there was something incomplete, uh, maybe because I also didn't binge watch it. Like I do most shows. This one, I sort of watched it over the time. Okay. So, uh, it took some time to really like, I feel like you had

Nainika Rathore: more time with the characters to

Tanishka Sodhi: sit with them and analyze them a little.

Yeah, that

Nainika Rathore: will, that will happen. And

Tanishka Sodhi: there were a lot more cliches than I thought there would be. So

Nainika Rathore: many cliches. Yeah, that is something that you can definitely get into. But like I, props were, uh, there too. I think there was some solid writing on board. Yeah. It's 100 percent clean entertainment. Like, you [00:10:00] know, there was the lexicon that you're, um, there was a cultural place that you're TV shows that were like kind of funny that used to air around 9, 9.

30, 10, that used to air, which you sort of could just watch with your parents because they were like silly slapstick humor. But, um, they're clean enough that you could watch with one episode. Yeah. And then like, see, that's what happened. Like those shows kind of got eroded because TV in general got eroded.

Um, so now I feel like Marmaladeagles kind of slotted into that, you know, that erstwhile place of like a funny, like clean film. Family humor, quote, unquote, as they say, and so you can watch it with your

Tanishka Sodhi: parents, except one episode, except one episode, you know, which one I'm talking about it. I don't remember the names, but it's the one where, um, though there's a woman who's, uh, has like serving life imprisonment and she wants to get married and that is not

Nainika Rathore: okay.

Sorry. No spoilers. That is, uh, we can talk about

Tanishka Sodhi: that later. But yeah, I feel like most of it is

Nainika Rathore: quite

Tanishka Sodhi: clean family humor that you can watch. My favorite part was just the dialogues. They really slap. They are amazing.

Nainika Rathore: True. That is true. And I feel like that's the real difference [00:11:00] between like, uh, Somebody who wants to write a story in a setting that they're intimately familiar with versus you're grasping at a setting that you don't know much about and you're just sort of putting together the piece.

Uh, so I feel like a lot of these, a lot of the, I think like when I was looking at the credits, the entire team is TVF and for the longest time TVF's productions, like strong suit was the fact that their dialogues actually landed because it was written by people who were very intimately aware of how people talk because they're intimately aware of the settings that they're writing about.

Which can't be said about a lot of other directors that we have in the mainstream. So I feel like the dialogues definitely take it away. And they were genuinely funny. And they were funny. To be very honest, it didn't feel like they weren't forcing me to laugh at bad humor. It was genuinely like lighthearted and funny.

For sure. I

Tanishka Sodhi: think the character sketches, I mean, I would love to really take up that.

It was definitely, all the characters, you feel like, okay, there's definitely a person like this. For sure. Like I cover code sometimes. So a lot of things really felt very, okay, wow, I've [00:12:00] seen this and you have, yeah, I just feel like next time I want to just like sit for a while and just observe. That is true.

Yeah. I'm also a big fan of workplace dramas. So this was just the perfect match of, you know, this is like

Nainika Rathore: a, what would you like Well, like a Parks and Rec. Have you watched? I haven't watched that, but have you? Did you feel like it was similar to that? Like Parks and Rec was like, Um,

Tanishka Sodhi: now that you say it, maybe like a little bit, but, uh, I think it really like, uh, the fact that it revolved around the courtroom was the essence of the show.

Correct. And I think they did it really well, you know, from the episode names to at the end of the episode. Correct. Having those newspapers. Yes. At the

Nainika Rathore: end where it came out, it actually highlighted that, you know, you may think that these stories are crazy, but they actually happen. Yeah. Which is, uh,

Tanishka Sodhi: I think, so again, this was inspired by real life events, but not, um, immediately.

Yeah, for sure. Definitely. Uh, they exaggerated a lot of things. For sure. They will do that. I guess. That's the point. Part and

Nainika Rathore: parcel of the thing. But really, really fun watch. But [00:13:00] fun. I feel like you should definitely, if you're just looking to watch something, it's in that place where it doesn't take so much of your mental bandwidth, but it's also not a, you can't categorize this as a stupid show to watch.

So it's definitely in the nice place where I would definitely recommend it. But moving on to what you didn't like, because I do have a lot of things to talk about that. Oh my God, I have notes. Go ahead, I'd love to hear. Irish wish.

Tanishka Sodhi: So I think my expectations were really high because of guilty minds and the star cast was so amazing.

I thought it would be even like, I think now I would, I not like I'm at the place that I can give it stars and everything, but if I had to a solid three and three and a half stars. So, um, I think it just fell short of just, um, I couldn't get too involved with the characters, um, as deeply as I. would have wanted to, and I think sometimes the cliches just felt a tad much, but that's just part of it.

I mean, overall, I would definitely recommend watching

Nainika Rathore: this. I felt like the [00:14:00] cliches were so pointed that you were like, okay, this can't be a real character. Yeah.

Tanishka Sodhi: And just, I think part of it was just a little unnecessary. The whole, all the emotions of his father, and I still don't get it, part of it. I'm still trying to grasp why he.

Again, no spoilers. So should not really go into that. I will ask you that separately later. But and the whole, yeah, okay. Everything is a spoiler.

It felt a little forced, the emotional element. Besides that there was so many, um, it was just going so smoothly. I think without that, you know, and it's just the way that things would come, like he called, Ravi Kishan called his interns. We found out later he just said hello law and order and it turns out law and order are the names of his interns.

It was just such a genuine, surprising, happy moment. You know, it really made me laugh the show. Yeah, that was funny. What about

Nainika Rathore: you? Do you have any other butts? Oh, I do have a few butts. Starting with, um, Ravi Kishan's character. [00:15:00] Uh, and I'll be honest. I don't know. I feel like I'm not sure if it's a popular opinion.

He was just morally reprehensible as a character and I have nothing against morally reprehensible characters. I love it when somebody is just completely repugnant. You don't like them. Their evil flows in their blood. You wouldn't trust them with even, I don't know, like a used tissue paper. Like when people are just that bad, it's fine.

It's interesting to watch. It's just that they put so much prop him up as clearly a person who morally has no center. Yeah. And then by the end, they're trying to convince you that he's a messiah. I'm like, pick a lane and stick to that. Yeah. Because I'm not about to, because I watched the show from the beginning to the end.

They're not, there hasn't been a convincing character arc for me to believe that in a season he's gone from being really, really morally corrupt person to being a messiah. To somehow suddenly having this complete change of charge, like, I'm sorry, but it wasn't convincing enough for me. And it was actually just a few months time, right?

Because of the association. So no spoilers, but the premise of [00:16:00] the show is that he's getting into bar elections, Delhi bar association elections. And it's just like, it's a elections, like a matter of few months. And he starts out by just doing it, just like whatever it takes mentality he has, which is fair, I guess, you know, uh, to get ahead in life, I think a certain amount of it is required.

Fair. I'm not judging that. But he just really has that terrible, like, anything to get ahead mentality. And then by the end, he has a complete change of heart. And they, you know, they're pretty meta about it. Like one of the episodes, spoiler, I mean, not spoiler, but whatever. If you want to skip for like 15 seconds, you can.

For this episode, they're acknowledging how that, you know, if you mention one decision he's taken, that's not populist, but morally righteous, and they can't find anything because he just hasn't done anything that is morally righteous in his life. Uh, so it was just like a huge leap for me to believe that, you know, a, you're taking a morally repugnant character.

Yeah. You're trying to make it a hero. And then you're trying to push that down my throat. Like I'm not doing that much of a leap of disbelief.

Tanishka Sodhi: Yeah.

Nainika Rathore: Um, and that is the problem also I have with like [00:17:00] a lot of poor storytelling in general that you can't like, let's, let's be real about, you know, romanticizing these characters that clearly have something wrong.

Like there's nothing wrong. You looking at a character that is, Not great as a person. That's fine. It's a good storytelling, but let's be real about what we make heroes out of.

Tanishka Sodhi: Yeah. Show us the transition.

Nainika Rathore: And the same problem, uh, spoiler alert, as you said, right? 15 seconds, you can skip if you haven't watched the show, but you were like, you know, his, his, his very, the, the daddy issues that over overshadowed the entire narrative that he's clearly, you know, his father is a good legal ranking.

He's a judge. He's legal. He's a ranked officer. And he's trying to fill in that shadow that he's always felt that he's, you know, he's. Right. To rise up to what his dad was. And I'm just like the end of all showrunner has done, like, I don't know that Kota factory or whatever. And at the end it's just like, the characters started to do something revolutionary at the end, the story unfolds in such a way that they end up [00:18:00] fulfilling their parents dreams entirely.

I'm like, okay. Um, so yeah, Yeah, that's the part

Tanishka Sodhi: that felt a little forced to me

Nainika Rathore: and I'm just like, okay, we can do better. Like, let's deal with the parental issues that this country has maybe in a slightly better way.

Tanishka Sodhi: And again, 10 seconds spoiler, but he has a child. He has a child. There's no explanation.

Just one episode.

Nainika Rathore: Crazy, because there's no fatherly tendencies, by the way. And

Tanishka Sodhi: there's no reference to him before and after.

Nainika Rathore: There's no wife also, and it's like the child is adopted. I'm like, it's a single father adoption process. Maybe in the next season, they'll introduce some hotshots. But that was

Tanishka Sodhi: extremely random.

I went back for a few minutes to like, did I miss something? Because there is absolutely no indication of this. How can it be such a small part of your

Nainika Rathore: life? I have no clue. But you know, maybe in the next episode, they'll introduce some hotshot lawyer from some firm and they'll follow his ex wife. Maybe his ex wife, maybe his future wife, who knows?

Who

Tanishka Sodhi: knows? Yeah. And, uh, speaking of, uh, the romance [00:19:00] element, I think there was just a hint of it, which was fine. I think some shows can do without it. I feel like I think that is the character that was weakest for me, uh, played by, uh, Naila Grewal. Like, I get that. that you need to, uh, when you enter into sort of this sort of workplace drama, you need to view at it from the lens of someone who's just like picking up.

Correct. I don't get it. It was a

Nainika Rathore: little strange. It was just saying all the vogue things and like, there was this one episode which was just like, Yeah. Yeah. So he, spoiler alert, skip 15 seconds, his to be wife visits and then he's trying to convince her that no, no, I'm not actually in love with her. So he takes her car and then he shows the car to his family.

He's like, why don't you take it for a drive? They're like, no, no, no, it's too expensive. Humari aukat ke bahar hai. And then he tries to draw that as an analogy about how he would never hit on that woman. And I was like,

Tanishka Sodhi: Right. Okay. I mean, it is weird, but I also get it. Like, I can imagine that conversation playing out for sure, but a car is not really necessary to say that.

Uh, fine. I guess it was a creative [00:20:00] choice. We're

Nainika Rathore: just, uh, shooting.

Tanishka Sodhi: So that felt a little, and initially I thought there would be maybe more of a, um, sort of war between her and Ravi Kishan. She would take him on. Yeah, actually that never happened.

Nainika Rathore: She just kind of rolled over and completely. Yeah, under Sujata Didi.

Yeah, under Sujata Didi. And she was just like. Sujata Didi was the best character. Sujata Didi. So I feel like, uh, that character was quite interesting and it was. played by Nidhi Bisht, who I feel is a wonderful actress. She was in a lot of TVF stuff, but I felt like she always had that knack for like theater.

She had decent, like very good comedic timing. And it's very rare that you have an actually like really funny woman with great performance chops on the screen. So I feel like she does a great job of it. And I really like Sujata Didi's character. Yeah.

Tanishka Sodhi: And I think just everything, even if they would break into a dance, I loved how authentic it looked, whether it's dancing in a cabin or on the road, everything just felt so natural.

That is true. I really, I don't think that happens a lot in shows, you know, that sort [00:21:00] of, um, just so raw. And when it's a workplace drama like this, that involves, uh, uh, a courthouse, I don't see that happening in suits, you know,

Nainika Rathore: I mean, Maybe Suits didn't become a hit because they didn't have enough spontaneous time to say.

But that is true. You're completely right about the show feeling very organic, which is what makes it as good as it is. So yeah, I mean, 100 percent like, I mean, sure, we've discussed about what we felt wrong with the generic storytelling. And whatever the moral arc of the story, but that's okay. Those are like wider discussions to be had.

Overall, we would still recommend that you go watch it. So I feel like we still rate it pretty well. It's just that it is what it is, I guess, at the end of the day. It can't be flawless, just like

Tanishka Sodhi: Ravi

Nainika Rathore: Kishan's character. It just can't be flawless. Uh, Ravi Kishan's character, my God, that person is not nice.

But what did you think of Ravi Kishan?

Tanishka Sodhi: Um, I think he carried the show, um, at least like until the first few episodes until I really went into the characters. [00:22:00] He's great. Yeah, he's pretty. I

Nainika Rathore: think he started off very strong towards the end. His storyline started on. Yeah, I think that's more on the writing than that.

That's more on the writing side. I feel like he did. Do a decent job. I feel like he still has got it in him. Yeah. Um, and Ravi Kishan was always he was he rose to fame as like a really popular bhojpuri actor, right? I'm always very fond of people who have great fame in a very particular niche. I'm like, yeah, you really are understand your audience.

You really know how to make that work. I think it's pretty rare that you, you know, you make like a one subset of audience really just obsessed with you.

Tanishka Sodhi: So

Nainika Rathore: I feel like props to Ravi Kishan. He must've done something really interesting. If you grew up watching Bhojpuri films, please write to us about what it was like, like, you know, what, what was the experience of watching Ravi Kishan on screen?

Cause I've not watched any of his movies. Have you?

Tanishka Sodhi: I haven't actually, I've just heard of him in, uh, political talks because he is an MP with the BJP, like Kangana. So, uh, yeah, it took me a minute to be like, wait, this is the

Nainika Rathore: same

Tanishka Sodhi: guy, but, uh, [00:23:00] I enjoyed his

Nainika Rathore: performance quite a lot. Yeah, I did as well. So yeah, I mean, you talked, if you want to talk to us about Ravi Kishan's performance in Bhojpuri films, please do so.

Or in the Lok Sabha. Or in the Lok Sabha. Either or. Writers,

Tanishka Sodhi: but

Nainika Rathore: looking forward to a season two. I do hope that happens. Yes, I hope they do come up with a season two. And I hope they manage to retain the writers room so the magic can be continued. Because, you know, it's certain shows, season one, excellent, season two, you're like, what happened?

Yes, I literally had that in mind. There's

Tanishka Sodhi: nothing else I can think of.

Nainika Rathore: Like Maid in Heaven season one, some of the most Sublime storytelling you've seen on like an OTT platform in India, like a genuinely groundbreaking show with interesting fleshed out characters. By the time season two rolls around, you're like, stop this Zomato ad right here.

I don't want to see it. I hope

Tanishka Sodhi: they don't wait four years for another season. I hope they realize

Nainika Rathore: that. A third season

Tanishka Sodhi: is not required at this point. I'm done. That's true. Uh, so before we get on, we have, uh, another small announcement. So general elections are just around the corner. And, uh, we [00:24:00] reporters have also been sending out ideas and we're all set to start reporting from the ground, but we need your support.

support, News Laundry and News Minute will be together reporting on the elections. And this time, instead of one big project fund, we're doing smaller projects so that you can choose what you want to power, the stories that you want to hear and read and watch. So we have more than 15 reporters, producers and editors from News Laundry and News Minute.

On the ground, we'll be covering various states and our editors, Manisha, Atul, Dhanya, and Sudipto. And your contribution will directly power their work, our work, and we really need it now more than ever. So head on to newslaundry. com slash 2024 election fund to make the contribution. Thank you.

Nainika Rathore: So moving on, the second thing we're talking about is The Gentleman.

It was directed by Guy Ritchie and he has created this eight episode spin off series based on his 2019 film of the same name. The series digs [00:25:00] deeper into themes of mafia, drugs, cannabis, and heists. Theo James, the White Lotus famed actor, plays the lead role alongside Vinnie Jones, Ray Winstone, Jolie Richardson, and Max Beasley.

And it's available on Netflix. So, I mean, since you watched the first episode, just quickly what you thought and then I can get into like a little bit more.

Tanishka Sodhi: Um,

Nainika Rathore: Okay, tell me, did you start

Tanishka Sodhi: this because you liked Theo James? No. No. Okay. But that was my first thought when I started. That is what helped me really watch the entire show because the show is, uh, not exact, doesn't fit into my genre of the things I watch.

Uh, but then I did get really into it halfway through the episode and then the end of the episode again, I had to take a step back. So it was a rollercoaster ride, but, uh, what an enjoyable, uh, actor he is, you know, that's the plot. I think. Watch Gentleman for the plot. The plot,

Nainika Rathore: quote unquote, being Theo James's beautiful cheekbones or jawline, whatever, I don't know.

Yeah,

Tanishka Sodhi: just everything. Great work.

Nainika Rathore: Great work [00:26:00] from his parents, I guess, to produce him and send him to acting.

Tanishka Sodhi: So the episode itself, um, I think it was definitely engaging. It picks up pace, uh, halfway through the one hour, seven minute long episode. Um, and, uh, Yeah, I mean, I would have liked more humor. But that's just me.

I don't think I'm the target audience for the show. And the ending of the episode, the last 15 minutes, it really, it was a lot. It started off with, oh, that's really intense and funny. And you know, this is a great show. And then as the minutes went by, as the dance went by, so to speak, it Just, uh, I had to really take a step back and be like, what the hell am I watching?

Nainika Rathore: So, yeah, I mean, same eye, like the show, it's, it's supposed to be like a mafia heist, but it starts off in like a tame enough setting. So you're like lulled into a sense of like, Oh, it's going to be like a slow moving thing. But by the end of the episode, it just, Wham, it [00:27:00] just hits you out of nowhere and I think that's been the theme for the first few episodes that it just starts off a little like normal and gentle and then suddenly boom, you're in the middle of something really fucking intense, um, which is so to say, I feel like the first two, maybe three episodes really carried me through like I watched them, um, and I generally like I thought it was decent, like I definitely thought that the plot plot was a little hamfisted, but I was like, it's okay.

I can let it pass because it's still, it's keeping my interest to a certain degree. And even though like the plot, like it's a cliched plot, I can get behind it in bits and parts because I still do feel that it is well produced. It looks like cleanly done and interesting. And the characters are, you know, it looks like somebody's put care into making this.

It's not a sloppy production, which is, I was like, maybe I can continue watching it. But a few episodes down the line, I was like, enough is enough. Like, you need to get it together. Why? Does it get

Tanishka Sodhi: slow or is it too much happening? No, it doesn't get

Nainika Rathore: slow, for sure. Like, it actually just gains momentum, but that's the point.

When you [00:28:00] gain too much momentum. So it's eight episodes. I think each episode is like an hour long. Um, But as it gains momentum, it just sort of becomes too big for its own shoulder. So it's just like, it's going kind of crazy because they feel the need to keep raising the stakes episode on episode, which is fair, right?

But after a while, you're like, okay, how much are we going to raise the stakes? Like, yeah, people are going to die. And like, it's people are going to make drugs, which is what the show is about. So it's just like when it tries to really like, you know, push it. Punch above its weight. After a point, you're going to be like, okay, enough is enough.

Uh, so I think like by the end, I feel like that's also an issue with just in general, most Guy Ritchie movies. Also, I quickly did a glance of what else he's directed. Uh, turns out he was married to Madonna for like a couple of years. I didn't know that. That was quite surprising. This is

Tanishka Sodhi: that

Nainika Rathore: Guy Ritchie.

Madonna's

Tanishka Sodhi: husband.

Nainika Rathore: It should have been in the description. Yeah, it should have been in the description. But he also directed Sherlock Holmes, the one with, um, Robert Downey Jr. in it. And again, same problem. So I feel like Guy Ritchie clearly has these motives that he's very [00:29:00] interested in. He's an English guy himself.

So he likes that British, um, crime background where it's like, you know, uh, things look good on the surface, but on the, and he loves, um, he loves his protagonists, which are scrappy. Like they come from high society, the aristocratic, but they're also very good at getting down in the mud and sparring, which is okay.

It's an interesting character motive to have, but don't make it so unbelievable where I'm like, okay, you're just blowing smoke. At this point, you need to stop. So that is what happens with Theo James character. Like, he's shown initially as like this slick, suave duke of some place. Like, he comes from British aristocratic lineage.

And he's like a nice guy. And then suddenly when he, you know, he finds out that his family is in the weed business, he suddenly is faced with a He's facing an entirely different context, and he still manages to be like, um, gentlemanly enough, but also scrappy enough to get through in both the worlds. That

Tanishka Sodhi: is where the name of the show comes from.

Yes, that is where it

Nainika Rathore: comes from, but eventually I was just like, okay, you're doing too much to make it believable, and I don't think that is believable. [00:30:00] So after a while, the charm really wore off for me. Um, but how much can you look at him? Right? Yeah. How much can you look at him? Like, yes, beautiful face, but let's be real.

So

Tanishka Sodhi: tell me, was there like how the end of the first episode had that really surprise value that was sort of edgy and will keep you, um, it's a surprise basically, did that happen, uh,

Nainika Rathore: recurringly? So yeah, I mean, there's like the couple of episodes that follow you have a little bit more scary elements mixed with like your generic drama.

So at bits and places it really does pick up place. Not anything as intense as the first episode sequence because that was really like, that was made to like get your blood pressure up just by a little. It wasn't as crazy for the rest of the episodes, but that motive clearly follows that you'll Something slightly scary, something slightly unexpected will happen in a completely different setting.

It's just that some episodes is just like, enough is enough, like let's be real. And another thing I took issue with towards the end was, I don't know if anyone else felt it or not, I thought the show was a little racist. [00:31:00] Oh, yeah, and not like your overt racism, more just like your Brexit fear mongering racism, where it's like, you have some prince, some Duke something and his entire, his entire manner, whatever has been taken over by these black gangsters who talk and like, that weird lexicon that he's not good enough at replicating, because again, you're not embedded in the culture.

So you don't understand, you know, that, um, Particular type of speaking and they're calling that Duke whoever whichever's manner. They've taken over or YT or something like that Okay, just like you have very weird fears surrounding your Your cultural place in mind and you're clearly purging it through the TV show So after if it was less hamfisted, I felt like I would have given it a pass also But after a point I was just like you're too old for this Over it in your racism, and this is not fun for the plot anymore.

Does that seem to be a pattern

Tanishka Sodhi: for Guy Ritchie? I don't know,

Nainika Rathore: because I'm not sure, I haven't watched enough to be able to confirm, but [00:32:00] like I had just watched Sherlock, which was great, which was fine, yeah. But there was like a couple of characters of color because Britain in general is a little bit of a mixed society, but after a point, I was just like, okay, you could have either gotten better writers in the room that actually knew how to do the dialogue because this just feels a little on the nose to me.

Um, so yeah, that was there. I wouldn't, I mean, I would say watch the first episode because I feel like the first episode has done decently well enough. The characters are fine. The story plotline is fine. You can maybe watch that and figure it out for yourself. Um, because towards the end, it got laborious for me for all these reasons, but the first episode itself was good enough to get me hooked.

So I feel like, you know, you can, I'm not going to recommend or not recommend this. I would still say you can watch the first episode and then, you know, Who do

Tanishka Sodhi: you think is the target audience for the show? Like, I felt like this, uh, you know, people, indie bros will really be into this. Because it was produced really well.

That is true, it was produced well. It was very pretty to watch, like you said, clean also. And I personally [00:33:00] really liked Suzy Glass's character. Yes, yeah. It was, she really brought that, um, I think before she really entered the storyline, there were just like dudes, correct? And I don't enjoy watching just I mean, in a show or a movie.

Yeah, there was really no one else to besides like a couple of dialogues here and there. So she did bring that element and was it. The most interesting one out there. Correct. So I feel like,

Nainika Rathore: yeah, same with her. Like, initially she really lands a punch. She's an interesting character. Towards the end, it just sort of fizzles out.

Yeah. I feel like the show got too big for its britches. And that's usually what happens. I mean, it's

Tanishka Sodhi: long

Nainika Rathore: episodes, you know, you can't really watch it just for the hell of it. And so as for the target audience, I feel like, yeah, if you're into watching like a low stakes crime drama, maybe you could enjoy it because it's not as bloody and gritty as a lot of other shows can get.

It still maintains a slightly humorous line to it. So it's not very gritty, but it's still a [00:34:00] crime drama without the excessive grittiness. I didn't get a

Tanishka Sodhi: little succession vibes. Uh, I think because of just the household drama and, uh, you know, what's at stake and like, just like rich. I get it. I get it.

Yeah. Uh, and especially in the start when I didn't really know where the show was going. Um, that's the vibe I got.

Nainika Rathore: So yeah, it doesn't really follow through on its succession vibe except for bits and pieces here. And also it doesn't, it cannot hold a candle to successions writing. That is for sure. Uh, so yeah, I mean, you can watch it if you're into crime, but not very gritty crime.

It does get weird in places like they have like a really gory scene out of nowhere in the middle for no reason, just because they want to put in that element of surprise and that's the thing, right? Like they just, they want that element of surprise so bad it ruins the rest of the story. So yeah, that's, I don't really get what

Tanishka Sodhi: you're talking about.

But just like. Trying to be too edgy. It overdoes it, you know, once or twice is fine, but you can't force it. You

Nainika Rathore: can't be formulaic with every [00:35:00] episode and expect me to like, behave normally. Like this is a, this is a show you can binge, right? All episodes. If it was like one episode per week, it would still make sense that you build like a similar narrative arc for each episode.

But if I watch each episode after the other, bam, bam, bam, I'm just like, I'm just noticing a pattern as opposed to appreciating a story arc.

Tanishka Sodhi: Yeah. So yeah. And there's just so many things to watch that I'm also trying to understand why someone would pick this, you know, uh, what are all the boxes that it

Nainika Rathore: uh, So I feel like it was definitely Netflix, like really pitch for it.

I guess they've, it's Netflix's own production. They'll put in a certain amount of money for it. So I'm sure it's going to be like, uh, it's going to appear on people's discover pages. And I feel like that way it might get a certain amount of eyeballs. Let's see, let's see how that goes. Yeah. So, So are you going to finish it?

I have finished it. I just like one last like eight episodes half or something is left, but I'm not enough into the story to like,

Tanishka Sodhi: yeah,

Nainika Rathore: finish finish it. I just want to know. That

Tanishka Sodhi: also says a lot if you watch almost the entire season and you're still not enough into the story to finish it. Yeah, like that really explains a lot.

It's not really [00:36:00] done

Nainika Rathore: its

Tanishka Sodhi: job, but is there room for a season two or I feel like yeah for sure I

Nainika Rathore: feel like there is room for a season two and I feel like they're counting on like even if Netflix has put their own money in it then they're waiting, testing out, they're testing the waters to see if it does well enough, then they'll green light a second season.

Um, so. So I think that's usually Netflix's modus operandi for a while. I think they're being the earlier the greenlit shows without thinking about it like willy nilly. They were just giving money to anyone. I think now they're being a little bit more focused that they'll pick up like one marquee show market it to their audience.

See how the reaction is. If it is good enough, they'll bring it back for a season two. So let's see how that goes. Um, yeah. I haven't really heard any news of it being greenlit for a second season. But let's see, maybe the decision will be taken later on. But yeah, Theo James was interesting in it. I still do think he was far better in White Lotus though, so that still stands.

So yeah, if you just want to watch Theo James, watch White Lotus.

Tanishka Sodhi: So the last, uh, movie is Irish Wish. I have so much to [00:37:00] say. Please say it. So firstly, I tried to complete it, not once, but twice. One night I tried, I couldn't watch more than 20 minutes. I came back the next night, I made it to like 40 minutes.

And then I just couldn't do this to myself. It was, before we get more into it, I just want to let people know that I really like trash movies and trash shows. Okay. And I love good rom com. Okay. So it's not that hard to please me in these sort of, uh, movies and shows, but I could not watch it. I just couldn't.

Nainika Rathore: Yeah, that tells you how, how terrible it must be. That Tanishka was like, I can watch trash and I can watch rom coms. But I still can't watch this trashy rom com. Yeah, I mean, this should have been the

Tanishka Sodhi: perfect, you know, when something is so bad, it's good. Yeah, but it didn't go there. It wasn't even that. It wasn't that bad

Nainika Rathore: enough to become good.

So before

Tanishka Sodhi: we get put into it, Irish Wish is directed by Janine Damien. It's a rom com starring Lindsay Lohan, which is about a book [00:38:00] editor whose life alters when she makes a spontaneous wish on an ancient stone. So much potential. So it's like a 13

Nainika Rathore: going on, uh, 30. Yeah. But it just doesn't. 13 going

Tanishka Sodhi: on 30, Freaky Friday.

There's so many things it takes into. So tell me your first impressions and last impressions and how much did you really

Nainika Rathore: make

Tanishka Sodhi: it

Nainika Rathore: through? Only about halfway through when she gets to the point where she makes the first wish and she wakes up in an alternate reality. And I was like, Oh, that

Tanishka Sodhi: is not even halfway through.

Nainika Rathore: That is the beginning. So, I mean, it was, it was so Oh, that's so bad that it felt like I was halfway through.

Tanishka Sodhi: What

Nainika Rathore: didn't work for you? And was there anything that worked? What didn't work for me? I was like, you're expecting me to believe that this production that seems like a children's play is a properly directed movie.

I'm not going to suspend my disbelief that much. I couldn't do that. And, uh, yeah, I just, I mean, love and light to Lindsay Lohan. She's had a tough life and she's recovered from something difficult and she's trying to get back to honest work, but this [00:39:00] isn't it. Yeah. I

Tanishka Sodhi: mean, she looked good. She did look

Nainika Rathore: cute.

Yeah. I think she Carried.

Tanishka Sodhi: I can't even say it. I'm sorry.

Nainika Rathore: I mean, one thing I'll definitely admit is that the movie didn't have a lot of budget and they were counting on the fact that this is Lindsay's big major production after a really long time to carry the entire movie forward. And, um, yeah,

Tanishka Sodhi: but there was also the words I've written for this movie are boring, full stop, bad, full stop, bland, not one laugh, tourism ad, question mark, question mark.

I don't get it. I mean, literally, the only watchable thing besides Ed Spielers was, uh, Ireland. Ireland,

Nainika Rathore: right? Yeah. You know how they say in Sex and the City, uh, New York is one of the characters of the show. Like that. They put it on meta. But Ireland was the only character. And it was Ireland out acted all the actors.

Tanishka Sodhi: Everything was missing. I mean, first 20 minutes in I didn't smile or laugh even once, you know, and this is the sort of show movie that you watch when you want a [00:40:00] light watch. You just want to like, okay, cool. I'll make believe in your fairytale world, you know, for you and couldn't do that. I read somewhere.

There's a review, I think in the vulture that spoke about how this was, it felt like it's AI generated. Oh, yes.

Nainika Rathore: Oh my God. Yes. Now that I think

Tanishka Sodhi: of it,

Nainika Rathore: it's not something a human would do at any point or how a human would act. It was horrible. I actually, you know, I might, I mean, I genuinely think like we might have AI generated scripts in the future and I'm not sure whether this one was AI generated or not.

I feel like humans on the line,

Tanishka Sodhi: they're going to be like, surprise. This was our trial run with AI.

Nainika Rathore: Who knows? Yeah.

Tanishka Sodhi: Fuck. I was also looking for just like Is this sponsored by Ireland Tourism? What is happening? It did not, I don't think I've ever seen a rom com this bad. I just, I

Nainika Rathore: don't know, it's like a lifetime, you know, the life, I don't know, what is, what is that American channel that airs like really weird movies?

Lifetime? Lifeline?

Tanishka Sodhi: Okay, like, holiday movies. It had all [00:41:00] the Christmas holiday vibes to it. And, uh, I mean, the plot is basically her, um, Lindsay Lohan's best friend, Best friend is getting married to this guy who she's had a crush on for a long time. And she also edits his book. He's kind of famous and not even attractive.

I would say true. Not easy on the eye. And, uh, so yeah, when Lindsay is gone for the wedding, she meets someone who grants her a wish, an Irish wish. And she's wishes that she's getting married to Paul Kennedy. The number of times I have heard the words Paul Kennedy. Oh my God. Yes, it's insane. It's. There should be a drinking game around this.

Nainika Rathore: Definitely. But I would not want to play the movie at any party ever. That's true.

Tanishka Sodhi: Unless, uh,

Nainika Rathore: You're already, uh, down a few

Tanishka Sodhi: drinks. Oh, yeah. Maybe. Like, I think, yeah, this movie can qualify for a hate watch.

Nainika Rathore: Oh, yeah, for sure. But, like, it's not even enough to hate. That's also true, yeah. profoundly lost all joy in life and humanity.

And just, you know, when you eat like a [00:42:00] really shitty meal and you're like, Oh my God, you're suffering through every bite. From

Tanishka Sodhi: like a great restaurant.

Nainika Rathore: Yeah. And you're suffering through every bite just being like, what did I put myself through? The movie is like that.

Tanishka Sodhi: Yeah, definitely. And so I feel like, although the plot was like a cliche, there was a lot that could be done.

I don't mind cliches, right? You said rom coms are fun. Yeah. It could have like, just like dumb things, but like. Something has to mix. Everything was bad. The writing, the, uh, dialogues, the scripting, the acting, everything.

Nainika Rathore: It was really, and you know, this comes at a time when everyone's been talking about a rom com revival because anyone but you.

Did you catch that? The Sydney Sweeney. So, you know, it like it did very well at the box office. It was like a proper true blue rom com. Um, and people were like, yeah, you know, you can bet money on rom coms. And then I remember that. Yeah. Sometimes they're really shitty rom coms as well. Yeah. Because this one is a really shitty rom com and yeah, it's just like cliches are fine.

There's nothing wrong with the cliche. Cliches are interesting because they make for an interesting watchable story. [00:43:00] But this is not an interesting cliche. This is not even an interesting watch. It was as Tanishka said, I genuinely think they're going to come out and be like, this was AI generated by the way.

And we'd have to watch in horror to realize, okay, this actually might just be generated. So who knows? There's going to be a lot of looks like this is what the future looks like. You're going to go. I

Tanishka Sodhi: want to be stuck in the past, but they had real movies. Yeah. So after the first time I couldn't finish Irish wish, uh, I, Swatched Upgraded on Prime.

I don't know if you've heard of it or watched it. It stars, uh, Camila Mendes. Okay. And again, it is a rom com, but it was so good. Really? Yes. I would have, I think, just like stopped watching things if I did not, after Irish Wish, have something great to watch a rom com. This was a great rom com. I would definitely recommend it.

And I also had Very less ROM, uh, and more COM. Yeah, and it was a lot about her workplace drama. She's, uh, with an art agency. It was great. It was exactly what Irish Wish wasn't. [00:44:00] Irish Wish Wishes, it

Nainika Rathore: was that. But unfortunately, they couldn't find that stone to make that wish on. They could only settle for AI generated mediocrity.

Tanishka Sodhi: But, uh, was there anything you liked about it? Just,

Nainika Rathore: no. Let's, it's so teeny. I guess I like, you know, when people have that little Irish accent here and there. I was like, that's cool. Yeah. And, um, Derry Girls is an Irish production. Exactly. Irish excellence. Yeah. So it's not, it's not their fault. That is true.

Irish excellence always shines through. You have your Derry Girls, you have your IOA Dubiti. I see that joke going around. Which, that she, Jokingly claims that she's Irish at all times, uh, so people of Ireland have like just sort of jokingly adopted her like, yeah, she's one of us now. I've seen

Tanishka Sodhi: that meme about when, uh, he says, I can't, I have to go, I have to shoot a lizard on a tree or something.

Very specific dialogue and, uh, yeah, it's been, I've seen a lot of, uh, gifs, uh, about this. Okay. [00:45:00] We will add it here, but it's,

Nainika Rathore: uh, I hope no one gets it and no one has to watch it. So if you want to watch something through Blue Irish, just because you're in the mood for something Irish, then just watch Derry Girls, which is Excellent.

Excellent. Yeah. Excellent. Yeah.

Tanishka Sodhi: So, uh, the woman starring in Derry Girls, one of their, one of the lead characters is an upgraded.

Nainika Rathore: Oh, yeah. Which is good for them to have good careers after that show. Cause that show was

Tanishka Sodhi: like, they were all stars. A better Irish choice. A better Irish choice for sure. Yeah.

Anything else you have watched,

Nainika Rathore: loved, hated this week? No. I watched Poor Things recently because it was finally on OTT and I really, I like that despite, like, I don't think it's a great movie but I didn't hate it as much as people wanted to hate it. Are people hating on it? I think a big criticism was the fact that people were like, because of the plot of the story is that, you know, an adult woman is retrofitted with an infant's brain and then she goes ahead on a journey of sexual discovery.

They were like, the movie promotes [00:46:00] pedophilia. I was like, if you watch the movie, I don't think it does. promotes pedophilia in any way, shape or form. Um, other than that, I don't think the movie was like Out of this world and knocked out of the park. This is the one that she won an oscar. Yeah. Yeah So I felt like she acted quite well.

The plot of the movie was an extraordinary, but it was still nice Uh, so yeah, not creepy. No, I didn't think it was I mean, it's definitely like And the concept is also weird to hear about, but I didn't think it was like, I didn't think it dealt with the theme of pedophilia very lightly. So, yeah, I don't, I don't share that criticism.

Okay. What about you? You like that show on Prime? Upgraded the movie. And I've just

Tanishka Sodhi: been watching Office reruns, like my life depends on it. And also working in case my editors are. Yeah,

Nainika Rathore: she's working. She's

Tanishka Sodhi: all

Nainika Rathore: watching all this stuff. But

Tanishka Sodhi: yeah, I'm looking, I'm waiting to watch like a good sitcom, um, something new and fresh.

And like, I love, I'm getting back to Upgraded. I feel like that rom com really changed my [00:47:00] perspective this weekend. But I wish that was

Nainika Rathore: a TV show, you know? Interesting. A show that good, a movie that good that it makes you, you know, think differently about things. That's nice.

Tanishka Sodhi: Interesting. Differently about romcoms, not my, not life in general, not about

Nainika Rathore: love in general, but Rocom.

Yeah. That's good. That's good.

Tanishka Sodhi: Yeah. So let's get onto letters from subscribers. The first one is from Raju. Dear a Team, I have a movie recommendation. Mahanati, a great actress from 2018, available on Amazon Prime Video. It is based on the real slash real life of a famous Indian movie actress, Savitri. The songs in the movie also have great poetry.

If you can get someone native to the language, it might be even better. Thanks. Sounds interesting. What? Uh, language is this, though. What's South Indian language. We will check it out and see if anyone wants to volunteer to, uh, watch it and, uh, discuss it. So thank you.

Nainika Rathore: The next emails from Avni hello to the a NA [00:48:00] team.

Absolutely love your podcast. And I eagerly wait for the new episode to drop every week. First of all, I would like to thank the makers of the best not movie ever made, Gerra , because that is how I came across your podcast in the first place, had the makers. Had the makers not made such a shit film, I would not have come across you guys.

The awful can sometimes lead you to the awesome. That is a great way of looking at life for me. That should be our timeline. Yeah, that is our timeline. Keep up the good work. Would love to be a part of the podcast someday. Now I have a teeny tiny thing to say. I was listening to an old episode and I heard the one in which you all discussed Dune Part 1.

Keeping in mind that while the criticism of the movie for its choice of ending was fair, I was a little taken aback by the lack of research done prior to reviewing it. The movie. Or rather the book did not borrow ideas from Star Wars, but it was Star Wars borrowed lots of stuff from Dune. Uh, there's a link about it and, but otherwise keep being awesome.

Thank you, Ravneet. So thank you so much for your emails this week. A reminder that we only read out subscriber emails to make, so make sure you subscribe [00:49:00] before you send in an email and do talk to us. Talk to us about, you know, having watched Ravi Kishan's Bhojpuri movies in the original runtime. And anything else you have to talk about, any recommendations for rom coms specifically because we're clearly into that.

And do talk to us about what you thought about Maamla Legal Hai. And what you thought about, uh, gentlemen, the Irish, we were not going to torture you that much to ask you to watch it and then write about it. But you have other opinions about AI generated movies, then please write to us.

Tanishka Sodhi: Yeah. And don't forget, um, to contribute to our NL Sena projects for the upcoming general elections.

We're just a few weeks away. I'm not going to make another appeal, but. Just, uh, gonna end it with that. Yes, please donate

Nainika Rathore: to that. Tavishka, any closing remarks for all the TV watching you've done this week? Not really. Not really? Yeah, I actually don't have much to say apart from the fact that, uh, I do wish sometimes when I watch a movie I'm just, I'm always criticizing like really meta things and I have to get myself to stop because I'm like, of course, the [00:50:00] writer room is not exactly thinking like I think and I should be expanding my mind a little.

But other than that, interesting,

Tanishka Sodhi: interesting. I'm hoping to watch, uh, Laapata Ladies this week. Have you watched it? I

Nainika Rathore: haven't watched it, but Abbas did recommend it. So hopefully I'll also get to catch it. And I'm waiting for like a good movie to come out in the theatre. Yeah, I think

Tanishka Sodhi: Cru is also coming. Yes, it should be fun.

I'm excited for it.

Nainika Rathore: Because I will watch anything with Diljit. The sound design, he's very attractive to me. Oh, I didn't even know he's in the movie. He is in the movie. I think he's very cute. I'm sorry there's Tabu and Kareena. That is true. You can't really look elsewhere. You have such beautiful women.

That is true. Yes. Yes. So yeah, I mean, it has a beautiful cast with some really beautiful people. So if even if the plot is kind of, uh, I think we'll be fine. Yeah,

Tanishka Sodhi: we'll be fine. We'll be fine. We'll watch it for the plot. We'll watch it

Nainika Rathore: for the plot. Quote, unquote. Um, so thank you, Miss Sodhi. Thank you, Miss Rathore.

And it's a wrap.

Sting: Thank you for your subscription. You're changing the world by changing the [00:51:00] way news is funded. For the smoothest News Laundry experience, download the News Laundry app. It is the best way to listen to our paywall podcasts. And you'll also get access to all free News Laundry shows. Keep us ad free and subscriber funded.