What To Watch by Anupama Chopra: From 'Malaikottai Vaaliban' to Oscar Contender 'The Substance'
The Hollywood Reporter India Editor-in-Chief Anupama Chopra curates a list of must-haves on our watchlists every month.
The beauty and bane of our current moment is that, as viewers, we have too many choices. At any given moment, at the click of a button, hundreds of thousands of features, series, documentaries, comedy sketches, and short films are available to you — it’s overwhelming, almost paralysing.
With this column, I hope to reduce your anxiety.
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‘What to Watch’ is an eclectic mix of storytelling that I love, across formats, languages, platforms, and geographies. The only rule is that it must be available for public viewing.
Through this column, I aim to help you discover the new and the unexpected, with a hope it delivers some of the same pleasure for you as it did for me. And if it doesn’t, there’s always more!
AMARAN
Director: Rajkumar Periasamy
Language: Tamil
Platform: Netflix
The whistle moment in Amaran is when actor Sivakarthikeyan, playing Major Mukund Varadarajan, confronts an insurgent he is just about to kill: “This is the face of the Indian army.” Writer-director Rajkumar Periasamy delivers a potent shot of patriotic adrenalin. The film is a fictionalised biopic adapted from a chapter in the book, India’s Most Fearless 1: True Stories of Modern Military Heroes by Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh.
But why Amaran succeeds is because the narrative consistently alternates between the professional and the personal. There is plenty of furious, skilfully choreographed action in Kashmir — Major Mukund, who was posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra, served in the 44th Battalion of Rashtriya Rifles in Jammu and Kashmir.
However, the storytelling is anchored by his relationship with his wife Indhu. We journey with them from college romance to parental opposition to marriage and a daughter. So, when Major Mukund is killed (this is not a spoiler), the blow lands like a kick to the stomach. Sai Pallavi, who plays Indhu, is as pivotal to the story as Sivakarthikeyan. Amaran is a three-hankie weeper with stellar performances.
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MALAIKOTTAI VAALIBAN
Director: Lijo Jose Pellissery
Language: Malayalam
Platform: Disney+ Hotstar
Malaikottai Vaaliban roughly translates to ‘the youngster from Malaikottai (a fictional place)’. The youngster in question is superstar Mohanlal, playing a mythical warrior, who travels from place to place as he has no home and who cannot be vanquished in wrestling. But he is in the throes of an existential crisis because he wonders what his next challenge is. The film, with a story by Pellissery and screenplay by P.S. Rafeeque, plays out like a visually stunning comic book — the director has cited Amar Chitra Katha as an inspiration.
As were dozens of movies, including Sergio Leone’s spaghetti Westerns, Samurai movies and Sholay. But the result is a unique cinematic concoction that works as a timeless fable. The frames, captured by DOP Madhu Neelakandan, are so gorgeous that you might be tempted to pause and admire. This film is an acquired taste: There was much debate postrelease on its pace (“too sluggish” was the complaint) and the fever dream-like quality. But that’s precisely why it needs to be seen. Pellissery is such a unique storyteller that even his fumbles have finesse.
THE SUBSTANCE
Director: Coralie Fargeat
Language: English
Platform: MUBI
Body horror is not my favourite genre — over the years, my threshold for on-screen grossness has reduced considerably. But The Substance is worth a queasy stomach. This is the story of a once-famous female actor who is now reduced to doing Jane Fonda–style exercise videos. But she can barely even hold on to this job, because showbiz is all about youth, and firm, tight bodies. Desperate and lonely, she agrees to take a mysterious concoction simply called ‘The Substance’, which helps you to create another version of you — only young, better, with smoother skin and greater prospects.
Of course, this turns out to be a Faustian bargain and nothing quite goes as planned. Fargeat, who also wrote, co-produced and co-edited the film (and won best screenplay at last year’s Cannes Film Festival for it) tells the story with precise exaggeration. The horror isn’t just in what happens. It permeates the frame from the opening in which she establishes, with a brilliant sequence, the fleeting nature of fame and how brutally the same audience which puts artists on a pedestal, also forgets them.
The masterstroke is that the aging actress is played by Demi Moore, once a hyper-sexualised actor who featured in ’90s blockbusters such as Ghost (1990) and Indecent Proposal (1993) but is now much less in demand. The plot acquires deeper resonance and Moore bravely bares all — literally and metaphorically. The Substance is a terrifying tale of the pursuit of taut bodies and silky hair. Fargeat clinically lays bare the impossible ideals that women are held up to and the awful double standards of the entertainment business. The Substance will repel and seduce you all at once. And that’s a feat.
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