Unlike most horror fare that we see today, Archive 81, which comes from James Wan’s Atomic Monster Productions and Sonnenshine’s Sonnenshine Productions, almost entirely avoids jump scares and uses its atmosphere to build tension. Based (very loosely) on a podcast of the same name. The series is expertly scripted, filmed, and acted, and even though the story falters a little at times, it always stays fun to see the protagonists’ (there are two) attempts to peel back the layers to uncover the mystery.
Note: Very minor spoilers here, but I’ve taken care not to share the specifics, so I believe nothing you read here will spoil your experience.
The Book of Boba Fett’s” latest episode seemingly took a page from the Marvel universe, where movies and TV shows bleed into each other. In this case, that meant indulging in an episode-long detour from the title character to bring in some new (or rather, old) “muscle” for the final leg of his trek.
Sushant Singh Rajput left an indelible impression in the two soap operas, two dance reality shows and nearly a dozen films he appeared in. In a short yet noteworthy career, the late actor managed to win a huge fan following, who remember him for his diverse characters in projects across genres.
Sushant had an active onscreen career of 12 years. But there was a lesser talked about phase that Sushant lived through before venturing into acting. Patna-born Sushant enrolled for Mechanical Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering (DCE) after scoring an All India Rank of 7 in its entrance examination in 2003. He eventually dropped out in his third year of college to follow his dreams. His road to becoming an actor, however, came with many stepping stones.
During his days at the DCE, Sushant enrolled himself in Shiamak Davar’s classes. Because of his impressive moves, he soon joined the choreographer and became a background dancer for his troupe. He went on to feature in the song “Dhoom Again” from Dhoom 2. He was also a part of Aishwarya Rai’s act at 2006 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony, apart from performing at IIFA in 2005.
In 2015, Sushant had told IANS that he joined Shiamak Davar just to see “hot girls”, but he ended up taking life lessons from the ace choreographer. He also credited Shiamak for giving him the confidence to become an actor.
I used to sell peanuts along with my friends, to hunt for hot girls and then someone suggested that dance classes have many hot girls. Hence, I joined Shiamak Davar’s dance class and danced behind all the big stars and in all big award events. And then I knew that someday I will be in the front,” Sushant said.
“He (Shiamak) used to tell me that though I am not one of his finest dancers but still he keeps me in the front row because I have the charm to address the audience.” Sushant added.
Shiamak had told HT in 2017 that it was him who suggested Sushant to take up acting, even when the actor wanted to finish his engineering. Calling Sushant “fun” who had a “good understanding of the craft”, Shiamak said, “I felt there was something special about him back then. He told me that education was important to him. I told him to try and not worry about failure. He has always, in every way, spoken about me as a teacher. It shows the kind of person he is.”
Taking the huge leap of faith at switching careers, Sushant joined Barry John’s acting classes. In fact it was here, when he realised that acting was his actual calling. Calling the decision a turning point in his life, Sushant told TOI in 2011, “The entire credit goes to my theatre teacher Barry John who for the first six months did not speak a single word to me about my performance, other than taking notes in his diary. But at the end of my graduation I got a ‘B’ grade and everyone else got a ‘C’. Barry called me aside and said, ‘You are good. Think about acting as a career option.’ Since then there has been no looking back for me.
Sushant’s decision to move to Mumbai, however, came with its own hardships. In order to sustain, Sushant picked small jobs while also taking up theatre. He worked with Nadira Babbar’s theatre group Ekjute for two and a half years.
His theatre days gave him a big push and during one such performance at the Prithvi Theatre, the casting team of Balaji Telefilms approached him to audition. Sushant ended up bagging the second lead role of Preet Juneja in Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil (2008–2009). Soon after, Pavitra Rishta happened where played the main lead Manav Deshmukh for two years. He also fell in love with his co-star Ankita Lokhande and had a long relationship.
What jump scares are to horror, fan service is to nostalgia. We live in an age when both are being (over) used by storytellers as currency to bribe themselves out of creative ruts, and to appease audiences that are being slowly conditioned to be less demanding. Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, HBO Max’s clunkily named reunion special that is available in India on Amazon Prime Video, avoids making the same mistakes that have cursed so many franchises, including the Wizarding World itself.
Over an hour-and-a-half, the special evokes not just fond memories of the books and films, but more importantly, of what life was like two decades ago. That is the true power of nostalgia. Far too often these days—and nobody is more guilty of this than JK Rowling—writers and filmmakers are satisfied with simply dropping a name, or a familiar tune, and calling it a day. They think that jolting old memories from the depths of our subconscious is better than allowing them to slowly bubble to the surface. But the mind is a powerful thing, mysterious and wonderful in equal measure. When mine, for instance, heard Emma Watson’s brittle voice in the reunion special, it was reminded not only of her performance as Hermione Granger, but also of the smell of fresh ink on paper. How curious.
I was reminded that the Harry Potter books had a rather unique smell. And after having dusted them off the shelf, I discovered that they no longer smell like they used to—they’ve evolved, just as I have. I was 10 years old when I first read Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone; I was 19 when the final film was released in 2011. I grew up with these stories. During that decade, I must have read the books at least eight times from start to finish, and watched the movies more times than the word ‘scar’ is mentioned in them. To this day, not a single winter evening passes without inspiring a strong urge in me to re-read at least one page of Rowling’s stories.
That is the true power of nostalgia. I also grew up with the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies, but was barely able to sit through the recent Spider-Man: No Way Home, a film that had, as Hermione would say, the emotional range of a teaspoon. Having delivered on the promise of uniting three different Spider-Men on screen, it stopped abruptly in its tracks as it tried to figure out what to do with them. And then, of course, it defaulted to chucking them all into a mess of CGI action. How forgettable. Perhaps the film’s most effective attempt at eliciting nostalgia is one that you might not have noticed at all. And that is precisely why it worked. When composer Michael Giacchino resampled Danny Elfman and James Horner’s old Spider-Man themes, he succeeded at evoking emotion on a metatextual level. This is so much better than, say, having a character blurt out the words, “With great power comes great responsibility,” moments before dying.
Fantastic Beasts and the Crimes of Grindelwald, a film co-written by Rowling, had the gall to think that a soap opera-level twist—Aurelius Dumbledore!—would be enough to please fans. But wouldn’t it have made more sense for a Harry Potter prequel to tell us more about someone we’re already familiar with, someone we genuinely care about, instead of introducing a character who’d never been mentioned once in over 4000 pages of lore? Couldn’t Aurelius have been Ariana Dumbledore instead?
And the less said about Ghostbusters: Afterlife the better. It’s a film that exists purely to provide fan service, but in a truly baffling turn of events, ends up paying homage to several films except the one that it was supposed to.
But there’s a reason why this cultural shift is happening with early-2000s properties. Even the youngest millennials, you will be disappointed to know, are now old enough to have children of their own. And as you get older, you begin to latch on to whatever sliver of youth that you can, even if that means introducing your kids to stories that you enjoyed as a child yourself.
“I’ve had kidney stones and a baby, I feel my age,” Rupert Grint, who played Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter movies, said in the reunion special. Daniel Radcliffe, sitting across from him, let out a silent laugh of disbelief. We’ve all grown up, but some of us have aged.
I might have forgotten what Harry Potter means to me, but as I soon discovered, some things can’t be forgotten; they’ve shaped your personality. As I watched the reunion special, I found myself silently completing sentences that I’ve heard probably dozens of times before. “Now, Harry, you must know all about muggles,” Mr Weasley said in archive footage presented in the reunion, and my mind automatically finished, “What exactly is the function of a rubber duck?” If I had a plate of breakfast in front of me, I’d have probably shoved a forkful in my mouth for effect, just like Mr Weasley does in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Unlike so much of this algorithm-driven ‘content’ designed to tug at your heartstrings, the Harry Potter reunion feels necessary. This is the right time. Watching the cast, particularly the central trio, it feels like they were struck by this realisation as well. A lot of us, especially the ones who grew up on Potter, have forgotten in these past few years as we were overwhelmed by adulthood and pummelled by the pandemic, what magic felt like. We’ve experienced a loss of innocence. And it doesn’t have to be this way.
People who didn’t have friends had Harry Potter. People who came from broken families had Harry Potter. And in their loneliness, they found each other. Not all of those friends might still be in your life and your parents might be dead, but the memories you shared, because of Harry Potter, will remain. And then there are those that you haven’t met yet. Future spouses and future colleagues, Harry Potter fans with whom you will have so much in common. You don’t know them, but they exist, on the horizon, people to look forward to. You are a part of the same story. It began on a dull, grey Tuesday.
Salman Khan on Monday said there is a possibility that he and his close friend Shah Rukh Khan might come together for a film, after the duo will be seen making extended appearances in their upcoming movies Tiger 3 and Pathan, respectively.
Yash Raj Films’ Tiger 3 is the next chapter in the spy action-thriller franchise, which will see Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif reprise their roles as agents Tiger and Zoya. The film will also star Emraan Hashmi as the antagonist.
YRF is also backing Shah Rukh Khan-led actioner Pathan, which will feature Salman in an extended cameo.
During a media interaction outside his Panvel farmhouse, where he is celebrating his 56th birthday, Salman Khan said Tiger 3 would release by December 2022 and teased the possibility of him and Shah Rukh Khan teaming up for another project.
“We are coming together in Tiger and Pathan. Tiger 3 should be released by December 2022, before that Pathan will release. Then maybe both of us will come together,” the actor told reporters.
Tiger 3 is helmed by Maneesh Sharma of Fan and Band Baaja Baaraat fame, while Pathan is directed by War helmer Siddharth Anand.
Pathan marks Shah Rukh Khan’s first film after 2018 romantic-drama Zero, in which Salman also had a cameo.
During the media interaction, Salman confirmed he will be filming for his recently announced Bajrangi Bhaijaan sequel after he finishes two of his projects, Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali and the second installment of the hit comedy No Entry.
The actor said the follow-up of Bajrangi Bhaijaan, being written by veteran screenwriter KV Vijayendra Prasad, who also wrote the story for the 2015 original, will be titled Pavanputra Bhaijaan.
Directed by Kabir Khan, Bajrangi Bhaijaan featured Salman Khan as a man who embarks on a journey to take a mute six-year-old Pakistani girl, (Harshaali Malhotra), separated in India from her parents, back to her hometown in the neighbouring country.
Salman said as of now he does not have any plans to work with filmmaker SS Rajamouli, son of KV Vijayendra Prasad.
“No, there is nothing like that (a film with Rajamouli). If it happens it will be great as he is an extremely good director. But I am definitely working with his father, KV Vijayendra Prasad.
“As soon as he completes it, and I complete shooting two films… (we will begin). Once Tiger 3 is over, then perhaps No Entry sequel might begin, then Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali. Once these are done, I will begin the film,” he added.
Directed by Anees Bazmee, No Entry was a hit comedy which featured an ensemble cast of Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Fardeen Khan, Lara Dutta, Esha Deol, and Celina Jaitley with Bipasha Basu in an extended cameo.
Salman said he will spend a few days at this farmhouse with his close friends and family — all of whom are together after conducting due COVID-19 tests — and will then resume work on Tiger 3.
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