What’s the thread that connects Love, Death, and Robots, movie PM Narendra Modi, Netflix’s Delhi Crime, and a documentary accusing Michael Jackson of paedophilia, Leaving Neverland?
All four of these feature on this podcast. That’s what. On this episode of Pop Sanskriti, we’re joined by Jaskirat Singh Bawa, a journalist who covered the Nirbhaya gang-rape incident from start to end, and he’s going to tell us what Delhi Crime got wrong about the case, and what it got right.
Why does Love, Death and Robots get a 20 on 10 for creativity, direction and production?
Nearly 10 years after Michael Jackson’s death, why did two men accuse him of sexually abusing them when they were children?
Also, what’s the deal with PM Narendra Modi, the movie?
We get into all of that and a tonne more, on The Quint’s pop culture podcast – Pop Sanskriti!
Listen to everything you need to know about Love, Death and Robots, Delhi Crime, PM Narendra Modi and Leaving Neverland in this edition of Pop Sanskriti.
1. Love, Death and Robots
Love, Death and Robots brings twenty directors together to deliver 18 episodes of tightly written, beautifully animated stories about, well, love, death and robots.
The series marks one of Netflix’s most compelling entries into the animated anthology category.
With episodes ranging from six to 18 minutes long, the series weaves multiple narratives, with each episode being a standalone experience. From tackling the isolation and loneliness of space in Helping Hand, to post-apocalyptic robot humour in Three Robots, the existential horror that is Beyond the Aquila Rift, to exploring the different possible timelines if Adolf Hitler died in six different ways before he became a dictator in Alternate Histories, the series explodes in a variety of colours, sound, and sensations.
We give LDR a 20/10 for creativity, writing, and direction. As far as favourite and best episode recommendations, our picks are Beyond the Aquila Rift, Three Robots, Good Hunting, Sonnie’s Edge, The Ice Age, and When the Yogurt Took Over.
2. PM Narendra Modi - The Trailer
“Modi! Modi! Modi!” – 20 seconds into the trailer for PM Narendra Modi, you’re met with chants of the current prime minister’s name. Scheduled for release a week before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and delayed because of a possible violation of the Model Code of Conduct, PM Narendra Modi appears to have all the elements of a poorly-veiled propaganda film.
From whether Vivek Oberoi was the best choice to play Narendra Modi, to some of the more outlandish and overly dramatised scenes set to electronic dance music, the movie’s trailer throws up more “lolwut?” moments than feelings of awe for the chowkidar with the 56-inch chest.
Whether the movie will release before elections is still up for debate, but if and when it does release, we’ll let you know whether it’s worth a watch.
3. Delhi Crime
Netflix’s Delhi Crime is a re-telling of the events surrounding the Nirbhaya gang-rape that took place in the Delhi-NCR region in December 2012. The show is directed from the perspective of the Delhi Police, and while it’s produced, written, directed and acted out impeccably, it takes several liberties with how the incidents are retold.
Jaskirat Singh Bawa, who joins us on this podcast, covered the Nirbhaya gang-rape case every step of the way from its first report, to the protests that gripped the capital, and finally, the conviction of the five rapists and one juvenile rapist who carried out the shocking crime.
He tells us how the show should be taken with a pinch of salt and looked at as a “good cop show”, and not a documentary or a re-telling of what actually took place.
Overall, Delhi Crime is a slick, well-produced attempt at re-telling a story, but with oodles of dramatisation and one-sided storytelling.
4. Leaving Neverland
Wade Robson and James Safechuck talk directly to the viewer in this documentary. In the first minutes of Leaving Neverland, they describe how they worshipped Michael Jackson, how Jackson helped them, remained a family friend, and grew close to them....and how Michael Jackson sexually abused them for years when they were as young as seven years old.
Coming 10 years after the death of Michael Jackson, Leaving Neverland is a gripping watch.
Through the testimonies of James Safechuck and Wade Robson, and archived footage, the documentary tells a horrific tale of two young boys who were systematically groomed, bribed and sexually abused for years.
The documentary and its director, Dan Reed, have been targeted with defamation lawsuits by the Jackson estate, but both the filmmaker and the men who’ve spoken out have said that they firmly stand by their version of events.
Leaving Neverland will leave you upset, angry and more than a little horrified by the man the world often called the King of Pop.
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