Angamaly Diaries (2017)

🎬 From Pig Slaughter to Dubai Dreams: The Wild Ride of Angamaly Diaries! 🎬

In this episode of Fear of Stairs: Desi Films Decoded, we’re diving into the chaotic, food-filled, and bomb-throwing world of Angamaly Diaries. This isn't your typical Bollywood flick—think more street brawls and pork curries than dance numbers and love songs.

Join us as we chat about:

・ The insane 11-minute one-shot scene that will blow your mind (and maybe make you dizzy).

・ Why Vincent Pepe is the Zac Efron of Angamaly (seriously, the guy's got game).

・ The gritty realism of small-town gang life and why it’s oddly relatable.

・ How food, fights, and friendships make this film a must-watch.

・ The hilarious and heartwarming moments that make you question your own life choices.

Whether you’re a fan of indie cinema or just love a good underdog story, we’re breaking down all the madness in a way that’s fun, laid-back, and totally relatable.

So grab your pork curry, hit play, and let’s figure out together if Angamaly Diaries is a hidden gem or just another chaotic mess. Spoiler: It’s a gem.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
If you guys want coke, he got some.

(00:04):
When he can you grab me one?
I just can't move because zero.
All right. Thank you.
Sorry, I don't take well to order.
It was a request. I was I was going to do it.
I think it's I think it's something that really wanted.
I hesitated, but I think this is something I will never get rid of
because I have two older brothers.

(00:24):
They tried to order me so much.
So it was like constant, like rebellious, you know.
Sure. And I felt that come on.
I was like, no, just get up and go get it.
Well, I was stuck in the break.
I know I looked at you and like he literally cannot get up.
He's not asking you just because you're a girl.
I know.
But I have this whole internal dialogue.
Welcome to Fear of Stars, Desi Films Decoded, the podcast where four friends

(01:05):
from different backgrounds unlock the world of Desi cinema.
I'm Winnie, the Desi who's never been to India.
I'm Nicky, who is definitely not part of a gang.
What?
What?

(01:26):
Your turn.
Oh, yeah. OK. Hi, I'm Killy.
I'm Indian.
That's cool.
I'm Adam. I'm American.
Yeah, I didn't know we were just shorter and shorter.
Yeah, just introducing ourselves.
I'm a film enthusiast from India.
Yeah.
And I'm Adam, the American film, Western film buff.

(01:47):
And what movie are we talking about today?
Today we are talking about this film called Angamadi Diaries made by Lijo Jose Pellisserie.
And, you know, so this movie involves, you know, breaking the law and, you know, using

(02:12):
money to circumnavigate the law and stuff like that.
And, you know, I think we on Fear of Stars, we've already invested a lot of money in this
podcast, right?
We recorded a very fancy studio.
We pay people to write our scripts.
So none of this is made up on the spot where we're reading scripts right now that we outsource.

(02:32):
So if there's any mistakes or anything, that's not our fault.
We're just reading from the script that we're paying a lot of money for.
So we made a lot of investments in that.
And we've invested even further into the podcast to try to like live out real life experiences
that match the themes of the movie, just to give you the listeners a peek.
And so we can have firsthand experience into what we're talking about.

(02:56):
So over the weekend, I was in a taxi going home from somewhere and got stopped by the
police.
And I just want to say this.
It is as an American, the police are so less scary here.

(03:16):
And I think that really shapes my perspective of things because I got to say, like, no matter
what, I'm never afraid of the police killing me here or anyone in Thailand.
The bar is so low, isn't it, when you're American?
But for real, because even in America, like in Thailand again, so let me describe, there's
like a police stop.
Like you're driving up and you see the police stop.

(03:39):
In America, the cops are hidden and sneak up behind you and turn on lights really quick
and stuff.
They're never something you can see ahead.
In Thailand, when you're driving on the road and you see a police stop coming up, you see
people just like turn around and stuff and like go against traffic or drive on the sidewalk
and stuff.
Like they're they are too lazy to like sneak up on you or constantly surprise you and stuff.

(04:01):
I do appreciate that.
And I'm never afraid of them using violence.
Like period.
I don't know.
I think differently.
I still think that their intimidation tactics get to me.
Now, Thai police.
I have some level of comfort in Thailand with the police because you can just kind of pay
them off, which you cannot do in the States.

(04:22):
Right.
And I think that's that that is what causes fear.
Like well, and the violence.
Like again, we are very at least I am very a cap in this group.
I don't think police are good anywhere.
I think the jobs are bad.
I don't think they should exist.
I don't think their position of power is like beneficial to anyone.
But in America, I've had a few police encounters and it's scary because like, you know, they

(04:45):
have guns and like they, you know, like we've seen enough videos and stuff of what they
do.
Like they can be very violent or, you know, you can get caught up in the system.
So like I am petrified of American police.
I'm not so much of police in Thailand, which is probably a problem as well.
That like I'm not as scared just because I'm like, I don't think they're going to kill

(05:05):
me, which is like the bar I have.
Like they're not going to.
Yeah, they're not going to murder me.
So anyways, we had pulled over at a taxi stop.
I'm coming home.
It was like four in the morning or something.
I think it was like five in the morning.
And yeah, maybe it was five.
And so anyways, according to police records, I have had nothing on me, but the police did

(05:31):
think that they found contraband and did make me again.
And so I go in the back of a truck.
So there's a police stop.
They pull over, the taxi pulls over and they make me get out and they like pat me down
and everything, which I've had before in Thailand.
Like I've had police stop me and like look through all my wallets and like all my pockets
and stuff.

(05:51):
It's not the first time it's happened.
I never like usually have anything on me or anything.
I'm pretty like, you know, and this time did you know, according to official record, no.
So but they thought they found something.
And so they put me in like a truck.
There's no handcuffs.
I'm not getting arrested.

(06:12):
Again, in America, you get handcuffs on.
Oh, I didn't know they put you in.
You say you sat in a police truck to the station.
Well, there's just a truck with like boxes next to me and stuff.
They all hopped in where you like read your Miranda, right?
So so so OK, so I get the taxi and they pat me down and they tell the taxi to keep driving.
And because sometimes like they let the taxis go.

(06:34):
Like honestly, I was kind of surprised they pulled the taxi over and they made us like
get out and stuff.
They tell the taxi to go, so I'm with them and they're like, look, you know, we found
you with this.
And I'm like, OK.
And they're like, we're going to take you to the station.
All right.
I'm just like nodding along because correct.
I don't think they're going to like they're not putting me in handcuffs.

(06:55):
And I don't know what the protocol is necessarily.
Like I don't know if I'm supposed to talk to them on the street and try to bribe them
or wait till they go to the police station.
So I'm just like nodding along because what else am I supposed to do if I freaked out?
That doesn't that's weird.
Yeah.
This is, you know, like, OK, this is a situation.
Fine.
So they tell me to get in the truck.
All these other policemen hop in the truck with me.

(07:16):
We go to the police station.
And so I'm sitting in the big room, you know, and then they had like the the height thing,
you know, that you see in like prison photos, like mug shots, you know what I mean?
So I had to and it was just right behind me in this kind of nice office.
So I just had to like take kind of mug shots.

(07:37):
You should go back to the police station and just ask them to send it to you on WhatsApp
or something.
It should.
Yeah, that would be a contender photo.
Special memories in their photo.
It has my name and all my I should put on my LinkedIn profile.
It has my info in it.
And then and then they're like, hey, you're going to go to the jail for two days.

(07:59):
And I'm like, OK, fine, let's do it.
And because again, I'm not scared and there's not a second I think that I'm actually going
to go to jail at all.
I just I'm not handcuffed.
It's a bunch of dudes like if this was America, I would be like pissing myself, honestly,
like I would like I'd be like I lost everything.
But I'm not afraid of them.
And they're being they're not mean.

(08:22):
Yeah, they're smug and stuff.
But like so was I because I'm just not I don't think anything can happen.
But I'm waiting for them to be like, let's just pay money and skip this whole thing.
And you didn't you didn't offer it to them.
I think that's what they were waiting for.
So they basically cannot be the one to imply it.
And I was already pushing him.
I was like, so is there any other options, anything else that we can do?

(08:44):
And he's like, oh, well, what are you suggesting?
They cannot be the one to say it, but they're just kind of waiting for you to offer it.
OK, now this is this is my problem.
OK.
In other times, the police has always offered it in Thailand, like for traffic stops, every
single traffic stop, the police has been like, just pay me now and we can skip this.

(09:08):
And I've always just been an asshole and fought it and gotten a real ticket and paid way less
than whatever bribe they were demanding.
But they were always demanding the bribe.
And so I never knew that I was supposed to say it.
And the other thing is, I'm in like a room with all these policemen.
One of them was asleep.
Yeah.
You look around here just so I'm super late.

(09:28):
But like, I don't know if I'm supposed to say it to one cop or like if they're all in
here and then like they're going to get mad at me for bringing it up.
So that was the other thing.
Like I wasn't alone with someone.
They didn't pull me out.
There's like cameras everywhere.
They made me take my phone, put on the table.
I couldn't touch my phone.
And so I was like, am I supposed to bring it up here?
Like, because there's a bunch of other policemen here.
So I didn't know what to do.

(09:49):
And then they kept saying, like, do you know anyone that can come here?
I'm like.
I'm like, look, you said you're going to put me in jail, just put me in jail.
I was arguing with them.
I was just like, just lock me up.
Just do it.
Like it's five in the morning.
What am I going to call?
Just put me in jail.
So much attitude.
The first thing the police said to us was just like, look at him.
He doesn't care.
He's so chill.

(10:09):
Like, yeah, he was like your friend.
He's so chill.
Like he obviously doesn't mind.
And then our friend.
So it was me and another friend.
We'll call him.
Let me bring in how you came in.
OK, OK.
So they they were like, hey, bring someone.
And I was like, why?
If you're going to put me in jail, why does someone need to come?
And they're like, just call someone.
I'm like, no, like put me in jail now.

(10:30):
And they're like, you need to call someone.
So I'm like, fine.
And I did not know who to call.
So I called Winnie because she's smart and was awake at the time.
And there's a few people I knew who are awake at like five in the morning.
And I called her and sure enough, she answers right away.
And she's like, hey, what's up?
And I'm like, hey, I'm at the police station.

(10:52):
Can you like come and save me?
And you were like, oh, yeah, sure.
OK, like which one?
Pretty chipper about it.
And I'm like, OK, I'm at this one.
You're like, OK, all right, see you in a second.
You came really fast, by the way, too.
Yeah, I was in semi shock.
But I was like, all right, I'll go to the police station.
I'll just do this.
I didn't really think it through like one step at a time.

(11:13):
But the moment I told everyone what was going on, it was just like chaos around me.
Chaos erupts.
And everyone's just like, what?
Like what happened to Adam?
And everyone's like freaking out.
So what happened on that end?
Yeah, because I don't know.
I was alone in a very cold police station freezing.
What was going on?
Yeah, I think I was just confused.
But like nobody was really in the state to go and help.
You know, like we just had a house.

(11:34):
So it was like Nicky's and Keeley's birthday party.
We had like a little house party.
First of all, the party just died down.
Like it just completely shut down.
We were just everyone was just worried about Adam's well-being.
Yeah, yeah.
I didn't really have a plan.
I didn't really have a plan or anything.
And I was just like, one of our friends was just like, what are you going to do?

(11:57):
Like, are you sure you want to go?
I'm just like, I don't know.
If your friend calls you from a police station, you go.
Did you see the text I sent, by the way?
No, I didn't.
But then before I left, I was like, does anybody want to come?
Like, don't feel obligated.
But if somebody else wants to come, just come.
And then we had one friend who was sober enough and was willing to come.
And so the two of us went to the station.
And no, I did not see your text until we were already out and released like two hours later.

(12:21):
Because I was like, they weren't letting me touch my phone.
And so I first secretly tried to text Nikki, like, I need a lawyer.
Oh, yeah.
I saw that message a little too late.
I was like, not with my phone.
Yeah.
But basically, when me and this other friend walks in, we're trying to read the room.
It's really unclear what's going on.

(12:41):
But then we sit down and the police is just kind of like, well, your friend looks really
chill.
It's like, he doesn't mind being here.
So I guess they told us like, he's going to go to jail for two days.
And then they're going to send him to court, at which point he'll just be punishable by
law, right?
Whatever they decide to rule.
And then at which point he might be extradited to the States and he would be blacklisted.

(13:02):
So he won't be able to come on.
There was a bit of like fear mongering going on.
And I don't know.
Like, I'm glad you called me.
By the same time, when I'm listening to this, I'm just like, yeah, sure.
Like rolling my eyes.
Because I think I had the same attitude as you of like, come on, like, you're just going
to take some money and then he'll be out of his way.
The moment you arrested him is just like jackpot.
We arrested this white foreigner, right?

(13:22):
Yeah.
Total jackpot.
Because they just keep asking, what's your job?
Where do you work?
How long you been here?
Like, they're just like casing me.
Yeah.
They started asking us as well.
They were like, so were you guys together?
Were you like, where were you before this?
Are you friends?
Do you know each other?
Do you work together?
Like there was a bit of interrogation towards us as well.
And then at some point it just became clear what they're after.

(13:43):
Yeah.
So we were speaking in Thai and so Winnie and their friend is like, yo, sit up.
Yeah.
We literally had to talk.
I was like, I slept in a chair.
I'm freezing.
And I was trying to sleep because again, I'm not afraid.
Like I'm not going to go to jail.
It's just like, how much is this going to damage me financially?
Which again, is miles better than in America where I would kind of be afraid for my life

(14:06):
or going to jail.
But then you have to think about Thailand where there's so much respect in the culture
and like, they just wanted to see you say sorry, wanted to see that you care, that you
respect them.
And the fact that you were doing all of the opposite, I think was also really pissing
them off.
It was stupid.
And that's probably why they told you to call someone because they're like, yeah, we can't

(14:26):
talk to this guy.
And I don't know how to have approached that differently because like I can't fake, beg
or cry, you know?
I have a very hard time faking emotions.
And I already sound like sarcastic when I talk anyway, even if I'm being like sincere,
you know what I mean?
It's just like my bad monotone voice.

(14:49):
So if I was like, hey, I'm really, really sorry.
Like that's how it would have sounded like just now.
I'm really sorry.
It would have sounded completely fake or like, I don't know.
Like I didn't know how, like I just wanted to be like, hey, just talk to me about like
what we can do.
And I didn't mean to be disrespectful, but like I wasn't going to fucking cry, you know?

(15:12):
And if that's what they wanted, that's kind of sick.
And I don't really like that.
But better heads prevailed and they're like, sit up, take your glasses off.
And Adam's like, it's prescription.
We don't care, take it off.
Yeah, I know these colored glasses look cool, but they're prescription.
I'm wearing them like on purpose.
I have to, I can't see.
But then goes without saying, Adam sitting here talking on this podcast.

(15:35):
So he is not in Thai jail.
He's not in the Hilton.
That's what they call the jail that they send foreigners out here in the Hilton.
Yeah.
It's like this overcrowded prison.
I mean, at the end of the day, like, um, it sucks and police are bad and these guys suck
and they're like robbing people.

(15:55):
Yeah.
And from an American perspective and Kelly, I want to, after this talk about like police
in India, but because like at least like, yes, it's a huge hit financially.
Obviously, like it is like a substantial amount.
Um, and I'm lucky that like I had it at all.
Like a lot of people probably want it.

(16:17):
Um, and it sucks.
It's like always sucks to like lose something, especially unexpectedly.
And then you always go in your head, like, what could I have done differently?
Or like, what's like, you know, maybe if I left five minutes later, earlier, did this
one thing and all this stuff.
And like that stuff sucks.
I hate all that.
But as bad as all that is coming from America, I'm not like afraid of like getting shot or

(16:40):
also, you know, I hear stories in America where like a car gets towed and it costs six,
700 bucks to get it back.
And so when you put it in perspective of like that, you know, it's, it's nothing.
And so that's why I like, I'm always kind of grateful for that because it's just so
much worse like in America and like, yeah, your cart and that's not getting your car
towed.

(17:00):
I mean, like you get a DUI and it's thousands of dollars and stuff and like your life gets
ruined and like, um, as bad as the police are, like they, they're not going to shoot
you and they are kind of nice the whole time and you just give them money.
And I kind of, I prefer that system over, over what I'm used to.
Yeah.
I mean, it's the pros and cons of living in a country with a very weak rule of law and

(17:25):
low police salaries.
Kelly, what are your thoughts?
I know that's why I'm asking about Indian police, man.
Oh, okay.
Um, that's our segue into this episode.
Yeah.
Oh yeah.
So in India, like police is, um, yeah, people are afraid of police.

(17:48):
Uh, they're scary and they have a lot of impunity to do anything they want to do.
So that, that kind of put things in perspective, like it's not what they're doing, but it's
like what kid they can do.
That's the fear.
Are they violent?
They can be.
I always see these portrayals of like Indian police on movies where they're just like hitting

(18:10):
people with a huge baton.
Yeah.
And like endlessly.
So it seems like they're quiet.
Is that real?
Yeah.
I mean, that happens also.
So the, the class cast, uh, thing plays into like whether you would be a victim of the
police violence or not.
For example, like if I am protesting, uh, like me being a university student, uh, and

(18:35):
so it's happened in one of the states in India, uh, Gujarat, Ahmedabad.
So there was one protest going on and we went to street protest thing and we got, uh, taken
in, in the police custody.
Uh, but it was handcuffed.
No, no, no handcuffs, but the police grabbed me, the two police grabbed me and put it with

(18:58):
myself.
Were you scared?
No, I wasn't scared because I know like, I, I, I don't, I, for the like section of society
I'm coming from, this is not that much a skeleton that I will, I will be like tortured or something.
I punished hard.
But for the same level of, uh, protest, if it's happening in a different, like for Ahmedabad,

(19:23):
it was like in the Muslim old Ahmedabad neighborhood.
I mean, yeah, that was, that, that protest was also violent and the police was very violent
already from the beginning.
So yeah.
So that happens like, depends on like which section you come from, like you might enjoy
certain protectiveness, uh, certain protective, uh, shield based on your class position.

(19:49):
Do the police like buy their positions like they do in Thailand?
Buy their position and like getting promotion promoted to, I think that goes on.
Yeah.
There is a lot of nexus.
There are a lot of crony ship, like favorism and then also, uh, maybe there are bribes
to get into the certain.

(20:11):
But the, but the, the first few roots, uh, sorry, the first few state of the procedure
is kind of clear that you have to put, you have to write an exam and you have to pass
the, all the tests and like the physical tests and everything that doesn't get bribe to,

(20:35):
uh, I think.
Yeah.
Oh, but there is a chance that the question papers can get leaked.
Yeah.
I mean, in Thailand you buy your positions, like the, the promotions and stuff, they,
they cost a lot of money.
People will spend a lot of money.
It's a big investment to get that.
I think that happens in India.
Most of them, but not, uh, always probably bribes, nepotism.

(21:00):
Yeah.
All of them.
Cause yeah.
In America, it's like actually one of the few very well paying jobs that doesn't need
a big education, which is the draw, but that's the opposite of what happens in, in, um, like
a lot of the countries in Asia where the cop salaries are super low, which I think makes
the bribes, you know, not necessary, but like the police have very, very, very low salaries.

(21:27):
I remember in India, like in my state one, one time, like the state government made the
rule of traffic, traffic fines that if you, if a traffic police is like finding someone
for traffic, they will get a certain percentage of it.
Oh shit.
And that was that horrible.
No, that was, that was actually good.
So that they stopped taking bribes.

(21:49):
Yeah.
But then they just encourages them to like give as many traffic tickets as possible.
Yeah.
So then you be careful.
They don't take traffic.
Yeah.
But then they find ways, man, that shit.
You shouldn't.
It's just like, I just said that just incentivizes like, cool.
I'm glad no bribes, but just, I mean, again, any police means they're incentivized to just
like be violent or, or like take money from people.

(22:12):
But like, if you give them like percentage per ticket they give, they're going to give
as many tickets as they can, you know?
Yeah.
But they cannot give you a ticket if you don't break any law.
Just follow the law.
Or they just throw a drug on the car.
Because there is a huge problem.
You're the police.
There is a huge problem of drunk driving in India.
Everywhere.
Well, this has been a really long segue.

(22:33):
I need to talk about the movie.
Yeah.
But like, let's get into why.
We didn't even start in the first.
No, but like, let's, let's kind of segue into why police is relevant for this episode.
Okay.
I just want to say one thing before we move on then.
Okay.
I do have one good Thai police story where one time one of my students was a policeman

(22:55):
and he's like, Hey, come to the police station in Bangkok, like that main police station.
And he's like, we can go shoot guns with like the, the, the main like forensics guy.
And I'm like, yeah, all right.
So I go into the police station, like on a weekday, there's no sign in sheet.
There's nothing.
They take me to this shooting range where they have all these guns laid out for me,

(23:15):
like unlimited bullets.
It's like the matrix.
When they go pick out all the weapons and stuff, they have all that.
It's just me and like the police guy friend, this forensics guy, and they're just like
hanging out with me, shooting guns at these targets all day, like teaching me like, like
how to shoot guns and stuff.
It was a blast.
Literally.
Then like I'm walking around the police station with a shotgun as like, we're like bringing
all the guns back up like a fully loaded shotgun.

(23:38):
Police are just waving to me like, Hey, white dude that we've never seen before, like holding
a shotgun.
Like, again, I've not signed in.
No one knows who I am.
No ID.
And I'm just walking around with a shotgun.
And then I'm just like eat dinner with the police and drink whiskey with them all night
and stuff.
And that was like a blast.
I'm going to call that white privilege in Thailand.
100%.

(23:59):
I mean, obviously I was walking around the police station with a gun, but so that's,
that's my pro police story.
So but otherwise, dad, too.
I have a pretty good story of police in the States as well.
Do it, do it, do it.
No, I was on my way.
I was in the car driving to my driving test actually.
Yeah.
So I had to go to a town one hour away and I got pulled over for speeding on the highway

(24:22):
on my way to my driver's test.
So you're on like a permit?
Yeah, I'm on a permit.
I have a friend who has a license, so it's legal.
I'm not breaking any laws by driving.
No illegal activity up there.
Except except for going beyond the speed limit.
And he pulled me over and I'm like, oh my gosh, like we're both brown.
He's Puerto Rican.
I'm brown.
And it's just like this is not going to go well with Trump era as well.

(24:43):
And it's just like white guy in his 40s, 50s.
And he was like, oh, you're beyond the speed limit.
Were you often?
I was like, yeah, I have a driving test, you know, so I'm just a bit late trying to get
there.
I was going to be a ticket, which means I would not be able to get my take a test again
for like, I think, another year.
If you get pulled over when you're a permit, that gives you like kind of a blacklist for
a while.
Instead, he's just like, well, I don't want to be passing your test if you do this.

(25:05):
Like, you know, just be calm, take your time, you know, like don't try to go in the speed
limit and good luck with your test.
And then he just like walks away.
And I'm like, oh, this is a very positive experience from policemen who didn't use violence
or force.
He was white, white as could be.
And I was in a very suburban, suburban area of upstate New York.
That's another win for white policemen in America.

(25:26):
Yeah, always doing good.
So just to show that they're good pigs as well.
They're still pigs, but there's some good ones.
That's nice.
All right.
Well, that's a good story.
So Nikki, let's segue.
Why is this thematically related to the movie we're about to watch?
The first question I want to ask is, Q, you're a bit in the gang.
No.
Well, yeah, well, this movie is about gangs.

(25:47):
He's going to say yes.
I could have been like, did you want to?
No, no, no, no.
What were you ever offered to be in a gang?
No, no, no, no.
I do.
I don't think I'm I look dependable for a gang other than like doing their accounts
or something.
The call center.
You're good with numbers.

(26:07):
Can you help us like doing the deal?
I would be happy.
I would actually happily do that.
I love to do the accounts for a gang.
Yeah.
OK, so they need accountants.
They do all that money.
But you're good with numbers.
I'm good with numbers.
I'm good with numbers.
I'm good with numbers.
I'm good with numbers.
I'm good with numbers.
I'm good with numbers.
I'm good with numbers.
You're good with numbers and accounting.
I never learned accountancy, but I'm good with numbers.

(26:28):
I mean, I've worked in finance operations and stuff.
OK, so I know stuff.
Any gangs are hiring an accountant or finance assistant.
He's here.
He's really good at laundering money.
The reason I ask is because I thought it was funny when we were trying to find files to
download.
You're like Indians are good hackers.

(26:49):
I thought you might be part of a call center scam.
I'm just kidding, buddy.
But Angamali Diaries is basically a coming of age story with gangs, Indian gangs.
The first thing I noticed is it feels very, to me anyway, that it's a very Italian gang

(27:14):
movie kind of thing.
But what I loved about it was the lower scale of it.
Yeah, it's like competing food stalls, basically.
The Indian ones like Vegas or the whole wine industry or whatever, big family brawls.
This is literally wholesale pig slaughtering.

(27:37):
Not to skip over, but I like the small scale of it.
That was fun.
Also at one point they settle down with money, but it's just like vengeance for another mindless
murder that caused all the...
That kind of took the commotion to the next level because it was kind of settled with

(27:59):
money and the way they were throwing local bombs, it was like, oh, that kind of is very
familiar.
Familiar?
Yeah.
Did you make local bombs?
No, no, no, no.
That's how it used to be in my town when we were kids.
It can happen sometime, but it's rare.

(28:19):
It's not like every day going on.
You remember the guy that threw the bomb to the meat shop?
Yeah, that kind of scene.
What do you mean?
So people were throwing bombs in your town?
Yeah.
I mean, there is a fight going on.
We know this area is belonging by some underworld people.
That can have...

(28:40):
So people threw bombs?
You've seen that with your eyes before in real life?
I could hear bombs at the...
Really?
So it usually used to happen after a burglary or a murder that when they run away after murdering
someone they throw bombs so that no one chases them.
So that used to happen a lot.
Like the smoke bombs that ninjas throw?
No, no, no.

(29:01):
They're bombs that can kill people so you just stay the fuck off.
Don't chase us.
So yeah, I guess now that you're recounting a personal experience, I guess that's one
thing that the movie is quite good at is nailing something authentic.
It's very gritty, very realistic.
It's very realistic.
I love that.
It's not a Bollywood movie, right?

(29:21):
Per se, it just doesn't follow any of those tropes.
It's a Malay film industry.
This is the first Malay film that we've watched, right?
Yeah, Malaywood.
Yes, that's what The Economist calls it.
Kelly's right.
They talk so fast in this.
Oh, the subtitles.
We had to speed read.
We had to read a lot just to get through the story.

(29:43):
They speak a lot.
So there's like a flow of information per second is like super high.
The subtitles are like this huge and just not even staying for long enough to be able
to read properly.
So now I guess I can read English faster than before.
But previously it was an issue for me because I'm not understanding the Malay language or

(30:04):
Tamil language per se.
But also English is my second language.
I'm looking at the subtitles in English.
So it was pretty difficult for me.
I had to pause and go back.
Oh, what did they say?
What did they say?
Yeah, I had to do that before.
It is like Italians that they just speak so fast.
They're just like rapid fire.

(30:24):
Like just super fast talkers.
And like the whole town just like yells nonstop and talks super fast.
So this is completely different from Hindi, right?
Yeah, it's a different language family.
It's not Indo-Aryan language family.

(30:45):
Like you wouldn't understand each other.
It's not Indo-European language family.
It's from the Dariyan language family.
So the other thing quickly about the region, which I don't know if tell me if this is specific
to them or not.
But what do you call like the wraps they wear around their waist?
The men?
Oh, that looks so uncomfortable.
What's it called?
It's in Hindi.
It's called or Bengal is called dhoti.

(31:08):
Let me see like what the Malay is called.
There was a scene where he's like chasing after someone and it just keeps falling off
and he's like trying to hold it in.
And then he just slips.
Vesti.
So they call it Vesti and then.
Yeah.
So.
I'm sorry.
Mundu.
Sorry.
Cut the Vesti part.

(31:29):
It's called the Mundu.
So yeah.
So I had Malay friends and I think it's like a change of posture or change of any situation.
It's like a thing.
They kind of either put it down or they just wrap it back.
So it's a wrap that they have.

(31:49):
They have around their waist like a like a like a saran.
Not so.
Salong.
So long.
So long.
Yeah.
It's like the plastic stuff you put over food.
But they put these wraps around their waist.
The men and like and they can fold it up or they can like let it drop.

(32:10):
But they're constantly adjusting it.
Yeah.
Throughout like when they're talking or walking.
Yeah.
It's like two stage.
When it's like totally like what do you call?
Draped.
So it's still your ankle length.
And then they just cover it like half.
Like it made it make it half and then put it back.

(32:30):
And then that's a short then.
So this is two states of wearing it.
And they keep on changing it.
Yeah.
I I never actually asked my Malay friends that why they do that all the time.
But I just got used to looking at them like.
So let's say they're sitting they usually put it down.
And then when they stand up and start walking faster they they put it.

(32:51):
I think when they need to walk faster it's like they pull it back.
Make it shorter.
And when their sleeves up.
Yeah.
And then when they have to like you're sitting down chilling or something they put it put
the drip down.
That is like it's because I think the movement will be easier if it's shorter.
But it's like if someone like had their sleeve and just was rolling it up and down all like

(33:11):
all the time when you were talking to them.
It was really interesting.
I had never seen like some like it transformed so much and stuff.
Yeah.
I think it was giving the vibe of energy that they're like restless young people.
I think it was adding to that vibe.
Yeah.
So another thing I wanted to point out is that like what made it so interesting is that
it's not just like I would say it's not just like a gang movie of sorts.

(33:33):
It's more like a way of life.
Right.
It takes place in Angamaly which is in near Kerala.
It's in Kerala.
Kerala is a small town in Kerala.
Kerala is South India.
Kerala is a state of South South India.
The language is Malayalam.
The people are called Malayali and this town is called Angamaly.
Is it near the beach or anything?

(33:54):
Yeah.
It has a huge coastal region like southwest.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Because it's like it shows like the way of life for these people like how they live their
lives.
So what what what makes it so special I think is that I think all the actors are like newcomers
like they're very like unknown unknown actors.

(34:16):
There's so many people in in the movie and we're gonna get into that a little later with
the the climax of the scene which was fantastic by the way.
It's amazing.
Very good.
How like one one full take I think that is like the best part of the movie.
Yeah one 11 minute one shot.
With so many people around in such a crowded environment.

(34:38):
There's a fucking procession going on.
Yeah.
It's so good.
Yeah.
So I guess you know it's it stars like this character named Vincent Pepe.
Yeah Pepe.
Right.
Pepe.
So it stars a frog.
Stars the frog our meme our meme lord.
Who looks like Jesus?
Who is like Jesus?

(34:58):
Who looks like Jesus?
But like we come to learn from you know we come to learn that he's part of this gang.
They like to start fights.
Yeah he's always going up to people and saying you mad and then like fight start.
Fight start.
You mad.
Yeah.
But then we learn that like you know he was always inspired when he was young.
He was like a kid.
He was trying to build his own.
I think in the movie they call it teams right.

(35:19):
Yeah.
Building teams and then he looked up to this guy named Babuji.
Babuji yeah.
And what's he like Thomas Cheta.
Thomas Cheta I think was like a associate of Babuji.
Yeah.
So he was trying to build up his own group and then we throughout the movie we learn how
like you know they how these boys it's like a standby.

(35:40):
I think of standby me they like think of things.
Yeah.
They go through they go through things like they go they're checking girls out going to
like adult theaters or like you know partaking in sports or like you know learning their
first fight you know punching the guy.
Yeah how to.
How to punch a guy.

(36:00):
How to not punch the guy that you were talking to punch the next guy.
Punch the next guy.
Yeah.
It's all that.
We get to see all that.
And yeah so he gets into they get into they're in this gang and they start they start like
being territorial I guess.
No so I like how they started the first fight.
The first fight was against like harassment of a girl.

(36:25):
So they go like they're the hero they're going to revenge the girl and starts fighting and
then ends up getting beaten up by the bigger gang that was in the in the camp the college
campus anyway.
And really quick their fighting strategy was awesome.
Yeah you remember like how to.
So if you're going to they were like having a flashback so they're about to have the fight

(36:47):
they're like looking at each other in the standoff and they have a flashback to like
when this guy was telling him how to fight if you're like in the standoff and what you're
supposed to do is you punch the guy next to the guy that you're fighting with.
So you do a surprise hit to the guy next to him so that guy falls down and everyone's
confused and the guy that you're supposed to hit is like looking down at this guy that's

(37:08):
falling like wasn't he supposed to hit me and then you punch as hard as you can at that
guy because he's not expecting it and that's like the best two shots you're going to get
in the fight before it breaks out and that's pretty genius.
And I think things I think things start coming to turn things start to get really serious

(37:29):
right when we're introduced to two I wouldn't say antagonist but like it's just like Babuji
like the gang leader that these guys used to look up to he gets he gets fatally wounded
by these two people named Rajan and.
Rajiv.
Oh great I'm gonna fuck this up.

(37:50):
We can cut this out wait one second.
I think it's both ours.
So by the way so before that was the little cute montage right of the girl of the girl
first love yes Seema Seema it was Seema and that's the one thing that the team couldn't
really agree on because they all had a crush on her.
I think Seema was the girl who he was dating who got harassed and whom he was dating right

(38:16):
yeah that was his first love and like it's not the reason why we say it's not like a
Bollywood film is there's no large musical numbers or anything but they still do have
musical montages so like a song will play and they'll have like they did have like the
love song it's just not the character singing it but really really sweet music like I really
enjoyed the music a lot and they had a really beautiful montage of them like getting to

(38:40):
know each other and fall in love and like sneak kisses and you know they're sneaking
into each other's rooms at night and stuff and that stuff I like always find really romantic
and I've always been like really curious like when you live with your parents and stuff
like how you do manage to like sneak in and like you know see each other and stuff when
like you're living at your family's houses like I don't know how people pull that off

(39:03):
you know remember one of the older films we watched I can't remember the name they just
went to a park with a mattress so it's nice to know that some people just do it at home
like regular people what's that girl walking down the street with a mattress really heavy
I don't know how people pull it off and like but it's cute when you know when you're sneaking
glances on the bus and stuff like that stuff they captured the puppy love really well that's

(39:25):
that's life man that's life in India but there was so much build up to that love story and
then I think in just one line she disappears and like she yeah supposedly went to Singapore
you never see her again the love story doesn't build up nothing I was telling mentioning
it to Winnie that these films like films from Malayalam film industry like this kind of

(39:46):
like rowdy gang films or like where there are a lot of actions even even this particular
director his films feels very male centric they're like all mostly important characters
are men all the time and and very macho very like you know like it shows a certain type

(40:09):
of patriarchal society in its truest sense kinda but one thing I really like that he's
very true in portraying that that that that world and and if the women women are not women
there I feel like they're way more strong women characters in these films but they don't

(40:33):
have the how do I put it it's not from their point of view the point of view still stays
with the men but there are strong female characters present yeah no it's a very male centric film
I think like kind of like Tarantino films you know it's like made by men kind of like
primarily for men but then at the same time I think like how it differs from many of other

(40:53):
films we watched most of the women still kind of had strong characters to some degree and
you also you see toxic masculinity in the sense that they're very violent they were
there in a gang right but then you don't really see that toxic masculinity translate towards
other women as much like he has his respect so I don't want to like fast forward too much
but like when he kind of is caught he tells his girlfriend at the time to leave him to

(41:15):
go towards her future you don't see that kind of like toxic lover he's like no stay with
me and then his love interest in the future is also a doctor and older yeah and older
headstrong and she was actually his friend's sister yeah so she's an older woman yeah and
like I think this it shows toxic masculinity but it doesn't glorify it no it does not yeah

(41:38):
you see the consequences they look like idiots and and you constantly see how their toxic
masculinity ruins their lives and their businesses and their relationships like it never glorifies
it and the women always come off as like smarter or like saints for putting up with any of
this shit you know it does like the Tarantino stuff sometimes glorifies I think the toxic

(42:00):
masculinity but this film never praises them for what they're doing no it's just it's just
very realistic yeah just throwing the reality but the yeah but the perspective at least
isn't it's condemning I think like I would call it a male-centric film I wouldn't call
it a misogynistic film I think you can call a lot of Bollywood films that yeah that's
still more positive and the women had a lot of agency like because they made moves on

(42:24):
the men the the the the way he ultimately falls in love with like what made the move
on him like I they have a lot of agency apart from the apart from the what is Saki the second
woman both of them kind of made a move on him right like when he was like beaten up
in the hospital the first girlfriend makes a move on him and then the last girlfriend
also like when he was dropping off her in her his own house to stay the night this is

(42:50):
my one issue actually to be honest how the fuck were so many women into him come on he
looks like Zac Efron that was that was Nikki's take is that why is that it is just he looks
like that too so he's cute yeah okay because like later when he is like a fucking murderer
and they're like yeah I still love you I'm like this is crazy how much he's cleaning

(43:13):
up like he murders like he's violent and everything but he he talks very softly right he's very
like he has a sensitive sensitive aura around him and he's cute guy so yeah women are and
also like very masculine and then like strong and soft like they kind of made him like that

(43:33):
right yeah that's why even though he's he does all stupid things you're still kind of
rooting for him because he never intended to hurt anyone yeah right he's like just a
nice guy who was kind of wrapped up in his life and cute and pox he's just like nice
he slaughters pigs in the daytime kills humans at night but I'm just the whole movie is like
women throwing themselves at him and like holy shit like what is this I don't know like

(43:55):
okay maybe I guess you don't see them with you don't see the other guys cleaning up like
he does yeah okay he looks like Zac Efron all right that explains it thanks Vincent
Pepe our lord and savior yeah and he's named Vincent Pepe come on that's true he kept being
like you mad you good Pepe is from Jesus father that's what he said oh yeah yeah so that's

(44:18):
another thing we can have like it's like they're from a Christian family Catholic they're all
Catholic the whole town is Catholic so so the other two guys who kills Babuji they are
Hindus from the Hindu side I think they're called Rajan and Ravi Rajan and Ravi that's
it most probably they're there I mean great performances mentioned properly but most probably

(44:40):
they're from the Hindus Hindu so it carol is a state where they have like a huge population
of Muslim Christians and Hindu like they're all almost I think equal numbers yeah so anyway
so this is a this is a totally Catholic village sorry town and yeah so that the religious

(45:02):
signatures religious signs are all it looked cool I love Christian Catholic imagery in movies
is fantastic you know like when you watch like the Romeo and Juliet the Baz Luhrmann
one you know and it's like full of that like rosary stuff like it looks beautiful in this
movie too like they have you know the crucifix and the big churches that they're inside and

(45:22):
like the the really cool like colonial churches they have in the town and stuff and like it
just that imagery always looks so good on film it's like and John Woo uses it actually
a lot too I think but I like I like when South Indian films he uses like Malayalam films
uses the Christian imagery it's so they're so they're so deeply rooted in Malayalam culture

(45:46):
their their their forms and their things like it's very very interesting even even yeah
he has made another film called rest in peace Ema you that is like a guy just trying to
bury his father the way he wanted so this is from the same director yeah so there's

(46:07):
another movie that you talked about where the whole movie is just about a bunch of guys
chasing a buffalo yeah and it's about burying the father this guy seems to have a lot of
very interesting plot yeah and then the mood shifts very widely like the other film Ema
you is very somber film it's a very like melancholic like a gloomy town and this is like brightest

(46:29):
day and then like everyone is fighting like loud music loud noises and everything so yeah
so is this so yeah they fight non-stop the movie is just like they just are constant
like when they're kids and teenagers and adults everyone just fights all the time they eat
the fight oh the food should we get into that and then they eat they drink and they fight

(46:51):
yeah it's not even just like the food shots it's like they there's a scene they're talking
about food they list like all the ingredients yeah he just loves food you can tell the director
is a big foodie and Kili mentioned that all his movies even though some of them are somber
some of them are bright they all have one common theme and that they feature food yeah

(47:12):
I remember there was one dialogue like where they were trying to go for one catering service
for someone's wedding and the the girl uh his last love interest she was asking like
who eventually becomes his wife she was asking like oh do you have any vegetable dishes and
the the caterer says like yeah I can put potato in the chicken curry or I can I can put tapioca

(47:37):
in the pork gravy but yeah and she's like no only vegetables like like eggplants or
okra or something like that and he says like okay we can do it and then just he says to
him like but who the fuck will eat this food in Angamaly like why are you making this food
like no one even touch those foods so it's like um like they're very meat eating culture

(48:05):
and they're always eating this amazing pork and beef and yeah pork and beef curry yeah
just the scene like that they're just mentioning like ingredients yeah how to make it it's
just so fascinating like it's another like italian mob type movie thing where like you
know they always have food in these italian movies too and stuff and like you see them

(48:26):
like cooking and stuff you shouldn't watch this movie on an empty stomach it's impossible
you'll stop we did it we tried if we would always stop the movie and get food and stuff
it's too good yeah and then uh that that uh well like there are so many montage you also
have to talk about the the sound of this film the drums how was there editing them on so

(48:51):
i kind of found a flow in the film it's like okay lots of dialogue giving out a lot of
information just people talking then stops then starts montages like a lot of visual
information one after another over a music number uh like a sound like a music number
and then again a fight and then again a food or food splittered like splintered all along

(49:18):
the way so it's like that kind of structure was repeating again and again and i loved
it yeah uh the the sound editing you're talking about there's this one song when i think then
the flirting montage scene right yeah where they're like him and sema are like falling
in love and he's like knocking on her door knocking on her door like three knocks that
they used yeah and then the knocks blend into the drums and so like the and so like you hear the

(49:41):
knocks is like part of the mix beat in like the the sound montage it's it's really cool and like
yeah very like amazing the stylized and uh yeah incredible like uh like the sound they're using
different type of knocks like that happens in daily life as part of the music yeah so i don't
know if anyone has anyone seen baby driver yeah like that so my girlfriend did mention that she

(50:04):
it reminded her of baby driver because like things were going to the beat like things
the things the characters were doing were going to be to the music it's and there's so much
happening with the cinematography oh it's it's amazing brilliant like it looks chaotic but to
pull off that chaotic shot again and again and again and again that's like i find it a little

(50:27):
bit weird in the beginning i think it took me a while to warm up to the movie because i think
you have this opening scene where there's nothing really big happening but you have like this hidden
this hitchcock sound effect where it just sounds like it's so suspenseful and scary it's just a
regular scene you know building up towards like nothing but then like as the movie progresses you
kind of get used to it i think i think yeah that's that's what they were uh doing i think they were

(50:49):
like getting us used to the world of like that can happen like think and go like instantly things
can go bad yeah instantly and we have to be okay with it because that's the one every doesn't make
like it it's not like a huge plot point in the film but that can happen anytime like you can
you can just a guy can just out of like a like verbal altercation can throw a fucking bomb and

(51:15):
you can fucking throw a bomb and then someone dies unnecessarily one of the major fights in the movie
happens because at a restaurant some guys at the table ordered the last dish of rabbit yeah yeah
and then the other table came and wanted it and they already gave the last dish away so then

(51:36):
a huge brawl ensues and like it's one of the major reasons of like why the gangs turn on each other
in the end was because of that fucking rabbit dish like we don't need to fight about this like
these guys are insane yeah so also like then the main reason behind all these fights and all these
actions is again a food dish here and that's true i mean maybe the rabbit dish is worth that but i

(52:01):
don't know it's pretty central too because they open up a whole pork business and that's also
what kind of starts the relationship that they have with the antagonists yeah who then kind of
almost become like the protagonist in a way because he ends up trying to later on they become the
friends yeah exactly and they try to mediate between uh yeah so yeah niki i was just gonna

(52:21):
say like so yeah it's just started because you know the there are these two attack antagonists
with quotation marks that you know they murdered babuji got sent to prison and then fast forward
years later they're all grown men this gang uh they get these two guys get released into prison
and then they um they're like the they started like they started having a deal with each other

(52:47):
like the starting a pork business yeah like the these two guys just got out of prison they're
they're i don't know how to say it they're like the they're the ones in charge of like killing the
pork the pigs butchers the butchers yeah or slaughterers so what they were these rajan and
ravi these two guys were like dealing wholesale in the whole angamali town yeah and then like they

(53:14):
would take over the business from whoever is trying to do wholesale because they are the big guys now
like they they they were like using all those pressure tactics like scare tactics to shoo
everyone away even that's how they got the business like they just just just took it on the gun not
gunpoint like the the hammer point yeah so yeah so then then these guys come become like another

(53:42):
rowdy team and they start doing say this first start to start like buying from them and selling
and then they start their own wholesale like supplying to other retail yeah so that's that's
when they start fighting yeah because they start selling the the meat directly i want to add like

(54:03):
by the way it's like the the scenes where they were like butchering pigs does that make any money
kind of comfortable it could be worse they hide most of it a lot of it's the audio yeah it's
actually screaming yeah but i just feel like i don't i don't it's not that i'm like disturbed
by it i just feel like this is just how people get by you know like it's just yeah it's just showing

(54:24):
the reality of things oh you should know how your food's made to be honest yeah it's true but i mean
but also like they're not showing the actual butchering part it's the audio right yes you said
it's audio and the reference of things like it's the aftermath of bloody like they're blooded on
blood on their face on their hands yeah like you hear pigs screaming which is horrific yeah i would

(54:48):
recommend this film to vegans no well i mean it'll make you pro your choice so like you know if you
want if you need that affirmative push you know but yeah the pig streaming is horrific but you
don't see too much it's just all implied at least but yes like this is the central conflict of the
film like these two and tian is their butchers they started making deals with our main boys

(55:10):
and it's the main our our team are the team that we're rooting for vincent pepe's uh gang
they started to do selling selling the the the pork directly and that's that starts this central
conflict and the many fights that that you know ensue and i think one central highlight one central

(55:34):
one pivotal moment in the film is that like you know they start to learn how to make bombs and
vincent pepe accidentally you know like the bombs are used for intimidation right and then
he accidentally threw it into this guy that just was trying to climb over like a wall and he fell

(55:54):
and the fight was like so mindless it's just like out of no reason they started the fight and it
escalated and then they were running away they were chasing them with the bomb to show off that
they have bombs and stuff and they just like he just threw a bomb thinking that the guy would
cross the wall by yeah that time but just a sense of irony right he was saying like you know we've

(56:15):
never been in a police case right yeah and then they finally ended up and that started to affect
their their livelihoods and i think that's was the catalyst who you know the gang turning to do more
illegal activities like just to pay just to pay back the the the family of the deceased it was

(56:36):
funny for a while because they're trying to find cheap ways to like get money so they start trying
to rob someone and then the guy just has a seizure and falls down they took up like uh i think uh
uh what do you call supari like uh like a contract contract to scare him because he was just like

(56:57):
like some some romantic issue and they took up a contract to like beat him up
and they they got the money to beat him up and they started just yeah like just not kill just
like yeah like yeah round him up and then as soon as they start he gets a seizure and like falls on
the ground yeah it was a string of unfortunate events when they tried to be like rowdy gang

(57:19):
members yeah yeah they're not good at it yeah they're not good gang members they're just teens
that like have nothing else to do meanwhile while that was happening right there's like the the the
guy that they killed basically he has a lot of cousins and that that is basically the main villain
if you have to call it that of the film where like this this his family these cousins this gang of

(57:44):
cousins they're trying to kill vincent and and his his friends you know as an act of revenge but then
you have you have the two former convicts they're trying to like be the mediators and they're trying
to make peace they're trying to like you know stall them from doing these rash stupid just so
that you know you know so nothing nothing work so that just so that shit wouldn't hit the fan

(58:10):
basically yeah yeah and there comes the police and the money but yeah yeah the police too and it's
like it's just like i said like the whole movie is just more like the way of life you know just
how things are handled yeah so i mean yeah but like hilly says the friend dies and like they're
like look so you either go to jail or it's not even that you don't pay the police but you pay

(58:32):
these guys off like they can accuse you and you go to jail or they can say that there's no witnesses
you know if you pay him so they demand like 30 uh 30 lakhs which is like 30 000 us dollars or something
around there how much was 30 lakhs we did talk about this when we were watching the movie it was
like yeah it's like 30 lakhs means like three million i n r three million i n r divided by like

(58:58):
like it's like 80 so maybe like 240 000 yeah like maybe 40 000 dollars 240 000 i guess
yeah 35 000 okay 35 000 dollar yeah yeah so 35 so they asked for 35 000 which is a lot which is a
lot for the the town they're showing like the money they have like yeah they don't have any money
period they couldn't arrange that money i mean they have money they have business and everything

(59:23):
they have property but still like 30 lakh like three million rupees a lot for so they get on a
payment plan for this bribe they're like you pay like a small amount and like pay us over time
that are trying to like get this money and like he was gonna he has to sell this house that he was
gonna give for his sister's wedding or dowry and now he can't do that and like he breaks up with

(59:45):
his girlfriend because he's like wanted for murder and he's like you shouldn't be with me because
like i'm wanted for murder i'm gonna go to jail like and he's right he's actually being quite
you know he's right like she shouldn't be involved and you know he kind of gets super depressed and
like isolates and stuff as you would because all these people are pitching in to help him though
which is at least nice so yeah they pay him off and then what happens they managed to pay him off

(01:00:12):
but then like you know they the the those cousins they're they're just so they're just so thirsty
also rajan and ravi did something like again bad that they took three million like 30 lakh
rupee and they just gave him four lakh rupees to the family and friends they they kept all the

(01:00:32):
money for themselves for just mediating this murder deal and they they just gave them four
lakh which is like 0.4 million i know like which is like oh yeah you can see them turn into
protagonists though these two guys what rajan and ravi because they actually try to tell the brother
in law to leave them alone like they want the violence to stop they just they cheat them of

(01:00:53):
money again well yes so that's why he gets stabbed at the end it's all about survival everything is
paid for everyone thinks it's over they're gonna enjoy this procession yeah festival and i think
that's what leads to the really cool end shot yeah the end shot one shot where like they're all
celebrating i think it was diwali right yeah it's not diwali it's i think it's like they were wearing

(01:01:13):
like halloween costumes or it's a bunch of fireworks it won't be diwali oh yeah that is true
yeah christmas
but yeah it's like you know all the all the gangs they made peace right and
you get this one shot of like a huge parade with full of like you know jovial celebration

(01:01:40):
and then lights it's like nighttime there's like lights everywhere it's really pretty yeah
fireworks yeah and they're just walking through this crowd like you all your all your characters
all your boys are just walking through this crowd meanwhile like they the gang the the gang of the
deceased were just like trying to plot their revenge and you know uh one of the main characters

(01:02:02):
gets i'm not gonna say who but they gets fatally fatally stabbed and it thus starts another fight
right and then they get this chase scene which is like one continuous take which was technically
impressive so it's yeah at 11 minute shot 11 minutes shot with like over like i don't like

(01:02:24):
like close to a thousand i don't know like yeah like tons of extras and stuff like if you're a
fan of alphonse au courant like so he's like one of my favorite directors but he did um
harry potter three prisoner of azkaban but he also did a two mama tambien uh children of men
gravity and stuff yeah i think this is very very much inspired from children of men yeah that that's

(01:02:45):
100 yeah i i think even he made a film called children of men oh well yeah i mean yeah so
children of men is one of the best movies ever made like it's one of my favorite movies and
and alphonse was like a pioneer of the long shot uh even any two mama tambien though like a low
budget though the the dop liboski liboski sorry okay and so anyway so um uh if you're a fan of

(01:03:13):
those like one shot takes and stuff um they pull it off really well here like it's a handy cam
where they just like follow this action they follow different plots going on in these huge
crowds it's it's flawless there's fighting going on so like they're hitting walls and like you know
taking punches and falling on the ground too with all this chaos going on all these crowds like i

(01:03:35):
don't know how long it must have taken them like how many times they must have rehearsed super
super impressive and you know it's not just show-offy like if you see the movie birdman where
the whole movie's one take it's it's a little like gratuitous i think it doesn't like serve the
the story that much but this one like the reason why alphonse au courant does it is because it
holds tension really well if you're not cutting like everything's happening in real time and

(01:03:59):
tension can just build really quickly so in children of men the long shot takes like really
like get you like um uh like enraptured in the action going on and so this one too when it's the
last like uh uh climactic finale like you just see the fights start to happen slowly and slowly
and build up and because it's all real time like you get it's really tense to watch because it's

(01:04:22):
like just like real life and in real time and so yeah it served the story it didn't seem show-offy
but it was really well done yeah i mean uh actually like when i watched it for the first time i didn't
even realize that it was a single shot like it was so unnecessarily i mean it's so not not
unnecessarily it doesn't point at itself and say look at how this is a one shot yeah it just happens

(01:04:46):
oh yeah so the the dop of children of men is immanuel lewisky and he did birdman as well
the cinematographer yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah so it's very inspired by that style but it's amazingly
i think in one one interview the director said like so he had done mba as a study and then the

(01:05:07):
interviewer asking like so you did mba now you're a film director like what did you learn like and
he said like honestly like one thing i can carry forward from mba is like managing people i love
managing bunch of people at the set and like he's really good at choreographing a huge load of people

(01:05:29):
in front of camera doing an action which is like like as an aspiring director which is like huge to
like make people move that much and that well and that chaotically and make it look beautiful and
not like lose or anything super tight it's it's an amazing skill this director has and even if

(01:05:51):
you're doing gigantic huge dance numbers or this it's the same it's all choreographed yeah but in
that yeah but he's creating a chaos in usually i mean there are dance numbers where there's chaos
but i mean i love well i just mean like chaos or not chaos like the the chaos is is choreographed
and so like even if you're not like yeah just having a bunch of people do a dance number

(01:06:13):
or choreographing a gigantic chaotic group scene is the same skill set yeah that's why it's called
even this is called choreography when we practice with the actors like where they're gonna stand
where they're gonna move around in front in the frame and everything we call it choreography yeah
so it's it's amazing i love this guy for that so then the main uh so pepe uh survives yeah the the

(01:06:39):
the the murder uh like the i'm not gonna spoil how they died the assassination attempt oh yeah i mean
well we're starting no no no no every movie we talked about we've spoiled okay so well
the chase scene is amazing like i don't know how how else to like how how much we can phrase the
the chase scene right it's just it's just great like yeah they chase the brother-in-law and he

(01:07:03):
just like it just ends in this crescendo of like fireworks yeah it was very bombastic by
Ravi i think the other guy who was killed the other guy he was just randomly kicked by that guy
at the last stage and they just he just and it just feels like it just wraps up that conflict
okay there's no more murder attempts i just think i was just thinking about the wife of Rajan the

(01:07:28):
guy who got stabbed like his husband and his her husband and her brother like dies did raja die
not raja i think it's rahi oh but like did he die who was the one who i mean it's kind of like the
way he stabbed him it's most probably he died like he stabbed him like but they mentioned it at the
very end he died he mentioned it that he died okay yeah like at the very end they said it in the

(01:07:53):
narration just yeah so he dies he so her husband dies her i mean there was a scene where he seemed
like he was kind of a dick to her because he's trying to kick her and her brother out so she
might be celebrating probably but her brother is dead yeah i think two problematic men in her life
is dead now there another way is like only has a son but then like vincent vincent and you know

(01:08:19):
his vincent's vincent's story ends on a good note right he gets a construction job in dubai dubai
yeah and marries like lychee which is like very surprising right i mean i mean adam did mention
that the romance is really cute you know she initiated they like uh you know it was it was

(01:08:42):
very natural like the way that it was come up like you thought it would be like one of those like
cheesy bollywood-esque romances but no it's like these there are these two people that decide like
hey you know why don't we just get married we're like we have a second girlfriend kind of felt
mid in the whole romance level the second girlfriend felt like kind of like in terms

(01:09:04):
of excitement it kind of felt me it's like it was showing kind of a natural dating of like a very
usual dating scene when you like uh hook up so you some of your friends and then you go on double
date and then you go to know the girls and then just do the the usual dance around the romance

(01:09:26):
and then like yeah start relationship and that's what he says like he started the relationship
because he wanted to go to germany with her that's why she he want he like went out with her and then
gradually he's like oh he's got more serious after that like i really fallen for whatever he's saying
that he just wants to like find a woman who knows all about his history his like case the case against

(01:09:50):
him and all but still wants to be with him and then lichi lichi proved that right like yeah and
another thing that like what i really liked about their romance is that like their their wedding was
just at the courthouse at the courthouse unremarkable nothing grand he has no money because he had he had
to give it all to pay off his murder i really like that personally because it was just like you know

(01:10:11):
we've been watching all these like yeah it's true extravagant weddings at these indian movies but
this one was just very normal very like they took photos in the stairwell and stuff remarkable i
thought that was really cute it was there was some waiting with a lot of food and alcohol and you
guys you guys noticed how much they were drinking a lot they're drinking all the time that's why

(01:10:33):
they're fighting all the time man yeah they're drinking fighting eating okay yeah waiting but
but um with the the marriage too like it was more of like hey look like she's not getting younger
he knows the situation like it's a very realistic like you know we've grown up together we know each
other's flaws like if we're like very few people are going to probably marry us at this point for

(01:10:57):
various reasons and it works and it works well of course they love each other because you have the
scene where lichi is a bit drunk and then kind of like comes on to him and then he finally gets it
that she likes him and then he's like walking home you guys remember the scene he's just like
smiling and like jumping up like this like 12 year old boy who finds out he's just very like yeah it's

(01:11:17):
not they love each other it's just like but i don't think they either of them saw it coming until
that time yeah for whatever reason it's not easy it's relatable yeah she was she was helping him
with the other girl yeah previous girlfriend and he he hangs out with her as like she's a childhood

(01:11:38):
friend and stuff like that yeah he's really cute yeah and then he gets to tell the dude that he's
did his sister oh my god yeah that's the biggest kick i think that's why he was giggling while
going back to oh bro i know what to call what to tell you next time and uh if we're gonna go to

(01:11:59):
adam's symbolism corner here so like when they're in when he's at his hometown you know they're
butchering pigs it's violent you know they have like weapons and in his new life he's in dubai
he's literally building stuff instead of destroying so like he's like building towers instead of
killing animals so i thought that was nice and we get like a long nice drone shot or something

(01:12:21):
yeah it was a drone shy i'm dubai like all the cinematography just keeps on coming like these
impressive yeah it was cool he wasn't like in a green screen like he was in that like he's in a
big crane like in a huge like you know like towering over dubai you know skyscrapers and they like zoom
out he's doing that was pretty cool yeah yeah very good pick killy really again no musical numbers

(01:12:45):
though but music was good there are there are not a classic bollywood film but i think it's good
this is our introduction to malu yeah yeah it's not bollywood but like it's a very good introduction
to malu malali film what do you say malayali malayali so is this director very famous in the
malayali industry yeah he's he's he has this um very indie vibe like he's a very indie

(01:13:09):
artsy also very mainstreamy like it's mix of artsy and mainstream so he's very popular yeah is this
his most popular film or is there one i think this was mostly celebrated by both like everyone
this film yeah i think this one is the most popular film he has made yeah and this is

(01:13:34):
yeah this like i i i was blown away like when i watched this film i was like wow it's so cool
like it kind of dragged me back in dragged me into malayalam film industry yeah there are other
films i watched before but this one again when i started like you know finding out what films
they're making one of the good films even the classic old films and everything's and like yeah

(01:14:00):
angamali diaries for you guys yeah recommend it's very realistic it's like a very uh yeah like i said
cute but like um i i really like the small scale of like a street gang fight that that that's i
really enjoy that oh and another thing like the all the fight choreography so natural it is very

(01:14:22):
lengthy but the all the actors really know how to make i was scared for them because they're hitting
like cement walls and stuff like this really physical like they were getting beaten up for
sure they kept pushing each other and it didn't look like you know it was dragging on like it
really looked like a real fight yeah they were getting tired they were getting and the camera
work when they were chasing each other right like even it started when they i think that that that

(01:14:46):
style started when babuji gets murdered for the first time like the first proper violence involving
death that's when that camera's that that low shutter speed camera movement starts right like
chunking x-ray stripe like yeah and then that happens again when the bomb goes off
but at the end it's just like smooth like we ease into the violent world and then like it

(01:15:11):
at the end it's just like part of life and it ends with the firework celebration and on the sky like
the firework going up in the sky i was definitely expecting a different ending like i was bracing
myself for vincent pepe to die i thought it would have to be like i thought that was gonna happen
100% yeah i thought everyone was gonna die like it was like some i thought it was just 100% he's
gonna die i thought they were all gonna die somehow like i think that would have happened if it was

(01:15:36):
a tragic ending made in 80s and 90s yeah that time india was making all this film like good films
every it was always like sad ending i mean it takes some kind of like strategy to be able to
make a film about gangs but still have people root for them and then have them survive and be like
yeah like it's a good ending you know i think we watched def d and we were like ah we don't know

(01:15:57):
if that ending was very yeah fitting right but you never have this feeling with this movie
they're also he is he did something criminal like it's the positioning of the whole thing like it's
the narrative of the whole thing he did something criminal he killed people and then all these
middle easterners can watch this movie be like i knew all the fucking construction workers were
jakes i fucking knew they're all criminals coming over here oh man built the wall

(01:16:21):
uh i hope the next movie we watch involves like a buffet or like swimming or something because i
don't really want to role play bribing the police again so if we can like maybe pick a different
movie that i could better role play with i would be happy for that maybe like a candy land movie i
don't know if that exists but i would like that what you were suggesting i was suggesting a stoner

(01:16:42):
film like a stoner comedy oh we can role play that that's better we will play that quite often
there is stoner comedy that comes up to my head uh that's no we'll talk about it off the off the
pocket well we can't we i don't want to mention films because we're never gonna fucking play them
all right uh thank you all for listening uh see you next time enjoy bye bye bye bye

(01:17:06):
so yeah take care of it good food