Tumbbad (2018)

🎃 Indian Horror, Greedy Gods, and Doughboys? Oh My! 🎃

In this Halloween special episode of Fear of Stairs: Desi Films Decoded, we’re diving headfirst into the creepy, eerie, and downright bizarre world of Tumbbad—India’s most talked-about horror film. Get ready for a rollercoaster of emotions as we break down a movie that’s all about cursed gods, eternal greed, and... doughboys? Yep, you heard that right. 🍪

Here's what we get into:

・ The terrifying tale of Hastar, the god of greed, who’s got a serious doughboy obsession.

・ Why Tumbbad might just be India’s There Will Be Blood (but with more gods and less oil).

・ The generational curse of greed—how far would YOU go for a gold coin?

・ Why this film is so much more than just jump scares (thank god).

・ And of course, the burning question: Would YOU sacrifice your dad for some gold?

Whether you’re a horror movie buff or just here for the weird folklore, Tumbbad is a film that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat. No cheap scares, just pure, slow-burn dread and some of the best cinematography we’ve seen in a while. 👀

So grab your popcorn (or doughboys), hit play, and join us as we break down why Tumbbad is the Halloween movie you didn’t know you needed in your life.

P.S. If you’re not dressing up as Hastar for Halloween this year, are you even doing it right? 🎃👻

#Tumbbad #IndianHorror #Hastar #DesiFilms #FearOfStairs #HalloweenSpecial

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Let's do like what do you imagine Huster would sound like maybe try to imitate Huster.

(00:03):
Huster is like mute.
Yeah, what would he sound like?
What would he sound like? Yeah, imitate him.
What was the main character's name?
Huster? Oh, Raga?
Vinayak? Vinayak, Vinayak.
Yeah. Vinayak!
That's just golem. Vinayak!
Hello mate, hello Viek.
Hello, I want a doughboy. Give me a doughboy.

(00:27):
I think that's how he sounds.
Alright, I think we have our opening ready.
Yeah.

(00:47):
Welcome to Fear of Stairs, Desi Films Decoded.
The podcast where four friends from different backgrounds unlock the world of Desi cinema.
I'm Winnie the Desi who's never been to India.
Hi, I'm Killy. I'm a film enthusiast from India.
Yeah.
My name is Nicky. I'm fearful of forgotten gods.
Hi, my name is Adam. I'm the western film buff and I learned that Killy has no elevator pitch for himself.

(01:13):
How many episodes are we in on this?
I'm Killy and I... who am I every single time?
Yeah, very soon I want to say like I'm a filmmaker from India.
Self-promotion.
This is the third episode.
Yeah, technically we're recording this kind of in the future.
No, no, no. The other episodes we did will play after this.

(01:35):
Yeah, this is our Halloween special.
Yeah, Halloween special.
Very interesting movie.
So Killy held an emergency meeting on the phone.
He said Halloween's coming up and nobody thought about this and we should watch a scary film.
Yep. So that's why I chose Toombaar. According to me, it's the best horror film from India.

(01:57):
Why? Or like just tell us the horror landscape in India.
Okay, so when I was growing up, there were pretty... some of the horror films were like good storytelling and everything.
Like it had good storytelling, but the Bollywood horror films were like borderlining B grade films, according to me.
Like, you know, the production and everything.

(02:20):
It used to be around like, you know, it's a Purana Haveli, like the old mansion kind of thing where there is a haunting house, like an old mansion.
And then there would be like some kind of paranormal creature or a version of ghosts or something like that.
And there would be treasure and stuff like that.

(02:43):
And then, yeah, I mean, it would be very similar to that.
And there would be some stories that has a touch of Indian ghosts and stuff.
But the production wise and acting wise, it was not that...
Like, even when I was growing up, I already was watching like already watching Hollywood horror and like other horror films.

(03:07):
So they kind of appeared goofy to me.
So never been a huge fan of Indian Bollywood horror.
And then I watched... there were some really nice anthology horror film from India.
Like someone is telling horror story to others and then individual stories like are horror in itself.

(03:32):
And then as a whole, they are binded by thread of horror in itself.
So in the storytelling and something like that, there are a few films like that.
So they were good. And then there were like very erotic horror films.
Erotic? Yeah, like they have been very erotic.
Like it's like a sex with ghosts and stuff like that.
Whoa! Yeah, like erotic ghosts.

(03:54):
Why wasn't that the first movie we saw?
Okay, so, I mean, yeah, but they were not...
They don't make the cut as like a really good film.
They are like more of like a... It's ghosts having sex with people?
Is that like possession film or is it really just sex with ghosts?
No, no, no, not ghosts having sex.
It's like someone having sex and then ghosts, they're becoming ghosts because they are murdered or there is actually very, very nice film.

(04:24):
But that's very artsy film, which we are stalling for later, where there's a ghost that...
I mean, the ghost is a folklore from Rajasthan, that ghost story.
And he is kind of a lover ghost, lover boy ghost.
So what happens is like when...
Wait, like a gay or like for a woman?

(04:45):
Like a pimp ghost.
For a woman.
Oh, like a younger boy though?
No, no, he's a lover ghost.
What does that mean?
He has sex with humans.
He loves women.
Uh-huh.
So what he does is like when a guy leaves his village in search of like some money, like for his work or something like that.

(05:07):
So he takes his shape and form and comes to the wife and have sex with them.
Oh, so he comes in human form and the wife doesn't know.
So this is a way for men to blame their cheating wife on a ghost or something?
No, it's a folklore. I don't know. I'm not from Rajasthan.
And there is a film. There are films.
In India, is it ghosts that come from human death or do they come from something else?

(05:30):
They come from both.
There are like spirits that doesn't come from human death, but then there are different types of ghosts and they come from human death.
There are like, so I know Bengali hosts, they have like Sakchunni, which is like a married woman died, dead married woman, like not a widow, widow dead woman.

(05:58):
It's the married woman.
So she has some attires of a married woman and they love fish.
And then there is Bembodati, like he's like a Brahmin ghost.
But these aren't scary?
No, they are scary. They will kill you.

(06:21):
Were you scared of ghosts growing up?
Just dares.
Just dares. Yeah, you're right.
No, not particularly. Like, yeah, the ghost stories were not that popular in my household.
My mother told me some of the like, you know, the experience like a haunting experience or something and I never believed that.
And then I was like, oh, okay, fine. Whatever.

(06:42):
And then, yeah.
Did you get told, I mean, because growing up in Thailand, they are obsessed with ghosts here.
Yeah, yeah. Thai people are definitely obsessed with ghosts.
Every time we go for like a school field trip when entering a hotel room, my friends would kind of like try to check if there are spirits in the room and anything weird that occurs.
It becomes like a whole big drama. But in my household, it was not really.

(07:04):
I think we also grew up in a house where like we would joke around that there are ghosts in the house.
So it was not too big of a deal, but it was definitely present.
And, you know, we were a little bit afraid sometimes.
Did you watch scary movies?
I watched quite a bit of scary movies, but I prefer like the comedy horror genre.
Like what?

(07:26):
You know, like Tucker and Dale Receival, like just like stupid stuff.
Yeah.
Have you watched What We Do in the Shadows?
No, I have not seen that one.
Even the 13 Ghosts, I like that film. Even though people hate it.
We got so mad. That ruined.
The Bar We Go To had a cinema night and I hosted it now.
I hosted it and he played 13 Ghosts and that's like caused a revolt because everyone was so mad at that movie.

(07:51):
I saw that for the first time there and I got so mad.
I thought that movie was a revolt.
They would show it on cable nonstop. I think it played on Cinemax like every week.
So we would just like watch it over and over again.
Yeah, but did you watch Thai horror?
A little bit, just like the famous ones like Si Peng, Shudder, you know, Shudder is like a Thai film and it was made into Shudder.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

(08:12):
Same name, right? American.
It's one of the films that put Thailand into the international film scene.
Yeah.
Did you watch like any Indian horror?
No, no. So I don't think I've watched any Indian horror films or I might have,
but I don't remember any. This was definitely the best one I watched.
I was not expecting much coming to this film.
And I was also not too thrilled about the horror genre for Bollywood because I assumed it would be bad.

(08:33):
Yeah, but like this really took me by surprise. I'm actually really impressed. It was a good watch.
Naky, what's your history with horror?
Yeah, well, similar to Winnie, I guess the only thing, the only kind of like ghost, ghost story that ever stuck out with me is like,
you know how when you have like sleep paralysis?
Oh, yeah.
I used to have that. Thai people would say that it's actually a ghost.

(08:55):
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
And then I've had classmates where they said when they have sleep paralysis, they would see this dark figure.
But I think that's just like night tremors.
That's part of sleep paralysis is you usually see a figure.
Oh, I never did though.
Oh yeah, I get that as well.
It happens to me to this day.
You have sleep paralysis?
Sometimes.
Oh, God. I dated someone with it and it's like life for me.

(09:18):
Yeah, I had when I was a kid. Yeah.
That's horrible when you're a kid too.
Yeah.
Did you see a figure?
No, I didn't see. I was just couldn't move. I was like wide awake, but I couldn't move.
I've seen black figures in the night, even this year, last year as well.
And I was so terrified there might be a ghost watching.
So like when I was in the States, I would never have sleep paralysis.

(09:40):
And every time I come back to visit my mom's house in Thailand, I would get it.
And I would see this old woman figure as one. I was so convinced that like that house is haunted because it never happens anywhere else.
Yeah, because they exorcised all the ghosts in America and then all the Thailand didn't do it.
But there's a scientific theory behind sleep paralysis.
Oh yeah, of course.

(10:01):
I mean, that's how I made myself feel better when I had it.
I'm like, let me read up the science behind it.
No one's doubted sleep paralysis. You guys both have it.
Yeah, by the way, like diverting a bit like that story I was talking about the Rajasthan Fooktail.
Like the film, it's a really good film. It's like an art house film.
It's called Dhuvida, like a dilemma.

(10:22):
And it was directed by a very famous director called Manikol.
And they remade it in Bollywood later called Paheli with Shah Rukh Khan.
But yeah, it's not a scary story. It's a romantic story with ghosts involved in it.
Did you guys ever play games like ghost games? In Thailand we have Helion, you know, like the ghost coin or Luigi board.

(10:43):
I only play ghost horror video games.
What's the coin thing?
So the coin thing is you with other people, you put your fingers on a coin and you write like ABCD numbers and everything.
And you call in the ghost. Pretty much. I think it works the same way.
And then the coin will just magically start moving to letters to like form a word or a sentence.

(11:04):
But then everyone's kind of like, no, who's moving the coin? Who's moving the coin?
So everyone's just like, no, it wasn't me. It's just moving by itself.
Did you move it ever?
No, I never moved it, but it always moved.
Nikki, you never played this? It was so common in high school.
Luigi boards? I've heard of people doing Luigi boards, but I've never done one myself.
Yeah. So yeah, I grew up super Christian, which we talk about in a future episode.

(11:27):
But I didn't watch scary films forever. I was never into it.
So when I started finally getting into film, like around 13 and 14, I grew up so scared of horror films.
I remember now, well, one time I was at Disneyland when I was younger.
I want to say I was like eight or 10 or something.
And I went on the Haunted Mansion and I was so afraid of like scary things at the time that like I got all the way from the queue to the front of the ride.

(11:54):
And by the time I got to the front, I was just like crying so bad that they had to take me off before I got on the ride and stuff.
I'd like really work up the nerve to go on the Haunted Mansion, which is now like my favorite ride.
And same with horror. Like I was just too scared to watch it for a long time, even when I was watching like normal movies.
And it wasn't, I think, until I kind of came to Thailand.
And I, horror movies are super prevalent in Thailand. Yeah. Kind of opposite India.

(12:19):
Like it's like horror is like the main, I don't know, like cinema output besides maybe like romantic stuff.
Yeah, I have watched really good horror films in Thailand.
And the horror genre is really good here. It's really good.
And it exposed me. So I'll get to this. It exposed me to different types of ghosts because different cultures have different types of ghosts.
Yeah, yeah, of course. That I wasn't aware of coming from America.

(12:42):
Part of the nice thing about watching horror films is it completely exposes the culture to like what they believe in and stuff.
Yeah. So like in American horror, like the haunted house stuff or like the Annabelle, like it's tied to a doll or it's tied to a house, it's tied to properties.
Because like Americans are obsessed with like private ownership. Or same with like British ghosts too.

(13:04):
Like you're stuck in the house forever. Like you have perpetual ownership of something even after you die.
Which is just like baked into the culture of just like property ownership, which is why like everything just still belongs to you in perpetuity.
You know, even if you pass and that's what haunts people's objects because like we fetishize them.
And then in Thailand, they're very much like in the Buddhist tradition, like it's about actions committed by the person and they have to pay for it.

(13:29):
So like it's either like rebirth or they do some bad action and they have to like account for it. Right.
But it's like kind of their own actions that do it. And usually they're in the woods and stuff.
That's how I picked up on the private property of the American horror stuff is because the Thai stuff isn't necessarily tied to a house all the time.
No. Right. It's just like in the area. It's the area.
So there are privatized like private property ghosts in Indian stories.

(13:51):
It's like Jock who guards the wealth of some treasure or something.
It's like you sacrifice someone. So the story goes like when you put a treasure down, you sacrifice someone there.
And their soul will like their ghosts will guard that treasure forever.
So whoever tries to access the wealth apart from maybe who is supposed to get that wealth, whoever else with that, that ghost will fight them off.

(14:20):
See, but that's that's the difference, though. So and in this movie, this is what it exposed me to it is.
So, yeah, America, it's like private ownership in Thailand.
It's kind of like one's own actions and fixing that in this.
It's generational and ancestral. And same with what you're saying, even though it is like about like a private property thing, it's still stuck to only certain people can get this in perpetuity.

(14:48):
It's still stuck in like a class system that just exists forever that you're stuck in.
And that's what this movie, as we can get into it, exposed was like this ancestral heritage that you just can't escape from.
And that was nice to see, like it completely exposes society's beliefs in their scary movies.
Yeah. So on that note. Yeah.
I mean, adding to all that, the so it's like folk horror, right?

(15:12):
I think Thailand is heavy with, you know, folklore, ghosts.
You'll have like the I can think of some examples now, like Rasu, which is like this woman's head and her intestines are like coming out.
Or you have like the Nang Teh Kien, which is more like this woman that infest this big, big tree.
I forgot the type of tree, but you cannot cut the tree because it'll, you know, make the spirit angry or whatever.

(15:40):
Yeah, that's pretty big in Thai society. We believe that trees harbor the spirits.
Which is just more in tune with like nature and stuff.
America doesn't have that as much. And same with English, just buildings that you make that it's forever tied to. It's not nature.
So on that note, let's get into the film. You want to take it away?
Yeah. So on that note, like we the film we are going to discuss about today is Tum Burt.

(16:06):
It's directed by Rahi Anil Barve and produced by Soham Shah, who is also the lead actor here.
And I chose this film because this was the first Indian horror film that kind of blew me off.
Like I was like, wow, this is so good.

(16:27):
Like I went to watch in a theater and it was so beautifully crafted and the storytelling was so beautiful, the metaphors and everything about it was so good.
And then after watching it, I learned that it's literally like a labor of love.
It's in its whole form. It took like 18 years to conceive this film, but to produce this film.

(16:58):
But like the production itself went on for six years and three years of post production.
So like a very small team that did it. And for me, it's a pure art, like how you do it. It's beautiful. This film is beautiful.
You saw this in theaters? Yeah.
So it came out in 2018. Yeah.

(17:21):
And you told me it just got re-released in theaters too, right?
Yeah. So what happened was it was released on theater and then like it had no big names, right? No big director.
So the director was not that big that time. It's not like no big actor is there.
So it's not very typical Bollywood formula. And the director refuses to say that it's a Bollywood film.

(17:46):
It's like it's an Indian film, Indian horror film. OK. So it didn't create a huge uproar at the beginning, but it was like a slow burn.
Like, you know, gradually people started liking it. It was word of mouth.
They didn't do a huge good marketing when it released. So it was word of mouth.

(18:07):
And then it kind of stayed a long time in theater and the makers didn't expect it to be that long.
It went on for like seven weeks, which they didn't expect.
And the film theaters pulled this film off because the film by that time already came to Amazon Prime.

(18:28):
So that's why they had to pull it off from the theater. But it was doing decent.
I mean, it's not a huge blockbuster hit, but it did decent performance for like a not so known actors, not so like known names being in the film.
So, yeah, that's why it and and then later the people was watching.

(18:53):
I mean, it got a huge appreciation from the people all around India when it was running on Amazon Prime.
And people realized that it's this is a film made for theater. It should be watched in theater.
Like the world building is so, so beautiful. And then cinematography is so beautiful. Production design, everything.

(19:19):
And the shots. Oh, my God. Anyway, so they were like asking for it to be released in theater again, which is a very rare thing in India to be a film to be re-released and film of this kind of statue to be re-released.
It's a very rare thing, but they did it and they did it and they earn more money than the first time.
Despite it already being on Amazon. Yeah.

(19:42):
So actually, it showed that people who watched it on Amazon, mostly them, they went to watch it in theater because they wanted to have the theater experience with this film.
So that's good. Yeah, exactly. It's such a beautiful.
It is for the audience. It's kind of like an A24 Indian horror film, like kind of slow burn. It's a little methodical. The cinematography is amazing. It's like natural lighting, very kind of like naturalistic, but like very grounded lighting.

(20:14):
Yeah. Yeah. One thing I know that they, most of the reins, I guess, are like real and they actually waited for like cloudy days, days after days to have those outdoor shots to have like the real cloud, not VFX.
So they did. I mean, in terms of time, they used a lot of time and I mean, they, of course, put a lot of money in the making of it.

(20:38):
So, yeah, it's really good, like physical costumes and props and like there is some CG, but the prosthetic work is amazing.
Like, I haven't seen prosthetic work like that in a really long time and it's super fun to see. So it has like this, this texture to it that you just don't see often. Yeah.
Yeah. I think the body horror in this movie really stuck out to me. Like it just, like, just the shot of, like, I'll skip to it, like the final shot. Yeah. Yeah. It was pretty, it really stayed with me until after it ended.

(21:15):
Yeah. Like I'm not a very big, big cinema person, to be honest. Like I watch movies for the storyline and the plot, but even this movie really made me appreciate this cinematography, like when he's in the womb and it's all red around, like it's just so beautiful that even the average person can appreciate it.
Yeah, I will say we, who watched it with us were two people who English wasn't their first language nor was Hindi and they were completely involved with it and enthralled with it too. And like you could watch it on a visual level, but just by itself and enjoy it, which was nice.

(21:48):
So, Nicky, how does the movie start with the Linkin Park intro?
So, you know, they start off with like this mythical tale, like folklore tale, I don't know. Like there's like a goddess, goddess of prosperity, I believe, and then like, she gave birth to like multiple gods, but then she, they explained that her first, the first born god was the one that was most loved, but he was full of greed.

(22:22):
And apparently, so the story goes is that he tries to steal her infinite wealth. She has infinite wealth and infinite food, right? And then she stole, he tried to steal the wealth and all the gods tried to like, you know, kill him.
But the goddess loved him right and protected him. And in order for him to just survive or be alive, basically, she would keep him in his womb and that nobody should ever worship him basically he would be forgotten.

(22:55):
Yeah, but then you have this little town of Thumbad, right, that they erected like a shrine. And, and because of that, that town is cursed forever, which is why you can see in the movie there's quite a lot of rain.
It rains all the way.
It rains a lot. And so right from the get go, we get that this movie is like, well, I mean, it'll become apparent is that it's a cycle of greed.

(23:18):
Yeah.
That is the thing. But oh, and the god this this this greedy god his name is Hasar. Right. So is Hasar real or?
Okay, so no, the lore here is completely fabricated. It's not going folklore and I think it's a Lovecraftian character Hasar, something like that I read long back I kind of forgot.

(23:43):
I think there is a reference like a it's an adaptation of some Lovecraftian character like a supernatural character and to this as a Hasar. It's not a real thing, real folklore. It's built for this story.
So yeah, so he stole the wealth, but when he tried to steal all the food, then the gods attacked him. So that's why he's like kind of afraid of food. He does and he's perpetually hungry. He has the wealth, but he's perpetually hungry, which is like a nice metaphor to it.

(24:17):
Yeah. Yeah.
So yeah, and in this part of Toomba, there's like a mansion, a decrepit mansion, and you have this like family, like you have this woman and her two sons, and I think this woman, she's apparently like the mistress to this dying rich lord.

(24:41):
His name is Sarkar. So Sarkar is not his name. Sarkar is a kind of a title you get when like you own, it's like a landlordish title. Yeah, they play the word later as a Bharat Sarkar as an Indian government. So okay.
So this lord was on his deathbed.
Well, let's say what he's doing on his deathbed.
She was jerking him off on his deathbed.

(25:02):
Yeah, so there's like a maid, the first shot that's not in Lincoln Park CGI territory is this maid, this bald maid, right? Jerking the old Sarkar off.
Also the mother of the main character.
Mistress.
Yes, they mentioned that. Yeah, she was jerking him off and clearly she wants, she's just doing it because she wants that one gold coin, like the mythical treasure of Hastar, basically.

(25:33):
And you know, that is the point of the whole movie is like this, you have this family that is in search of this long lost treasure, and they need to find out what it is. And we are introduced to also like what Hastar is capable of, in the sense that there is like, so like this, this woman, I forgot her name, but like she was taking care of, she was also the caretaker of this elderly woman.

(25:58):
And that's where like, this is where like the body horror shines, she's like this grotesque looking woman. And it's because she's cursed with Hastar's curse.
She's touched by Hastar.
So in this story is like, if Hastar touches you, you become immortal, but then you, you're transformed into this grotesque abomination.

(26:23):
And then you have only two jobs in life, you're eternally hungry for food and you just sleep. So there are two things you do, you cannot do anything else.
And throughout the movie, we learned that like to put them, to put these cursed people to sleep, you have to say like, go to sleep or Hastar will come for you.

(26:44):
So go to sleep, otherwise Hastar will come.
And this woman is also the grandma of the main character or like the mother of the Lord who is on his deathbed.
But you see the grandmother has already suffered, she must have been greedy and that's why she's like, immortally cursed.
And then the father is still looking and his mistress seems to see the downside of this. So like she's a little bit more level headed.

(27:06):
She just wants one coin.
But then his sons, he just wants freedom with one coin that she goes out of this like this cursed village with that one gold coin and make a life for her.
And yeah, so she doesn't have the genetics, but the kid does. So he has that greed built in.
Yeah. So those are the characters, but they're not the main characters. The main character is that woman's son.

(27:30):
Vinayak.
Vinayak, yes. So the movie is told in like three parts, generational.
So one is like when he's a kid, second when he's an adult, third when he bore a child, his son.
But then it starts off with him as a kid and it starts to show how, you know, he is willing to do whatever it takes to get that gold, to get that lost treasure.

(27:59):
And then one thing is that when we were revealed with the grotesque grandma, what was she going to do?
Like, you know how we get to see her?
She was trying to eat him up.
Eat him, right? She was like taking off nails off her face.
Yeah.
Which is amazing. I thought that was like so creepy. It was just like.
And they did. And the movie did like a really good job with how like, you know how when he opens the door and then he meets, we get to see her in all her sick glory.

(28:25):
Yeah. And then like he has to quickly run back to get like, I think it was food or something.
But then like you get that sense of dread that, you know, she's probably like after him and then you get this moment where she gets behind him.
Yeah.
That is, I cannot stress how masterful that whole shot is. It's like, but that's what I like about this movie is like there's a lot.

(28:46):
There's a sense of dread. And I think it's been said before, like every shot, you feel so uncomfortable. You don't feel at ease at any moment, which is why it is, you know, you're so invested in what's happening.
Yeah. And to speak on that, before we get past that, remember the scene where the kid falls over the ledge?
His younger brother.

(29:07):
Yeah, the younger brother and dies.
Yeah.
So like the kid falls over and stuff. And it's just because it's like really good sound design, but you don't see anything.
You see the kid fall off and then you just see the wall and then it cuts to him with his head hit. But the sound design, you hear the fall and the crack and everything.
We don't see anything. And it's incredibly well done. And like, you don't need to see it. Like your imagination makes it way worse. And you just see the dead body afterwards.

(29:31):
It's really simple. It didn't cost anything. There's no stunts. It's just sound and like staring at a wall, but they did a really good job with it.
And just for context also, so right before he falls, he's asking his older brother whether it's a curse to even talk about the treasure, right?
Because his older brother is asking his mom about the treasure and the younger brother is like, isn't it cursed?
Just to like bring it up. And then two seconds later, he falls to his own death.

(29:54):
Yeah. Yeah.
And then like, you know, I think there was also another moment where the mom was taking him to the hospital or something, but then like, I think she wanted to make a detour or something, was it?
I think she realized on the way, because it's a very remote village and the hospital would be super far.
I think on the way she realized that the younger son's body is not responding anymore. So she just does just go back.

(30:22):
The driver pretty much asked, you still want to go to the hospital or should I take you to the graveyard?
Yeah. I kind of took that as a scene where everyone is just so greedy and they're more fixated on getting this treasure.
I think the woman just wanted to go back and get her other kid and just...
Because before he died, she was already packing up and getting ready to leave Tamba. Like she just wanted to get out of there.

(30:43):
Yeah. So yeah, Vinayak's brother fell off a tree. He's dead. The mom takes him away, hoping to heal him up.
So that leaves Vinayak with the grandmother and then the grandmother tries to eat him basically.
As grandmas do.
As grandmas do.

(31:05):
Why didn't you eat anything? Here, have my toe.
Yeah. And then he manages to chant her that phrase that puts her to sleep.
And then the mom comes to his rescue and then she warns him that we should never come back. It's not worth it.
But then you get his resolve that he will come back. And he did.

(31:28):
So the mother made him promise on his... How do you put it? Promise on me. The mother said promise on me that he would never come back to Tamba.
I think that's why after his mother passes away, then only he comes back to Tamba as an adult person.
Because we never see the mom again in the second chapter, third chapter. She just never comes back.

(31:51):
Yeah. So after the mother passes away, then he's like, okay, then I can come.
So he comes back and looking all beardy, bushy.
15 years has passed, but he looks well. It's been like 40 years.
He has a good mustache. Really good, strong mustache.
Strong mustache. And then he finds the decrepit old lady.
I think it's the vegetarian food.

(32:12):
Oh yeah. What did you say about these people?
Yeah. Why do they age faster? Because they eat no protein?
Yeah. What is the deal?
So if you don't eat enough protein, your skin won't glow.
So the meat makes your skin glow? Is that what you mean?
Sorry to all the vegans listening to this.
Good protein makes your skin nicer.
Yeah. If you eat meat, you have a pregnant glow about you.

(32:34):
Because you have another species inside of you. But if you don't eat, you just don't have that glow.
Your skin sucks.
Yeah. You're just eating like plants and then you look like plants.
So is this guy, who are these people you're referring to?
Oh no. No, I'm just talking about the characters, not the actors.
So are they guju? Where are they from? That makes them vegetarian?

(32:55):
Oh no. Yeah. I mean, I think the actor is Gujarati.
But the characters are like Brahmins. Like Maharashtrian Brahmins.
So of course they don't eat. I don't think they eat meat.
Yeah. Their skin looks like shit because of it.
Yeah.

(33:16):
I eat all this every day and I look amazing.
So he goes back and he meets the decrepit old lady.
And she's like, I don't know if you've seen Mad Max for yourself.
Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
There was like a tree coming out of her, which is the same fate that Chris Hemsworth's character goes through.
That's exactly what it's like.
That was literally the only thing I was thinking of.

(33:38):
But yeah, she's a tree.
She's a tree. And then she tells him where it's located.
And this is where we learn that there's a womb underneath this decrepit mansion.
It's like a well. But like when you go down, it's like the womb of the goddess of prosperity.
That's where Hastar lies.

(34:00):
And basically what entails is that Vinaya would go to this this womb, right?
And he would bring out like gingerbread men.
Dough boys. Dough boys. Dough boys. A bunch of gingerbread men.
Because Hastar is always hungry, like Kili mentioned.
So why does it have to be a boy though? Or like a doll?

(34:23):
That's never mentioned. I think that's tradition.
Because they keep making dough in a human shape.
Yeah, in a human shape. Is that normal?
Is it normal for what, Hastar?
I don't know. Is it normal for people to make dough that shape like humans?
So I've seen some. I think it gives a bit eerie feeling.
It's also metaphorical of like greed itself chewing up humans.

(34:48):
Maybe. I think it's kind of that. But it's never explained in a folk lorry way.
Like in football. Yeah, it could be anything.
It's just the app. It's just I mean, story wise, it's just a dough.
But it made like a ginger. No, not ginger. Dough boy.

(35:10):
And he draws a circle around, right? With what?
I think that has some mantras, like something like that.
Like some house. Yeah. So that stops Hastar crossing that boundary.
Like it's a 3D. He makes it like a 3D sphere of dome.

(35:32):
I think it's in a lot of these kinds of fiction where you like ward off ghosts by drawing a circle.
Yeah, it's a very, these are very Indian elements.
I think like Asian elements, like, you know, like you draw off ghosts, like you have a, you chant or something,
you use the chant and you draw a boundary and the ghost cannot enter.
So this is a very. Which is like what the, because we do that too in like the American movies.

(35:55):
But like what's stopping the fucking ghost? Like they can't, they can do everything except go across chalk.
It's like ants. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's kind of like that.
But like they're ghosts. Like they don't touch things. They pass through.
Also, they're not ghosts. He's like a god. Right. So maybe it's like, I mean, so how they call the god.

(36:16):
Make a whole room out of the white chalk. Cover your body with the white chalk.
And then then then. You should have done a PK where he just slaps like stickers of chalk on his cheek and the guy can't get it.
Yeah. Interesting.
I'm going back to that well. I've covered myself in chalk. I cracked it. But then I was like a doughboy.
Is there any part of the film where they tell us how old Hustar is? He's a ghost. I don't know if he has an ace.

(36:40):
He's forever. He has the beginning of the world.
But when we see later on in the film, when we see the main character interact with Hustar, we see kind of a juvenile side come out.
And that's why he's playing with that doughboy as well. It's almost like fetch.
Yeah, my action figure Hustar has like a little doughboy.
Hustar is kind of a dumb ghost. Like dumb, dumb, not ghost, dumb.
He's just breathing carne. He has one mind. He's like a wind up doll where he just has one thing, which is his feet.

(37:09):
He's a rejected mortal combat character.
He would actually make a pretty good character.
Post fatality. His fatality turns people into dough and eats them.
He just leaves a trail of gold coins when he fights and shit. So he shits out gold coins.
He has this loincloth that holds coins, like infinite coins.

(37:30):
But it comes out of his ass, right?
I mean loincloth is on your...
But the back of it.
It's like a back pocket.
Yeah, it's a back pocket.
So that's the whole thing about this movie is that Vinaya goes to
distract Hustar with doughboys and then he would go...

(37:52):
Doughboy army.
Hustar in true boss-like fashion, turn around, distract it.
And then he would just steal bits of gold coin piece by piece.
And that's what you see throughout the movie.
It's like he'll steal bits of gold, goes back to his hometown.
Well, yeah, hold on. So he gets the coins, but he has to be careful because if Hustar stops eating

(38:13):
or he's finished, he'll come and touch the guy.
The guy becomes a tree himself.
He cannot be touched.
Because every time he's going out the well, you see that scene where he's climbing up
and Hustar is climbing right after him.
So he's escaping by a split second.
Yeah, every time.
He gets dropped down with a rope and has to climb himself.
I like that metaphor of eternal life when you are touched by greed, but all you can do is...

(38:39):
But you are always hungry and then you have just one mind.
Yeah, you lack contentment.
Yeah, you get the gold and everything, but when you are touched by the greed incarnation itself,
you're done for.
It's the opposite of Nirvana.
Yeah, that's the whole movie.

(39:00):
He just accrues wealth through Gaudi's gold coins.
It's kind of like there will be blood Indian folktale style where it's about going into the ground
and there's money in the ground and he becomes cold and alienated because that's what wealth makes you do
and he just becomes fixated on this thing and it consumes his life and he becomes anti-human

(39:23):
as he tries to accrue more and more wealth and it just sticks with him.
But I did get there will be blood vibes too just with the claustrophobic setting
and the guy just having a real one track mind on just accumulating wealth and everyone else be damned and shit.
It was very similar just with mythical vibes which is pretty cool.
I did like the whole it's never enough for him.

(39:46):
Throughout the whole movie you see Vinayak just being so unsatisfied.
He's just very nonchalant about it.
He just keeps on going back.
I mean it's just the cycle I guess maybe it's a bit too on the nose but that's the cycle.
It's not subtle again it's still an Indian movie.
And he has so much coins.

(40:07):
At one point he reveals it to his son right and then it's like he already has so much coin but he still needs more.
And you guys made a good point too because even with all his wealth he's not doing much with it.
Yeah he's just hoarding it.
Yeah which is again like the what like I don't know capitalism or greed or whatever does.
It's like you're just hoarding it there's no other purpose except to accumulate more.

(40:29):
I mean the makers the writers and makers made a good point that like they kind of paralleled it with the India itself.
Like the first part is like very feudal India like where you get you have the old wealth and then like you just have slaves and stuff like that.
And then there is the aspiration of a slave of like just get something and leave this horror place.

(40:56):
And then you have towards the end you have like independent India which is like a pre-capitalist like a proto-capitalist society.
Where which is like paralleled with Vinayak's like hoarding of all the golds like for himself.
And then like yeah like get as much as you can towards the end.

(41:17):
Yes this was the interesting part because when India so in 1947 when India gets independence they tell him like hey we're taking the house from you.
We're taking your source of wealth right.
Yeah.
Which you know you could hint that like it being like nationalism or someone you know taking you know land away that before just wasn't even documented.
It's just ancestrally you inherited and everyone just knows.

(41:40):
Right. So they are removing that lineage and inserting like bureaucracy and laws and because of that he has to go in and grab as much as he can because it's going to get taken away from him.
Right. And you can't have like if you if your caste or your position is taken away you have nothing else you cannot make anything.
He's not like a worker. He has not contributed anything.
He's a fucking parasite. And so he has to do the last big grab money before it's all taken away from him which is just your ancestry.

(42:07):
It's nothing you did. Yeah.
And then there's this other character right.
Raghav.
Raghav.
Yeah.
So who is he? Is he like a money lender.
I think he was buying the gold and giving him money.
So he was like kind of like of course like if you keep on selling gold like they're going to like where is the gold coming.

(42:28):
He's he's definitely that there is a treasure or something.
Well it seems like initially the main character Vinayak is like borrowing money from him. He seems to be like the loan shark of the village.
Yes. And at some point Vinayak accumulates so much gold and wealth that the loan shark has to start coming to him for money.
And he is kind of so curious about how Vinayak is getting all this money and he makes a joke about this treasure in Tumbad.

(42:51):
Then he realizes it might be true. So he sets him up and tries to go.
You know talk about that scene where like he brings a lady to his house.
Yeah. I mean Vinayak's greed knows no bounds right. I think that's another aspect right.
So basically like Raghav brings this like young woman and then they pretend.
It's like Vinayak has a wife right. And then they tell his wife that like she's the maid.

(43:16):
And I think that the woman was there to tempt Vinayak.
And again you know Vinayak's greed knows no bounds. He tries to have his way with her.
But then he finds out that like she was just a distraction for Raghav to go to Tumbad and find figure out where Vinayak was getting all these gold coins.

(43:37):
And then you have this. So you have this like interesting clever scene where Vinayak would.
He's aware right that Raghav is watching him. So he sets him up by going into the womb.
And Raghav has no idea. And this is we the audience. We learn how things work here.

(43:58):
Throwing the dough boys. Yeah. And we get to see like a star for the first time.
Yeah. It's actually the origin story of how Auntie Anne's got their business dominance.
They kept making pretzels and feeding it to this dude.
In a way the scene also is representative of Vinayak sacrificing Raghav because he knows exactly what's going to happen to Raghav if he enters the womb.

(44:23):
But he still lures him in. Yeah. Yeah. And then he meets a star.
The cold heartedness of Mr. Vinayak Rao. So then it cuts to the son.
Yeah. I remember later he reference he says oh this was like when later on the kid comes back to the womb.
And then he says like oh this was an old friend. Old friend. Old friend.

(44:46):
Like he mentions Raghav as friend after doing like after setting him up for a host and everything.
This employee was my best friend. Yeah. He loved me.
But he does a favor to him. He burns him up so that he dies.
And this is the second person he's burning. I think we glazed over that. But he also burns his grandma.
Grandma asked for it. Grandma is like. That's the only way that I guess you get to kill a soul that has been immortalized because of Hastar. You have to burn them.

(45:14):
Grandma was like you're not fat enough. You're too skinny. You don't have a wife. Just kill me now. You're such a failure.
So in his defense he's burning out of mercy for these people. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
But then yeah I mean we fast forward right. So Vinayak is getting all this wealth and then he gives birth to this third of a son that is like he's trying to live out to his father's footsteps.

(45:39):
It's like he sets up like a training ground on how to like pickpocket. That is so cool. I fell in love with that.
They have a training scenario where the kid practices over and over again how to get the coins and stuff.
Which is super rad because he's just devoting this kid to like stealing wealth. Yeah.
But at the same time it's like Vinayak is playing that disappointed dad. Like he's never gonna. You're not good enough. Not good enough.

(46:02):
Yeah he tells the kid you're gonna die in there. Yeah. You know I sigh with Vinayak that that boy is just. Doomed. Useless.
I mean he's always trying to one up his father. So he wants to be a big man.
I remember. So OK. For that like I want to talk about one small shot that was like when a newborn kid was the kid was born like the newborn baby.

(46:32):
They touched the gold coin with the honey with his on his lips. It's like it's like an Indian tradition of like you know like putting honey to when you were born and when you were dead.
So so it's like that with the gold coin it's like you were destined to get those all those gold coins like that's your life now from now on.

(46:53):
That's like your but but your destiny. Your destiny. Yeah.
It's like ancestral destiny. Yeah. Stuck in this system that you have no say in and can't get out of or anything. It's just fixed for you. Yeah.
So anyway so the kid is practicing. He is practicing and like you know he he was ready to go right. I think there's a lot to unpack in the scene.

(47:17):
Let me think. It's like the why what prompted him to go. Like he the boy was ready to like how they found out that the government is going to take over the property.
No no no that's the last one. He prompted him to go bring his like he got older and then he was coming back. So we see that he's coming back from Tumvar without any coins.

(47:38):
That means like he's not fit anymore to get more coins. He has hoarded enough wealth but his greed is not stoppable unstoppable.
So he takes his underage kids who is like a little kid to the to get the coins and then tells him in the car on the way to Tom but I think I'm going to be the only one who comes back.

(47:59):
Yeah. But that's great parenting. That's great. But his son is like you know you know those kinds of like kid characters that are so useless you just get like frustrated at them.
It's like he was not useless. He was adamant. He was kind of impresses. He reminds me of Dave Dees when he was a kid. Right.
Like you know he remember. I remember in the beginning. Yeah yeah yeah. He reminds me of that that that kid like you know like he's like oh fuck you daddy.

(48:27):
Like he wants that recognition but he also wants to one up on him. But like it was like the thing that made me feel frustrated is because like when when Vinny I took his son to the to Mumbai to to to my head to my he was like he was saying he was telling his kid that like it's just training.

(48:51):
Don't bring the dough boy down there. Yeah. I'm like oh what do you mean this dough boy inside. Why are you being inside. Yeah. I just was like oh my god. Did he bring multiple dough boys. No no that's the last one. That was the one. But I know that came a little later.
Yeah but the dad just wanted to show him what the womb looks like. He didn't intend on calling out Hustar. You know they were not prepared to meet Hustar that time.
OK. So that was one thing that annoyed me. And then the second thing is that this boy right because his his influential father of a figure is like so so they keep they keep the young lady that was distracting Vinny. Yeah. Yeah.

(49:26):
So she was she was his concubine for his concubine forever. And so he's spending a lot of time with this woman more than his actual wife. And I guess you know that sets an example for his son right. His son. There's we get this scene where his son was like you know my dad's not going to be around anymore.
And when I become the man of the house I'm going to buy you. I'm going to marry you. This is like your dad has never my dad has never married you. Has kept you as like a concubine or a mistress.

(50:00):
But when I grow up I'll marry you. He's like always like Trump trying to trump his dad. I'll be a much more loyal person than my dad. And I'll be like I'll have more coins.
And then he he gave. So when he comes back from Tumba he's he was supposed to tell the story to his mother. Right. And he refuses to tell him tell her. He says like oh this is that's between me and my dad.

(50:27):
You don't have to know. And you see this frustration on his mother's eyes right. That oh my god my son has grown up and now he's also leaving me. She lost him too. And he gives her that gold plated gold wrapped chocolate to his mother and gives the actual gold to his father's mistress.

(50:49):
And tells her that he got to marry her when he grows up. He tells the kids character so well that those that was like no sequences. But after that scene when he gives the gold coin to the mistress what ensues is a violent child beating.
That was like you know this is so uncomfortable to watch but you know this boy needs an ass. So his dad like literally beats him up nonstop and then takes him to a brothel.

(51:20):
Yeah because he says like okay yeah like he cannot keep it in your pants like he's like yeah I will marry you off when you're 16 and and the kid like just nonchalantly asks like what until then what do I do until then which was like oh my god and the father takes him to a brothel.

(51:41):
Bix ting. That was amazing. I think like jokes aside I think that that was also the pivotal like the pivotal point the climax because in that scene we learned that he was telling the boy was telling Vinayak that like you know you always bring out just one doughboy but how about bringing multiple doughboys to keep him distracted.

(52:05):
No no that's the entire loin cloth. Was it this scene or was it after like when they have to go for the last time. When he was getting that ass whooping. Oh yeah.
He mentioned it. But I think that was a very important scene because that is literally the point where it's like the undoing of it all. Yeah.
And then like you know Vinayak at first goes with the plan but what they didn't anticipate was that they didn't bring the like they thought that bringing the multiple doughboys would like distract Hastar even further so that they could steal the entire loin cloth but what they didn't expect.

(52:35):
And I guess this is the part where it comes into like like this crescendo of like like WTF moments is that it just spawns a lot of Hastars. There's a lot of Hastars.
They come pouring in like aliens like in the movie aliens where they just all start coming out of the woodwork. So there's not just one Hastar there's like a bunch. That's a beautiful scene like just a bunch of Hastars crawling all over the boom. It's just pure red.

(53:02):
And I think that that scene one of the things I didn't expect in that scene so they're screwed right. Yeah. But then I guess his dad did like a very like I wouldn't say selfless but like. Sacrificed. He sacrificed.
I didn't I actually did not see that coming. I actually thought he was going to throw his kid.
Take this big doughboy. Take this and I'm getting with I'm going to get all this gold like you can have my son. I'll have another son. I'll have another one. That's fine.

(53:30):
And then you get this like client like very like penultimate scene where he's just kind of like sacrificing himself just so his son could escape. So what he's done is he stuck all the doughboys they brought on his own body and he's ready to step out of that circle.
And the kid starts crying that like don't do it father don't do it don't do it. And I think that's the realization point of for both of them like like what what greed has brought upon them. Yeah that's the that's the characters realizing and then the character change moment like the character defining moment that becomes like towards the end.

(54:07):
They learned that you cannot outsmart greed like you can't be clever and beat it like it's a sickness that will just go on forever. So you're not going to trick it and get a bunch of magic coins and not risk anything like it's just not how it works.
You can't like outrun the greed parasite. And that was such a beautiful moment as well because I think we watch watch a lot of horror films and for the most part you can kind of predict what's going to happen the end right.

(54:31):
I think we agreed while watching that none of us saw this coming. We're not going to see like 20 hostars just show up out of nowhere. It's a good finale. Yeah. It doesn't a lot of the like I think in America recently with most movies in order to there has to be some huge climax.
Like on a huge grand scale this one like was able to up the ante but in the same setting there's just more of them and it's still just between a father and a son. So like there's a lot of tension and a lot of like relationship drama going on at the same time. It's not just spectacle. So they did a good job like making the stakes higher without like us as the audience like losing touch with what's going on.

(55:07):
I think. Yeah. One thing like this scene that apparently that scene was lit up with only one like oil lamp that the last final scene with the womb and the whole womb is actually a set. It's not VFX. Yeah. I mean there are of course VFX involved but that's a that's a set. Yeah. That's not like a full green screen and they leave it up with only one oil lamp. That's cool.

(55:33):
And to make that like eerie effect and it's beautiful. It's beautiful. There are just so many shots like it's just like a like a I don't know how to call it like a juxtaposition of like beautiful ugly beautiful. Yeah. Yeah. Like yeah there's like a huge wealth of like folklore to mine from even if like you're making it up like there's such a like a rich tapestry in India to pull from when you're doing these folktales.

(56:02):
And stuff that I'm really glad that this is opening up. I want to see more of this because it's it's you know like I said you learn a lot and you could tell it's like a labor of love like they're they're you know kind of going through what their own deal with you know caste system is and stuff like that.
And it's nice to watch. So that end scene the father sacrifices himself. Yeah. Comes out of the well. Yeah. He's ultimately touched by his touch by Hustar. And so when the kid sees his father what has become of him is a very haunting scene in my opinion like just looking at his father like don't you want this.

(56:41):
Isn't this what you want. Yeah. And the father hands him the loin cloth. And he tries to hand his son the loin cloth. And what happens. He just burned. He was burned. I mean he knows. I mean the son and I think the son understood from like what his father did from the burnt body in the womb that that's the way to like you know because he learned that if the Hustar touches the body.

(57:10):
The Hustar touches that it would be a you would be immortal and like that like a zombie. But the son rejects the loin cloth that his father hands him which I think is kind of also very symbolic because it's kind of showing that he's breaking the generational curse of greed right. He doesn't take the loin cloth.
He's trying to. So he rejects it and then burns. Or did he. Or did he. Or maybe he just got really excited about burning his father and maybe forgot about the loin cloth. Maybe. He probably like. Someone knows. He closed the door and he said no I need to marry that woman and it opens the door.

(57:39):
And then it opens the door and then goes back. In the sequel he has a very well adjusted life. He lives in the suburbs. His kid is going to international school and he's a DJ. Oh my God. Did he time travel from 1947. No when he grows up now that's kid.
No no no he's he's like the. Let's say 14. 14 in 1947. He would be like. The DJ. The kid is 40. He's a four year old DJ. I didn't say what age the kid was.

(58:11):
So he's going to be looking 70. Hold on. Wait actually this doesn't make any sense. Because the one when they. This movie even though it was released in 2018 took place in the past. It didn't have a fucking sequel. It doesn't have to take place in present day. It can. It can. It can but it doesn't have to be. So it could just be him living as an adult with a kid. Yeah yeah yeah. That would be an 80s. Yeah it can be.

(58:33):
Yeah well that's what it would take place then. It's an 80s movie where he lives in a nice suburban house and his kid's a DJ but like vinyl because it's the 80s. Is that better. Yeah yeah yeah. It's probably going to be the case where this kid he's no longer part of the generational curse. He's rejected the loin cloth but then his son finds out about it and tries to go back to Tungba. Yeah well he becomes like a middle manager at some you know. I would really appreciate if it's a different family. No it's a generational curse movie right. I feel like it has. That's the point.

(59:02):
You heard it here folks. Tungba to electric Tungba do.
It's just a bunch of doughboys dancing around.
We want that dancing with Hus Hus in the womb. It's like a little sidekick that goes around with them and like as the kid as a dad is like a middle manager and is kind of unhappy with his life. It's like American beauty except Hastur is just kind of tagging along and kind of giving advice and stuff like elf or whatever.

(59:30):
You know after the existence of Joker for I do I'm inclined to believe that this is possible.
So they are doing a sequel right. They are doing a sequel. What are your thoughts. Will it be.
It's not the same director. It's not the same director so the director is but it's the same production house. So this this that I think that actor faced so many rejection while making the film like that's why it's 18 years right. So it's like he started making it.

(59:59):
It got shut down.
18 years I've never had. Have you ever been. I think from the same from the time of the first draft he wrote I think and towards the end I think what he said in an interview that he wrote like 50 to 70 draft of this film.
I mean but that's that just goes to show you though I mean like because I mean like I'm barely I can barely do anything past a year.

(01:00:23):
18 years of sticking to something. Yeah I mean that's amazing. And then and then I remember in one interview so so home shot the actor and producer like he and the director sitting next to each other like an interview or talk show something like that.
And then he's like oh then he made some so otherwise it would have happened. He's like yeah like not happened now but it will definitely happen because I wouldn't have stopped trying to make it.

(01:00:48):
So he it was his thing. That's crazy. He's like he was fixated like like like the like we die.
He's trying for the gold. He was fixated on making this film bringing this film on screen. I mean and he's a visionary I mean his visions are really good.
I have to yet to watch his later works. I think he's out of the film this film right now and it's more of they are going to do the like I think what he wanted to do was a you want to set it in Hawaii or something.

(01:01:20):
Yeah. In how in Africa I think most probably what he wanted to do is a thematic sequel and now they are doing like a more direct sequel.
I mean I have I still have because they're really good creative team. I mean it's more apart from the director everyone else is still there.

(01:01:41):
And then I mean the guy who co-directed it is a director of this new film and they're all like for it looked looked kind of OK.
The the holy godly sheer of themselves that there it's going to be a nice film. It's going to be like Grandlands 2. There's a bunch of different gods now.

(01:02:04):
To be honest I don't think that would be cheesy because the next film would be very cheesy because their take on this film like one few big thumb some of the thumb rules was that rule of thumb rule of thumb was like that.
It has to be very grounded. It cannot be it cannot. The the the god will not itself have any supernatural powers itself.

(01:02:29):
They will be just that violent thing and the cars thing. That's it. They will not be like you know reading your minds doing unnatural like supernaturals being so long.
Yeah they did not have that and they're like a mustache. They always wanted to make a very grounded film with this one. So I think the vision will continue in the next film and they will keep doing that.

(01:02:52):
And yeah let's see. Like I'm really I really want it to be released in Thailand so that I can go and watch in the theater.
We'll do a live podcast from the theater. So we'll do a live commentary track with everyone else in the theater.
It lasts only like 20 minutes before the preview.

(01:03:19):
I think you nailed it though. It's like an obsessive guy made a movie about obsession and that's why it works so well. Like he's speaking from what he knows. Yeah. And like barring from like you know the world he grew up in.
I think it worked really well. I think that's you know the best type of movie. Yeah. I don't wonder if there was anything behind them making showing that transition between like British India and then independence because Chapter 2 I think takes place in 1947 really like when partition happened.

(01:03:47):
Yeah. Chapter 3 when the kids grew up. Yeah. In 1947. So like I don't know it doesn't really tie into the movie that much. It does a little bit of a ruck-up because he's trying to gain more wealth and he has a short amount of time and that's why he gets desperate and tries to find the treasure but he fails.
But beyond that like what do you what do you guys think was the rationale behind this? I will speak on this. Allow me as the completely non-Indian to speak on this about Indian history.

(01:04:11):
No it's because even the independence didn't change anything like as far as the systems and power go. So he's still wealthy and they even said like we'll just find you another source.
You know his ancestry carries him through even after independence. So like that's why it matters nothing to him. It's not like it's not life changing for him because he's just going to keep perpetuating what he already did.

(01:04:37):
Yeah. There is a deleted scene I just watched today from this. I mean they deleted the scene and it was like after they got the first call like the first tour to the womb like the well with his son when they're coming back that's the day of independence of India as well.
So it's like this show like someone is coming and telling him that oh India like he's seeing and then he's so indifferent about India getting independent. He's like oh yeah and then he buy they buy ice cream or something from a food seller and then he says like oh and the food seller is so happy that India got independence.

(01:05:17):
They are saying no no no price today. Everything is free for today and he's like okay and then he goes away and then the kids ask like okay why did they give it for free and he's like do you want more and then he was like no no no I don't want to get used to it or something like that.
So there was like some independence they think thankfully that they cut that scene off maybe it was not progressing the story much but what there was a wordplay with the Sarkar that I told like so in Indian language Sarkar is like government as well and Sarkar is the guy and the person who rules like a landlord kind of vibe or thing right.

(01:06:00):
So who gives up the rules who like take looks after like people's right and wrong and stuff like that in a small village or something like that.
So that's why the first guy Sarkar and he's like Sarkar and then Vinayak becomes the new Sarkar and the government of India becomes the third Sarkar like literally Haras Sarkar like you know like the government of India.

(01:06:25):
So that's a good wordplay they did with the whole independence background happening.
Like nothing's really changing.
Yeah nothing is changing it's changing from one system to another but the greed stays.
And the people and the places are still there.
It changes nothing.
So they say like they're gonna build up a village in this whole mansion area like because they are taking over the land and stuff like that so yeah let's see like if the village is built over there.

(01:06:50):
Yeah that's what she said.
The politician comes and says like okay we're taking over the mansion because it's like a heritage site.
No not heritage site.
Like it's just not legally owned by anyone.
Yeah it's not legally owned by anyone so the government took it over and then like they're gonna redistribute it and then they're gonna make a village.
So the sequel could really be about a different family who ends up in this mansion.

(01:07:14):
No no mansion yeah yeah yeah in this in this place.
I still have my reservations about a sequel but it's okay.
Yeah yeah I mean yeah it's a standalone film in itself.
Especially in the horror genre.
I could more I like still saying that I'm hopeful about the sequel I can I'll be like more towards the director who said like it would be it should have a thematical sequel not like the exact story sequel.

(01:07:41):
But let's see let's see.
It might be a surprise like this first film surprised us yeah let's see.
Well okay well listen to this maybe just maybe it becomes like if they do a 360 and it becomes like an action comedy.
Ghostbusters style we have to hunt down a star.
I don't know.
The village comes in they're like we're making a bakery they're like no.

(01:08:06):
The buster comes every morning.
All the gingerbread men are gone.
What are you doing?
It's like Huster terrifying the village now.
Huster then Huster the third sequel Huster is everywhere in all the corners of India like just.
Yeah that's where it goes eventually right.
Huster's everywhere like climbing on the wall the raid body.

(01:08:30):
This is our Halloween special.
Does this film inspire anybody to dress up as Huster this year?
Oh I have to get a loin cloth.
I don't need a costume man I'm good.
Need to shed a few pounds.
You just do it in the sun for an hour.
I want to be the doughboy.
I'm white enough I can just be the doughboy.

(01:08:53):
Actually it's true we don't need flour on you.
I have no hair I'm fucking good.
Just look like a naked like white baby I'm fine.
Tilly you can be my ragam.
Ragam like the guy on the wall.
Ragam is the guy on the wall.
He's Vinayak.

(01:09:15):
I'm throwing Adam like this.
You can be Vinayak, Nikki will be the sun and I'll be Huster.
You're grandmother Willow you're the tree grandma.
I just want to be Ragam when he's eaten so because I just need to color myself black.
Entirely charred body.
We draw a circle around us and no one can talk to us.

(01:09:37):
By the way do you remember the heart pumping of the grandmother when she became like a tree.
Oh yeah.
Does the wood like had life to it?
They had breathing and veins.
Also the grandmother like when she became like a tree view out of her.
So her heart is displaced from her body.

(01:09:58):
It's just pumping in isolation.
Just pumping blood or something like in isolation.
It's like that was like.
I mean that vision is like really good.
Like out of nowhere like that that becomes that like when you become immortal like you're immortal.
So what happens to your body?
Your body's become decaying and decaying and decaying but you were immortal.

(01:10:19):
That idea is so good because most of the time when we see like an immortal like it's like it stopped at one age.
Right. But here it's like okay you are immortal but your body is decaying.
You were just immortal.
Which is cool.
Which is like.
Which is a horror in itself like oh what does immortality mean?
But I will say if you're interested in watching but you're scared of horror movies it's not that scary.

(01:10:44):
I don't think there's a lot of.
Nikki you were scared to watch this initially.
So I don't do well with horror movies but you know I'll tell you something about myself.
Like I will always say I don't do well with horror movies and then my friends will drag me to a horror movie.
And then I'll come out thinking that wasn't so bad.
And this is one of those moments.
It was it's not scary at all.
It's just it has that like it has that slow burn feel.

(01:11:07):
It keeps up on you but nothing like terrifying no jump scares.
It's like there's a moral lesson to be had that sort of thing.
It's great.
I think it's a very easy movie to get into.
And I'm actually happy that I got to see it because it's good to see that this is probably.
It probably will go down in history as one of India's best horror movies.

(01:11:31):
And they didn't even need to do any any like sort of like jump scare heavy or like you know super cheap scare.
I think the makers made it pretty clear many times that like they all of them hate jump scares.
I would say I think this is my favorite horror film I've watched in the past few years like Hollywood and Bollywood combined.

(01:11:52):
That's bold play. I used to watch a few horror films but like what I didn't really like about them is when people the characters just do stupid things.
You know like they're going to a dark room or like they're going somewhere where there's obvious danger.
And as the audience you're just like why the fuck would you do that.
Let's split up in this haunted mansion.
Let's split up go individually to each room and check out who is killing this guy.

(01:12:13):
Everyone else at each other. Don't talk. Don't put your phone.
It's so frustrating but this movie didn't have that element right doesn't have that kind of like cheesy corny kind of element.
Well I will add that because it's an Indian movie we have songs.
There are songs here and there.
There's one. There's just one.
But there's not much dancing.
One or two songs.
It's not theatrical you know.

(01:12:34):
I love the scene. There is a song like some version of song when he's like yeah there's a Victoria song like when he's first getting the wealth and getting rich.
It's like of a montage of things like he's getting richer and there is another musical number when he's like bringing his son to a brothel.
That was amazing.

(01:12:55):
Can you imagine a father bringing his own son to the brothel.
It happens in Thailand all the time.
I know it happens in Thailand all the time and I know I've had people tell me their dads have taken them to brothels.
Yeah I've seen that in other some other communities in India like I've heard of it.
I don't know about you guys. I was just waiting for a musical number where all the ha stars come out and dance together but unfortunately that didn't happen.

(01:13:18):
At the end credits they should all pop up and do a little like bad CGI.
They all like cheer with a little doughboy on their shoulder.
Yeah and you talk about the music. You know the background score right?
I was going to mention like the one song that was in. It's made by Ajay Attu.
I forgot but the main background score.
You know the first thing that I did when I was looking up the movie I was to my surprise I think he enlisted the help of Jesper Kidd.

(01:13:46):
He's like this prolific video game composer. He's like made all the memorable theme songs you hear in Borderlands are like well memorable to me or Assassin's Creed.
Stick along the Borderlands theme everyone.
So like Assassin's Creed, Hitman. He's best known for his work in Hitman.
He's actually in charge of the score in this movie and I can see that like the he always liked to make like these atmospheric soundscapes and it really it really complements the style of the movie.

(01:14:19):
Also like it's still so Indian right?
It's still pretty Indian.
It's still pretty Indian. The elements were used like it's a huge it's a brilliant fusion of like his aesthetics with the Indianness of it.
He made his music so Indian.
And we just know he's Danish.
Yeah.
Which is notable because it fits in really well. I didn't know it was a Danish composer at all.

(01:14:42):
I think he was inspired by the color of the womb being red.
Okay.
Alright anyways.
He's Danish because.
The music sounds very red. You're right.
Eerie.
Second High Star has just popped up.
So yeah I mean we loved it. Happy Halloween everyone.

(01:15:03):
We'll watch the sequel whenever it comes out but I also want to see more scary Indian films.
Maybe the ones like Ghost with the Knuckles 76.
I want Erotic.
Erotic Ghost Stories.
Yeah.
Because I don't think Thai horror film have that.
No.
This is interesting.
Yeah we have to see what's that.
Erotica and horror goes hand in hand.

(01:15:24):
Oh.
That's the next step. Erotica, romance, erotica, horror.
I love that Khaleesi says that so objectively.
That's the natural progression.
Of what?
Progression of what?
Progression of human experience.
Love is scary.
Romance, erotica, horror.
Yeah you nailed it. Horror is the last part of any relationship.

(01:15:47):
That's why romcoms always end at that kiss.
Never goes beyond that.
Cool. Thanks for joining in.
And go watch Toombar now on Amazon Prime or download it.
Download it. Whatever.
And enjoy a Doughboy if you can.

(01:16:08):
Enjoy a classic Doughboy while you watch it.
Joe if you're hearing this you screwed up on 13 Ghosts.
You did not. It's the best cult classic ever.
Bye.
I'm just taking the piss right now.
I thought you'd never listen to it.