Mass (2004)

Even though I watched the OG Telugu version only, I feel like I would be shirking my duties as a responsible citizen of this country if I don't inform whoever is reading this that the Hindi dubbed version of this movie is called Meri Jung: One Man Army. Yes. Let that sink in. TFI's Hindi dubbed titles are a genre unto themselves.

I think I would have loved this movie a lot more had the Jyo-Nag story line been less despicable. The manipulation, the gaslighting, all of it was just too much. Especially when you consider how wholesome the Sunil-Nag (b)romance was. Now, had we been living in a more open and welcoming society, that would have been the focus point of the movie and the world as we know it would have been different. And before someone accuses me of "turning everything gay" (I wish), let me just point to the scene where Nag literally takes his one prized possession, a chain with a coin as the locket, and puts it around Sunil's neck as a birthday present. Huh. It's called a symbolic marriage sweetie, look it up. Plus Nag & Jyo literally had zero chemistry and I was honestly more invested in Jyo's grandparents than in the so-called "lead pair".

You know what should have happened? Nag, who is very obviously in love with his best friend Sunil, can't deal with these "strange emotions" (let's face it, most people in their pehla nasha of queer love do not have the necessary vocabulary to articulate their feelings, even to themselves), and so he latches on to the first woman he sees. But since it's Queen Jyo, she sits him down and makes him confront his actual feelings, which makes him realise that he's actually in love with Sunil and that there's a good chance that Sunil loves him back. Then Queen Jyo helps Sunil out too, which still leaves us with that adorable photo of those three with the two kids. The rest of the drama with Jyo's family happens because they misinterpret and think that Nag & Jyo are eloping, which will eventually lead to the message that we don't just need to combat homophobia, but also heternormativity. AND WE NEED THIS POWERFUL MESSAGE AT THE EARLIEST FFS GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER TFI.

See, there really was no point to the needless heterosexuality. I don't even want to talk about Charmy getting typecast as the second heroine, because obviously her character deserved better. She should have been the lesbian rowdy of her area, keeping those goons at bay, and not someone who was trying too hard to woo Nag. Sigh. All TFI tropes need to be reworked with gay storylines (let's not think about #BaavaPropaganda at the moment). 

In conclusion, certain monologues from this movie are worth memorising, to spring unexpectedly on unsuspecting people. Just saying.