Narappa (2021)

Nothing like extreme tone-deafness from your favourite actor and his producer brother to ruin a movie you've been waiting to enjoy for months. I mean, why would you remake a movie that is EXPLICITLY about caste conflict and not even have a single mention of the word "caste" in your own product? What were those hints about being related to someone? We are way past that. And that bit in the opening that said a poor person has no caste or religion... okay, I don't even have the mental energy to comment on it because it is just wilfully ignorant. It's almost as if the movie is mocking generations of oppressed people who have been trying to achieve justice, since one clearly cannot count on the oppressors to hand it over. 

I will take a breather now and comment on how insanely good Venkatesh is as the eponymous character. Truly, one of his career-best performances... but at what fucking cost?? His own relative was involved in the Karamchhedu massacre (please read up on it) and now he gets to play a poor-man-without-caste-or-religion who dares defy authority of the "rich man" who favours his relatives? SPARE ME THIS ABSURD LOGIC OF WHITEWASHING PLEASE. Especially when Suresh Babu, the producer and also Venkatesh's elder brother says something like "the movie is about the powerful vs the powerless" OKAY BUT WHO ARE THE POWERLESS? WHO ARE THE POWERFUL? Don't be shy, sir, name them. Or would that be too inconvenient?

The rest of the cast is amazing too. Some scenes are still reverberating in my head, they were so powerfully conveyed by the actors. I loved Karthik Rathnam as Munikanna, and as always, Nasser sir stole the show despite not being there for the entirety of the movie.

Anyway, a final reminder that in India, it is never just about the rich vs the poor. It's as shallow an understanding as you can get, and extremely triggering on top of it. Do better. 

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