Biopics: Treading the fine line
The Hindu
How biopics especially about controversial figures can act as a double edged sword to both filmmakers and the viewers
“Even the most interesting person – if you are telling their life from beginning to end, it’s going to be a f***ing boring movie.”…is what Quentin Tarantino says of biopics, one of the two genres he dislikes.
Srinath Rajendran’s Kurup, which is based on Kerala’s most popular fugitive, Sukumara Kurup, did not suffer from boredom. It is a stylishly-made crime drama with its lead, Dulquer Salmaan, playing the eponymous protagonist with dazzling charisma and swagger. And, therein lies the issue with Kurup. Is it okay to glorify a real-life criminal on screen for the sake of entertainment?
For those of you unaware of the Sukumara Kurup story, he murdered a man to pull off an insurance fraud and got away. This happened in 1984. His continued evasion from the police slowly seared his name into Kerala’s pop culture.
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Since its invention, the Rubik’s Cube has turned up regularly in blockbuster movies and TV shows. As you might imagine, a wildly popular 3D puzzle is an easily identifiable metaphor — for life-challenges, dilemmas of the heart, the frenetic feeling that life is passing you by and you need to ‘solve’ the attitudes that are holding you back.