Aria-Isara

This documentary is incredibly well done. The real footage from the 90s events mentioned is powerful, the reconstitutions have a real cinematic quality, and the interviews of the "encounter cops" are just fascinating. The whole story is wild and seems straight out of a movie.

The only criticism I have is that 3 our of the 4 journalists interviewed were very judgmental, in a way that came across as preachy and tone deaf. The female journalist literally says that the death of 1200 gangsters in encounters over the years was worse than the 1993 Bombay blasts... Obviously that's her opinion and it doesn't change how extremely well put together the documentary is, but it overall felt like the makers were trying to push the view that the encounter cops were as bad as the gangsters they killed, which I found to be a very manichean view.

But despite the caricatural opinions delivered by the interviewed journalists, the documentary is really worth a watch. The visuals, both old and new, are great and it's amazing to learn about the events through the very honest explanations of the famous encounter cops of the time.

Good watch. First half of the film is awesome, lots of very funny moments and really good lines. Good acting all around especially by Urvashi. Nayanthara is a good casting choice for the goddess. However, the film fumbles when it starts focusing on the baba. It was too caricatural, too deja vu. The actor has a strong screen presence though. It's frustrating that the movie doesn't manage to have a 2nd half as strong as the first one but I'd still recommend it. Also, people just scream Hinduphobia for no proper reason these days. The movie literally has a Hindu goddess in traditional attire come kick the a** of a fraud lol.

All the 1 star reviews are from people whining about 1) love jihad and 2) hindi remakes. Absolutely pathetic. Can't even review a movie for its actual content. Yeah the screenplay goes for "hindu girl marries nice muslim, hindu family doesn't accept but they're wrong" YES I ROLLED MY EYES but that's not what the movie is about. The movie is about the vengeful ghost of a murdered transwoman. The humour is quite cartoony and heavy handed but has its moments. But the main interest of the film is its storyline as well as the performances by Akshay Kumar and Sharad Kelkar. Definitely worth a watch if you're looking for something different, a horror comedy with a social message on transphobia. I will check out the original too.