Netflix has delivered a punch in ‘Guns and Gulaabs’. As many of noted, it drags a bit, which lowers the fun somewhat. But still, it is a thrilling ride, of taut storyline which has unbelievable but perfectly anticipated coincidences. More importantly, it unleashes the violence, right in the style of acclaimed directors who tell such violent tales yet manages to keep the humour alive. It is a difficult mixture, violence with humour, and perhaps it should be forbidden considering the how easily people are coming to blows, bullets, and killings. Barring the end, where everyone knows how to drive a truck, the story manages the internal consistency of the plot well. Like a true profit maximiser, certain interesting threads are kept dangling, to provide material for the next season if finance demands so. If not, it is a tale well told, over and out. Apart from being a heady mixture of humour and violence, there are some aspects of ‘GG’ (Guns and Gulaabs) which made me like it more. Firs
Black Mirror is the poison I look forward to consuming. The ideas of humanity in the increased scope of technology are sometimes so well-portrayed that the mark of philosophical deadlock stays on one’s mind for long. With these expectations, I was bit disappointed with the first two episodes of the latest season (released in June 2023). First one was fine, though utterly predictable for those with long association with series. The second one is not even a Blank Mirror episode. By just being a psychological thriller, it doesn’t even the fit to the theme Black Mirror has explored. Finally, it hit home with the third one. There it is, a question, who we are, staring in our face as the story unfolds. The episode reminded me of a cynical imagination I have nursed for long. While commuting in suburban local trains of Mumbai, I have always wondered about it when I have felt crushed right at the start of the day by a giant wave of increasingly homogenous human existence. What if two ind