50 Cent’s Kids: What to Know About His Relationship With His 2 Children

50 Cent’s Kids: What to Know About His Relationship With His 2 Children

American rapper, actor, and businessman 50 Cent (Curtis James Jackson III) and girlfriend Jamira Haines (Cuban Link) arrive at the Los Angeles Premiere Of STARZ' 'BMF' (Black Mafia Family) Season 2 held at the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX on January 5, 2023 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States.
Los Angeles Premiere Of STARZ' 'BMF' Season 2, Tcl Chinese Theatre Imax, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States - 05 Jan 2023 — Image Credit: Mediapunch/Shutterstock

50 Cent has dominated the hip-hop world since the release of his album Get Rich or Die Tryin’ in 2003. With his single “In Da Club” becoming the most listened-to song in radio history within a week at the time, per Billboard, the Queens, New York native, quickly became a household name. He then started his own music label, G-Unit Records, and swept the charts again with his third studio effort, 2005’s The Massacre.

Since then, 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, has gone on to release several more albums, starred in a film and even began his own production companies. He not only stars in the hit Starz drama Power, but also serves as co-creator and executive producer. He also has his hand in many business ventures, including SMS Audio and SK Energy.

In his personal life, 50 Cent has welcomed two sons with two different women. Although he is estranged to his eldest son Marquise Jackson and was in a bitter feud with him, the entertainer often gushes over his youngest, Sire Jackson. Now, 50 Cent is reportedly seeking sole custody of Sire from his ex Daphne Joy after she was named in a 2024 lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs, per Us Weekly.

Find out all about Fiddy’s relationship with his boys, below.

Marquise Jackson

Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson and son Marquise Jackson arrive at New York Fashion Week 2007. (Gregory Pace/BEI/Shutterstock)

Marquise, who was born on October 13, 1997, is a rapper and actor who has been estranged from his father for over a decade, due in part to the rapper’s tumultuous split with Marquise’s mother, Shaniqua Thompkins, in 2008. After the former couple went their separate ways, Shaniqua claimed 50 Cent promised her his $4 million Long Island Mansion. While she and Marquise were residing in it, the house burned to the ground, with Shaniqua alleging her ex had something to do with it. Although 50 Cent was cleared of any wrongdoing, the former couple continued to feud, which has resulted in a rift between Fiddy and Marquise.

“It completely went south when I was probably like 10 or 11,” Marquise told Rap-Up in 2017. “He wasn’t really around enough. It kind of dwindled down as time went on and certain events happened.” He said he always thought of his father as Superman while he was growing up. “But then, as I got older, you start realizing things or you start seeing certain patterns and it takes an effect on your relationship with people,” Marquise added. “That’s what happened with me and my father. He’s still alive but I can’t tell you our last conversation or the last time we even had a dialogue.”

The feud has escalated since, with 50 Cent saying he wouldn’t mind if Marquise was “hit by a bus” in 2018. The insult came after Marquise shared a snap of himself hanging out with the son of Supreme McGriff, one of 50’s rivals, on Instagram. Fiddy commented, “if both these little n—-s got hit by a bus, I wouldn’t have a bad day.” Although the “Candy Shop” singer walked back the comment, tweeting he had “zero ill will towards anyone living,” the damage had been done. 50 Cent also said he spent $1,360,000 to give Marquise opportunities.

On October 19, 2022, Fif appeared on The Breakfast Club radio show to talk about the relationship with the now 26-year-old. “I don’t think the relationship works,” Fifty told Charlamagne tha God. After the lengthy interview where the rapper said that he doesn’t believe his son actually wants to sit down and talk, Marquise took to Instagram to call out his dad. “Now y’all all see I tried to reach out to talk to my pops as a MAN in front of the [earth emoji] & behind the scenes. I have no phone number for you & You’ve had me blocked on social media for years so I can’t DM you personally & everybody that is mutual is scared to touch the topic bc they’re scared of you,” Marquise captioned the throwback photo of him and Fif.

The post also came just over a week after 50 Cent called Marquise “entitled” and his son also responded to the statement via Instagram. “Since y’all think $6,700 is sooo much money someone tell my pops I will pay him $6,700 for just 24hr of his time so we can do everything I ever wanted to do with him as a kid Red Yellow Green whatever color he like,” Marquise captioned the October 10, 2022, photo.

Sire Jackson

Sire, on the other hand, appears to be the apple of 50 Cent’s eye. Born on September 1, 2012 to Fiddy and his girlfriend at the time, model Daphne Joy, Sire has already been living the high life. When he was just 2 years old, he landed a $700,000 contract with Kidz Safe headphones. “He’s got a [modeling] deal now with Kidz Safe,” 50 Cent announced during an interview with Power 105.1, per E!. “They paid him a big payment, too. He’s super cute, you gotta pay for it.” The doting dad also revealed he set up a trust fund for Sire, saying he wanted his son to enjoy his riches when he was more mature.

And speaking of riches, in 2019 Fiddy treated Sire to an insane shopping spree for Christmas. The actor spent $100,000 to rent out an entire Toys R Us store for the little tyke to shop ’til he dropped, according to E!. The exciting day was revealed on Daphne’s Instagram, where she posted several pics of the holiday surprise, captioning it, “When I asked my Dad for the ‘WHOLE Toys R Us Store’ for Christmas I didn’t think he would actually do it, but he did.” Another post read, “Sire’s in utter shock right now and disbelief.”

50 Cent also gushed about Sire during the 2021 Christmas holiday. Posting adorable pics of Sire wearing a tiger hat and hoodie by a Christmas tree, he wrote, “look at my boy, SIRE on some let’s play video games for money DadNo . you ain’t got no money so i can’t win. LOL” Looks like Sire is in for many more special holidays in the years ahead.

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The Top 10 Godzilla Team-Ups – Jet Jaguar, Rodan, Mothra & More | FirstShowing.net

Post By Entertainment best team ups, discuss, feat, godzilla movies, godzilla team-ups, godzilla x kong, Japan, jet jaguar, kaiju combined, kaiju movies, king kong, lists, rodan, sci-fi, teamups

The Top 10 Godzilla Team-Ups – Jet Jaguar, Rodan, Mothra & More

by Aaron Neuwirth
March 28, 2024

While he is the irrefutable “King of the Monsters“, Godzilla has recently found himself in the spotlight quite a bit. Between Apple’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters series (streaming now), the Oscar-winning hit Godzilla: Minus One, and the upcoming Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, kaiju fans have had a lot of time to spend marveling in awe of Big G. With that in mind, this upcoming Legendary Pictures movie will presumably be featuring Godzilla partnering up with his previous rival, Kong. Sure, Godzilla has often found himself taking on other giant monsters on his own, or being a party to the destruction of major cities because he (or she) actually just wants to lay some eggs or topple towns because he’s a real mean bastard. However, when the going gets tough, Godzilla sometimes finds himself in a spot where it’s more beneficial for him to have a teammate handy to stop various three-headed dragons, giant cyborg claw beasts, robotic versions of himself, etc. Below is my list of Godzilla’s Best Team-Ups in the franchise’s 70-year history.

For more – read my rundown Stomping Through Godzilla History: Where to Begin & What to Watch.

10. Father and Son – Godzilla and Minilla

Godzilla’s children had to make this list because when it comes down to it – they step in when needed. I feel like kids don’t really need an awkward-looking little monster to bring further appeal to an increasingly kid-friendly monster series, but that’s another story. Minilla is introduced in 1967’s Son of Godzilla and later returns in Destroy All Monsters (1968), All Monsters Attack (1969), Godzilla: Final Wars (2004). Born prematurely thanks to interference from Kamacuras (giant mantises), Minilla is trained by Godzilla to protect himself from other giant bugs. With no atomic breath like his pops, Minilla blows smoke loops, which are not a ton of help. All that said, he does get in his shots during a throwdown against King Ghidorah (it’s a long story) AND helps a latchkey kid stand up to bullies (that’s an even longer story). Not everyone’s favorite, and certainly not a looker, but as a part of the lighter side of things, Minilla is a well-meaning ally.

9. Father & Son Again… – Godzilla and Godzilla Jr.

First introduced as an egg in 1993’s Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, Godzilla’s other child (first known as Baby Godzilla) had quite the epic arc during the Heisei era. Having imprinted itself onto a biologist before birth, Godzilla Junior (then “Little Godzilla”) would go on to interact with the G-Force member through a psychic bond in the movie Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994). In the final Heisei Era film, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995), Junior is grown enough to be a very capable fighter against one of Godzilla’s biggest threats. However, Junior is killed at one point during the battle, only to be revived by the movie’s end as an adult taking over the family business. With more of a dinosaur-like look as it grows up, Junior felt more like the Dick Grayson / Tim Drake to Minilla’s Damian Wayne and certainly gave its all when a true villain was looking to take down the King. I don’t really know where Godzilla Junior would be now through the Heisei timeline as a full-size Godzilla replacement. Still, I’m sure it’s living up to its elder’s legacy.

8. RoboFriend – Godzilla and M.O.G.U.E.R.A.

While Moguera (aka M.O.G.U.E.R.A.) first appeared way back in 1957’s The Mysterians film (directed by Godzilla’s own Ishirō Honda), the robot kaiju (operated by multiple pilots) would ultimately enter Godzilla’s universe in Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994), helping Big G take on the crystal-enhanced beast (see the gif above). However, even with the ability to split into two parts (Land Moguera and Star Falcon), it would eventually be defeated. Sure, this thing is fast & armed to the teeth, but weak armor is never helpful against an alien clone from outer space. Still, Moguera does end up destroying SpaceGodzilla’s main power source, allowing Godzilla to finish him off. Even with death on the line, teamwork can make the dream work.

7. Lion in the Toho – Godzilla and King Caesar

A guardian deity modeled after Japan’s stone lion statues, when you really look at it, King Caesar is pretty cool and a stand-up ally. For one, this is one of the few characters Godzilla doesn’t have any beef with from the start. True to life, this giant cat gets involved once it is woken up and deems a situation worth dealing with. In this case, we’re talking fighting Mechagodzilla in 1974’s Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. Granted, King Caesar is sadly not one of the stronger kaiju to team up with Godzilla, being beaten by Mechagodzilla on its own and then having Big G do most of the work while battling the alien robot together. Nonetheless, as a creature recruited to keep humans safe, the lack of drama between them goes a long way – long enough for him to let King Caesar live during its mind-controlled reappearance in 2004’s Godzilla: Final Wars.

6. The Two Kings – Godzilla and Kong

Here’s the thing with these two – they don’t see eye to eye, and they both see themselves as the best. While plenty of other adversaries are merely challengers to the throne, this IS the “King of the Monsters” vs “King Kong”. With that in mind, their time spent working together is minimal so far. While Godzilla x Kong implies the two will have to team up (no spoilers from me right now), 1962’s King Kong vs. Godzilla was all about the two fighting each other. 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong movie spent most of the time letting the two alphas battle it out (with Godzilla ultimately winning, natch). The real enemy of the film, however, was revealed to be a secret weapon developed by the Apex company, which, as it turned out, was Mechagodzilla (telepathically controlled by Apex’s chief technology officer using a dismembered skull from Ghidorah… it’s a whole thing). When Mechagodzilla started running wild (breaking free of its controller, because of course it did), Godzilla and Kong needed to work together to stop it. As it turns out, the two champions made for a natural pair, complete with combo moves, weapon assists, and more.

5. King and Queen Combine – Godzilla and Mothra

Perhaps this is controversial, but Mothra is ultimately more of a peacekeeper than a true ally. Therefore, I see other team-ups as more worthy when considering the role the Queen of the Monsters has played in this series. Granted, it’s not for lack of appearances. Mothra has shown up a lot in Godzilla’s history (and even had her own Rebirth trilogy, along with starring in her own movie to begin with). As far as when Mothra has made her efforts to protect humanity by actually assisting Godzilla, 1964’s Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster found the giant butterfly actually talking Godzilla and Rodan into taking on the colossal dragon (more on that soon). In later entries, she also works with Godzilla to help him battle an upgraded Gigan and Monster X (aka Keizer Ghidorah – yup!) from Toho in Godzilla: Final Wars. In the MonsterVerse, in 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Mothra practically seems like an old girlfriend who decides to lend a hand to Godzilla during a battle with King Ghidorah and Rodan, sacrificing herself in the process (although Mothra does have a long history of being reborn in some way, so who knows if this is permanent).

4. Best Sidekick Ever – Godzilla and Anguirus

With a similar origin to Godzilla and a more diminutive stature than most other kaiju, Anguirus is more of a sidekick than a friend, but a good one. Think of him as the Robin to Godzilla’s Batman (yes, a second Caped Crusader reference for this article, but bear with me). While the two first battled it out in 1955’s Godzilla Raids Again (Godzilla’s first rival for the series), they quickly teamed up in multiple Showa Era films, including Destroy All Monsters and Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972). The latter would make for their most impressive adventure together, as they had quite the selection of opponents to take on. After talking it out (because Godzilla and Anguirus actually talk to each other in this one) and a little reconnaissance, the two take on Gigan and King Ghidorah together in a brutal battle that leads to a lot of bloodshed (it’s a pretty gory Godzilla movie) but ultimately a victory. The film practically predates Jaws having us watch Godzilla and Anguirus swim back to Monster Island together, having triumphed over their monstrous adversaries.

3. A Friend Forged in Fire – Godzilla and Rodan

Like Mothra, Rodan also got his start in his own movie before going to the Godzilla-Verse. However, there’s a critical difference between the Queen and him that I’ve tried to make very clear over the years – Rodan is a dick. He relishes causing destruction and wears a smile while doing it. That’s never been more evident than in 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters, with his finest solo showcase action scene to date. However, Rodan and Godzilla did make for good friends. Initially enemies (as usual when it comes to Godzilla’s desire for dominance), Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964) found the two working together after some coaxing by Mothra. This carried over to 1965’s Invasion of Astro-Monster, which had them taking on King Ghidorah once again after Earth was duped into letting the Xiliens from Planet X “borrow” them to fight this battle in exchange for the cure for cancer (this ended up being an elaborate ruse). Even more notable are the events that occurred during the Heisei Era. In 1993’s Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, not only did Rodan essentially take a bullet for Baby Godzilla, but while dying, he would go on to let his life force regenerate Big G to help him get supercharged to take down the Super-Mechagodzilla. What a pal.

2. Get Me Everyone! – Godzilla and All of Monster Island

Before Marvel’s The Avengers, Toho gave us Destroy All Monsters, which put together an all-star roster of kaiju battling against King Ghidorah (firmly establishing the three-headed creature as Godzilla’s primary nemesis). In this film, following a whole section of the narrative where all the monsters are being mind-controlled by the Kilaaks (this series loves its alien names), a major showdown occurs on Monsterland (the Japanese island that has been converted into a confinement area where the monsters can be contained and researched). This is where Ghidorah must go up against Godzilla, Anguirus, Rodan, and Gorosaurus, along with some support from Minilla, Kumonga, and Mothra in larval form. Baragon, Varan, and Manda are also present but aren’t really needed for this incredible kaiju brawl. Now, granted, the odds were pretty stacked against Ghidorah at this point (not that he’d care, as he’s one cocky bastard). Still, as far as team-ups go, Godzilla had plenty of reason to put in the order for team jerseys after this one.

1. Instant Besties – Godzilla and Jet Jaguar

🎵 Godzilla and Jaguar, they punch, punch, punch! They are the friends of justice! 🎵 Yes, Jet Jaguar may just be a kid-friendly creation by Toho to capitalize on the popularity of Ultraman at a rival studio, but this colorful robot is also 100% awesome. Only ever appearing in 1973’s Godzilla vs. Megalon movie, this friendly human-sized machine initially served as a companion to two scientists and a young boy, only to realize he would need help stopping a threat to Earth. With the arrival of Megalon and Gigan, Jet Jaguar gained sentience and grew to giant kaiju size so he could take on the others. And that’s not all! Jet Jaguar then decided to recruit Godzilla and form an alliance (literally shaking hands to seal the deal – see image above). Were Gigan and Megalon ready for this major bout of double trouble? No, no they weren’t. Cut to the duo stomping all over the villains, with the well-known epic finishing move of Jet Jaguar holding down Megalon while Godzilla lays out an impossible drop kick on the giant beetle. This instant friendship is a joy to see take place, and it’s a shame Jet Jaguar hasn’t returned since.

B-b-b-bonus! – Mothra, King Ghidorah & Baragon against Godzilla

One more for the road, as 2001’s Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack has a unique set of allies worth mentioning. Part of the Millennium Era, basically an extended anthology series, this film functions as a direct sequel to Godzilla (1954), making Godzilla the villain against everything and everyone. In an exciting twist, Mothra, Baragon, and King Ghidorah (I know, right?) are now Guardian Monsters who must be awakened to stop Godzilla from destroying Japan. It’s not an easy battle for these monsters, with King Ghidorah ultimately getting a lift from Mothra’s sacrifice play (her standard move) to, at the very least, damage Godzilla enough for humans to take advantage of the situation and stop the devastation. A wild approach in one of the most memorable Godzilla films from early in the 21st century.

How will things turn out in terms of team-ups in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire? We’ll find out soon, as the film opens in theaters March 29th, 2024. Are Godzilla and Kong really going to be working together? More importantly, will this be a lasting friendship? One thing’s for sure: Godzilla may be King, but he does have a history of taking on an ally or two at a given moment. Perhaps it could lead to something more long-term. After all, who doesn’t need a hand when it’s time to, I don’t know, move a large refrigerator, or have a partner for monster pickleball? Anyway, a new Godzilla movie is opening soon. As always – let them fight.

Follow Aaron Neuwirth on Twitter + ask him anything about Godzilla movies – @AaronsPS4

Find more posts: Discuss, Feat, Lists, Sci-Fi

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The rise of Punjabi cinema

Post By Entertainment I Am Sirat, Adh Chanani Raat, Ajitpal Singh, Cinevesture International Film Festival, Jaggi, Kohrra, Pollywood, Punjabi cinema, Suvinder Vicky

After being moribund for years, Punjabi cinema got a facelift when a sullen Suvinder Vicky looked into the camera in Kohrra. As sub inspector Balwinder Singh, his dour face revealed the scars of a violent past that the community is hiding behind the miasma of mirth and masculinity.

For those following Punjabi cinema, Kohrra is the harvest of the rich seeds of cinema sown a decade back by Gurvinder Singh whose arthouse films Anhey Ghorey Da Daan (2011), Chauthi Koot (2015) and Adh Chanani Raat (2022) put Punjabi cinema on the map of World Cinema. The incremental change has given shape to Cinvesture International Film Festival happening in Chandigarh this week with a rich variety of voices from across the world.

Still from Crescent Night
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A first of its kind in the region, the spotlight is on Punjabi cinema and tales from the border state that are slowly moving from cliched narratives of Jatt pride to a more nuanced take on immigration, caste, patriarchy, drugs, and a false sense of masculinity. Apart from Adh Chanani Raat, where Gurvinder dissects the idea of honour and attachment to land among Jat Sikhs in a painterly fashion, the festival screened Anmol Sidhu’s Jaggi whose disturbing tale of the impotence of a schoolboy in a masculine society acquires multiple meanings in a patriarchal system.

Still from Jaggi
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Then there is I Am Sirat, Deepa Mehta’s documentary on the complex reality of a transgender who is a woman in her professional life but acts as a son to her mother. In the market section, there is Anurag Singh’s Encounter, a follow-up to his deeply moving Punjab 1984 that challenged Diljit Dosanjh to explore his range.

Director Ajitpal Singh
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On the advisory board of CIFF, Ajitpal Singh, whose critically acclaimed Tabbar ignited interest in layered narratives from Punjab before Kohrra happened, says “Making films is easier but we need steady stewardship to take them out. Once in a while, The Disciple gets made because Alfonso Cuaron decides to present it. The challenge is how to show an independent film in India. You are doomed if you don’t have a Karan Johar or Kiran Rao presenting it. If you don’t have an ageing film star or TV star looking for a de-glamourised avatar to headline your film, it’s hard to find even an OTT release. Anyway, the platforms are expecting a theatrical release first.”

Our theatres don’t offer the audience a choice. “But are people watching MUBI that is brimming with choices from the alternative space? The filmmaker needs to ask himself for whom he is making the film. I don’t want to say that every independent filmmaker should become a Bollywood director but we should ask ourselves how Satyajit Ray found an audience. For me, if I don’t have an audience, I am not a filmmaker,” he adds.

Randeep Jha
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Kohrra director Randeep Jha hails from Motihari in Bihar but has grown up on a diet of Gurvinder’s films and Barry John’s theatre before assisting Anurag Kashyap. His three-year journey with the series made him realise that people in the State are looking for emotional closure for the events of the past.

No wonder, there is a shift in the outsider’s gaze of the Hindi film industry towards Punjab after the provocative Udta Punjab didn’t fly. Imtiaz Ali’s take on folk singer Amar Singh Chamkila is ready for an OTT release and Sriram Raghavan’s production house has bought the rights of journalist Jupinderjit Singh’s book, Who Killed Moosewala? Interestingly, Chamkila, whose murder also remains unsolved, has already been recreated by Diljit Dosanjh in Amberdeep Singh’s Jodi last year.

Randeep relates during the pandemic people adjusted to subtitles and developed a taste for watching stories told in the language of the characters. “Now they find the Hindi dub false and want to watch content in the language of the backdrop with subtitles. People have called me up to say that they tried watching the Hindi dub of Kohrra but it could not sustain their interest beyond a few minutes.”

Gurvinder Singh
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Gurvinder, the agent of change who has designed the creatives of the festival, is more cautious. Coming from a sensibility of World Cinema, he doesn’t see himself as a Punjabi filmmaker but as someone who chose to make films in Punjabi. “I could make them because State support was available. Now that space doesn’t exist.”

Funding for his films, he points out, has always come from outside Punjab and people haven’t watched his films through proper channels. “It is either through pirated copies or illegal cable networks which are still popular in villages.” The penetration of web series, he says, is still very minimal. “If you ask a Punjabi outside Chandigarh and small pockets of Amritsar and Ludhiana, they would not have heard about Kohrra or Tabbar.”

Randeep Jha on sets of Kohrra
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Somehow, Gurvinder, who is now developing a web series around the trial of Bhagat Singh, says, the sense is that independent cinema should be watched without buying a ticket. “We can fill a college auditorium but the same audience doesn’t go to a PVR to watch it.”

The director of the moving documentary Trolly Times, named after the newspaper farmers brought out during the agitation against farm laws, says, the general sense of disillusionment in the youth needs to be tapped into creative space. “The youth just aims to go abroad without any purpose. With the wheat-paddy cycle giving diminishing returns, they don’t like to practise agriculture anymore, and see their lands only as a property that can be milked without working.”

Anurag Singh
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Anurag Singh, who is more mainstream in his approach, says the business of Punjabi films has increased manifold in the last decade. “On the day my Jatt & Juliet made a record ₹25 crores in 2012, Rajamouli’s Eega hit the theatres and made ₹100 crores. I told my friends that we have to find an Indian audience like films from the South have. Now Mastaney, not even a comedy, has made ₹75 crore.” Gradually, he adds, the audience is coming to terms with the fact that Punjabi films can also provide a rooted experience, different from Hindi and English films like in Jatinder Mauhar’s Maurh.

Films with female protagonists, he says, are also finding space with Sonam Bajwa’s Godday Godday Cha doing decent business. Anurag also underlines the support of the diaspora. “Now if they have to pick between a Hindi and Punjabi film, they go for the latter first. That also means films like Angrez that show a Punjab that no longer exists have done well overseas because the older generation wants to see the Punjab they left behind.”

Ajit says change becomes visible when any art that is at the periphery starts rubbing what is at the centre and changes the nucleus. “Even if it changes the nucleus by 10%, it has done its job. The fact that Suvinder Vicky who came from independent cinema is a star now shows that things are changing. Paramvir Cheema who came from theatre is in great demand. After Gurvinder we have Anmol Siddhu whose Jaggi shakes you up to the core. Kohrra has been green-lit for a second season and Tarsem Singh’s Dear Jassi is the new darling of film festivals.”

Cinevesture Film Festival is on till March 31 in Chandigarh

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The Stage 23 Effect | FilmInk

Post By Entertainment

It goes without saying, Sydney’s Entertainment Quarter is a hub of interesting people doing interesting things. Producers, actors, directors, writers, and crew alike walk around like it’s no one’s business. The team at Stage 23, one of Australia’s leading visual effects companies, are no exception. With projects such as Ti West’s MaXXXine, Dev Patel’s Monkey Man and Warwick Thornton’s The New Boy on their books, it’s easy to see why.

Founded by multi-hyphenate Christian Debney and VFX supervisor Jonathan Hairman, the company was set up to unite Australia’s finest visual effects artists.

On a humid afternoon in Sydney, we caught up with Debney to hear about the rise and rise of Stage 23.

You have created one of Australia’s leading VFX companies. Obviously, that’s not an easy thing to do. How did you get this all started?

“My first job I ever had was making props. I made lightsabers for the Star Wars prequels in London.

“I then worked in set–building on films such as Sexy Beast, created the masks on V for Vendetta. Attack of the Clones brought me to Australia. After directing my first short – in 35mm – Good Luck Jeffrey Brown starring Kick Gurry, produced by Jacqui Louez, Jamie Hilton and Spectrum Films’ Josh Pomeranz. I directed a few music videos with Hilton and then headed home.

“I then worked as a director in London where I made music promos and commercials for a wide variety of clients including Coldplay, Simple Minds and Sophie Ellis Bextor. [sadly, however, he did not direct the Murder on the Dancefloor video.]

“To realise my vision for all these projects, I ran two VFX and animation studios in London with over 25 staff; culminating in being a Director of Animation under Danny Boyle for the London Olympics in 2012; before being called back to Australia by Pomeranz and Hilton to develop features. I’ll be forever grateful for that call, I now consider Australia my home. It’s a great industry here.

“Jonathan [Hairman], the co-owner of Stage 23, was also over there gaining invaluable experience in the industry. He was the primary supervisor on Our Brand is Crisis [2015 David Gordon Green film starring Sandra Bullock]. He worked at Framestore [a leading visual effects company] in London for ten years as a VFX supervisor and was Jonathan Glazer’s right hand man when it came to Flame. Jonathan also returned to Australia for work including at Sydney’s Animal Logic.

“We met working on Swinging Safari [2018 Stephan Elliott film] on the Gold Coast. It was very fun and very funny. Maybe even more funny than the movie. And then we decided to create a company together. We started with four employees and it kind of grew from there.”

How did you and Jonathan want to make this company different from all the other VFX houses out there?

“We are first and foremost artist-led. As a result of this, we put all of our resources in terms of time and money into things that will actually end up being seen by audiences, such as creative development and finesse.

“And with all the clients that we take on, we try to really listen and hone-in on their needs and wants as storytellers and filmmakers. Based on what these needs are, we will then determine the best visual effects approach for a specific project. From this point on, we also put a lot of time into concept and planning. We understand that making films and TV is expensive and time-consuming. As a result of this, we understand that it’s all about the quality of the final product.

“We are also a fairly diverse VFX company, in the sense that we also generate and develop our own content too. We employ development producers and writers to create stories and ideas for us.

“As the creative director of the company, I lead the charge in this area in terms of the projects we want to take on. A lot of these stories and projects are very genre based, such as sci- fi and horror. I’ve made a few short films such as STARSHIP which has been doing well on the festival circuit and won a fair few awards already [Best Animation Sydney Scifi, Best Animation at Australian Independent Film Festival, Best Animation at Liverpool Film Festival UK). It’s been selected for the Beverly Hills Film Festival next month.

“We have also been looking into the games space as a way of better understanding Unreal engine, which we now use in our pipeline. We’ve got one currently being developed which is based on Nick Butter [a British athlete who set the world record for completing a marathon in every country around the world]. In this game, you basically speed run through every country and face crazy challenges as you go. It’s in the demo stage. Our focus is on photorealistic environments, a knowledge we can utilise in areas like Virtual Production.”

What was it like working with Dev Patel on his directorial debut, Monkey Man?

“It was really great. We first started on Monkey Man two and a half years ago. I met Dev and had a lot of Zooms with him initially about his ideas for the project and where he wanted it to go. And the brilliant thing about him is that he is so collaborative. He’s got a vision and it’s a very specific vision. But he’s also open to all ideas.

“He worked with us closely on all stages of it. As I’d worked with Danny [Boyle] before on the London Olympics, and Dev obviously worked with him on Slumdog [Millionaire], he used a lot of film language that he learned from his time working with Danny. I could recognise this in the way that he spoke. So, there was a great short hand between us.

“I also just really liked the story. I thought it had heart, soul and grit. It was something I really connected with, and we went from there. The film’s been through a long process, and we’ve been through a long process with it. I’d say it’s the work I am most proud of as a company so far … I am yet to see it in full yet though, having finished it days before its premiere at SXSW. We couldn’t be happier with the response it’s gotten so far.

Where do you see the company going in the next five, ten years?

“I want us to be one of Australia’s leading go-to visual effects companies. I want us to have worked on and produced some sci- fi films, some adventure, some horror. I also think I have identified a gap in the market of adult animation, something like Final Fantasy or Love, Death, and Robots. I’d love to make something like that.”

What’s it like to watch the films and television you’ve worked on being out there in the world?

“It’s really nice to know your company has achieved something through the whole process that’s greater than all of you. It’s a cliché but we have a wonderful family of passionate talent people here at Stage 23. As artists ourselves, looking after and nurturing that family is the main focus for Jonathan and I.”

And with a full slate of upcoming work, it would seem that that’s a feeling Stage 23 are going to become even more familiar with.

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A Gentleman in Moscow TV Review

Post By Entertainment

Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead shine in a beautiful drama based on the best-selling novel.

PLOT: Count Alexander Rostov, in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, finds that his gilded past has placed him on the wrong side of history. Spared immediate execution, he is banished by a Soviet tribunal to an attic room in the opulent Hotel Metropol and threatened with death if he ever sets foot outside again. As the years pass and some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history unfold outside the hotel’s doors, Rostov’s reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery. As he builds a new life within the walls of the hotel, he discovers the true value of friendship, family and love.

REVIEW: Ewan McGregor is a singular talent. The acclaimed actor can sing, share the screen with Winnie the Pooh, fight Darth Vader, and play a convincing heroin addict. He has also proven himself adept at sharing the screen with family members. After sharing the screen with his daughter Clara in Bleeding Love, Ewan McGregor is reuniting with his wife, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, for their third project together. McGregor leads the wonderful drama A Gentleman in Moscow, about one man surviving against every obstacle in his path, all in the name of love. Adapted from the bestselling novel, A Gentleman in Moscow is a beautifully realized drama that will have you rooting for McGregor from the opening scene of the first episode through the last scene of the finale.

Set in the day immediate aftermath of the October Revolution, Ewan McGregor plays Count Alexander Rostov. An aristocrat, Rostov is viewed as an enemy of the people thanks to his connections to the former Russian royal family. Having returned to Russia from Paris, Rostov is sentenced to spend the rest of his life as a resident of the Hotel Metropol, a luxury accommodation taken over by the Bolsheviks. Promised room and board, Rostov refuses to be defeated despite his suite being replaced with a servant’s quarters, repeated intrusions by soldiers led by Osip Glebnikov (Johnny Harris), and reluctance by members of the staff as well as other guests who view him as a threat to the new government. In the early episodes, Rostov befriends a young girl named Nina (Alexa Goodall) and plots an escape alongside the exiled Prince Petrov (Paul Ready). Little does Rostov know, but these relationships will forever alter the future of his life.

Chronicling decades of his life within the Metropol, A Gentleman in Moscow imbues Rostov with hope despite all odds to the contrary. Pulling elements from prison stories and themes from Steven Spielberg’s similarly themed The Terminal, A Gentleman in Moscow starts out by looking at what Rostov’s life is like, limited to existing within the walls of a hotel. What could have been a whimsical and humorous tale, as the trailers may lead you to believe, this series is, in fact, a steadfast drama with some humorous moments peppered within. Much of the footage used to cut the trailer comes from the series’ first two episodes, which leaves the plot twists and elapsed time a mystery for audiences unfamiliar with the source material. While trailers often give away too much of the plot, I appreciate how little is truly revealed in A Gentleman In Moscow, leaving the bulk of the story for the viewers to experience chapter by chapter.

Where the novel compressed and expanded the multiple-decade arc of the narrative, the series spends an appropriate amount of time over the intervening years as Rostov grows from an aristocrat to an even more nuanced character. Able to play Rostov from young to old without relying on much more than wigs and a bit of hair dye, Ewan McGregor beautifully plays this character as a sympathetic and loving man who will not let politics deter his love for his homeland. Couple that with the shared screen time McGregor gets to spend with Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and you have the third project the real-life couple have worked on, giving another layer to their chemistry together. Having first played a couple in Fargo before playing hero and villain in DC’s Birds of Prey, McGregor and Winstead once again portray soulmates in this series. Winstead plays Anna Urbanova, an actress who falls in love with Count Rostov, and their relationship is the anchor for this story. In addition, Sofia (Beau Gadsdon), Marina (Leah Harvey), and the rest of the ensemble balance a whimsical nature with the emotional range of the dramatic side of this tale.

Adapted from Amor Towles’ novel by Ben Vanstone (The Last Kingdom, Merlin), A Gentleman in Moscow is directed by Sam Miller (Black Mirror, Daredevil) and Sarah O’Gorman (The Witcher), both of whom turn the Metropol into a character all its own alongside the strong performances of McGregor, Winstead, and the cast. The last hotel that was this important to the plot of a film or series was The Grand Budapest Hotel. While not nearly as whimsical as Wes Anderson’s creation, this series allows the Metropol and its hidden rooms, staircases, and other secrets to add to the story’s charms. There is also a central theme of food that balances the different class levels at play in the early 20th-century Russian setting of A Gentleman in Moscow. With exceptional production values and a classical music score that mixes Russian traditional music and sweeping dramatic themes from composer Federico Jusid, A Gentleman in Moscow is beautifully realized and charming to watch.

A Gentleman in Moscow is a pleasant surprise. For a story set in a violent era of political upheaval in a country notorious for such events, Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead can project light and air of positivity despite all odds being against them. In an age where we can easily wallow in negativity, Alexander Rostov is a beacon of never giving up, even when everything seems hopeless. I felt invigorated after completing this series and am not ashamed to say that I was invested in these characters enough to have multiple emotional responses over this sprawling series. A Gentleman in Moscow is a touching portrait of overcoming the odds and finding love despite everything in your way. Another win for Ewan McGregor.

A Gentleman in Moscow premieres on March 29th on Paramount + with Showtime.

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STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces Review

Post By Entertainment

A unique look into the distinct halves of Steve Martin’s career from his early days through today.

PLOT: Steve Martin is one of the most beloved and enigmatic figures in entertainment. “STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces” dives into his extraordinary story from two distinct points of view, with companion documentaries that feature never-before-seen footage and raw insights into Steve’s personal and professional trials and triumphs. “Then” chronicles Steve Martin’s early struggles and meteoric rise to revolutionize standup before walking away at 35. “Now” focuses on the present day, with Steve Martin in the golden years of his career, retracing the transformation that led to happiness in his art and personal life.

REVIEW: It pains me to think that a generation is growing up that does not hold Steve Martin in the same regard as generations past. At 78 years old, Martin was the biggest comedian of all time for some, a movie star for others, and one of the old guys from Only Murders in the Building for the rest. As a musician, writer, and performer, the depth of Steve Martin’s talents is impressive when taken collectively, especially in retrospect. While he has not creatively slowed down, Steve Martin has transitioned his talents from stage to screen to page and beyond. Partnering with filmmaker Morgan Neville (Roadrunner), STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces is a three-hour chronicle of the comedian’s life told through two distinct halves. Each piece, clocking in at ninety-five minutes, takes us through Martin’s early days as a stand-up comedian through his film career and up to the recent phase of his life involving writing books, releasing musical albums, and filming his hit Hulu series. A fascinating watch for lifelong fans of his, STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces may be too much for all but the most ardent admirers.

The two sections of STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces each serve as a standalone documentary and use different filmmaking techniques and structural elements. The first part, titled “then,” is told with no on-screen interviews. Steve Martin’s voice is heard throughout the first film in archival footage and newly recorded interview narration. Diving deep into his archives, STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces uses journal entries, set lists and notes, photographs, and amateur film footage to show how the comedian’s skills developed from a young age as a magician and then an entertainer. There are interviews with Martin’s close friends and romantic partners as he honed his skills in small venues before breaking out on The Smothers Brothers Show and then as a touring comedian. The incredulous path that Steve Martin’s life took astounded even him as he recounts how his sense of humor masked anxiety and an adversarial relationship with his father. It is a fascinating and beautifully rendered documentary that skillfully weaves artistic use of footage and stills to keep the momentum moving through Martin’s transition from stage performer to Saturday Night Live stalwart and then his breakthrough film debut, The Jerk.

As the first part closes, the “now” half of STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces ventures into more familiar documentary terrain. Using footage filmed in 2022 as Steve Martin and Martin Short mount their stage show and Martin developing the illustrated memoir Number One Is Walking with artist Harry Bliss, filmmaker Morgan Neville takes a less comprehensive biographical approach. Instead, “Now” looks at Steve Martin’s film career through the lens of his seventy-eight years. Martin has trouble listening to his early comedy act and breaks down in tears remembering working with John Candy on Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. While the second section does chronicle much of Martin’s film career from Pennies from Heaven through L.A. Story, Roxanne, and more, this half is much more focused on how Steve’s love of banjo music, collecting art, and becoming a father late in life has transformed him from the wild and crazy icon of the 1980s to the Mark Twain Prize-winning legendary performer he is today.

“Then” relied heavily on showcasing Steve Martin’s loud and vibrant stage persona, while “Now” is more content in showing how he has evolved late in life. Much of the on-screen time showcases Martin working with Martin Short, a sit-down interview with Jerry Seinfeld, and individual interviews between the filmmaker and a select group of Martin’s close friends, including Tina Fey, Eric Idle, and his wife Anne Stringfield. It is interesting to see Steve Martin himself critically look back at the creative failures of his career, including films like Leap of Faith and Mixed Nuts, while also analyzing his career as a playwright and his extensive private collection of fine artwork. Not much time is devoted to the creative process of making his films, with Little Shop of Horrors, Three Amigos, Father of the Bride, and Parenthood being referenced, but not much else. Martin himself refers to his film career as more anecdotal than his stage career, which may disappoint fans wanting to know more about his movies.

Director Morgan Neville can be heard asking questions from off-camera during the second part of STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces but mostly lets Steve Martin himself do the bulk of the talking. While the first part sheds great insight into Martin’s creative process and his rise to stardom, part two looks and feels more like a traditional documentary without following the expected formula. Steve Martin’s private persona is far different from what many of us have seen on stage and screen, and while still incredibly funny and with minimal effort, STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces presents him as a man who has changed as an artist and a human being over the eight decades of his life. There is a lyrical element to this documentary that is so different between the two sections that I was tempted to review this as two individual films. Morgan Neville embraces Steve Martin’s personality changes over the years, allowing each of these pieces to echo the man they are documenting.

STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces is a beautiful ode to a legendary performer. I absolutely loved “then” as it showed the performer’s evolution to the peak of his fame. “Now” did not quite reach the same effect for me but still showcased how Steve Martin interprets his life’s obstacles, challenges, and loves. Full of humor and touching reminiscence, STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces epitomizes every facet of Steve Martin, the celebrity, by giving us a look at Steve Martin the man. I enjoyed this film very much and would recommend audiences watch it as two separate films rather than two parts of a whole. Either way, this is not a comprehensive biopic, but it still gives you an in-depth look at one of the preeminent comedic talents of all time.

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Team ‘Inspector Rishi’ on telling an investigative horror story for a fearless new-gen audience

Post By Entertainment Elango Kumaravel, Inspector Rishi, Inspector Rishi Prime Video, Inspector Rishi review, Inspector Rishi series, Kanna Ravi, Malini Jeevarathinam, Nandhini JS, Naveen Chandra, Sri Krishna Dayal, Sunaina

The long-format police procedural is one sub-genre that has certainly benefited from the OTT boom, especially in the Tamil streaming space. Prime Video has been putting its best foot forward with titles like Suzhal: The Vortex and Vadhandhi: The Fable of Velonie. But the upcoming 10-episode series, Inspector Rishi, is no ordinary cop story; in fact, the series takes on one of the least explored hybrid genres to tell its tale: investigative horror. While Tamil cinema fans would have seen horror titles like Miruthan and Jackson Durai featuring a cop in the lead, it has been more than a decade since Eeram, which is probably the last memorable pure-genre investigative horror featuring a cop in the lead role.

But how fascinating is it to pit humans who are trained to be logical and normalised to real-world horrors with supernatural, other-worldly beings? This quality of investigative horror seems to have captivated series creator Nandhini JS in choosing this subgenre, especially in catering to a new-gen audience who is not scared of anything. “When we were growing up, we were scared of the darkness. I remember how after seven or eight in the evening, you wouldn’t find anyone on the streets. Nowadays, even kids aren’t scared of darkness; everything is brightly lit and surrounded by so much information.”

Even magic secrets are revealed in a matter of few clicks on the Internet, and audiences are more sceptical of the divinity and paranormal, making it harder to convince audiences of a horror tale, adds Nandhini, who earlier created the horror graphic novel, Sivappu Kal Mookuthi, and the vampire comedy series, Nila Nila Odi Vaa. “The issues now revolve around whether to believe in the paranormal and if so, to what extent.”

A favourite horror character or movie….

Nandhini JS: I would watch even a bad horror movie so picking one is difficult. A recent fascination has been the nature spirits and I find forest spirits very captivating

“What if a police officer investigating a series of murders is told to believe that the murderer is a forest spirit? You can’t write that in a police report, and so, you will have to investigate further, for which you will need a rational mind.” Showing spooky events parallel to a murder investigation adds suspense and mystery, making the viewer invest more in the series, says the creator.

Inspector Rishi tells the story of a group of policemen investigating murders that are said to be the work of a vanaratchi (a forest spirit). If that is the case, why is the series titled after the cop leading the investigation and not something like…vanaratchi? “When I started writing the story in 2010, Rishi’s character is what popped up first. Naturally, he became the centre-point of the story.”

A still from ‘Inspector Rishi’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Nandhini wanted Rishi to be a ‘timeless character’ like Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, Sujatha’s Ganesh—Vasanth, Subha’s Narendran—Vaijayanthi, or Rajesh Kumar’s Vivek—Roobala—Vishnu. “They can investigate a specific case in a film or series and take on another case in a sequel, and so on.” That people end up remembering the character more than the story made it compelling, adds Nandhini. “After writing Rishi, and figuring out how he sees the world, came the story — at which point I thought of adding the supernatural — and then came the characters who accompany Rishi.”

And so now, let’s hear from Inspector Rishi himself and all those who accompanied him in this tale.

Naveen Chandra

A favourite horror character or movie….

I’ve seen a lot of horror movies but Vanaratchi haunts me still. I’m deeply in love with her, and the actors who all played the role have done a fabulous job

Naveen Chandra in a still from ‘Inspector Rishi’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Actor Naveen Chandra describes his character, Rishi, as a calm and composed officer. “Rishi is someone who doesn’t believe in ghosts. Rishi is focussed on his job and until he cracks the case will not compromise on anything. He’s so calm that even when he’s facing a tense situation, he wouldn’t show that so expressively,” says Naveen.

It does seem from the success of cop titles on streaming that the long format is helping creators dig deeper and explore characters further. On the short format, it surely seems like the mass masala cop has taken a back seat, with audiences liking better the off-beat cops like the ones Naveen played in Ammuor Jigarthanda Double X. Naveen credits the directors for writing such characters that are close to reality. “All these characters wear khaki, but each character has its own unique good and bad traits. For Ammu, somewhere it became like a reference from real life because I have seen people do that. Jigarthanda was complete madness. Inspector Rishi is a very layered, intellectual character and I feel so proud to have gotten the opportunity to play this character,” says Naveen.

Sunaina

A favourite horror character or movie….

Chandramukhi because it’s scary but a the same time not too scary

Sunaina in a still from ‘Inspector Rishi’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

In Inspector Rishi, Sunaina plays a forest guard named Kathy. “Playing a forest guard was quite a new experience because I didn’t know what that job entails,” she says. Having observed the Tamil industry for over 15 years as an actor, and having ventured into OTT even before the pandemic-induced boom (in Nandhini’s Nila Nila Odi Vaa in 2018), Sunaina has seen how the writing of female characters has evolved over the years on the big and small screen. “A change is certainly happening, and I am also seeing more audiences demanding such a change. The audiences are telling the writers and directors that such and such actors deserve better-written characters.”

She adds that though change is happening in films to some degree, OTTs have always been a good place for good character writing. “Credit goes to creators like Nandhini who started writing and making series. They knew that one can’t live life without the women around them.”

Kanna Ravi

A favourite horror character or movie….

Vettaiyan Raja in Chandramukhi

Kanna Ravi in a still from ‘Inspector Rishi’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Kanna Ravi plays a pious sub-inspector named Ayyanar Moorthy, whose journey, he says, is traced through how he helps Rishi crack the case. What fascinates one about Kanna is the script selection and the impressive range he has shown in just a few titles, like Mandela, Rathasaatchi and the recently-released Lover.

Choosing such roles is a conscious decision to avoid typecasting, says Kanna. “I like acting because it breaks the monotony. I want to see myself in different roles with different looks. The problem with typecasting does exist and it is difficult to break the notion in directors that just because you performed one role well doesn’t mean you can’t do other roles well.” If a good script would provide him the opportunity to do something different, he’d go for it just to tell the world he can do many things, he adds. “I am selective with my scripts and I just like to do what that role requires.”

Inspector Rishi also required him to don a different look. “Nandhini ma’am had a storyboard about how Ayyanar looked, and she was particular about the moustache, the rudraksha and the sacred black thread that you see Ayyanar wear on his hands. I was quite hesitant initially but I started liking the look.” Kanna knows that the flipside of this approach is that people might remember his characters better than him, but “I see that as a plus because only now can I explore different scripts and roles and ascertain what my potential is,” he believes.

Elango Kumaravel:

A favourite horror character or movie….

I don’t prefer horror movies because one has to feel scared while watching them as well as while acting in them. But while growing up, I liked Jaganmohini, because it was very funny, and I also liked Dracula

Elango Kumaravel in a still from ‘Inspector Rishi’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

A forest officer named Irfan, who doesn’t believe in the supernatural but in a scientific approach to the investigation is what actor Elango Kumaravel plays in the series. This, of course, is not the first supporting role as a man in a uniform for the seasoned actor, which makes you wonder if playing a certain kind of role in multiple scenarios, regardless of the subjectivity of the character played, gives an actor a certain insight into that profession. Kumaravel doesn’t think so. “It’s all about doing what we can in that limited space that your character gets. In a well-written script, if you are told ‘your character thinks that way but it is now thinking in a certain way, you figure out the reason for the change,’ then that space will increase and you might have to do something more.” In Inspector Rishi, he had that freedom, he says. “Each character in this series was three-dimensional, and when you write clearly how they, as individuals, approach and react to a situation, you will begin see them as someone else,” he says.

Srikrishna Dayal:

A favourite horror character or movie….

To date, Exorcist has been the scariest horror film I have seen. More recently, the one that affected the most is Conjuring

Sri Krishna Dayal in a still from ‘Inspector Rishi’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

After The Family Man and Modern Love: Chennai, this is the third big production for actor Sri Krishna Dayal, who plays a forest ranger named Sathya in the series. A seasoned theatre professional, Sri Krishna says that a background in drama does help a film actor in certain ways. “Theatre gives you a lot of pluses, like the ability to understand a character, the other actors around you and so on. What you shoot and how you shoot might differ from theatre and cinema, but for an actor, it is beneficial if you can bring your experience, if and what is needed of course, from theatre into cinema,” he says.

Malini Jeevarathnam

A favourite horror character or movie…

When I was a child, I came down with a fever for over three days after watching Mohan’s Uruvam. I am someone who gets scared easily and so I don’t watch a lot of horror

Malini Jeevarathnam in a still from ‘Inspector Rishi’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

For those who are familiar with the popular queer artivist and filmmaker, Malini Jeevarathinam, the idea of finding them in front of the camera is definitely a welcome surprise. Playing Chitra Lokesh, a sub-inspector who takes on the supernatural boldly, was a big learning exercise, says Malini. “Nandhini helped me understand Chitra a lot. Whenever I used to look at the khaki, I used to feel a lot of emotions, possibly stemming from my gender as well, and used to desire to play a cop. To get that as a character makes me feel grateful,” says Malini, adding that the experience of putting on 15-odd kilos for the role proved to be a challenging experience. Malini credits the team of Inspector Rishi for giving them a queer-friendly workspace to work in. “I have always been hesitant when it comes to Indian commercial cinema space — that I wouldn’t be understood and that I would be bullied and rejected — but the entire crew maintained dignity and respected one another, which really inspired me a lot to give my all,” they say.

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Best Hookup Sites in Australia | Top 10 Hookup Apps for Aussies

Post By Entertainment

That’s why I’ve vetted the best hookup sites in Australia for all kinds of connections – whether it’s something casual tonight or a more serious relationship. In this guide, I’ll give you the real insider info from myself and others who have walked the same path. No fluff, no recycled lists – just straightforward advice on where to focus your efforts based on your dating goals.

The right app or site can make all the difference in turning the dating game from a chore into something fun. Let me break it down simply so you can find the best hookup sites in Australia for your needs.

Best Online Dating Sites in Australia for Hookups

Seeking: Australia’s top luxury hookup platform

Passion: Perfect for exploring a variety of hookup interests and kinks

AdultFriendFinder: The best hookup site for no-strings-attached encounters

FirstDate: A unique hooking up approach for australians

SwapFinder: For couples and singles into partner swapping or polyamory

LesbianPersonal: For lesbians seeking relationships or casual hookups

ManNation: Gay Australian men’s hookup hub

HeatedAffairs: Best hookup site for extramarital affairs

Cougar Life: Best best site for meeting Aussie cougars

SeniorSizzle: Mature Aussies recapturing passion

1. Seeking – Best luxury hookup site in Australia overall

Luxury dating service for high-end connections

Thorough verification process for authenticity

Wide user base for international connections

Main age group: 25-34

Male to Female ratio: 1:4

Fake and inactive profiles

Seeking implements a verification process to improve user authenticity, but some fake accounts and bots still slip through. This mixed experience extends to user feedback on various platforms, where some praise the site for its connections, while others express frustration over encounters with fake profiles and scammers.

Freely available features

Seeking allows new users to browse and get a feel for the platform without initial financial commitment. You can create a profile, check out profile visitors, and browse around for free.

Pricing

Pricing on Seeking is tiered: “Successful Members” can choose from packages such as $99 for 30 days or $269.99 for 90 days, with a premium option of the 30-day Diamond subscription at $249.99. “Attractive Members” have the opportunity for free messaging under certain conditions and can access premium features at discounted rates.

Seeking overview

Full disclosure – Seeking is recognized more for its distinctive approach to online dating than just being a platform for casual encounters. Initially, my experience with Seeking began when I ventured into the dating scene in Australia, searching for diverse experiences.

What distinguishes Seeking is its vast and active community encompassing individuals from various backgrounds – including young professionals, enthusiastic singles, and open-minded couples, among others. The atmosphere is supportive of a sex-positive culture without crossing into vulgarity or discomfort. A key strength of Seeking is its roughly 4:1 ratio of women to men, providing a unique dynamic.

The platform’s matching algorithms and search functionalities are notably sophisticated, enabling users to precisely filter potential matches by appearance, interests, or relationship goals. Furthermore, Seeking engages its community with a vibrant schedule of both virtual and real-world events, encouraging members to actively participate.

While not without its flaws, my experience with Seeking stands out as one of the more fulfilling encounters within Australia’s dating landscape. The user base tends to be more sincere and clear about their intentions. If you’re looking for something more than a mindless hookup but still want to keep it casual and open, it’s definitely worth a look.

2. Passion – The best site for exploring a variety of hookup interests and kinks

Dynamic and interactive community

Welcomes individuals of all orientations and relationship statuses

Hookup site with a global presence

Age range: 18-44

Male to Female ratio: 7:3

Fake and inactive profiles

Passion.com struggles with fake and inactive profiles due to easy registration and lack of stringent verification. While optional ID verification enhances trust, non-authentic profiles remain an issue. Utilize detailed search filters and verified profiles for genuine connections.

Freely available features

Passion.com does offer freely available features, such as reading blog articles, utilizing the detailed search filters, and engaging with live broadcasts. These elements provide a taste of what the platform has to offer.

Pricing

Membership prices on Passion.com vary slightly across different geographies, but the average rates are $29.99 for 1 month, $59.99 for 3 months, and $179.99 for 1 year. Additionally, the platform introduces a unique economy with a points system, where users can earn points through site activity and exchange them for features or virtual gifts.

Passion.com overview

Let me tell you about a site that really stood out when I was exploring the Australian hookup scene: Passion.com. This isn’t just another generic dating platform – it’s got a totally distinct, almost electrifying vibe.

Right off the bat, you can feel the palpable energy coursing through the community. These aren’t people just idly looking to hook up. The users on Passion radiate this intense, smoldering appetite for adventure and new experiences. There’s a shared thirst for pushing boundaries and discovering new layers of intimacy.

What initially drew me in were all the niche kink and fetish communities active on the site. Beyond just messaging, Passion gets innovative with things like erotic storytelling blogs and videos to help stoke your fire.

I’ll admit, Passion definitely brought out my adventurous side! If you’re looking to go beyond run-of-the-mill hookup apps and tap into some real passion and intensity, this could be the ultimate playground for you.

3. AdultFriendFinder – Top hookup site for no-strings-attached encounters

Straightforward connection platform for diverse relationships

Best hookup site for Australians open to the LGBTQ+ community

Extensive user base for exploring a variety of connection types

Main age group: 18-34

Male to Female ratio: 7:3

Fake and inactive profiles

Like many Australian dating/hookup sites, AdultFriendFinder faces fake and inactive profile challenges. Robust filters and features aim to enhance user interaction and authenticity. Despite challenges, many find real connections, indicating active, genuine participants seeking similar engagements.

Freely available features

Adult FriendFinder provides a mix of free and premium features. Initially, users can access certain functionalities without payment, like viewing member profiles, live cam feeds, and adult chat groups. However the membership unlocks the platform’s most valuable features, facilitating easier and more precise matchmaking based on individual preferences and interests.

Pricing

Membership pricing on Adultfriendfinder varies slightly by location, but on average, memberships are offered at $29.99 for 1 month, $59.99 for 3 months, and $179.99 for 1 year.

Adult FriendFinder overview

If AdultFriendFinder was a person, it would be that cool, laid-back mate who always knows where the good times are at. This site just exudes a relaxed, anything-goes kind of vibe that makes it the perfect hunting ground for casual hookups and cheeky adventures.

What initially hooked me about AFF was the sheer size and energy of the Aussie userbase. We’re talking tens of thousands of folks, mostly in that 18-34 bracket, looking to meet up and see where the night takes them without getting too deep or complicated. The gender ratio leans towards more guys than gals, but that just means less competition, right mates?

Now, like any popular spot, AFF has its fair share of dud profiles and time-wasters. But they’ve decked out the platform with some nifty search filters and matchmaking tools to help separate the tire-kickers from those genuinely looking for fun. You can even join chat groups based around your particular interests to meet a crew with the same kink.

At the end of the day, AFF is that cool, no-pressure buddy to have in your corner when you just want to get out and make some new mischievous connections on a whim. No fuss, no complexity – just plain fun and excitement with a vibrant Australian community.

4. FirstDate – Innovative platform for connecting

Uses a credit system for chatting

Registration and profile browsing are free

Provides a platform with numerous profiles, increasing chances of finding matches

Age range: 35-50

Male:Female ratio: 7:3

Fake and inactive profiles

While FirstDate has been highlighted for its innovative approach to online connections, there have been observations regarding the presence of fake profiles. This is a common challenge faced by many dating and hookup platforms, and it underscores the importance of users being vigilant and critical when engaging with new contacts.

Freely available features

On FirstDate, registration is free, and you can upload photos and browse profiles without charge. However, to chat, you must purchase credits.

Pricing

The payment plans for credits are as follows: 100 credits for $50, 450 credits for $150, and 1000 credits for $250. For more detailed information, please refer to the review on Lovulu.

FirstDate overview

When I first heard about FirstDate’s approach of cutting straight to the first in-person meetup, I was skeptical. But after trying it myself, I see the appeal for Aussies tired of endless messaging.

FirstDate’s premise is simple: share important personal details upfront to attract matches, then quickly connect to arrange a date if there’s mutual interest. No more weeks of small talk only to find no chemistry face-to-face!

The setup is basic, and FirstDate takes a hands-off approach. They provide the platform for matching, but it’s up to you to take safety precautions before meeting anyone new. Vetting connections is crucial without moderation. Despite this, I found FirstDate’s direct model refreshing compared to typical dating apps. There’s excitement in quickly reaching that crucial first meeting without gaming and ghosting. However, this fast pace may attract some unsavory characters. Caution is necessary.

As a seasoned online dater, skipping formalities and meeting someone new face-to-face ASAP was thrilling. FirstDate offers a unique change of pace in the Australian hookup scene!

5. SwapFinder – Dedicated to those interested in partner swapping or poly relationships

Caters to a niche market of swingers and adventurous couples

Offers live streaming and chat rooms

Part of the expansive FriendFinder network

Age range: 25-35

Fake and inactive profiles

SwapFinder acknowledges fake accounts and inactive profiles. While boasting a large member base, including attractive profiles, some are not genuine, impacting user experience with lower responses.

Freely available features

Registration on SwapFinder is free, allowing users to view user profiles (though not in full detail), add photos and videos, comment on photos, and join chatrooms. Free users can also create a hotlist and utilize search filters.

Pricing

Costs for premium membership are as follows: $20 for 1 month, $20 per month for a 3-month subscription, and $15 per month for a 12-month subscription.

SwapFinder overview

When SwapFinder’s concept of connecting couples and singles into partner swapping or polyamory first caught my eye, I was intrigued. After exploring the platform, I can totally see the appeal for those seeking unconventional relationships.

SwapFinder cuts right to the chase – users share their preferences upfront to find like-minded folks for consensual swapping or polyamorous arrangements. No tedious back-and-forth, just getting straight to the point.

The interface is user-friendly, letting members easily browse profiles and connect with potential matches. SwapFinder takes a hands-off approach, providing an open space to freely explore desires. But like any online platform in this realm, caution and discretion are musts when engaging with others.

Far from incompatible or disingenuous, SwapFinder refreshingly veers from traditional dating platforms. It’s a safe, inclusive space to explore sexuality and relationships free of judgment.

If exploring unconventional relationship dynamics intrigues you, SwapFinder presents an exciting chance to connect with like-minded individuals and expand your adult horizons.

6. LesbianPersonals – The best space for lesbian engagements, from serious to casual

Integrates with the FriendFinder Network for wider connectivity

Enforces a strict anti-harassment policy to ensure a safe experience

Lacks a dedicated mobile app, distinguishing its platform access strategy

Age range: 33-50 / 1:1

Fake and inactive profiles

I wasn’t able to find specific details about fake and inactive profiles on LesbianPersonals and without having personally tested the platform, I can’t provide firsthand insights on this matter. However, based on general experiences with similar hookup and dating sites in Australia, it’s reasonable to assume that LesbianPersonals might also contend with the presence of fake profiles or bots.

Freely available features

LesbianPersonals offers a standard membership at no cost, which includes the ability to create an account and browse through profiles. Users can also use basic search filters and share photos with their matches.

Pricing

Being part of the same network as FriendFinder, the membership pricing on LesbianPersonals also varies slightly across different geographies, with average rates set at $29.99 for 1 month, $59.99 for 3 months, and $179.99 for 1 year.

LesbianPersonals overview

A friend telling me about LesbianPersonals, tailored for women seeking same-sex encounters, immediately piqued my interest with its hookup focus rather than long-term dating. As she described features like live video chat and instant messaging, it became clear LesbianPersonals caters to a diverse user base across Europe, the US, UK and Australia. She said registration was simple, with free and paid membership tiers available. However, she noted criticism over the inclusion of many couples and non-female individuals. Accessing advanced search filters also required an upgrade.

Despite these critiques, my friend emphasized LesbianPersonals remains a popular choice for women seeking casual encounters with other women. Its broad userbase and array of features make it an appealing option for exploring LGBTQ+ connections.

7. ManNation – Premier destination for Australian gay hookups

Attracts members from diverse age groups

Members can earn points for activities, convertible to cash or site upgrades

Offers live shows and interactive video chats

Age range: wide range of age groups 8:2

Fake and inactive profiles

I didn’t find detailed information on fake and inactive profiles on ManNation. Without personal experience on the platform, offering specific insights is challenging. However, as mentioned previously, it’s common for online dating sites, including those catering to the LGBTQ+ community, to encounter issues with fake or bot accounts.

Freely available features

The freely available features on ManNation include registration, video uploads, viewing members who viewed your profile, reading blogs, and more.

Pricing

Pricing for a Gold Membership at MenNation is structured based on the subscription length, with rates being $39.95 for 1 month, $26.95 per month for a 3-month commitment, and $19.95 per month for a 12-month commitment, offering significant savings for longer term subscriptions.

ManNation overview

A mate recently shared his experience with ManNation, a unique platform facilitating connections for gay and bi Aussie men. He was drawn to it while exploring hookup options, finding ManNation really stands out for those seeking same-sex encounters.

According to him, ManNation’s concept is straightforward – dudes can openly express sexual wants, with the aim of pairing up folks seeking similar experiences. This direct approach cuts through typical dating runaround to quickly find compatible partners.

He mentioned the user-friendly interface streamlines browsing profiles and initiating contact with potential matches. My mate views ManNation as a refreshing alternative to traditional dating sites. It provides a safe, welcoming environment for men to openly explore identities and desires without judgment.

8. HeatedAffairs – Leading site for discreet extramarital connections

Personality tests for matching

Live-action sections for real-time interaction

Community engagement through blogs and contests

Age range: 25-44

Male:Female ratio: 7:3

Fake and inactive profiles

HeatedAffairs maintains a low scam chance, primarily due to verified profiles. Most direct contact is reserved for paid members, aiming for member safety.

Freely available features

Free membership includes creating a profile, joining forums, and limited interaction capabilities.

Pricing

As part of the FriendFinder network, also HeatedAffairs offers membership pricing that slightly varies across different regions, and the memberships are set at $29.99 for a 1-month subscription, $59.99 for a 3-month subscription, and $179.99 for an annual subscription.

HeatedAffairs overview

One edgier corner of the Aussie dating scene? HeatedAffairs – that notorious digital haven for cheaters and affair-seekers craving discreet, no-strings fun. Their claim to fame is an unwavering focus on discretion – encrypted chats, stringent privacy, full anonymity. A total judgment-free zone for attached Aussies to openly pursue extracurricular thrills.

No beating around the bush either, according to mates in the know. You’re diving into a community actively hunting casual affair partners or hookups to satisfy cravings back home. But that premium on secrecy also attracts catfishers and randos without much stake in the game. Exploring it demands some serious street smarts given the inherent affair risks.

Still, for Aussies stuck in unsatisfying marriages or thirsting to walk on the wild side, HeatedAffairs fills a distinct niche if discretion reigns supreme.

9. Cougar Life – Best site for meeting cougars

Standard messages are free for sugar mommas

Profiles include quality photos and information

Basic and advanced search filters like age range, location, and more

Male:Female ratio: 7:3

Fake and inactive profiles

Numerous false accounts exist, yet the team is actively engaging in the suspension of such profiles upon their reporting.

Freely available features

The platform offers a free trial allowing users to create profiles, adjust search settings, and view other members’ profiles among other features.

Pricing

Cougar Life uses a credit system for pricing, offering packages at $30 for 100 credits, $100 for 500, and $150 for 1,000 credits. These are used for actions like messaging. It also has premium memberships at $40 for one month, $29 per month for three months, and $12 per month for twelve months, giving users flexibility in accessing features.

Cougar Life overview

An eye for sophisticated mature ladies who know what they want? Then CougarLife could be your Aussie bloke’s playground – facilitating those combustible May-December connections between young lads and sexy, confident cougars. Don’t mistake it for some sleazy cougar-chasing site though. The vibe is upscale, like an exclusive club celebrating the dynamic youth/experience combo.

Word is, CougarLife fosters mutual empowerment – no insecure lads just bagging older women for novelty. The ladies lead, and lads embrace being the pursued party. At its core, the site champions how shared passions can make vast age gaps meaningless. Common interests become the great erotic equaliser.

10. SeniorSizzle – Best hookup site for mature dating in Australia

Extensive User Base (over 77 million users worldwide)

Robust Search and Interaction Tools

It provides an age-appropriate user experience

Age range: 43+

Male to Female ratio: 2:1

Fake and inactive profiles

Like numerous dating/hookup sites, SeniorSizzle implements guidelines to safeguard the community, encouraging reporting suspicious behavior to moderators. As access is free, bots, advertising profiles, or malicious entities may be encountered. Remain vigilant, scrutinizing each profile’s content.

Freely available features

While specific details about freely available features weren’t directly mentioned, the site offers a range of functionalities that cater to user interaction and connection, such as profile creation, browsing profiles without a paid membership, seeing who’s online, and using basic match features. Free members can also send winks and participate in forums.

Pricing

Membership prices on SeniorSizzle show slight variations across different regions, but the average rates are positioned at $29.99 for 1 month, $59.99 for 3 months, and $179.99 for 1 year. Furthermore, the platform employs a token system for interaction with live models and for accessing additional premium content, with token packages ranging from $12 for 100 tokens to $99 for 1,000 tokens.

SeniorSizzle overview

Don’t be fooled by SeniorSizzle – it celebrates life’s finer vintages enhancing the next adventure. A warm, welcoming vibe exuding self-assuredness where an inspiring bunch of 50-somethings who’ve lived colorful lives eagerly pursue new chapters of romance, companionship, or red-hot flings.

Its design is tailored for this crowd – clean, intuitive interfaces emphasizing compatibility and shared experiences over just looks. An atmosphere celebrating wisdom and maturity, yet this refined community knows how to bring the heat! Flirty banter, hobby meetups, connections sparking between zesty like-minded Aussies.

SeniorSizzle reminds us passion is ageless, that cool soulful aunt whispering some flames never extinguish.

Top Dating Apps in Australia for Hookups – FAQs

What is the #1 hookup site in Australia?

The crown for Australia’s top hookup kingdom has to go to Seeking. This thriving hub just has an unbeatable blend of a massive, active userbase and a total “anything goes” vibe that’s equal parts raunchy and refreshing.

Seeking’s crowd is a beautiful mess of sexy singles, young professionals, polyamorous couples, you name it. But here’s the real kicker – the ratio heavily favors the fellas, with around 4 men for every woman! For us blokes, those are some tantalizing odds.

Which Dating Site Has the Most Users in Australia?

No surprise here, the density crown goes to the OG hookup behemoth AdultFriendFinder. We’re talking tens of thousands of Aussies across every state looking to connect for some casual fun.

What’s great about AFF’s sheer volume is you’re guaranteed to find your flavor no matter how tame or wild your tastes may be. There are active communities for every kink, orientation, and relationship style imaginable. Endless options, if you can handle the intensity!

Are hookup sites free for females?

This one’s a bit of a mixed bag depending on which platform you’re exploring. Some sites keep it totally free for the ladies as a way to load up on female users and entice men to pony up for memberships.

Are there any free dating sites in Australia?

Absolutely, there are some quality free dating options for budget-conscious Aussies! Ones like Plenty of Fish and OkCupid offer robust 100% free experiences without nagging you to upgrade. The trade-off is dealing with more spam accounts and ads.

Just like when I’m searching for the newest online casinos, personally I prefer to invest at least a few bucks into sites like Seeking or AdultFriendFinder that filter out a lot of the riffraff and time-wasters from the start, if I’m looking for fun with no strings attached.

How to find a hookup in Australia?

Mate, finding a casual connection in this country is as easy as firing up your preferred dating app and putting yourself out there! We’ve got so many hookup-friendly platforms to choose from down under.

My advice? Do a little recon first and get a feel for each app’s crowd and vibes. Are you an adventure-seeker who belongs on Passion.com’s kinkster playgrounds? Aömature catch thirsting for SeniorSizzle’s saucy 50-somethings? Define your desires, then pick your digital playground accordingly.

Oh, and one big pro-tip? Be upfront about wanting to keep things casual and fun on your profile. Save everyone some time by setting those expectations. Then it’s just a matter of working on your wit and letting nature take its course!

Conclusion – What Is the Best Dating Site for Hookups in AUS?

The landscape of the best hookup sites for Australian adventures is broad and diverse, catering to every whim, orientation, and preference imaginable. Whether you’re in the hunt for new experiences, keen to reignite your passion, or simply curious to see what’s out there, there’s definitely a platform perfectly tailored to your needs.

The real excitement lies in venturing through these unique communities, discovering hidden desires, and unexpected connections. Always remember to proceed with respect, be your authentic self, and never cease chasing that elusive chemistry rush. The casual encounters and connections you’re seeking in Australia are just a tap away!

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#Hookup #Sites #Australia #Top #Hookup #Apps #Aussies

The Manjummel Boys effect: How Kamal Haasan’s ‘Gunaa’ has stood the test of time

Post By Entertainment Guna, Gunaa, Kamal Haasan, Kamal Haasan Guna, Kamal Haasan Gunaa, Manjummel Boys, Sab John, Santhana Bharathi

It certainly seems impossible to scroll through Instagram without seeing a reel video carrying the ‘Kanmani Anbodu’ track from the Tamil film Gunaa. Unless you were living under the gigantic rocks of Guna Caves, you are likely to know that the placement of the track in the sensational Malayalam hit Manjummel Boys. — which is about a tragedy that befalls a group of friends visiting the Guna Caves — has brought back the 1991 Kamal Haasan starrer to the centre of attention. But ask the cinephiles and they will vouch for how Gunaa, which was criminally under-appreciated during its release, has always been a cult classic set in stone.

A still from ‘Chanakyan’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

The story of how Gunaa came to fruition calls for a film on its own. When Kamal was 19, he was not satisfied with the monotonous work he was getting in Tamil films and that’s when his mentor figure Ananthu (remember this name) asked him to give Malayalam cinema a shot, an endeavour that garnered him huge success apart from rejuvenating his thirst for the craft. His last film as the lead in Malayalam was Chanakyan (1989) helmed by National Award-winning filmmaker TK Rajeev Kumar in his directorial debut. It also marked the debut of writer Sab John and his first collaboration with Kamal.

The following year, the duo, along with director Sibi Malayil and cinematographer Venu, decided to team up for a film on insurgency in Sri Lanka, an idea that was shot down by veteran Cho Ramaswamy citing the feathers it might ruffle. Sab John found another plot from his childhood, which was about this man who would be seen frequently in his neighbourhood and was called by everyone ‘Pottan’ (a derogatory term for a person intellectually slow to learn and follow). Kamal, intrigued by the idea, gave his nod. Malayil was not available by the time the film took shape and Kamal’s longtime friend and filmmaker Santhana Bharathi (who in 1987 made the Sathyaraj-starrer Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu which Kamal produced) took over the direction reins. When the team started with recce works near the Berijam Lake, Kodaikanal, they spotted a milestone for the national park named Mathikettan Solai (the forest of the lost minds) and Sab John recommended that as the title. But because of the negative connotation, the makers went with the name of its primary lead; and thus, Gunaa was born!

A still from ‘Gunaa’

Gunaa, condensed into a one-liner, is the story of a newly released psychiatric patient who kidnaps a heiress, believing it’s their destiny to get married. The plot might sound similar to the Spanish film Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! by auteur Pedro Almodóvar that came out just a year before,but John had earlier clarified Gunaa had nothing to do with it; the layers John, Kamal and Bharathi add to Gunaa would prove that. For starters, the initial portions of Gunaa are set in Andhra Pradesh and the very first shot introduces us to Gunaa standing atop a building in the pose of Nataraja as the camera moves along showing how he’s the only man in a brothel managed by his god-fearing mother. As the story progresses, we learn that his uncle, unaware of his mental health issues, used to tie him up to a Gunaseelan temple from which he escaped, sought medical care and was diagnosed with Obsessional psychoneurosis.

In a fantastic 150-second arc shot that has become synonymous with the film, Gunaa explains how he’s waiting for his ‘Abirami’ with whom he wants to escape from this god-forsaken world. His abandoning father became a villain he never knew and the repercussions that led his mother to take up sex work are all “impurities” for him. He wants to settle down with Abirami atop a cold “Pentothal hill,” far from this ugly world that’s cold enough to lie that his mother has died to get him out of hospital.

Immediately, we cut to a montage song in which the film’s composer Ilaiyaraaja lends his voice to the ‘Appan Endrum’ track and Vaali pushes home the point of Gunaa’s need to purification with lines like ‘kuppai aga vandha udambu’ and ‘endha Gangai aatril indha azhukku pogum’. The ‘Unnai Naan’ track deserves a special mention for how, visually, we get to see both Gunaa’s mother and Rosy, the only two souls that care for our titular hero, take turns pacifying him. Just like Chanakyan, John’s Gunaa is also about a love story that does not end on a positive note, and Rosy’s unrequited love towards Gunaa is also an underlying motif that’s carried throughout the film.

A still from ‘Paartha Vizhi’ song from ‘Gunaa’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Gunaa finds his Abirami when another fantastic track, ‘Paartha Vizhi,’ plays; the song is from Abhirami Pattar’s ‘Abhirami Anthadhi’, a Tamil collection of poems sung on goddess Abirami, and in the film’s context, the lyrics coincide with Gunaa finding the almighty in Rohini (Roshini) who he believes to be Abirami. The song is also when Gunaa goes into a dream sequence featuring the lead pair dancing together dressed as gods. In fact, Gunaa is laced with many such religious references from both Hinduism and Christianity — The heist sequence in which Gunaa inadvertently stabs a thief with a trident, the church sequence, and Abirami, dressed in white, compared to that of an angel are some examples with a personal favourite being the shot where blood from Gunaa’s injured hand unwittingly lands on Rohini’s forehead resembling smeared vermillion.

Probably as an extension of Kamal’s beliefs, nature takes over as the almighty once the film shifts to the third act, featuring the intimate moments between Gunaa and Rohini where the latter embodies the Abirami persona. It’s a whole new world where the hills of Kodaikanal turn into their version of Mount Kailash; for us, it’s where a schizophrenic person and a Stockholm syndrome victim find peace and love. The Devil’s Kitchen — that Subash and his friends dreaded in Manjummel Boys — turns into a comforting home for the couple. The writing also makes sure there is a breadcrumb trail to showcase how Gunaa has been one with the nature around him. In an earlier sequence, we see him talking to a cow and when asked for the reason by his uncle, he retorts with “manushangaluku en thukkam puriyathu” (humans won’t understand my grief). There’s also a pair of sparrows nesting in the church which acts as a metaphor for the lead pair and one of the sparrows getting killed by a gunshot is a prophesy of how Rohini meets her end.

A still from ‘Kanmani Anbodu’ song from ‘Gunaa’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Gunaa, unsurprisingly, started a sub-genre of films that paved the way for titles like Kaadhal Kondein (2003) and Kadhalil Vizhunthen (2008). Apart from influencing an era of filmmakers who would often cite it as the film that got them into movie-making, Gunaa is also one of those rare films that made real-world differences; the Devil’s Kitchen turned into a touring spot, with its name changed to Guna Caves. Gunaa was also an addition to Kamal’s list of films that dealt with mental health issues, like Sigappu Rojakkal, Moondram Pirai and Aalavandhan. Kamal and Bharathi would even go on to team up for Mahanadhi, which, like Gunaa, also sheds light on the plight of sex workers.

Gunaa might not have gotten an astounding financial success when it was released. Nothing had prepared the audience for a film like it; Bharathi’s previous films — as a solo director and as a co-director with P Vasu — were mostly romance dramas or cop flicks. An actor who didn’t stick to the norms of a traditional “hero”, Gunaa was similar to what he had previously done in films like 16 Vayathinile and Kalyanaraman, and the hard-hitting film came sandwiched between comedy capers like Michael Madana Kama Rajan and Singaravelan. The fact that the film was released alongside titles like Bramma, Rudhra and of course, Rajinikanth-Mani Ratnam’s Thalapathy, didn’t help it either.

Nevertheless, Gunaa turned out to be a cult classic over the years. The nifty touches, references, and treatments of its lovely songs make it one of the best films from the Tamil film industry. Speaking of nifty touches, remember Ananthu who I had earlier mentioned about? He plays a cameo as Gunaa’s roommate at the hospital who inculcates the concept of Abirami within Gunaa, just like how Ananthu mentored Kamal Haasan.

A still from ‘Manjummel Boys’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

The Malayalam film industry has referenced Gunaa and the ‘Kanmani Anbodu’ track in many of its films like Premam but Manjummel Boys takes this a step ahead and turns it into a tribute to the film. Even the plot of it, which’s got a bunch of friends paying no heed to the warnings and signs, feels like a reference to the meaning of Mathikettan Solai which has its own share of urban legends. At the core, both the films deal with the affection and the attachment between the lead characters, though it’s love for Gunaa and friendship between the boys in the new film. Nevertheless, Manjummel Boyscertainly feels like a love letter to Gunaa complete with the ‘Kanmani anbodu kaadhalan naan ezhuthum kadithamae’ line. It’s undoubtedly a wonderful homage to Gunaa, a brilliant film made by some of the best talents in the country whose love for this craft of filmmaking had no bounds. Could we fathom it? Probably we will never get it. Probably they meant it when they went “Manidhar unarndhu kolla idhu manitha kaadhal ala, adhayum thaandi punidhamanathu!”

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#Manjummel #Boys #effect #Kamal #Haasans #Gunaa #stood #test #time

Alon Aranya: Making Hit Shows for a Global Audience | FilmInk

Post By Entertainment

In recent years, producer Alon Aranya has been a driving force behind some of the biggest global hits to come out of both Hollywood and international TV.

As well as producing Showtime’s acclaimed legal drama Your Honor, starring Bryan Cranston, which became that cable network’s most-watched series to date, Aranya also oversaw Apple’s Emmy-winning, globally successful series Tehran, the streamer’s first non-English-language series.

Throughout his impressive career, Aranya has set up close to 50 scripted shows at US and international networks and studios.

His extensive CV also includes shows Red Widow (based on the Dutch format Penoza), Betrayal (based on the Dutch format Overspel), and Hostages (based on the Israeli format Bnei Aruba), which he also co-wrote, for CBS.

Currently, Aranya, who produces and finances international dramas via his company Paper Plane Productions, has four shows on the air including Your Honor, Tehran, The Vanishing Triangle, a Sundance Now Original Irish Crime Series, and Best Seller Boy, a Dutch dramedy based on the bestseller by Mano Bouzamur, a co-production of the Dutch NPO and CBS Studios International.

Aranya is also in development on a slate of shows for the international market, which include Australian series, as well as productions in the US, Germany, Ireland, France, Holland, India, and several other countries.

At Screen Producers Australia’s Screen Forever 2024 conference, Aranya shared his tips for Australian creators, and his optimistic thoughts on the current landscape.

Among many of your incredible achievements, Tehran was the first non-English language series produced for Apple TV. What have you learned from the success of Tehran?

“Tehran was made out of Israel, and the first season was made for less than half a million dollars an episode. And it was made with 50% of the budget coming from the outside. And then, after we made it, it sold to Apple. At the time, in 2020, it was the biggest deal ever for a non-English speaking show, on a global streamer. And in fact, it was Apple’s first international show.

“That was my first international show that we developed and produced. And, we thought, ‘this is a great idea. We know how to develop it’, and we can make something out of this, and it could be a really interesting case study for us on how to proceed forward with our international agenda. And of course, when you make a show, you hope certain things will happen, but you just don’t know that they’re going to happen on this level. And so, I think it opened our eyes and the whole world’s eyes to what’s possible for shows that are not English-speaking, too.

“I think what happened after Tehran is that Tehran opened up this big appetite that landed exactly at the same time of Covid. And that’s when the streamers started to go global, the ones that weren’t there yet. And the streamers rushed shows to try to meet the demand of subscriptions that might come with Covid. And, a lot of non-English speaking shows were produced, but they were rushed through the process.

“I think the result of it, just generally speaking, with a few exceptions, was not good. There were not great shows, they were not selling. And, there was just money left on the table. And, so, now three, four years later, there’s a suggestion in the marketplace that non-English speaking shows are no longer a thing. We’re back to English speaking. It didn’t work out. So, you can imagine that the people who made Tehran are a little baffled by this notion because anybody that’s saying that non-English speaking shows are not great in the marketplace, it’s because they didn’t make good non-English speaking shows.

“Tehran is a show that’s 50% in Farsi. Forget about non-English, try financing that (laughs)! So, if a show like that could impact globally, the way Tehran did, then a lot of other shows can do that. But they have to be made on a premium level that can break through. That’s the bottom line. And, in our business, I just hear too many people speak about trends, they switch the trend as soon as they make another mediocre show and then another trend. And meanwhile, we’re just sitting there and going, ‘isn’t our job to make a great show? What happened to that trend?’ So, I learned that at the end of the day, we don’t have to listen to the noise so much, but really do our work. It’s not that we’re not connected to the marketplace. We know what the marketplace is, but we also know what a good show is, and we’re gonna continue making non-English speaking shows together with English speaking shows, because as long as we’re making a good show, it will sell and it will go global.”

It seems like the landscape and appetite of buyers, particularly for global series, is constantly changing every year. What are your thoughts on the marketplace in 2024?

“Of course, there are trends and things like that. If you look at a snapshot of this year, I think a lot of distributors will prefer putting their money in English-speaking shows. That said, we’re in the process of financing a few non-English speaking shows. So, again, I have to stress that our job as producers and writers is to put up the best game we have and to put up a show that’s a premium level show, which is so hard to achieve, because it takes a long time to develop these kinds of things. And, it’s not a rushed process. And as long as we do that, I think there’s always gonna be a marketplace for good shows.

“I’ll give you an example about trends. We have a show called Your Honor. I made the deal for Your Honor and I put it all together about four or five years before it actually aired. And, it became the most-viewed show ever on Showtime for its first season, which is incredible. But none of this could have been predicted four or five years before as a trend. What kind of a trend does Your Honor have? All of a sudden, there’s a trend with judges or with a father and son? It’s not a trend. It’s a great show, and people showed up. So, within that, sometimes they’re looking for more darker stuff in certain years because the world is dark, then we’re looking for lighter stuff. And of course, those are very natural things. But overall, believe me, the one thing I learned from all of this is, keep your eye on the ball. And the ball is, make a great show and don’t look right and don’t look left so much. Make the great show that you wanna make. And it will actually set a trend like Tehran did. Better to set the trend than follow it, I think.”

Your Honor was adapted from an international format into a US series. What was it about Your Honor that made you think it would translate so well?

“Well, Your Honor is based on an Israeli format, Kvodo [below]. I actually got involved in the original and adapting it to the US when it was still in development in Israel. So, technically it was a format because it was in development at a broadcaster in Israel. But I read a few scripts and it blew my head, it was so great. And, so the process of adapting it started while it was in development in Israel. It’s just an interesting anecdote because it points to how strong the concept is, and that you don’t need a fully produced format to actually adapt it. And, I remember after reading a few scripts in Israel, I went back to the States and I thought, ‘I don’t have anything to show’.

“So, I wrote up a couple pages of a pitch and literally just pitched it that way. And, it was like a five, 10-minute pitch, that’s all. And it was so strong, that everybody came on board very quickly. A lot of these great people that, normally it takes months and years to chase them down to a project, after hearing the five minutes, they’re like, ‘I’m in’. So, Your Honor for me was a global story that was created in Israel. It had Israeli characters, it was set in Israeli towns, it was an Israeli show, but if you erase the names of the characters and the locations, you could probably put any locations you wanted in any nation, because there is no country that doesn’t have a judge, or doesn’t have a father, or doesn’t have a son, or doesn’t have a hit and run, or doesn’t have a mobster…

“So, these are components that you can find anywhere on the planet. And that’s why the show, I think, became so successful globally, not only because of the Showtime version and the original format, but as you can see, it was adapted like eight times. So, it really speaks to the power of the concept. And, so for me, I could have found that show in France, but it happened to be developed by a great writer, Shlomo Moshiah in Israel. And lucky for me, when I read it, I thought, ‘man, this is the Israeli version of The Night Of’. And that’s why Peter Moffat was sort of one of the first ideas to write this, having created the original The Night Of, Criminal Justice.

“And, it’s one of those lucky situations where you’re like, ‘who do you want to write this?’ And I was like, ‘well, I think Peter Moffat could be great’, and next thing we know, Peter Moffat is attached. So, it was one of those really rare cases where you identify something and it’s so clear, and its short version of an elevator pitch that it attracts people immediately. And I think that’s what is great about it. It really could have been a show from anywhere, and it became a show from everywhere, in fact.”

As a producer, you’re looking for shows that are going to translate globally, that are strong enough that they will have appeal across the world?

“That’s right. And, with formats, of course, when you’re adapting stuff, it’s interesting because we do both, we adapt stuff in different countries, and we also make originals. And those are two different targets. They are different situations. And when we adapt something, we’re actually looking for something really global, something that’s not so tied down to one country that you couldn’t see how it could be developed in a different country, but rather something like Your Honor that can really easily be adapted. But when we make an original, like if we’re making an original Israeli show or any other original, we’re actually trying to make something that is a singular in that territory. And maybe you could adapt it, but that’s not the first purpose of it. The purpose is to really make a singular show like Tehran that maybe could be adapted somewhere in the world, theoretically, but it’s not your immediate go-to show to adapt, because it’s so powerful as an original. And I think that’s an example of shows that we would make in different territories as original shows, that they will be singular in a sense that no, you actually can’t get these shows from anywhere else, just from the country we made it in. So, I think it’s two different sort of ways of making shows and the way we think about them are a little different.”

So, for original series, the aim is very much that they stand on their own feet.

“Yeah. I mean, look at the stuff that historically was bought out of Israel, for example. And it’s true for all the countries, but, Tehran, of course, Shtisel, these are singular Israeli shows. You can’t get these shows from the United States or from the UK or from Italy. And I like that. I like that a lot as a way of thinking about shows, and same thing for Australia. My hope in Australia is to make a singular Australian show that when buyers will look at it on the one end, they’ll love it because it’s universal. On the other end, they’ll go, ‘I can’t make that show immediately somewhere else. That’s really Australian’, the nature of it and the DNA of it.

“And, it’s not something that I would in two minutes go and make in the UK, or something like that. I think it’s this balance between finding something that feels very Australian on the one end, but also finding a concept that can go global. And it’s not always possible. Sometimes, the two are in cahoots with each other, but we’re looking for that middle ground. So Australian viewers, when they watch a show that hopefully we would make here with Australian partners, they would find themselves completely at home, and actually hopefully with some kind of new experience around it, and then it would go global. And that’s exactly what happened to Tehran, by the way, when it aired in Israel. Israelis just flocked to it immediately. They loved it. And also, they pointed out that it was a new experience for them. They’ve never seen a show with a pace like that in Israel, because there was never money really to produce shows that, you know, go so fast.

“So, for Israelis, it was amazing and a new experience in watching Israeli content. That would be my hope anywhere that I could make a show in Australia; people would tell me, ‘We’ve never seen something like this really. There were things that are similar, but not anything like this’. And yet it would go global.”

What types of projects are you looking for from Australian producers?

“Well, like anywhere, we meet a lot of writers here and a lot of producers and the broadcasters too. And so naturally there’s stuff that we generate from here, but also as a company that wants to be active on the ground here, we’re bringing our own projects into the territory. And those are not Australian projects. They were created somewhere else, but as they were developed and created or produced somewhere else, the thought was, ‘wow, this could be a really great Australian show’. So sometimes the source material might not be from Australia in its original form, even the pitch, but immediately when we put it in development in Australia, we will make it Australian, and it will make all the sense in the world.

“I’m not Australian as you might tell… And, so sometimes I’ll be spot-on and sometimes people might say, ‘I’m not sure about this one for this marketplace’. And we learn as we go along. Because we didn’t work here for the last decade, we’re also learning the lay of the land. But it goes back to what I said at the beginning, when there’s a great story, there’s just a great story on the table, and then when it’s great, then broadcasters in different parts of the world are gonna look at it and go, ‘wait, it’s so great. How can I make this here? I’d like to make this here’. So, to me, it goes back to a great story and also some kind of understanding about Australia specifically, or a different territory, culturally, and speaking to all the players on the ground, you start getting a sense of what kind of stuff is right to bring in. And then again, we get pitches from Australia, we get ideas from writers and from producers in Australia, and we look at those and go, ‘yes, some of them are great’. This is the thing we can contribute to, and it feels very Australian, and at the same time, we can see how this can go global. So, it’s that kind of combination.”

Australia has, in the past, been a very attractive market for overseas co-productions. Are you also focused on co-productions?

“I’m actually here to do Australian shows, not shoot American shows for the tax break, which is understandable, but that’s a different business. We’re actually here to make shows. I will wanna bet that in the next year, the likes of Your Honor, we actually would make them here. And not in the US. Because the price tag in the US is becoming so high that not all shows are gonna justify that price tag moving forward. And, so I think when you’re gonna have these kind of dramas, family drama, thrillers or whatnot, some of them might be better to produce in a different English-speaking country like Australia, and make it for a cost that makes sense for the show. And also, for us producers, coming and working in Australia, just like other countries, allows us and the Australian producers to own the show outside of Australia and to make deals to finance it, and therefore, hopefully enjoy the upside of them when they sell outside of the territory. So, it’s all of that together.

“There are so many talented people on the ground here. You guys have the best incentives, I think, on the planet at this point. I can’t say enough good words about your country. I think other people probably feel the same. So, it really is a perfect place to work in. And, I think that, ironically, co-productions are a product of need, they’re here because everybody needs it. People need more money. The shows are costing more, the deficits are becoming bigger, and therefore, collaborations and cooperations outside of anybody’s territory are a must now, in order to finance the show. So, I think, it’s a great time, ironically, because we need to do this.

“But the fact that we need to do this has brought us here. And the fact that we’re here to do it is a fantastic thing because, as you can tell, I’ve been doing it for years now. I’m still super excited about every opportunity because it’s so much fun and so exciting to be able to tell other kinds of stories, not just American stories, and be able to work with people out here. And the thought that we can do an Australian show here that would fly and go global all over the world, like Colin from Accounts and the likes of it, is really appealing on every level. I think that just generally, Australia has all the components, yet not so many global hits on TV. And, I think that’s the aspiration – to go in and to, maybe three, four years from now, look back and go, ‘look, we did something’.”

Would you say that the biggest opportunity right now for Australian producers, is focusing on homegrown Australian shows, that can then become global hits?

“I think I would make that case for any country and certainly for Australia as an English-speaking country. One of the things that we see in a lot of countries like Australia, and again, it’s understandable, is a lot of cop shows, procedurals, they have a marketplace too. It’s understandable why they’re making those. But, again, I don’t know that an Australian cop show is at the top of the list of any global buyer, because they can get that from other territories. Colin From Accounts, you can’t. It is a very singular Australian product, right? So, you can’t just go, ‘never mind, I’ll just pick up a French sitcom instead’. No, it’s not an alternative for Colin. And, and thank God for Colin just recently because, I can point out and go, ‘yeah, that’s what it looks like. It looks like a singular Australian product that you got out of Australia, and that’s why it’s on Paramount+ beyond Australia. So, I think that’s the way to go. And again, there’s no one way of doing it, but I’m not here for the incentives like (many) Americans are, I’m here for the content. I’m here to develop great original content with great partners. That’s what excites me. The rest will follow, the financing, the selling, all that stuff. But the focus is on developing great content here.”

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