#NowThis
Suggestion No:4

HUNTERS

What would you do if you come to know that there are Nazis living among you?

Set in the period of 1977, a diverse group of people join forces to hunt the escaped Nazis for revenge and to bring justice.

But soon they start unravelling astonishing info and a greater deadly plot. Is the hunt capable of stopping it?

Hunters-Inspired by true events
Available on Amazon Prime

அர்விந்த்சாமி நடித்த நரகாசூரன் ரிலீஸ் ஆகுமா ஆகாதா? இரசிகர்கள் மனதில் பல மாதங்களாக இருக்கும் கேள்வி. கவலையேபடாதீங்க ரிலீஸ் ஆகும் என்று பதில் வந்திருக்கிறது. அட போங்கசார், கொரோனா எப்போ முடியறது, படம் எப்போ ரிலீஸ் ஆகறதுன்னு யாரும் கவலைப்பட வேண்டாம். கார்த்திக் நரேன் இயக்கியுள்ள இப்படம், பல ரிலீஸ் பஞ்சாயத்துகளுக்குப் பிறகு நேரடியாக அமேசான் பிரைமில் ரிலீசாகிறது. ஏப்ரல் 17 முதல் அமேசான் பிரைம் வீடியோவில் பார்க்கலாம்.

இதற்கு கௌதம் மேனன் தரப்பு என்ன சொல்லப் போகிறதோ? ஏனென்றால் அவர்தான் இந்தப்படத்தின் முதல் தயாரிப்பாளர். ஆனால் அவருக்கும் இயக்குநர் கார்த்திக் நரேனுக்கும் ஏதோ மனத்தாங்கலாகி, டிவிட்டரில் வார்த்தைப் போரெல்லாம் நடந்தது. இந்த அறிவிப்பை பார்த்தால் பிரச்சனை முடிந்துவிட்டது போலத்தான் தோன்றுகிறது.

இதில் கிடைத்திருக்கும் நல்ல செய்தி என்னவென்றால், இனிமேல் OTT எனப்படும் நெட்ஃபிளிக்ஸ், அமேசான் பிரைம் போன்ற ஆன்லைன் தளங்களில் எந்தக் கூச்சமும் இல்லாமல், நிறைய படங்கள் ரிலீசாகும். ஐய்யய்ய ஆன்லைனில் ரலீசா என்கிற முகச்சுளிப்புகள் மறைந்துபோகும். ஓகே. பதினேழாம் தேதிக்கு ரெடியாகுங்க.

Language Spanish
Originally aired in 2017
Three parts 23 episodes

Want to watch a nonstop, crazy, speed thriller? Then Money Heist is the perfect series for you. It is about a biggest heist planned by one man, the professor and his eight chosen criminals. There is never a lull moment in the narration. The keep you guessing through out .The professor depicted as a sensitive, compassionate person still a mastermind behind the heist makes it an interesting watch. Part one and two were good but I think part 3 lost its zest.
Don’t miss this action packed adventure.

Padmini Satyanarayanan

Language English
Originally aired in 2016
Four seasons 33 episodes

When my son suggested this series to me and when I saw the posters I thought it is a children’s comic book story and gave it a miss. But when there was a time I couldn’t choose a series (Netflix and Amazon prime have presented a problem of plenty now) he again insisted that I watch ST. so I watched it and scolded myself for having missed it for so long. Yes it is about children, yes it is a comic book story but what a casting! What acting! What characterizations! What locales! What CGs! It was a complete treat to watch.

It does remind you of ET the extra-terrestrial, Back to the Future, Aliens and Terminator at times but that is the secret of its success because we feel so nostalgic and we get closer to the people. Astounding performances by the cast especially the children, I should mention Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson, the kid is simply awesome.

Padmini Satyanarayanan

DASTAAN - பாசாங்கில்லாத பாகிஸ்தான் காதல்
Language Urdu
Country Pakistan
Originally aired in 2010
One season 23 episodes

I started watching Pakistani TV series primarily to improve my Urdu; to enrich the vocabulary and to learn the nuances of the language but I must admit that I was so impressed by the story value and the execution of the stories that I couldn’t stop with one. Unlike the saas bahu sagas of Star Plus or the two wives hungama of Sun TV, these series had strong story lines with solid values. Another important factor is that they don’t keep churning these stories for seven years, ten years and call that in itself as success. Maximum a series would be 25 episodes.

Dastaan is an epic series in its own right. Based on the events that occurred during the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan. Bano is engaged to Hassan who works in the Pakistani side in Rawalpindi and she is in Ludhiana the Indian state of Punjab. Her family is destroyed completely during the riots and did she survive to reach her finance in Pakistan is the rest of the story. Human suffering is the same whatever side of the border you are in, The trials and tribulations; the tears and anguish; the longing and the separations; the torture and humiliations are all the same. The drama does not make villains out of Hindus and Sikhs but only depicts how mob culture can destroy humanity in our own neighbors and friends.

Dastaan is a heavy subject to watch, I had to give a day’s break every now and then to compose myself, and still it shakes your very being. You are left with questions like was all this necessary? For what purpose? What did we achieve by cutting of an arm of the peninsula? Couldn’t they have done it without so much bloodshed? Were our leaders careless that they did not foresee such a calamity? Or were they indifferent? There are no graphic scenes of violence in the drama still it tears you apart.

Watch Dastaan to know the bitter history of India and Pakistan, what our people endured because of the egoism and foolishness of our leaders, because Bano is not just the daughter of Pakistan, she is as much our daughter too.

Padmini Satyanarayanan

BLACK SPOT/ ZONE BLANCHE
Language French
Originally aired in 2017
Two seasons 16 episodes

An honest cop with a troubled past, her loyal colleagues, a weird prosecutor, a small town with a close knit community, to top it all a Celtic god believed to be haunting the forest, what more do u want for a gripping crime thriller? Black spot is brilliantly engaging. If you want to break away from a bustling city life and go to a tranquil place, watch Black spot it will automatically transport you to a remote French town.

Padmini Satyanarayanan

McMAFIA - ரஷ்யன் மாஃபியா கதை
Language English/Russian
Originally aired in 2018
One season 8 episodes

Macmafia is about a Russian mafia family who relocate to England and start a legitimate business. The son Alex Godman is brought up as an upright gentleman. Alex starts a business and wants to lead a calm and quite life with his girlfriend Rebecca until the past catches up with them and he is sucked into the world of crime. It is a gripping tale of someone who wants to be righteous but could not ignore family values. It’s a breezy watch of just 8 episodes, so happy viewing!

Padmini Satyanarayanan

Language Hindi/ English
Originally aired in 2017

Inside Edge is Amazon Prime’s first ever original series. It is based on an imaginary cricket team playing league games modeled on IPL. Anyone interested in cricket and IPL should not miss it. Strong storyline, interesting screenplay, impressive performances and a racy climax makes it wonderful viewing. I finished all the 10 episodes in two days! While it shows the ugly face of betting and match fixing it also shows how some players uphold the spirit of the game. This is also the first Indian television series to be nominated for Emmy Awards.

Documentary
Language: Mandarin/English
Country: China
Released in 2019

Amazon Original

It was a lazy Friday afternoon, I had just finished a great series and was not in the mood to start another, Instead I wanted to browse for some light hearted documentaries or movies. The name One Child Nation caught my eye (in Amazon Prime). I thought it would talk about the pangs of growing up as only child with no siblings and no uncles, aunts and cousins if it were a second generation child. But this documentary was about how this policy was implemented in China. I was devastated would be an understatement. Even now, after three days I am reeling under its impact, completely shattered, tears rolling down as I type these words.
On the one hand, the propaganda machine was brainwashing people from 1979 to 2015 that one child policy was a brilliant idea of the government to save the people from starvation and poverty. On the other hand the government was awarding 120 Yuan for reporting about your neighbor who is second time pregnant. Women were forcefully carried away, aborted, induced delivery and the child killed, forced sterilizations and what not. If a woman bore a second child having escaped all these atrocities the child was taken away, even if it was a twin one of them was separated from the parents. Millions of children who were passed off as orphans were given for international adoption.
The worst was not done by the government, it was the people! Like all Asians their obsession for a male child made them do the unspeakable. If the one child was a girl they put her in a basket and left her in the markets for human traffickers to pick up or simply die. So that they can have a male child. There are families who abandoned up to three girls to finally have a male child. I was horrified at the collective inhumanity of the people and their government.
Watch it simply to understand what a blessed life we have, let us spare a minute and think what a secure and free life we are enjoying. Salute to Nanfu Wang for her courage in making this documentary.