Entertainment

SS Rajamouli retrospective: Sye – A bolder filmmaker takes generous amount of inspiration from Any Given Sunday

Published

5 months ago

November 3, 2022

In this retrospective series on SS Rajamouli’s career, we try to understand what makes him tick as a storyteller. We are hoping that this exercise will reveal certain recurring patterns, themes, tropes and cinematic elements which Rajamouli has perfected over the last 20 years to reach where he is today.

On any given Sunday, if somebody asks you, what is your favourite SS Rajamouli film, what will you say? If you’re a newly minted Rajamouli fan, the chances are you will either say Baahubali series or RRR. And you wouldn’t know that he did a film based on rugby called Sye back in 2004. Like his previous movie Simhadri, Sye is also a highly derivative work. This film is heavily indebted to filmmaker Oliver Stone’s Any Given Sunday. And if you’re a cinephile, you can spot a few other inspirations — such as Prudhvi’s first fight, which generously borrows ideas from the memorable duel between Achilles and Hector in Troy.

Rajamouli goes so far as even lifting a whole bunch of words from Tony D’Amato’s climax monologue. Maybe he did it as a form of homage. But, in hindsight, such things leave me with mixed feelings. I enjoyed Sye so much when it first came out. This campus-based film is about a bunch of reckless youngsters, who eagerly go to college every day without fail but rarely attend classes. It connected with me for some reason (wink, wink).

Rewatching Sye again made me realise that it was rather the only film in SS Rajamouli’s career that he made for the teenage audience. The story is set against the backdrop of a property dispute. MK College sits on costly real estate. And it attracts the evil eyes of Bhikshu Yadav, a bruiser with a great taste for theatrics.

Bhikshu, played by a wonderful Pradeep Rawat, who butchers the entire gang of seasoned criminals in a blink of an eye, seems clueless in mental games. Prudhvi (Nithiin) and his teammates send Bhikshu and his gang into a tailspin with their clever ploy. The man, who has solved all his problems with brutal violence, can’t respond to the little mind games of college students. But, soon he corners those giving him nightmares. Instead of killing them, he comes up with an innovative solution. He challenges the youngsters to a rugby match. He promises that if they beat his team, he will leave their college alone. So the wager is made and the match is set.

SS Rajamouli has staged the final rugby match in a very entertaining way. Back then, he introduced young adolescents to a whole new game, which was fascinating and terrifying at once. While Rajamouli has taken certain key ideas from a few Hollywood movies, he makes that plot points his own by adapting to the Indian conditions.

For example, he’s very well aware of the fact that Indians don’t care about American football. There is no point in making a technical sports drama like Any Given Sunday. At the time, I would have never cared for the mind-boggling football rules, which involve imaginary transverse lines. What does that even mean? Or I would never be bothered to learn about quarterback or blindside.

Rajamouli takes the core idea of Any Given Sunday — American football is a modern-day gladiator match. And he weaves the narration around it. He builds on the pure physicality of the sports, which allows men to intentionally bump into each other with great force and impunity. Rajamouli latches onto that idea and he doesn’t bother to explain the rules of rugby, besides the cursory knowledge about the game’s scoring method.

He introduces us to the rugby game as an excuse for the rival camps of MK College to settle their scores in plain sight. And this simplification of the sport, allows us to dig into it. It becomes a more engaging alternative to conventional street fights. That’s the cleverness of Rajamouli that has helped him reach where he’s today. He knows who his audiences are and what they want. And he delivers just that.

Bhikshu Yadav and his bumbling group of henchmen are the best part of this film. If not for their bad track record, one would feel the urge to root for them in the climax. Bhikshu and his men bring the circus to the rugby field. A giant buffalo, which is the insignia of Bhikshu’s team, is led into the field, followed by a war dance, which sticks in your brain.

In Sye, SS Rajamouli seemed more confident as a filmmaker than he was in Simhadri. So much so that it’s in Sye, he used his signature stamp for the first time in the end credits. An SS Rajamouli film since then came to be associated with high-octane, quality entertainment.

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Entertainment

Bad Bunny sued for $40M by ex-girlfriend over song sample – National | Globalnews.ca

Published

11 hours ago

March 21, 2023

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Fans are already familiar with the artist’s breathy tagline, “Bad Bunny, baby” — but the Puerto Rican rapper is now being sued for at least US$40 million by his ex-girlfriend, who claims he used the recording of her voice without permission.

Carliz De La Cruz Hernández said she recorded the audio for Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Martínez Ocasio, before he skyrocketed to international fame, as per a new lawsuit filed in a Puerto Rico court. She alleged she invented the phrase.

The lawsuit, which was first reported by the Puerto Rico news website NotiCel, claimed the unauthorized recording is used in the 29-year-old singer’s songs, Pa Ti from 2017 and Dos Mil 16, which is featured on the Grammy-winning album Un Verano Sin Ti. The tracks have been streamed on Spotify at least 235 million times each.

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As per the lawsuit, De La Cruz claimed her “Bad Bunny, baby” audio has been used for numerous promotions, worldwide concerts, television, radio and social appearances.

Due to her “distinguishable voice,” De La Cruz said she’s been barraged with messages and comments about the unauthorized recording.

“Since then, thousands of people have commented directly on Carliz’s social media networks, as well as every time she goes to a public place, about the ‘Bad Bunny, baby.’ This has caused, and currently causes, that De La Cruz feels worried, anguished, intimidated, overwhelmed and anxious,” reads the lawsuit.

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De La Cruz is also suing Martínez’s manager, Noah Kamil Assad Byrne.

Neither Martínez nor Assad has commented publicly on the lawsuit.

In the legal filing, De La Cruz claimed a representative for the reggaetón singer contacted her in May 2022, shortly before Un Verano Sin Ti was released. She said the representative offered her $2,000 for the voice recording. At this point, the “Bad Bunny, baby,” audio had already been used in 2017’s Pa Ti.

De La Cruz allegedly declined the payment on the grounds that she was apparently not comfortable with her voice being featured. She said the song was published anyway without her consent.

“Since de la Cruz made it clear that she did not consent to its use, its publication constituted an act of gross negligence, bad faith, and, worse still, an attack on their privacy, morals, and dignity since all parties had and still have knowledge of these facts and even so decided to be reckless and break the law,” the filing reads.

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The lawsuit outlines the relationship between De La Cruz and Martínez, who apparently started dating in 2011, before he was signed to the label Rimas Entertainment. At the time, De La Cruz claimed she was responsible for managing her artist boyfriend’s invoices, contracts and scheduling.

She said she recorded the “Bad Bunny, baby” audio in the bathroom of a party in 2015, as it was the quietest room available at the time.

The pair ended their relationship in 2017, a year after Martínez asked to marry De La Cruz.

In February, Martínez won a Grammy for Best Música Urbana Album for Un Verano Sin Ti. The album was also nominated for the coveted Album of the Year award but lost out to Harry’s House by Harry Styles.

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Grammys 2023: Ontario grandma and Harry Styles superfan steals the show

— With files from The Associated Press

&copy 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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Gwyneth Paltrow to take the stand in $300K ski crash lawsuit – National | Globalnews.ca

Published

1 day ago

March 21, 2023

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Actor and entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow will appear in court next week to testify in a civil case filed by a retired optometrist claiming she caused him serious injury in a 2016 ski accident, as per numerous reports.

Terry Sanderson has accused Paltrow, 50, of negligence and is suing for US$300,000 (about $410,000). He alleged the Goop founder collided with him while skiing at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah, “knocking him down hard, knocking him out.”

In the complaint filed in 2019, Sanderson, 76, said the accident left him with “permanent traumatic brain injury, 4 broken ribs, pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life.” He maintains that Paltrow left him collapsed on the slope and skied away.

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In a counterclaim, Paltrow said Sanderson skied into her in a “full body hit,” giving her minor injuries that prevented her from skiing the next day. She claims he apologized to her after the accident.

Paltrow said she only left the scene of the accident after a Deer Valley Resort employee gave confirmation she could depart.

She also alleged Sanderson has said before that he does not have a clear memory of the accident.

In 2019, Sanderson classified the accident as a hit-and-run but that was later struck down by a judge. Any mention of incidences after the collision — including an allegation from Sanderson that a resort employee who did not witness the crash skied off and accused Sanderson of being responsible for the accident — were also disallowed.

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Gwyneth Paltrow’s ‘The Goop Lab’: Fact-checking the health claims

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Sanderson’s original lawsuit sought $3.1 million in damages.

In her counterclaim, Paltrow is seeking only $1 in damages (a symbolic gesture), and capital for her lawyer’s fees.

The trial is set to begin on March 21 in Utah. To win the civil suit, Sanderson must demonstrate the burden of proof and prove his injuries were directly caused by the ski collision.

&copy 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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Entertainment

Fans petition for Pedro Pascal to be 2023 Calgary Stampede parade marshal | Globalnews.ca

Published

2 days ago

March 20, 2023

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An online petition is hoping to see one of the stars of The Last of Us named the 2023 Calgary Stampede parade marshal.

A Change.org petition wants Pedro Pascal, who plays Joel in the TV show, to lead the charge.

The parade marshal is usually announced at the end of May or early June.

Pascal spent time in Calgary and across the province filming the hit Crave series, including the Alberta legislature, the Bow River, the Ranchland Inn in Nanton, the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), Canmore Engine Bridge and Waterton Lakes National Park.

Click to play video: 'Travel Alberta sharing The Last of Us locations online'

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Travel Alberta sharing The Last of Us locations online

In fact, in episode 1, When You’re Lost in the Darkness, Calgary’s downtown is used as a stand-in for Boston, and a specially designed set situated in the industrial area behind the Calgary Stampede grounds serves at the show’s Boston Quarantine Zone (QZ.)

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Pascal has also spoken about his love for Alberta, like exploring the mountains and seeing the northern lights.