Hani Hilal

There is a chilling familiarity in how the disgraced Malayalam actor Dileep is making his slow but deliberate return to public life. The script is not new: a carefully staged media blitz, selective memory, appeals to nostalgia, and an ecosystem of enablers willing to overlook—or deliberately erase—the seriousness of the charges he continues to face.

However, I was disappointed by the movie even if it gave me a few highs in a packed theatre that whistled and clapped for the movie’s vigilante justice system. In that regard, Maharaja, this year’s blockbuster and Jailer, last year’s highest grosser, are similar for me in many ways.

The Beemapally police firing which resulted in multiple deaths including that of a 14-year-old Muslim boy is the inspiration behind the movie. Ever since the movie's release, there have been criticisms against the distortion of the actual events to favour a state narrative about the police killings. Hence, the tail-end is the final draw from the director to hold together a technically good movie with a weak script, with an even weaker political understanding.

Every time I watch an Indian political drama and before my criticism about its shortcomings, gross misrepresentations, and appropriations take place, the Indian far-right would have already got offended and started a campaign against it just because of a dialogue or a scene.