In this episode, we explore the depiction of custodial violence in films with Deepanjana Pal. Deepanjana Pal is a journalist and author. She writes about culture and society. Her film writing has appeared in a range of publications and she was most recently the managing editor of the website Film Companion.
Films about cops in India often sensationalise and normalise police brutality, possibly desensitising audiences to the suffering of real people. In this episode, we critically examined how these films reflect societal attitudes toward power, authority, and justice. We also discussed whether they contribute to meaningful discourse or merely exploit trauma for entertainment.
References:
- K Chandru, What The Sathankulam Custodial Murders Reveal
https://article-14.com/post/what-the-sathankulam-custodial-murders-reveal
- Kalpana Nair, Five Films that Don’t Glamorise Police Violence https://www.filmcompanion.in/fc-lists/jayaraj-bennix-5-films-that-dont-glamorise-police-violence-visaranai-vetrimaran-sooryavanshi-singham
- Omkar Khandekar, Rethinking the angry young cop in Indian cinema https://lifestyle.livemint.com/how-to-lounge/movies-tv/rethinking-the-angry-young-cop-in-indian-cinema-111634476144273.html
- Karthik Kumar, Sathankulam custodial deaths: Singam director Hari regrets making films glorifying police https://www.hindustantimes.com/regional-movies/sathankulam-custodial-deaths-singam-director-hari-regrets-making-films-glorifying-police/story-2NxchO4mslUFz2s68NkW4H.html
- Rohit Shetty reacts to claims of glorifying police brutality with his films: ‘Darr hona zaruri hai, okay to get trolled'
https://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/rohit-shetty-reacts-to-claims-of-glorifying-police-brutality-with-his-films-101704964787324.html
CREDITS:
Host: Leah Verghese
This is a Maed in India production.
Producer: Sean D’mello
Sound Design & Mixing: Lakshman Parsuram
Project Supervisor: Shaun Fanthome
