There is always a movie from India playing at the Marcus Hollywood cinema here in Appleton, Wisconsin. They are screened in the Hindi, Telugu or Tamil languages. Sometimes a film will have various language versions during the same theatrical run. Out of curiosity, we snuck into one of these films, halfway through, a few years back. It was loud, very loud, but also seemed like something we’d like to try for real down the line.
This week, we finally made it back to the Indian screening, with all-star LnD contributor, G., for a film called Unstoppable (Unlimited Fun). Going to one of these screenings is a unique experience. Right off the bat, I can’t think of another film that has parenthesis in the title. …I’ll wait. … No, right? …Then, I forgot to bring earplugs. This is not an exaggeration. Unstoppable (Unlimited Fun) is an all out full throttled assault on your senses and the theaters’ surround sound system. It makes Everything, Everywhere All at Once look like a French alpine picnic, including baguettes and brie. There is a wall of sound & color. You can feel the full energy and power of the Indian sub-continent. By the way, India is now the most populated country on earth with 1.4 billion people and you can think of U(UF) as a blaring public address announcement for you.
To enjoy U(UF) just order a side of suspend your disbelief with your popcorn. It’s a rollicking whirlwind, an absurd ride, that breaks into elaborate and large song and dance numbers. One dance scene takes place in a Hollywood themed amusement park. The protagonists end up sitting in front of a statue of Laurel and Hardy for a moment. There are also funny but poignant critiques of the way we do things in the West. In particular the obese child of one of the main heels who seemingly would be able to find the floor of a bottomless bucket of KFC — and demand more like a golden ticket winner in the Wonka factory.
Another note on sound. The film had a comic book sound design that surprised my sensibilities. Akin to the original TV Batman series, the effects accentuated each character, gag and zinger. There was no shame in this. And it made sense in a universe that was so completely over-the-top. As far as the volume, I’m not saying this facetiously, to be cute or racist…bring your damn earplugs. Why are these Indian films so loud? I can’t tell you why. I don’t know if this is the volume that they are normally played at in India and is what people expect or if this is an anomaly. I suppose we could have had the staff turn it down. We were after all the only people in the theater, but that wouldn’t seem right in principle. This must be the way it was intended to be heard. Another thing is that the Indian films which play at Marcus Hollywood are long. At two and a half hours, U(UF) is a shorty. Most are at least three hours. I asked a friend who immigrated to the US from India about this and without missing a beat he said that, “L., there is no air-conditioning in India.” Maybe so. I know that in most places in the world people use the movies to escape muggy, hot weather. This leads me to wonder if movies are going to get longer due to global warming? I’ll leave this question to box office experts and climate scientists. Ironically, it was kind of stuffy in the Marcus Hollywood Cinema in Appleton.
The plot of the film, which you can easily understand without reading a word of subtitles, follows two YouTube celebrity film critics, Kohinoor Kalyan (VJ Sunny) and Jilani Ramdas (Saptagiri) as they get into some hot water before a big wedding. Their quest has them come up against a really bad hombre and his henchmen. Our crew is aided by Ramdas’ girlfriend Apple aka Bandar (Aqsa Khan) and also an internet influencer and Kalyan’s love interest named Time Table Tulasi (Nakshatra) who really needs this to end so she can make a reel for her friends. She has a lot of followers! An Uber driver named Tyre (Bithiri Sathi) who is only into “super interesting” stories and experiences basically steals the movie. Overall, as an experience, I enjoyed Unstoppable (Unlimited Fun). I would have enjoyed it more with ear protection but that’s my own damn fault. I judge this film not on the usual standards I would apply to story structure and reality but to how well it brings energy —and this film really brings it. In the words of Tyre, the cracked out Uber driver, “It’s SUPER INTERESTING, bro!”
L&D Report 