True Life Horror

Aditya Nimbalkar’s Sector 36 on Netflix has been sending chills down the spine of its viewers. Based on the Nithari killings where several young children were murdered between 2005 and 2006, it features Vikrant Massey as Prem Singh, a version of Surinder Koli, who supposedly aided Moninder Singh in the killings. Singh was convicted in two out of the five cases against him, and Koli, who allegedly aided him, was convicted in 10 out of the 16 cases against him. Both were originally sentenced to death until the judgment was overturned in 2023 by the Allahabad High Court. Massey was always excited to play the role, despite its diabolical nature. “Vikrant knew of the script and knew its potential. He took care of me, given that this is my first film, and I took care of him,” says Nimbalkar. Sector 36 is more than a thriller, or a gore fest, it is also a powerful social and sensitive commentary on the inequalities in our society. Its most telling example is when it contrasts the abduction of the child of an industrialist with the missing children of the underclass— and the way the police and the media react to it. As Massey’s Prem says, “Who are these children? What is their future? They will eat, they will drink, they will end up cleaning a rich person’s home. They’ll watch TV, dream, eventually they’ll rot and die under the bridge where they were born. I’ve given them freedom.” Nimbalkar says, “I feel it’s so relevant now when the poorest of the poor have access to the lives of the richest of the rich. Even if we get to reflect for a moment on the mental health of the poor as the divide grows, I am glad.” Nimbalkar, who is a true crime fan, picked and chose from various movies and series like Memories of Murder (2003) and Mindhunter (2017). These were great influences for him. Nimbalkar has worked for long with Vishal Bhardwaj, and they had often discussed this particular case. It is an assured debut with Massey as the nonchalant, Kaun Banega Crorepati-loving criminal and Deepak Dobriyal as the reluctant investigator who nearly loses his own daughter too. It is a portrait of a devil, but it is also a mirror to ourselves, at how we treat those less fortunate than us. As Massey’s Prem says, “A family of four will have 10 servants to look after it. Does it make sense?” It is the cry of the impoverished and the invisible and Nimbalkar’s Sector 36 amplifies it loudly and clearly.

The Return of Maya Miriga

Nirad Mohapatra, a star graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India, made one feature film in his long career, Maya Miriga in 1984. A masterpiece about a joint family which is slowly coming apart at its seams, it was all but lost to film lovers. Found in a warehouse, the 16 mm film was in tatters, until Mohapatra’s son Sandeep reached out to Shivendra Singh Dungarpur’s Film Heritage Foundation three years ago. The film was on a damaged 16 mm camera print and a 35 mm print preserved at the NFDC (National Film Archive of India). Now in its restored state, with music by the late great Bhaskar Chandavakar, amped up, it is ready for a theatrical release in Odisha. Mohapatra has since died, but his widow Sabita Mohanty keeps the flame alive, sharing anecdotes and behind the scenes stories. Shot in an old house in Puri, she talks of how the shooting was a friends and family affair, with Mohapatra’s brother Sampad playing one of the characters. Mohapatra was not above whitewashing the house and cleaning the rooms while she designed the costumes. The result is a film that is seeped in the slow life, as the brothers leave the home one by one, forcing the grandfather to finally ask his 10-month-old grandchild: Will you leave me too? Made on a budget from NFDC, it is considered a classic, one of a kind from Odisha.

Rewind

If Bandit Queen (1994) was the film which propelled a band of talented actors from Delhi to Mumbai, among them Manoj Bajpayee and the late Nirmal Pandey, Satya in 1998 did so for the next generation. Durgesh Kumar, star of Prime Video’s Panchayat, says when he was growing up in Darbhanga, Bihar, Bajpayee’s character path inspired him. Kumar says everyone needs a North Star to guide them in the unknown world of Hindi cinema. “He did 10 years of theatre in Delhi before he left for Mumbai. Before him, Irrfan [Khan] did TV series for 17 years before he got a break in cinema. No one knows what works in Bollywood. Bollywood itself doesn’t know,” he says.

Aditya NimbalkarBollywoodcinemaDurgesh KumarNirad Mohapatra