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The real and imaginary horrors come together in Leila the last Indian original Netflix series released Friday.
The adaptation of the novel of the same name Prayaag Akbar was performed by Deepa Mehta, Shanker Raman and Pawan Kumar. Leila takes place in the late 2040s in an India now known as Aryavarta. The totalitarian nation-state is led by Joshi (Sanjay Suri), a semi-divine figure who dominates the population with holograms, photographs and statues.
The social order collapsed as a result of severe air pollution and water shortages. The lines that divide caste and religion have taken a literal form. Each community has its own area, which is separated from others by high walls. The focus is on purity and conflicts between communities are penalized.
The transgressors are cut off from their families and sent to institutions where they receive uniforms and are re-studied in the new world ("Mera janm hi hai mera karm" – my birth determines my destiny.)
Shalini (Huma Qureshi) is one of those transgressors, having committed the crime of marrying a Muslim, Rizwan (Rahul Khanna). They have a child together, Leila, who has been separated from Shalini. In six episodes, Shalini tries to locate her daughter, avoiding surveillance systems, thwarting thugs and uncovering a political plot along the way.
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Writers Urmi Juvekar, Suhani Kanwar and Patrick Graham make important changes to the source material. While Prayaag Akbar's slow narrative was largely inspired by Shalini's thoughts, the series works like a thriller, with elements of intrigue. The timeline has been advanced – Shalini is younger in the series – and new characters have been introduced. They are Bhanu (Siddharth), Shalini's state-appointed official, Madhu (Seema Biswas), another detainee who helps Shalini in his quest, and Dixit (Ashwath Bhatt), an architect who is leading a major project for Aryavarta.
The organization that governs Aryavarta and enforces his will through a group of security personnel called Repeaters, is more clearly defined on the screen than in the pages of the novel of 39; Akbar. In his muscular insistence on purity, archaic values and social hierarchies, Aryavarta resembles a state ruled by Hindutva extremists.
Although is defined by Leila In the distant future, there are undeniable allusions to the present. Dissidents are labeled traitors, intellectuals are attacked, and repeaters have uncontrollable powers. The so-called liberal elite is also criticized – even if they speak of egalitarianism, they treat their domestic help with disdain.
Comparisons with the American series The narrative of the maid always followed Leila, partly because of the tyrannical future worsened in both narratives victimizes so disproportionately women. The series Echoes of the Hulu based on Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel is the strongest in the first episodes of Leila when Shalini is confined to a cleansing camp with other women who broke the rules of Aryavarta. Women dressed in brown sari spend their days performing unrewarding tasks and are subjected to sadistic rituals including the overthrow of half-eaten food plates. The blue cinematography of Johan Heurlin Aidt adds to the sensation. But that's where the similarities end.
Leila (2019) Courtesy of Netflix This series deserves the credit of daring to turn a mirror on contemporary and savvy Indian society that a similar mark of intolerance and exclusion could be around the corner if our worst impulses remain uncontrolled. However, the dystopia suggested by Leila is not always The series tackles too many themes – surveillance, hyper-segregation, social hierarchies, authoritarianism, pollution, a crisis of water supply – without exploring the slightest idea in depth.
The physical world of Leila is closer to the present than to the future Closed communities, breathtaking inequalities, streets teeming with impurities, water shortages, air pollution and landfills of mountainous waste that burns regularly The production model does not evoke a hypothetical and anarchic future, but reinforces the reality of today. in Indian cities.
Although the tracing requirements defeat some of the turning points of Leila the series relies on the strength of some of its performances. Huma Qureshi faces the daunting task of anchoring the series and rarely manages to convey the steel resolution hidden behind Shalini's apparent obedience.
Siddharth is an interesting choice for the grumpy Bhanu, while Arif Zakaria is perfectly sinister as Iyer, the head of the cleansing camp where Shalini is sent after his capture. The showdown between Siddharth and Shalini gives a new impetus to the first episodes of slowdown, and Bhanu is developing as an interesting jewel for Shalini.
Huma Qureshi at Leila (2019) With the kind permission of Netflix See also:
A warning indicating that dystopia could become reality Deepa Mehta and Prayaag Akbar in "Leila" from Netflix
First Reading: The first novel by Prayaag Akbar, & # 39; Leila & # 39; is a fantasy for the near future
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