5 Thoughts I Had About Priya Prakash Varrier’s Sridevi Bungalow Trailer. Yeah, Right, It’s Not About Sridevi *Winks*
I cannot forget the day when Priya Prakash Varrier’s wink from Oru Adaar Love went viral. At first, my coworkers and I couldn’t understand the appeal. It’s just a wink FFS! But then it grew on us, and soon, we grasped why she became the sweetheart of the nation, even before her Malayalam debut film was released. And now, Priya Prakash Varrier is all set to make her Bollywood debut with a film called Sridevi Bungalow. Now I got two thoughts in my head when I heard the name. One, is this going to be like Krishna Cottage? And two, is this inspired from the life of the late Sridevi? The makers, and Arbaz Khan, who is starring alongside Varrier in the movie, denied any connection. And today, I decided to see it for myself when the Sridevi Bungalow trailer dropped.
Can I just say, I have QUESTIONS!
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Before we get to the five thoughts that flowed into my head when I saw the trailer, let me tell you what this film is about. Directed and written by Prasanth Mambully, and starring Priya Prakash, Priyanshu Chatterjee, Aseem Ali Khan, Mukesh Rishi, Lee Nicholas Harris and Arbaz Khan, Sridevi Bungalow is a suspense crime thriller. According to the description on YouTube, it is “based on a crime that happened to a Bollywood actress”.
Now I know what you’d think. The sudden and tragic death of everyone’s beloved Bollywood’s first female superstar, Sridevi, which happened in Dubai, comes to mind. Not to mention, when the first teaser of the film was dropped more than a year ago, there was a shot of a woman’s feet sticking out of a bathtub, which made almost everyone think that it was alluding to the actress dying in a similar fashion. In case you think this is mere speculation, Boney Kapoor, the late Sridevi’s husband, has even initiated legal proceedings against the makers of the movie.
However, looks like the legal notice didn’t work, since now, after much delay, the film is finally seeing the light of day.
Here are five thoughts I had when watching the trailer of Sridevi Bungalow:
1. What is happening in this trailer??? Why is it cut so badly?
You might think I am a snob but very few movies have trailers that are perfection. Most of them either reveal everything there is to know about the movie, and ruin the novelty, or they have you super confused. Sridevi Bungalow’s trailer is the third type—you have absolutely no idea what is happening in it. Yet, somehow you do. And you don’t care.
The trailer begins with a shot of Priya Prakash Varrier waving to a crowd of screaming fans outside. And a voiceover by Arbaz Khan, followed by Mukesh Rishi’s, lets us know that Sridevi has been an actress for a long time. I am guessing Priyanshu is her fiancé or husband, and there’s another random dude who looks at her longingly. So, old flame? One night stand?
Oh, there’s also a non-Indian cop (because Sridevi bungalow is in phoren location) who keeps giving these creepy stares. Sridevi’s clearly done something bad and is being blackmailed for it. I can’t tell for sure.
Why? Erm, because….
2. Is it just me or is the sound so bad that you can’t even hear the dialogues properly?
I have a pretty decent phone and laptop, and I watched the trailer on both, just to make sure. But the dubbing is so, so bad, that I couldn’t hear the few dialogues that were peppered through the trailer!
3. I love rum. I do. But the lyrics of that item song are poison. I’m sorry, I can’t.
Arz kiya hai… “Rum bola Rum Bola / Rum peeke Bum Bola / DJ ne hai bola / Rum peeke bum hila”
There’s also something about ‘phaad denge’, and I’m sorry, I can’t. I have a feeling the video is going to be worse. I already caught a glimpse of the actress frolicking in a giant glass of coloured water that we are supposed to assume is rum. So yeah.
4. The previous teaser and the current trailer have barely any connection. What is the significance of the ‘Sridevi Bungalow’, pray tell?
I’ll admit, I wasn’t too interested in the movie before, despite wink girl being a part of it, because the whole Sridevi controversy made me think it was just another sensationalisation of a beloved star’s life. But after I saw this trailer, YouTube threw at me the first look and teaser, etc. And they painted a whole different picture, nothing of which is part of this trailer. I mean, really, not one frame overlaps!
What’s even more interesting is that when that teaser begins, Priya Prakash’s character signs an autograph for a little girl as ’Sreedevi’ not ’Sridevi’. This distinction is important to note.
Because…..
5. You want me to believe Sridevi Bungalow has no connection with the real Sridevi? Yeah, sure! *wink *
Okay, let me lay down a few points here. The actress is called Sridevi. There’s a talk about some insurance policy that I assume has to do with her dying and her spouse or someone else benefitting from. If you’ll recall, when Sridevi passed away, news channels had a field day running all sorts of ridiculous controversies, one of which associated with an insurance policy that was drawn on the late actress’ name. So there’s that connect.
And finally, THE BATHTUB! The unmissable bathtub scene which they makers keep ending the movie on is clearly meant to be a sort of clickbait. Maybe I am wrong, and maybe that is the intention, to lure audience into it thinking there’s something about the real-life tragedy and turns out it’s not. But even then, it’s a very obvious move that people can see through.
