By Inderjit Badhwar

For those seeking the heart-pounding chaos of Gotham—the car chases, explosions, and violent mayhem that punctuated Joker: Folie à Deux’s 2019 predecessor—you’re bound to feel cheated. This film shuns the devilish spectacle, the apocalyptic laughter, and numbing bloodletting that made audiences reel last time. Instead, Joker takes a different path—one that draws you into a theatrical allegory, where sorrow lurks behind every scene like the unspoken melancholy of Busby Berkeley’s gals, whose smiles mask tears behind the brass and drums. It’s a film that will break your heart if you’re willing to look beneath the surface.

Most critics who have panned this work have utterly missed its genius. They’ve approached it as another instalment of the Batman universe or a Marvel spin-off, never realising they should have been viewing it through a Bergmanesque or Kafkaesque lens.

This is not a superhero movie; it is a meditation on despair. In fact, even with its colour palette, the film strikes the mind in grainy black and white, resonating with the heavy weight of reality and the tragedy that lies at its core.

Tragedy reigns in every frame. From the grimy, passionless prison where Joker awaits trial for his previous murders, to his imploding visage as he engages in cramped and joyless lovemaking with Harley Quinn in a dingy cell, the mood is one of relentless gloom. As the film unfolds, we understand one central truth: Joker is already dead. Joaquin Phoenix’s face in the opening shots tells us this immediately—the rest of the movie exists to prove why this is so. It’s not a question of fate; it’s an exploration of inevitability.

This film becomes a tug-of-war—not just between Joker and the world around him—but between director Todd Phillips, Joaquin Phoenix, and the audience. Phillips and Phoenix push a painful reality down the throats of viewers and characters alike, while the world around them begs for fantasy. It’s as though the cast itself, along with the audience, yearns for the Joker of old—the virile, immanent figure who once offered Gotham’s downtrodden an escape, a chance at vengeance, a wild ride through the storm. But that Joker is gone.

Fantasy, it turns out, is what many wanted—and critics, too, missed the film’s central theme of “fantasy as entertainment.” The repeated number, “That’s Entertainment,” becomes the leitmotif, a sardonic nod to an audience desperate to maintain illusion. The powerful Joker of the previous film offered this fantasy. He was an avenging angel, the ultimate escape hatch for Gotham’s wretched—their abused and neglected, whose collective pain he embodied. He thrilled the wealthy, the beautiful people, the theatre-going elite, who saw in him a Marvel comic made flesh.

Even Harley was captivated by this illusion, but unwittingly, she played the role of femme fatale. In love, Joker became Fleck once again, irreversibly human. And this was his fatal flaw. Joker could never survive as a human. His love for Harley shattered the very fantasy he had created, and in doing so, he signed his own death warrant. The human Fleck had to die, tried and convicted not only for his crimes but for betraying those who longed for him to remain the Joker—the untouchable, the fantastical. Even Harley, in the end, turns her back, revealing that she, too, was just another devotee of the illusion.

This film is an extraordinary piece of art, driven by Joaquin Phoenix’s near-flawless artistry and supported by brilliant character performances from an impassioned cast. It masterfully turns fantasy into reality, refusing to indulge the audience’s desire for escape.

Go see it. Joker is not entertainment for entertainment’s sake—it is art, designed to rip away our comforting illusions and force us into deeper reflection. This is not a film that indulges the tooth fairy; it crushes her underfoot, daring us to see the world as it truly is.

Telugu actor Nagarjuna Akkineni, father of actor Naga Chaitanya, has lodged a complaint against Telangana minister Konda Surekha after she made defamatory and derogatory comments regarding his son’s divorce from actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu.

The Telangana minister sparked controversy on Wednesday after she accused Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader KT Rama Rao of engineering Naga Chaitanya and Samantha’s separation. Surekha claimed that Rao lured Samantha into drug addiction and later blackmailed her.

“It was KT Rama Rao who caused Samantha’s divorce. He was a minister at the time and tapped the phones of actresses to exploit their weaknesses. He turned them into drug addicts. Everyone knows this… it’s no secret,” she alleged.

Nagarjuna, in his complaint filed in Hyderabad’s Nampally district, accused Congress leader Konda Surekha of deliberately spreading false allegations, fully aware of their untruth, with the sole aim of tarnishing his personal, professional, and family reputation.

“The statement was made with malicious intent, designed to convey falsehoods to the public at large, with the purpose of harming the complainant and his family’s reputation for political gain and sensationalism,” the complaint stated. It further emphasised that “these actions constitute a criminal offence.”

“I strongly condemn the comments of the Honorable Minister Mrs. Konda Surekha. Don’t use the lives of movie stars who stay away from politics to criticize your opponents. Please respect other people’s privacy. As a woman in a responsible position, your comments and accusations against our family are completely irrelevant and false. I request you to withdraw your comments immediately,” Nagarjuna said Wednesday in a post on X.

This is the second legal notice that the Congress leader has received regarding her remarks. KT Rama Rao has also issued a defamation notice, accusing her of engaging in “disgusting and nauseating politics,” and calling for action from her party leader, Rahul Gandhi.

Surekha’s comments have sparked significant controversy, as both Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Naga Chaitanya are prominent actors. Naga Chaitanya, a member of the influential Akkineni family in the Telugu film industry, and Samantha have both responded sharply to the politician’s remarks.

Reacting to the Minister’s remarks, Samantha said that her divorce was amicable, with no political conspiracy involved.

“My divorce is a personal matter, and I request that you refrain from speculating about it. Our choice to keep things private doesn’t invite misrepresentation. Could you [Surekha] please keep my name out of political battles? I have always remained non-political and wish to do so,” she said.

“I hope you realise that your words carry significant weight as a minister,” the Family Man 2 actor said.

Her ex-husband, Chaitanya, took to X to share that their divorce was a mutual decision considering the difference in their life goals.

“However, there have been various baseless and completely ridiculous gossip on the matter so far. I have remained silent all this while out of deep respect for my earlier spouse as well as my family. Today, the claim made by Konda Surekha garu is not only false but also absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable. Women deserve to be supported and respected. Taking advantage and exploiting the personal life decisions of celebrities for the sake of media headlines is shameful,” he said in a post on X.

Actor turned politician Govinda released an audio clip thanking his fans for their blessings, hours after he landed in Mumbai hospital due to a bullet injury on his leg. The actor suffered the injury below his knee which his licensed gun misfired.  

In the audio clip, the 60-year-old actor is heard saying that the blessings of his fans, parents and his guru saved him. He added that he was hit by a bullet, but it has been extracted. He also extended gratitude to the doctors.

Reports said that the actor suffered the injury around 4.45 am today when he was getting ready to leave for the airport to board a flight to Kolkata. The actor, also a Shiv Sena leader, was alone at the time of the incident.

Shashi Sinha, his manager said Govinda was keeping his licensed revolver in a cupboard when it fell to the floor and went off. The bullet hit the actor below his knee. After the incident, the actor called up his wife Sunita Ahuja, who was in Kolkata, and his manager. Soon after, the police reached his Juhu home and rushed him to the nearby Criticare Hospital. 

Later, the actor’s manager said his condition is stable. The actor is still at the hospital and his daughter Tina is with him. The police said that the actor has not registered any complaint.  

Shashi Sinha said that they had a 6 am flight for a show in Kolkata and he had reached the airport. He added that the actor was about to leave his residence for the airport when this accident happened. He further expressed that it is due to God’s grace that Govinda sustained only a leg injury and it was nothing serious. Reportedly, Govinda’s wife Sunita Ahuja left for Mumbai after she heard of the incident.