PremiumExclusive! Paatal Lok creator Sudip Sharma on ‘problematic’ violent films: ‘A man enters a hotel with a gun and kills 150 people; where is the police?’
Paatal Lok creator Sudip Sharma who has made some of the most nuanced films and shows that are dark in nature now talks about how he sees violence in recent films in an exclusive chat with OTTplay.
Exclusive! Sudip Sharma Talks About Violence In Recent Films
Last Updated: 12.39 PM, Jan 21, 2025
‘Violence is never the end, that is not the point of writing a violent film,’ says writer, director, and creator Sudip Sharma, who sits down with OTTplay to discuss Paatal Lok Season 2, now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. The filmmaker, over the years, has given Hindi cinema some of the darkest stories, but not without an end that will make you look at society with a different lens. His quest to know the world better and his curiosity about the idea of violence has given rise to some of the most potent films and shows. These projects incorporate violence but focus on a cause far beyond just being a violent work. NH10, Udta Punjab, Paatal Lok, and Kohrra are some of his creations and speak volumes about the brilliant content he has delivered. But for someone who has aced the violence genre, is he happy with the current crop of films in the same category?
Sudip Sharma on Violence in Films
The last two years have been about men with guns, a ‘unique’ walk and voice pitch, killing people, seeking revenge, and living without fearing the system, police, or fate. You know the exact films we are referencing, and this trend has now become a genre in itself. But is the normalization of violence without consequences and the audience’s desensitization the right path forward for cinema? Sudip Sharma thinks not, and it bothers him. In an exclusive conversation, he dissects the violence in his creations ahead of Paatal Lok Season 2 and critiques how the genre is becoming one-dimensional, which he finds alarming.
In discussing the paradigm shift in the genre and its implications, Sharma says, “For me, violence is never the end; that is not the point of writing a violent film. I mean, the point of NH10 is not violence. The point of that film is violence leads to violence and that there are consequences to violence. The same is true with Paatal Lok.”
He adds, “The point of Paatal Lok is not violence itself. It is that violence has a cause, and we need to look beyond the obvious. We need to look beyond the fact that this is a violent character and instead examine the systemic reasons. What are the reasons that this man chose violence? Can we understand those reasons to understand him better? Could addressing those systemic issues lead to a better society? That was really the whole point of Paatal Lok.”
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Sharma feels that violence has, over time, become an end in itself in mainstream cinema, and the absence of consequences is troubling. “Somewhere down the line, violence has become an end in itself in the larger mainstream (cinema). Which disturbs me. Which honestly bothers me. If there are no consequences to the violence you see on screen, then it’s problematic. Violence in real life takes a toll. A roadside fight between two people will affect you if you watch it even for 30 seconds. It’s the very idea that one person can harm another that leaves an impact. Growing up, I saw violence very up close—not because I was a violent kid, but because I grew up in a difficult time and place. I lived in Assam in the 80s and 90s and witnessed the consequences of violence firsthand.”
He recalls movies in which protagonists enter rooms and kill hundreds of people with no consequences, and the world looks up to them as heroes. Examples abound: Animal, Pushpa, KGF, and many others. “In recent times, we’ve become desensitized because there’s so much violence in films with no consequences. One man enters a hotel with a gun and kills 150 people, and no one asks where the police are. Why is no one talking about this? Why are we glorifying this man as a hero? Why aren’t we questioning the morality of his actions? That, to me, is problematic.”
Paatal Lok Season 2 is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Stay tuned to OTTplay for more information on this and everything else from the world of streaming and films.