Funny but melancholic too
Vir Das: Outside In — The lockdown Special
Netflix
*ing: Vir Das
Rated: 5.5/10
We all know how funny stand-up comedy is. We also know that Vir Das has perfected this craft. The latest 50-odd minute virtual session on Netflix on how he entertained people in order to raise money for charity is everything that he is known for— being funny and ensuring that his audience got plenty of laughs.
What is brilliant about this show that Das conducted over Zoom is it managed to raise over Rs 35 lakh for 17 different charities— a commendable feat — and that over a period of three months via his virtual stand-up.
We get to see a very different side to him as well as he lans his camera to show the audience his personal space — something that his fans would love to get a sneak peek into including his collection of caps. Then there is the whole headband that he supports which he carries off with elan. One also gets to see how the lockdown affected this comedian — making this show a bit melancholy as well.
Of course there is bound to be plenty of laughs as he goes about asking people a simple question— what is the first thing you would do once lockdown opens? The answers, someone wanting to eat ice cream to another wanting to ride his bike to yet another wanting to eat Asian food from her favourite restaurant, besides bringing a smile are extremely real and relatable.
He is engaging, making his audience laugh at their own expense.
He is also sans the stage and tells you that he longer has the advantage of being shrouded in the shadows and that it is nice to see inside his audiences’ home.
Retelling Peter Sutcliffe’s crimes
the ripper
Netflix
Documentary
Rated: 6/10
It is a no-brainer that documentaries are interesting to watch provided they are told in an engaging manner. What can be more engaging than following an investigation by the West Yorkshire Metropolitan Police in what is considered to be one of the biggest man hunt for a serial killer that terrorised the women of North England for more than five years and killed 13 women and attacked seven others who lived to tell the tale.
What makes this documentary interesting, absolutely fascinating and riveting is the way it has been told through various people who were part of the investigation and some of the women who were willing to talk about their bear brush with death. Then there are accounts of reporters who give you an inside of what was happening in the society at that time and how the once thriving area of this part of England due to Industrial Revolution fell on bad times and people lost their jobs and women stepped out to roam on the streets at night to make money to support their family. It also tells you how a patriarchal mindset of the police showed these women as loose, how the police’s warning to women to stay indoors after dark was met with resistance because they were not able to catch a killer. It was also the time when England saw its first woman Prime Minister in Margret Thatcher and the changing polity of England.
But perhaps the most fascinating thing about this four-part mini series is how the killer was always a few steps ahead of the police and managed to evade them even though no stone remained unturned and millions of pounds were spent to catch him. What is even more bizarre is that it was a bit of luck that landed him in police net — in a totally unrelated offence — a wrong number plate; the car didn’t match the number plate it supported. Finally, the man who had terrorised the women was caught — his name Peter Sutcliffe, a lorry driver.
His neighbours were shocked that he was the Yorkshire Ripper — a name given to him by the Press due to the fact that most of his victims were prostitutes — and killings similar to Jack The Ripper.
So why this documentary now when the killings took place almost 46 years back? Sutcliffe finally died in prison at age 74 on November 13, 2020.