News Analysis India

Tag: Youtubers

  • Social media accounts suspended, govt trying to suppress our voice: Farmer leader Pandher

    Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Friday accused the Centre of trying to “suppress” the voices of the protesters, claiming social media accounts of farmers and YouTubers have been suspended. Protesting farmers have stayed put at Shambhu and Khanauri points on Punjab’s border with Haryana for the fourth day after their ‘Delhi Chalo’ march to press the Centre for various demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops, was stopped by security forces which led to clashes.

    Union ministers and farmer leaders met on February 8, 12 and 15 to discuss the farmer unions’ demands but the talks remained inconclusive. The two sides will meet again on February 18 for a fourth round of talks.

    Talking to reporters on Friday, Pandher said that during the meeting with Union ministers a day ago, “we raised the issue of the suspension of Internet and Twitter (now X) handles of farmer leaders”. Also alleging that the government has suspended the accounts of around 70 YouTubers who were showing farmers’ protest, he said it appears “the government wants to suppress our voice.”

    Pandher said that during the talks with the Union ministers, they raised the issue of the use of “force” against farmers by the paramilitary personnel deployed at the Punjab-Haryana border who fired tear gas shells at the protesters.

    He claimed that around 70 farmers have sustained serious injuries in an action by Haryana security personnel at Shambhu and Khanauri borders. The farmer leader said the talks with the Union ministers were held in a positive atmosphere and various demands of the protesters, including a law on MSP and debt waiver, were discussed. The government said they wanted to continue talks, Pandher said, adding that their ‘Delhi Chalo’ call still stands and the protesters were staying put at the Punjab-Haryana border so that a solution emerges through talks.

    On Thursday, Pandher said during the meeting with ministers they raised the issue of tear gas shelling by the paramilitary forces on farmers at the Shambhu and Khanuri borders. He said they showed the shells to the ministers during the meeting.

    Haryana Police on Friday again fired tear gas shells to disperse the protesting farmers when they moved towards the barricades at the Shambhu border near Ambala.

    Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal demanded the release of farmers who were either arrested or detained by the Haryana police.

    Besides a legal guarantee of MSP, the farmers are demanding the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations, pension for farmers and farm labourers, farm debt waiver, no hike in electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases and “justice” for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, and compensation to the families of the farmers who died during a previous agitation in 2020-21.

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  • ‘Our Stupid Reactions’: Indian cinema through the lens of two Americans

    Express News Service

    With too much time and not enough Hollywood trailers to react to in 2019, American actors Rick Segall and Korbin Miles of YouTube’s ‘Our Stupid Reactions’ (OSR) fame decided to turn their keen eye toward Bollywood. 

    They debuted with Zoya Akhtar’s ‘Gully Boy’, and the duo’s reaction video to it was an instant hit, setting off an endless flurry of ‘please-react-to-this’ requests from white-people-opinion-loving (and-hating) Indians on YouTube. Today, as their channel with a subscriber base of 1.17 million is expanding, so is their repertoire of films, with the duo taking up not just Bollywood, but also regional cinema from across the country. Rick and Korbin let us in on their journey thus far.

    Excerpts from an interview:

    Q: What drew your interest in Indian films?

    Rick: We had no clue about Indian cinema. When we watched Gully Boy, it reminded us of ‘8 Mile’ and just blew us away. The length of time Bollywood films takes provides space for emotions, which is new for someone like me, who is used to traditional film arcs. We discovered such great cinema in India––we can’t help but keep coming back. OSR is also how I met my wife, Indrani Mukherjee Segall! 

    Rick Segall and Korbin Miles.

    Q: Tell us the reason behind your title ‘Our Stupid Reactions’

    Korbin: Some of our takes on films may be totally off, hence, our tongue-in-cheek title is a defense mechanism against our haters to say, “Hey, we are just dumb White guys, we don’t take ourselves so seriously.”

    Q: Tell us about a film you recently enjoyed.

    Korbin: We really loved ‘RRR’. Now that we are used to seeing characters having superhero-like abilities like picking up a motorcycle by hand, we could appreciate the film without asking questions on logic.

    Rick: ‘RRR’ provided us with a festival-like experience — it confirmed that some movies are made for practical reasons… to be watched on the big screen. 

    Q: What do you think the viewers learn from you?

    Rick: Viewers tell us they learn a lot about films in general from us, particularly our perspectives on technical brilliance. They also say they get to hear about films from other regions through OSR, making them look beyond the films produced in their respective regions.

    Q: What are your opinions on the films produced by the non-Bollywood film industries?

    Rick: Malayalam films are in line with our interests––they have unpredictability and groundedness which is remarkable, like what we saw in ‘Android Kunjappan Version 5.25’. The acting is superb. We love what Fahadh Faasil does. We also closely follow the work of artists like Vijay Sethupathy, Soubin Shahir, and Lijo Jose Pellissery (whom we interviewed). We particularly like Bangla films— they have so much heart. 

    Q: How do you access culturally-rooted films?

    Rick: Mohanlal’s ‘Vanaprastham’, where he plays a Kathakali artiste, had nuances we did not understand. But language and culture aren’t barriers. We absolutely loved the recent Tamil film ‘Kadaisi Vivasayi’ on the life of a farmer––it was a rural set up but the story is human. The films are regional, but also universal.

    Korbin: We were called ‘Bollywood bootleggers’ once, but we are conscious of the diversity today. 

    Q: In your opinion, why do viewers connect with you guys?

    Rick: We are honest about what we like. Also, we can understand and talk about artistry because we are actors ourselves. We truly love India and its art/artistry, and it is sadly so rare for Americans to see India the way Indians do.