Shriya Eats Daal
| Shriya Eats Daal ശ്രിയ പയറ് കഴിക്കുന്നു (Chatalayam) | |
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| Directed by | Kanan Nakndika |
| Screenplay by |
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| Story by | Ela Lajwanti |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Yogini Urvi |
| Edited by | Madhavilata Deepti |
| Music by | |
Production companies | |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 167 minutes |
| Country | Tennai |
| Language | Chatalayam |
| Budget | ₹344.3 million (NS $260 million) |
| Box office | ₹1.9 billion (NS $1.4 billion) |
Shriya Eats Daal is a 2010 Tennaiite comedy space opera directed by Kanan Nakndika and written by Ela Lajwanti. The film was co-produced by Sensual Nova Productions and Deep Entertainment. It stars Taapsee Bhatia, Simone Kalpita, Jaspati Sera Dewala, Oojam Varsha, Yogesh Manisha, Kavita Ambuja, Yamya Nirupama, and Chetan Ulka. Bhatia portrays gunslinging smuggler Shriya Blaze, who must track down her ex-girlfriend and notorious space pirate Lucy Nova (Kalpita) who has destroyed her favorite deep space diner and kidnapped her current girlfriend Sunny Parvati (Dewala). With her favorite eatery destroyed and her girlfriend kidnapped, Shriya must brave warring galactic factions and uncharted planets to rescue Sunny and avenge the destruction of her favorite diner.
Inspired by Aswina Rishimavaarshini's short lived 1985 science fiction comic series ''Guns at Light Speed'', the film's script, written by by Lajwanti, was aquired by Deep and Kanan Nakndika signed on to direct the film. Principal photography began in January 2009, before the script was completed, and wrapped up in May of that year, with the various planetary scenes being shot over a period of nineteen weeks in Tennai, Gylias, and Ruvelka and other scenes being shot at Sensual Nova's Hampi studio. The film's computer generated effects were created by Tennaiite visual effects company Deva Forge.
Shriya Eats Daal premiered in Hampi on May 1, 2010, and was released theatrically in Tennai on May 5 and in Gylias on May 11. The film recieved overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics, with praise for the acting (particularly Bhatia's and Kalpita's performances), Nakndikal's direction, visuals, special effets, screenplay, action sequences, musical score, and production values. It was a box office success, grossing ₹1.9 billion worldwide, making it the highest grossing film of 2010. The film won multiple awards, including nine Film Guild Honor Awards: Best Film, Best Actress for Bhatia, Best Costume Design, Best Visual Effects, Best Musical Score, Best Screenplay, Best Writing, and Best Supporting Lead Actress for Kalpita. It also recieved many international awards such as (Insert international awards here).
Plot
In the year 2337 smuggler and expert gunslinger Shriya Blaze is heading to the Daal Platter Diner after a successful smuggling run to the planet Grabbus Alpha Beta 4 to have a date with her girlfriend Sunny Parvati. On her way to the Daal Platter, she briefly encounters Rajur Vilkoe aboard his garbage scow, Sanitation Vessel 19873, after he accidentally releases the garbage he has just picked up. Shriya uses the tractor beam of her ship, the All-Out Blaze, to quickly return the floating garbage to Rajur’s ship before once again entering the hyper-lanes on her way to the Daal Platter Diner. On arrival in the sector where the Daal Platter Diner should be, Shriya comes across a debris field which she determines are the remains of the diner. She is at first worried that Sunny has died, but she quickly discovers a message buoy left by her ex-girlfriend, the notorious space pirate Lucy Nova. After Shriya accesses the databanks of the buoy, she discovers a holographic message from Lucy that says, “Since you broke my heart, I will take away your sambar and your stupid little artist.” The message ends with Lucy laughing and then the scene shifts to the inside of Lucy Nova’s ship, the Absolute Death.
The next segment of the film follows Lucy Nova as she relishes in her successful plan of revenge. She frequently prods Sunny Parvati with questions about her relationship with Shriya and Sunny in return replies with gibes that often go over the head of Lucy. While Lucy and Sunny are talking, Gotti 1071-C is seen in an unused cargo compartment talking with Unit 1199110198-B aboard Shriya’s ship for the first time. Gotti’s conversation is cut short when a red alert is sounded, and the pirate crew is called to battle stations. A battle ensues between Lucy’s ship, Absolute Death, and the military escort of a Pflanderstuck freighter which ends in both the escort and freighter disabled. Lucy then boards the escort ship with her crew and quickly subdues its crew and strips it of its weapons and other valuable components. While Lucy is aboard the escort ship, a small, cloaked ship is seen approaching the scene of the battle. The view then moves to the bridge of the cloaked vessel were we see its captain speaking with High General Cauvery Büstenhalter. Cauvery tells the captain to proceed with the elimination of Lucy. The cloaked ship is then seen approaching the freighter that Lucy and her crew have boarded in the mean time and the captain is heard giving the command to fire phase disruptors at the freighter. Before the cloaked ship can fire though, Rajur Vilkoe’s garbage scow exists the hyperlanes and impacts the cloaked ship, propelling it toward the disabled escort vessel. The cloaked ship collides with the escort ship and a large explosion erupts and destroys both vessels. Meanwhile, a disgruntled Lucy is seen combing through the cargo of the freighter, cargo containers full of fifty-year-old porn chips. Before ordering the freighter and its cargo destroyed, Lucy is seen shoving several handfuls of the porn chips into her coat.
Shriya in the meantime is reaching out to the smuggler’s network and calling in favors from those who owe her in an effort to locate Lucy and Sunny. The first tip Shriya receives takes her to the mining planet of Rev’aat IV where she encounters a corrupt and sadistic Pflanderstuck foreman who has been bribed by High General Cauvery to capture and kill Shriya. A shoot-out ensues when the foreman sends his security team to apprehend Shriya. Shriya gets stuck behind a blast wall during the fight despite taking out numerous security team members and is eventually surrounded with little chance of escape. Despite the situation looking dire, Shriya remains confident that she can escape the situation, and grabs for a device on her belt. She is heard muttering that she needs a distraction to pull of her plan and as if it were planned, Rajur Vilkoe and his crew materialize amidst the foreman’s security detail. Taking her opportunity, Shriya rolls the device across the ground and activates her security armor. After a brief countdown, the device activates and a releases phase pulse that teleports the security team and Rajur away. Shriya then activates her transporter cuff and returns to her ship and the segment ends with Rajur being interrogated by the foreman.
A brief interlude then ensues in which Cauvery and Lochana are sitting in a deep space strip club discussing their failed attempts to capture both Lucy and Shriya. Lochana comments on the lack of decent strippers at deep space establishments but is interrupted by Cauvery who is visibly upset and demands they stick to discussing their plan to capture Shriya and Lucy. After further discussion, Lochana says she will set her agents into motion since Cauvery’s have failed to accomplish their goal. She then taps her holo-communicator and has a brief conversation with one of her subordinates. When she is done with the conversation, she sees Cauvery ogling one of the strippers and rolls her eyes.
Next, scenes shift back and forth between Shriya and Lucy and Sunny. Shriya investigates various worlds and Unit is seen chatting with Gotti at various points during their adventures. On the planet Tuvakka ½ , Shriya encounters an army of murderous Femdroids who have been activated by Lochana’s master droid handler. She manages to destroy all the droids in a dramatic gun fight and capture’s Lochana’s droid handler. Shriya is unable to get any information from the droid handler and Unit is later seen discussing Mandroid to Femdroid conversion with the droid handler.
Lucy is seen exchanging barbs with Sunny, though Sunny seems more than capable of making Lucy fumble. Gotti and Sunny begin to develop a friendship and team up on Lucy in her verbal exchanges with the space pirate. Lucy also raids several other ships, including an Ostarri destroyer. The battle with the destroyer is intense, but Lucy’s brilliant tactical skills and the defenses and weaponry of the Absolute Death eventually overwhelm the Ostarri vessel.
Shriya is then confronted by an assassin cruiser dispatched by Lochana in the Leber Epsilon Gamma Kappa asteroid field. The All-Out Blaze and the assassin cruiser weave around and trough asteroids as they battle. At one point, the All-Out Blaze briefly loses shielding in over an exhaust vent and a blast from the assassin cruiser’s disruptors penetrates the vent and damages a set of power couplings. Losing power to vital systems, Shriya quickly scans the nearby asteroids and finds one that will hide her from the enemy’s sensors. She guides the All-Out Blaze into a cavern in the asteroid and then she and unit get to work replacing the power couplings and covering the exhaust vent with spare armor plating which Shriya reveals is not even needed as the ship has no exhaust to vent. Just as Shriya and Unit finish the repairs, the ship begins to shake and the duo quickly return to the cockpit and launch the All-Out Blaze. Before they exit the cave, Shriya activates her ship’s stealth field. The assassin cruiser manages to catch the All-Out Blaze on visual scanners but before they can pursue, a massive asteroid worm launches itself from the cave and bites the assassin cruiser in half. Rajur’s ship is then seen just out of reach of the asteroid worm’s jaws and the scene ends with a shot of Rajur wiping sweat from his brow and grinning at his communications officer who rolls her eyes at him.
Again, the focus moves back to Lucy and Sunny. Now they are off the Absolute Death and in inside Lucy’s secret asteroid hideout and sitting at a bar. Sunny is handcuffed to a booth and seated across from Lucy and Gotti. The two take turns drinking shots of Gremulon ale and tossing insults at each other while Gotti chats with Unit via his built-in hyper-spatial communicator. After numerous shots of Gremulon ale, Lucy and Sunny are both very drunk and notice Gotti seemingly talking to himself. Lucy reaches across the table and slaps Gotti on the back of the head which switches his communication over to holographic projection mode. Both women are shocked to see Gotti communicating with Unit aboard Shriya’s ship and the two exchange glances. Lucy uncuffs Sunny and the two attempt to scramble over the table and tackle Gotti, but they instead tumble onto the floor in their drunken state. Gotti then runs out of the bar and the scene ends with Lucy’s face buried in Sunny’s chest.
Moments later, the All-Out Blaze exist the hyperlanes with explosions erupting behind it. Shriya’s ship banks and several Ostarri warships are seen in pursuit. On the bridge of the All-Out Blaze, Shriya is shouting at Unit about his communications with Gotti. After a few moments and few hits impacting the ships shields, Shriya asks Unit to take over the weapon systems while she pilots the All-Out Blaze toward Lucy’s hideout. Back outside the ship, the Ostarri ships continue to fire and Unit continues to return fire and manages to disable the engines of one of their pursuers. Meanwhile, a still intoxicated Lucy rolls off of Sunny with a grin on her face and Sunny sits up and starts laughing hysterically. The drunken joviality is interrupted though when the hideout’s warning system begins to sound over the internal comms. Lucy stumbles to her feet and staggers over to a comm terminal and inquires of one of her crew what is happening. Her crew member tells her that a combined Pflanderstuck and Ostarri war fleet has exited the hyperlanes and that the All-Out Blaze has managed to fly into the hideout’s hangar. Before the scene moves, Sunny also stumble onto her feet and the two women stare at each other in confusion.
Surrounding Lucy’s hideout are 293 Pflanderstuck and Ostarri warships, each with a titan battleships commanding them. Admiral Lochana and High General Cauvery are then seen aboard Cauvery’s flagship, Das Wiesel. The two women are laugh and raise wine glasses in a toast. They comment on their plan playing out as intended and they then joke about how they will torture both Shriya and Lucy. Back inside Lucy’s hideout, Shriya and Unit are seen running and firing behind them as they find themselves in the bar with Lucy and Shriya. Shriya and Unit come to a quick stop and stare in shock when they see the inebriated Lucy and Sunny on the floor, lips locked in a kiss. Shriya and Unit pull the two women apart and manage to get them standing after a few tries. Shriya glares at Lucy and then punches her in the face and she then turns to Sunny tries several times to speak, but eventually gives up when the hideout shakes and the voices of Lochana and Cauvery blare from the comms.
Cauvery and Lochana demand that Shriya and Lucy surrender themselves or they will destroy the hideout and kill everyone inside. Lucy laughs and shouts that she will never surrender and then grabs bottle of from the bar and starts drinking. Shriya sighs, grabs hold of Sunny’s hand, and gets them both seated at the bar. Shriya says she can not think of plan to get them out of their dire situation and then grabs the bottle from Lucy and takes a drink. Meanwhile, Gotti and Unit are manically searching through the system files of the hideout and discover that if they can overload the hideout’s reactor, they might be able to disable or destroy the Ostarri and Pflanderstuck fleets. But, the path to the reactor has been blocked and the two mandroids determine that they have to remotely set the reactor to self-destruct instead.
Gotti and Unit tell Shriya what they have found out and the three decide that they should make a run for the main hangar and try to escape in the All-Out Blaze in the wake of the reactor’s explosion. Gotti picks up and carries Lucy and Unit pick up Sunny and they all run for the hangar. Meanwhile, Rajur Vilkoe’s ship appears amidst the combined Plfanderstuck and Ostarri fleet and mistakenly releases his last garbage pickup. Amidst the garbage, a small creature in a space suit is seen floating toward Das Wiesel. As the creature gets closer to the ship, Cauvery comments that only something the size of a miniature giant space hamster entering her ship’s single reactor exhaust port could possibly cause the destruction of her ship. Moments later, an alarm blares on the bridge of Das Wiesel and informs Cauvery that the reactor will go overload and explode in two minutes. The small rodent is then seen floating through the reactor’s containment field and the reactor chamber begins to shake.
Meanwhile, Shriya, Unit, Gotti, Lucy, and Sunny are all in the bridge of the All-Out Blaze. Shriya starts up the ship’s engines and they blast their way out of the hangar moments before the hideout’s reactor is set to explode. Instead of exploding though, the hideout’s reactor instead shuts off instead. Gotti and Unit check the hideout’s systems and discover that they forgot to add a decimal to the self-destruct code and instead set the reactor to safely shut down. Before anyone else aboard the All-Out Blaze can comment though, Das Wiesel explodes which causes a chain reaction of explosions within the combined Ostarri and Pflanderstuck fleet. Shriya and the two mandroids stare in confusion at each other but quickly turn their attention back to the sensors notice that the explosions will reach Lucy’s hideout and cause it to be destroyed as well. Gotti quickly plots a course through the exploding warships and Shriya then punches the controls for her hyperdrive.
The final scenes of the movie briefly show each of the characters.
Gotti and Unit are seen adjusting the appearance of a woman in a holographic projection. Gotti nods and comments that he thinks Unit certainly knows what makes a beautiful woman and then touches a circle next to the woman’s chest. Unit smiles and slaps Gotti on the back.
Sunny is then seen sitting on Shriya’s bed with both Shriya and Lucy standing in front of her with their arms crossed in front of them. Sunny then stands up and shoves the other women onto the bed and strips in front of them. Shriya and Lucy both shrug and the camera fades to black.
In the final scene, High General Cauvery and Admiral Lochana are seen floating in space with Lochana grasping Cauvery’s ankle. Rajur’s ship appears over the horizon and the two women shout in their space suits as the garbage scow tractors them into its hold.
Cast
- --Taapsee Bhatia as Shriya Blaze: A smuggler and gunslinger operating in the space of the Ostarri Stellar Kingdom and the Pflanderstuck Grand Republic who seeks revenge on Lucy Nova after she destroys her favorite diner and kidnaps her current girlfriend Sunny Parvati. Originally from the planet Dumpfsstahr Shriya began her career as a smuggler at the age of 14 with the infamous smuggler Asin the Comet. She first meets Lucy Nova at the age of 15 when the two girls both find themselves apprenticed to Asin. Sheetal Urvasi was originally offered the part, but she felt she was too old for the role.
- --Simone Kalpita as Lucy Nova: A young and notorious space pirate operating in the both the Ostarri Stellar Kingdom and the Pflanderstuck Grand Republic. A year after a bad breakup with Shriya Blaze, she attacks and destroys the Daal Platter Diner and kidnaps Sunny Parvati who is waiting at the diner for Shriya. Hailing from the planet of Siobhons Boozaam, Lucy was rescued from slavers at the age of 7 by the bloodiest space pirate in the seven sectors, Jen “Bloody Tits” O’Hara. At the age of 16 she is abandoned on the uncharted planet Enkum Illai 799 where she is found by Asin the comet and meets Shriya.
- --Jaspati Sera Dewala as Sunny Parvati: A beautiful young artist from the small, but wealthy Neha Corporate Alliance. She is the girlfriend of Shriya Blaze. While many think of her as a spoiled and unintelligent rich girl, Sunny is actually is actually highly empathic and intelligent. She frequently cracks jokes at the expense of those she considers “evil bastards”, especially if she also considers them less intelligent than herself. This causes much annoyance to her captor, Lucy Nova.
- --Oojam Varsha as Unit 1199110198-B: A human replica android aboard Shriya’s smuggling vessel the All out Blaze. He frequently refers to himself as a defective “Handdroid”. During Shriya’s quest, he becomes to identify more as Femdroid than a Mandroid and pledges to be the “sexiest damn Femdroid in the Galaxy” once Shriya rescues Sunny and they collect Lucy Nova’s hidden pirate plunder. He is in secret contact with Lucy Nova’s android Gotti 1071-C who he calls his soulmate.
- --Yogesh Manisha as Gotti 1071-C: Gotti is Lucy Nova’s navigation android aboard the space pirate’s ship the Absolute Death. He has a deadpan sense of humor which is on constant display throughout Lucy’s raids in Pflanderstuck and Ostarri space. He befriends Sunny Parvati and the two frequently joke at Lucy’s expense. He has a secret relationship with Shriya’s android Unit 1199110198-B who he calls a “luscious poof” and he promises to buy Unit 1199110198-B his first pair of breasts when goes from Mandroid to Femdroid.
- --Kavita Ambujaas Admiral Lochana Dillad-Isaf of the Seventh Ostarri War Fleet: Admiral Lochana is a high ranking and influential Ostarri commander. She makes a truce with and concocts a plan to capture Shriya and Lucy with Pflanderstuck’s High General Cauvery B̒üstenhalter. Her reasons for wanting to capture Shriya and Lucy are mysterious, but she constantly calls them an embarrassment and a threat to the galaxy. She is frequently in contact with Prince Rhys, 73rd in line to the Ostarri throne.
- --Yamya Nirupama as High General Cauvery Büstenhalter of the 33rd Pflanderstuck Republican Combined Fleet: Among the most high-ranking and powerful military commanders in the Pflanderstuck Grand Republic and has the ear of Prime Minister Nina Zylinder. She, along with Admiral Lochana, creates a plan to capture both Shriya Blaze and Lucy Nova. Unlike Admiral Lochana, her reasons for wanting to capture Shriya and Lucy are very obvious. Cauvery had a fling with both Shriya and Lucy who each proceeded to share their intimate encounters with Cauvery across the entire galactic broadcasting network. This proved highly embarrassing to her and greatly tarnished her galactic reputation, which also prevented her from receiving a promotion to Lady High General of the entire Pflanderstuck Republican Fleet.
- --Chetan Ulka as Rajur Vilkoe: Rajur is a lowly and bumbling janitor aboard the space station Hyperpoint 12345 who aspires to be a starship captain. He enrolls in the Sarian Space Academy and through a malfunction in the academy’s mainframe, passes his captain’s exam. Rajur is then assigned command of a garbage scow and unwittingly aids both Shriya Blaze and Lucy Nova on several occasions while fumbling his way through garbage pickups.
Production
Developement and pre-production
Filming
Post-production
Influences
The film's plot was influenced heavily by the comic series Guns at Light Speed by Aswina Rishimavaarshini and the 1980's space western television series Frontier of the Universe. Major elements that took inspiration from Rishimavaarshini's comic include the use of space piracy, galaxy spanning warring nations, androids, and several of the character's names such as Lucy Nova and Sunny Parvati. The influence of Frontier of the Universe is most clearly evident in the character of Shriya who bears some similarities with that show's lead character, "The Red Lady". The use of duel pistols, a small, but tough starship, and a gender transitioning non-human companion are seen by many film scholars as the most direct influences on Shriya's character.
The comic style used within the film is much more of a blend of many different influences and as such, is frequently considered fairly uncommon in its approach.
Music
Reception
Box Office
Shriya Eats Daal grossed ₹1.9 billion (NS $1.4 billion) in worldwide ticket sales, against a budget of ₹344.3 million (NS $260 million). In Tennai and Gylias, the film brought in ₹855 million and in the rest of the world ₹1.05 billion.
Shriya Eats Daal was the highest grossing film of 2010 and remains among the highest grossing films of all time.
Critical response
On review aggregator Up or Down, the film has a rating of 94% based on 3,300 reviews, with an average score of 9.11/10. The websites's critical consensus reads "Kanan Nakndika and an excellent cast successfully convey the wonder, excitement, and humor of the space opera and space western genres in a fun and unique way. On AbsoluteCritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 87 out of 100, based on 50 critics, indicating "overwhelmingly favorable reviews." Audiences polled by MovieScore gave the film an average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale.
The space battles and the shootouts involving Shriya were highly praised as well as the overall performances of Bhatia, Kalpita, and Dewala. The supporting cast also recieved high praise with the film critic Yuvika Nidamolu saying "Unit, Gotti, Cauvery, and Lochana are like that extra bit of spice you add to your favorite sambar before you serve it. An already delectable dish is made into an absolutely amazing one".
Accolades
The film was nominated in 41 different award ceremonies which included the Film Guild Honor Awards, the Stellar Awards, and the Academy of the Arts Screen Awards. It was nominated for 15 and won nine Film Guild Honor Awards in the categories of Best actress and Best Supporting Lead, Best Costume Design, Best Visual Effects, Best Musical Score, Best Screenplay, and Best Writing.
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Impact
The film's mainstream success is responsible for an increased interest in science fiction, specifically the space opera and space western genres, in Tyran. According to the Hampi World Report, this has been dubbed the "Shriya Effect".
The Æthurheimer animated series Cowboy Bebop and Tennaiite comic series Guns at Light Speed recieved large spikes in sales after the release of the film. The film also had the effect of legitimizing the sub-genres of space opera and space western in the minds of many critics outside of Tennai who had previously dismissed films in those sub-genres as "gaudy eye candy with subpar writing, average to poor acting, and little to ground them in reality."
Home Media
The film was first released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 25, 2010, and has since been released in several different extended and special edition versions. Special features for the Blu-ray discs and DVDs include deleted scenes trailers, documentaries, commentaries, storyboards, image galleries, Easter eggs, and cast audtions.
The DVD and Blu-ray editions that have been released since the original verision include a film-only edition as well as an "extended edition" which was released in July 2015. The extended edtion features approximately fifteen minutes of addtional scenes, most of which appear as deleted scenes in the previous release. The film was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray by Amazing Home Media Distribution on June, 5 2018.
Related Media
Television series
A television series titled Blaze (a reference to Shriya's starship) premiered on Sensual Nova's television network Sensual Interstellar on March 15, 2020 and on December 18, 2020 with the streaming service Netinema. The series recasts all the major characters and takes place after the events of the film.
The showrunner, Dhanyata Sona, decided to partially rewrite some of the events of the film in order to give the show a "fresher feel" and to also to give the writers more leeway in the creative process. The cast of the show includes Laswini Shivashanari as Shriya, Kathirvani Anujini as Lucy Nova, and Manasi Sahana as Sunny Parvati. Unit was renamed Sexy Neha and Gotti's character remained unchanged.
The the show begins with the All-Out Blaze crashing on an uncharted world and Shriya, Lucy, and Sunny being infused with Nova particles which not only alters thier appearances, but also gives them incredible longevity. From there the series follows the crew of the All-Out Blaze as they are hired to smuggle an unknown cargo to the other side of the galaxy while they grapple with the changes that have been forced upon them and complexity of thier relationship to one another.