‘Jail’ movie review: Dead on arrival

By making a film about slum resettlement, Vasanthabalan ends up trivialising their lives and ‘Jail’ pushes the people further down the rabbit hole

In 2019, gana singer Stephen became an internet sensation when his ‘Gumbala Suthuvom’ video song was lapped up by viewers and went on to become a viral hit on YouTube. It was a simple but politically-layered song about Stephen’s friends, their lives and livelihood, and their small dreams and desires.

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Following its success, there were several remodelled and TikTok versions of the song, which later came to be known as ‘pullingo’ song, thanks to the lyrics. But beyond its immediate reach and popularity, it brought about a conversation around social stereotypes, especially when a YouTube channel released a video trivialising Stephen and his gang. So much so that the word ‘pullingo’ became a classist slur to box a certain class of people. This video was taken down from the channel after severe criticism.