What If Batman Was From Chennai?
2015 Indian film
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What If Batman Was From Chennai? is a 2015 satirical viral video that offers a take on what if Batman didn't live in Gotham City and instead in the fictional neighborhood of Batmanabhapuram in Chennai.[1] The video shows Batman adapted to Indian standards including being part of a middle class family, wearing a lungi, being compared to his family friend Srinivasan's son who has an IT job, and getting a speeding ticket.[2][3] The video also shows Catwoman wearing a sari and a bindi.[4]
Aswin Rao
Sainath Saikrishnan
Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli
| What If Batman Was From Chennai? | |
|---|---|
| |
| Directed by | Tushar Ramakrishnan |
| Written by | Balakumaran |
| Starring | Delhi Ganesh Aswin Rao Sainath Saikrishnan Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli |
| Cinematography | Niketh Bommireddy |
| Edited by | Part 1: Prashanth Tamilmani Part 2: Kripakaran Purushothaman |
Production company | Put Chutney |
| Distributed by | YouTube |
Release date |
|
Running time | Part 1: 8 minutes and 21 seconds Part 2: 12 minutes and 34 seconds |
| Country | India |
| Languages | English Tamil |
Although this video shows Batman as commitment phobic, the sequel/prequel video titled Batman Returns... To Chennai | The Middle Ages deviates from the comics and shows Batman giving into Indian standards and marrying Catwoman.[4][5]
Cast and characters
The inclusion of Iron Man in the video indicates that it is part of a shared DC-Marvel universe.[1] However, Iron Man was played by a different actor in the What if The Avengers Were From South India? video by Put Chutney.
| Cast | Main videos | |
|---|---|---|
| What If Batman Was From Chennai? | Batman Returns... To Chennai | The Middle Ages | |
| Delhi Ganesh | Alfred / Anantha Padmanabhan | |
| Aswin Rao | Batman / Brusothaman Waynekatraman | |
| Sainath Saikrishnan | Joker | |
| Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli | Catwoman / Mythili | |
| Geevee Vignesh | Man with Toothbrush | Robin |
| Anantharaman | Police Constable | Inspector Garudan |
| Balakumaran | Waiter | |
| Scarecrow | ||
| Tushar Ramakrishnan | Scooty Rider[a] | |
| Crowd member at TASMAC | ||
| Suvi Kumar | Crowd member at TASMAC | |
| Rajiv Rajaram | Batman / Brusothaman Waynekatraman[b] | |
| Crowd member at TASMAC | ||
| Uma Padmanabhan | Talia / Uma Aunty | |
| T. M. Karthik | Lucius Fox / Otteri Nari | |
| Put Chutney Rajmohan | Saroj Karuppasamy | |
| N/a | Poison Ivy (Uncredited silent cameo)[c] | |
| N/a | Superman / Clark Kent (Mentioned)[d] | |
Production
The video was made by the YouTube channel Put Chutney, which is owned by the Mumbai-based Culture Machine group, and its story is based on a meme by Balakumaran.[6][9] Aswin Rao, assistant creative director of Culture Machine South, played the role of Batman, which he felt was easy since he wore a mask most of the time. According to him, the casting of Delhi Ganesh for the role of Alfred increased the scale of the project.[1]
Reception
Raveena Joseph of The Hindu wrote, "the video proves to be a laugh riot with a strong city connect".[1] A critic from NDTV wrote that the short film is "fun, but too long".[10] A critic from Firstpost wrote, "we dare you not to laugh".[11] A critic from the Hindustan Times wrote, "A desi Batman, more like a Tamilian Batman, is in the house, more like on YouTube. And he is hilarious".[12] A critic from IBN Live wrote, "This hilarious video by 'Put Chutney' tells us that "He's not the hero you deserve, but he's the mappillai (transl. groom) you need".[3][e] A critic from Storypick wrote, "Put Chutney already had that evil idea when they made this fantabulously hilarious video of Batman, if he were from Chennai".[13]