The cinemas remained largely empty in April. In spite of claims by the producers to the contrary, the Sunny Deol actioner Jaat ultimately dived deep into deficit. According to an insider, the amount that the project has lost is substantial enough to make the producer reconsider plans for the sequel.

In all fairness, Jaat was not as unwatchable as some of the other recent actioners this year, claiming bums on the seats when there were none. Not only did Sunny Deol make a credible one-man army in Jaat, but he was also very funny when he was allowed to be. His entire war against the evil forces (Randeep Hooda, Vineet Kumar and other unidentifiable hoodlums) hinged on one man not saying sorry for messing his meal. That spilled sambar at the roadside dhaba eventuated in gallons of spilled blood.

This could have served as a terrific trigger point for a comedy. Sadly, Jaat took itself too seriously.

Two remarkable biopics on men from our past history who had the vision to change our world, brought much-needed respite to the cinemas in April.

There was nothing fake about Kesari Chapter 2: The Untold Story Of Jallianwala Bagh, although there were lots of white people in the cast, but genuine ones, not fake goras.

Madhavan played Neville McKinley, a wily, compromised, boozy lawyer who defends the indefensible General Dyer (Simon Paisley Day, excellent), who massacred hundreds if not thousands in Jallianwala Bagh on 13 April 1919. 106 years later, debutant director Karan Singh Tyagi revisited the carnage with so much compassion that it felt like yesterday once more. In the way he handled the characters, even the smaller ones, and in the way he fictionalized the original tragedy without tampering with its essential gravity, Tyagi proves himself a master storyteller.

Ananth Mahadevan’s Phule was a more tenderly laid out tapestry than Mahadevan’s earlier biopics, more emotionally rich and handsomely mounted. It brought to resplendent life the tirelessly devoted social reformist Jyotirao Phule and his wife Savitribai Phule, played with such sincerity and passion by Pratik Gandhi and Patralekha, they seem to be born for this job.

The two biopics made April special at the movies.