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. 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. The video also shows Catwoman wearing a sari and a bindi.
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.
Cast and characters The inclusion of Iron Man in the video indicates that it is part of a shared DC-Marvel universe. However, Iron Man was played by a different actor in the What if The Avengers Were From South India? video by Put Chutney. Source 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 BalakumaranWaiter Scarecrow Tushar Ramakrishnan Scooty Rider Crowd member at TASMAC Suvi Kumar Crowd member at TASMAC Rajiv Rajaram Batman / Brusothaman Waynekatraman Crowd member at TASMAC Uma Padmanabhan Talia / Uma Aunty T. M. Karthik Lucius Fox / Otteri Nari Put Chutney Rajmohan Saroj Karuppasamy Poison Ivy(Uncredited silent cameo) Superman / Clark Kent(Mentioned)
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. 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.
Reception Raveena Joseph of The Hindu wrote, "the video proves to be a laugh riot with a strong city connect". A critic from NDTV wrote that the short film is "fun, but too long". A critic from Firstpost wrote, "we dare you not to laugh". 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". 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 () you need". 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".
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