The Disciple

In his interview with Anupama Chopra, Chaitanya confessed that he did not knew a lot about Indian classical music. But his movie speaks a lot about music not just about Indian classical music but music as a whole.

His take on Indian music shows, on online trollers who judge the singers when they hardly know about it, his take on Music mafias, on changing music style of music show contestants, on Fusion bands in colleges, on failure, on aspiring career in music, on on unpaid fees to classical singers, many things 'The Disciple' talks about with its slow camera movement.

The hustle of protagonist Sharad Nerulkar is clearly visible, the slow death of interest of Indian audience towards Classical music is very well felt.

What i loved most about this movie is that it stands unapologetic to itself, did not tried to make people feel relevance, just telling story as is, without adulteration of dramas to please audience, it does not have it's own opinion on many things, it just show what the reality is.

Clearly best movie made about music. Must watch on Netflix.

Chaitanya Tamhane's 'The Disciple' is a multi-layered, beautifully textured character study of a man's journey and devotion to follow a dream he might or might not reach. It's a pretty demanding drama as the story unfolds in slow, melancholic rhythms. Still, it is a very well-made and stirring drama with a strong screenplay, transcendent message, and a mesmerizing sound design, resulting in a satisfying and rewarding viewing experience. Aditya Modak in lead role is outstanding in every frame while Arun Dravid is naturally brilliant and realistically favourable to the context of the character. The supporting cast is equally good and noteworthy even if they have small roles.

Amazing casting. Wonderful to watch a 77 year-old MIT PhD and IIT-Mumbai gold medalist act in the role of the Guruji (a rough equivalent a master in the field). He was not acting most of the time, he was actually singing the ragas! I suspected this while watching the film and wondered if the actors were being helped by playback, which would have been difficult to accomplish Aging process of Aditya Modak another real life singer, is a tribute to the make-up department. The real winners of the film are the slow-motion sequences of the lonely motorbike rider in the night with the sitar music on the soundtrack--one of the finest urban sequences in Indian cinema captured by the young Polish cinematographer Michal Sobocinski. Good editing and screenplay by the director Chjaitnaya Tamhane. Thanks to the Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron ("Roma," "Y ti mama tambien"), who partially bankrolled the film. India looks so clean and wonderful in this film!

THE DISCIPLE is all about the character study of an artist over the years. We all know that this film has already won big in many festivals, naturally everyone was excited to see the movie. No doubt the film is good. But it's very slow paced and long shots are everywhere. I don't know why so many long shots are there.

Maybe I'm not mature enough right now to understand and enjoy this kind of films. That's why I can't say that it's a masterpiece, maybe after few years I'll like it. So, for me it's just a good movie. You can watch it if you love to watch this type of films, but this is not for everyone and of course not for me right now.

Available On Netflix.

© MandalBros.

TIFF 2020 10

The Disciple

Never in my life I thought watching a film about Indian classical music would be remotely interesting. However The disciple, a film directed by Chaitanya Tamhane, has proved my wrong. It's about a student and performer of the classical music in India which is also called Raag, who is desperate to become one of the greats.

The film is a multi-layered, beautifully textured character study of a man's journey and devotion to a goal he might or might not reach. It thoroughly captures one's doubts, fears and uncertainties about if one is good enough for the task ahead. It has somewhat a slow start and things get more and more relatable and resonating as we go through the sitting. At the end, the whole experience feels complete and satisfactory.