Gandu

'Gandu', Director Q's bold and artistic dive into the world of Surrealism, is quite an interesting experimental film. Q describes his film as a 'rap musical' which, in a way, is an agreeable term to describe it. The background score by the alternative rock band 'Five Little Indians' goes quite well with the tone of the movie.

The movie revolves around a not-so-bright jobless adolescent named Gandu (meaning Moron). He has his simple life with dreams and fantasies, getting by on the money he steals from the guy screwing his mom. He befriends a rickshaw-walla named Ricksha (ironically), and both spend most of their time in a heroin-induced haze, filled with adventures, porn, and sex. Gandu gets music deals, wins lottery ticket, has a grand deflowering by an exotic prostitute, gets invited by a Rap foundation, every single thing just blurring the line between reality and fantasy. But most of the incidents have to do with Gandu re-establishing his masculinity, which he had lost over time due to the ill-treatment by the people around, especially his ever-complaining mother.

The decision to show the film in crisp black-and-white was commendable; it depicts the bleak, monotonous and mundane existence of the central character. Colours are visible only for a single scene where the main protagonist Gandu is having sex for the first time, which perhaps is the highlight of his life. The masturbation scene and the oral sex scene are shot quite artistically, and fit with the tone of the movie; there's nothing pornographic about them. The editing and music add to the beauty of the sex scene.

The acting by Anubrata Basu as Gandu is brilliant; he portrays the varies hues and shades of the character with proper tact. His depression, his pain, his dreams, his hopes... by the end of the movie, a proper sketch of the character is etched in your mind. Joyraj Bhattacharya is good as the rickshaw-walla friend. And Rituparna Sen (Rii) is praiseworthy for her boldness in the sex scene. She plays three different characters in the movie, all quite varied and unrecognizable from each other.

People who are tired of linear and predictable storytelling should surely check this out.

There are a couple of things that make this movie a stand out... Sweat is left on faces, camera movements aren't passive-aggressive, characters are genuine, kung-fu isn't perfection, arguments and story are real, and everyone cares about their future...

The sex/masturbation scenes are absolute genius. Makes basically any other movie look shy and pretentious - even genuine softcore porn. There is no ultra zoomed-in body scanning or hiding, just everything shot as it would be seen by the people there. Zero regard for the viewers pretentions.

Half-way between a nature documentary and a story of someone's life... but also could be better in some ways.

The director, actors and crew all think their making a life changing masterpiece. Far from it, just something that has been done over and over again by others, but they did it better.

I'm surprised artistic movies like this exist in Indian cinema. A complex yet simple to the core story of a Gandu in bengali streets. Explicit but with taste, not for the light hearted or close minded.

The film took me by total surprise. Never expected something like this from Indian cinema. At least not so soon. Cinema is an art and this is a beauty. I was always a fan of Bengali cinema for it's art and bold approach. It has given us some beautiful cinematic masterpieces. This film adds another diamond to it. Unfortunately our country isn't bold enough. Films like this get banned. Doesn't matters how good it is. They just won't let us watch it in cinema halls. Disappointing, Isn't it? Because, it is amazingly awesome approach. A good compilation of boldness into art. Something shocking for India. It sure leaves an impact on you. Way to go Q.