Island City

I had read about it long back when it released and finally I watched it. It has three stories and the common theme is discontentment and isolation. The title itself represents the theme, "locked in" being it and of course the title alludes to Mumbai. All the stories are essentially fable like and bring out satirical humor or give us food for thought. It's a darkly comic drama film. So there is a corporate employee who has to have 'fun' because that's the mandate. Then a story of a television set and how the family gets hooked to watching a parallel world which counter questions their real life existence. Then the third story about an unattractive woman who receives a letter from a stranger admirer and learns to smile and express herself but is that it or there is more to those letters? You won't get happy ending in these stories. I liked all the three stories but not all of them are fleshed out as consistently as they could have. The second story which seemed least impressive on story level in fact is the best fleshed out one. But overall it's a very good watch and a fine little gem in Hindi cinema that has been overlooked.

The amazing first story makes the mockery of the corporate world, it showcases the herd mentality of people, who'll do whatever is being told, without questioning, as asking questions would receive a backlash, so it leads to funny climax, a dark humor at the face of it.

The second story showcases how entertainment and media eases day to day pain, also it shows how engrossed one can get with it. It also shows that in a relationship, be with wife, mother or children, if there is no love, or excessive control, then they won't stand by you.

The last story is bit complicated to explain. It showcases that one shouldn't expect better then what one is having, there are flaws in everyone, however, the protagonist looks at the flaws of a person and not the love he is having for her.

The message each part gives is real good, however these messages didn't came out directly and difficult to comprehend, except in the first part.

This is the first movie of Ruchika Oberoi and already he has been awarded some prizes. One of them is 72nd Venice International Film Festival,in that ceremony Ruchika Oberoi won the FEDORA prize for the Best Young Director. It is released many festivals in 2015 but in India it is released 2nd September 2016. it is very clear that the movie is not for the masses and the targeted audiences are only the classes. Ruchika Oberoi is a debutant director by this movie and the movie is produced by NFDC India. It is a movie of three different stories and all are from the island city "Mumbai". The theme and the structure are a little bit old but quite enjoyable.

It is a very slow movie from up to bottom and strictly not for the masses. There are three different stories, "Fun Committee", "The Ghost in the Machine", and "Contact". The second story in this movie "The Ghost in the Machine" is the most enjoyable story. It is the story of Sarita who is a housewife and her husband is in a coma. It is a very true but awkward realization that without his husband Mr. Joshi her and her family's life will be more delightful. The other two stories are not so viable and you can easily skip this. These two stories are very common and there is nothing new in that two stories.

Performance wise Vinay Pathak has done a very good job and Tannishtha Chatterjee has done also a fair job for their role. The direction of the movie is OK but nothing to shout about. background score is good but could have been better.

It is true that it is a movie of mass life and common people in Mumbai city but these types movie are not very appealing for the mass people and regular movie goers. It is made for only rewards and prizes but if you have a chance to watch this, You can try.

Island city is an anthology of three narratives from Mumbai. Three different storylines about discontented people, discontented life. The name island city depicts to people who have become isolated within themselves like an Island. Island City is a movie about depression, touching emotions, driving sentiments, sarcastic, funny and moreover a tragic end to all three stories. Even though the story is based in Mumbai, but people across all places can connect to the stories told here.

Released in Sept'15, directed & screenplay by debutante director Ruchika Oberoi, produced by NFDC, the movie won FEDORA prize for the Best Young Director at Venice Film Festival where it was released and showcased for the first time.

"Fun Committee" written by Ruchika Oberoi revolves around a earnest Corporate Employee Suyash Chaturvedi played by Vinay Pathak. He lives a perfunctory life like many of those people living in metropolitan cities. He wakes up, eats, gets ready for office, comes back, sleeps to repeat the routine next day. His life looks monotonous and purposeless. A newly designed Fun Committee decides to reward their star employees a day of fun to de-stress them; only that the fun is forced on them even if they don't want it. Vinay Pathak when declared as the Star employee of the month is awarded certain coupons and tasks which has to be completed by 6pm of the day after which he has to report back to office for the final task. While he is being given royal treatment across all places that he is going, but his look clearly shows him appearing like a machine following commands. All those working in Corporate can relate to this story.

"The Ghost in the machine written by Ruchika Oberoi" is a heart warming story of a housewife played by Amruta Subhash, who heaves a sigh of relief when her husband is admitted in hospital after a coma attack. The ever abusing husband is a major irritant to the entire family. For a change, she understands her self-worth after her husband is admitted in hospital. The housewife believes that brining a TV to their home will bring some delight to their home. The TV reaches home, and the entire family gets addicted to a soap called "Purushhotam Jee" which tells the story of a virtuous son and the story of his family. Amruta Subhash who plays the role of housewife connects to the soap very much since she feels the story is the dream she ever saw for her family.

The Final Story, "Contact written by Siddharth Sharma", is the story of those women who have always been told by their parents that they won't get their prince charming because of the way they look. Ruchika played by Tannishtha Chatterjee helps you find your inner voice with her powerful performance. Jignesh played by Chandan Roy Sanyal is a foul mouthed mechanic who wants to marry Aarti played by Tanishtha who works in a printing press. Aarti's life changed when she received a pink letter from a secret admirer which tells her about her inner desires. She falls head over heels on the letter writer and learnt to smile for the first time in her life. Many letters are exchanged between them through an unknown PO Box number. But she has absolutely no idea where this will lead to. She gets the courage to refuse marrying Jignesh in the hope of marrying the letter writer.

All the three stories dig out your inner grief that lurks in some innermost corner of your heart. A must watch for the brilliant way, love, loneliness and depression is depicted. All the stories are inter connected with very thin lines which makes it look little simulated except for the first and third story. But that can be ignored with the way the entire setup has been presented. All the three stories are connected by a Company called "Systematic Statistics" where Suyash (Fun Committee) works. The common points in all stories are the dominant men in all the stories, the dissatisfied people, anxiety, and depression.

Each of the stories has an appalling end that gives a brilliant twist to the story which is beyond imagination. While you smile at the amusing incidents, you also empathize with the characters; you sob in their pain, you sense your loneliness with theirs. Amruta Subhash who has just one movie to her credit as the sister of Nawazuddin in Raman Raghav 2.0, has been brilliant and even overshadowed an actress of the calibre Tannishtha Chatterjee.

The movie is best of its type. It shows dominance of machines over human life. How the pleasures of daily life are being ruined and effecting our emotional health, this is beautifully depicted in the movie. Three stories, interconnected in some way to each other, are showing three different impacts of technology on our life.

First movie shows loss of pleasures due to so-called busy professional life and its ethics. Even the fun-time is professionally earned. This movie is a satire of current professional environments. It is one of the rarest surreal movies seen in Hindi cinema.

Second one shows complex and subtle interplay of social responsibilities personal happiness. One of the best of three. It shows one of the themes that I was dying to see on big screen-impact of TV serials on our daily emotions. Personal relationships have lost their charm and artificially constructed scenarios reveal our true emotions.

Third one has a current as well as a futuristic theme. A girl who is not happy with her life, is being forced to marry with a guy who is only occupied with his professional life and shows minimal care for her. She is waiting for a partner who can love her. But she finds herself a victim of technology in the end and has to live a compromised life.

There are several themes being covered in the movie and it requires a detailed analysis for each movie. All three movies are rich in their meanings and messages. They depict poor emotional connections in today's life and how technology and urban environments are impacting our daily pleasures and ultimately happiness.

A MUST WATCH!!!