Cargo

Cargo review :

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Fikar not. We finally have answer to the 'After life' theory - What happens to humans after they pass away??

Seems there is no after-life at all. No heaven or hell to worry about.

Once you die on planet earth, you just get transported to a spaceship hovering some 35,000 kms away; You are welcomed on board by two docile astronauts who cordially inform you that you are dead. Then after taking your finger prints (probably to delink your Aadhar card down here!!!), you are nicely escorted to a cell where they heal your injuries and body marks, then erase your memory and extract you back in to your next life. So very easy peasy, isnt it?!!

Cargo, the latest sci-fi film on Netflix, has an interesting concept and probably may have sounded great on paper but unfortunately, has translated in to a dull and amateurish endeavour which feels a drag even at just one hour fifty minutes of its run time.

Truly, there is nothing and absolutely nothing beyond its core concept. All you get to see for close to two hours are some random people dying in our world, arriving at the spaceship and going through the aforementioned punar janam process. This goes on and on and on...

The two astronauts, Vikrant Massey and Shweta Tripathi, both fantastic actors, just go through the motions with zero chemistry between them. The screenplay is to be blamed here!!

As for the spaceship and its interiors obviously inspired by 2001 A Space Odyssey (1968), it is disheartening to see that we are still (in 2020) unable to match the greatness that the legendary Stanley Kubrick could achieve in 1968. Sad!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

Whenever we hear 'science-fiction', we assume it must be a Hollywood picture or anywhere from the west. Bollywood or Asian cinemas are just completely written off whenever it comes to this genre of movies.

Well maybe, this particular movie just might be the start towards a beginning. The concept is good, the dialogues are great, acting is top-notch. I mean, as an indian, aren't you interested in knowing about afterlife? It has been a hot topic since ages! Cinematography is maybe an area where lots of work can be done, because somehow if you see space movies like Interstellar or Gravity it feels like real space. But here something doesn't go good with our eyes !

Movie without any logic and sense. A good plot wasted with some childish logics behind it. Waste of time

This film is an original film. It has a new and path breaking script Indian cinema is finally taking baby steps into the world of science fiction. This movie deserves the applause for being a new and original Idea. Many more filmmakers will then attempt this genre. Don't write something off. People rate Salman Khan's brainless films higher than this and they don't understand the impact of original cinema. This is not a perfect film but it is a brilliant film.

It's very difficult to classify "Cargo" as it does not fit into conventional mainstream cinema nor it is a parallel cinema. "Cargo" is not an experimental film like "Ugly" either as similar ideas have surfaced abundantly in Hollywood's B-graded low budgeted flicks since the 1980s. Only the novelty factor of mythology catching up with technology appeals in this somewhat dull film.

The problem with "Cargo" is that, the storyline & screenplay would have been an awe factor, if the movie had been shot and presented to "Doordarshan" audiences way back in the 80s or 90s, But for 2019, where most of today's tech savvy next generation, wouldn't even know how Yamaraj even works. It is a tall Order on the director Arathi Kadav's part to pitch this movie to the younger generation. As once the "novelty in the concept" wears out in the first 40 minutes it becomes very monotonous and rudimentary.

The next problem would be its budget, if it was on the higher side, maybe some better production design and props would have definitely made the story a little more convincing, but the a terrible production design put "cargo" completely down. Vikranth Massey & Swetha Tripathi put up a brave show despite completely bad odds set against them, but couldn't save the day for "Cargo". It would have also helped if the movie was about 90 minutes or so but at 114 minutes, the movie will test your patience a little.

Overall the movie would definitely might work for senior citizens, and a smaller set of audiences. "Cargo" presents a small novelty factor and some cool set of uniforms, apart from that I am afraid the viewer might stand dissatisfied. Watch it when you have nothing else to watch.