O Discípulo

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.

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.

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!

Disciple portrays the journey of an artist through the decay of outreach of indian classical music. The themes like commercialization and industrialization of music through the eyes of the protagonist has been vividly brought to screen. It has been evident that Tamhane is not an actor's director ,you could see that in his films, camera focuses a scene with actors in it but not on the actor who is in the scene but still you could relate to the main protagonist. The editing,cinematography has been smooth rather than raw approach he has taken in "Court".

There is a languid, dreamlike quality that persists in much of 'The Disciple', accentuated by the recurring use of 'tanpura' drone in the background and scenes of the protagonist riding his motorcycle through empty nighttime Mumbai in slow motion. They manage to reinforce a detached state of mind, both for the viewer and for the protagonist. Factually, the film may deal with a specific subgenre of Indian Classical vocal music (a subject I am not versed in, at all), but the observations made so acutely and the opinions expressed so eloquently have a tremendous universal relatability. And not just classical music, they hold true for any pure art form, be it pottery or printmaking. The film is overall a character study spanning three stages in the protagonist's life as he fights hard to prevent himself from being engulfed by social obligations and invariable complications of urban living - like fame, sustainability, professional jealousy, ego - that go against the teachings of his old, reclusive mentor, who is a pure practitioner of the craft. Most efficiently written, acted, crafted, paced - a definitely wholesome film.