The Disciple

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.

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!

"He is mistaken who believes he may pluck a single leaf from the laurel tree of art without paying for it with his life." ~Thomas Mann, from the book Tonio Kröger

# Themes

• The question in an artists life - whether to remain true to their practice, and live the life of an ascetic where you have to work hard with no guarantee you will succeed or to go mainstream where you will get money and fame but won't be living for true art.

• Sharad Tries to work hard and live like an ascetic at the command of Maai. But time frays Sharad's idealism. Asceticism in the hustling and bustling city of Mumbai is a difficult practice.

# Most Striking Details 1. Cinematography:

• Chaitanya Tamhane constructs Sharad's narrative with long takes and wide establishing shots. The camera stays still. The pacing is purposefully slow. This isn't a film about big plot twists or overblown emotion. The story unfolds in a low-key, naturalistic manner. Like Sharad, Chaitanya is pursuing a certain purity of vision. Which requires commitment from the viewer.

• The film is shot like a poetry on celluloid with its studied frames and immersive sound design.

2. Acting:

• Aditya Modak (plays Sharad Nerulkar) gives a melancholic performance. He transforms externally and internally along with the movie. It's astounding to watch and one can't believe that this is his acting debut as Sharad.

• We don't see Maai but we hear her with the same reverence that Sharad does because Maai's pursuit seems mythical.

3. Soundtrack:

• For a film about music, sounds plays a vital role in the movie. But it is expressed not just in the form of the Classical Music that the singers present. Sounds is used as a visual device in the movie.

• Take the instance in Act 2 when Sharad is grown up with a moustache. The Mumbai city is shown by its sound of the car horns and the city life with still imagery.

• The bike ride scenes when Shard is listening to Maai seems mythical of the mythical because of the sitar sounds playing in the background, and as Shard gets sick of, he removes the headphones, and we get to hear the same hustle and bustle of the city again.

# What The Movie Lacked?

• The pacing can get slow sometimes and requires patience from the viewers.

• There are questions that remain...was Sharad just talentless? I've heard that Hardwork can even beat talent where there is no talent. Sharad seemed dedicated to his art and worked hard. Still he wasn't able to succeed. While his fellow students were. What was the reason of Sharad's actual failure? Was it his style of music? Why couldn't he choose some other Form of Classical Music besides the Bandish?

## Verdict My Rating - 9/10 The movie won many awards and rightly so. The topic is touched was new and handled very well. The cinematography was poetic. It was rightly done.

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".

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.