Titli, une chronique indienne

I wanted to watch Titli for awhile and managed to get hold of a VCD eventually.

This is a very dark story, not for those who are looking for a 'time- pass' watch.

It is also brutally real. The settings are so real. Apart from the smells of the surroundings that obviously do not come through, this is perhaps too real for comfort.

Whoever did the casting did a brilliant job. Shashank Arora is the perfect Titli, Shivani - Neelu as is the rest of the cast.

It is an unusual plot, very well executed. While I enjoyed the film as a film, this is not for those who seek entertainment in a movie.

The abusive language and some of the violent scenes are not recommended for children.

That said, Titli is worth a watch for those who like serious cinema.

The movie was extremely realistic and had an interesting story that you can relate to. Nothing was over the top; just the sad reality of crimes that we read of in news papers. Living here for some time; I can say the culture and locale depicted in the movie were hilariously accurate. Great acting especially by Ranvir Shorey made it a great watch. Graphic scenes were also very realistic and scared me more than most horror movies I have seen recently.

This is one of the few Hindi movies that I can compare to Hollywood. I could feel the same depressing, heavy atmosphere as I felt when watching 'No country for old men.' Never expected Indian cinema to churn out such a gritty film. Hats-off!

"Titli" keeps all the clichés aside and gives you some hard-hitting cinematic experience. Kanu Behl has surely an eye for the avant-garde cinema and directs this cruel and unrepentant film.

Three brothers live their lives doing random car-jacking in Delhi's dark side with their father. They do not have any remorse doing these felonies but everyone is combating the cruelty of life. The poverty, covet to live a better life and crime are the main components of the film.

This is not your every Friday film; it induces a challenge for the viewer and shows that people are surviving in any condition. They can go to any length chasing the dream of being better and living a layman's life. However, there are plethora of complexities and struggle. If you belong to hell, all the roads will bring you back and there is no redemption at all. The resurrection and resurgence is not an easy nut to crack.

It may not be everyone's movie but niche will surely appreciate this because it has a breath of fresh air and it does not rely on pompous or larger than life characters. Every character has a motive and it has been designed carefully.

The long shots and silence describe every nuance and it does not require pages of conversation or dialogs. The acting is powerful and actors have delivered the dialect to the perfection.

We need this kind of cinema which leaves you thinking after watching it and spread the cognizance that there is a whole different life which does not belong to chiffon cinema.

Kudos.

Co-written and directed by Kanu Behl, TITLI is undoubtedly one of the most hard-hitting films of the year with performances capable of shaking you well establishing a highly relatable connection with the viewers, especially with the people living in Delhi and NCR. But unfortunately it's not the same Delhi anymore on the screen that once had all positive vibes and a unique freshness as seen in films such as Sai Pranjpye's CHASHME BUDDOOR in the 80s.

Interestingly Kanu Behl was also associated with two other projects using the backdrop of Delhi in their respective story lines and they were Dibakar Banerjee's OYE LUCKY LUCKY OYE (2008) and LSD: LOVE, SEX AUR DHOKHA released in 2010. However where these films specifically focused on the Punjabi ambiance of the West, North or the Central Delhi, TITLI thoughtfully takes you into the virgin lanes of East Delhi (lower middle class regions of Yamuna Paar to be specific) painting a different picture of the city moving ahead of all the earlier films mentioned above.

In other words, it's this authentic portrayal of the small adjoining houses of the region, the narrow lanes, huge sewer lines, tough living conditions, regular petty fights in the locality, unemployed youth looking for some easy money, numerous cases of road rages, builders lobby, easy availability of local ammunition, involvement of Police in even the small crimes and more, that exactly becomes the first strong merit of the film demanding a much deserving praise for its director along with his talented team of writers, art- director and the cinematographer in particular.

The second powerful merit of the film is its highly engrossing, impressive as well as disturbing performances that actually don't let you think anything else till it all gets over on an open note (following a set pattern). The cast ensemble brilliantly portrays the story of a dysfunctional family of 3 brothers and a father, with the elder brother going through a divorce and the youngest unwillingly getting married to a pretty girl, with a purpose of using her in some hidden criminal acts of the family not many are aware of.

Towering them all, Ranvir Shorey as the elder brother simply nails it with a haunting act full of terrifying anger, rage and violence. Amit Sial as the second brother presents a balanced act with a touch of kindness too. And Shashank Arora as the youngest (Titli) delivers an intense performance of a confused yet desperate youth willing to get out of his family's deadly mess at the earliest. Lalit Behl enacting their father (director's own father) impresses you in a different manner with his awkward lost mannerisms and body language.

But its actually Shivani Raghuvanshi as Neelu (Titli's wife) who simply wins the contest along with Ranvir playing a strong girl living with her own agenda of life that in reality has no sane meaning or direction, performing sportingly in the masterstroke scene where she pisses out of fear in the car itself.

Together director Kanu Behl, his co-writer and the team conceives a film that simply isn't interested in any spoon feeding (about the past) but does have a detailed visual description of the present life lived by its key characters with many small indicative insertions like the way they dress, eat, brush, gargle and talk to each other in a lingo that is so close to Delhi's real life found in such lower middle class colonies. Though its stomach churning violence and raw treatment might not be a pleasant feature for a larger section of viewers looking for their usual entertainment, but with a brisk story progression and crisp editing, the film doesn't drag at all and also provides the much needed relief factor too through some intelligent dark humour placed at regular intervals.

Stating its major drawbacks, the film is just perfect in its opening sequences and impresses you strongly in these initial moments till they decide to get their youngest brother married to an even smarter girl. And its from here onwards that the narration tends to become quite filmy as well as overdone at times with no investigations shown for the regular loots undertaken by the brothers in the same region, easy & mindless stealing of the trial-car (probably) killing the salesman too in the broad daylight with no chasing of police and then intentionally breaking the girl's right hand with a consent just to avoid the signing of a FD document. Besides, at one end the family is shown to be living in poor conditions throughout the film (though eating chicken most of the time in their meals), but on the other they are regularly looting rich travellers, taking away their cars too with no mention of where the money acquired from those crimes goes, skipping it completely.

However my biggest problem was with 'the unusual marriage' shown, that was just not believable right from the first scene itself where the two families and the couple meet each other.

Strangely the writers were least concerned about this particular point and just to move their story forward, simply decided to assume the girl's parents readily agreeing to the mismatched marriage as two dumb individuals doing nothing to fulfill their big parental responsibility and having no issues in sending their young, beautiful girl to the unacceptable house of such horrifying criminals only because she was having an affair in the past and they wanted to get rid of her at the earliest.

Yet concluding the review on a positive note, you should surely watch TITLI for all its praiseworthy, intense performances rising much above the hard to believe sequences in terms of reality. Because though it isn't perfect, the film still remains a highly appreciable and well enacted experiment that successfully draws your attention towards the kind of life lived in such narrow lanes of the otherwise developed metro cities of our country.

Now 'Raw' isn't a genre but it could very well be. The movie is as Raw as it gets. If you are planning to watch this movie on a lazy Sunday afternoon then you're better off it.

This movie is not for folks who expect the typical 'Bollywood Happy Ending'. Its far more in touch with reality than any other movie that I've seen in the last year, which is what makes it raw and gripping.

This is not your typical weekend movie and takes you into a world that no one really wants to be a part of. The struggles, the relationships, the circumstances are very real and you ought to watch it if you don't mind a taste of the 'not so beautiful' reality every now and then.

A little more pace in the movie would've definitely made this a far more edgy thriller, lets get a better editor next time maybe!