colour-me-kubrick

Original. Daring. But doesn't quite gel.

I am writing a review after ages. Perhaps it's a sign of a good movie that provoked this response. Or perhaps it's just appreciation for a director who really did go for it. Ducarnau demonstrated the Cronenbergesque body horror and satire in her first feature film. Titane has confirmed that she is definitely could be the next champion of extremely physical movies. Film reminds of themes of Crash ( 1996 ) and to some extent Videodrome ( 1983 ) .

Keeping the cryptic and puzzling aspects aside, it's a basic story of finding closure and a place in this world, when you have ambiguous intimacy / sexuality, distorted physicality, suppressed emotions and childhood trauma.

Ducarnau is however not quiet able to meet the ambition of ideas she is putting down on canvas. There is rather drastic shifts in tone of movie, which can be confusing. There is no harm in mixing genres but I felt a bit lost in parts of second half.

The shock values of the scenes ( and they are shocking ) wears off once you are no longer sure of motives of players especially when you are not totally buying into it. In first 15 min, the film hits such high note that the twists and turns that follow almost negate the impact.

I would say if you are looking for a provocative film, this is the one. However, keep an open mind. Titane is ambitious but it's not able to live up to its potential.

Sacred Games is an interesting effort with strong content and great team. Do not buy the hype. This is not yet at the world standards when it comes to screenplay, development of characters or technical finesse.

By the mediocre standards of mainstream a Indian cinema, it is gritty and rather unhinged when it comes depiction of violence, nudity and sex. But it lacks depth. The characters are not well etched out. Apparat from Gaitonde ( Nawazuddin ), nothing really hits home. Yes, there are some great actors who deliver but the characters don't show consistency in action or clear motive.

This was yet again a case of per matured celebration of mediocrity that we so love to do in India. I felt the filmmakers and writers were more interested in making personal statements than tell the story. Kashyap and Motwane have made more accomplishes movies than this. Some of the character performances by Joshi and Sarna are brilliant.

Nothing to write home about. Don't believe any of the hype on India's first. We do get prematurely excited.

For a majority of Indian cinema audiences, films are essentially their only resort for entertainment which inherently implies escapism. Their expectations are not any different from a child being taken to local circus. Expect the child to get distracted and bored during the show if instead of the pyrotechnics of the Trapeze artists he is getting an anecdote from the Clown. With cinema in India, it is no different. The audiences want to be put into a different space preferably a more comfortable one. They want to be told how to feel and they invariably want to feel good at the end of the film. All of this would not go down well with lot of them, but in the spirit of the film, I would rather be truthful than be loved. In this climate of very limited expectations from the medium, comes a movie like "Dhobi Ghaat" which tells you a story without a plot ( 3 part structure ), without a necessarily "happy ending" in traditional sense, without the usual pomp and reverence that only the elite in this country enjoy, but just snippets from lives of 4 people and how they connect with each other in this great city.

Without giving anything away from the film, we meet Arun ( Aamir Khan ) an ambiguous, reticent, awkward, cynical and probably bored painter who has lost motivation for his work. This struggle with his work also impacts his relationships especially with certain Shai ( Monica Dogra ), an NRI, who returns to India on a "sabbatical" to discover the city. After one intense encounter, both seem to be reconciling and gauging their emotions from different view points. Then there is Munna ( Pratik Babbar ) who works at Dhobi Ghaat during day, works out at night (among other things ) and nurtures ambitions in the film industry. He is also connected to the above two characters. Now we come to Yasmin ( Kriti Malhotra ) through whom Arun and we as audience rediscover the city in all its beauty, brutality and innocence.

Reasons to watch the film : - 1) The cinematography, especially some of hand held shots, the still shots of the Mumbaikars at work. Director Kiran Rao shows great clarity, conviction and control with every frame. One is reminded of the great works of Wong Kar Wai. 2) The movie is shot on actual locations. Now, for most this might seem like a trivial comment, but it is an incredibly arduous task to shoot in the crowded locations especially with star like Aamir Khan whose presence could cause a stampede at most places in India. It is very important to capture the places in all its chaos to capture the vibrancy of the city cutting through different classes of people that reside in the city. 3) Absolutely haunting score by Gustavo Santaolalla ( of Brokeback Mountain fame ). Like any great Soundtrack, it never overwhelms the scene but underlines the essence and lingers in our mind long after you left the theater. 4) Performances by the entire cast especially a Kriti Malhotra. She is not an actor by profession which works for the film with "raw" and "innocent" nature of her performance.

I can't think of many better debuts in recent times than this one by Kiran Rao. There were so many times I was pinching myself "Am I really watching an Indian film!!". She shows great courage and maturity with her first film. There is lot to admire in her especially the subtlety and mis- en-scenes which makes the characters even more endearing. Not much is said "literally", but much of it is implied. This is her love letter to City of Mumbai. It is also not an overtly "flattering" one, but honestly embracing the city in all its fallacies. She also seems to have a stamp on every frame in the film, which reminds me a bit of one of my other favourites Sofia Coppola. Both dealt with themes of loneliness and longing in such honest and tender way.

I am not sure what it will do for Indian cinema. I am not even sure if another movie like this will ever get made. But I am glad for now. It brought me closer to my city. Sometimes you go through these very places without feeling anything. Through Yasmin I have fallen in love with Mumbai again.