The First Film – By Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Pradeep ( Abhishek Banerjee ) is all alone in a big city. He has no friends, connections or even acquaintances. This turns him into a workaholic. He spends most of his time in his workplace which incidentally is a garment fashion store. His loneliness finally comes to an abrupt end with the entry of a female mannequin.
Pradeep looks up to the mannequin as his friend, lover, partner … everything. He even dresses her up in attires which he wants his real girlfriend to wear. If that is not enough he dances with her and also takes her out on a date. However, like most secrets even Pradeep’s infatuation for the mannequin is laid bare. His actions are witnessed by his fellow worker. The unusual and fetish ways of Pradeep reaches the owner’s ears. He lets him off after a stern warning but relieves him from the duty of dressing up the mannequin.
The task is now given to his friend who dresses up the mannequin in modern clothes. Aggrieved by his friend’s crooked mind Pradeep picks up a fight and in the process loses his job.
Back in his village, he gets involved with a female, a childhood friend ( T. J. Bhanu ). They get married and Pradeep returns to the city. He begs his boss, the fashion store owner to take him back. The owner hires him. After all Pradeep was a hard working employee. Pradeep is shocked when he realizes that the mannequin is no longer a part of the dressing window. He enquires about the lifeless fashion model. He is told by his friend that they sold it to a “Prop” shop.
Pradeep sets out to locate the mannequin. After an extended search he finds it in a store, tucked away in the inner room. Pradeep has a long and emotional chat with the mannequin before bidding goodbye … forever. He doesn’t need the companionship anymore.
Analysis –
What we liked about this movie is the subject and the cinematography. Of course Abhishek Banerjee has done a fantastic job of a man infatuated by an inanimate object. What we didn’t like was the ending. We expected something radical, something out of the box. Direction is a conformist’s delight. The verdict – Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s film is the best of the lot.
The Second Film – By Abhishek Chaubey
Madhyantar is adapted from Kannada short story with the same name and written by Jayant Kaikini. The story revolves around two young individuals and set in the 1980’s period when single theatres ruled the entertainment domain.
Nandu (Delzad Hiwale) is an enterprising and hardworking youth shuffling between various chores … from an usher in a popular theatre to an assistant along a roadside eatery. Manjari (Rinku Rajguru) too is an assiduous girl and lives in a Chawl with her mother and brother. Ironically, both are stuck in a place and relationships which are based on abuse and selfishness. While Nandu’s Uncle constantly mistreats him verbally in spite of him looking after his needs ( medically & financially ) Manjari is abused by her mother and a chawl resident.
The two get into a relationship after Manjari’s frequent visits to the theater. Weeks later they decide to quit the city and make something out of their lives. The very next morning they head to the bus depot. Nandu buys two tickets. He offers her one and asks her to board the bus and sit right in the front. He says he will join her later and rushes to the washroom.
The story takes a U-turn when we realize that Nandu has brought tickets for two different destinations – one for Surat and the other for Pune. They are actually travelling in different buses but they both appear happy because they have set out to make their dreams come true and live a better life.
Analysis –
What we liked about the film are the locations. The nostalgic settings, the mystical lanes of old Bombay and the palpable aura of bygone era stirred us emotionally. We have several peeves, and the most important amongst them is the weak conflict. However, the offbeat ending did turn us thoughtful. Direction and cinematography is ordinary. We expected more from Rinku Rajguru. We truly believe that her performance could have been better. On the other hand Delzad Hiwale surprised us with his top class enactment.
The Third Film – By Saket Chaudhary
Cities like Mumbai corrupt the citizens with its glamour, affluence and power. It gives birth to aspirations and dreams which often results in compromised relationships, even the most sacred ones; including marriage.
Tanu Mathur ( Zoya Hussain ) realizes that her husband Arjun Mathur ( Nikhil Dwivedi ) is having an affair. She checks his mobile phone and tracks down the lady in concern, Natasha ( Palomi Ghosh ). Tanu scans her husband’s social media accounts. It offers an insight into Arjun’s affair; especially how and when the illicit liaise began. Through Natasha’s Facebook profile she gets in touch with her husband Manav ( Kunal Kapoor ).
Instead of confronting her husband, Tanu asks Manav to help her find how and why it happened. She tells him that she needs to know why Arjun betrayed her. Initially, Manav is skeptical but when he realizes that Tanu is telling the truth he agrees. The duo begin their investigation from a hotel where Arjun and Natasha met for the first time, during a convention / business conference.
They retrace Natasha and Arjun’s steps, their timeline, right from their first interaction after the conference to the full-fledged affair which ends in the hotel room. Tanu and Manav recreate the scenes and conversations. In the end they draw a picture which gives them the idea of how it all transpired. The trouble is Tanu wants to commit the same mistake which her husband did but Manav stops her. He says sex is not the solution to her troubles. They agree to remain good friends and support each other.
Days later Tanu and Manav catch up once again. Tanu is happy because the affair is finally over. She enquires about the reason for the fallout. Manav tells her that Natasha realized that Arjun was a ruthless person and not someone who was short of love. We believe Tanu divorces her husband because she doesn’t to be Arjun’s second choice.
Analysis –
Saket Chaudhary’s offering is the weakest amongst the three. There are several conflicting story arcs which tuned us wary. For example, Tanu’s belief that “Infidelity is a part of modern marriages and a reality” didn’t go down well with us. If she believed in this theory then the ending needed a creative overhaul, a technical revisit because she says she doesn’t want to be Arjun’s second choice. Does this mean cheating is okay but being a second option is unacceptable? Then there is this interpretation of Natasha. She feels Arjun is ruthless in his conduct and therefore not worthy of her love. On the positive side, we loved the settings. Direction is inspiring while the cinematography evocative.
2021 Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari | By Abhishek Chaubey | Saket Chaudhary Many Writers 110 Minutes Netflix