Here's a 'Bollywood' movie that breaks almost every possible trope that Hindi movies have and that too with what style and pizazz! Alas, it does so without paying much attention its script and therein lies the movie's weakness.
The movie itself is an exploration of the shady underbelly of the Mumbai film industry by focusing on the tribulations of two brothers who are trying to make it 'big' but at the risk of losing everything they hold dear. At the same time, we as audience are given a glimpse into just how dirty, sleazy, crass, amoral and downright abhorrent the world of unorganized Bombay film industry is. What makes the movie so compelling is that it does this with great visual style that holds the viewer attention. So even when I was disgusted with what I was seeing, I was completely enrapt.
At least for the first 30 minutes of the movie. Sadly, the plot and the script is loose, the dialogue is shoddy and the overall plot is meandering with multiple plot lines crisscrossing each other with not much attention paid to a single one. As a result, the movie as a story feels unsatisfactory. However, as a portrait into the B/C grade movie industry, it was fascinating.
I have no idea of what's happening in Bollywood in 2018, but I do know the more things change, they remain the same. In that sense, this movie may as well be a description of what's happening even today - I wouldn't be suprised to learn that some flat in Byculla or Santacruz is being used right now as an impromptu studio for a shooting blue film with some hapless young girl lying naked, being exploited, dreaming of making it 'big' with strips of cocaine on the coffee table.
PS: In a away, the lack of loose plot makes sense. IMDB's trivia page reveals that the movie was supposed to be a documentary but the makers felt they were getting too close to the industry which still has criminal elements associated with it. Risking for their lives, the movie makers decided to fictionalize the characters and make a movie instead.
The movie itself is an exploration of the shady underbelly of the Mumbai film industry by focusing on the tribulations of two brothers who are trying to make it 'big' but at the risk of losing everything they hold dear. At the same time, we as audience are given a glimpse into just how dirty, sleazy, crass, amoral and downright abhorrent the world of unorganized Bombay film industry is. What makes the movie so compelling is that it does this with great visual style that holds the viewer attention. So even when I was disgusted with what I was seeing, I was completely enrapt.
At least for the first 30 minutes of the movie. Sadly, the plot and the script is loose, the dialogue is shoddy and the overall plot is meandering with multiple plot lines crisscrossing each other with not much attention paid to a single one. As a result, the movie as a story feels unsatisfactory. However, as a portrait into the B/C grade movie industry, it was fascinating.
I have no idea of what's happening in Bollywood in 2018, but I do know the more things change, they remain the same. In that sense, this movie may as well be a description of what's happening even today - I wouldn't be suprised to learn that some flat in Byculla or Santacruz is being used right now as an impromptu studio for a shooting blue film with some hapless young girl lying naked, being exploited, dreaming of making it 'big' with strips of cocaine on the coffee table.
PS: In a away, the lack of loose plot makes sense. IMDB's trivia page reveals that the movie was supposed to be a documentary but the makers felt they were getting too close to the industry which still has criminal elements associated with it. Risking for their lives, the movie makers decided to fictionalize the characters and make a movie instead.