Everything comes easy for the characters in Ektaara Collective's delightful little drama about the game of chess and game of life. The "hero" is on a winning bout at the local tournament where the spectators are more worried about his caste primarily because theirs is a different one. While most people in the village have chess in their mind, some have politics and angst that are propelled by a recent incident that every other person can guess in India when I use the c-word. Salvaged by the brave casting of a grandmother who is the god of sarcasm against her co-characters, Tupur reflects on multiple factors that mar peace in current times in a country where "politics is all about sports, and sports all about politics." Partly affected by the terrible performance of the majority of its cast and a string of convenient events, Tupur is fun to watch but not life-changing. After all the humor and the feigning solutions to major problems, it ends in a draw. TN.
(As part of the Young Film Critics Lab 2017 at the 19th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.)
(As part of the Young Film Critics Lab 2017 at the 19th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.)
