Naal (The Umbilical Cord)

Director Sudhakar Reddy’s vision of a Maharashtrian village is quite rooted in terms of it’s relatability. Indeed I was quite unsure of which outdoor games they were playing with sticks and stones (it wasn’t gilli-danda). The film introduces us to the lightness, tenderness of a winged pollen seed as it unintentionally flies away towards Chaitya (Shrinivas Pokale). The feature then progresses towards Chaitya’s daily activities, through the song Jau De Na Va. The song here very much goes literally together with the narrative. Be it him eating the guavas inside the tom-tom, putting water on clay models, or persuading his mother to let him play - the overall music here plays quite like a visual-poetry.

The feature involves camera focus changes in abundance. However, there are moments where it could’ve provided a view of the whole scenario. The visual effects of the calf lacked the touch and texture as to what the characters and with them, we audiences would’ve felt with that of it’s live-action mother buffalo. However, it could perhaps be passed off, since the buffalo and it’s calf sometimes symbolizes Chaitya and his mother’s relationship. A resurgent arrival of the calf goes hand in hand with Chaitya’s renewed respect for his mother.

Sometimes, it’s difficult to know what a young child might be thinking onto. Even as Chaitya forges several tricks for his family members which leads to regretful consequences, we audiences still overlook it and follow this child’s sheer innocence across. Naal emphasizes this.

Check the trailer of Naal here.

Ti Ani Itar (She & the others)

Director Govind Nihalani's Marathi-Hindi bilingual seems to be filmed like that of a play. Godbole family’s house, which is almost where the whole narrative takes place, looks very much new. As if the furniture was made yesterday itself. Plus, a home involving two young kids, it’s quite unlikely that it could be this spick and span throughout. Here’s where a realistic approach does not pass off; in an otherwise relevant and mainly strong premise - where morality is pitted against fear when the family purposely turn a blind eye to a dreadful crime of physical assault in the adjacent apartment building.

A scene which felt well-directed was when everyone has arrived at the dinner table after a frightful revelation. As Anirudh Godbole (Subodh Bhave) dedicatedly serves the dinner to others, Naina Godbole (Sonali Kulkarni) does the same, with much anxiety. Amruta Subhash’s journalist-character still seems unconvinced, while others partially give in to celebrate the moment of Naina’s new album release. There is a visible certain pressure, amidst this dinner.

Ti Ani Itar consists of a single song, Badal Jo, sung pleasingly by Aditi Paul & Ankita Joshi. With lyrics by Sachin Shafaq, who actually plays himself, in a cameo, giving advice to Naina for her musical debut. The scene goes on, to him explaining the meaning of his pen name shafaq - the redness that appears in the sky before the sun comes up and while it goes down - twilight. Although quite informative, it seemed like a promotional vehicle for perhaps, his side-profession as a ghazal artist.

During the end, when a key telephonic conversation takes place, a person, on the other hand, is talking on the phone with Naina but ends it by addressing the lady as well as Anirudh. How is he able to know that Anirudh is also hearing the conversation? Although this would be a minute continuity error I noticed.

Little Buddha [Blu-ray]

Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci’s English-language feature is about the prince Siddhartha of ancient India, which goes parallel to the narrative of the search for a Buddhist monk’s reincarnation in the metropolis of Seattle. The story might seem improbable at several points. Well, as Lama Norbu’s (Ying Ruocheng) determination to search remains intact, I gradually got hooked onto his and young Jesse’s (Alex Wiesendanger) journey. Prince Siddhartha’s life is narrated parallelly, while Jesse reads an illustrated book called The Little Buddha, gifted to him by Lama Norbu.

Prince Siddhartha realizes that enlightenment could come from choosing the Middle Path, between the extreme renouncement of everything and a slight meditative mind. That could be having a bowl of rice along with a stranger at the banks of a river, as Prince Siddhartha, after having this self-realization, tries to convince the other supposedly sages, in the film.

Keanu Reeves is mainly unrecognizable as the young prince Siddhartha, with ignorance to adore to and eventually enlightenment to ponder upon. Supported with a pleasing background score which likely highlights an ancient Indian atmosphere.

A Viszis (The Whiskey Bandit)

Director Nimrod Antal’s Hungarian-language feature includes stylish editing and occasionally action-packed sequences. Based on a true story, mainly between the late ’90s, Attila Ambrus (Bence Szalay) robbed banks, while usually leaving behind an empty whiskey bottle. Thus, the titular name, The Whiskey Bandit. I’m still not sure why he specifically kept a whiskey bottle. Indeed, as shown, he was inspired in doing this, at a bar, while hearing a television anchor-woman reporting and ‘glorifying’ his heists (a misdeed to which the media is sometimes chastised to, till date). The makers could’ve emphasised more on explaining about this style of Ambrus.

Perhaps some of the characters who had less screen-time seemed to be conversing in deadpan expressions. Kata’s (played by the attractive Piroska Moga) parents, especially her father, dejected him quickly, with a reason for him not having a stable job or money. The scene also felt quite generic and seems to be approached just as an archetypal stock scene to progress the narrative. Although it was supposedly a key plot-point for the further events to unfold. When Ambrus goes to the passport office, an attendant there delivers his dialogue-heavy act, although with desired escalated pace, but in a noticeable blank look. The same scene then match-cuts to another, when Ambrus is disruptively ambushed by a stranger. Which then leads to him being thrown at an ice-hockey arena. Who was this stranger, why did he pushed away Ambrus – we never get to know. There was a fine use of an editing technique here, but it felt gimmicky.

The Whiskey Bandit’s several action scenes unfold during the second half. For instance, Ambrus has just started driving a scooter and is suddenly crashed by an unknown car. While him also being in the process of being chased by a well-built man on a Bullet motorcycle. The scene was quite unexpected and for a while, had me in an adrenaline blow.