Death in the Gunj (Bollywood is not Dead)

Again a week-late review.

A must-see. Wherever the show is available, go watch it. A fantastic directorial debut by Konkona Sen-Sharma.

The movie is based on a book, and like a good book, it wants you wanting more, a belief that it should not have ended. It is crafted with love and care, and all the actors give it the same treatment. The entire movie gives a nice sepia-tinged feeling while watching it. Messi, Kalki, Ranvir Shorey (whom I believe is one of the most unexplored and underrated actors) give a great performance. So do all the other actors. Their antics through the course of seven days mirrors any group of friends/family would do, yet have a certain charm. The setting contributes to it. Hypocrisy, mismatch of expectations, jealousy and all human frailties seem to be the centrepiece of the movie, and it delivers.

Small-small shots (can't believe I translated chotya-chotya goshti), like Shuttu (Messi) and Tani in the bathtub in the courtyard, despite the 'modern', educated couple, (Tani's mother drinking and smoking with her husband) after Tani goes missing he shouts 'she's your responsibility', Shuttu's elder cousin coming to comfort him despite just dissing his inability to 'man-up and get over his father's death', among others, are a pleasure to watch and bring out the nuances existing within the family. What I loved the most is that the victim/hero/protagonist does not win at the end. Refreshing and real. Also Om Puri.

Towards the end, you will know what scene is going to take place. But until the last moment, the outcome is quite uncertain.
Kudos to Sagar Desai for the music. Quite befitting.

There is nothing to take back from the movie, and as such it is an ideal movie: where there is nothing to take back, complete within itself. Watch-and-remember types.
Any disappointments? Enough with the subtitles!
Special thanks to Mrinmayi Katdare who took the initiative, and for the post-movie intense analysis of the same. Especially how we know only bits and pieces of Shuttu's immediate past and not the entire details. I think I enjoyed it more than I will enjoy Wonder Woman whenever I see it.

4 beards/5