This Hindi movie is a pretty straightforward slice-of-life story that tries to give a modern look at what it's like to be a single, professional gay man. It dives into how he understands who he is, the chances he missed out on, and the personal choices he’s made along the way. The director used three parallel timelines to tell the story, which honestly didn't make much sense to me. While the core idea was actually pretty interesting, I really feel like this would have worked way better as a short film considering the point it was trying to make. Still, it wasn't a bad watch. The plot centers on Rachit, a city professional, and his friend Shikhar as they hang out for an evening. Rachit is a polished, urban guy, while Shikhar has more of a "small-town" rustic vibe, and you can really see the contrast between them when they talk. As the night goes on, Rachit starts thinking back to some old memories from a long time ago. He remembers being an intern after college in ...
Carter Page is the black sheep of a blue-blood American family. His ancestors made a fortune from slavery and tobacco. His father was a grandstanding governor of Virginia. Yet, he is gay and a 'walker', an unpaid companion of rich society ladies as they attend events without their husbands. Quietly gay, he adores his ladies as friends and sponsors a weekly canasta game for them that turns into a gossip fest. Carter is witty an charming and always has the gossip on everyone in the highest of circles. Since he is known to be discrete, he is the one who drives his close friend Lynn, wife of a senator weekly to a male prostitute. One afternoon she finds him stabbed to death. To save her and her family honor, he tells cops that he identified the body. Soon Carter becomes one of the suspects and soon enough the investigation is shown interest from the highest levels in the federal government. Carter, with the help of an ex middle eastern boyfriend get on a journey of their own investigation, with Carter realizing that none of his friends are there to support him anymore.
I feel like more than a murder mystery, this film is more about Carter's loneliness and his interesting relationship with the world where he doesn't really belong to but somehow fit in because of his sexuality and Southern charms and gentlemanly attitude. Carter is a smooth, charming guy, who has practiced for a lifetime at concealing his emotions. He is even able to absorb the hurtful fact that his society "friends" drop him like a hot potato. He only wanted to be nice to them; he had no other angle. He enjoyed being on the inside, looking on, overhearing, knowing the real dish. Now he faces murder charges, just because he was a good guy. Woody Harrelson as Carter Page does a really good job of portraying the lead actor. The mannerisms and charm he picks up is amazing. Having said that, I don't think the film can be classifies as a queer film (I guess it depends on your definition). Sure, our lead is an openly gay man, but the film is not about his sexuality at all. The film is about his friends, his social circle , his life and could very easily have remained unchanged if the character was straight. All other actors do a good job as well , as you would expect from a film of such high production values. But, personally for me the film was just not entertaining enough. The fact that it lacks any thrills or action scenes aggravates the boredom. It's almost shocking that even argument scenes are so plain and devoid of emotion. Maybe it is because of the stiff upper lip of the higher social class? I don't know what I really was expecting, but you can decide for yourself. (5/10)
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