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 ...
Jeffrey is a very nice young man who has just spent a night with handsome Rene and feels there is something between them but Rene shrugs him off saying that he is not looking for a sweetheart. By chance that day, he sees Rene with his boyfriend entering into a building, which is possibly his apartment. The landlady of the building Gladys mistake shim for a potential tenant and nnextthilng you know is that Jeffrey has moved into the same building unknown to Rene. Rene is obviously angry when he find this out but Jeffrey is so smitten by him that he ignores signs of ever-invasive Gladys showing a lot of affection to him. Jeffrey still doesn't know why the previous tenant left in a hurry. Soon thereafter, he hears faint cries for help coming from beneath some rotted floorboards, where Gladys lives one floor down. When Jeffrey realizes that Gladys is holding the previous tenant hostage, next thing you know is that Gladys captures him too. The rest of the film is about how Jeffrey struggles to find the truth behind Gladys' actions and how through intervention of Jeffrey's best friend, finally he is able to escape from all the torture from Gladys.
I have to say that the final reveal of why this was all being done left me wanting more. I was expecting something more chilling and compelling but it didn't resonate very well for me. I totally "get" the reason for the conflict, but the actors involved did not portray "insanity" effectively to make that explanation credible. They were just too campy. But besides that, like I said, this story has some potential but needs an overall renovation in each department. The performances by all the actors is quite alright actually. Thankfully, no one goes over the top, which is so easy to do in such a genre. There is no repeat value here and this particular treatment is average at best. It did disappoint me much but left me wanting a bit more. Need more thrills. (5/10)
Comments