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 ...
Siggi, founder of the Icelandic Phallological Museum, admits that the project began as a joke. Many many years into his dream, he runs the world's largest museum which has almost every penis of every species that is there to be. But his dream is to have the most important human penis. This one thing has evaded him for long. Fortunately, a volunteer arrives in the form of Pall Arason, a famous Icelandic adventurer and well-known womanizer. He I she sort of candidate that will be amazing for the museum. To Siggi's surprise, another man from USA, Tom, a swaggering, well-endowed cowboy who refers to his penis as Elmo also wants to immortalized and wants to be “the world’s first true penis celebrity.” He even gets stars and stripes tattooed on his dick head, because everyone needs to know that Elmo belonged to an American. But he also starts thinking of getting it cut off while he is alive, so he can feel the attention. He is very interested in every aspect of this donation, which starts annoying Siggi, whose own health is starting to deteriorate so he decides to pledge his own penis to the museum in case of his death. Luckily, Paul is close to his death bed and ends up dying thereby fulfilling his wish of a human penis for Siggi's museum. Siggi is very proud of his work that day and decides to retire leaving the legacy to his son to run things for him.
As fascinating the story is, it is also interesting to see how the thing may have started as a joke, but eventually everyone around him got around. His wife, family, cousins and friends; everyone is extremely supportive. I bet there were much hardships initially on the way but they are never touched upon. The main focus is on the dream of getting the human organ. We see all the things and artifacts Siggi has made in penis shape including Christmas cutlery and his bowties made from sperm whale penis skin, he notes that his focus has always been on removing the taboo from the male genitalia, a naturalist’s instinct that seems both noble and poignant, given that his own health has begun to falter. The documentary feels surreal and funny but is also so true. It is a very soundly made documentary and focuses on some really interesting material. It's funny and heartfelt, more so than you could ever expect a movie about a penis museum to be. (7/10)
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