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 ...
A simple young man Liam works in a hotel and the setting is during covid. A rich man Harry comes to stay at the hotel for a week and their first meeting does not go well. Harry is angry and Liam is clumsy, but. Turns out that's because Liam is enamored by how handsome Harry is. Anyway, they eventually become friends and one night while hanging out Harry tells Liam how he is super rich but after his parents separation neither wants them, so they keep throwing money at him and he misses connection and love. Soon they have sex. Harry ants to become boyfriend with Liam , but Liam says that he has obligations to his family for his two younger brothers who are studying, his mom who is constantly sick and a father, who will kill him if he finds out that Liam is gay. Lo behold, when Liam's mother goes to the hospital, Harry shows up and soon after the family finds out about Liam. The father beats him black and blue, but this only strengthens the love between the two men. But there is a family secret that soon comes out. After doing some digging, it turns out that Harry's mother is Liam's mother sister and they both have same father. WTF!!! Yes. It only gets weirder from here. Heartbroken and jaded, Harry tries to commit suicide with Liam taking care of him. They both decide that they can no longer have sex or kiss but they will continue to love each other as brothers forever. Harry gets better and leaves town.
The story actually could have had potential. We have seen stories of unknowing incest, but there are many ways such stories can be handled, but this film was definitely not that. The production quality was low, the acting was below average, the direction bad and the editing just non existent. Loud acting by Liam and the elongated driving scenes, sex scenes, unnecessary titillation just did not help the film. At various places it was going soooo slow. The biggest laughter I got was when Harry says he has 5 MN dollars and that they should both just run away and live a happy life. No rich man of that wealth would love how Harry was living that too in a super basic hotel. Harry was decent looking. Better than Liam, his two younger brothers were handsome but when it comes to acing, not one single person showed any promise whatsoever. I blame either all on the director and also whoever decided to pump some money in this project. I watch a film after a gap of so many days and this is what I get. Stay away please. (1.5/10)
Comments
Hello "Golo" - I have been trying to find a way to let you know what i think about your reviews (superb!) and also suggest some wonderful gay movies that are not on your list. My name is Peter and I have taught video/audio editing for 20 years and have a trove of LGBTQ+ movies. "Of an age" (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14967472/) is one movie (Bluray only) and Punch (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13153494/) is another that I believe to be two outstanding movies for many reasons. If you are not overwhelmed by mail and would like to respond, I think that could be mutually beneficial.
"Of an Age" is a fantastic film and I loved it. Maybe the search feature of my website is not the best, but I did write up about it here (https://www.gayfilmsreview.com/2023/03/of-age-australia.html).
And so is Punch (https://www.gayfilmsreview.com/2023/04/punch-new-zealand.html)
I have. to admit, you did give two amazing recommendations and would lobe to hear more from you