X: Past Is Present is perhaps one of the best as well as an ambitious take on anthology movies as there are 11 short films contributing to the overall narrative of a filmmaker 'K' who reflects on his past emotional and sexual escapades after meeting with a girl at a film festival party.
The first half of the movie starts out strong, especially the first four short films that contribute a great deal in the character development of K. The rest of the movie, however, quickly falls apart especially Q's attempt to create a metaphysical masterpiece but ignominiously fails to interpret the essence on screen. Rii Sen, as usual, works well as a sex symbol but ultimately succumbs to the bitter reality that she can't act. The rest of the movie just approaches a precipitous downhill with the talent of Radhika Apte and Huma Qureshi being utterly wasted.
However, in the midst of labyrinthine story arcs, Pratim D. Gupta manages to execute an engaging and poignant unrequited love story between K and a girl who stayed in the same room from 8 to 8 and never see each other, yet fall in love through the poems they write for each other. The execution is superb and this is perhaps the only short film that stands out from the rest.
The cast promised much but didn't deliver. Rajat Kapoor was great and I don't think he can be bad - even in a mediocre movie. The cinematography is top notch no doubt and I really loved the camera work throughout the whole movie. What disappoints me is that a great premise is woefully smeared with poor execution and under usage of talented actors. This movie is definitely not for everyone, but if you have an eye for experimental indie flicks that have something fresh to offer, X: Past Is Present is worth a watch. My IMDb Rating: 6.9/10
The first half of the movie starts out strong, especially the first four short films that contribute a great deal in the character development of K. The rest of the movie, however, quickly falls apart especially Q's attempt to create a metaphysical masterpiece but ignominiously fails to interpret the essence on screen. Rii Sen, as usual, works well as a sex symbol but ultimately succumbs to the bitter reality that she can't act. The rest of the movie just approaches a precipitous downhill with the talent of Radhika Apte and Huma Qureshi being utterly wasted.
However, in the midst of labyrinthine story arcs, Pratim D. Gupta manages to execute an engaging and poignant unrequited love story between K and a girl who stayed in the same room from 8 to 8 and never see each other, yet fall in love through the poems they write for each other. The execution is superb and this is perhaps the only short film that stands out from the rest.
The cast promised much but didn't deliver. Rajat Kapoor was great and I don't think he can be bad - even in a mediocre movie. The cinematography is top notch no doubt and I really loved the camera work throughout the whole movie. What disappoints me is that a great premise is woefully smeared with poor execution and under usage of talented actors. This movie is definitely not for everyone, but if you have an eye for experimental indie flicks that have something fresh to offer, X: Past Is Present is worth a watch. My IMDb Rating: 6.9/10