A daunting and haunting debut by Konkona, the film's a dark yet nostalgic trip down the memory lane. Of colonial hangovers, trials and errors of driving ambassadors, sporting kick-ass sideburns, the thrill of motorbikes and séances and loadsheddings, knitted sweaters and retro glasses, Anglo-Indian bakery shops, mahua-drinking tribals, and picturesque winter vacations with the entire family.
Set in McCluskieganj of '79, the film opens with a death and never ceases to be eerie. Wondering if the 'McGuffin Pictures' in the film's opening credits is a clever use of the plot device by the same name? Konkona's eye for detail - the brilliant use of folk songs as the plot unfolds and spreads out, the paper support slowly slipping out underneath the chair as Kalki and Massey's characters engage in lovemaking; motifs like the word 'eulogy' tumbling out as the child reads from a list of words with 'e', the Katherine Mansfield-like death of a bug under a magnifying glass in the garden - point to the imminent death.
Among the brilliant star-cast, Vikrant Massey's Shutu is someone most of us can relate to or empathize with... The introvert who quietly tries to woo the girl, runs her errands and pins all his hope on that one girl only to realize the futility. The sensitive boy suffering the aftermath of his father's death, often the soft target who looks like a "pretty girl", the butt of all jokes, a bully's obvious victim, and the "dudh-bhaat" in the muscle show of kabaddi matches. What a powerful portrayal of vulnerable masculinity!
Must mention Sirsha Ray's cinematography which is like poetry lighting up each frame and quietly smoldering in the memory of the bonfire this film is.
Set in McCluskieganj of '79, the film opens with a death and never ceases to be eerie. Wondering if the 'McGuffin Pictures' in the film's opening credits is a clever use of the plot device by the same name? Konkona's eye for detail - the brilliant use of folk songs as the plot unfolds and spreads out, the paper support slowly slipping out underneath the chair as Kalki and Massey's characters engage in lovemaking; motifs like the word 'eulogy' tumbling out as the child reads from a list of words with 'e', the Katherine Mansfield-like death of a bug under a magnifying glass in the garden - point to the imminent death.
Among the brilliant star-cast, Vikrant Massey's Shutu is someone most of us can relate to or empathize with... The introvert who quietly tries to woo the girl, runs her errands and pins all his hope on that one girl only to realize the futility. The sensitive boy suffering the aftermath of his father's death, often the soft target who looks like a "pretty girl", the butt of all jokes, a bully's obvious victim, and the "dudh-bhaat" in the muscle show of kabaddi matches. What a powerful portrayal of vulnerable masculinity!
Must mention Sirsha Ray's cinematography which is like poetry lighting up each frame and quietly smoldering in the memory of the bonfire this film is.