Ever returned home from the densely polluted world outside, and pulled a deep, long breath in comfort? Well, that’s what you could call this independent venture in collaboration with The Viral Fever: A breath of fresh air.
They say that in Mumbai, every 3rd
door you knock on will be opened by a jobless writer. Pick any two of these
writers, this is their story. The protagonists Dulal & Mainak, meet Gonzo
Kapoor, a producer’s son who hasn't been able to launch himself, with delusions of creativity and revolutionary
ambitions. This meeting and the ensuing circumstances lead to an eventual
distancing between the two writers, with Dulal falling in love with Ruma, a
lawyer-turned-photographer, while wanting to forge an identity as a fresh
writer, and Mainak seeking closure in anything that comes his way as long as it
starts paying for his presently unproductive life.
This isn’t your run-of-the-mill
Bollywood blockbuster. There is no hero. There are no 6-packs. No fight for
love. No group-dance sequences in a crowded Mumbai market. And no one gets the
girl. This is a very ordinary story of the lives of 2 men trying to make
something concrete of their dreams while battling out the challenges Mumbai
poses, and the compromises they are willing to make in terms of their life and
ambitions. The film doesn’t arouse any extraordinary expectations from its
audience, because of its low-key cast that one easily recognizes from the
videos by TVF on Youtube. Perhaps this is the reason the film gels in so
comfortably with its viewers and vice versa. The conversations and dialogues
are simple and relatable. The entire film is shot and presented as a story one
would tell over drinks at a party, thus lending it a natural presence of comedy
in the depiction of simple life situations, which is not slapstick, and yet makes
you laugh from your guts.
Amit Masurkar has done a delightful
job with this film, along with a talented cast comprising many recognisable TVF
regulars, as well as a much more mature performance by Aditi Vasudev, the
tomboy from “Do Dooni Chaar”. Seasoned
with pleasantly placed guest appearances by figures such as Mahesh Bhatt and
Anil “Gadar” Sharma, the film is a light journey through the life of an
aspiring scriptwriter, and the role that the City of Dreams plays in it.
