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True slice of life
Highlights
Hindi cinema, every once in a while, shocks out of slumber with a class act with film like ‘Lunch Box’, ‘Citylights’ and now ‘Titli’. That is where the comparison stops. This Kanu Behl film ensures that for every moment of the 117 minutes you are in the theatre you are engrossed in the happenings in a manner you rarely are.
Hindi cinema, every once in a while, shocks out of slumber with a class act with film like ‘Lunch Box’, ‘Citylights’ and now ‘Titli’. That is where the comparison stops. This Kanu Behl film ensures that for every moment of the 117 minutes you are in the theatre you are engrossed in the happenings in a manner you rarely are. Oh! This is an art film the guy sitting next to me said and I realised people who watch our cinema have forgotten that cinema is art! Thank you Kanu for giving us a film we can be proud of. You will not make it to the Oscars. Many on the road hiccups and politics will way lay you.
This is a film to remember. Actually it is one you will not forget. It is about that segment of Delhi which we all know exists and wish away from our collective conscious. This is life in a slice that defies the family as perceived by the Karan Johar and Sooraj Barjatya. Here is a family of all males: Dad (Lalit Behl) and his three sons Vikram (Ranvir Shorey), Bawla (Amit Sial) and Titli (Shanshank Arora) live in claustrophobic constraints and trigged tempers. Pushed to being social outsiders, violence and crime are their life partners and the only way to existence. James Baldwin said: Nothing is more desirable than to be released from an affliction, but nothing is more frightening than to be divested of a crutch.
This conflict haunts Titli who obviously fancies the possibility of a flight away from this all! While big Bro Vikram has a broken marriage and his wife in a live-in relationship with another guy and still making bold to ask for divorce on the ground of domestic violence, the family decides to get Titli married, so that they have a female member in the gang to way lay travellers for their loot. Titli is thus forced into matrimony with Neelu (Shivani Raghuvanshi) who, however, has her priorities. She refuses to consummate the marriage or for that matter join the family business.
Titli on the other hand is willing to make his all important compromise to raise a few bucks to buy a garage space for himself. Each of the characters is on the wrong side of the fence— each for a reason, each with a justification, each in search of his little dream and in the hope of his little space. Life works out otherwise. It leaves them with little too choose and too much to do. Marvellously scripted and amazingly edited (Namrata Rao) filmmaker Kanu Behl makes an awesome debut. Raw beyond words yet without the Bhatt influence this film is impacting and leaves you with a troubled stomach. No time for judgement here. It just tells without any platitudes and that makes the narration so truthfully watchable.
The cast in the cast that defies the chemistry of perceived Indian families is yet another factor that makes for compelling viewing. Lalit Behl as the dad who is a mute witness to what is happening gives the film some mind-boggling moments of sensitivity. Then there is Ranvir Shorey who outshines his repute as a good actor. This could well be his very best. He is in top form. Debutant couple Shanshank Arora (who has an uncanny resemblance to a top star) and Shivani bring a high quality of honesty and integrity to the narrative with their performances. One only hopes the hero does not get carried away with the long nose resemblance to a star and begin hamming in times to come. Then there is Amit Sial in a supporting role who understands the craft of being a supporting actor to such fineness that you are left with the difficult choice of choosing the best.
‘Titli’ is a magic package. It is worth spending time and money on even if it is going to hurt and leave scars. It is more engrossing than entertaining. Let us live up to the director’s expectations lest we go back to complaining that our filmmakers do not make good cinema. ‘Titli’ may well be our Steppenwolf.
– LRC
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