Badla (2019)- Netflix

'Badla' is just as its title suggests. A tale of revenge which leads us to believe things and switch those very beliefs within seconds. This film is an elaborately constructed psychological game of cat and mouse, which covers what the general public believes about the legal profession. It has us empathize with certain characters and hate them just minutes later for their despicable actions. This movie comes across as a locked room mystery, a revenge story, a twisty thriller, but it is a tale which implores us to pay attention to the details again and again. More often than not a tiny element in some frame was missed by me and I felt just as a particular character did when they too realised that they hadn't paid close attention to all the details. 

We get right to it from the start. The opening credits created a tense atmosphere which captured my attention. Everything was in black and white and seemed intricately connected. The background song vocalized by the lead actor too was what I managed to identify and began thinking of the last time an actor sang his own song in a film. There have been many instances of course, but this minor thing got me interested.

This film takes place in the apartment of Naina Sethi (Tapsee Pannu) where she is interrogated by her defence counsel and undefeated lawyer Badal Gupta (Amitabh Bachchan) who says he has been persuaded to come out of retirement. Naina who is out on bail (she has to wear an ankle tracker) narrates her version of events which have led up to this moment to her legal counsel. The scenes from outside the apartment take place in the form of narration through flashbacks. 

The first thing I remembered about this combo was their earlier film "Pink" where they portrayed the lawyer and client characters. However, this lawyer-client relationship here is completely different.

Badal believes that justice is blind and constantly thwarts Naina’s version of events going as far to call it very convenient that a character develops a new skill just at the right moment. Isn’t that a thought we have all had whilst watching a movie. 

He repeatedly tells Naina (and indirectly addresses us behind the 4th wall) that it is important to focus on each and every single minute detail. At times I wish I had paid better attention to the minutest element in the frame and not just been delighted at having found that one detail but completely miss the details within that detail.

Badal takes the words of Dr. Gregory House to heart and believes that, "Everybody lies." And it is only through the successful identification of ones lies that the truth can be spotted. The thing to remember while watching this film is to focus on the details and believe everything or maybe not? But always remember the liar seeks to recreate a setting from inspiration and if something seems out of place... well it usually is. Spoiler? No, you will see too many red herrings if you are determined to spot this based on my previous sentence. 

Having caught this film on Netflix after being confounded on numerous occasions I decided to rewind to the critical moments and saw that what was being shown more clearly was actually there in screen in a blink and you miss it style of appearance. To really enjoy and experience this film you need to have your brain switched on throughout. ‘Badla’ does spell things out for you later on, but what's the fun in that.. wouldn't you rather have that satisfied smirk on your face when you see your prediction unfold on screen. And make no mistake if your grey cells are active you will be able to predict what happens for this film seems to fall victim to the frequency of its plot twists. 

With the basic structure of mystery films in general and our limited number of characters it is all but obvious that one of them is heavily involved in the killing. You know that there will be that one final twist, because the film has had no shortage of them and the twists won’t stop coming right at the climax where the audience usually expects the major reveal to pop up. You will be waiting for it and perhaps like me you too would find it predictable and be of the opinion that 'Badla' fell victim to its own ingenious script character development

The acting is good with special praise going to Tapsee Pannu after initially coming across as the scared woman she has been in both Pink and Game Over presented another side of herself which managed to make me direct a variety of emotions other than sympathy to her character. In her scenes with Amitabh Bachchan she both acts with authority and reacts with tension and is able to hold her own. 

Looking back and thinking closely about this film, particularly the dialogues I felt delighted that I was able to predict that ending. It was that obvious in retrospect... who else would speak about what they spoke in that manner. Perhaps it was due to the fact that there were so many twists and turns throughout the 117 minute run time that there could be an argument that this was predictable and shouldn't have been missed by the eagle eyed viewers. But are we conditioned to tune in to a Bollywood film with our brains switched on? 

This is a good thing that is happening in Bollywood right now and hopefully more films like 'Badla' can change the way Bollywood is looked at from films of song and dance melodrama to serious and gripping cerebral cinema.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)

Quentin Tarantino’s 9th film ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ (OUATIH) is no Pulp Fiction where the jumbled up storyline feels just right, nor is it a Django Unchained where we bear witness to blood splatter and an abundance of expletives, nor is it The Hateful Eight. None of the performances really shine as Christoph Waltz's turns in Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained. It could feel out of place in today’s world where we thirst for plot heavy films. OUATIH has multiple storylines which seem jumbled up, however it worked for me as it served its purpose of transporting me back to the 1960's I have become accustomed to seeing on screen or hearing about and evoking a sense of nostalgia among older viewers. 

The film is Tarantino’s ode to the golden era of Hollywood which functions as the major star of the film. It is a slow fairytale of two halves where we get to see and hear about the key elements in that era such as the single screen cinema halls, westerns and the emergence of ‘Spaghetti Westerns’ and Black & White 35mm prints. We see the characters shaped by and respond to this era as they meander along the various sets of Tinseltown and all over a delightful looking, non congested freeways of L.A.

In the first half, our fictional protagonists as well as a few real life characters are established through a series of storylines which are weaved across each other at crucial points to give us a comparison between the old and the new as well as set up for that final showdown which you obviously would be aware of if you aren't living beneath a rock in today's information inundated universe. 

From L-R: Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth, Leonardo DiCaprio as Rick Dalton and Al Pacino as Marvin Schwarz

Leonardo DiCaprio in his first feature film since 2015’s The Revenant, plays Rick Dalton, a fading western star who is reduced to playing bit roles. His agent Marvin Schwarz (Al Pacino) summarises this predicament by saying that he is in that phase of his career where what matters is who will beat him up next week. Dalton is a complete contrast to his on screen persona which radiates confidence. This emotional wreck is ably supported by his buddy and stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) who doesn't mind Dalton crying, but not in front of the Mexicans. 

Booth is introduced right at the beginning of the film as the guy who ensures that the studios don’t go into losses if the star of the production were to suffer an injury. However we soon realise that he is more than just a stuntman. Booth is Dalton’s man friday and the only person he has for support. It is believable to see Pitt as a supporting actor to DiCaprio in this film as he does everything to elevate the lead actor and ably supports him. 

They meander through the 1969 Hollywood and learn that they are part of a fading era. Dalton is desperate to score big in pilot season but is often cast against type. This element of the story is quite common and introduces the Spaghetti Westerns (westerns produced in Europe most notably Italy) where actors were quite often cast against type. Dalton has to be attired and presented in a manner where the audiences don't see the character he was in his prime. This takes me back to what I read about the film called ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’ where older actor Peter Fonda was cast against type as the villain. He too looked way different from what he used to when he played the good guy. 

As the duo realise their place on the ladder we are shown the infamous Cielo Drive. The camera lingers on this signboard for a tad longer than usual as Tarantino plays with the audience knowledge of the movie synopsis which is based on real life events which occurred half a century ago.

We are then introduced to our first parallel storyline as the new 'It' couple of Hollywood [Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) and Roman Polanski] pull up in the adjacent driveway. Following the success of Rosemary's Baby the director is the toast of Hollywood. 

The way they spend their nights lays the groundwork for the next day as Tarantino more explicitly and yet ever so subtly explores the despair of the fading star and the joy of the rising star. The scene has Sharon Tate visit a theater where she watches a film of the real Sharon Tate thus enabling us to watch Sharon Tate watching Sharon Tate. The patrons in the theater lap up scene after scene and Tate revels in the adulation she receives. Her star is on the rise. This runs parallel to Rick Dalton fighting with the notion of being a ‘has been.’ He goes through a crisis of confidence and a lengthy shot of him on set gave me the impression that I was watching a western. Dalton yelling out, "Line, Line!" is what made me realise that Dalton Western was a movie within Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. 

This overly long scene helps the audience share the tumultuous feeling of the character as he goes through the ups and downs. The “8 fucking whiskey sours” montage is incredible and you would wish that there was a rewind button as you just want to watch and re watch this incredible scene. 

Whilst we explore the rising star and the fading star our stuntman/man friday sets off on a drive around LA. He fixes an antenna on the roof where he takes off his shirt for no one's attention whatsoever(maybe it was for the benefit of those behind the 4th wall). He is like a star in his own movie and there are scars on his body which makes his flashback fight scene believable. While Pitt is no Achilles (the character he played in the 2004 film ‘Troy’) in this film, his scene did draw a few excited murmurs from the patrons of the cinema hall I was in. Tarantino constantly teases us by having Booth cross paths with members of the Manson family on multiple occasions. 

This first half which is in excess of half the run time makes the audience aware of the characters and their deepest desires. It appeals to their pathos thus enabling them to emotionally invest in the characters in the 2nd half which accepts that the golden era is on its way out. That is evident with the costumes and hairstyles sported by our fictional leads. Fans who up until this point had to be content with the overuse of "Fuck" and a solitary pussy joke are treated to an ending which finally makes them believe that this film as directed by Tarantino. 

Based on our synopsis I knew what's going to happen, but then I remembered that Quentin Tarantino has directed and written this film. Tarantino decides to alter history in a manner that sticks to the one and only idea of this script which is to pay tribute to Hollywood albeit in a hotchpotch manner. If someone looks at me incredulously when I say the words, "alter history" I imagine Tarantino looking at them with a half turn and wink whilst quoting Billy Crystal from his 84th Academy Awards opening number, "You didn't think I wasn't gonna do this now did you?"

The climax which will enthrall every single Tarantino fan sees purpose of the stuntman examined word for word. This when seen in the context of this film brings Shakespeare's, “All the world’s a stage,” to my mind. OUATIH has Tarantino show us that he too is following the rules he lays out for his own characters and this is part of the beauty of this film.

It is only when I left the cinema hall that I noticed how long this film actually was and was perplexed because I did not feel it's 165 minutes. In retrospect there could be an argument calling for a few scenes to be discarded in the editing room as they stretch the film. Yet they work for me as they fit with the ‘once upon a time’ theme which exhibits the yesteryear glamour of the region. 

Tarantino had initially intended OUATIH to be a novel and then decided to bring it to our cinema screens. Despite the film working for me there is still a part of me that believes that it should have made as a much longer film or a  miniseries (like True Detective Season 1). The longer format would have worked wonders as the buildup to the film’s latter half seems like a disappointing reward (perhaps there is a tiny inherent bias against non plot heavy films here) to first half which is like an intricate puzzle box requiring you to take time to appreciate it and just marvel at the masterful construction. 

Tarantino has mellowed and his 9th film doesn't leave the audience walking out of the cinema hall under the impression that they have seen a TRUE Tarantino film. I hope this isn't his last outing and if indeed we get number 10 which we claims will be his final offering to Hollywood I hope to see the real foul mouthed, smart talking comic book type violence in that one. 

. 

Ash is Purest White (2018)

Ash is Purest White is a Chinese language film which premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. This Palme D'Or finalist finally made its way to the Indian cinema halls almost a year later. Starring Zhao Tao as Zhao Qiao and Liao Fan as Guo Bin this film seems like the story of Qiao and Bin, but it actually is the tragedy of Qiao. 

In the 2001 part of the film, Bin and Qiao are walking in the grassy wilderness where they stop and stare at a volcano in the distance. Qiao remarks, “ Volcanic Ash is very pure, isn't it? Anything that burns at a high temperature is made pure.” Bin replies, “no one would know if you burned to a crisp.” This exchange offers the viewer a hint into the psychology of the characters and the direction they will take in this film.  

Directed by Jia Zhangke, this film starts off with scenes of a bus journey with seemingly regular people in our frame. The grainy documentary like footage which makes the viewer assume that they are watching a handheld camera video. This helps lend the feel of an old China that proves to be crucial to the progress of the film. 

The camera moves onto the other passengers in the bus and we finally are given a glimpse of  Zhao Qiao. Qiao is shown as one who has strong roots within her community and has an aversion to ballroom as it is in her words “too western.” She is in love with Guo Bin, who is the head brother of the Jianghu. 

Based on the progression of this storyline and a plethora of western films it would be safe to assume that Jianghu could be a translation of the mob or an organised crime group in China. (The customary subtitles were absent from the screen at the utterance of this word)

Soon, Bin falls victim to an attack by young pretenders and has to brawl his way out before he is overpowered. This leads to Qiao intervening and sacrificing herself for Bin. 

The scene of her interrogation shows that she is aware of exactly what she is getting into with her deception of the law enforcement authorities, yet she does so of her own free will, this marks the beginning of her 'burning at a high temperature.'

This film weaves together some of the real life happenings in China (the Three Gorges dam on the Yangtze River) and presents them to the audience with a voiceover (the ferry announcer) which through informing the passengers is seen as a commentary on the displacement of people in a changing world. This happens when we are reintroduced to Qiao in 2006 after she has served her 5 year prison sentence and sets out to locate Bin. 

There is a wonderful shot in this scene with Qiao drifting on the river and framed as a silhouette against the mountains and the twilight sky. It symbolically shows the old Qiao fading away to give rise to a new version of herself- pure and having risen from the fire. 

Zhao Qiao grows as the film progresses. She is still innocent at heart and gets duped, but quickly learns that the world is not what it once was and adapts. She misses the way things were and this is crucial to her character. 

Qiao who appears like a delicate porcelain doll in the initial part of the film is transformed by her half a decade imprisonment which lends a sort of hard edge to her character. A decade later, she finally evolves into a fearsome woman who commands respect from the Jianghu. 

However, what didn’t evolve was her ability to recognise a past situation recurring, thus leaving her to be emotionally burnt to a crisp with no one knowing, but also being purified due to being metaphorically burnt by her one true love as realisation finally dawned upon her.  

The movie progresses slowly and its runtime of 136 minutes would feel long when you decide to narrate the story to a friend. They would be like, "is this film really that long?" 

This "lengthy" runtime is a result of long pauses before replies and multiple reflections by Qiao of life around her. These extra long pauses in the post 2006 interactions between Bin and Qiao helped emphasize the realization dawning slowly upon Qiao. 

Ash is Purest White showed me a China that is worlds apart from the China I have become accustomed to witnessing through popular culture. There is more to China than the glitz and glamour of the skyline which every Hollywood movie shows when they visit the world's most populous country. It focuses on the dangers of not learning from the past.

The western music combined with the weird ballroom dancing at a funeral and a bizarre and out of the blue appearance of a UFO serve as a respite from the brooding pace of this film which is a 16 year tale of love, betrayal and has traces of the impact of a rapidly evolving capitalistic society.

This simple metaphor helping structure the entire story was something I loved. It is a film that will help you use the metaphor in your life and help you grow as well as looking back at your life and realising how the toughest of times have made you the best version of yourself.