March 19, 2010

Love, Sex Aur Dhokha

Films are supposed to be the mirror of the society. Does it really reflect true India? Most Indian films create an utopia of their own where everything is fair in love. But is it the truth? Does it really happen?

Welcome to the world of Love, Sex Aur Dhokha. Get an electrifying reality check!

The movie showcases the dysfunctional urban Indian society which lusts for voyeurism. It is the Indian society which starts and ends an entire day with MMS scandals. It is also the nonchalant Indian society which believes in honor killing because of religious differences and social-hierarchy issues. So far we read it all on the newspapers. Thankfully, someone had enough balls to put in on celluloid.

Told from third person point of view, using camcorders, CCTVs and hidden cameras, the movie tells three inter-weaved stories about Love, Sex and Deceit. On a macro level, the three stories talk about Love, Sex and Deceit chronologically and separately. But on a micro level, we find all the elements in every story.

The film makes a very strong socio-political statement. Albeit sarcastic, it talks about a nation which is shinning thanks to its technological progress but yet has not been able to come out of the wonderland portrayed in films where almost everything is over the top and melodramatic. Where wannabe filmmakers rather than trying to create something new, fresh, follow the easy path to attain box-office success. It also talks about the paradox of morality. A nation which gave birth to Kamasutra, where most people take sadistic pleasure watching the MMS scandals everyday, but cannot talk about sex in the open. The irony is, one such scene where a couple is having sex is pixellated by the censor board even after giving an Adults Only rating.

The master stroke was to cast all newcomers. And all of them performed brilliantly. Be it Angshuman Jha as the wannabe director, Shruti as the rich girl in love with her poor director, Raj Kumar Yadav as the good for nothing guy managing the departmental store and who is in huge debt, Neha Chauhan as the graveyard shift worker in that departmental store, Arya Banerjee as the dancer who is desperate to get herself cast in a music video, Herry Tangri as the pop icon who keeps candybars in his portable fridge right below the whiskey or Amit Sial as the journalist desperately in need of a breaking news.

However the catch-point of the movie is the cinematography by Nikos Andritsakis and the deft editing of Namrata Rao. Using hand held camera, CCTV footage, hidden camera he creates a jerky, muddled world just like that in the film.

The strength of Dibakar Banerjee has always been his script, especially the dialogs. Be it the bitter-sweet title cards at the beginning of each story, the security guard at the store who just doesn’t know when to stop or the departmental store worker who just can’t stop bragging about her boyfriend in Russia. Everything bears the signature of Dibakar Banerjee. Also that he mainly talks about middle class people whom clearly he understand. In Love, Sex Aur Dhokha too baring one protagonist, all others belong to middle class or lower middle class. Here too he creates a platter of real characters with real emotions. The society they live in is dysfunctional, but their narrative is seamless.

And then there is the outstanding last scene where all the protagonists are in one scene. The camera lingers with everyone smiling, rejoicing and the reality suddenly hits you. The happiest scene of the entire film gives you the biggest scare. You start recollecting what happened to those characters, almost like finishing the jigsaw.

Love, Sex Aur Dhokha has given Indian cinema a new genre, itself.

Take a bow Dibakar Banerjee. If not now, then when?