Bangalore Days movie review: A perfect treat to watch for it's freshness
Movie: Bangalore Days
Cast: Dulquer Salmaan, Nivin Pauly, Nazriya Nazim and Fahadh Faasil
Director: Anjali Menon
Rating: Three stars
Kochi: Relationships are complex, and varied. In Bangalore Days, some people are caught up in forever broken ones. Some people stay patiently in ones that can be mended. Some people are happy in one that appears eternal. And one old man waits for the right chance to unshackle himself and make a desperate run for it.
A young girl (Nazriya Nazim) with dreams of doing her MBA is married off to a stuck-up corporate executive (Fahadh Faasil) from Bangalore who hasn’t gotten over his earlier girlfriend. Very shortly, her inseparable cousins (Dulquer Salmaan and Nivin Pauly) pack their bags and land up in the city.
The institution of matrimony can hold extreme meanings for the same person. Though wary of marriage as a potential instrument to enslave, the trio looks forward to love and permanent union with a soul mate. They love Bangalore. The city here represents freedom and lots of fun. A place where girls are friendly and approachable; lovers kiss in the open; and the next-door neighbors neither have the time nor the inclination to poke their noses into your everyday personal affairs.
The film centers on what one is and aspires to be as well as one’s desire to be loved. Notably, it opens with the image of a character appearing for the interview of his dream job. And closes with that of a character deciding on what is more important to her: her professional career or her personal life.
Sound has been employed wisely by the writer-director to portray the feelings of the characters. Sample this: A man is reading a postal letter from his father. The poor henpecked man has run away from home, to sun-and-sand Goa. As the son reads aloud of his father’s ability to “breathe freely finally”, the soundtrack is filled with a lively Caribbean music.
The visuals that Sameer Thahir presents are plentiful in nostalgic muted colors. And splashes of lens flares for that peppy, youthful look.
Dulquer and Nazriya, who shared an amazing chemistry in their previous two outings as a romantic couple, push and pull each other like real life siblings with a significant age difference. Nivin too eases into their personal space very naturally. Laughing and falling onto each other, the trio is a picture of familial intimacy. In sharp contrast is Fahadh. Stiff as a corpse, initially, he effectively displays the characteristics of a seemingly impotent nerd.
In addition to a masterly command over the cinematic language, Anjali Menon once again exhibits genuine love and sensitivity while exploring human relationships.
