Written and Directed by: Jeo Baby
Starring: Tovino Thomas, Joju George
Starring: Tovino Thomas, Joju George
Streaming on Netflix.
I was intrigued right when I saw that this film was made by Jeo Baby, the writer-director of the terrific 'Great Indian Kitchen'. It's a beautiful, slice-of-life film that'd put a smile on your face throughout the time you're watching the film. The beauty of the film is its simplicity. It's a very simple premise, simple conflicts and it has its structure in place - and hence since it has these things in place, the film simply flows with music, dialogue, comedy. I find it so liberating as a writer when you have a base structure in place, because then you can play within the scenes however you want to. Just as Josemon is about to sell his bike for money, he finds a foreigner who wants to tour India on a bike and is ready to pay good money for it. A perfect fit for each other. He then takes her on a trip, some traveling, cultural differences, a few moments of getting along and a few moments of differences later, they lose all their belongings. This conflict feels like such an excuse to keep the audience hooked to make them watch the rest of the film.
I like how the film plays with comedy - the India vs America debates and fights. All of it is in light spirits. I like how the dynamics change after they lose their belongings - 'massage continue' was so cute and hilarious. Part of me was wishing that the romance was slightly more modern, it would've been more fun to watch. But part of me felt that this was sweet too, because if Josemon was a character who was capable of flirting with her - it'd have gotten weird. I think they kept the romance old school to keep him accessible to the audience and also to explore cultural differences too.
No comments:
Post a Comment