The movie has got rave reviews and after seeing it on DVD last night, I felt compelled to add my few bits to the mix. No doubt I may have missed the cinematography of the desert landscape on my TV screen. But I would like to comment on the content, not on the visuals.
I feel that the director has tried to give a message to the audience through this production. That one should not take things at face value. In fact I was reminded of Ancken's Seraphim Falls, in which characters appear and sequences occur, which are totally surreal and unreal. But entertaining nonetheless. And a big question mark remains at the end, when the viewer is left wondering as to what the hell happened? For a change, this movie deals with the stark desolation and horrors of Rajasthan, rather than focusing on its forts and princes, with their decadent lifestyles. But there are also many unanswered questions, possibly deliberate. Or possibly just foolish errors. For example, the truck (guzzling petrol, guessing from its model) traverses the huge state, without requiring a single filling of fuel. The protagonist is not well off, but he has no problems with money, according to his declarations. He embarks on a road journey, but does not stock up on food or water, or even a road map; neither he or his family think of this. Was the hero a retard? The truck is his fathers' friend's. So was it gifted, together with its content of film reels and projection equipment? Was it sold off in the end? For running the films, he takes electricity from the police station. But subsequently, he shows films in the middle of the desert. Where did the power supply come from? Was the fair an illusion? If it was, how did the hero earn Rs 45,000 from the poor desert inhabitants?
These and many many other questions make the viewer wait for the end, waiting for some answers. But the film ends with a jerk, and the viewer is left hanging mid-air in this 'arty' movie.
I feel that the director has tried to give a message to the audience through this production. That one should not take things at face value. In fact I was reminded of Ancken's Seraphim Falls, in which characters appear and sequences occur, which are totally surreal and unreal. But entertaining nonetheless. And a big question mark remains at the end, when the viewer is left wondering as to what the hell happened? For a change, this movie deals with the stark desolation and horrors of Rajasthan, rather than focusing on its forts and princes, with their decadent lifestyles. But there are also many unanswered questions, possibly deliberate. Or possibly just foolish errors. For example, the truck (guzzling petrol, guessing from its model) traverses the huge state, without requiring a single filling of fuel. The protagonist is not well off, but he has no problems with money, according to his declarations. He embarks on a road journey, but does not stock up on food or water, or even a road map; neither he or his family think of this. Was the hero a retard? The truck is his fathers' friend's. So was it gifted, together with its content of film reels and projection equipment? Was it sold off in the end? For running the films, he takes electricity from the police station. But subsequently, he shows films in the middle of the desert. Where did the power supply come from? Was the fair an illusion? If it was, how did the hero earn Rs 45,000 from the poor desert inhabitants?
These and many many other questions make the viewer wait for the end, waiting for some answers. But the film ends with a jerk, and the viewer is left hanging mid-air in this 'arty' movie.