David (2013)

First of all, what was that galeez dubbing for Tabu? I swear, I was annoyed from the second she started speaking. No disrespect to the dubbing artist, but it was a very jarring choice for both Queen T and her character Frenny, and definitely added to my ambivalent response to the story.

From the very beginning, David comes off as rather an ambitious film, and I'm not sure if it entirely succeeds in its objective. The thing is, the two stories are basically incomparable- one deals with religious fundamentalism and the lived experiences of minorities, and the other with a thoroughly unpleasant man going through some sort of romantic crisis. The former is excellently done- nothing but praise for the way that story is written and executed, and for the performances of Jiiva, Nassar and Rohini Hattangadi. Nassar's shaving scene will probably haunt me till the day I die, and for that alone I will recommend the movie. No, I'm serious. It is so not disappointing.

However, what is patently disappointing is the other storyline, the one with Vikram and Tabu (may god forgive me for blasphemy). I had to struggle really hard to not fast forward through the entire thing at one point, and well, I compromised and only watched the bits with Tabu. I don't think I missed out on too much anyway. The other David was so exasperating, and his typical man-child behaviour gave me war flashbacks so I was just not interested. I would have preferred it if he was gay, and had feelings for Peter instead of Roma. In fact, I think he had feelings for Peter only (who is shown to be his only friend) and the whole Roma thing was just a repression mechanism where he latched onto the first woman he saw after having the subconscious realisation about his queerness. Didn't he spend a good amount of time whining about how no women interested him? Yeah, buddy boy, I got your number.

I honestly did not anticipate the "connection" at all, and was quite shook when I realised what was happening. That was honestly the only tolerable part about the whole Vikram storyline for me. Apart from that, I am just mad that we didn't get a full-length movie about the Jiiva storyline. Also, Queen T would have rocked more had they gotten a better dubbing artist. Her own voice would have been perfect only, sigh. What a wasted potential.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shyam Singha Roy (2021)

There is honestly nothing more annoying than a movie that has flashes of being a good movie, but turns out to be a bad one anyway. Not only have you watched a bad film, but you have also been cheated of all hope and it's exhausting, to say the least.  Also, when this movie is a first day first show, you can't help but feel betrayed. Full "I trusted you!" moment only.  The first half was so tedious to sit through, I genuinely thought of leaving after the interval at one point. I didn't though, because Sai Pallavi only made her entry in the second half, and let's face it, she was the real reason for me to go watch it anyway. I mean, Nani was a huge pull factor too, but after Tuck Jagadish (2021) and V (2020), I was a little wary of trusting this man completely. As I should, because look what he made me sit through... again! (I swear to god, if the Nazriya film isn't good, I just might never watch a Nani movie ever again). Back to Pallu though- she is the onl
Read more

Aasai (1995)

My only regret is that I wish I knew absolutely nothing about this movie before watching it. I know I'm 26 years too late to the party, but honestly, not knowing the basic premise would have made things even more scary and messed up, not that there wasn't enough of those sentiments already. But to watch it unfold like the psychotic drama it was on the big screen, while innocently expecting another cute sweet love story featuring foetus Thala... I would give anything to have that experience. I know we love poking fun at Prakash Raj for being the evergreen villain, but it takes an Aasai for one to truly understand why he's earned that reputation. He really brings to life the evil but powerful psychopath who can manipulate people and situations to get what he wants, and I swear I was shaking a little when the movie ended because he is just that good at driving the point home. That's the thing about well-written thrillers- they work excellently as horror movies because you
Read more

Pokiri (2006)

Sairam, thank god I had forgotten the "twist", despite having seen Bhai's Wanted (2009) when it came out. Not only was I majorly zoned out (so much that I don't even remember for sure if I slept for sometime in the middle) but I have also actively tried to erase all memories of it. Which is why I was shocked enough to legit scream when the big twist came along.  From what I have heard about Pokiri , it sounds like some kind of cultural reset. And going by that, I must say that it totally lived up to that hype. Prince Mahesh seems to be at the peak of his career, and it's a performance that is memorable in more ways than one- he really shines through as the cool, stylish hero who outsmarts villains and beats them up. Of course, he needs a solid story and some killer dialogues as well, both of which are amply present here. I loved how understated his commitment dialogue was, especially in comparison to Bhai's exaggeration, the memory of which still gives me war
Read more