Gandu (2010)

Yeah! Yeah! You'll say I don't have the intellect to understand the class that is Gandu. You know what, I don't want such an intellect.The film has lewd written all over it. Not just the sex, the whole bloody point seems to be missing. Yes, he's frustrated, he's callous. That in no way makes any sort of sense. Sex is super-imposed every time you start snoozing off on the non-sex scenes. Or when you're about to take off your ear-phones after they have been brutally desensitized by the songs that gives it the tag for "Trying too hard". . Don't waste your time watching this movie. Unless you're in it for senseless fapping sessions you use porn for. Coz trust me, it's porn! Nothing more, might be less!

Having stumbled across my review of the director's previous venture Bishh on this site (written some four years ago), there came a natural compulsion to jot this down as well. After the experience of Bishh, my expectations when I finally came across this 'banned' film was not high. The steamy trailer did little to pique much interest although it became a rage among the online (and offline) masses. To be honest, it felt somewhat gimmicky and I was afraid the film was going to turn out to be something similar. Well, it didn't. Gandu is, despite its name, brilliant. The moments of transgression this motion picture dares to make were outlandish, perhaps even 'affected' by a certain sense of the word, but never fails to make a mark. The cinematography is vibrant, the music stimulating. The writing may not have been perfect, but what do I know of perfection... I liked it. There was a profound 'honesty' to the angst (I was tempted to write 'psychedelic honesty') and it was provoking, even without a blunt before the show. Joyraj and Anubrata were perfect to the T & Rii was her best yet. Kamalika was hauntingly natural. The direction had a rudderless precision to it that strikes the right chord, and the interesting play of subtitles didn't harm one bit.I don't know if I can agree with a fellow reviewer calling it one of the best Indian movies ever (although I 'dug' the Midsummer quote), but Gandu is definitely a benchmark as far as Indian Independent Cinema is concerned. It's art, and a fine piece too!

Gandu 4.5/5Tarantino? Lulz. Quashiq Mukherjee makes Tarantino look like an idiot in this movie. I have seen this movie twice in the last 24 hours and am still awestruck by the weirdness. You have never seen something like this before. NEVER. This movie shocked me, in a pleasant way :PGandu is a loser who hates his life, who hates his mother and pretty much everything else except his Rickshawpuller friend. Gandu has to tolerate a shady guy who comes and has sex with his mother regularly. He decides to live life on his own terms and enters the world of smack, rap and porn. The soundtrack is bloody amazing. Absolutely awesome. Indian progressive rock at its f**king best. The direction is top notch and the camera work is outstanding. Actors have done a splendid job. We often crib about the quality of Indian Cinema but this movie has definitely changed the face of Indian cinema forever. Trust me, this movie deserves over a 100 re-runs. I am probably gonna screen it in my college pretty soon. I am not always impressed by random stuff but I loved this movie. Devote 90 minutes of your life to this movie and I promise, you won't regret it.

Q wanted to be noticed with his first independent venture and this film accomplishes it, especially the nothing-but-shock-value sex.Q has an uncanny ear for local dialogue and some of the exchanges are wry, ironic and sometimes hilarious. He's sketch of the flirty cybercafe Bengali girl is possibly one of the truest sketches I have seen. Also the street talk of lowlifes is bang on.But then - what? Where does this all lead to? Gandu builds up great expectations, then does not deliver. I felt as frustrated as the main character - empty and wasted.As is typical of many those who are attracted to film via the superficials - pithy dialogue or "the look" or sensationalism, that only works on the underlying framework of a solidly good story. You cannot erect a memorable film without a solid foundation of plot, character arc or a satisfying ending.I feel sad that this potentially great talent will only swim on the surface and end up being forgotten unless he goes deeper to see what makes good stories work.Bengali cinema desperately needs a new voice, a new testament and my fear is that unless Q respects STORY and CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, it will be all downhill for him from here.Why is that the ancient spiritual Indian culture only produces talent incapable of true introspection? Who destroyed our image of ourselves? Why must everything we do be a copy of a copy of a copy?