There are two kinds of movies. The first,
more commonly occurring type, is when you absolutely know where the story is
headed. The second, which is so rare just the opposite. You will have no idea
where the movie is taking you.
Anjali Menon’s Bangalore Days had a lot of the second kind of
predictability. The characters are given room to breathe, explore and discover
themselves and that’s why the movie is for 3 hrs.
The three main characters, Arjun, Divya
and Krishnan(Kuttetan) are cousins. Extremely close to each other while growing
up in Kerala, they always promised each other that they’d go to Bangalore when
they were older. As it turns, their life takes them exactly there; and their
journey is something truly worth sharing.
We get involved in each of their stories
equally. Newly-married Divya’s problem
with a reticent husband. Kuttetan's
yearning for a simple Malayali girl who’ll make him happy and the nomad Arjun’s
journey towards internal stability; each
of these tales could have been a story in itself.
Yes, the movie has its share of twists
that seem a tad out of place. But one way to look at them is to find out how
our primary characters will deal with them. So what eventually make the twists
work is the fact that they tie in with the lives of the characters beautifully.
The character rolled RJ Sarah can be a role model to everyone.
The icing, then, is the cast.
Cute-as-a-button Nazriya as Divya charms you. The fact that her husband known
through most of the film as Das, is played by her wonderfully talented real
life husband Fahad Fazil, gives their story aaded zing. Nivin Pauly as Kuttetan
has a sweet, bumbling presence. And young Dulquer Salman, who plays Arjun, is a
star. Parvathy as Sarah, Nithya Menon as Natasha and Isha Talwar as Meenakshi
have done their job really well.
Bangalore Days is one of the most honest
films I’ve seen in a while. I could actually see my life in-front of my eyes.
The film is well shot as well, and has some really nice music. Bangalore, a city
I personally love, is also beautifully captured in the film. It seems so long we've met characters who we fall in love with and walk with while they fall in
themselves. Bangalore days offers you just that.
