Candyflip

I'm surprised by the extremely low ratings that this movie . It's not for the commercial audience as this is a beautifully shot psychedelic open-ended movie open to many interpretations. Great performances as well by all the actors.

I don't know if this movie deserves a good or a bad rating. Bollywood has always portrayed goa as a hippie destination for drugs, raves & sex. Thus giving out a negative image about goa. It shows their perspective of goa as a holiday destination for relaxing, doing drugs, going to beaches, freedom to drink alcohol etc. The movie is about a man's acid trip gone horribly wrong which leads him a path of downward spiral.

Movies on narcotics are pretty rare in the Indian cinema landscape except for an occasional scene in mainstream cinemas that has some narcotic consumption by the antagonist, just to show that he is a "Bad guy". Some mainstream cinemas based on narcotics are a joke, they are commercial ventures of dubious quality. Director Shanawaz Nellikunnil does two things with Candyflip, first it's an experimental parallel cinema, second it's an experimental cinema on substance abuse of different kinds. I would appreciate Shanawaz Nellikunnil for trying out something new for the Indian movie scene, even if the results aren't spectacular.

Cinematography is excellent and well handled, especially the trance sequences that are wonderfully shot and put together. Screenplay of Candyflip has some excellent moments but also contains some lethargic writing, mixed together. Since there are errors in the overall screenplay, the storytelling appears a bit letdown. Production design, costumes and makeup are decent. EDM inspired Music was good in general but great during the trance sequences. Editing issues are many and doesn't do Candyflip any favours in its 107 minute run time. Though Candyflip has a few big ticket actors Kalki Koechlin and Gulshan Devaiah have very less to do. Prakash Raj does a very different character altogether and gets it right convincingly.

Overall, Though many critics of big newspapers, in their reviews have called Candyflip as half baked, I would call the movie as an wonderful "attempt" by a debutant. The movie will not suit mainstream cinema audiences, I would recommend the movie only to parallel cinema fans to try out something new, with a warning that Candyflip is far from perfect. Maybe with some good writing in the middle and some more interesting characters in the mix, Candyflip would have been a different beast altogether. 6.1 stars out of 10 for trying out something different and fresh, bordering the bizarre.

Really liked this movie, especially just having come from GOA. In some ways it shows effects of western culture on a paradise, in others it shows effects of western culture on people it affects. The movie has a very real quality about it, from the interactions of the people to emotions and has you guessing what is real, what isn't and leaves you thinking about what we're doing to our bodies and people around us, what is the effect of places we go to escape and what we do to them with our escape. Director and cast did a wonderful job and while not everyone will get it, I think those who do will think of it as not just another movie that they watched.

Pure Gem in terms of experimental indie cinema culture. Amazing cinematography, sound, and tense narrative