Nasir

Shot in 16mm, Tamil-language lyrical drama Nasir (given name) did not inspire much in me for the first 60 minutes of its 80-minute running time. But then the final turn of events stuck like a sore thumb, making me question whether it was a pretentious addition of a social-political issue in the middle of a man's life-in-a-day chronicle in modern day Tamil Nadu where also live people from different walks of life trying to make ends meet and occur riots based on community.

Nasir reminded me of Ghamak Ghar (which premiered at MAMI in 2019) perhaps because of its square frame but definitely also because it has a soothing touch to it, thanks to the sombre music and ambience that the film captures of the dense setting (which somewhat gave me jitters while sitting at home during this lockdown).

I still don't know how positively I feel about Nasir but right now, it's just another monologue of a man in India being haunted by everything save his mind. TN.

(Watched and reviewed at its India premiere as part of MAMI's Year Round Programme (Home Theatre edition).)