O Discípulo

Chaitanya Tamhane's 'The Disciple' is a multi-layered, beautifully textured character study of a man's journey and devotion to follow a dream he might or might not reach. It's a pretty demanding drama as the story unfolds in slow, melancholic rhythms. Still, it is a very well-made and stirring drama with a strong screenplay, transcendent message, and a mesmerizing sound design, resulting in a satisfying and rewarding viewing experience. Aditya Modak in lead role is outstanding in every frame while Arun Dravid is naturally brilliant and realistically favourable to the context of the character. The supporting cast is equally good and noteworthy even if they have small roles.

'The Disciple' is a movie about a journey of an artist and how it pans out over the years. This movie is beautifully directed with on the spot set pieces and full of Indian classical music. The music is so tastefully presented that, even if you are not familiar with it, it sucks you in with its atmosphere and carries over the whole movie.

I speak Marathi, so it was even better experience for me, as the dialogs feels very natural along with all the production. The movie moves slowly, showing us daily struggles of an artist who wants to make it big in field with rapidly declining scope. This along with an amazing lead performance and atmospheric music and brilliant production design makes it worth a watch.

Its a very solid character study, I can easily see this getting such a wide applause.

THE DISCIPLE is all about the character study of an artist over the years. We all know that this film has already won big in many festivals, naturally everyone was excited to see the movie. No doubt the film is good. But it's very slow paced and long shots are everywhere. I don't know why so many long shots are there.

Maybe I'm not mature enough right now to understand and enjoy this kind of films. That's why I can't say that it's a masterpiece, maybe after few years I'll like it. So, for me it's just a good movie. You can watch it if you love to watch this type of films, but this is not for everyone and of course not for me right now.

Available On Netflix.

© MandalBros.

There is a languid, dreamlike quality that persists in much of 'The Disciple', accentuated by the recurring use of 'tanpura' drone in the background and scenes of the protagonist riding his motorcycle through empty nighttime Mumbai in slow motion. They manage to reinforce a detached state of mind, both for the viewer and for the protagonist. Factually, the film may deal with a specific subgenre of Indian Classical vocal music (a subject I am not versed in, at all), but the observations made so acutely and the opinions expressed so eloquently have a tremendous universal relatability. And not just classical music, they hold true for any pure art form, be it pottery or printmaking. The film is overall a character study spanning three stages in the protagonist's life as he fights hard to prevent himself from being engulfed by social obligations and invariable complications of urban living - like fame, sustainability, professional jealousy, ego - that go against the teachings of his old, reclusive mentor, who is a pure practitioner of the craft. Most efficiently written, acted, crafted, paced - a definitely wholesome film.

Amazing casting. Wonderful to watch a 77 year-old MIT PhD and IIT-Mumbai gold medalist act in the role of the Guruji (a rough equivalent a master in the field). He was not acting most of the time, he was actually singing the ragas! I suspected this while watching the film and wondered if the actors were being helped by playback, which would have been difficult to accomplish Aging process of Aditya Modak another real life singer, is a tribute to the make-up department. The real winners of the film are the slow-motion sequences of the lonely motorbike rider in the night with the sitar music on the soundtrack--one of the finest urban sequences in Indian cinema captured by the young Polish cinematographer Michal Sobocinski. Good editing and screenplay by the director Chjaitnaya Tamhane. Thanks to the Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron ("Roma," "Y ti mama tambien"), who partially bankrolled the film. India looks so clean and wonderful in this film!