Turup (Checkmate)

Everything comes easy for the characters in Ektaara Collective's delightful little drama about the game of chess and game of life. The "hero" is on a winning bout at the local tournament where the spectators are more worried about his caste primarily because theirs is a different one. While most people in the village have chess in their mind, some have politics and angst that are propelled by a recent incident that every other person can guess in India when I use the c-word. Salvaged by the brave casting of a grandmother who is the god of sarcasm against her co-characters, Tupur reflects on multiple factors that mar peace in current times in a country where "politics is all about sports, and sports all about politics." Partly affected by the terrible performance of the majority of its cast and a string of convenient events, Tupur is fun to watch but not life-changing. After all the humor and the feigning solutions to major problems, it ends in a draw. TN.

(As part of the Young Film Critics Lab 2017 at the 19th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.)