Milestone

Ivan Ayr made a splash at the international circuit with an engrossing women-cop drama, Soni, released in 2018. The brilliant director is back with yet another riveting tale of a truck driver in Milestone.

Milestone (Meel Patthar) tells the story of Ghalib, a bereaved truck driver whose world falls apart when he loses his wife and performs his duty not just to survive but to escape the state of loneliness. He faces the challenge when the Delhi Transport company hires an intern who pose a threat to his job. There are couple of things before you begin to watch Milestone. It is not a film that will cheer you nor it has any commercial aspect that will entertain you to the core. Milestone is a craft which gets as real as possible. The protagonist played brilliantly by Suvinder Vicky is very much like a common man with tons of responsibility, life filled with problems and challenges, sleepless nights, frustration and anger. However, life goes on and get so heavy making your beard hair turn gray coupled with backaches. Yet, Ghalib does not shy or run away. He stands for his peer who is beaten up by a local party, pays handsomely to his in-law to settle for his wife's untimely death as per his village panchayat's decision and even helps a unknown woman find her brother who goes missing for a week.

The best part of watching Milestone is the characters around Ghalib are so real. Right from the father-son duo who runs the Delhi Transport, society people who are complaining and blabbering about the lift not working to Ghalib's neighbor who reminds him about the pain his wife was suffering in his absence. Milestone is a slow-burn desolated film which will keep you engrossed but at the same time is not everyone's cup of tea considering the current situation. Another highlight of Milestone is the magnificent camera work by Angello Faccini capturing the North India highway, rugged terrain to the enriching climax as the rain falls on the windshield of Ghalib's truck.

Even though it is 98 minutes flick devoid of any light-hearted scene, the screenplay was good keeping me engrossed as I was curious to know more about Ghalib. Art direction evoked a cultural and emotional reaction while background score could have made it better ( I wish something similar to beautiful track composed by Ludovico Einaudi in Nomadland).

Milestone belonged to the Punjabi actor Suvinder Vicky who perfectly plays the role of Ghalib to T. Suvinder Vicky has less dialogues but more of expression which he does with a aplomb. His impeccable acting makes Milestone worth-watching as get engaged with world of truck drivers in India. As I said, the side actors were brilliant as they played the real life character so appropriately.

Milestone is like painting a picture on the canvas which gets better with deep and intense characters who bring out life in a story of a lonesome truck driver. Good 3/5.

Meet patthar is a film maker's wet dream. A poignant character sketch that stands tall. I watched this right after watching Nomadland and the latter doesn't even close to what this film is. It's most striking feature is its sound design and production that really comes out as there is no background score as such. The Foley work is top notch and the sound really holds you in an embrace (highly recommend using good quality headphones while watching this to appreciate Gautam Nair's amazing work). The quietness really adds to the cold winter mood of north India. The carefully subtle treatment of the character is breath of fresh air amidst the overtly loud and heavy treatment currently being dished out as content. Chopin's Nocturne No. 20 in C sharp minor in the ending credits is icing on the cake.

This deserves the Academy award more than Nomadland.

"The shadow seems melting when seen from a distance" One may find it little jejune as at times it does seem dawdling esp during the first half .. however, minimal dialogues capture the essence of the humdrums of an average commoner so beautifully .. life is a journey and at times we forget to notice the milestones that passed by, that we leave behind .. It's an undaunted perspective of a life on road.. superb decorous performance by Suvinder Vicky . The sound design is noteworthy.. . A great watch.

This is a masterpiece, we need more movies of this sort. If you are that mainstream Bollywood lover, please do favour by not calling this a documentary. Your tiny brain needs Salman Khan to tantalise it.

A rivetting performance by the lead character Ghalib who coneys more from the expressions than the words which he rarely speaks.

A slow moving film but compels you to watch. Cinematography captures the sombre mood of the film. Yoi feel sad for the characters, their destinies and the helpless situations they are forced into.

Overall an impressive film. Characters touch you emotionally (even a phone conversation where we don't see the woman talking).

A must watch for off the beat movie lovers!