blues_599

I'm not one to write reviews but man this film got under my skin. Okay, so lets start with the positives. This is a well made and craft film. Chandigarh is shot with a gorgeous and attentive naturalism that really evokes the rhythms of an Indian city and its characters. The supporting cast offer a nice range of ideas and performances, providing some kind of dressing to the naive insufferable idiot that we are supposed to somehow relate to. The main character is a man, or just boy, that wanders aimlessly from place to place, saying nothing of worth about anything, living a life with no seeming skills or talents, languishing in tired cliches that have no meaning. Don't get me wrong, this is a perfect example of many unbearable boobs i have encountered in India, indeed maybe my anger stems from how i see echoes of myself in him, especially before life throws some spanners in the works. This is also not a slight at the actor. If the intention was to make the most vacuous and kinda robotic symbol of personality devoid westerner, spoon-fed on tv into a passive nothing, then its perfect. I mean for heavens sake, he can't even describe the book moby dick, or say what he likes to write about. The most tell bit of the film is when he's ask by his dad just to do something for his home video, and reliably enough, he just stands there with this kinda baby like seriousness, a mind lost in a bland confusion of dissatisfaction. Just learn to juggle, or play a sport, or just something. Please! Before you suck the life out of that talented Indian girl, who practically offers excitement and life on a plate. Anyways, rant over.

This is a very focused, gorgeously shot and tense film. If features characters from the fringes with little resources searching for lost ones. With only fleeting hope of restoring a happy life with a loved one that has vanished into the modern maze of anonymity, the lead actress leaves her picturesque mountain village to embark on a desperate journey into the suffocating wilderness of megacities and the violence fostered by money. Shot with a naturalistic realism and a patience to allow the audience to breathe in both stunning natural and urban scenery, the film presents a powerful visual exploration of a woman struggling to restore a life she once had, and the looming threats of abject urban poverty that threaten to swallow her pure soul. I recommend this film for those looking to understand life for those without material wealth, and an audio visual experience of cities that most films won't show.