i_of_the_tiger

This movie is about issues very much contemporary, but seen from an entirely obscure perspective. The Director has pulled an amazingly intense narrative using seemingly very simple ploys. The freshness of the movie dwells in it's very plot, traumas of war from a hitherto unseen and ignored perspective of orphaned children living in refugee camps with no one to look after them, ad somehow caring for themselves, as they undergo a transition from being just children to near adults in order to learn how to survive.

The story revolves around the lives of orphans at a Kurdish refugee camp on Iraqi-Turkish border. Under the backdrop of a war ravaged terrain, refugees displaced from their homes and villages, near-absence of state structure, missing/dying family members, a complete dismemberment of normal daily life, it shows how life moves ahead, using the orphan children as a medium. There is not a single prominent adult character in this movie, yet it's far from a child's play. Each and every character is very beautifully sketched, and their strengths and weaknesses are shown quite remarkably.

It's not perfect, but it's definitely worth viewing. One does not find such attempts in Bollywood very often. All the characters are fantastic, and so is Mumbai. :)

The plot could have been more tightly strung up, but what the heck.. for a debutant, it's amazing. It comes to it's best when no dialogues are being delivered, just the rolling camera. The movie has no 'message', no climax, it just flows with lives of the characters. Moral of the story : Life comes in full circles, like clothes at a dhobi ghat. The background score is quite experimental as well.

Do not go expecting the usual Bollywood routine. If that what you want, I'm sure there are plenty of options around.