Skip to main content

Liar's Dice

This is a simple story of a woman from a village in Himachal Pradesh, who defies the elders of her village and goes looking for her husband who had left home to earn a living in the city, and hasn't been heard from in a while. Any other woman would have been fatalistic but not our fiesty protagonist.
She is accompanied by her daughter,(who is played by an adorable Manya Gupta, and made me want to just sit down and listen to her chatter.) and their pet lamb. Along the way they gain the company of an army deserter.
The protagonists of this movie are Geetanjali Thapa and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.


I stumbled upon this movie quite by chance when I was greedily looking for details about Geetu Mohandas and her work. I have been obsessed with her ever since I had the privilege of watching - Moothon, which deserves a review of its own.
The credentials of this movie are tremendous. It was given the National award for its cinematography and also the best actress award for 2013. It also has in its kitty several other awards and was the official entry to the Oscars for that year.


To paraphrase Geet at this juncture, "Aap convince ho gaye ya mai aur bolun" 😂😂😂😂


The cinematography by Rajeev Rai is amazing to say the least. He is the director's husband, not that it has any significance, but this spousal duo create magic together. The beauty of the mountains is sublimely captured, as are the murky depths of Delhi. This is helped by the sound of rushing water, which is used in lieu of a background score all through the mountains. This gets replaced with street noises in the city, but never with intrusive music. That in fact, is a key feature of how Geetu Mohandas, uses the city and its persona to create a mood of hope or futility.


I must confess that I have never seen Nawazuddin looking so rugged and personable. He  carries it very well. And Geetanjali Thaapa was such a revelation! Why isn't she in more movies? Just why? It's a question that needs to be addressed. If not the overhyped Hindi film industry, then why not malyalam movies? Why isn't she in anything great other than a two-bit role in Sacred Games? I don't want to rant beyond this, but I do declare this to be a travesty!

P.S: this movie isn't for you, if you want a plot with elaborate backstories and cut and dried breadsticks. So, no backsies please if you don't like it.



#MiniasReviews
#AllLivesMatter

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Monica, O My Darling

Straight off the bat, let me tell you that I went into this movie cold. I just saw the trailer and put it on my watch list. I was totally enamored with the cast and the premise. I knew I was going to watch this one, so I didn't delve into the promotional shenanigans.  So if you are of the same bent of mind, stop reading and start watching.  And on your behalf, I did Google Ankola, it is a town in Karnataka and is not to be confused with Akola in Maharashtra. Ha ! Ha! Netflix has been delighting us with gems like Raat Akeli thi, Haseen dilruba and Bulbul. Add this one to that list and think Gehraiyaan. I need not stress on the proficient star cast. They are masters of their craft. Starting with the sneaky Rajkummar Rao, the sultry Huma Quereshi and the wily Radhika Apte, the ensemble includes the creepy Sukant Goel, the beleaguered Zayn Marie and many others. For me Sikandar Kher was a standout. A shoutout to his intensity and his baritone.  The dialogues are spot on and t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Qala

Anvita Dutt, is a master story teller. And she, tells this one well too. She and Kanika Dillon have a knack of painting their leading ladies in shades of grey. Whilst Kanika brings in the whacky and the wild, Anvita brings in the angst. It makes for great entertainment.  This movie seeps in slowly and is for those of you who like the slow burn. There is drama and angst and tragedy and it leaves you wondering, what did I just watch? Was this a movie or sheer art? And it is a movie that stays with you for a bit.  The visuals are stunning, particularly those of the boat on the water. The noir-ish feel of the movie fits the mood perfectly. One does know what has happened and why, but the visuals and the artistry keep you in thrall. This is the story of a woman, who learns to be competitive in her mother's womb itself. Her quest for survival began in the womb itself. She then spends all her childhood and teen years having only her mother and constantly craving her validation. Is ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chhapak

Chhapak I stand in line at Starbucks and take forever to decide what drink I want, what size it should be, what flavour should go in, what milk is to be used...so on and so forth. So many choices... Imagine if you had no nose, and the doctor treating you asked you to make a choice of the type of nose you wanted? If you sink into it, Chhapak gives you many such moments of introspection. You can't call Chhapak an entertainer and you couldn't label it a documentary. It's a biography in a genre of its own. The last time something invaded my being like this was the documentary on Amy Winehouse. I make no bones about it, this is an extremely tough film to watch and you will carry it with you for days. But watch it you must, for the crafty screenplay which will hold you in thrall as will the strength with which Meghna Gulzar directs this. I have said this before, and I say it again, the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree. It is the story of an Acid Attack Survivor, Laxmi Ag...
Post a Comment
Read more