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Initial Thought: Well this is apparently pretty controversial for India. Their own country banned it due to its content. For that reason alone I had to see what all the fuss was about. I'm sure India is just overreacting due to conservative attitudes. I have never been too interested in Bollywood except for a select handful like the zombie comedy Go Goa Gone. Anyways without further ado on with the show.
Characters/Acting: No one here that I really recognize other than Adil Hussain from Life of Pi. These actors usually stick to the Bollywood scene. The acting is a bit wishy washy between actors. Some you could tell have real talent while others need more work. It was hard to find many characters to like. Most of the people here are pretty messed up. I guess out of everyone I would say Sakhi and Chandra were the best.
Story: It apparently deals heavily with religion and politics. On one end we have terrorism and on the other we have homosexuality. Both are heavy subjects for everyone. America is much more lenient on homosexuality, but there are still many here with issues on it. For India though it is highly against the cultural norm. Terrorism is ugly for everyone. The only people who approve of such things are the horrible people who do it for "peace" and "religion". I think the content here will be surely interesting to see unfold. Well it starts off with seeing the nude bodies a woman and then a man. It's not graphic of course, but it's an interesting way to start an Indian film that's for sure. The terrorist storyline is pretty upsetting and intense. I thought this part was well executed though. The lesbian story however was unbelievable and kind of ridiculous. I mean Leela shoots Sakhi's boyfriend and still begs for her love. That just doesn't seem plausible to me. Their story is an interesting one though with every turn it takes. I'm assuming the island with all the stuff buried under it is supposed to be a place they have been to before. I mean it is unexplained and otherwise it would be complete nonsense. Another thing I thought was kind of weird was the terrorist haircut scene. It just didn't seem possible in the given time with no shaving cream or liquid to make it so that he was Mr. Clean bald. The violence near the end gets pretty brutal which I didn't see coming.
Directing/Writing: Raj Amit Kumar writes and directs his only film to date. Damon J. Taylor co-writes this as well with no other noted work. Adam Davis and Kamran Iqbal both contribute to the script, but other than that have no further writing experience. The writing was a little off in some areas like how things happened or why. I think the director pulled the picture together quite well with what he had.
Final Thought: I can see why this was banned in India. It is very taboo. It's not cartoonish with its violence like most Bollywood movies. There is no goofy musical number either. This is a serious movie. That being said it does have a feel holes here and there. A love that sprouts from violence. This got pretty disturbing and upsetting. I don't know if I would recommend it due to some of the content. it does however bring to light some serious topics to think about.
