CHOURYA -- UNUSUAL SUSPECTS Marathi films are known for their innovative subjects, and their aspiration to raise the content bar. Inspite of this, we stay away from certain subjects, genres, and formats. Thrillers are a rarity in Marathi, and it's assumed that the audience doesn't respond well to the form. So whenever we get a suitable subject for the genre, the resulting film dilutes the central thread in an attempt to make it accessible to a regular moviegoer. Keeping a thriller in its pure form is unusual and I haven't seen many examples in Marathi (Dombivali Fast, Rege are some of the notable exceptions). That makes Chourya a curiosity.
Those who have seen the trailer of Chourya may be expecting something slightly different. The sacred temple and the village without thieves seen in the promotional material, project a semblance of the Shani Shingnapur temple and we expect the religious/social element to play a major role in the film. However, that's not the case. Early on in the film, we see the temple being robbed by masked men in police uniforms, but soon the action shifts elsewhere. This leads to another unusual thing about Chourya. The major part of the film is a single sequence taking place almost in real time, on the outskirts of the village. It features four characters, all of whom may or may not be police officers, or thieves. The masks during the robbery are off now, and we are unable to recognize the original participants in the crime. The four characters play off each other keeping us guessing, as well as each other, about their true identities. While the situation did remind me of the Tarantino classic Reservoir Dogs, the film did not make a serious attempt to reach the level. What I like about Chourya is the central idea, that it attempts to be different, and does it without compromise. Unfortunately, one can't help feeling it could have done a lot more. One of the major issues with Chourya is it's lack of emotional core. Even classic thrillers need someone you can identify with, a character, which takes you on a journey and makes you care for him/her. Without it, the film can be clever, but mechanical. Chourya suffers with this problem, in writing, as well as acting. The screenplay focuses on two things, the real identities of the characters, and the money trail. The film springs one surprise after another, but a guessing game without a person or a cause to sympathise with, is limited in its achievement. The four central characters lack the necessary depth. They seem to exist just for playing the whodunnit, and have no personality beyond it. The back-stories are incomplete and rudimentary, but I won't blame them. You don't need a back-story, to make a character believable. The actors, who play these protagonists, make no attempt to rise above the script, to make the characters their own. Chourya explains most of the riddles by the end, but the explanation is not easy and often chaotic. As the genre is new for our audience, a slightly simpler approach with clarity could have helped. Having said that, I will also say the identity of the kingpin was a disappointment. It was far too predictable. Chourya remains in a unique position of being a film venturing beyond the familiar ground in Marathi filmmaking, and should get a credit for that. I just wish it could have done more with the opportunity. P.S.: Chourya is also releasing in a format accessible to the hearing and visually impaired. A commendable initiative by the producers with a possibility to widen the audience, we hope it soon becomes a norm for films in all languages, and helps to spread the film culture to newer avenues. Cast: Milind Shinde, Digvijay Rohidas, Tirtha Murbadkar, Dinesh Lata Shetty, Kishor Kadam, Ganesh Yadav, Pradip Velankar. Direction: Samir Asha Patil. Regards, Vishnu Information transmitted by this e-mail is proprietary to Mphasis, its associated companies and/ or its customers and is intended for use only by the individual or entity to which it is addressed, and may contain information that is privileged, confidential or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient or it appears that this mail has been forwarded to you without proper authority, you are notified that any use or dissemination of this information in any manner is strictly prohibited. In such cases, please notify us immediately at mailmas...@mphasis.com and delete this mail from your records. Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
