Titli Review: Way back in 2010, when Love Sex aur Dhoka released we saw a refreshingly raw film in terms of the content, dialogues and the characters. Harsh realities were shown in the hardest hitting manner. If you make the characteristics of that film 10 times more, you have Titli. Directed by Kanu Behl who assisted Dibakar Banerjee in Love Sex Aur Dhoka, this film has already won accolades last year in the Cannes. Titli is backed by Dibakar and Yash Raj Films.
Titli is primarily the story of a 20’s lean and mean Titli (Shashank Arora) who wants to fly like a butterfly from the clutches of his family. His family consists of two brothers and a father. The brothers (Ranvir Shorey and Amit Sial) are petty cons. The family lives on the outskirts and steal on the lonely roads. They are ruthless. They decide to get their younger brother Titli married so that the to-be sister-in-law can be an extremely useful weapon in trapping the travelers on the roads. Titli is married to Neelu (Shivani Raghuvamshi) and she has her own dreams in life. Neelu’s love is for someone else and she expects Titli to help her out. Titli is stuck amidst such an unfavorable atmosphere. Whether he manages to escape and fly out is the rest of the story.
The film is extremely raw. The director makes you feel the pain and agony of the characters. The ruthlessness portrayed are so disturbing that at some moments you wish to close your eyes. However, this rawness builds up to a great output making us meet the characters. There are several scenes that were written brilliantly. Be it the marriage alliance scene which is so typical in Indian houses. The gaalis and the bashing are shown so sharply. The movie in fact takes you to a world you know it is there for real, but it’s just that you want to ignore it for its ghastliness. It is indeed a surprise that film with such merciless and deglamorized characters is backed by Yash Raj Films mostly known for its lovey-dovey and glamourous movies.
The actors were top notch. Shashank Arora was impressive. However, all the other actors performed brilliantly and impressed more than Titli. Ranvir Shorey and Amit Sial as the dominating and the abusing brothers were pitch-perfect. And the girl who played Nandini, what an impeccable casting. The costumes and the production design is well-thought too. The background score was used very aptly and there was silence whenever needed to make it sound real and rustic.
All in all, Kanu Behl and team deserves a standing ovation for a path-breaking film. Despite the disturbing moments, it is delightful when you see it as a film. A film that breaks all the stereotypes. A film that mocks the society, the in-family abuses and many other idiosyncrasies. Also, the movie shall bring in lot of offers for the under-rated actor Ranvir Shorey. It was super refreshing to see him in such a role which is not outright villainy but an extra-sensitive personality who can break into years any moment.
Titli is very special. Disturbing yet delightful.
