It is
The new film by one of India’s finest directors.
Plot
Walter (Vishal) and Danda (Arya) are half brothers from the same father and loud mothers. The brothers come from a family of thieves through the generations and are very much part of the tradition.
Walter’s a stage actor, singer, dancer…a local artist. Danda’s are more skilled thief and scammer as compared to his brother who finds it hard to manage the tradition and the artist in him.
The last existing heir of the local royal family (Highness played by G M Kumar) is the most important part of the brothers and their families. Though a bungalow and a temple are all Highness is left with, the village still bows down to his bloodline and rally him around like a local God on his birthdays.
The plot very much revolves around the special bond the brothers’ share with the old bachelor Highness with their own love interests in the background.
Why is Bala a world class director?
Have you ever been able to think of what the actor looked like in real or did any of his past performances or avatars come back to you when watching him in a Bala film, if they did, your attention is else where.
Unlike most of the pretentious idiots posing off as directors, Bala is a complete master of the crafts he wants to explore. Be it the visual, sound, montages, performances, lines, plot, ambience…everything you see on screen, every frame had been processed and enhanced in The Man’s head and his head is all he listens to when his film is getting made, at least seems like that.
He’s a rare treasure, someone with a vision.
Actors
I’ve come up with around 5 ways to start this segment – the actors segment for a Bala film and I’ve erased all five of them. The usual mystery that surrounds anyone who thinks of films now and then is this hard to arrive at answer, the question being – What happens to an actor when he works with Bala?
Does he just do a little pep talk before every scene, does he act it out (doesn’t seem like it) or does he drug them and make them believe that they are someone else?
Choose an actor who worked with Bala and do this:
Any of his previous films VS. A Bala film
And the drug theory I proposed won’t seem that irrational.
Every single living being on screen had given the best performance of their lives which includes the auto driver who is in frame for about a few seconds without a line to say.
The main cast is way beyond this review or any other written piece you might read about the film. The acting is World Class.
Verdict
It’ll be your money’s worth in a long time. Sweat, mud, liquor breath and insanity – revisit Bala.
