'Qala' Movie Review: Stunning, serene Qala-nagar

Film QalaOn NetflixDirector Anvita DuttActors Tripti Dimri Swastika Mukherjee Babil KhanRating 3 5In terms of mediocrity and talent jealousy and ambition think of Qala as antithesis of say A Star Is Bornmdashthe templated film with multiple remakes on the same theme It is just as external as this one is internalmdashdrawing out the lead characterrsquos struggles within while shersquos unable to express it to the world outsideSo much so that all through as the period film seamlessly flits between past and present I kept wondering about its exact setting in history We know the heroine as a young adult has a marriage proposal from a suitable boy serving in Royal Air Force which means itrsquos preindependenceThe heroine in the presentmdashhardly that old reallymdashcompliments a female professional photographer for her pictures of Indira Gandhi The Indira years could be anywhere rsquo60s onwardsAlso ReadMili Movie Review Survival of the lsquochillrsquoestNone of which matters in the scheme of things Let alone the world beyondmdashwe barely get any idea of the filmworld that this movie is set within The protagonist is a leading playback singerThe filmmakers here are wholly focussed like the heroine herself on the life of her mindmdashmemories and guilt loneliness and pain Such a serene somnolent even slightly surreal filmmdashbecause of the superficial nature of the medium itselfmdashis as hard to make as it is to watch by viewers attuned to more mainstream ways anyway Yes you have to sit through overlong stretches beyond bothering with the usual setup payoff routineQala belongs to the golden age of home entertainment for India in particular where audiences are willing to expand their range along with taste Likewise platforms like Netflix are happy to foot the global bill Another case in point given music mediocrity for theme Chaitanya Tamhanersquos The Disciple 2020 best Indian film of the decade so farmdashalso playing at a Netflix near youTheatrewallahs on the other hand wouldrsquove been obsessed with Day One footfalls alone Few may have walked inmdashcausing heartburn to a bunch of wellmeaning capable blokes who wished to aesthetically express themselves thatrsquos all This film exudes a strongly feminist voice with a quiet experiential quality to it That in itself makes it a rare Hindi movieThe title Qala here to be sure is lsquokalarsquo as in artmdashlike say Kala Nagar artistsrsquo colony where late cartoonistpolitician Bal Thackeray lived in Bombay And not lsquokalarsquomdashas in Sanjay Leela Bhansalirsquos Black 2004Although lookfeel wise the exquisite Qala Nagar created for the screen here could be closer to Bhansalirsquos Blackmdashalmost entirely indoors with a gently depressing palette natural light streaming in through large windows portions of Victorian opulence under flickering candle lampshellip Notably overdressed cast and extrasmdashalways in threepiece suits in BombayThe film is decidedly a playground for a firstrate production designer Meenal Agarwal Use of colours in closed spaces for a filmy worldbuilding makes Qala also a legit extension from the horrorfantasy Bulbbul 2020 screenwriter Anvita Duttrsquos debut as directorThis is Duttrsquos second also starring the ethereal Tripti Dimri as heroine and on whom the picture is wholly centred Making Dimri the directorrsquos own discovery her moviemuse of sorts Wersquove known male directors and their malehero muses forever in the movies Glad to see genders reverseBulbbul Nightingale was in a sense a film about the eponymous protagonist physically trapped in a cagemdashthe same way the lead character that Qala is titled after and whorsquos also referred to as the bird koel cuckoo senses complete mental imprisonmentBut shersquos incarcerated by her past Only the actions leading to it are her own I liked Qala over Bulbbul also on Netflix foremost because it is a musical in the desi constructmdashmeaning full of songs reprising the golden era of Hindi cinema music through vivid inspirations not remixesAlso ReadlsquoUunchairsquo movie review Uunth pahad ke neecheItrsquos an Amit Trivedi soundtrackmdashthat like all good stuff I guess will take a few listenins to find its placemdashthe song Shauq I suspect has sunk in alreadyQala is of course about a professional playback singerrsquos life While you can tell minor references to Hemant Kumar Amit Sial here or KL Saigal Sameer Kochchar theremdashit is from everything I know a totally fictional Bollywood account Canrsquot classify it as biopic all of them are hagiographies anywayThis one delves into some interesting spaces examining the place of both the woman and popular arts back in the day Just consider the names of famous female singers then being suffixed with lsquoBairsquo for a courtesan Male dons of highbrow Hindustani classical were always pandits ustadsThe girl Qala belongs to one such accomplished family Therersquos a lot of pressure to perform thenmdashriyaaz and royalty alone wonrsquot help Her mother Swastika Mukherjee finds another boy more talentedYoung Babil Khan plays this part He is the great late Irrfanrsquos son Itrsquos his first film Glad he hasnrsquot taken unnecessary pressure to act the hell out of this role keeping it simple straight Wish him well

'Qala' Movie Review: Stunning, serene Qala-nagar

Film: Qala
On: Netflix
Director: Anvita Dutt
Actors: Tripti Dimri, Swastika Mukherjee, Babil Khan
Rating: 3/ 5

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Home / Entertainment / Bollywood News / Article / 'Qala' Movie Review: Stunning, serene Qala-nagar

'Qala' Movie Review: Stunning, serene Qala-nagar

Film: QalaOn: Netflix Director: Anvita DuttActors: Tripti Dimri, Swastika Mukherjee, Babil KhanRating: 3/ 5

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast

Film: Qala
On: Netflix
Director: Anvita Dutt
Actors: Tripti Dimri, Swastika Mukherjee, Babil Khan
Rating: 3/ 5