Psychological
thrillers that bend your mind with a thin blurred dividing line between dream
and reality have always been fascinating stories to shake & shock
cinema-lovers across globe. Christopher Nolan’s much acclaimed INCEPTION was
the last most-talked venture in the said genre…and the latest has just arrived.
Not from the other side of the world but from our very own Kannada film
industry.
Pawan
Kumar’s LUCIA is a small film […made merely in a shoestring budget of 70 lakh,
funded by hundreds of cinema-enthusiasts on social networking sites] that never
restricts or limits itself from being big in aspiration, execution or
projection.
An
usher/ torch-shiner in a dying talkies [not multiplex or theater mind you!] in
the town finds it difficult to have a good sleep in nights, thanks to his ‘a
little too much to be comfortable with’ roomies of every kind, and soon
develops symptoms of insomnia. Next in the line comes an illegal
drug-distributor who, as an ultimate solution, provides him a set of sleeping
pills named ‘Lucia’ that could miraculously not only helps him in getting good
sleep but also allows him to live his personalized dreams like a one big movie
of his own. Eventually, you see our protagonist leading two separate lives
respectively one in reality and the other in alternate reality aka dream
[…clearly shown divided with sequences in color and in b/w].
So,
whatever in one life he can’t do is now doing in the other to entertain his
soul. The girl of his dreams, the career he always has looked up to and
everything else…but who really can tell if what you see is reality or a dream
or it is just both within you? Best unanswered for you to explore at your own!
LUCIA
is a brilliant example of what a far-reaching vision can create- achieve &
celebrate despite having cumbersome obstacles largely called here as age-old
‘business norms’. Leave Kannada alone, I am still looking for examples to equal
this effort in all of Bollywood. Cinematography by Siddharth Nuni is
exceptionally good and of qualities that could take it to bigger platforms
proudly and profoundly. Siddharth plays with lights and well-designed shots
that are bound to leave you awestruck…and to complement it evenly, there is
crispier than ever scissoring hands of […sadly, did not find the name of
film-Editor anywhere].
Watch
out for the opening-montage where the addictive Lucia capsules are shown being
experimented, manufactured and later consumed but in an innovative reverse
order. Though performances are not so overwhelming, you also don’t complain as
it is very very satisfactory.
Ironically,
the biggest strength and the biggest limitation in this case are the same. The
screenplay does provide to promises of huge expectations but the story quite doesn't fulfill your appetite as it decides to remain massy for most parts,
keeping the entertainment need of commercial Kannada audiences, I guess. And to
some extent, I personally consider it the need of hour to reach and to bring
more people to this kind of cinema than just being a complicated experience for
few hardcore art-cinema fans; they sure will find it a little distracted 2 hour
15 min long effort which could easily get trimmed by 20 odd min, at present, deeply
dedicated to masses only.
Having
said that, I must recommend it to all of you who are not constrained and
classified in terms of language when it comes to good quality cinema! It has
shines and glares of ‘Cinema Paradiso’, ‘Memento’ and ‘Inception’ but stands
out at its own because of technical excellence and a sheer example of gripping
story-telling. [3.5/5]
