ONE BY TWO: Some ‘Khushfahemiyaan’ result in ‘Galatfehmiyaan’! This is one of those! [1.5/5]

Go for any ‘picture perfect’ picturesque postcard of your preferred dream-destination and try to imagine looking at it for longer period of time [Precisely 2 hour and 19 minutes in this case] and no matter how strongly you wanted to be at that place, you will end up falling in the fear of loathing it with tremendous boredom. Screenplay writer Devika Bhagat’s début directorial venture ONE BY TWO is that very beautiful montage of tranquil but lifeless frames that doesn’t decide to move at all and stands still till you decide to walk away.

ONE BY TWO is an urban rom-com about 2 individuals, best described as ‘clichéd fools’, sharing monotonous boring lives of same intensity in its own. Amit Sharma, played by Abhay Deol is stuck in his life-cubicle with a couple of vigorously influential friends, overtly affectionate mother, a totally ‘deserved to be overlooked’ father and his soon-to be-an ‘Ex’ girlfriend. On the other, Samara Patel [Abhay’s real life love-interest Preeti Desai] is torn between an alcoholic divorcee mother and her sky high ambitions to rock the stage in a dance-reality show. Now, there is nothing in the story that could show off a ‘New & Fresh’ tag to it. You have seen it all in more than few romantic comedies on Indian screen.

Though the approached manner of filmmaking smells spanking new with less dramatic situations, concisely crisp dialogues straight from the horse’s mouth with flavors being genuine, real and almost unwritten but in a way, it is too simple, ordinary and pathetically slow-paced to be entertained. Film does have enjoyable moments, by and large with Abhay Deol being the person in charge but not sufficient in numbers. Watch him playing the popular ‘Nirma’ jingle on guitar in desperate times after his break-up. In other, he performs on ‘I am Pakao’ed´ in his boxers when his potential in-laws come to approve him of being an eligible son-in-law.

With sharp hands on editing beautifully amalgamated with promising narrative pattern, skilled cinematography and neat-clean-classy art direction, film paints scenic frames on screen but not without a long-list of ‘ifs & buts’. Story rejects to move ahead. Situations are dragged and absolute run-of-the mill. Leave the impeccably adorable and talented Abhay aside and the ‘known for it’ performers [Rati Agnihotri, Jayant Kriplani, Lillete Dubey, Darshan Jariwala] ham like there’s no tomorrow. Preeti Desai looks good on screen, is confident but that doesn’t get translated much on screen when it comes to acting. Pace is killing. Length is drastically stretched.

On the whole, Devika Bhagat’s ONE BY TWO is not bad because it is bad but worse because it ruins the option and opportunity to redefine the ‘not much explored’ genre of ‘easy-on the head’ urban romantic comedy sliced from the lives of cool, carefree & casual generation of today’s times. Would it not have located its base on the clichés, it could have been much better. Samara Patel enforces in the film, “I don’t believe in fairytales. Real life is better”, I wish Devika had taken it seriously while putting it all on the paper. Some ‘Khushfahemiyaan’ result in ‘Galatfehmiyaan’. You don’t get mislead. [1.5/5]              

LUCIA: India’s answer to Nolan’s INCEPTION, that too in Kannada. Be proud! [3.5/5]

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]