Shlok Sharma is an audacious film maker in choosing to focus on a taboo relationship- between a married teacher and his minor student. The disclaimer at the start, and inserted throughout the film, that sex with a minor is a punishable offence under the Indian Penal Code, also pre-tempts how the film can be misread and misinterpreted. To give Sharma his due, he looks at the central relationship without any kerfuffle, with detachment and distance. He doesn’t validate it, nor does he glamorize it.
However, it’s this straight forward; at times blunt, at others quirky, portrayal, which made the situation disgustingly real; as how children can end up getting exposed surreptitiously without the protectors and care givers managing to get a whiff of it. How in their naivete children may often perceive violence in relationships as something normal, how the deviant and aberrant might lurk behind the perfectly conventional.
Nawazuddin Sidddiqui’s performance takes a mercurial turn as the creepy manipulative teacher. He works with his body as much as the face, works out the movements and gestures- the way he squats while teaching the children; how he keeps the hands behind as he walks, left one atop right; the casual flirtation with the school colleague; the tryst with Sandhya in the isolated, dusty, windy landscape or when he decides to bring his relationship to an end with the cold rebuke: “Beej ganit kamzoor hai aapka”.
The only winsome characters are the adolescent classmates of Sandhya: Kamal, who nurses a huge crush on her, and his precious friend Mintu, who is a show stealer. Its Sandhaya’s side of the story- her misplaced affection for Shyam- that doesn’t seem as well formed. Also, there’s something pat about taking it all back to her family, a mother who ran away and a father who isn’t quite there.
My verdict: the need for neat resolutions and an abrupt finale go against the otherwise distinctive rhythm of the film. The proxy mother that Sandhya finds in her father’s girl friend is as convenient (and melodramatic) a device for closure as is the dark fate the director chooses for the two boys and the teacher. Life is a lot less tidy, and a lot dirtier.
– Viany Gupta
Film Maker and Producer, Vinr Films
Vinay Gupta Producer, VinR Films is a third-generation entrepreneur, with rich and varied experience in a wide range of business domains. Vinay is a software engineer from Amity, NOIDA. and has completed his MBA from the IT division of Symbiosis International University. He is also the Founder Director of Dynamic Technosoft (Software Company) and a Director in Vinsam Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. (Investments & Wealth Management Company). In his professional career Vinay has diverse experience in the fields of information technology, software projects, infrastructure development, financial wealth management, film making etc.
