Dhoka, Dhoka aur Dhoka - LSD
I have come across movies that are obvious hits with the public such as 3 idiots. It was snubbed by some movie critics. On the other hand I have also come across some bad movies again rubbished by movie reviewers. There are exceptions of course, the likes of Rajeev Masand, who uncharacteristically raved about MNIK when most people thought it was bullshit. But LSD has been quite a trendsetter. It seemed to have made most movie critiques fall in love with it and many are still left in the hangover of it. So many flowery encomiums are showered on it that I was entering the movie hall ready to watch a movie that’s too good to be true. Well, the movie is a zebra with spots but is definitely not outstanding.
LSD is about three different stories that are interconnected and have tragic ends. One word that comes to my mind to describe the movie is bold. The movie does not have a single element of mainstream cinema. In fact LSD and its three stories can easily qualify as amateur videos that have nothing to do with making of a movie. They seemed like bits taken from a Splitsvilla or Roadies with far lesser use of abusive language and petty adolescence. Cinematographer Nikos Andritsakis deserves a special mention before we go ahead. He has used the camera in the most life like way possible. The camera here is a character in the movie and not so much a technical part of the movie. This is the only place where LSD scores.
To start with the first story has scenes which are supposedly shot from a hand held cam. Your eyes are definitely getting strained here. To bring in authenticity in some places the characters’ heads are not visible. I guess it’s an important part of the movie. But the camera moves too dizzily to follow the story. The story is an uninteresting one with some intended fun that falls flat. Such being the case the camera wasn’t helping with the lens moving like the eye of Mad eye Moody. The second story is shot through a security cam in a store. (Much relieved). This is a good story and the acting was best in this one. It was totally absorbing and the highs and lows along with green and grey shades of the characters were beautifully explored. The third story revolves around a sting operation. Hence secret cams were used. The stories are woven into each other seamlessly. But they could have been stand alone stories too and you could have called them Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. I don’t think that would have impacted the delivery one bit. It was almost like an effort was made to make parallel stories so that it forms a continuous movie.
The actors deserve not just a special mention but a round of standing ovation. Authentic performances and I am sure none of them had a Khan for surname. It just goes to show India has no dearth of acting talent. Not even a hair strand was out of place and the characters were beautifully scripted. The dialogue writing is bold and again very colloquial. This movie is all about the Real. Effort has been made to make the movie as much non-movie like as possible and it has come off brilliantly. It has also touched delicate issues such as voyeurism, sting exposes and filmy dreams and aspirations. Dibakar Bannerjee has to be credited for standing up and saying he has the balls to do a movie involving such issues and in such a style.
But the movie disappoints. Audience tends to get bored in some places. The weird angles of the camera don’t make it a pleasant viewing experience. And something very fundamental was missing from the movie. If the movie was just meant to portray issues like a documentary then its fine else it fails miserably to drive any point. There are some tragic ends and ethical viewpoints. But it all seemed cluttered without any stress on an objective. Hence my earlier point that the movie did not have to be connected. The movie ends in a scene where all the important characters from the three parts meet almost as if to say “look what happened to these normal day to day people “. But I am not sure Dibakar wanted to drive this point or for that matter any point.
Overall LSD is a mixed bag. It’s a movie with a lot of path breaking aspects. Somewhere in the experimentation the audience is forgotten.
LSD is about three different stories that are interconnected and have tragic ends. One word that comes to my mind to describe the movie is bold. The movie does not have a single element of mainstream cinema. In fact LSD and its three stories can easily qualify as amateur videos that have nothing to do with making of a movie. They seemed like bits taken from a Splitsvilla or Roadies with far lesser use of abusive language and petty adolescence. Cinematographer Nikos Andritsakis deserves a special mention before we go ahead. He has used the camera in the most life like way possible. The camera here is a character in the movie and not so much a technical part of the movie. This is the only place where LSD scores.
To start with the first story has scenes which are supposedly shot from a hand held cam. Your eyes are definitely getting strained here. To bring in authenticity in some places the characters’ heads are not visible. I guess it’s an important part of the movie. But the camera moves too dizzily to follow the story. The story is an uninteresting one with some intended fun that falls flat. Such being the case the camera wasn’t helping with the lens moving like the eye of Mad eye Moody. The second story is shot through a security cam in a store. (Much relieved). This is a good story and the acting was best in this one. It was totally absorbing and the highs and lows along with green and grey shades of the characters were beautifully explored. The third story revolves around a sting operation. Hence secret cams were used. The stories are woven into each other seamlessly. But they could have been stand alone stories too and you could have called them Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. I don’t think that would have impacted the delivery one bit. It was almost like an effort was made to make parallel stories so that it forms a continuous movie.
The actors deserve not just a special mention but a round of standing ovation. Authentic performances and I am sure none of them had a Khan for surname. It just goes to show India has no dearth of acting talent. Not even a hair strand was out of place and the characters were beautifully scripted. The dialogue writing is bold and again very colloquial. This movie is all about the Real. Effort has been made to make the movie as much non-movie like as possible and it has come off brilliantly. It has also touched delicate issues such as voyeurism, sting exposes and filmy dreams and aspirations. Dibakar Bannerjee has to be credited for standing up and saying he has the balls to do a movie involving such issues and in such a style.
But the movie disappoints. Audience tends to get bored in some places. The weird angles of the camera don’t make it a pleasant viewing experience. And something very fundamental was missing from the movie. If the movie was just meant to portray issues like a documentary then its fine else it fails miserably to drive any point. There are some tragic ends and ethical viewpoints. But it all seemed cluttered without any stress on an objective. Hence my earlier point that the movie did not have to be connected. The movie ends in a scene where all the important characters from the three parts meet almost as if to say “look what happened to these normal day to day people “. But I am not sure Dibakar wanted to drive this point or for that matter any point.
Overall LSD is a mixed bag. It’s a movie with a lot of path breaking aspects. Somewhere in the experimentation the audience is forgotten.
Its is perfect film for present time
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