Qala movie review: The stately beauty of Tripti Dimri-Babil Khan film works against it – The Indian Express
Qala movie review: The stately beauty of Tripti Dimri-Babil Khan film works against it – The Indian Express
Qala movie review: Babil Khan reminds you of his father, the late, brilliant Irrfan, because of some of his features that he has inherited, as well as, evidently, the acting gene. But it is equally evident that Babil is his own actor.
It looks like I’ve seen the most gorgeously-shot film of the year: each frame of Anvita Dutt’s sophomore feature ‘Qala’ is like an impressionist painting.
The eye takes in the meticulousness with which the whole is constructed, and then comes to the characters in the foreground.
And that may just be the thing that defines, and impacts our viewing of the film, which is about a talented young singer trying to find her voice, set in the late 30s, early 40s pre-Independence India..
Qala Manjushree (Tripti Dimri) grows up in a large mansion in a tiny Himachal hamlet, trying to please her mother Urmila (Swastika Mukherjee).
That is the defining characteristic of her life, even as she takes her first tentative steps into background singing for films, going on to become as popular as the leading ladies she sings for.
The film is a rendering of a troubled, toxic mother-daughter relationship.
More than active dislike, it is her mother’s constant choosing to unsee her which unsettles Qala as a child, and turns her into a tremulous people-pleaser as an adult, showing up in her dealings with the predatory music composer (Amit Sial), and her own inability to savour her success.
The appearance of Jagan (Babil Khan), an orphan who sings like an angel, and Urmila’s absolute devotion to him, adds to her isolation.
There’s a lot to like in the film.
One of the most evocative sequences, amongst the several there are in the film, is when Qala’s first public outing, which goes off well enough, is pipped by the full-throated Jagan, who has been raised in the local gurdwara.
The music and the singing is quite lovely: both Dimri and Khan look as if they are actually singing, not just mouthing the words.
A supportive lyricist named Majrooh (Varun Grover) is the only one who keeps up Qala’s drooping spirits.
But despite all these moving parts, the film doesn’t lift off the screen as much as it should have.
The other, equally strong reason is Qala’s one-note tragic mien which she is made to maintain through most of the film: you want her to be able to smile ( there are a couple of occasions when she does, but they don’t last too long), to be able to breathe, but the camera stays in tight close-up as the tears track down her face.
Also, for a film so careful about its detailing, some of the choices are confusing.
Our eyes are drawn towards the scarlet nails of ‘Majrooh’ (Grover in a sparkling cameo) when he comes on first, but the significance of the nail paint is never shared, not even in a sly hint, and those nails are plain in every other scene he shows up in..
And then, there’s the jerk you feel when you hear too-contemporary sounding lines like: ‘does it look like I care?’ or ‘all good, nothing to worry’.
For a film which is so much about its female characters, it is the men in much smaller roles — Sial, Kochchar — who stand out.
The debutant Babil Khan is pitch perfect: of course, he does remind you of his father, the late, brilliant Irrfan, because of some of his features that he has inherited, as well as, evidently, the acting gene.
Qala movie cast: Tripti Dimri, Swastika Mukherjee, Babil Khan, Amit Sial, Sameer Kochchar, Swanand Kirkire, Varun Grover Qala movie review: Anvita Dutt Qala movie rating: 2.5 stars.
Shubhra GuptaShubhra Gupta is film critic and senior columnist with the Indian Expr…
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