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Bollywood Film Review
Johnson Thomas
A Simplistic Engagement
Film: Nirmal Anand Ki Puppy
Cast: Karanveer Khullar. Gillian Pinto, Khusboo Upadhyay, Salmin Sheriff, Vipin Heero, Beaula Knauff, Safoon Farooque Sayyed, Ainash Khuri, Jyoti Singh, Naina Sarin, Mickey Makhija
Writer/Director: Sandeep Mohan
DOP: Krish Makhija
Editor: Pavan Bhat
Background Score: Vivek Philip
Sound Design: Ravidev Singh
Rating: * * ½
Runtime: 101 mins.
Skimming the surface of an urban inter-faith marriage for some puffy entertainment, Writer-Director Sandeep Mohan ( Hola Venky, Love Wrinkle Free, Shreelancer) works up a fair bit of amiability with yet another of his micro-budget efforts.
The story involves a pharma company salesman, Nirmal Anand, (Karanveer Khullar) a Hindu by faith, peddling a diabetes preventive going by the name of ‘Diabye.’ He is married to a Christian, a part-time archivist, Sarah( Gillian Pinto). The couple are parents to a young 6 year old girl and are expecting another when it is discovered that Nirmal, despite faithfully consuming ‘Diabye’ regularly, has contracted diabetes. They also have a young pet dog ‘Parie’ – the life of their home, who suddenly passes away under accidental circumstances. Disillusionment sets in, and around the same time he meets up with an art filmmaker, Kamal ( Salmin Sheriff) who convinces him to play the lead in his unofficial ‘Taxi Driver’ (Hollywood film starring Robert De Niro) spinoff – because of his tall, fair, muscular and intense hero-like looks, it is stressed. Unfortunately those adjectives don’t exactly fit the visual. Nirmal Anand may be tall and fair but that’s where the buck stops. By no means can he be considered muscular or intense. Throughout the movie we only get a one-note expression of malcontent from him.
Kamal suggests that like De Niro, Nirmal should experiment with method acting, drive a taxi around town and get the feel for his role in the film. By that time the couple’s marriage appears to be floundering for seemingly innocuous reasons. If you are wondering about the puppy in the title, it’s not Parie that its alluding to but a romantic act that Nirmal is expected to perform as a coup d’ grace for the film. Sarah is of course, not amused in the least! The couple do get out of joint thereafter and the endplay becomes a matter of adjustment, acceptance and understanding.
The story does feel a little antiquated and the treatment is rather simplistic. The writing is not exactly accomplished here. While the lead character Nirmal has a recognisable growth graph, the role of the wife, Sarah, appears to have been given the short-shrift. But despite that short-coming, Gillian Pinto, as Sarah, manages to shine through the film with a sincere performance. Kushboo, as actress Gulaboo is all glitter and bright, as her role demands. Krish Makhija’s camerawork makes the everyday mundane happenings look interesting and together with a comfortably paced narrative, makes for an amiable engagement. The featured songs by Kunal Kundu, Andrew Sloman and Vipin Heero amongst others, lends an endearing lilt to this slice of life experience.
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