Photograph was ideal for the kind of day I wanted. A day
when you did not open a mail, see a Wapp, go online or take a call, tick off
your to do’s – a day when you want to just be.
It has a plot which becomes clear
in first 30 mnts – A struggling photographer Rafi(Nawazuddin Siddique) and a
girl Saloni (Sanya Malhotra) accidently meet at Gateway of India. Rafi asks
Saloni does she want him to take a photograph – it will cost only 30/-. She
agrees – he clicks the photo – as he is putting the photo in a plastic,
Saloni’s parents call and she moves on with the photo without paying for the
same. Not intentionally though. In the evening as Rafi comes back to his room
(more of shed which he shares with his 4 friends) – on the way he is besieged
by everyone in the mohalla(locality) with a single question – his grandmother who
stays in a distant village, has started looking for a bride for him. He writes
a letter to his Grandmother with Saloni’s photograph saying that he is marrying
Saloni, not knowing her name she re-christens her Noorie – as the title song of
this 80’s movie is playing in the background. Rest of the movie is all about
Rafi’s grandmother coming to meet Noorie and interactions between grandmother, Saloni
and Rafi and his friends.
For me the movie was a visual
treat, the way it portrays the place where Rafi lives – the chawl, with 3
breads thrown in and a trapdoor which leads them to this room, rains in the
background. I loved the balcony and shots outside the chawl with it’s
staircases, rain, shops etc. There is a kind of texture to the overall film which
is brought out beautifully by lights and sound. There was a very strong visual
language to the film for example many times they don’t show the face of the
character but show their feet’s instead. In the whole movie Rafi and Saloni
speak the minimum. It’s his grandmother, his friends, Saloni’s family who speak
the most but their dialogues add on to both the lead characters.
I also liked the intensity of
both the characters. You cannot see the anger or the suppressed feelings But,
visually, through their expressions, interactions with the people around it’s
made clear that both have put a lid to their ambitions, feelings, expectations
and have become comfortably numb. They have stopped reacting to what’s
happening around.
Is that what draws Saloni who is
from a higher middle-class family to help put Rafi who lives in shed in a slum
and barely meets his daily needs? The conclusion is left to the viewer – like
in a good short story you read and left wondering.
Photograph has an extremely slow pace, it
unfolds slowly, doesn’t have much dialogue but visual cues and most importantly
does not have an ending.
On an overcast day which was anyway cold and dreary
and you do not want to get out of the blanket and just want to be – this was a
perfect match.
(Written in July 2019)
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