IFFLA 2007: Missed Call : No miss this
When Vijay asked PFC to present “Missed Call” at the Indian Film Festival, I thought yeah ok… shit… I’m in hot soup, if this movie really turns out to be… shit… what the fuck am I getting into… but it was Vijay, Kingfisher and a few PFC-ites in Southern California around, visiting their weekend shag zone (my house)… so the answer was “Yeah sure… it will be my pleasure”
Then a few days ago, Vijay asks me to review “Missed Call” before the event. This is one fucking shit spot I don’t like to be in. Review a movie that I’ll be presenting at IFFLA… why don’t they just call me to IFFLA, put me on stage and beat the shit out of me. This is trouble. What if the movie IS what I feel it may be. SHIT.
So the mail arrives. The screener DVD has to be viewed reviewed and published on PFC. It’s a way of welcoming the makers of a good movie called Missed Call. “Welcome”? How about run for cover, I think…
2 hours after popping the DVD in, I’m writing this.
Mercifully, it’s time to toast to the team of Missed Call. The most satisfaction comes from the fact that the movie reaffirms your belief that there ARE intelligent, mature and immensely creative story writers, directors and actors out there who “can” make a good movie. And they have done it in “Missed Call”
So instead of running to the nearest bar to down my sorrows of being “conned into” presenting Missed Call, it’s time to toast a clear winner.
The camera within a camera isn’t unique on the Indy scene in the US, but it may perhaps be the first in from Bombay… I know Anish has done one to amazing results in Hyderabad.
The story traverses the path of Gaurav Sengupta (Ankur Vikal, right on the mark) who wants to do nothing but make movies and as a result sleeps, drinks, eats and everything else (were the consistently popping bathroom scenes necessary?) with his camera. His dad, no surprise, is pissed. His girlfriend can’t take it anymore and his friends aren’t there when he really needs them which includes the voice over phone of Shashank Ghosh (who ever knew that Shashank could talk like THAT!)
It was WOW to see Salim Ghouse after a long time. Albeit without the curly locks which are replaced with a shaved head. The sparks are intact and so is the booming voice.
The brilliance comes in waves. First the camera eye which was an amazing concept.
The second is the free flowing right from the daily life lightly tapping the corridors of humor – dialogues.
It’s clear the writer/director duo of Mridul Toolsidass and Vinay Subramanium pick a lot from life’s observations. The scene with the producer is simply hilarious, so is Gaurav’s suggestion to the producer for a movie title – that one knocked me off the chair.
While Gaurav’s outburst on his father’s friend (Tinnu Anand) where he gives him back by twisting his name may have you choking on your drink.
But the brilliance of the writer/director duo comes in pulling out the finer nuances and the scenes that show their amazing sense of sensitivity. The scene where the character puts a gun to his forehead and then bursting to cry out “Momma” is a heart ripper. So is the way the voice messages left in the climax. Perhaps the climax has it’s origins in a day dream of self pity, yet… when turned into an eventuality on film… it makes for one of those stand up and clap for it, moments.
Shot on a shoe string budget but with a largeness of heart and ably supported with strong performances, Missed Call has many moments picked from what you and I have lived through. There is honesty. There is sincerity. But above all it’s ultimately all about… oz not getting his ass kicked at the end of the day. Another day saved.
Add this to your Must Watch list.
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Arrei…when did you write this?
I think this got lost under the exclusive tag..is it just me?
I am not reading the review…gonna watch it and then read.
OM padh le. No spoilers in it.
i remember seeing ‘missed call’ in its final editing stages… the two directors are extremely talented and passionate… what struck me about the film was the pure indulgence of the two directors… this is very personalized cinema… unfortunately their producer bungled up the release in a big way… i’m glad PFC has presented the film… oz, maybe we should have mridul and vinay writing on PFC?
while on personalized cinema i would like to mention that another such gem which many of us have seen in previews but which for some odd reason never got released was anurag kashyap’s ‘paanch’… it was indulgent, personal and sharp… i think it was kay kay’s best performance and it unveiled a yet untapped talent called vijay maurya…
great stuff Oz…
Paanch was screened at IFFLA last year. It got a very interesting response from the audience. Some loved it, some hated it, and some were just dumbstruck and intrigued. We had a wonderful and hilarious Q&A with Anurag following the screening with the audience throwing out very diverse opinions and responses to the film. I may have a video taping of the Q&A buried somewhere. Let me see if I can find it and post it.
Very Good film…saw at one of the festival screening…any one who has the oppertunity to see the film…please DON’T MISS IT!
Oz, Mridul brother informed me about this write-up earlier today morning. He was happy to see you had given a good review of Missed Call. Have been buggin him for the DVD for last 1 year now.
MISSED CALL is again going to be screened at New York in MIAAC festival.:).
Anyone interested in knowing about how MISSED CALL was born can read the story on www.missedcallthefilm.com
Great film!
Paanch was screened at IFFLA last year. It got a very interesting response from the audience. Some loved it, some hated it, and some were just dumbstruck and intrigued. We had a wonderful and hilarious Q&A with Anurag following the screening with the audience throwing out very diverse opinions and responses to the film. I may have a video taping of the Q&A buried somewhere. Let me see if I can find it and post it.
Is there any way to get the DVD of this movie? Can’t find a site to buy it on the internet….