Junaid Memon's 'The Film' is refreshing and engaging, With an innovative story that is impressively told and that builds well on suspense we get a glimpse of the lives of eight characters. Seven of them, an aspiring writer, director, composer, singer, music director, actor, and actress are struggling to make it in the film industry. They live together in a little house with their kind landlady (who hasn't received rent of the last five months). Years go by as the seven strugglers continue pursuing their dreams while constantly getting rejected. Soon aspiration becomes despair that lead to extreme measures.
I don't want to give away too much as it it important to maintain the surprise element. With the film industry and the underworld in the background, Memon gives the viewer an idea of what it's like to struggle in the industry and how corruption influences, not only the big shots but also the strugglers. This is perhaps Memon's tribute to those who work hard to make it in the industry which is a dream for so many.
'The Film' is quite well executed, especially the stunning cinematography. The writing is superb. Though it isn't very difficult to predict the who-dunnit, it is the why-dunnit that astounds. The dialogues are good and the characters are fleshed out well. The songs aren't anything particularly memorable but they are a good fit in the movie.
Mahima Chaudhry, Ananya Khare, Sulabha Dehspande are excellent in their roles. I've always admired Chaudhry for picking interesting movies disregarding whether it has a big star or not (even though many of her recent choices have been awful). Yet again here she gets to display what a chameleon she is. It's a really a shame that such a talented actress is struggling with success. Khare too easily gets into the skin of the character. Her Nandini is the conscience of the group and she does a great job in carrying the part. Deshpande is finally cast against type and given a meaty role to which she does full justice.
Of the rest of the cast Vaibhav Jalani is very likable as the naive young actor. Chahat Khanna shows improvement since her previous film. Vivek Madan, Ravi Gossain and Khalid Siddiqui are adequate.
I wonder what happened to many of these actors as I haven't seen much of them in later projects. In any case I hope they're doing well and manage to find something worthy of their talents. It's a darn shame that 'The Film' didn't receive much recognition. It's one of my favourite Indian thrillers and I hope Memon hasn't given up and that he comes back to make such great movies.
