Dibakar Banerjee …. take a bow !!
No seriously, if there ever was a contender to three consecutive National Awards, it has to be this man !!
Three movies – Khosla Ka Ghosla, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye & Love Sex & Dhokha - completely different from each other, yet each a fabulous watch. While his first movie Khosla Ka Ghosla, was his most mainstream work, he got better with Oye Lucky and now LSD is right up there with the all-time greats. It might seem like a preposterous claim, but I stand by it – it is easily one of the best movies to come out of Bollywood. And in wicked coolness, its right up there with Coen brothers and even Tarantino.
Director Dibakar Banerjee’s does repeat a few themes in all his movies. One is them is the city of Delhi – this man knows Delhi like no other. The other is the common man – I am yet to see a greek-god looking hero, dance numbers or foreign locales in his movies – his forte is common people like you and me. Khosla Ka Ghosla was about a middle-class-family cheated out of their land, Oye Lucky was about a lower-middle-class boy’s ambition to be bigger than his circumstances warranted. LSD goes a little darker and explores the camera obsession that has taken hold of our society – again among common people you might see everyday.
While most of us are happy taking photos/videos of our birthdays etc (and posting them on facebook), we also take an inordinate amount of enjoyment being able to peek into others’ lives – reality shows being the best example. LSD is a deranged take on this camera mayhem that has exploded in the public consciousness in the last decade or so. The actors in LSD are rank newcomers – I didn’t recognize any of the faces. The dialogues are very unpolished and spontaneous – very everyday. And the video quality is grainy, shaky and sometimes out of focus – like an amateur’s camcorder footage. And yet its so gripping you wouldn’t want a moment’s distraction
The movie comprises of three separate stories – joined together in a manner reminiscent of Pulp Fiction. The three stories CAN be titled Love, Sex and Dhokha respectively – but then again, all these three elements are there in each of these three stories ! The three stories are captured in handycam, security camera and spy cam respectively – giving the ultra realistic feel to the movie. And do not be concerned, although this movie is about our voyeuristic tendencies, its not a voyeur itself – there are hardly any explicit scenes. But it still not a watch-with-parents-movie either.
The completely unheralded starcast of LSD actually do a fabulous job. The characters are clearly etched out and memorable. From the Aditya Chopra-worshipping-student filmmaker to the bitchy Punjabi salesgirl – you will find a lot to like. And another hidden gem of the movie is the music. Released just a week before the movie release, the title track is totally awesome – it has the potential to be another Emosional Attyachar – and is surprisingly sung by Kailash Kher. Totally unrecognizable !! Not to mention, the music director is Sneha Khanwalkar – a lady !!
With LSD, Dibakar Banerjee has truly raised the bar for what can be considered realistic cinema. With each of the stories each having a smoking firebomb twist at the end, its extremely entertaining as well. An absolute must watch
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