Dev Benegal had previously captured the starkness of Bombay in his chilling 'Split Wide Open'. This time he enchants the viewer with the tantalizing, mysterious, and unsympathetic beauty of Rajasthan. Rajasthan has hardly ever been portrayed with such rawness. The stunning cinematography fascinatingly captures the exquisiteness of the hot landscape and the eclectic score gives it voice. As stunning as the shots are, none of them intrude on the story as Rajasthan is just as important a character as its leads.
Benegal's lyrical screenplay is first rate. It's full of metaphors. The dialogues are minimal but concise and loaded with subtle humour. The characters are human. Initially, they are hard to like but as the viewer witnesses their growth and how they achieve their triumph, one can't help but like them. I was only disappointed by the ending especially the fate of The Woman.
Abhay Deol does an inimitable job as the brooding young man in search of significance. Satish Kaushik springs a pleasant surprise. He's actually not annoying. Enigmatic Tannishtha Chatterjee is splendid both as actress and singer. The rest of the cast do a fine job.
Benegal has done it once again and this time his film also celebrates cinema. Not only does it pay tribute to some classics, but the sequences where the rural audience (some of them have never watched a movie in their life) reacts to films alone depict the place cinema has in our lives.
Benegal's lyrical screenplay is first rate. It's full of metaphors. The dialogues are minimal but concise and loaded with subtle humour. The characters are human. Initially, they are hard to like but as the viewer witnesses their growth and how they achieve their triumph, one can't help but like them. I was only disappointed by the ending especially the fate of The Woman.
Abhay Deol does an inimitable job as the brooding young man in search of significance. Satish Kaushik springs a pleasant surprise. He's actually not annoying. Enigmatic Tannishtha Chatterjee is splendid both as actress and singer. The rest of the cast do a fine job.
Benegal has done it once again and this time his film also celebrates cinema. Not only does it pay tribute to some classics, but the sequences where the rural audience (some of them have never watched a movie in their life) reacts to films alone depict the place cinema has in our lives.