"Cargo" is set in a near future in which, in the manner of the vampires in "True Blood", demons (of a rather more beneficial kind than those featuring in Western fiction) have revealed their existence to the world and found their place in society. Just like the Aces and Jokers in the "Wild Cards" novels, these demons have powers - some quite weak (such as being able to turn invisible by approximately 80%) but others very useful (healing, never having to sleep). Prahastha is a demon who for many decades has worked on a spaceship facilitating the 'transition' (read: reincarnation) of the newly-dead: when someone dies, they are transported to the spaceship where Prahastha uses a machine to heal any injuries, uses another machine to wipe their memories, and sends them on their new life-path. Used to his solitary existence, Prahastha's nose is put out of joint when ground control send Yuvishka, a female demon with healing powers and a taste for social media, to be his assistant.
I have never before seen an Indian sci-film so I was not sure what to expect from this. The film spaceship set - where all the action takes place - has a very rickety, "Blake's Seven"-type look to it, although as the ship is supposed to be on its last legs that may be intentional. But the special effects (there are not many; it is not that type of sci-fi film) also have a decidedly unsophisticated look to them. What is also very noticeable is that as Yuvishka, Shweta Tripathi has the only major female role in the film; indeed, there are hardly any other female speaking roles. There are several sequences showing how the newly-dead died, but even these are almost all men - women feature only as part of groups. Even the ground crew with whom the space-bound demons deal are exclusively male (which makes it especially ironic that one of that crew tells Prahastha how women are outstripping men: "When men get to the moon, women are already on Mars. When men get to Mars, the women have gone on to Jupiter!") As for the acting, Vikrant Massey as Prahastha is nicely subtle. Tripathi I was less impressed with: admittedly her character means she has to be more 'in-your-face', but I felt her performance on occasion slipped into inappropriate melodrama. My favourite was Nandu Madhav as the demons' kindly and gossipy main ground contact.
Overall this was an interesting and inventive film, most obviously sci-fi/fantasy but with elements of drama and a touch or two of outright comedy. It was not without flaws and I would not pay to see it again, but if it is on television I may well sit down to watch. Seen as part of the London Indian Film Festival 2020.
I have never before seen an Indian sci-film so I was not sure what to expect from this. The film spaceship set - where all the action takes place - has a very rickety, "Blake's Seven"-type look to it, although as the ship is supposed to be on its last legs that may be intentional. But the special effects (there are not many; it is not that type of sci-fi film) also have a decidedly unsophisticated look to them. What is also very noticeable is that as Yuvishka, Shweta Tripathi has the only major female role in the film; indeed, there are hardly any other female speaking roles. There are several sequences showing how the newly-dead died, but even these are almost all men - women feature only as part of groups. Even the ground crew with whom the space-bound demons deal are exclusively male (which makes it especially ironic that one of that crew tells Prahastha how women are outstripping men: "When men get to the moon, women are already on Mars. When men get to Mars, the women have gone on to Jupiter!") As for the acting, Vikrant Massey as Prahastha is nicely subtle. Tripathi I was less impressed with: admittedly her character means she has to be more 'in-your-face', but I felt her performance on occasion slipped into inappropriate melodrama. My favourite was Nandu Madhav as the demons' kindly and gossipy main ground contact.
Overall this was an interesting and inventive film, most obviously sci-fi/fantasy but with elements of drama and a touch or two of outright comedy. It was not without flaws and I would not pay to see it again, but if it is on television I may well sit down to watch. Seen as part of the London Indian Film Festival 2020.