Categories: Bollywood News

Anek Is A Film That Will Be Talked About For Years

Anek

Starring Ayushmann Khurrana,  Andrea Kevichüsa, J.D. Chakravarthy ,Manoj Pahwa and Kumud Mishra

Directed by Anubhav Sinha

Rating: **** ½

There are  no easy solution in Anek, so titled to convey the unity-in-diversity theme  of Indianness, also because the N and the E  in Anek  stands for the  state and culture defined by Anubhav Sinha’s undefinably  ambivalent drama  about a state and culture  on the brink.

There  are no  easy solutions, no sides  to taken and to be honest, none offered in a state where the meek shall definitely not inherit the earth.

Related Post

There  is  a dangerously corrupt and subversive North Eastern leader Sanga((Loitongbam Dorendra Singh) who is playing a  double-edged game with the people  of  his State. He pretends to be their messiah  while  negotiating with the Indian government on terms that  have nothing  to do with peace.

Anek is cinema of  the highest order. It lays bare the  unspoilt virginal landscape  of the North East(the cinematography by  Ewan Mulligan is lush but austere and   unadorned) and then quickly, without  losing time introduces us to the violence  that is all around in the North East.         There is a chilling sequence where Indian armed  forces  open  fire on local insurgents while  a group of schoolgoing children  cower in the crossfire.Watching this sequence in a film that revels in the  vividness of  despoliation , I was reminded of the children that lost their lives in the Texas massacre.Unlike children who grow up in unrest,those poor angels in Texas didn’t know how to save themselves when violence strikes suddenly.

Among  many seething  political  issues that are pushed to the forefront in a fusillade of  concepts and ideas, the theme that emerges most powerfully in Anek is the weaponization of the  young who take to the  gun and cannot turn back. The adolescent  Niko(Thejasevor Belho)  gets sucked  into a life of violence, while Aido(Andrea Kevichüs), with those large expressive eyes, escapes to become  a boxing champion.

Riveted at  the vortex of the violence is Ayushmann Khurrana’s  Joshua who it not sure  if he wants to protect  the  local population from politics and politicians or whether his interest  in playing savior to a  persecuted race is more personal.Hint: Aido..

Anek  parks its angst at the dead-centre of   ambivalence. It has neither the patience  not the bandwidth to  explain  the volatile situation  to the conflicted  characters, let alone to the audience. This is  a film that demands an  educated literate  audience which can tell the difference between Pure Cinema and  its hybridized  versions that  flood the  movie a.

Subhash K . Jha

Leave a Comment
Leave a Comment
Published by
Subhash K . Jha

Recent Posts

Kartik Aaryan’s Bravest  Performance To  Date  In  Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3

For those  enamoured  of  the  first two films in  the   funny-fearsome  franchise,  Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 is  deliberately… Read More

2nd November 2024

“I could well be Shabana Patil and she Smita Azmi!” Celebrating 69 Years Of Smita Patil

Who discovered Smita Patil for cinema? We  all think it is  Shyam Benegal. But veteran … Read More

18th October 2024

Shreyas Talpade On  Portraying Schizophrenia  In  Zindaginama

The talented Shreyas Talpade admits  that the fact  he went  through  a serious health crisis… Read More

18th October 2024

Raaj Shaandilyaa On Vicky Vidya  Ka Woh Wala Video

Just days before release you had humbug litigation  claiming that your  film was  a copy?… Read More

15th October 2024

Nagarjuna: Exclusive  On The Criminal  Defamation Case Against Telangana Minister Konda Surekha

Nagarjuna:  Exclusive  On The Criminal  Defamation Case Against Telangana Minister Konda Surekha B kha actually… Read More

6th October 2024

It Is  Both My Cross To Bear  & Jewel  To Wear,” Gauri Shinde On 12 Years  Of English Vinglish

It’s been 12 years  of  your English Vinglish, a life-changing experience? Gosh, is it really… Read More

6th October 2024