Reviewed by Praveen
Lulekar
The script of Tendulkar Out would be a great
read. It has funny situations, relate-able, madcap characters and undertones of
dark sarcasm weaved in a crime thriller, well, almost a thriller. The advantage
while reading would be that you can form your images of the characters, the
pace of the story would equate that of your mind and you won’t require to get technical
details like editing and background music (very important for a thriller) right.
Translating this decent piece of writing (Yogesh Vinayak Joshi) on screen,
director Swapnil Jaykar has put in a lot of effort but some of his casting
decisions and his technical perspectives keep the enjoyment half-hearted for
the audiences.
The story is about a supaari job - to kill a producer of B-Grade films Sunil Tendulkar
(Sayaji Shinde) taken up by three amateur men.
The symmetry of these three characters is quite interesting. Abbas
(Vijay Maurya) who bags the contract is a god-fearing middleman whose
conscience has raised a white flag against his need for money. Nayar (Santosh
Juvekar) the sharp-shooter is quiet, depressed but most importantly
calculative. Lefty (Aniket Vishwasrao) is a playboy whom Nayar wants as a moral
support for the job. There are side stories of Velvet Manisha (Sai Tamhankar) –
Tendulkar’s extra-marital affair and the heroine of his B-Grade films and of Tendulkar’s
pregnant wife (Neelam Shirke) and her extra-marital affair (Atul Parchure).
The film happens while a cricket match is going on and
its commentary serves as a description to scenes in the film (though TV sets
are not present at every location). There is also use of other cricketing
elements like replays (to explain a hidden twist) and of giving a career card
of the character while they are introduced. While the commentary takes the
analogy too far to an irritating level, the replays have revelations that can
surprise you. However, as the three keep squandering chances to kill Tendulkar,
you realise that there is not much happening in the film. Moreover, whatever
happens doesn’t give you the necessary punch. And then the final realisation -
technical details matter very much in a tale of crime.
It is a point of special curiosity as to why did
Jaykar not use any background music for the film. While he shows his capacity
and craft in certain scenes where he uses natural sounds effectively (the sound
of car glass wipers in the climax for example), the stark absence of sound
makes you wait a lot for good dialogues that are sparsely distributed. The more
vital effect of this is the pace of the narrative seems to be slow though it
wraps up in two hours. You get a lot of time to think in between and I
specifically missed the fading trumpet when characters discover their own
stupidities – cliché but required. The editing also shows spark but takes too
long for certain cuts between parallel stories. Camerawork has a good sense of the
darkness but it goes in the category of standstill Godfather-like frames instead of rapid movements.
Jaykar’s choice of actors also lets him down at
certain crucial points. Vishwasrao is supposed to lend charm to the film in a
redundant character. The actor ensures he does not contribute making the
character loud and unrestrained. Juvekar holds his ground but he needed to find
spaces where his character’s shades could be explored. He remains in the monotony
of anger, frustration and smoke. To cast Tamhankar as a B-Grade heroine is a
blunder. Curling her lips every now and then in an aerial kiss is not going to
turn Velvet Manisha into Silk Smitha. Maurya is the most impressive of the lot
along with the reliable Shinde. Maurya brings on screen a typical middle class
guy with a heap of unfulfilled desires. Parchure and Shirke keep the humour
alive in a totally isolated act.
Tendulkar
Out does
a lot of new things in Marathi cinema. It dares to have swearing in dialogues, shows
the sleaziness of its characters with telephonic sex and treats extra-marital
affairs in a sarcastic way. There is no pretence anywhere but none of this goes
full throttle. The swearing is blocked by beeps and the sleaziness is hampered
by Tamhankar’s unconvincing depiction. Even some really good bits of dark
humour lose significance because they do not find a thematic presence in the
story. Watch it in the context of a typical Marathi film and you will have your
share of surprises and laughs. If you
watch Hollywood or even Bollywood, then this is just a watered down Delhi Belly.
m4m Says: One Time Watch
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