Almost every year, like clockwork, Telugu cinema gives us gems from first time directors. A few such that I really loved for various reasons were Hyderabad Blues, Anand, Pellichoopulu, Arjun Reddy, Chi La Sow, Dear Comrade and now Cinema Bandi [imdb]. Most of them were passion projects of the respective directors, who took years to fine tune the script, find the right producers or even make enough money to self-produce. All of them also had one thing in common, amazing acting from the leads.
While some of the previous ones released during normal years, took a few days of word-of-mouth post their theatrical release to become sleeper hits, Cinema Bandi has the distinction of being a truly digital first launch. This is both a small plus and a big minus. A small plus because it has reached to audiences across the world over at one go. A big minus because the digital divide and limited penetration of Netflix in India means that the masses have mostly missed this. Think of it, some of the people who acted in it and a majority of the village where it has been shot would likely have not seen it yet, almost a month after its release.
The other issue which I find unique to Cinema Bandi is that, many well followed reviewers, have given this movie a skip. Either this has been due to that fact that it was an online only release, not publicised much or simply that the story was too simple for them to show their critiquing chops. The result is the free run of the small time YouTube channels, interviewers and critics. While many of them have done a fabulous job of getting us the story behind the film, some have done an absolutely shoddy job of it.
To the film… The story is pretty simple and linear. Veerababu, an auto driver in a small village near a small town, played by Vikram Vasishta finds an expensive camera left in his auto one day. As the universe would conspire, he happens to see a clip about how small budget films are making crores at box office. Putting one and one together, he decides to make a film of his own with the help of his friend Ganapathi, the village wedding photographer. The rest of the film is about their travails of finding the right cast, getting the helping crew and trying to complete the film. While Veerababu’s motive of making the film is to make money for himself, it quickly shifts also into doing good for the community. In parallel, there is the thread of Sindhu, the girl who lost the camera and is trying to find it. How and in what state she finds it and what she does on finding it, is the conflict point and ending of the film. The peeking into and opinions of the others’ lives via the footage in the camera the other thread in the film.
While the film itself hit the #1 spot among Indian films on Netflix in its debut week, and most of the first time cast and crew seem to be more than satisfied, I seriously think this film deserves more.
This film is much more than the story and the way it is told and directed. It ticks off all the right boxes in almost all film making departments. Casting and acting (Sandeep, Rag Mayur, Uma, Sirivennala, Trishara…), screenplay (KP, Praveen and Vasanth), cinematography (Apoorva and Sagar), sound design, music/background score (Sirish) and editing (Raviteja and Dharmendra). The casting and acting is pitch perfect. Many of the main actors have some background training in theatre or cinema and have done a wonderful job of embodying the simple village characters and their mannerisms. They play off each other very well and the chemistry between all of them just clicks in place. The importance and characters given to the female leads in the film too is noteworthy. Kudos to the team behind the cameras and recording sync sound as well. They capture the sights, sounds and lives of the village and small town brilliantly. For me the other members who deserve credit are the editors. At 98 minutes, the film is crisply cut. While I am sure they’ve chopped off quite a bit of footage, I am also sure they’ve brought out the vision of the writers and directors right. And lastly to the producers (Raj and DK) for seeing the vision behind this film from the writer and director and backing it to the hilt.
Go watch Cinema Bandi for the superb acting, the innocence and conviction with which it was made. You’ll laugh and you’ll cry and will be left with a smile by the end. Not to mention, you’d want to see it one more time.
And yeah, if you are interested in the story behind the making, here are a few curated interviews with the cast and crew. Enjoy!
