Gurgaon (2017)

Good concept, poorly executed.

best movie i've ever seen.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

First things First - To be honest for people who haven't lived in Gurgaon might feel that this is what Gurgaon is .. hot headed, rowdy, instilling some sort of fear in you all the time .. well, this is where I am in a fix .. because Gurgaon is definitely this when you read or hear about it .. and Gurgaon is not that when you live and work in here. The layman is busy earning the daily bread and is just unaffected from hooliganism and all .. Now to the 2nd thing - The problem started when the farmers literally became rich overnight .. filthy rich by the way, not just casual rich .. The native of Haryana had always been worst when it came to things like girl child, honor caste systems and no remorse come what may, among 100 other things which are not good for a healthy society. With such notions give a person unattainable wealth .. this is what happens ..Now to the movie :) well the movie in itself is alright .. I wouldn't call it gripping because somehow things were not stitched together really well .. there were moments where you feel that it wasn't necessary .. and those moments are highlights by the way .. The moments were merely added to show the lawlessness about Gurgaon and had nothing to do with the story line. Also, the eeriness was kinda forced .. you would know in the moment what is going to happen ..So, Gurgaon as a movie might depict Gurgaon but only a smallish subset of Gurgaon which has little or nothing to do in the life of a layman. So .. it is unwise to say that Gurgaon is what Gurgaon is .. No .. it is about this particular story and how it is projected on screen. And when it comes to this .. I think the movie was alright .. and when it is streaming on netflix these days .. better see it than not. :)

With a masterful control over the craft, Gurgaon is like a python, slowly tightening its grip on you. What at first feels soft and slow, is soon vicelike. Rarely does one see such taut control over the craft and yet a depth of storytelling that involves every aspect of the life in a city, in talking for it and of it. The film talks of the fertility of it, the creation power of the city, and how it was robbed, it talks about what is to befall man if man sees land as a commodity and nothing else. IT talks of the villagers caught in the crossfire, the women, the children, the loyalists, the frauds, the sell outs, everyone caught in the crossfire till all that's left behind is carcasses of people who once had a soul. Watched it twice, once in the theatre and once on netflix. Strongly recommend it. The theme music, played in multiple instruments is beautiful and haunting, it's still playing in my ears hours after seeing the film. Visually stunning, unsurprising of the director since he's a cinematographer. But in being in such control of the film, he could have made a misstep visually, but no. It's spot on in depicting the land, the fog, the desolate eerie roads, the dread, the concrete jungle overtaking the real one. And so many beautiful metaphors interwoven in audio and visual into a a tale of deceit and disloyalty, of birth and death and a warning to us, of what is to come if change isn't brought about soon.