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Cast:
Amit: Gaurav Rawal
Eddie: Sanjay Sahni
Shaheed: Kal Parekh
Rashmi: Amneek Sandhu
Nicole: Moran Barkai
Sharon: Sheena Bhattessa
Rahul: Aashish Bansi: Ajay Desai
Toad: Thomas Daniel
Shylock: Dennis Albanese
Lanky: Nashid Fareed
Mr. Holmes: Nicholas Melillo
Review
Many come many go… without a trace. Once in a while something away from the ordinary pops in and lingers for a while. Ordinary situations, ordinary people, ordinary relationships, yet a distinct impression because of an out of the ordinary treatment.
Khel Shuru a film by Differential Films out of nowhere in New Jersey, is definitely a refreshing treat to watch. We do see a certain wave of meaningful films in the form of “Being Cyrus”, “Ek Hasina Thi”, “Iqbal” etc which heavily rely on a taut screenplay and not on the histrionics of humdrum Bollywood clichés. Well here is an addition to it all.
One fine day 7 young kids, 5 guys, 2 girls in their early twenties reach a summerhouse in Ohio that belongs to Eddie (Sanjay Sahni). Having traveled all the way from New York, Eddie forgets the keys. As they spend time trying to break into the house the nuances of all the characters are slowly unveiled. Taking recourse to fine subtle comedy as opposed to loud slapstick for a change these first 30 minutes really work. Mind you if you crave for songs and action every single moment, this is not a film for you. It is for those laid back watchers who are not in a hurry to run through a film.
And then out of nowhere, we are in the woods playing hide-and-seek. Just as we are wondering where exactly all this is going, pops in this beautiful French botany student Nicole (Moran Barkai), a dreadful black crook with surprisingly no name, robbing people in the middle of density and two mercenaries trying to bury a dead body crisscrossing with our guys and with each other disturbing the serenity of a simply beautiful terrain.
In the end of it you don’t know what to make out of it. It is not for people who always look for an objective in a film. It plainly tells you that people are human. If there is love, there is hatred. If there is loyalty, there is deception. The good guys aren’t perfectly good. The bad guys aren’t perfectly bad. That is life. Deal with it.
The acting is surprisingly good given its raw NRI talent. Amneek Sandhu (Kahta Hai Dil Baar Baar) relatively known among the lot shines although at times she tends to follow the Bollywood model. Sanjay Sahni as Eddie, Aashish as Rahul do well. So does Ajay Desai in Bansi. His, is a well-restrained performance especially in the scenes where he is held a captive. But the best of them all are
Kal Parekh (as Shaheed) and Gaurav Rawal (Flavors) as Amit. The commitment is awesome. Here are a few actors who know what they are doing.
In the American guys, Nashid Fareed as the black crook is hilarious, clumsy, dreadful, afraid, all at the same time. Where did they find him! Moran Barkai as the French student is lively.
All and all a movie to look out for! You might need more than one viewing to pick up all the details. I know I do. It is claimed to being shot in the woods of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The production values are certainly ones that will shame the best of NRI films. Although I feel a little more could have been achieved if there were more close-up shots, writer-director-editor Sameer Thakur holds his nerve wearing these important hats (This apparently is his 2nd film. The first, ‘Way Of Life’, I had never heard of it is already in the stores). Pressures of independent filmmaking do show up in his continuity sections where Rashmi (Amneek) is having a different hair in same edit shots. But those are pardonable offenses given the overall credibility.
In all I would say if Flavors showed you that NRIs can do comedy well, Khel Shuru goes a step further in the drama/relationship department. Do yourself a
Favor. Watch it.
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