Pondicherry (2022) :
Movie Review -
In the midst of many underwhelming films that had big budgets and lots of money involved, how would you feel if someone gave you a better experience with their low-budget film? What would be your instant reaction if you saw a film shot on a smartphone had better frames to present to you than many of the crap films shot with professional cameras? I guess you would be shocked for a moment, and then feel blessed, no? Well, that's what you are going to feel after watching Sachin Kundalkar's Pondicherry, which is entirely shot on a smartphone.
The film, set in Pondicherry, revolves around four main characters, mostly. Nikita and her eight-year-old son, Ishan, stay in an old family villa in Pondicherry, where she runs a home-stay for travelers. Her husband is in the Navy, and he mostly stays away. Well, that's what she tells everyone. A mysterious man, called Rohan, with a certain aim arrives at Nikita's home-stay, giving all their lives an unexpected twist. Both are soon joined by an aspiring photographer, Manasi, to unfold some past events that are connected to Rohan. Pondicherry, as a film, has a lot of stories to tell, but it's slightly misjudged somewhere. Not fully, though. It creates a love-triangle, deliberately I think, but then ends somewhere else, finding odd and somewhat incomplete answers. It gains some points here and there, but it also loses some due to its easy-going narrative, which is very easy to predict. You might just feel like, if everything was so easy and electic, then why did it bother so much before? Well, that's so typical and common in many films these days, so we can overlook the small mistakes.
I must say, Sai Tamhankar is a fine actor, but she doesn't really try to explore her hidden talent every time. She used to prefer glamorous roles earlier, but I am happy to see her coming out of that shell. With Hunterrr, she took a challenging and derogatory role, but carried it superbly. After that, she kept trying new genres and shades, with Pondicherry adding one more attempt to the list. She goes on to channel another non-glamorous character (she couldn't help wearing those glamorous dresses somehow) in this film and delivers a fine performance. Rohan is charming, muscular, but a confused fella, and Vibhav Tattwawadi suits the body and soul of his character. Unlike her previous roles, Amruta Khanvilkar plays a tense woman here, and despite that glowing face, she handles the tension on the surface very well. The supporting cast is good, with the hilarious Tanmay Kulkarni running far ahead of the others.
Pondicherry is by far the most technically advanced film to have appeared in Marathi cinema recently. Who on earth will believe that a film shot on a smartphone can look so clean and gorgeous. Those pan shots, long takes, scenery, close-ups, sound design, background score, frame colours, and crystal clear visuals, everything looks unbelievable. Yes, it has countable dull moments where you can notice the changes with a blink, but like mentioned earlier, those human errors can be overlooked. As a whole, Pondicherry's technical side sets a new benchmark for Marathi cinema.
Sachin Kundalkar has been quite impressive with his choices of stories. Not all, however, went on to become good, but somehow he is holding well enough. Gulaabjaam proved that he could give an extension and long life to a small story with his finesse, and in Pondicherry, he has done exactly the same thing. This film lacks dramatic values and accountable highlights, but the kind of experiment he has tried is definitely praiseworthy. Pondicherry could have been better on paper, so it wouldn't be fair to blame director Sachin Kundalkar for that. However, you can denounce Kundalkar, the writer, for the same. Nevertheless, it is still a very much watchable film for many reasons, while its technical brilliance makes it a must-watch. Overall, a wanna be soothing human drama on relationship issues fostered by Kundalkar's futuristic vision and the leading trio's honest performances.
RATING - 5/10*
