Temple of the bling

TUMBBAD

Direction: Rahi Anil Barve, Anand Gandhi

Cast: Sohum Shah, Harish Khanna, Ronjini Chakraborty, Anita Date

Rating:

Tdetails.

I loved the locks. Gates are closed with intricate dungeonstyle locks, great big devices with jagged bear-trap edges, locks that could kill you if you opened them wrong. We see the fortress through a timelapse sequence that remains exclusively, oppressively overcast, rain trickling down the frontfacing spikes of the gate, like an iron maiden left ajar. It is a world few would brave. Barve’s debut is reminiscent of the trippy stylings of filmmaker Tarsem Singh. Like Singh, Barve gives us much to gape at. The earth at the temple’s core has the texture of a melting red candle, superbly contrasting the gleaming gold coins. The vermillion villain looks like Rascar Capac from the Tintin story The Seven Crystal Balls. The atmospherics are so thick I wish the film didn’t have a background score.

The characters are less imaginative than the visuals. Based on the stories of Marathi writer Narayan Dharap, Tumbbad is about a boy obsessed with treasure. Growing up, he finds it coin by coin, lowering himself deeper into the forbidden abyss as he, like a storyteller, mines the myth. The story gets concentric, as the protagonist (an impressive Sohum Shah) keeps going back for more. The film stretches from 1913 to 1947, a short story told by a longwinded narrator.

Remember the comedy Pyaar Kiye Jaa where Mahmood narrated a horror film to Om Prakash? The story wasn’t much; the sound effects were spectacular. Tumbbad is a bit like that, which isn’t bad. Barve has genuine vision, and his film will spawn a cult of admirers. And, ideally, imitators. As Tumbbad shows, all gods need believers.

(A full version of both reviews can be found on hindustantimes.com)