A sombre, yet reflective take on the devastated working class, through the modern Ghalib

TITLE: Milestone (Meel Patthar) WRITER: Ivan Ayr, Neel Mani Kant DIRECTOR: Ivan Ayr CAST: Suvinder Vicky, Lakshvir Saran PLATFORM: Netflix RATING: ★★★★

Ido my job because it is my identity. But the constraint is that it is my only identity.” A grieving labour-class man pouring out his helplessness through these words might sound bleak. But, unfortunately, it is the bitter truth about our unhealthy social constructs. Remarkably capturing this very feeling in its true essence, Ivan Ayr’s new release Meel

Patthar (Milestone) is a profoundly thought-provoking film of its own kind — one that gives you a lived experience of being from the strata of the lower working-class over a span of 98 minutes.

The film follows the life of an ageing truck driver, Ghalib, who is standing at the shores of obsolescence with solitude painting his hair grey. Constantly hammered by hardships, he is a very stunning portrayal of the famous urdu poet in the contemporary world. There is a contemplative mood to the whole piece knitted well with its gracefully pinching scenes, my favourite being the one where Ghalib is asked to compensate his in-laws for his deceased wife. Himself immersed in the never-ending loop of mundanity, Ghalib proposes to compensate by progress. Something he himself could never achieve.

However raw it may look from outside, the film is extensively rich from within. The precise layering speaks highly of how seasoned Ivan Ayr is. He never lets you leave his protagonist’s side, even making you feel the heat of his loneliness. The exceptionally fresh and well thought out direction requires you to traverse along with Ghalib throughout. But at the same time it would be unfair to regard it as completely an Ivan Ayr film because if it wasn’t for Suvinder Vicky, the film probably would have not left such an indelible mark.

With a heavy built yet a stooping stature, Vicky flawlessly makes for a man that the film talks about. He paints Ivan Ayr’s idea of Ghalib with such magnificence that one can’t deny to believe that this was the idea of their Ghalib too. His face is more at work than his lips in this class act. Lakshvir Saran, too, as Pash meticulously draws the contrasts and compliments Ghalib. In fact, every person in any of the frames draws you out of the cosy comfort of your room and throws you in the sloppy atmosphere of a working-class life.

An exquisitely crafted film, Meel Patthar is like a dark chocolate — exquisite but an acquired taste.