Movie: Guilty
Direction: Ruchi Narain
Cast: Kiara Advani, Akansha Ranjan Kapoor, Gurfateh Singh Pirzada
Music: Ankur Tewari
Cinematographer: Andrew Boulter, Antoine Parker
Editor: Thom Noble
Genre: Drama
Rating: ∗∗∗½
What is it about: It’s a Hindi social drama, which follows the story of a songwriter, whose boyfriend is accused of rape. What follows post accusation forms the crux of the story directed by Ruchi Narain.
This film marks the first from the house of Dharmatic which is the Digital wing of Dharma Productions by Karan Johar. It’s unlikely to see a movie from Karan Johar releasing on Netflix than in theatres. But I love the way filmmakers from Bollywood are widening their spectrum to reach out to the worldwide audience. Hoping to see this trend catches up with the other film industries across India.
That being said, GUILTY sheds light on post #MeToo movement began in India. This movement shook people around the world and exposed some unbelievable facts across every walk of life. Writers Kanika Dhillon and Ruchi Narain (Director) couldn’t have said it better. The writing was impeccable. And the dialogues by Atika Chohan were impactful. Every character was well nuanced and conceived with diligence. You may see the shades of PINK in the film, it’s ‘cause it handles a subject similar to that. After “Thappad” I feel “GUILTY” was much needed. People have reservations about both the films since their release. My personal experience was a conversation with mother, where she believed what Taapsee did was an exaggeration. We had a healthy argument. I can’t blame her but empathize, ‘cause there’s a huge generation gap in every aspect you could think of. The case is same with Guilty, there’s a scene where an actor, character assassinates Tanu (Akansha Ranjan Kapoor) just on the basis on how she carries herself. That’s the state of the society at present, which jumps to conclusion on the exterior appearance. The narrative was very strong and was perfectly aligned.
We’ve seen Kiara Advani all this while in commercial cinema, and Guilty was her first performance driven character. Without a doubt she nailed it. I read in one of the reviews criticizing her looks, but I would say that person just proved the point, which the makers of Guilty were trying to make. Amazing performance by Kiara and hoping to see her in this shade more often. Akansha Ranjan Kapoor is a new found who did an amazing job too. As Tanu she displayed a great deal of emotions which gets lost in translation most of the time. Taher Shabbir as Danish Ali Baig did a commendable job. Followed by Gurfateh Singh Pirzada’s (VJ) commendable performance.
The cinematography by Andrew Boulter & Antoine Parker was great and was backed with sharp editing by Thom noble. Music by Ankur Tewari was great and complimented the mood of the film.
A poetic rendition of the horror makes GUILTY a great film which the theatres are missing whereas the OTT buffs are lucky.
Verdict: Ruchi Narain, presented a very important film which one may call the need of the hour. Agreed no matter how many movies are made ones state of mind is hard to change. But creators such as Ruchi, Kanika and Atika remind us not to ignore the obvious fact and stand with the ones when the demand arises. A poetic rendition of the horror makes GUILTY a great film which the theatres are missing whereas the OTT buffs are lucky. If you have access to Netflix, please watch it. If not beg or borrow from your friends and stream it.
