The film, written and directed by Anand Gandhi and produced by none other than Kiran Rao, is
one of the most picturesque films of our times. Three
seemingly independent stories come together so naturally as pieces of a puzzle
and bring out larger, more meaningful picture. A girl who takes up photography
on losing her eyesight, a monk who prefers to take death on to taking medicines
that are manufactured after torturous experiments on helpless animals and a
Marwari trader whose life changes after a kidney transplant: all the stories
are intertwined to form a beautiful confluence.
On watching simply the first few shots of the film, one
starts wondering why films are so often inundated with mind boggling effects
when simplicity can do marvels. At this very moment, the character starts
reflecting the viewer’s thoughts. The overwhelming flood of colours seems to
perturb the charm of its absence and the mere chase of capturing the essence of
something seems to kill the moment itself.
The actors, lead or supporting, look as if they have been
guilelessly picked from their real lives and placed in the reel. No complicated
dialogues but quick repartees is what makes them so convincing in their roles. But
if there are some performances that linger on the mind of the viewer even hours
and days after watching the film, they are those of Aida El-Kashef and Neeraj
Kabi, who play the blind photographer and the monk respectively.
Watching this film is like viewing a series of photographers
clicked by a really good photographer, each frame so carefully crafted! Light,
camera angle, colour balance, subject focus and the portrayal of photography as
a theme, Kudos for
everything, Pankaj Kumar!
In
addition to being a cinematical masterpiece, Ship of Theseus also gives an
explicit message and the spectator is forced to put his thinking hat on before
leaving his seat.
A must
watch inspite of the ridiculously high ticket rates!
