Plot Summary – An ambitious Indian driver uses his wit and cunning to escape from poverty and rise to the top.

★★★ 

Watched 23 Jan, 2021

This is trying so hard to be Indian Parasite. I haven’t read the book but you can tell that so much of the dialogue in this film has been pulled directly from it. Our main character, Balaram speaks in exaggerated prose throughout the film usually stating the obvious in a narrative style that would obviously be very effective in a book but appears unnecessary in film. This film feels like the antithesis to Slumdog Millionaire and Balaram even says something along the lines of “there is no game-show to emancipate the poor.” It’s confusing who the target audience of the film is because I don’t think Indians will be too happy with the portrayal of the country in the film. The dialogue is mainly in English and it feels like a film made for foreign audiences in many ways. Adarsh Gourav, who plays the main character is simply brilliant as he portrays the mannerisms of Balaram. Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ Pinky and Rajkummar Rao’s Ashok leave much to be desired as they play mere caricatures of these ‘rich’ American-Indians. They are very one-dimensional and it feels like they are overacting. Rao cannot pull off an American accent and it feels jarring for most of the film. Overall, I feel like this film had so much potential that is wasted. Bahrani has so much talent as a director and this film could have made in so many interesting ways but its current incarnation is lacking in many departments.