MILAN TALKIES
Cert 12A
141 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence, threat
As a cinephile I was reeled in by Tigmanshu Dhulia's Milan Talkies - because at its heart is one of those wonderful Indian picture houses.
But, sadly, what could have been an engaging love story drags on for far too long.
I am aware that there is a lobby against cutting the regular two and half hour duration of Indian movies but that argument only holds water if there is much less repetition than we see here.
Milan Talkies stars Ali Fazal as Anu, who dreams of being a film director and hangs out at the cinema which lends Dhulia's film its name.
He and his pals get into a fair few scrapes as they try to make their mark, hustling their way into the low-budget movie market, raising money by helping students to cheat in their exams.
It is relatively fun stuff until Anu falls for the beautiful Maithali (Shraddha Srinath).
The movie then becomes a much more conventional forbidden love story with Anu courting his girl before finding that she has already been promised to another (Sikander Kher).
Inevitably, that also means that there is an entirely unreasonable father (Ashutosh Rana) who is violently opposed to his daughter's desires.
The medium of movies offers the chance for the couple to live their forbidden dreams. However, they pretty soon become nightmares.
Milan Talkies had the potential to be so much better than it turns out.
There is a Cinema Paradiso-style to its picture house and the romance which it engenders and there is a frisson between Fazal and Srinath.
But it drifts into the same old cliches about ghastly fathers forcing marriages to brutes and having no truck with true love.
I have asked the question before over why Indian men transform from dashing lovers to angry fathers.
But there you are - Milan Talkies goes from being charming to swathed in violence and aggravation.
And the charm never returns - disappointingly, replaced by rage and shouting.
As said, that is a pity. Thanks to its backdrop, I had high hopes of this movie but they were unfulfilled.
Reasons to avoid: A little bit too slushy
Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 5.5/10
Did you know? Surprisingly, with just one screen per 96,300 residents, India is the world’s most under-screened major territory. With such a deep shortage of cinemas and screens, many of India’s fanatical movie fans are simply unable to see movies in the theatre.
The final word. Ali Fazal: "It feels weird to be shooting in Lucknow. I've lived here, known these gullies, mohallas all my life, never thought I will be shooting here... This is a unique story and a story which is very close to Tigmanshu sir's heart. I am really blessed that I am part of it."
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