Bangalore Days
Director: Anjali Menon
Starring: Dulquer Salmaan, Fahadh Faasil, Nivin Pauly, Nazriya Nazim, Parvathy Menon
3.5 stars
Anjali Menon's Malayalam-language film Bangalore Days revolves around Divya (Nazriya Nazim), Arjun (Dulquer Salmaan) and Krishnan (Nivin Pauly), three cousins who bond during overlapping visits to their ancestral home in rural Kerala. Arjun is the proverbial black sheep, a college dropout who leaves behind a broken home to pursue his passion for bike-racing, all the while shunting between different cities. Divya is a smart, exuberant girl who dreams of a degree in business management and becoming an entrepreneur. Krishnan is the quintessential goody two-shoes, an obedient son and a champion of Indian values.
The three separately end up in Bangalore, the destination of their dreams, and the story follows their travails as their relationships and values are put to the test. The newly married Divya arrives with her Bangalore-based corporate executive husband (Fahadh Faasil), who has a tragic and unresolved past. Krishnan finds a job as a software engineer in an IT company and Arjun works as a mechanic for a group of bikers.
But life in Bangalore isn’t what they expect it to be. While Divya strives for identity and closure in her troubled marriage, Arjun is determined to prove himself after falling in love with a paraplegic (Parvathy Menon). The conservative Krishnan, meanwhile, is struggling to cope with culture shock, but ironically finds answers from an unexpected source: his traditional parents.
The cinematography is stunning, throwing parallels to their dilemmas and switching back and forth between the idyllic scenery of Kerala and the blurry cityscape of Bangalore.
The actors have been sensitively cast. Salmaan, the son of the Malayalam actor Mammootty, proves his versatility again, while Nazim seems to have found her niche in romantic comedies and Pauly continues his winning streak in Malayalam films. Gopi Sunder's music is vibrant and lively, especially the track Nam Ooru Bangalore (although it does seem to be inspired by Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA).
At three hours, Bangalore Days is a longish film, but the quick pace and neat balance of drama and comedy firmly puts it in the "don't miss" category.
artslife@thenational.ae
