Manorama Six Feet Under
wogma rating: Beg or borrow, but do watch (?)
As the largest film making country in the world, we have not had indigenous versions of the Noir genre of films on our screens except for a short period in the fifties. More power to debutante director Navdeep Singh for having the courage and the vision to give us what is possibly the finest noir film in an Indian language.
Yes, in the fifties we had them for sure, notable amongst them being Baazi and Aar Paar, both directed by Guru Dutt, but they suffered from the fact that the mores of film making in India did not really allow the chief protagonist to be cynical, morally ambiguous, and deeply pessimistic about the world: a world that was jaded and characterized by an acute loss of faith in ‘universal’ values of love and justice.
The Noir (French for night, literally and figuratively standing for ‘black film’) genre gave us such Hollywood films like The Maltese Falcon and The Asphalt Jungle in the forties and fifties, and more recently the conventions of the genre have been reworked in neo noir films like the Coen Brothers’ Blood Simple and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.
So what does the director do here? Navdeep Singh has crafted a film dripping with nuances of life in a small desert town, and has used the metaphor of the desert to suggest the aridness and sterility of the life of the chief protagonist, Satyaveer Randhawa, underplayed superbly by Abhay Deol.
We have the character elements of the noir genre in ample measure: a morally ambiguous, loveless world, populated by cynical and apathetic characters each driven by their own lusts and greed, the femme fatale who is sympathetic to the hero, mysterious damsels in distress, the aging patriarch with his insatiable ravenousness for power justifying his actions by appealing to the “natural order of things”, crooked cops, scummy goons, and nosey neighbors.
The script is an inspired retelling of Roman Polanski’s seventies noir classic Chinatown and to the director’s credit, he does not hide it, but instead pays tribute to it in his own way by reworking the plot and some key scenes to suit his point of view. He also throws in a direct reference to the original just to make sure you get the point.
Unlike traditional noir films, the camera work does not frame scenes in stark contrasts of light and dark, with fog and or steam cloaking people in a half light, neither is the film set in the mean streets of a city lovingly photographed to make sure that all the grittiness and grime stand out. Instead here we have the desert in all its harshness as well as in gentler moods, and scarred and pitted monuments serve as the back drop to existential ruminations and the unfolding of the plot.
The camera lingers on the characters and their reactions; it frames the characters tightly, especially inside darkened rooms, creating a claustrophobic atmosphere that goes well with the dark machinations in the plot.
The cast has done a good job: both Raima Sen and Gul Panag are competent, and Vinay Pathak is simply superb as the local Sub Inspector with his cynical outlook on life.
The film does not have a climax in the conventional sense, which may leave a lot of people feeling highly dissatisfied, but a degree of redemption is achieved by the chief protagonist. Satyaveer Randhawa is again not a hero, he is not the good guy who is absolutely honest and incorruptible, but as the film proceeds, we understand that he is corrupt too. Evil is not vanquished in the end, neither does justice triumph. Evil is something that is at best lived with, because it resides in us and not in the "villain". All that we can do is to come to terms with it and with ourselves.
For those who are looking for a typical "thriller" film with the "good guy" vanquishing the "bad guys", this film is best avoided.
For those who like their life complex, their characters morally ambiguous, and would like to ponder on the workings of fate and existence, this is a film that you must see.
This review is by guest reviewer Anand S. Anand lives in Pune and is a Miscellaneous Culture Vulture. He is deeply interested in music, food, books, films, and intelligent women. He views himself as a Falstaffian figure, who does his best to indulge his appetites.
Thumbs up, by Aparajita Ghosh, Apun Ka Choice : ...Verbally sparse, intelligent, and visually striking, the movie holds your interest despite its languid pace.... full review
Thumbs up, by Fatema H Kagalwala, Business of Cinema : ...It is to the credit of the screenplay and visual treatment that the suspense and interest are sustained but... full review
Thumbs up, by Deepa Gahlot, Cybernoon: ...makes a uniquely Indian film, capturing the suffocating ambience of a small town as very few contemporary urban filmmakers in Hindi cinema have... full review
Thumbs up, by Praveen Lance Fernandes, indiatimes : ... China Town was a complete diverse film and not an easy movie to understand in its first view. Manorama is a bit simpler to comprehend but that doesn’t mean you keep your brains at home.... full review
Thumbs up, by Anupama Chopra, NDTV : ...Manorama doesn't have the elegant layering of China Town... full review
Thumbs up, by Subhash K Jha, Now Running.com : ...The technicians behind the film work in an unselfconscious spirit, as though they were part of a reality that goes beyond cinema.... full review
Thumbs up, by Jahan Bakshi, Now Running.com : ...The story's many twists and turns are laid out in an expert, mature and subtle fashion by the director as the film progresses smoothly,... full review
Thumbs up, by Siddharth Pillai, Passion for Cinema : ...Abhay Deol is no Jack Nicholson but he isn’t trying to be. He epitomizes the middle-class middle-age crisis and with gradual progression comes on his own in the climax,... full review
Thumbs up, by Raja Sen, Rediff : ...Abhay is a candid, extremely credible actor... full review
Thumbs up, by Nikhat Kazmi, Times of India : ... It's a teasing little thriller which moves at a langorous pace in the back waters of Rajasthan.... full review
Thumbs up, by Saakshi Juneja, To Each Its Own : ...I love it when a script narrates the story of not only its central characters but also allows their surroundings to play a lead as well... full review
So-So, by Rachel Fernandes, Bollywood Mantra : ...Abhay Deol as Satyaveer is able to depict his character quite well, quirky at times smart at others.... full review
So-So, by Smriti Mudgal, DearCinema : ...He took on a story that has an issue in hand which is not very simple to explain to masses... full review
So-So, by Khalid Mohamed, Hindustan Times : ...Plus there are far too many loose strands and complicated explanations, leading to a somewhat flaccid ending.... full review
Thumbs down, Bollyvista.com : ...Interesting plot and interesting settings, but a huge let down by amateur direction and writing... full review
Thumbs down, by Deep, Deep's Home : ...The movie might be good for awards or may be directors but for people like you and me, I don’t think so it was anything more than a confused story... full review
Thumbs down, by Martin D'souza, Glamsham.com : ...The script leaves a lot of loopholes which leaves one asking questions.... full review
Thumbs down, by Rajeev Masand, IBN Live : ...It's unlikely that Manorama Six Feet Under will appeal to all, mostly because it unfolds at a pace slower than a melting candle.... full review
Thumbs down, by Sreeram Ramachandran, M TV : ...The plot is labryinthine, with this connecting to that connecting to something else connecting to that other thing until you feel very disconnected.... full review
Thumbs down, by Hanumant Bhansali, Radio Sargam : ...Gul Panag, Raima Sen are wasted in this film.... full review
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This page has additional observations, other than the ones noted in the main review.
Warning: this section has some details that could distort your experience while watching the movie. I strongly recommend reading this only after you have seen the movie or if you have decided not to see it.
Plot Summary
Satyaveer Randhawa is a junior engineer in the Water department and also the writer (under a pen name) of a thriller novel called Manorama, which manages to sell only two hundred copies. This failure compels him to write for pulp magazines instead. Frustrated and dissatisfied with his existence and the burden of failure, he tries to redeem himself by taking up a mysterious assignment for the wife of a local politician, who wants him to spy on her husband. But then everything is not what it seems and things go haywire, as future events manifest.
What Worked
- The pacing of the film is beautifully measured; it creates a mood where the film takes us into the mind and character of Satyaveer Randhawa and the world that he inhabits. The use of the voice over to air Satyaveer’s thoughts in a laconic dry monotone adds to it.
- The scene where he is assaulted by two goons on the work site is just marvelous. It is an inspired reworking of a similar scene from Chinatown where two goons, one played by director Roman Polanski himself, assault the detective played by Jack Nicholson and cut his nose. Here the same scene is modified to an assault on Satyaveer by two goons who look really threatening and end up breaking his little finger: the senior partner eats peanuts and is asthmatic, the younger one is a real road romeo who is squeamish when it comes to breaking bones. They reappear throughout the film in various scenes, including the one at the end. The director then shows us the original scene from Chinatown later in the movie, in a moment where Satyaveer enters his house, and the scene from Chinatown is shown playing on his television.
What did not
- The music is completely unnoticeable throughout, it really does not add to the mood of the film or enhance it.
- The script puts all the plot lines together in the end through the voice over of Satyaveer. This was done, I felt, only for the benefit of the audience who might have been confused. But this detracts from the fine pacing and the subtleties of the script that were on display earlier. The director should have left it to the audience to reflect on and decipher the various plot lines, instead of giving a modified “bhashan” (lecture) at the end. That really took away the feel of the film.
![[Facebook page of Manorama Six Feet Under]](/static/images/icons/facebook_small.png){kind=icon}
![[Wikipedia page of Manorama Six Feet Under]](/static/images/icons/wiki_small.png){kind=icon}
![[IMDB Page of Manorama Six Feet Under]](/static/images/icons/imdb_small.png){kind=icon}
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Comments (7)
!!! Major movie spoiler in this comment !!!
Cinema always depicts life and to a certain extent tells the truth. Abuse of the girl child has been woven as a key element that surrounds mystery. Though it gives a negative view of social work, the topic of abuse of the girl child is very relevant.
The film confirms that child abuse is a manifestation of patriarchal power structure in which the girl child is seen as vulnerable, voiceless and agent less object. A 2006 small sample study reported that nearly one out of six boys and one in four girls in India are victim of sexual abuse. Almost 80% of the sufferers are children below 17 years of age, 20% below eight and almost 50 % of them are below 12.
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Hi Anand,
I just saw this film, and then read ur review. I was very impressed that our newer directors and writers are making these sorts of films in India.
Such complex and realistic characters with their own drives and motivations and such a dark plot and awesome pacing really made this a delicious film to watch. I hope we have more of this noirish films made.
Deol's performance along with the other actors in the film was fantastic; and I am glad there were no songs or hero whooping villain ass anywhere.
Your review was on the dot.
rightly said. the difference, as you spotted is a morally corrupted hero ( an absolute no-no for bollywood) and a vague ending that indicate at the idea of fate, destiny, consequences of karma. nice mention of the desert and it's relevance. Is this navdeep Singh's first movie?
@ Ram, there is a HUGE section of the audience who thoroughly enjoys this dance and song on pure white and lush green topography. Only when the size of this section of the audience starts reducing are we going to see more films like Manorama out in the open. And the beauty is, it's happening. Slowly but surely...
Well, prashant, this review is by Anand, I'll pass on your compliments to him.
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