October: A delicate film about a simple feeling called love

Bollywood film directors have always had a special fascination for Delhi’s winter season, reflected in item numbers such as Dilli ki Sardi . However, It is rather unusual for our filmmakers to depict the aura of the city when its wrapped in mist, or smog now.

Shoojit Sircar does it beautifully in ‘October’.

It's a difficult task to make a film with a threadbare story line. A group of young hotel management undergraduates slog it out at a five-star hotel in Delhi. One of them, Shiuli Iyer (Bandita Sandhu), meets with an accident, goes into coma and is eventually left crippled.

One of her friends, Dan (Varun Dhawan), who is not present at the time of the accident, visits her in the hospital, first out of a sense of friendly duty, which gradually develops into a genuine concern and then an obsession, with the hope of her recovery finally culminating into a beautiful attachment.

Dan’s story, as a frustrated, irritating, careless and annoying young man, who later grows into a sensitive, caring and intense being, is adorable.

For most part of the movie, Bandita Sandhu remains comatose. Her eyes, however, do most of the talking, especially when Dan leaves her on the bed for the last time. Her eyes urge Dan not to leave.

But the film belongs to writer Juhi Chaturvedi and the director, Shoojit Sircar. The dialogues are crisp, candid and sensitive. The depth of silence throughout the movie is respected and cared for, seen seldom in Hindi films nowadays.

The director has beautifully brought forth the almost Chekhovian aura of romanticism, when a young man is haunted by a simple question, why was the girl enquiring about him before that fateful accident? Shoojit Sircar has used the close ups very deftly to create the delicate weave of the film wherein you can almost feel the fragrance of Har Singar (night jasmine) flowers. There is nothing in the story except a fragile thread of attachment, hope and life binding the characters together. Gitanjali Rao as mother of Shilui Iyer is intense, controlled and very effective in her grief-stricken silence.

The tiny nuances of the city of Delhi have been filmed almost melodiously; its changing weather, the city’s roads and lawns strewn with withered leaves, birds, flowers (one entire shot focuses on the bougainvillea in full blossom) and of course Har singar flower which the girl Shiuli loves so much that she collects them when they flower in October.

The film unfolds rather slowly, which may not go well with the sensibilities of Hindi commercial film audiences, but the pace again is handled delicately, to show the journey of the protagonist from a small realisation that the girl could have meant something more to him to the reality when he becomes something more and important to the girl’s existence.

Varun Dhavan has already proved his acting prowess in Badlapur and even in recent romantic comedies. He excels in the film too. However, he needs to work on his voice and dialogues a little more. Banita Sandhu has got an unusual debut and she will be remembered for her almost silent role. Her eyes do the talking mostly.

The film exhorts you to remember the shreds of fragmented relationships, feelings and attachments that could have meant something more, something beyond the usual. It also stirs the long lost fascination for flowers, birds, rains (in brief nature) which are not considered important now in our routine life.

It may not be our typical fast-paced masala commercial film, but it moves your heart like a song which you don’t want to end. Worth watching once.