After the huge critical success of his 2013 romance-drama The Lunchbox, director Ritesh Batra will now be serving the audience with his next Photograph having Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Sanya Malhotra in the lead roles. Movie reviews have started pouring in a day prior to its release with mixed responses from the film critics.
The film follows up on the story of a struggling street photographer, pressured to marry by his grandmother, who convinces a shy stranger to pose as his fiancée. The leading pair - Nawazuddin and Sanya - develops a connection that transforms them both in unexpected ways. Sanya Malhotra, who was last seen in the blockbuster Badhaai Ho, is essaying the role of an introverted college girl who tops in her studies whereas Nawaz is essaying the character of Photographer. The backdrop of the film is set in Dharavi, Mumbai.
Photograph had a premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival and also screened at the Berlin Film Festival last month and it was held as a quiet charmer and nice film by International publications.
As the movie is going to hit the theatres in India on March 15, take a look at what film critics have to say about Photograph and a few earlier reviews from International publications.
The Times Of India: "If you seek purpose or motivation behind someone's certain behaviour, you won't find it here so Photograph eventually struggles to keep you engaged. Unlike Lunchbox, which also revolved around longing, mundane life and companionship, this film lacks solid writing that can conjure up those emotions. Lack of reason makes it all seem inconsequential beyond a point.
Photograph isn't a perfect shot and is lured by exquisite nothingness but it's intriguing and takes you back in time. Like love and life, it's uncertain and hopeful."
Rating: 3 Stars out of 5.
Mumbai Mirror: "An issue with the film is that while it tells a lot, it says very little — which is ironic given that a photograph is expected to convey a thousand words. Let's just say this one's a passport photo— a contained profile that offers a glimpse but not the big picture."
Rating: 3 Stars out of 5.
Film Companion: "But, like always, the little touches are marvellous — starting with a rattly ceiling fan that (in a sweetly surreal moment) literally becomes a character. The marginal characters, like the Mumbai cab drivers, make strong impressions in their limited screen time. And I loved the bond between Rafi and his grandmother. Farrukh Jaffar is cracklingly alive. She's the electroshock paddle the film sorely needs, and even Miloni/Sanya is jolted to life in her presence. Nawazuddin Siddiqui anchors Photograph with a beautifully unadorned performance. The film, too, is largely unadorned — the cinematographers (Tim Gillis, Ben Kutchins) are alert to the grimness of daily existence. But in one scene, they cut loose, and the effect is fabulous. It involves a bottle of Campa Cola and an old man who adores his wife, and the setting is lit with shafts of golden light, and Peter Raeburn's theme swells... It's like heaven. It's what love is, at its most rapturous. It's like Tumne mujhe dekha come to life."
Rating: 3 Stars out of 5.
Variety: "In hearkening back to a purer, simpler era of movie romance, this golden-lit comfort blanket of a movie winds up throwing some progressive baby out with the bathwater. Even that, however, it does with the softest of touches."
Rating: Not Given.
The Hollywood Reporter: "No one should head into a Batra film expecting fireworks, but for anyone who appreciates his understated style, Photograph is a satisfying, unswoony romance."
Rating: Not Given.
Screen Daily: "Normally cast as a bad buy, Nawazuddin Siddiqui portrays the melting of this "kulfi" labourer with unceasing dignity. It's a fine performance, and he is given much to work with. This film will probably appeal more to the export market, however, than his legions of fans in the Subcontinent."
Rating: Not Given.
