October Review & BO Updates Thread - Page 44

Originally posted by: ghissapitta

Watched the movie late last night. I am still unable to gather my thoughts regarding what I witnessed. An absolute masterpiece 👏 I swear to God, this is a movie in which one can delve into each and every MOMENT and extract a beautiful connection to the characters and their journey there is not a SINGLE moment which seems wasted or unnecessary. This is one of those movies, that you think about for days and days after you've come back from watching it. My heart was heavy by the time I came out of the theatre and not for a moment did I think Varun Dhawan was an actor in this film. It felt like I was actually watch a young man named Dan - who just so happened to just look like famous Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan (lol) - experience what I had witnessed on-screen.

If I start talking about the movie I'll be here all day, and I can see a lot of people in their reviews have said most of what I wanted to share anyway. It's so good to see this movie being praised! And I cannot say this enough - Varun is a fantastic artist, Shoojit Sircar is a genuis and thank you Juhi Chayurvedi, for penning down such a wonderful story!

Originally posted by: flameofdarkness

Errr nice try but I am no SRK fan..not even by a long shot!

So you are simply barking up the wrong tree 🤪

Originally posted by: RisNee

What you barking😆 where did I say you are SRK fan🤪

Review: October' is a Breath of Fresh Air

By David LagachuApril 14, 2018Add comment4 min read

October' opens with a train in motion on its tracks and then we are introduced to the two main leads Shiuli Iyer and Danish/Dan Walia making their way through the Delhi morning fogs. Their meeting point is their place of work a luxury hotel; they are hotel management trainees. Amidst sophistication and state-of-the-art dcor they mechanically go about their daily routines devoid of any joy or enthusiasm. The girl is sincere in her dealings and the boy is a goofball and braggadocious. They are not the best of friends or remotely attracted to each other but are mere co-workers even though they do seem to be comfortable around each other. October' is a feeling about what could have been between the two if a certain tragedy didn't befall upon Shiuli that changes both their lives forever.

Without giving away the plot, October' is a journey of self-realization, of loving someone irrationally against all odds and the pain of letting go. The beauty and the strength of the film lie in Juhi Chaturvedi's words, idea and screenplay. The lovers never formally gets to express their love for each other or say goodbye in the traditional sense but the imposed silence here works wonder cinematically. The constant reference to nature in the film flowers, birds, squirrels, streams, and mountains is a reminder of man's communion with nature and how it inspires love and compassion in our hearts. So it comes as a no surprise that the female protagonist is named Shiuli' (Bengali term for a night jasmine that blooms in October). Trust on Shoojit Sircar always to bring in a Bengali metaphor and make it an integral part of the narrative. Remaining true to her character's name Shiuli' adds meaning and purpose to Dan's life while herself dealing with a grave situation; just like a fallen flower still continues to spread fragrance in the surrounding. Nature doesn't discriminate and similarly Shiuli embraces Dan's presence in her life. In a significant scene the smell of the night jasmine brings about a moment of temporary hope and relief to an otherwise overtly somber film.

One thing to be noted is that the sun never shines when the two leads are together in the film. It is only when Dan gathers courage to go away from her life even though reluctantly, and temporarily that the weather finally smiles on him. Varun Dhawan through his character echoes sentiments akin to that of Adam Driver's Paterson' or Ranbir Kapoor's Rockstar' in his loneliness and yearning for love, acceptance and stability in his life. The film also in a subtle way touches upon the loneliness of modern man in his modern surroundings. The silence, sadness and loneliness in October are therapeutic in more ways than one. It purifies you with its genuine feeling of hoping against hope and the acceptance of fate when the time finally comes.

Varun Dhawan as Dan is the soul of the film who forces you to care for even his fleeting thoughts as he make the most of what life has handed onto him. He finds himself in the crossroads of life, responsibly and death when he least expected it. Strictly speaking about his acting he is as good as he was in Badrinath Ki Dulhania' or Badlapur'; only here he had the guidance of Shoojit Sircar who extracted the best out of him by keep in check his reservoir of energy. The dusky beauty Banita Sandhu (Shiuli) makes an unconventional and almost dialogue-less debut but she makes her presence feel with her freshness and ability to immerse herself and deliver according to the demands of the script. Another first time actor Gitanjali Rao aces the role of Shiuli's mother with her inherent caring body language and wisdom laden eyes.

October breaks many rules when it comes to depicting romance on-screen and it won't be long before it finds itself in the list of movies which are ahead of its time, original and entertaining at the same time. And it definitely ups the ante for the quality of Bollywood films which are generally formulaic in their content.

Rating: 4/5

October took me by surprise at so many levels. It did help that I went in knowing nothing about the film, except that Varun Dhawan was one of the actors. That might also be why the pace of the first half hour got slightly annoying. But, having seen the film, that pace makes more sense than ever. And ultimately, I am glad I hadn't seen the trailer before watching the film because there is a good chance I would have walked in expecting to watch a very different film, a film about two lovers, one of whom is in a coma. What I watched was a very human story that is about relationships that have no whys and hows, they just are.

I am sure that I will not have enough of the Shoojit Sircar-Juhi Chaturvedi combination

As October progressed, I wondered, "Why are you getting involved? Why are your eyes brimming up? Why are you getting effected? It's not like you can relate to any of the characters, you don't think like most of them. It's not like this is the first film you have seen about a person in coma. In fact, you have seen three in the recent past Waiting, Ventilator, and The Big Sick. You don't even feel like you know much about the lady in the ICU. The bits you know about the guy taking care of her is that he is simple and sweet, but a goofball. And even so, October is drawing you in with its simplicity, its humanity, its kind and large heartedness. This is when I realised that these are things that help one take heart when the situation is grim simplicity, humanity, kind and large heartedness.

When a film does this, makes you identify with the situation and not only characters, without you even realising it, it becomes a winner. Sure, the film is slow. But, so is tending to someone in a coma. In fact, the pace is another aspect that October touches upon with so much subtlety that you don't pick up on it until you start analysing it later. October keeps pace with the patient's condition, it picks up ever so slightly with every small sign of her recovery. The life of the caretaker becomes slightly busier with the smallest improvement of the patient. The back and forth between practicality and humaneness doesn't come across as a story-writing tool. It feels like dilemmas that one would face in real life, a struggle that is germane to the story.

All the philosophizing aside, October's take on relationships is as heartbreaking as it is heartening not all relationships need two people. While this sounds like it is about unrequited love which October might or might not be about, this take on relationships is about one person's will to care and form a relationship irrespective of what the other wants. As beautiful as that is to see on a film, in real life it could become overbearing and intrusive. Through the film, I couldn't shirk off that nagging question, "what if she doesn't want what he is doing?. Which led me to questions about agency and entitlement, "is he really being selfless here?

Sure, there are no easy answers to that and the discussion could be a never-ending one. Which is again only a stamp of how endearing, thought-provoking and engaging the film is.

Of course, Varun Dhawan just blew me off. While playing a good-for-nothing is completely his forte, he just showed us the many different kinds of directionless there can be. He even makes some of the wonderfully written dry humour, just the right amount of dead. I couldn't stop wondering why he would do a Judwaa 2 when he can do this. Bread and butter? Anything for love of family? Never say no to work? And he took/accepted third credit in the opening credits too! That is commendable. Banita Sandhu and Gitanjali Rao brought me to the brink of tears a couple of times. The rest of the supporting cast also made me wonder why we don't see more of them.

Along similar lines, I am sure that I will not have enough of the Shoojit Sircar-Juhi Chaturvedi combination Piku, Vicky Donor, and even Madras Cafe for that matter. What a range of topics and styles that covers! October may or may not be in the same league as the first two, but it is certainly up there.

What I watched was a very human story that is about relationships that have no whys and hows, they just are.

When a review becomes more about the viewer's experience, emotions and thought-flow, it is a movie well-made, a movie one must watch. Even if you might want to watch it over and over again.

- meeta, a part of the audience

Parental Guidance:

• Violence: None
• Language: Clean
• Nudity & Sexual content: None
• Concept: A lady has an accident and goes into coma. An acquaintance is greatly affected by the incident.
• General Look and Feel: Carries a largely serious tone with a touch of dark humor