Oscar-nominated Iranian director Majid Majidi (for 1997’s Children of Heaven) turns his lens on India and finds an underclass that is denied justice, rights and even a voice by virtue of the poverty in which they live. The divisions in society are summed up neatly in an opening shot that tracks the hectic Mumbai commuter traffic before dipping over the side of a road bridge and finding a community of families living in shacks underneath. It’s an elegantly simple device which, unfortunately, is not echoed elsewhere in a film that is always melodramatic and occasionally overwrought.
That said, this tale of drug-dealing chancer Amir (striking newcomer Ishaan Khattar) and his quest to rescue his sister, Tara (Malavika Mohanan), from prison has a barrelling, unpredictable energy that makes it genuinely thrilling to watch.Although the plot is padded by a scrapyard dance routine and a couple of songs, this is edgier and grittier than Mumbai’s more conventional mainstream movie output.
