In Praise of Eavesdropping – Highway Ek Selfie Aar Paar

Dipti does not formally review movies but when some films particularly resonate with her, she connects the dots between fiction and non-fiction. Here she writes about the Marathi film Highway – Ek Selfie Aar Paar.

In Praise of Eavesdropping

We are all undeniably voyeurs or may I say enthusiastic observers. Anything that begins with the caveat -Based on a true story – gets more eyeballs. I’ve stumbled upon some of the most delicious ironies in conversations I couldn’t help but overhear & I bet you’ll find some of the best stories lying latent in personal diaries. So these discoveries of slices of ‘the lives of others’ aren’t necessarily vices. Chancing upon crumpled notes or makeshift Bhel Puri plates can also lead to piercing insights about the times we live in or the populaces that accompany us on this planet.

Inquisitiveness, then is imagination. This comes across effectively in the Marathi film, Highway – Ek Selfie Aar Paar. A film with close to 35 characters from different backgrounds traversing on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. The plot revolves around their fleeting yet perspective altering interactions, their clashes and their journeys within. Unlike the Hindi film of the same name (Highway), where the focus is on the landscape, here the camera stays within the vehicles for the most part. Watching it is like a study of human behaviour in closed yet moving spaces of different modes of transport on a highway that seldom allows you to pull over – a live psychology class for an onlooker.

Since my native place is Satara, the route in the film is extremely familiar. So is watching the antics of co-passengers from the sidelines. During the journey of six hours, you feel like a part of a microcosm – connected yet aloof. Highway does a great job of recreating the sights and sounds of the rides I take in MSRTC buses every few months. I even felt a hint of phantom motion sickness. Even the traffic snarl in the movie felt claustrophobic. If a film makes you feel viscerally, isn’t it a huge win?

Some of these rides depressed me, made me curious, or just gave me bushels of ‘what ifs’ and ‘what nexts’. There was a mentally challenged 50-year-old who peed all over her seat and her brother tried to desperately cover up to protect her from being humiliated. Then there was the wife, who resented being married to the man who was snoring next to her – this, I found out…thanks to her huge phone on which she furiously typed to her sister. Ironically, she showered her husband with absurd affection after he woke up. When you know that you are possibly the only person who is aware of secrets in the bus, you feel like a keeper of terribly tiny tales – your own version of those tales. I wondered then, could it be then that she was typing about some other man to her sister? Was it even her sister, she was typing to? Nobody ever really knows the whole truth. So depending on your state of mind, you give your coat of reality to the story, which you later use to regale your friends over drinks or furtively document in your travel diary. So, if there were more people actively prying like me, just how many versions would there be? You learn to gracefully accept some of these bewildering and unfinished stories just as you come to terms with the loose ends of your own life events.

Then there were times when I was part of the probable stories of fellow travellers. I remember how the passenger sitting next to me gave me silent company while I howled throughout the journey from Satara to Mumbai. He offered me some water but the first opportunity he got, he switched seats. I realized then, how repelling tears could be.

If you, like me love unfolding events long after they have passed your gaze and ponder over their Rashomon-esque nature, travel solo aboard rickety buses. It is one of the best ways to be a storyteller or to offer yourself up to a potential storyteller as a character. And yes, watch Highway just to know the sheer possibilities of fiction that surround us.

August 2015 at the Movies – Reccos

This year I have seen more series than movies. While I mull over a separate post on series, here’s the list of movies I saw in August and my two bits on them.

Unfriended (2014)

Saw a really good horror film after a long time. The entire film happens on a laptop screen over a Skype chat. This is how you do inventive low budget Indie horror. Adds freshness to the found footage genre. In which, the craft takes over the story.

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2015)

I have seen ‘You the living’ out of Roy Andersson’s trilogy, and now this. Clearly one of the most original directors out there. Even if you don’t get his absurdist humour and inventive style of filmmaking, be rest assured that this film will keep you engaged and entertained all along.

Goodnight Mommy (2015)

The first 40 mins tests your patience with it’s slow, meandering pace, in which nothing much happens. But, if you stay long enough,then what follows next is gore horror that makes you cringe and leaves you shaken.

Dark Places (2015)

Gilles Paquet-Brenner is no David Fincher and it shows. I haven’t read the Gillian Flynn book but Brenner does an average execution as writer/ director and Charlize Theron walks around looking disinterested throughout. A prime example of adaptation of an interesting story gone wrong.

Sleep Tight (2011)

Filled with enough nail biting thrilling moments, it will compels you to look under your bed after you have seen the film.The third act could have been better though. Eerie,creepy and scary as hell.

Highway – Ek Selfie Aar Paar (2015)

Very rarely have the Kulkarnis disappointed. Make some time and watch Highway. A sharp observation on life and its idiosyncrasies. Lovely characters and a near perfect ensemble cast that makes them come alive.

The Skeleton Twins (2014)

The perfect Rakhsa Bandhan date film. Estranged siblings reunite after cheating death on the same day and rekindle their lost bond. Light, funny and an adorable chemistry between Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig make this a fun watch.