Director: Ritesh Batra
Star Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra
Rating: 4.5/5
Critically acclaimed film The Lunchbox fame director Ritesh Batra is back with another unusual love-story titled Photograph that stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Sanya Malhotra in lead roles. The film that released today charms with its simplicity and top notch performances by the actors involved. The film has already won applauds at the prestigious international festivals at Sundance and Berlin.
Story: Rafiq (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), a struggling street photographer at Mumbai’s Gateway of India, convinces a reclusive topper student Miloni (Sanya Malhotra) to pose for a picture. Soon they form an unsaid bond that leads to self-discovery and a fascinating tale of slow-burn romance.
Review: Just like every photograph has a story, this one too is a tale of an unusual love story between it lead characters who belongs to different religion, class, economic status and yet an unsaid bond is formed between them.
On knowing, that his grandmother has stopped taking her routine medicines because of him avoiding the marriage, Rafi sends Miloni's photograph to her stating her as his love interest. Miloni, too agrees to be a part of his game of faking their relationship to the grandmother. And their fake relationship soon develops into something special between the duo.
It's not one of those typical Bollywood story where a poor guy falls for a rich girl and love blossoms between the two, here the way things move forward between them make you believe in their unsaid romance. With Photograph, Ritesh Batra once again proves that he aces the genre of unconventional love story. He manages to showcase vintage part of Mumbai which makes the movie more appealing visually. Batra very smartly infuses the subtle humour Rafi’s friends and his Dadi, that will crack up up in an otherwise serious film.
Acting: Nawazuddin Siddiqui is brilliant like always and very easily gets into the skin of a struggling street character, he looks so convincing with his body language and mannerisms however it is Sanya Malhotra who leaves you spellbound. Sanya as Miloni shines in the movie with her stolen glances and expressive eyes. In most of the scenes it's only her eyes that's doing the talking and despite of sharing screen with an extraordinary actor like Nawaz she stands tall. But kudos to Farrukh Jaffar who plays Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s dadi in the film, Jaffar, simply lits up the screen with her conversations with Rafi about their life, her observations. You will instantly fall in love with her character and might relate to your grandma.
The movie is a bit slow especially after interval and that it the biggest minus point of Photograph, you will want it to end at times in the second half and fails to keep you hooked with its over simplistic approach at times. But overall, the celebrated cinematography and top notch performances by the actor makes this unrealistic love story worth a watch.
Watch the trailer below: