By Gurmukh Singh
TORONTO: Director Anurag Kashyap, who is the most regular Indian filmmaker at the Toronto International Film Festival, brought a different kind of crime-drama this time to the TIFF audiences.
And they lapped it up as his stomach-churning thriller Bandar (A Monkey in Cage) premiered in the Special Presentations section of the film festival.
Based on real-life events, Bandar is the poignant story of Samar (played by Bobby Deol) – a has-been TV star – whose life unravels when his spurned ex-girlfriend Gayatri (played by Sapna Pabbi) accuses him of rape.
The tragic twist in his life happens when he enters into a relationship with Khushi (Saba Azad), infuriating his Gayatri who still harbours notions to getting back in his life. When he blocks her, Gayatri goes on to take her revenge.
A bit of #metoo here, isn’t it?
Arrested and locked behind bars, Samar watches his life unravel very quickly.
Lumped among the most hardened criminals in jail, Samar is slowly stripped of his humanity as the storyline lays bare the rotten core of the jail system.
Bobby Deol stands out for his stoic performance in this crime thriller which has a very diverse cast.
Introducing Bobby to the audience at the premiere, Anurag Kashyap said, “Here is the actor who has given his blood and soul to the film.”
Responding, Bobby said, “I had never thought my movie would make it to any festival. And what a way to debut—at TIFF’s 50th year!”
Written by Sudip Sharma and Abhishek Banerjee, Bandar has been produced by Nikhil Dwivedi. In fact, the idea of this crime thriller was born when Dwivedi shared a jail news story with Anurag Kashyap.
