'I Want To Talk' review: Artistic and well-acted, but undercooked
Shoojit Sircar's I Want To Talk, headlined by Abhishek Bachchan, is a placid, meditative film about life, mortality, and death. Understated, beautifully shot, and realistic, it's carried excellently by Bachchan, but stops short of becoming excellent due to its undercooked characters and storyline. The film is only 122 minutes long but feels longer because there's not enough juice to keep it going.
A man's persistence to stay alive
Based on a true story, IWTT features Bachchan as Arjun Sen, a hot-headed, arrogant marketing executive in the US who is diagnosed with cancer. His doctor gives him a timeline—he will likely not see the next Christmas and only has about 100 days before death comes knocking at his door. Persistent to change his fate, Arjun undergoes numerous surgeries. Can he buy more time?
Most of it is calm and unhurried
Sircar is not interested in sequences that roll on forever, or in adding unnecessarily weepy background music that can manipulate you into crying. Deeply layered, rich in sentiments, and emotional in places, I Want To Talk is confident, and self-assured about the path it wants to take. Its pace is measured and unhurried, and evident honesty swims at the surface.
The visual grammar blends well with the plot
The sense of weariness in Arjun's life post-diagnosis is represented well in the cinematography. The film plays with lights and shadows, hues of black and grey dominate the screen more often than not, and several deep conversations transpire between Arjun and his daughter Reya in front of a serene lake. There's no preachy, didactic dialogue, and silence is entrusted with most of the talking.
Johny Lever has a beautiful, different part
The film has a beautiful, humane part for Johny Lever, and it's always pleasant to watch actors typecast in comic roles exploring other genres. He gets some of the most memorable lines, such as, "You either die or you don't. There's nothing such as I could have died!" However, his character leaves much to be desired, and eventually, Lever is criminally underutilized here.
Realistic portrayal of the medical world
I particularly liked the way Sircar showed Arjun's doctor, Dr. Deb, and his approach to his patient without essentially villainizing him. The way Dr. Deb explains the incisions and surgeries is mechanical, and you realize how, in the medical world, everyone is (perhaps unwillingly) reduced to a statistic, a project, a case. Dr. Deb and Arjun, later, forge a friendship—a refreshing change of pace.
How does Bachchan do?
Like Bachchan's Ghoomer, this role, too, demands him to deliver a restrained and unassuming performance. He perfectly fits the bill, demonstrating a gamut of emotions: vulnerability, denial, love, anger, confusion, all of it. He is in every frame, and his dialogue is still in progress when the film ends. Clearly, Arjun's story, or that of others like Arjun, is still going on.
Problems: The film is uneven and bumpy
However, after a point, IWTT becomes as laborious as the illnesses plaguing Arjun, and it becomes tough to stay invested. At several junctures, it seems like Sircar is verbalizing all the subtext. For instance, at one point, his daughter asks him, "Will you dance at my wedding?" A completely normal (and emotional) question, but it comes out of nowhere, thus missing the mark.
The narrative hardly progresses
IWTT is infested by the same problems an otherwise excellent Zwigato battled. The narrative seems to move in circles, not all the secondary characters are developed well, and even when the story progresses, IWTT struggles to part ways with any new information. There are also gaps in the narrative at times, and a bit more gravitas would have done the film a huge favor.
Skip in theaters, watch on OTT; 2.5/5 stars
A character describes Arjun as "battered, beaten, bruised, but functional," which perfectly encapsulates his journey. The film, thus, is the portrait of a man who refuses to bow down in front of seemingly insurmountable odds. The predictable plot and pacing issues, however, bog it down, turning it into a half-baked drama. Skip it theatrically, but watch on OTT for its artistic merit. 2.5/5 stars.
