#NewsBytesRecommends: 'Authohead' on YouTube—auto driver's heightened nihilism, coupled with megalomania
Rohit Mittal's Autohead utilizes the popular genre of mockumentary and digs its claws into multiple problems permeating urban India: caste, class, xenophobia, and the intersection of nihilism-existential crisis. Due to somber themes, it might not be an easy watch, but it takes you back to Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver, albeit the setting here is as Indian as it gets. It is available on YouTube.
Film follows auto driver's work and personal life
The "elite" documentary crew follows Narayan, a middle-aged auto driver. We're told he had come to Mumbai when he was 22 to make something out of his nondescript life. However, he is a deeply, dangerously frustrated man—one who resorts to soft porn to tantalize his soul, pimps out the woman he claims to love, and eventually resorts to murder(s) when his masculinity is threatened.
Evident sense of darkness defines 'Autohead'
Right from the get-go, there is a palpable sense of darkness that drips through Autohead. The opening scene is that of Narayan's auto slashing through the night, and these dark, grim, ill-lit shots set the mood of the film. Narayan's dingy room—which he shares with three men—is also a reminder of how even though the entire city is his workplace, his life remains claustrophobic.
Lead actor's performance is driving factor of 'Autohead'
Autohead would not be what it is without Deipak Sampat's pulsating performance as Narayan; he waltzes through the film like a tracer bullet. Not only does he ace the character's mannerisms, but it's also the way he speaks—particularly when he uses Hindi expletives, describes sexual intercourse in appalling details, and reflects the psyche of a man who has always seen himself as a "victim."
Class differences are give-and-take here
Autohead also exhibits several bugs that have bitten India. There's a clear demarcation between the class structure: Narayan speaks Hindi, but the documentary crew prefers English—it's a language reserved for the rich. Class structure also plays out in the way Narayan pleads helplessly in front of a customer who cheats him but does the same to a chaiwala—here, Narayan is in a higher position.
Who has moral compass anyway?
There is a subtle commentary on moral deprivation and people's moral compass (or the lack thereof), and one doesn't have to look too hard to dissect them. While the documentary crew seems professional initially, their corrupt motivations swim to the surface soon, and eventually, we realize that they aren't unlike the subject they are recording. Sophisticated on the outside, morally hollow on the inside.
In his head, Narayan thinks of himself as vigilante
Spoilers ahead. By the time Autohead reaches its conclusion, Narayan's paranoia and an innate urge to be somewhat of a vigilante completely take over, and he turns into a full-blown raving maniac. He confesses to seven murders without a tinge of remorse, and nihilism is so deeply spread over his psyche that he purposely ceases to distinguish between good, bad, and ugly.
Catch the film on YouTube
Narayan's character, in some ways, becomes redolent of Rodion Raskolnikov from Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, who also strongly believed that some crimes could be "justified" if they serve a "higher" purpose. Autohead isn't sans issues, but it largely has a rhythm to it that doesn't leave the side of the script. Watch it for Sampat's throbbing performance and for its representation of reality.
