Mumbai has often been a muse for various filmmakers since the inception of cinema. "The city of dreams", as they call it, is not just a city, as they say, it is also the spirit that never dies. Starring Tanishta Chatterjee, Ashwin Mushran, Vinay Pathak, Amruta Subhash, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Sameer Kochhar and others, Ruchika Oberoi's " Island City" provides an insight into the estranged lives of people in the city of dreams.
Ruchika has dared to explore this dark side of Mumbai by knitting three different tales in her movie. Let's take a closer look.
The first story is about a man who is stuck in his hectic work life. Unable to maintain a work-life balance, he thinks that fun can be a punishment!
While her own husband is on a life support in a hospital, making her life "dull", she is seen making peace with the characters of the TV serials, who, for her are the perfect examples of real life heroes.
The third story is an unrequited love story of an eloquent lover who is shown wooing a woman who herself is struggling to make her living.
The three stories have very little elements in common except this feeling of being trapped in their own emotions. Every character wants to transgress the deep rooted societal burdens to embrace freedom but they feel chained.
Does it really portray the unbiased feeling of everyone in the metropolis? We ourselves are to answer! The film releases today. Don't forget to book your tickets!
The film was premiered last year at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival and won the FEDEORA (Federation of Critics of Europe and Mediterranean) award for Best Director Of a Debut Film.
However, the film leaves us with a much bigger thought other than awesome direction and great acting by the cast and that is the death of the human feeling in the big cities of today. Even though, the backdrop is Mumbai, the story is there in every metropolitan around us.
Where are we headed to and where shall we reach, we need to ask ourselves.
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