Island City
Films about cities tend to take a deep dive into the cultural and political fabric that drives its residents. But today’s Lost and Found, which is Ruchika Oberoi’s Island City, takes a satirical stab at the isolated, marginalized yet hopeful lives that many lead in India’s Maximum City. This one packs three connected stories that allude to the fears, regrets, dreams and joys that make Mumbaikars from various walks tick. The first, starring Vinay Pathak, features a single-minded executive with a corporate firm being assigned a day off and handed ‘fun coupons’ to unwind. This regimented exercise to help employees break free is triggered by a study that pins the company’s slipping productivity on overworked staffers. The second and most compelling story of the three features a saas-bahu pair who find the time and opportunity to indulge in all that they desire when their mutual link slips into a coma. Headlined by the remarkable Amruta Subhash and the instinctive Uttara Baokar, this onscreen saas-bahu jodi tethers on dangerously dark humour, a rarity among over-the-top Hindi comedies. The third one’s a love story featuring Tannishtha Chatterjee, a daily wager whose life takes a turn when she receives an anonymous love letter. Ecstatic at the prospect of the unknown, her character romanticizes an idyllic life with this andekha anjaana, even while she’s engaged to be hitched soon. Bagging the Fedora Award at the Venice Film Festival in 2015, Island City is a dark and delightful triptych-of-sorts that’s synonymous with Mumbai. After all, it’s a city that doesn’t curb your dreams, allows you to choose your preferred path, pulls you up and sends you reeling and yet, keeps you hopeful for a tomorrow that will make it all worth your while. You can watch Island City on Disney+Hotstar, Airtel Xstream and EpicOn Well, that's the Lost and Found film for today's podcast, I shall be back again soon with a new episode. Until then it's your host Nikhil signing out.
