Ugly
Arguably one of Anurag Kashyap’s best films, Ugly takes a dark, twisted and relentlessly unsparing look at the follies of humankind. Set in the chaos of Mumbai, Ugly revolves around a group of men after a little girl is kidnapped. One afternoon, 10-year-old Kali, played by Anshikaa Shrivastava, goes missing from her father Rahul’s vehicle. A distraught Rahul rushes to the police to file a complaint but is blithely disregarded. Things begin to soon barrel out of control when we learn that Kali is also the stepdaughter of police chief Shoumik Bose, essayed by Ronit Roy, who’s bent on misusing his power to challenge Rahul. The film becomes increasingly dark and unsettling with every passing minute when the audience realises that none of the parties is particularly bothered about finding Kali. In fact, the film isn’t even about the kidnapping or uncovering the identity of the kidnapper. By the end, one is left wondering whether they would even want Kali to be found because the world she inhabits isn’t far removed from the one that she has been imprisoned in. While Ugly unfolds like a whodunnit, it is actually a whydunnit, or more accurately, no-wonder-they-dunnit. Ugly is not hopeful by any stretch of the imagination. But it is so gripping that it might make you incessantly grit your teeth or bite your fingernails. If you haven't watched this flick yet, you can catch it on Disney + Hotstar, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Mubi, Zee5 and YoutubeWell, that's about the lesser-known film Ugly on Lost and Found, this is Nikhil signing off, for now, I shall be back with another brand new podcast soon.
