Gandhi Talks
Comedy Hindi
A silent black comedy, about the monetary needs of a character & how it impacts the others. A young, unemployed graduate Mahadev’s struggle to land a job through any means possible and crosses paths with a businessman and petty thief. A subject wherein silence speaks much louder than words. Although a work of fiction by the writer, all the characters in the film are sketched out to seem very real and relatable ensuring an enriching journey as well a laugh riot as the cat and mouse guffaws amongst them unfold. Gandhi Talks aims at telling a story by switching off the device of dialogue, which is not only scary but also interesting and challenging.
| Cast: | Vijay Sethupathi, Arvind Swamy, Aditi Rao Hydari, Divay Dhamija, Siddharth Jadhav, |
|---|---|
| Director: | Kishor Pandurang 'Belekar' |
| Writer: | Kishor Pandurang 'Belekar' |
| Editor: | Ashish Mhatre |
| Camera: | Karan B Rawat |
All Guild Reviews of Gandhi Talks
Vijay Sethupathi’s film is silent in form, talkie in soul
Premiered at the International Film Festival of India in 2023, the silent movie ends up saying very little
In many ways, Gandhi Talks feels like a spiritual remake of Kamal Haasan’s Pushpaka Vimana (1987), also released in Tamil as Pesum Padam — a silent film about a struggling, unemployed man who takes a shortcut to wealth and high life before returning to honesty and struggle.
Vijay Sethupathi can’t save this ambitious silent film
The better bits are in the first half; post-interval, all is a confused slump, weighed down by an inordinately long passage with the rich guy, poor fellow and the grinning thief skulking about without any discernible purpose.
I went into this film for a couple of reasons. One to see how inventive this silent film was, and the other because I can happily watch Vijay Sethupathi reading a directory. Here’s how it unfolds. Sethupathi plays a Poor Man Living With Usha Nadkarni’s Always Coughing Mother In A Chawl. He is in love with Aditi Rao Hydari’s Beautiful Damsel, who lives Ghar Ke Saamne. Arvind Swamy is a Rich Man Living In A Mansion.
A tender portrait of humanity in a chaotic world
Crafting a silent film is one thing; making it consistently engaging is another, and Gandhi Talks succeeds on both counts.
A tragicomedy steeped in survival and inner turmoil, this silent film follows Mahadev (Vijay Sethupathi), a Mumbai chawl dweller striving for a better life for himself and his ailing mother in a cluttered metropolis that, despite its chaos, has a big heart. Elsewhere in the city, celebrated builder Boseman (Arvind Swamy) finds himself grappling with personal and professional setbacks that push him to the brink. Both men are victims of corruption and circumstance. When their paths cross, they are unaware that pain neither absolves privilege nor spares poverty.
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