Being Cyrus is breathtaking... Review on Being Cyrus

The first question that comes to mind on way to watching 'Being Cyrus' is - Will the movie turn out to be a dark dramatic psychological tale as the promos suggest? Or would it be a mere damp squib with debutant director Homi Adajania trying to walk into a territory not explored by many?

The answer to the first part of the question is in affirmative. Yes, the movie does engage you with its unconventional plot and though it may not be someone's idea of an ideal Saturday evening date, it would appeal to those craving for different subjects to come out of Bollywood. It is a movie that follows an altogether different dimension when it comes to narration and this is where its strength lies.

The story of the film revolves around a seemingly dysfunctional Sethna family, led by by an eccentric sculptor Dinshaw Sethna (Naseeruddin Shah) and his neurotic, adulterous wife Katy Sethna( Dimple Kapadia) who reside in the quaint and picturesque hill station of Panchgani. The scene keeps swinging between Panchgani and Mumbai where the other half of the family - father Fardonjeee Sethna (Honey Chhaya) along with brother Farokh (Boman Irani) and his wife Tina (Simone Singh) live in an old dilapidated building, reminiscent of the city’s characteristic Parsi edifices.

Enter Cyrus, as Dinshaw’s sculpting apprentice who joins him and Katy in their home where gradually all the cracks within this ‘happy’ family begin to open up. Gradually, the layers of complex and opposite interests within the family begin to unravel with Cyrus getting involved with Katy. Greed and adultery take over and malice is on the cards. But Cyrus is not without his own issues. In fact, as the film progresses Cyrus emerges as the character with the most shades.

Movies like Being Cyrus fall like a pack of cards if there are two factors going against it - a convincing screenplay and strong performances. Thankfully that doesn't happen in Being Cyrus with both the screenplay and performances deserving full marks for sheer conviction. Each of the three principal actors have gone all out in coming up with realistic performances with Saif being a scene stealer.

A story that deserved to be told, it has a dark setting that is given a perfect mood due to Parsi setting. Dialogues are of the kind that one needs to listen carefully throughout without a break.

Editing is fine though the first half could have moved at a more brisk pace. photography goes well with the genre of the movie without turning dull at all due to the setting of the movie being Parsi. While the first half is spent in building the base for the movie, the second half turns out to be immensely dramatic . This is where the commercial angle in the movie comes into play with reality and fiction fusing wonderfully well to make the viewer continue to anticipate about what may happen next!

With zero frills in the movie and wide commercial success being a distant dream, Homi Adajania still spins a tale never seen before in Hindi cinema. It has to be credited to the emergence of multiplexes in India that give such movies a fair chance to be seen by people, even if their number may not be staggering.

'Being Cyrus' belongs to that genre of cinema that gives a lot to learn for the students of film making.A great effort by Homi Adajania .