Flavors

3:28 PM


After what seemed like a wait for an eternity, I have finally watched Raj and DK's first venture in movies, "Flavors". Thanks to the uploader on Youtube. You may watch it here.


I first came across this movie during my one and only visit to Sirish Aditya's  place. This was much before Raj and DK have made any name for themselves in the mainstream Hindi cinema.I have watched the first few scenes and was completely taken in by its quirkiness and wisecracking. Ever since then I occassionally tried to get hold of the film and watch it completely it but with little luck. I am glad that I could watch it only now, after my tryst with corporate life for couple of years. I seem to appreciate it far better than I would probably have, if I had watched it a few years ago. No the movie is nothing different from an independent movie that is made on a shoe string budget. If anything can be said, it is more like a slew of short films that appear to get released on Youtube every other day. But considering the  fact that this was made about a decade ago with much lesser technology at ones disposal than it is today, the movie deserves an appreciation.


The structure of the film looked predominantly different from the conventional cinema that was being made at that point. Despite the lack of  a strong plot what works in the favor of the movie is the fact that it never tries to get smarter than it is meant to be. It accepts all its frivolities with open arms and moves ahead with a sense of self indulgence. The humor is sharp and witty. The satirical undertones and mocking of software industry could be felt especially when one of the characters, who is a PhD holder in Chemsitry says all they do is write a code in English and still get paid more than me.I wouldn't want to spoil it for you but there a quite a few scenes one would enjoy. The over the phone interview episode, the excruciatingly long surnames episode, the part where a guy ticks off a checklist in trying to impress his fiancee over the phone, oh the list goes on. It also tries to tell a thing or two about how love and affection transcends all cultural barriers even if only with a deft subtlety.
The movie is far from perfect but there are more than a handful of moments where you would enjoy the humor and a few occassions where you wouldn't hesitate to laugh out loud for the comedy. It induced strong doses of nostalgia and made me think of the life in 90s. Though I haven't entirely experienced the boom in IT  and the craze for a job in US  first hand, I was close enough to understand  all of it and have a good laugh or two about the whole setup. It tells about the times we were part of, of the times that passed by and helps us revisit those moments, remember certain idiocies and there is certainly no harm in feeling amused at the end of it. I wonder how much life has changed in the last decade!!!


Trivia : One of the leading ladies in the movie, Pooja Kumar happens to be one of the heroines in Kamal Hasan's last outing "Vishwaroopam". I totally didn't recognize her, but internet tells all sort of weird stuff. (Oh yeah I found her pretty and googled for further info ;) )

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