By Murtaza Ali Khan
Featured in IMDb Critic Reviews
Co-written and directed by
the National Award-winning filmmaker Kranti Kanade, CRD presents the story of a young playwright who rebels against his
fascist mentor in a bid to win a prestigious theatre competition. Kanade draws
his inspiration from the renowned Purushottam
Karandak Inter-collegiate Theatre competition in Pune that over the last several
decades has given us playwrights like Satish Alekar and Vijay Tendulkar. The competition
is seen as a launch pad for not just young writers but also actors and music
composers. Kanade, who directed the legendary American actor Harvey Keitel in
his previous directorial outing Gandhi of
the Month, has been known to make socially relevant films featuring strong
protagonists committed to fight against autocracy and injustice instead of
meekly accepting the status quo. In CRD,
he explores fascism and cut-throat competition in the field of art while commenting on the general state of affairs of the world we inhabit.
Walking a tightrope between melodrama
and heightened realism, CRD endeavors
to develop a unique language that comes across as a cross between cinema and
theatre. This hybrid language ensures that those who love cinema don't find it
too theatrical and that the theatre lovers don’t feel alienated as well. In the
recent times we have been witnessing some interesting experiments on the web
with CinePlay commissioning the retelling of
old classics like Badal Sarkar’s Pagla
Ghoda and Mohan Rakesh’s Aadhe
Adhure but as far as Hindi cinema is concerned CRD certainly comes across as a breath of fresh air. In fact, such bold
experiments in terms of narrative have been unheard of in Hindi cinema since
the master Indian filmmaker Mani Kaul made films like Ashadh Ka Ek Din and Satah Se
Uthata Admi.
CRD opened to unanimous critical acclaim in the US, receiving rave reviews from Los Angeles Times, Hollywood Reporter, LA Weekly, among others. Egged on by the positive response that the movie has received all around, Kranti Kanade has made an announcement that all those who are left disappointed by the film will be refunded their ticket price as well as the fuel cost. In the words of Kanade himself: “It's often that viewers are disappointed with a film and that discourages them from visiting cinemas again soon, resulting in overall decline. In every other aspect of life, we have the right to return and reclaim our fund. Why not apply that logic here as well? It's a baby step, but a revolutionary one, and we hope it will soon be the future norm.”
Overall, CRD comes across as
a bold albeit clever potpourri of ideas that unfolds like a delectable orgy of excesses. With
influences ranging from István Szabó's Mephisto
to Taviani Brothers' Caesar Must Die,
the film pays countless tributes to several stalwarts of cinema including the
likes of Bergman, Godard, Kurosawa, Ghatak, and Antonioni, among others. An
interesting way to look at the film would be as a treatise on narcissism,
fear, obsession, insecurity and hubris. CRD serves as a testament to the
duplicitous nature of art. As Pablo Picasso had so eloquently stated, “Art is a
lie that tells the truth.” In defense, Orson Welles had said in F for Fake, “I must believe that art
itself is real.” Interestingly, Welles’ early fame was based on a lie. While on
a painting trip through Ireland, he visited the Gate Theatre in Dublin and
claimed that he was a Broadway star. The convenient lie got him his first
break. And the rest is history. While the characters in CRD do toy around with
lies most of the times, they ultimately succeed in discovering their innermost
truths, which is probably what Picasso’s aforesaid quotation was trying to
suggest. CRD lacks consistency and suffers from some structural and narrative
flaws but that’s quite acceptable of a film that constantly dares to experiment
with form.
Rating: 7.5/10
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