Gandu (film)

Plot

The movie is set on the life of an unnamed protagonist Saneesh (Anubrata Basu) who is called Gandu by most who address him in the movie (an Indian slang/swear word that would literally translate to 'of the ass', the English translation running in the subtitle translates it to the English 'Asshole'). Gandu is portrayed as a frustrated teenager whose state of mind is shown by intercuts of him rapping in Bengali (it is later revealed in the movie that the protagonist is a member of a rap band). Gandu's mother(Kamalika Banerjee) seemingly supports the family through the magnanimity of her 'lover' Dasbabu (an unvoiced character who appears frequently) Gandu's mother and Dasbabu (Silajit Majumder) are shown having graphic sex a number of times. Gandu himself is shown repeatedly sneaking into the room of the copulating couple to steal money from Dasbabu's wallet. Gandu seemingly has complex emotions regarding this stealing and takes care to hide from his mother .

Gandu is also apparently quite lonely. His choice of hairstyle (shaved nearly bald) and general proclivity to drugs and rap makes him an object of ridicule in front of most of his peers, who mock him as 'an Egglike Gandu'. His loneliness is dispelled when he literally bumps into Ricksha (Joyraj Bhattacharjee), a cycle rickshaw driver, who slaps Gandu and then scares him off by a bizarre show of Kung Fu (it is later revealed that Ricksha literally worships Bruce Lee and models himself on his idol) That night Gandu has a dream of himself and Ricksha in a near naked embrace (this has led to the common perception that Gandu and Ricksha share a homosexual relationship but the movie itself never shows this explicitly and it maybe a more symbolic element)

On one of his stealing missions, Gandu's mother sees him and hides him from Dasbabu and seemingly laughs in complicity. This causes Gandu great anguish and he curses in frustration. His mother comes naked and then knocks on his door. He is late in responding and she slaps him angrily and walks away.

Gandu urges Rickshaw to 'take him away' Ricksha and Gandu then go off to consume Dhatura seeds which causes them both to go on a strange and extremely intense trip. When they come to their senses they find they have no money. In a meta narrativistic scene the director Q himself drives into the scene and Gandu is told by Ricksha how Gandu is a character in a movie being shot by Q. Gandu cannot quite comprehend this.

Gandu comes back to Kolkata to find that he has won the Bhutan State lottery of fifty thousand rupees; then he gives his mother some of the money and goes on a crack binge with Ricksha. Ricksha then admonishes him for never having actually sleeping with a woman despite incessantly rapping about vagina and sex. Gandu then has a surrealistic and very explicit sex scene (the only colour part in the movie and the reason being this is the only colorful/worthwhile moment in his life) with an unnamed hooker (Rii Sen), who constantly meows (symbolizing a 'pussy' i.e. female's genital in slang term) and at the end of coitus she whispers 'demo' to him. Gandu and the hooker have very erotic sex, which has been very boldly shown. Gandu goes back to Ricksha telling him how he will now record a demo of his rap and show it to ADF (Asian Dub Foundation) The movie closes with Gandu finally becoming successful.

The film is shot mostly in black and white stressing on the bleak existence of the protagonist. At the end of the movie, the film shifts to the color mode (the reason being his life shifts from the dull black and white phase to an adventurous colorful happy life).

Gandu also ponders on the meaning of life and what we must do with it.

Cast

Production

Gandu was shot in Kolkata on a limited budget with only eight crew members. It was filmed in black and white with one scene in color and had no official script. Q. used a high-definition Canon EOS 7D Single-lens reflex camera to shoot the film. In order to prepare the cast for their nude scenes, Q. required them to undergo several workshops in which they used boal techniques. Rituparna, who plays several different roles in the film, is Q.'s real life girlfriend.

Title track

The film's soundtrack has garnered rave reviews as well, composed by the Calcutta-based alternative rock band Five Little Indians and mixed by London-based producer Miti Adhikari.

Awards