{"id":28465,"date":"2010-11-20T05:44:34","date_gmt":"2010-11-20T05:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.tehelka.com\/?p=28465"},"modified":"2010-11-20T05:44:34","modified_gmt":"2010-11-20T05:44:34","slug":"let-the-plot-thicken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/let-the-plot-thicken\/","title":{"rendered":"Let the plot thicken"},"content":{"rendered":"

A film on reality television might shake you out of your couch, says<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>Aastha Atray Banan<\/em><\/strong>
\n

\"Kingmaker<\/a>
Kingmaker Shorey in a still from Tejpal\u2019s (left) Kaam Ka Plot<\/em>
Photo: Shailendra Pandey<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nIT\u2019S RARE WHEN A HINDI MOVIE<\/strong>\u00a0lets its hero win his battle against exploitation just by the pure force of his street sharp ways. It\u2019s even rarer when the hero is a middle-class, jobless Mumbaikar. Maybe that\u2019s why film critic and first-time director Mintty Tejpal\u2019s\u00a0Kaam Ka Plot<\/em>\u00a0is disturbing at first, but endearing as it ends. Not only because it attacks the reality TV phenomenon; it also gives the middleclass Indian an identity. \u201cIt is a comment on reality TV. I know what goes into this business. We are becoming voyeuristic as a society and that bothers me. But the focus is on the middle-class Indian who has disappeared from our movies,\u201d says Mintty.
\nThe film revolves around Dashrath Srivastava (Ranvir Shorey), a gullible do-gooder who is tricked into the dirty world of reality TV but manages to become a smart businessman. \u201cDespite the resources with which the film was made \u2014 it cost Rs. 60 lakh, was written in a week and shot in 16 days \u2014 it has tremendous merit. The fact that Mintty has managed to create ripples in an industry that works through coteries is commendable,\u201d says Shorey, who co-starred with Sandhya Mridul and Vinay Pathak.
\nThough it was commissioned by Zoom as a made-for-television film and premiered last week, Mintty is hopeful that\u00a0Kaam Ka Plot<\/em>\u00a0will attract distributors. However, that hasn\u2019t stopped the accolades from flowing in. While filmmaker Sudhir Mishra calls it \u201cquirky, full of surprises, often very funny and has a deep connection with reality\u201d, film critic Rajeev Masand feels it\u2019s the film\u2019s unpredictability that sets it apart from the usual fare. \u201cThe premise was familiar and I kept waiting for the usual, but it never came.
\nThe end was absolutely surprising. It stuns because it\u2019s uncompromised.\u201d
\naastha@tehelka.com<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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