POPCORN REVIEWSS

Written by Vicky Poornima, Ankit Sakhia and Krushansh Vaja, one of the earlier themes explored in Laalo: Krishna Sada Sahaayate is that of greed. You see materialistic wants that binds a few of the characters. Laalo wants money to repay his loan, his wife Tulsi (Reeva Rachh) wants money for a better lifestyle for her and her daughter, and somewhere in the news, there is a bulletin about idols that have been stolen. In fact, it is Laalo who follows his passenger to a near-by farmhouse, simply because he overhears the latter talking about a huge sum of money. It is a simple plan of sneaking in the house, grabbing money and leaving. This, except that fate has other plans for Laalo who finds himself trapped in the house that he cannot escape due to an electric current line spread on its exteriors.

In many ways, the first hour of the film reminded me of Rajkummar Rao’s Trapped (2016), a searing tale of an individual trapped in an apartment. Here, the setting remains that of a farmhouse that is witness to negligible vehicular traffic for Laalo to expect any help from, while having to survive only on shreds of ice and a bit of sugar in the vicinity of the suitcase of money that he had been chasing. You see his struggles in keeping up with his hunger pangs while having to call out for help in large empty spaces. It must be noted on how greed has gotten Laalo this far, in a conflict that now remains increasingly difficult.

One of the few criticisms that I had with the writing was with respect to the structure of the narrative. At a point, the writing abandons the current situation of the characters only to cutaway into the past, that defines the origin story of Laalo and his soon-to-be-wife Tulsi. And I have chosen to call this a criticism despite parts of the flashback actually working and adding depth to the narrative simply because it takes you away from the immediate struggles of both the characters – Laalo being trapped in a confined farmhouse, and Tulsi having to search for him while living in a sense of guilt given the former’s disappearance after a fight that they had. But the parts where the flashback works is in understanding the characters better – Tulsi and Laalo had married against the will of their parents, only for the parents to continue to stay aloof when Laalo goes missing.

Also the origin story of Laalo is fascinating – from being a simpleton who loves his family a lot to submitting to alcoholism after his daughter meets with an accident. The subtext lies in the fact that Laalo is an emotionally weak individual, good at heart but doesn’t have faith in the almighty to get him out of the trouble. And his means of escapism further compounds his existing troubles as well. In a scene, you see Laalo talking to an idol of Shri Krishna in the house he is trapped in, getting emotional but holding onto his emotions to convey his plea of help, despite not quite believing in it himself. Yet oblivious to him, when miracles happen – they also transform you as a person.

The second hour reminded me of the Hindi film OMG – Oh My God (2012) (this can be a script idea for OMG 3 Too), particularly during the phase when Kanjilalji Mehta meets Shri Krishna. The latter circles into the narrative here as Laalo, the passenger at the start of the narrative. The drama transcends into a meta-physical world for its characters – preventing Tulsi from committing suicide, and giving a lot of hope for Laalo. In a moving scene, you witness the presence of a sudden bout of rainfall that helps Laalo quench his thirst. When Laalo is fed in its meta-physical form to keep him going, leading into a transformative journey of realisation. In a scene, you see Shri Krishna calming Laalo down and reminiscing about times when he believed in devotion, almost reflecting on the man that he is currently.

There is something divine and pure about the narrative in the second hour that is mounted on the teachings of Lord Shri Krishna. In a scene, you see him reminding Laalo on how he will always be there to show the way, but the real struggle remains of Laalo – even as the latter is prompted on finding his way out of the trapped enclosure. Elsewhere, the issues and dynamics of Tulsi are overcome one-by-one, even as the writing works beautifully in isolation with every event centered about the teachings of Lord Krishna. It is enlightening and reflective in the same breath even for viewers who witness the struggles of Laalo, at times with instances that can be equated with their own lives. And when the lines blur, the impact of the drama heightens leading to a moving final act that is philosophical and devotional in many ways. Simply put – the screenplay remains a fulfilling experience here that you won’t be able to shrug off, long after the film has ended.