Lost
Introduction
The new releases are in full flow even before the start of the weekend. And we are flexing too! With that I finished watching the new Hindi film Lost which is streaming on Zee5. I feel Yami Gautam is one of the most talented actors in the current crop of Bollywood. For an insider to breach the walls and slowly and steadily make her way to the top, is a commendable effort. So I do have a bit of a soft spot for such actors and always end up rooting for them.
When it does come to Lost specifically, I was keenly awaiting its release primarily because the film was directed by Aniruddha Roy Choudhary, the director behind one of my favourite films of 2016, Pink. There has been a sense of grace to his filmography, even addressing some of the most relevant and poignant issues with finesse. And all of these factors did make me root for the film Lost. So then does Lost manage to impress or is it Lost in Translation, lets find out.
Story & Screenplay
Lost is an investigative thriller following the disappearance of a young man. What is the truth? The story here is well intended as it touches upon different factors related to love, betrayal and the politics of the people in power and the extremists. But the issue here is its muddled screenplay that tries to pack in a lot and in the process it just ends up a little ‘lost’.
First things first, I loved the fact that the drama was set in Kolkata, a city that has its old world charm intact. The city itself did add a wonderful texture to the drama through its grim frames in a drama that does flatter to deceive. The drama opens with an introduction of a host of characters that did promise an interesting setup. The dynamics and equations between the characters is interesting and had the drama been character centric throughout instead of trying to say a lot. The introduction of the conflict is again interesting and almost immersive yet the choppy editing doesn’t allow the audience to really settle into the drama.
The narrative here was similar to that of PS-1 in terms of multiple subplots and characters in play. And this can so easily backfire at any point of time when the events would start to go haywire and the drama losing direction. While the same wasn’t observed(for me) in PS-1, it did hold true here. The thriller never really allows you to ingest the proceedings, quickly moving from one subplot to another. This is not to say that you cannot keep up with things but because this is an investigative thriller, it needs to have a solid structure to keep you as a viewer invested, which is not the case here.
This is not to say that the drama is totally bad. It is quite layered and watchable and along the way, it does create some interesting dynamics between characters by also touching upon a few relevant social issues. Yet, there are multiple subplots that do not really come together, and are left hanging with a solid conclusion. The events leading up to the final act are timid and lack a solid punch at the end. The drama, after biting more than it could chew, ends up being quite abrupt and confused in its final act. The messaging was also lost in translation and quite muddled in what it was trying to say. If you do lead the audience with a message only to flip it in the subsequent scene then it will leave them confused. The lack of a solid conclusion was also a flaw here. So overall, the screenplay does have its moments but can only be termed as a lost opportunity!
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are wonderfully penned, quite poignant, Insightful and they capture the flavour of the city Kolkata quite well. The music is decent but the use of BGM is multiple scenes is faulty. The BGM at various junctures does interrupt the building tension in the scene. The cinematography is wonderful and it was refreshing to see the locations of Kolkata being captured beautifully. The editing here is choppy and almost plays out parallel leaves together as the drama switches frequently between scenes unfolding during the same period. What that does it that the viewers aren’t able to fully invest in the drama at any given point of time. Director Aniruddha Roy Choudhary does a decent job but if you were to compare some of his previous works with this then he does fall short. The direction has its moments but lacks in its consistency of building the drama upto a crescendo.
Performances
The performances do end up saving the day to an extent! Honey Jain as Namita has her moments to shine as does Neil Bhoopalam as Jeet. Tushar Pandey is a talented performer and he does shine as Ishan. Pia Bajpai as Ankita is wonderfully restrained and does a good job. Rahul Khanna was a very interesting choice for a conniving politician. And as Ranjan, he is really good. Pankaj Kapur, the veteran does understand the pitch of the drama here and he is outstanding. Some of his scenes with Yami are just so soothing. And it is Yami Gautam Dhar who yet again is incredibly good as Vidhi. In fact, she does steady the ship even when things begin to crumble around her. It was her performance that made me want to know on what further lies ahead in a drama which was wobbly. I am the happiest for her for shouldering a film which wasn’t the best!
Conclusion
Lost is a layered yet muddled drama steadied by some outstanding performances. Watch it if you must! Available on Zee5.