The Shameless
Introduction
In an early scene from The Shameless, the camera steadies itself in a room wherein you spot a naked dead body before shifting its POV to its protagonist Renuka (a brilliant Anasuya Sengupta). There is palpable tension in the room given that Renuka has just murdered a man in the brothel for reasons best known to her, before scooting off as a fugitive, almost like escaping from the shackles of the society, literally and metaphorically. Instantly you get to know that Renuka is this fierce young lady who is refusing to budge under the weight of the society, or rather how society wishes to treat her. Her conversations are crude, her actions are unapologetic even as she relocates to a place on a temporary basis before wishing to collect enough money to leave the country for good. But it isn’t exactly smooth sailing for the protagonist and the drama, both who seem to be compromised with the confused writing which is in store for the viewers.
Story & Screenplay
It is difficult to determine the actual core of The Shameless because the writing never stays focused beyond the first act. To be fair, things are interesting early on when Renuka befriends a young 17 year old girl Devika (notice the reference to the Indian Goddess), a character who has grown up in a brothel even as her mother has already pushed Devika’s elder sister in the realms of the big bad world, even while Devika has to wait for her turn, reluctantly and almost oblivious to her. Renuka for that matter, sees a lot of herself in Devika, something that is immensely relatable and heartfelt. For Renuka, Devika is her soulmate whom she believes shouldn’t tread on the same path as her, for which she is ultra-protective for her. And the two develop an unlikely friendship that soon blossoms into a tender romance, something that ought to have been the core of the film for me.
One of the reasons why the drama feels scattered after the first act is because it wishes to say a lot of things at the same time. There are multiple sub-plots – one involving the escape of Renuka and Devika which hits multiple road blocks due to folks around them. There is an entire pregnancy subplot that doesn’t have any rewards with respect to the overall scheme of things, given how fast it is resolved. There is also a subplot about a local politician that wrecks havoc, almost resorting to communal politics that is barely hinted on, even as the writing transgresses over the lives of characters in a brothel, with the focus largely being on Devika and Renuka. Clearly, all these were relevant issues and the writers could have touched upon any of the subplots to dig deeper in the narrative, but that wasn’t the case here.
The result of this scattered narration is that you don’t quite emotionally connect with any of the characters, particularly Devika and Renuka that are literally pitted against the society that refuses to provide them any redemption. And even as the crab mentality sets in, some plot points are almost like a blink and a miss, which means the setup is there but they are either resolved immediately or completely discarded in quick succession. The plot had the potential to dish up something really special, and it does provide some tense moments during a handful of confrontational scenes but nothing much in between them. Even the final act that was designed to be a Shakespearean tragedy, never did land as it ought to have, coming across as an abrupt and half-baked attempt to close the narrative. I totally understand the sadness that you needed to feel at the end of it, but the uneven screenplay wasn’t quite rewarding by the end of it.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are crude but also tender at a few places, and quite well written while perfectly fitting in the world that the drama was set in. The music and the BGM blend well with the drama too, while desperately trying to enhance the impact of a few scenes. The cinematography comprises of frames that are searing while perfectly capturing the mood of the drama really well. The editing though was patchy, further fragmenting the already scattered screenplay that lacked coherence at crucial junctures in the drama. Director Konstantin Bojanov does a decent job and while all the issues that he did choose to narrate through the drama were relevant, I did get an impression that he may not be fully aware of the politics of the land which in turn allowed him only to scratch the surface with each issue. This was something that I noticed with Monkey Man too, wherein the entire bunch of issues (which are relevant) was only unfolding through your perceptions of it, which only restricted them to the surface level. But the direction does show flair at a few instances that does contribute to the ambience of the drama (like the entire first act that was really well done).
Performances
The performances of the film are excellent, and that one factor that allows the drama to be watchable through and through. It won’t be wrong to say that the performances ‘almost’ save the day here. Kiran Bhivagade as Mitali has a pretty solid screen presence, and she has her moments to shine. Talented performers and veterans like Mita Vashisht and Tanmay Dhanania are brilliant, and their wonderfully understated performances do leave a lasting impression. Rohit Kokate as Dinesh is menacing and intimidating, and I really wish he was given a little more screen time to perform. Auroshikha Dey is such an incredible performer and as Durwa, she is assertive and authoritative while being staggering with her incredibly towering performance. Omara Shetty as Devika is nicely subdued and understated with her performance while deftly touching upon the tender emotions of her character. Anasuya Sengupta (Cannes Award Winner and deservedly so) as Renuka delivers a fiercely moving performance. There were so many moments of angst and a variety of emotions at her disposal, and she puts up a towering performance that touches upon her vulnerabilities even when the writing wasn’t intending to fully explore it. This is one performance that has stayed with me, a masterclass of sorts that made even a routine but confused script work to an extent (well almost).
Conclusion
As a part of our MAMI coverage, The Shameless boasts of excellent collective performances that overpower and ‘almost’ rescue a routine but a scattered film. If anything, watch this film for the immaculate performances!