Kishor Belekar’s Gandhi Talks is a dialogue-free film that sometimes shows signs of regret over its stylistic choice. Gandhi Talks has too much character information and plot exposition for a movie that viewers are supposed to follow despite the absence of spoken lines.
Made in 2023 and finally out in cinemas, the film, set in Mumbai, revolves around characters who are all affected by the rule of “Gandhi” – slang for rupee notes that bear the Mahatma’s benign visage. In Belekar’s script, the honesty exemplified by Gandhi has made way for rampant corruption.
Mahadev (Vijay Sethupathi) is jobless and penurious. The job that he has applied for at Mumbai’s municipal corporation will be his only after a bribe. If he doesn’t do something fast, his lover Gayatri (Aditi Rao Hydari) will have to marry someone else.
The builder Mohan (Arvind Swami) initially has a problem of plenty. But a spell of misfortune sends Mohan into a debt spiral. He drinks liquor like water and lurks in his soon-to-be-auctioned bungalow, plotting his next move.
Unaware of Mohan’s financial situation, Mahadev has the bright idea of robbing him. Also turning up at Mohan’s abode is the pickpocket (Siddharth Jadhav) – the more the merrier, perhaps?
Unlike the gold standard for dialogue-less Indian films – Singeetam Srinavasa Rao’s Pushpaka Vimana (1987) – the clumsily titled Gandhi Talks doesn’t always justify its gimmick.
A handful of amusing sight gags, accompanied by AR Rahman’s background score, compensate for verbal exchanges. Odd scenes here and there work – the strange coincidences that bring Mahadev into Mohan’s orbit; the running gag between Mohan and the pickpocket; the sadness of Mahadev’s chawl existence.
Gandhi Talks labours to express through visuals what actually needed to have been said through dialogue. The lack of speech slows the film down, stretching out situations. The attempted raid by Mahadev and the pickpocket on Mohan’s house never seems to end, making Mahadev’s ineptness at this kind of thing all the more glaring.
The creative decision to attempt something unconventional is always commendable, as is the push to make the actors try out new modes of performances. Kishor Belekar pushes his experiment until he can. However, Gandhi Talks isn’t crisp enough or filmed in an interesting way to be consistently engaging.
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