Film: Titli
Director: Kanu Behl
Cast: Ranvir Shorey, Amit Sial, Shashank Arora, Shivani Raghuvanshi
Excerpts from reviews of Titli:
The performances are excellent: from Raghuvanshi who channels hurt and bewilderment and stoicism in the face of an overwhelming situation, to Lalit Behl, who bids fair to be the creepiest, most parasitic Hindi cinema father, to the middle brother Sial who tries to keep the peace. Newcomer Shashank Arora lives and breathes Titli, the young fellow looking desperately for a way out. And Ranvir Shorey, as the oldest sibling whose violence is the most corrosive, yet the most heart-breaking, is outstanding. You watch, with mounting horror, your heart in your mouth. You watch, because you cannot look away. You end up feeling for Titli. You want him to break free, and fly away. He shines, and despite its darkness, so does the film. It is harrowing but imperative viewing.
Shubhra Gupta (Indianexpress.com)
By locating its twisted dynamics in a working-class living room, it might appear that Titli is taking the easy way out. This is how the other half lives, the movie seems to be saying at some points, and one can expect little else from such a coarse, profanity-spewing bunch.
Stripped of its class dimensions, however, the movie has a raw power and imagination. Behl and Katariya wash off the gloss, dishonesty and sentimentality that have clung to depictions of the Indian family and reveal a face that is ugly but also commonplace. Above all else, Titli is a horror movie.
Nandini Ramnath (Scroll.in)
Titli has the energy and daring of a first film, and a couple of the blind spots of one. Some of the plot turns seem more motivated by screenwriter cleverness than by strict character logic.
Unrelentingly grim, morally unmoored, Titli festers like a sore on your consciousness. Misleadingly funky second trailer notwithstanding, it’s unlikely to be anyone’s idea of fun. Yet, from time to time, it’s important that a film like this get under our skin and remind us why we value catharsis so much.
Uday Bhatia (Livemint.com)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)