'Titli' review: Gritty, engrossing and top-notch

Genre: Drama

Rating: *** 1/2

Cast: Ranvir Shorey, Shashank Arora, Shivani Raghuvanshi

Director: Kanu Behl

Language: Hindi

If you are looking for a breezy weekend watch, you should avoid Titli. However, if you want to watch an impressive drama, with characters that stay with you long after leaving the theatre, Behl's remarkable debut is your destination.

Titli is not a comfortable movie to sit through. It is the unflinching portrayal of a financially-strapped family from East Delhi — with a former thug and currently out-of-work dad and his three, sometimes unstable, grown-up sons. Vikram (Shorey) is the about to be divorced, violent, oldest son. Bawla (Amit Sial) is the peace-maker middle son and Titli (Arora) is the youngest, who seems disconnected and even a little disparaging of his harsh surroundings. This attitude is heightened as the film progresses.



This is a family steeped in crime — the characters supplement their day jobs with carjacking. Yet it is also one that values familial bonds, portrayed to perfection by Shorey in the scene where Vikram is heartbroken when confronted with Titli's attempt of getting away from them or in the loving way these ill-adjusted men treat Titli's new bride, played beautifully by Raghuvanshi.

Behl doesn't romanticise this family's routine or their lives. For example, Titli is seen having his joyless breakfast right next to his father who is hacking and coughing in a way that makes you recoil.

The movie is about Titli and his decisions — does he break free or does he join his brothers in a bleak life mired in violence and crime? Behl doesn't compromise while addressing these issues and the talented cast doesn't hold back in their portrayal, making the film gritty, engrossing and undeniably top-notch.

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