BOTTOM LINE: A Boring And Inflated Narrative Drowns Few Good Parts
Rating: 1.5/5
| Platform: Netflix | Genre: Romance |
Skin And Swear: A Few Swear Words
What Is the Story About?
What are odds of a rebellious teen girl Vivek and studious and sincere head boy of the school Ashwin skip the school on an examination day and do all crazy stuff? It is one in a million and that’s the plot of the movie.
Performances?
Yashawini Dayama and Karanvir Malhotra suit their roles well. They do look like an oddball pair which works well with the overall theme of oddities revealed in a single day. Among the two, Dayama easily has the more exciting part performance-wise. There is a much better scope. However, the character just feels irritating from the start to the end barring small parts. The combination scenes Dayama has with a senior actor Abhay Deol are those better bits. The odd aspect brings focus to the narrative and thereby the acting rather than take us out of it as it happens previously.
On the other hand, Karanvir does well in limited scope he has and stands out well in the end.
Analysis
Megha Ramaswamy directs What Are The Odds. It is an extremely difficult subject to execute. More so when it is actually planned as a web series and then left alone as a film. The result can be seen in the movie which provides an uneasy mix. The opening of the movie is fine explaining the basic plot in a simple manner through a voiceover. If not for that the experience of what’s going to happen next would have been much more terrible than what it actually is.
Things start to get off track pretty soon when the dancing and aged people show up. It seems so out of place. But with a title like ‘What Are The Odds’ maybe that was the intention. The entire movie is filled with such oddities that leave one scratching head.
Add the extremely tiring slow pace and the boring high headed, pretentious and factual talk the two have, there seems nothing to like.
Luckily, What Are The Odds is not entirely that messy. There are sequences like the one involving the fish, or the whole Abhay Deol track, there is some sense of satisfaction with the proceedings. The climax where the good and decent buy burst out initially is well done and is instantly identifiable. However, the end again seems to lack clarity narrative-wise.
What we have here is random darts thrown at the dartboard. Only a few manage to hit the circular frame while none hit the bullseye.
The uneven narrative and whimsical quality further bring down the chance of its liking. The attempt can be appreciated but things fizzle out pretty soon.
Overall, What Are The Odds have few parts that work, but as a whole, it fails to leave a positive impact. It remains dull, boring and showy.
Other Artists?
Apart from the lead pair, only Abhay Deol has something to do. He is fine in his usual laidback casual style. There is nothing more to it. The rest of the actors have forgettable roles. Music and Other Departments?
Sagar provides the music and background score. They are decent as standalone musical pieces, but they drag the already snail-paced narrative with its presence. The cinematography is neat and helps in generating a unique feel. The editing could have been crispier. There is a lot that clogs the progress. But, then again cutting down all that would mean nothing much would be left. The writing is full of showy and high sounding stuff. It adds to the irritation a lot of times.
Highlights?
Short Run Time
Few Engaging Moments
Ending
Drawbacks?
Meandering and Muddled Narrative
Screenplay
No Emotional Connect
Songs
Did I Enjoy It?
No
Will You Recommend It?
No
Review by Siddartha Toleti
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