Love Sonia review: Tabrez Noorani’s stark setting, characters’ trajectory makes it an IN YOUR FACE CINEMA

My Verdict - Mrunal’s EXCEPTIONAL performance; Tabrez’s UNABASHEDLY NAKED writing and direction makes this one a MUST WATCH

5 Out of 5 stars

Oh My God! – Well, this is the reaction that every scene in the film extracted from me. I was flabbergasted, exasperated, taken aback and disgusted all at the same time. What a film, what a film! I am hugely elated that such films are finally being showcased in the Bollywood space and the audiences are getting face to face with such brilliant content driven films!

The film tells the sombre story of Sonia who is the daughter of a poor farmer played by Adil Hussain. Sonia’s sister Preeti is sold to Dadabhai (Anupam Kher) by their father and the films shows the former’s journey into the dark, dirty and dingy underbelly of Mumbai’s sex trafficking trade as she leaves no stones unturned to retrieve her sister from the sinister ordeal. And in doing so, she finds herself trapped into the meshes of the trade herself. There were a lot many films that delved into the subject earlier as well but no director was as unabashed and in your face as debutante director Tabrez Noorani.

Preeti is just seventeen when she embarks on this mission to save her sister, however as fate would have it, she falls prey to the perfidious Faisal (Manoj Bajpayee) who is ecstatic to find that Preeti is a virgin and hopes to make millions out of her. He makes sure her virginity is intact because virgin girls are worth a fortune in the flesh market.  She is forced to have unnatural sex with customers and is urged to shout her lungs out if in case anyone forces to penetrate her from the front.

There are many others who have lived the same fate or even worse in that part of the world. There is Madhuri, payed by Richa Chaddha, there is Rashmi, played by Frieda Pinto, there is Jiahh played by Aarti Mann and many others. While some have given up and have considered their present condition to be their fate, there are some like Sonia (played with great finesse by newcomer Mrunal Thakur) who know it for a fact that they don’t belong to that place and they will not give in to such a pathetic and deplorable way of life.

Manoj Bajpayee as the godawful master of the “Chakla” that is based somewhere in Grant Road, Mumbai makes the viewer curse him with his performance. What an actor he is! His performance is able to cull out the anger of the watching public. He is phenomenal with his dialogue delivery, his body language and facial expressions. When he is angry on Sonia for trying to escape and locks her in a dingy cell, he says with a forlorn expression, “Mujhe bada dukh pohcha hai… Maine kitna kuch kiya tere liye…” and then he lets out a venomous snake to frighten Sonia and then says, “Par Mai bohot acha insaan hu.” It was sheer terror! OR when he calls his Chinese customers over the phone to inform then that he has a virgin girl with him and he wants to sell her in exchange for humongous cash. He tries to convince them by impatiently blurting out in his broken English, “You not get girls like this in City… Pure Virgin… Virgin…” and then starts hurling all sorts of dirty expletives in a flush of anger. He just gets into the skin of every character he plays!

Richa Chaddha Plays Madhuri who is a prostitute and has been there with Babu (Manoj) for a long time now. She is seasoned in the trade and it shows. Unpolished in her dealings and demeanour, hers is a character that mirrors the fate of most of the women in the sex-trade. She is ruthless and she wants Sonia to quietly accept her fate and be a part of the same milieu. Madhuri in the process is cursed by many girls she has forced into prostitution and as a retribution of sorts, she contracts HIV. Richa’s performance too has toppled expectations and she has proved yet again that she has the acting calibre very few of her contemporaries have!

Frieda Pinto is Rashmi, the foul-mouthed whore, who is happy with the way she is and she kind of eels that any girl who is sold in the Chakla, is a whore, even if the girl is a minor, even if the girl is bitter and mournful of her very existence, even if the girl is frantically trying to get away from that situation. Her act too is a class apart. She is true to her character and is blatant in her portrayal. She parts her leg and simulates sexual acts while cussing out all the customers who want to sleep with her without a condom. She has seen days and she is no way falling for any man even if he vows love for her. Her portrayal of Rashmi, feels as though anyone with her mindset, after spending days in such sickening setting would have done the same thing.

Rajkummar Rao plays Manish who is an undercover repre3sentative of an organisation that works to rescue girls who have been forced into the sex trade. Even though, he doesn’t have much screen time but with whatever he has, he does a swell job. It is because of his character and a few others in the film, my faith in humanity is restored. It also speaks volumes of his inclination towards good roles as an actor. Kuddos to him for being a part of such a film. That is in itself laudable in the first place.

The cherry on the cake was newcomer Mrunal Thakur whose heartfelt portrayal of the titular role moved me, so much so that my heart went out for Sonia. He owned the film. Right from the first frame to the last, her expressions and her restraint, her understanding of the character, her being the character was in one word – EXCEPTIONAL! What a lovely actress she is. Her countenance exuded vulnerability of a seventeen-year-old. Yet, the determination in her eyes to get back her sisters without paying heed to the repercussions was CLAPWORTHY! To see her emote, twitch with fear, writhe in pain, seethe in anger was a one of kind experience. WATCH THE FILM FOR HER! SHE IS STUPENDOUS!

First time director Tabrez Noorani is a master! He is fantabulous. His work, his research, his shameless, outright approach towards his subject is PHENOMENAL! Everything has been so nicely done. His characters, their backgrounds, his setting, it’s dark and gritty lighting, his portrayl of the good and bad characters - Everything was pitch Perfect! No wonder the film and its director has won accolades in so many international film fests! Tabrez has worked as a line producer for films like Life of Pi and Slumdog Millionaire. He has worked with Danny Boyle and Ang Lee and he has also been a producer. It is well evident in a film, with so many foreign casts, the biggest surprise of all was Salma played by none other than Demi Moore herself! This is one such time when I fall short of words! Tabrez is TREMENDOUS! Kuddos to him!

Lucas Bielan’s cinematography is mind-blowing. He has captured the dirty, dingy lanes and by lanes of Mumbai like no one has ever done before. He is extra ordinary with his work. He displayed his skills in Life of Pi, Spectre, Oblivion and many others and in this one too his camera work is unparalleled. The sombre background score by Niels bye Nielsen sets the mood for this dark film.

All said and done, this film is a MUST WATCH. Just leave everything else and book yourselves a ticket for this movie. It is REALITY in every sense of the word!