Most of the reviewers in town have gone ahead and painted the twon read with descriptions of Being Cyrus as a "dark comedy". But I am pretty sure that not even ten percent of them even know what a dark comedy actually is. Being Cyrus has been wrongly categorized as a comedy in the first place. Yes, it has its moments of comedy and laughter, but its more of an adventure or thriller than anything else. Having said that, I must add, that it is not a typical potboiler that Bollywood keeps on churning out. I woulnt go as far as saying that the movie is not "inspired" by any other film, but surely is a refreshing departure from the run-of-the-mill, sleazy, tacky special effects laden, trashy adaptations of Hollywood flicks that are served to the Indian viewers these days in the name of a thriller or an action film.
The best thing about Being Cyrus is that the director knows his story and knows how to tell it without letting the viewer's attention falter for even a minute. The tale is crisp and the narration equally concise. In all the film is just about an hour and thirty minutes, less than half of some of the recent Bollywood blockbusters. Homi Adajania, the first time director of this film, is the latest addition to the list of debutant directors that have donned the director's hat in recent times. And just like Shimit Amin, Parvati Balagopalan and Pradeek Sarkar, he brings to the table a whole new style of film-making, hitherto unknown to many of the "established" names in the business. Barring Ram Gopal Verma, I havent seen many directors use the camera angles and cinematography uses as simply, yet superbly as in this film. The mantra here is - be simple, yet captivating, something that the likes of Karan Johar or Yash Chopra can never dream of attaining.
The story principally involes five or six characters, the cast led by Saif Ali Khan and Dimple Kapadia. They portray a plethora of Parsee characters in the movie, and its a welcome respite not to see the stereotypical and caricaturized Parsee matrons or 'vadee-baba' or "pappad-khao-sain" characters in the plot. The characters are very well defined and played with utmost conviction by most people. Naseeruddin Shah, after Iqbal, returns to another commercial film, but had very little to do. Yet, in his less than five minute role, he showcases the enormous treasure of talent he has. The slightest nuances of the senile, withering, demented Dinsha are superbly captured by him, something that a "seasoned actress" like Dimple Kapadia fails to garner in her portrayal of the gaming and conniving Katie, Dinshaa's wife in this film. She gets overtly loud in the film at a lot of times, not in terms of her volume, but in terms of the amount of effort she seems to be putting into expressing every emotion that she is feeling. Something that I have often felt while seeing Urmila Matondkar act. There is a feel to method - something I cant describe in words. But appears as if she has rehearsed the scene over and over again to get to where she is. Something so contrary to Naseeruddin Shah and even Saif Ali Khan. The latter, is rediscovering himself in author backed roles. Saif is the protagonist of the movie and deserves all the attention. Although his role didnt require much of emoting, he comes across sincerely. His role required underplaying emotions, and he hold the reigns of the character perfectly. Nowhere does he seem made up or unbelievable. He was "so not larger than life", as Chandler from "Friends" would have described it as. Simone Singh gets a brief but important role in this film, and does full justice to it. She looks and feels tha character that she essays. Boman Irani is also very authentic in his portrayal, although he needs to re-think his choice of roles. Ever since Munna Bhai MBBS days, he seems to be playing the same, eccentric man, albeit in a different get up.
