Review
Arjun Nair here, and I'll be straight with you—this film is a mess, but it's a *compelling* mess. The premise alone is audacious: a love triangle that pivots into something far more complex, with a queer subplot that doesn't feel grafted on for woke points but instead forms the emotional core of the story. The direction shows genuine ambition in refusing the sanitized Bollywood formula, and the narrative's refusal to offer easy redemption is genuinely refreshing. However, the execution is painfully uneven. The pacing drags in the middle act, character motivations aren't always clear, and the writing sometimes leans on melodrama when subtlety would've landed harder. The auction sequence feels like it's trying too hard to shock rather than devastate.
The performances are where this film either saves itself or doesn't, depending on your tolerance. If the lead carries the weight of Sarnam's internal conflict with nuance, the film soars; if he's phoning it in, it all collapses. The chemistry between Sarnam and Shivraj needed to be electric to justify the emotional stakes, and there's potential there, but it's undercooked. The ending—Sarnam choosing redemption with Bansuri and the child—is genuinely tender, and that's the moment the film earns its pretensions. It's imperfect cinema that swings for the fences and connects maybe 60% of the time.
Rating: 6/10
Storyline
Sarnam's a bus driver with a dangerous streak—part outlaw, part hero—who sweeps in to save Bansuri from a brutal attack and completely steals her heart. But his luck runs out when he gets arrested for petty crimes, and by the time he's back on the streets, she's vanished. He finds unexpected solace with Shivraj, a temple worker he hires as a cleaner, and what starts as companionship blooms into something deeper and genuinely moving.
Everything gets messy when Sarnam discovers Bansuri's been won by his old criminal mate Rangile at some village auction—which is heartbreaking because she's desperate to get back to him. Now Sarnam's caught between two loves, torn apart by desire and devotion, but then Shivraj makes the decision for him by marrying Kamala. It's devastating and real, not some clean Bollywood cop-out.
Here's where it gets brilliant though—Rangile, the scumbag informant, finally gets what's coming when his own duplicity lands him in jail. With Rangile gone and Shivraj building a life elsewhere, Sarnam doesn't hesitate: he takes Bansuri and her newborn into his home, choosing redemption and a messy, imperfect love over the wreckage of his past. It's tender, it's honest, and it hits different!