Abhijit Mazumdar’s Body, about a theatre actor’s experience with nudity, is likely to be one of the most unusual Indian titles showing at the International Film Festival of Kerala (December 13-20).
The Hindi film has a remarkable body-and-soul performance by Manoj Sharma. He plays Manoj, a young man whose friends play a cruel prank on him. Robbed of all his clothing, Manoj is traumatised after having to be naked for a considerable length of time.
Professional therapy and theatre exercises with his girlfriend Khushboo (Khushboo Upadhyay) cannot prevent Manoj from behaving in ways that are often alarming. A neighbour’s son, who delights in Manoj’s rehearsals, threatens to take Manoj further into the abyss, while also linking up to the play in which Manoj is appearing.
The Hindi-language movie is one of 14 features in IFFK’s International Competition section.The other Indian entries in IFFK’s International Competition section are Jayan Cherian’s Rhythm of Dammam, Indu Lakshmi’s The Other Side and Fasil Muhammed’s Feminist Fathima.
Patience is needed to allow Body’s stronger ideas to emerge. The 142-minute Body is characterised by lengthy takes that reveal the extent of Manoj’s unravelling.
But Body becomes a bit too enamoured of its stylistic approach to dispense with sequences that do not further Manoj’s story arc. In addition, the sub-plot involving the neighbour’s child is not addressed adequately.
The film’s most compelling idea is its exploration of a semi-fugue state that is terrifying as well as strangely liberating for its protagonist. Manoj Sharma’s fearless performance deserves kudos, especially in the seemingly unrehearsed scenes of his character walking the streets of Mumbai at night without a stitch on.
