Film: David
Director: Bejoy Nambiar
Cast: Vikram, Jiiva, Tabu, Lara Dutta, Isha Sharvani,
Rohini Hattangadi, John Vijay
After an impressive debut with the Hindi film ‘Shaithan’, Nambiar returns with a bilingual (Tamil, Hindi). Set in two different places in two different time periods, it’s about two men who share the same name David, and of how their destinies converge. The director (apprenticed with Mani Ratnam), adopts a non-linear style of narration, shuttling between the two stories. It’s an intriguing opening on the two Davids, one living in Mumbai of 1999, the other in Goa of 2010. One was about to kill his father’s tormentor. The other was about to attend his best friend’s wedding. The story goes into a flashback mode, depicting the happenings in their lives and of their similar destinies.
Jiiva who plays the David of Mumbai, is a guitarist aspiring for the big break. Son of a church father, a staunch Christian (Nasser fitting in suitably), this David is carefree, playfully ragging of his father’s community work. And when he is about to reach his goal, comes the agonising turn in his life. The communal angle is brought in here.
On the Goan track is Vikram’s David, a fisherman. Ditched at the altar by his girlfriend, and in love with best friend Peter’s deaf-mute fiance (an ethereal looking Sharvani), he undergoes moments of agony and doubt. The narration travels in two separate tracks, clearly demarcated, one not interfering with the other. The third ‘gangster’ track of the Hindi version, has been dropped here. Jiiva’s track is intense, mostly shot in darker shades. Vikram’s is the brighter, lighter scenario. The two episodes are simple, a tad boring at times. But unpredictable and refreshing is the way both end. The finale is uplifting, which reassures faith in human goodness. It’s the surprise ending that makes you view the earlier happenings in a kinder perspective. It has a fine touch at the end, where commenting on their similar destinies, Jiiva’s David makes a reference to their biblical namesake.
An intense Jiiva infuses life into his character. A rakish Vikram, the character perpetually inebriated, adds the lighter edge. The women are more of passing characters. About 128 minutes of running time, what goes against the film is its disjointed nativity and ambience, and a ‘dubbed’ feel. Though most happenings are in Mumbai and Goa, everybody seems to speak in some kind of Tamil. The poor lip-sync only makes it worse, particularly in the scenes of Tabu and Hattangadi, the latter playing a religious fundamentalist. A film that strives to move away from the beaten track, it could have been crafted better.