'Gilky' Review: Laudable attempt let down by logical loopholes

Director Sunil Kumar YK’s dark romantic drama, "Gilky," is different from the monotonous drama we usually get. It talks about neglected differently-abled people and how they adapt and find ways to create love and happiness. The film takes you through their life, where the concept of ‘love’ is a bit unsettling.

It is about this intellectually-challenged person, Shakti, who is fondly called Gilky (Tarak Ponnappa). Disregarded by his own family, he manages to take up a job as a food delivery agent. Through his job, he meets Nancy (Chaithra J Achar), a person with cerebral palsy. They find love and solace in each other. Whether or not their relationship gets accepted by their family and society is the crux of the film. The film also has another pivotal character - Shakespeare (Goutham Raj), a visually challenged person, who befriends the couple.

Depicting characters that aren’t beautiful or perfect is a risky task, but the director has taken it as a challenge in his debut film. To a certain extent, he conveys that love can be expressed without words and that happiness can be found in small things. Having said that, though heartfelt, this film also gets very disturbing.

Chaitra J Achar’s character is the best-written part of the film. The actor as Nancy, a cerebral palsy patient, looks convincing. She gets out of her comfort zone to stay true to the character, though she misses some beats. However, Tarak as Gilky isn’t that convincing. In a lot of instances, he comes close to being a normal person except for his facial expression. However, both actors show intent to do good.

There are some contrivances like unusual circumstances where Gilky and Nancy get to know each other. There is also a lack of clarity on how Gilky easily gets access to Nancy’s house, and how he sneaks her out and brings her back home without anyone noticing. One can also find a few glitches in Shakespeare’s character. Also, the scene where Shakespeare meets his daughter came across as a little harsh.

"Gilky" is a bit too long. A few scenes made me wish the film was tauter. YK’s experiment with an unusual subject is laudable, but somehow he fails to generate an impact.

Gilky
Cast: Tarak Ponnappa, Chaithra J Achar, and Goutham Raj
Director: YK

Rating: 3/5