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MAROON – Beautiful Brave Brilliant
“Action speaks louder than words” is the belief that Maroon makes it true on the celluloid. Pulkit – The Director does that brilliantly with the integration of his ideas and execution making you feel gruesome without seeing something gruesome on the screen; passing you on the patrons hallucinations so much so that you feel the misery without being miserable. You are entertained, you enjoy and that’s the magic of cinema. Magic of the actor who let his eyes speak more than his words.
Manav Kaul as Saurabh succeeds to keep your eyes glued on him without you taking that pause for a swipe on your phone or exiting a loo break. Maroon doesn’t leave you marooned for any such thing. He holds you right there on your seat ensuring you are there with him throughout till the end in spite of the fact that you have realized the fact much in advance and yet it is his sheer performance that drives Maroon to a level most physiological thrillers usually fail. With each individual’s psyche being different Maroon leaves upto the audience to perceive at their own intellect. For a debutant director it is quite a challenge to perceive this entire film in one house without losing the audience interest, it requires a belief at a grandiose in the actor for the director to execute such kind of cinema, the belief works, Manav Kaul delivers one of his finest performances in a film that almost has just Manav Kaul, be it his trembling body, simmering voice or his shimmering eyes, he succeeds to connect.
The story is simple yet webbed well to keep your eyes hooked upon the screen. The background score is brilliant that rings in the right aura for almost all the emotions Maroon brings in. Be it fear element or be it the trauma element, or be it a simple scene where Manav does nothing and stands tall facing the mirror. The great win for the director and the actor is, in spite of his audience knowing the fact, they succeed to hook their audience at a pace that is consistent. Pulkit as a director hits the right chord, his work will not go maroon, it will be witnessed and accepted well for those who believe variety is a spice of life.
If the director is the body, an actor is the soul. Maroon is this complete body of work.
Verdict: Gold Plus 4.5*s
P.S. The film was released in the MAMI Festival 2016 and a theatrical release is still awaited for the larger audience.