B.A. PASS is based on the short story 'The Railway Aunty' by Mohan Sikka from the book 'Delhi Noir'. The film is the story of small North Indian town lad Mukesh ( Shadab Kamal ), who relocates to Paharganj area in Delhi to stay with his aunt after the death of his parents,leaving behind his two younger sisters, to complete his graduation. He opts for the course B.A. (Pass) and hence forming the title of the movie. Her aunt is such a grouchy lady that he spends most of his time in a cemetery, reading a book on the moves of Chess and playing the game simultaneously. His aunt accepts him to reside with her family on the provision that his studies and other expenses would be supported by his grandfather only. It is then, he gets to meet one of his aunt's married friends Sarika ( Shilpa Shukla ), who occurs to be a seductress and her husband happens to be the senior officer of Mukesh' aunty's husband. Thereupon starts an erotic drama between the two on the basis of lust, betrayal & lies. Mukesh undertakes enjoying the eroticism, not only with Sarika but also with other ladies, as this lands him in earning robust amount of money. He loses the morale of differentiating between what's right and what's not. Mukesh, at last, falls in the web of sex, prostituition (read gay) and deceit and how he overcomes the harsh horrid reality, forms the culmination of the movie.
Director Ajay Bahl has done an anormal job in depicting a gripping story and it must have been a daunting task of adapting the short story on celluloid, but he excels in all the aspects. His direction is top-notch. The aesthetically shot love-making scenes, which are almost there in every alternate scenes in the first half, are virtually titillating. The locales of Paharganj elongates the effect of this gripping story ( tight screenplay by Ritesh Shah ). Shadab Kamal is amateurishly deft in holding the movie on his shoulder. Shilpa Shukla, the fornicating woman, without whom the movie couldn't have reached such heights, is simply brilliant. It indeed needs courage for an actress to portray such steamy scenes with gusto and she leaves no stone unturned in making her acting believable. Bravura performance. The chess-playing grave-keeper, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, is competent.
On the flip side, there has been nothing at all for the masses, the commoners. The movie has been made for critical acclamation and it has got what it deserves beforehand.
To sum up, B.A. PASS is dark, noir and brutal narration of true human emotions in raw form. If you have an appetite of absorbing a differently realistic & unpleasant saga, then go for it.
3 stars.
Director Ajay Bahl has done an anormal job in depicting a gripping story and it must have been a daunting task of adapting the short story on celluloid, but he excels in all the aspects. His direction is top-notch. The aesthetically shot love-making scenes, which are almost there in every alternate scenes in the first half, are virtually titillating. The locales of Paharganj elongates the effect of this gripping story ( tight screenplay by Ritesh Shah ). Shadab Kamal is amateurishly deft in holding the movie on his shoulder. Shilpa Shukla, the fornicating woman, without whom the movie couldn't have reached such heights, is simply brilliant. It indeed needs courage for an actress to portray such steamy scenes with gusto and she leaves no stone unturned in making her acting believable. Bravura performance. The chess-playing grave-keeper, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, is competent.
On the flip side, there has been nothing at all for the masses, the commoners. The movie has been made for critical acclamation and it has got what it deserves beforehand.
To sum up, B.A. PASS is dark, noir and brutal narration of true human emotions in raw form. If you have an appetite of absorbing a differently realistic & unpleasant saga, then go for it.
3 stars.
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