Watching HANDOVER in the “UFO 0110 International Digital Festival” in New Delhi was a great enlightening experience after a long time. As the end credits started rolling I recalled writing, “One of the most enjoyable moments in life is when you get a completely unexpected surprise beyond your wildest imagination in the theater”. And HANDOVER undoubtedly was one of those pleasant surprises of the year 2012, which I enjoyed immensely in the festival amongst a selected audience.
But moving over to something serious, it also reminded me of an idea shared in one of my recent reviews about the kind of movies being offered to us repeatedly without having anything novel or fresh in their content. In the last few years we have seen many such hugely insane and silly movies (mostly comedies) made with a whooping budget of 30-50 crores featuring some reputed artists in the lead. So, instead of making “One Avoidable Big Budget Project”, why not distribute that amount of 30 crores to say 10-15 debut directors to make their own distinctive movies based on some new, interesting and worth watching subjects. That way, not only it will be easier to recover their costs (from all the new formats or platforms) but will also be beneficial for the ultimate viewers who are desperately waiting to see something different on the screen coming from our own Bollywood.
In the present, “Star-Worshipping Era” the above mentioned idea may take time to get applied. But after watching HANDOVER, I do see a ray of hope somewhere in the dark with producers such as Ravi Agrawal, who showed the courage to give a much deserving break to the debutant director Saurabh Kumar for making his first independent film in a limited budget. And what Saurabh has done within those fixed resources, along with his technician and actor friends, is nothing short of a commendable, worth praising attempt.
Made on a digital format, dealing with the lack of many basic technical requirements for a film project, Saurabh has delivered a fine product which never makes you realize the format in which it has been made. The overall impact of the film is such that it rarely allows the viewer to notice its technical aspect as it completely bowls you over with its shocking content and storyline. Here I would like to add that a common moviegoer damn cares about what Camera or Equipment has been used and how. If the movie is able to spell its magic over the viewer, through its fine execution & direction, then he is least concerned about its technical details and this fact clearly gets proved by HANDOVER loudly.
Coming to the enlightening plot of the film, it is sadly based on a real life story taken from a news article published in “The Hindu” by Harsh Mander on the “Child Selling Issue”. It revolves around a poor helpless couple who decide to part with their newly born girl child for her own safety. But this voluntary 'handover' gets wrongly projected as a news of "Selling A Child" in the papers, which eventually leads to an inhuman drastic consequence in the end. Without revealing its real turning point I would only like to say that don’t consider it as another “Art-House Movie” as it may seem to be from its subject. Despite talking about a rural poverty issue and its debatable conditions, the film never drags and keeps you engaged throughout with its well written script and crisp editing. Brilliantly supported by some captivating sincere performances in its 74 minutes of duration, it strikes a hard blow with a harsh but true climax, putting you on to a “Thinking Mode” while walking out of the theater.
And after its over, one realizes:
How can a Leader or an administrative officer operating from the Center, actually feel the pain of the people living in the remote areas, facing the actual brutalities?
Can Journalism still be called “Journalism” today practiced in the true sense? Isn’t it fast becoming synonym to the word Sensationalism?
Besides, many times, what is being referred as CRIME in the eyes of LAW, might not be A CRIME at all for the people who are actually there at the receiving end.
Being a film of only 74 minutes, HANDOVER might not get a decent theatrical release due to our present partial distribution and exhibition system. Also, they might have rejected the film in the National Awards selection this year due to is anti-government tone capable of raising a national debate. Whatever be the case, it thankfully reminds us the forgotten responsibility of the medium and enlightens us about a scary truth of our own society, the so called social workers and its elected leaders ruling from the center.
So, along with all the awards it has already won, HANDOVER undoubtedly deserves a wider audience not only due to its socially relevant theme, but also due to the excellence achieved by the entire team lead by the director Saurabh Kumar (within his limited budget) and Vikas Kumar leading the cast with Nutan Sinha. So do watch it as a must, whenever it gets screened in your city or after it gets released in the home video market.
Directed by Saurabh Kumar
Produced by Ravi Agrawal
Music : Pupplipriya, Lyrics : Hadi Sarmadi
Starring : Vikas Kumar, Nutan Sinha, Prabhat Raghunandan, Auroshikha Dey, Shaista Rashid, Vijay Kumar, Narendra kumar, Sudhir Kumar and more.
UPDATE in May 2021 - The above review was written 9 years back in 2012 expecting the film to be released soon in atleast the home video market as OTT culture had yet not arrived in India. The film has now been released on an OTT Platform (MX Player) after such a long, annoying and painful wait. This one example yet again conveys how difficult is the world of cinema, particularly when you wish to do something meaningful not bowing down to the commercial requisties of the market. It took 9 long years, almost a decade for such briliant film to reach its end-users and that is how Show Business operates, at times, seriously affecting and demoralising the young talent.
HANDOVER can be seen FREE, without any subscription at MX PLAYER platform and I sincerly hope this helps the film and Saurabh Kumar in getting their due appreciation.
Cheers!
