NekoHomey
Purely Joyful Movie!
Dirtylogy
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
Mathilde the Guild
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
Billy Ollie
Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
architnath
This movie gives a hope to every lonely soul those who lived in Indian villages who thinks that one day she /he will be the most desirable person on his/her dream of ambitions, though resources are short , though they have the limited world of their back hand, but never short of their dreams of success and hopes.When you tell a story through cinema,it doesn't mean that it should have those elements which so called film critics, so called cheap ingredients they want .. sometimes world gives us a dimension where we find a dream as a true innocent dream but doesn't need a medium to express it . I think this movie goes beyond its essence through its truthfulness towards life and you find a rare glimpse of those in your mirror as this movie always conveys.
santypete
Indie and offbeat art movies are not everyone's cup of tea. Village Rockstar doesn't fall under the art film category but as Utpal Borpujari said "You can't go more Indie than Village Rockstar". A movie made by one woman crew, investing her own money, working with untrained actors, and dedicating 5 years of her life harvesting in a film is a feat people should respect if not laud.
To understand VR one needs to understand the geography where its filmed. An amateur review posted in the platform writes that despite all the hindrance the film sorts out everything just like magic. The hindrance mentioned were: flood, and puberty (which was mysterious)... Now, lets get the facts right: 1) When puberty hits a female its always sudden, there's no warning sign 'I'm coming..." and puberty is not a hindrance at all, so I guess that's the reason we see the lead , Dhunu being normal after the ceremony. 2) Flood after it subsides thing gets back to normal. Since, its a feature length film the maker didn't really have time to show how the lead overcame each and every hindrance... May be if it was a TV series like say "OFFICE" then the maker could have focused on each and every details liked 'flood & puberty' which were just subplots of the movie.All in all the movie is a great lesson for aspiring filmmakers. It dragged a bit,a nd the end was a little abrupt, but kudos to the makers for the effort and the heart to bring out this gem out of nowhere.
Tejas Nair
The amateur cast who originally hails from the same village in Assam where this coming-of-age film is set in is the highlight of the otherwise dull story about following one's dreams. If I say that it is the only highlight of the film other than the beautiful nature- kissed shots, most of which I hear were done in natural light, it'd be like me chasing the ideal dream about this review. I can try and relate to all there is about not conforming to the rules of society, but when a story is filled with bits and pieces, which are average per se and not as a whole, I find that the message gets lost. That is exactly what happens in Rima Das's Village Rockstars where a group of school kids, led by a sometimes taciturn, sometimes high- powered Dhunu – the only female member – decide and try to start a rock band. Driven by imagination and a one-time experience at a musical soiree, Dhunu and her mates encounter a series of limitations, none of which hinder their aspirations because the film has everything sorted out for them. Even if they do, Dhunu finds a way despite being mysteriously hit by puberty. A film for aspiring cinematographers. TN.(As part of the Young Film Critics Lab 2017 at the 19th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.)
