Rifle Club : Adiyilla Vedi Maathram, An Antithesis On Chekhov's Gun .
After a long wait I watched most talked about Rifle Club, in short, I enjoyed the film but I was left unsatisfied, if I borrow the words from the film "picture a ripe mango on a tree, you take aim, shoot it down, and then what ? Go home yelling ' I hit the target' ? or is eating the mango, is the real reward ?" Here Aashiq Abu and his team manages to hit the target and yet somehow forgot to eat the mango. May be the irony is lost on them.
Dont get me wrong, in no way Rifle Club is a boring film, it's a super cool film, it's super entertaining, it got stunning music, interesting characters and really funny dialogues but the film deserved better screen writting and a better director. Like I said before, don't get me wrong, I am not trying to say Rifle Club is overrated, in fact, on the contrary I loved the film, hence a setting which was perfect for a blockbuster left underutilized is irksome.
The subtext was clearly established, early on, that it's a film about hunters hunting down animals and nothing more, which is something I am okay with. However, the hunters felt under written compared to the animals. Just like how they underutilized all the potential drama of a plot like this, which was right there waiting to be used.
The film is about two lovers seeking refugee from a quirky arms dealer and his children, whom he treats like pets, sometimes literally, at a rifle club that's filled with skilled shooters, who are also family members with quirky dynamics, and an entrouge of leading star actor who is looking to improve his skills with guns for an upcoming film.
Like I said the plot in a line, is designed for fun, which they delivered, in bits and pieces, mostly due to underwritten screenplay and intentionally or unintentionally skipping on the big pay off's they promised early on in the film. The film is an antithesis on Chekhov's Gun.?
Where shall we begin ? Initially on the film, they try to create a doubt within the viewer that Secretary Aavaran and his wife, Sisily, is really the marksman they claim to be. Two, Sisily's pregnancy. Three, an on screen hero, is really a hero in life too. Four, a vault filled with rare exotic guns, Five, a man who promises to protect children and some women from an incoming attack, with his life. Six, The tiger, Daya and their back up shooters. The screen play is packed with Chekhov's Gun, if we are ready to look for it.
So for a film that is packed with Chekhov's Gun's, there are often resolutions to the question posed but never really a payoff, just like how the flares they shot up in the sky, like it's a call for war, but it's often ignored or just fizzles out by just being a cool shot on screen.
The inconsistency of the director in dealing with Chekhov's Gun's in the film is obvious, which leaves me wondering, did they write the film as a homage to Chekhov's Gun in a form of antithesis ? Or these are just missed opportunities in the screenplay, which was a recipe for the quintessential blockbuster that left uncooked.
With the film Rifle Club, director Aashiq Abu hands you over a heavy weight double barrel gun, of memorable dialogues and characters, but can only shoot blanks. I feel, the mango is still lying there on the ground waiting to be eaten. Maybe the irony is lost on them, maybe it's lost on us, we will never know.
After a long wait I watched most talked about Rifle Club, in short, I enjoyed the film but I was left unsatisfied, if I borrow the words from the film "picture a ripe mango on a tree, you take aim, shoot it down, and then what ? Go home yelling ' I hit the target' ? or is eating the mango, is the real reward ?" Here Aashiq Abu and his team manages to hit the target and yet somehow forgot to eat the mango. May be the irony is lost on them.
Dont get me wrong, in no way Rifle Club is a boring film, it's a super cool film, it's super entertaining, it got stunning music, interesting characters and really funny dialogues but the film deserved better screen writting and a better director. Like I said before, don't get me wrong, I am not trying to say Rifle Club is overrated, in fact, on the contrary I loved the film, hence a setting which was perfect for a blockbuster left underutilized is irksome.
The subtext was clearly established, early on, that it's a film about hunters hunting down animals and nothing more, which is something I am okay with. However, the hunters felt under written compared to the animals. Just like how they underutilized all the potential drama of a plot like this, which was right there waiting to be used.
The film is about two lovers seeking refugee from a quirky arms dealer and his children, whom he treats like pets, sometimes literally, at a rifle club that's filled with skilled shooters, who are also family members with quirky dynamics, and an entrouge of leading star actor who is looking to improve his skills with guns for an upcoming film.
Like I said the plot in a line, is designed for fun, which they delivered, in bits and pieces, mostly due to underwritten screenplay and intentionally or unintentionally skipping on the big pay off's they promised early on in the film. The film is an antithesis on Chekhov's Gun.?
Where shall we begin ? Initially on the film, they try to create a doubt within the viewer that Secretary Aavaran and his wife, Sisily, is really the marksman they claim to be. Two, Sisily's pregnancy. Three, an on screen hero, is really a hero in life too. Four, a vault filled with rare exotic guns, Five, a man who promises to protect children and some women from an incoming attack, with his life. Six, The tiger, Daya and their back up shooters. The screen play is packed with Chekhov's Gun, if we are ready to look for it.
So for a film that is packed with Chekhov's Gun's, there are often resolutions to the question posed but never really a payoff, just like how the flares they shot up in the sky, like it's a call for war, but it's often ignored or just fizzles out by just being a cool shot on screen.
The inconsistency of the director in dealing with Chekhov's Gun's in the film is obvious, which leaves me wondering, did they write the film as a homage to Chekhov's Gun in a form of antithesis ? Or these are just missed opportunities in the screenplay, which was a recipe for the quintessential blockbuster that left uncooked.
With the film Rifle Club, director Aashiq Abu hands you over a heavy weight double barrel gun, of memorable dialogues and characters, but can only shoot blanks. I feel, the mango is still lying there on the ground waiting to be eaten. Maybe the irony is lost on them, maybe it's lost on us, we will never know.