The film Kantaar has many positives including good songs, but many other aspects of the film need improvement
Film mogi
Life is a song; sing it! Life is a dream to chase; an endeavor to fulfill. We live a life full of challenges and obstacles. When faced with upheavels and obstacles, is suicide an answer to your problems? Will suicide seal the fate of you and your family members in solving the problems?
God’s hand is always on us. We see it but we don’t recognize it. God leads us out through our trials and tribulations walking along with us from the barren rocky land to the verdant fertile fields. All we need to do is have faith in ourselves and our abilities, trust in God, place our problems worries and obstacles at His feet and march ahead with confidence to face life, singing the ‘Kantaar’ of life.
Storyline
The storyline is nice and simple but has a deeper connotation and meaning for the ones reading between the lines. A poor singer, forsaken by her lover, orphaned by her father has to take care of her family having a sister with a serious ailment problem. Unable to bear the struggles of life she contemplates suicide. On the verge of jumping over a cliff, she is saved by an angel who directs her, channelizes her energy into a force to reckon and guides her preparation to success by backing her.
Screenplay
The screenplay moves at a slow pace, but the developments are interesting.That said, the screenplay focuses on just two characters while other characters seem to be brought in as decoration. The characters with their brief presence are not justified. The footage of the lead pair though pleasing to witness, becomes monotonous. The flashback scenes too are repetitive. They could have been better shot in different facets.
Music
Being a film from Ester Noronha, one expected music and songs to play a major part in the film. Moreover the title Kantaar prepares the audience for a high dose of songs. But alas, the audience were disappointed on this count too as the ‘kantaar’ is given back seat in the film. Nevertheless the songs included are beautifully sung and picturised but yes, woefully less in quotient!
Acting
The film features Ester Noronha in the lead and she does justice to the character. Jackie Shroff is the male lead, subdued but great. However his dubbing could have been better, and the audience missed the baritone voice of Jackie Shroff. Liby Mendonca as the mother of Ester Noronha is superb and very convincing. There are a lot of other characters played by famous tiatr personalities but alas their screen time is minimal and are used only as screen decoration. Increasing their footage could have given the film a better feel.
Cinematography
The lesser known Goa is beautifully captured and featured in the film. Hats off to the cinematographer and director of photography for giving a glimpse of Goa that is seldom seen. It is great to see the green green grass of home still exist in our picturesque Goa and all this adds to the beauty of the film.
Direction
This is one department where the film takes a low and the result is seen in all segments of film making. There is no clarity of thought and the implementation is flawed. Most of the artistes are stage actors but their photogenic appearance on screen along with their convincing style of dialogue delivery is maintained, which is good.
