Genre : Romantic

Cast: Varun Dhawan, Banita Sandhu, Geetanjali Rao

Director: Shoojit Sircar

The director Shoojit Sircar is too efficient and brilliant in telling his stories. His characters are layered and filled with emotions. Penned by his favourite Juhi Chaturvedi, October is a story of two not so close individuals which is emotional yet flowery but inarguably not the best.

Danish Walia urf Dan (Varun Dhawan), a hotel management trainee is a free spirited but a cribbing man. While his training at a five star in Delhi, he is often shunned by his coworkers and bunch of bosses. He is socially awkward and a confused person. His life takes a giant leap when his fellow trainee Shiuli Iyer (Banita Sandhu) accidentally falls from the hotel’s roof on New Year ’s Eve. Her mother Vidya (Geetanjali Rao), the sole runner of the family and a professor at IIT Delhi leaves every hope but wait for Shiuli to recover. Dan helps her family throughout but what’s next is not something extraordinary but still touches in various aspects.

Calling October only a love story will be injustice to its resilient tone. It’s a battle, both inter-personal and intra-personal. It’s not about logic or wise decisions, it’s about how far can you go for the things you believe in. It’s about finding that one thing which defines us.

The innocence with which we gazed at sunsets in our childhood returns to haunt us while watching Dan going through a silent transformation. In a world where self-indulgence is called practicality, he stands for someone who is willing to risk everything for one more hour of soulful living.

This is a film that asks to be felt. Very little actually ‘happens’ during the course of its running time. A lot of it is about waiting – on the part of both the characters on screen, and us, the viewers. Yet the languid passage of time – conveyed through the change of seasons – is crucial to the experience of the film. The pace is deliberately slow, as if director wants us to feel every excruciating minute of watching a loved one’s life hanging by a thread.

This is a film that asks to be felt. Very little actually ‘happens’ during the course of its running time. A lot of it is about waiting – on the part of both the characters on screen, and us, the viewers. Yet the languid passage of time – conveyed through the change of seasons – is crucial to the experience of the film. The pace is deliberately slow, as if director wants us to feel every excruciating minute of watching a loved one’s life hanging by a thread.

October is like that small child who suddenly pulls your shirt and gives a toothy smile when you look back. Its a good one time watch movie.

Rating: 3.5/5

Movie review by : Anupama