TITLI

Titli (2014)

116 min  |  Crime, Drama, Thriller  |  30 October 2015 (India)

7.2

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Ratings: 7.2/10 from 483 users 
Reviews: 11 user | 30 critic

In the badlands of Delhi's dystopic underbelly, Titli, the youngest member of a violent car-jacking brotherhood, plots a desperate bid to escape the 'family' business.

Director:

 Kanu Behl

Writers:

 Kanu Behl, Sharat Katariya, 1 more credit »

Stars:

 Shashank Arora, Lalit Behl, Sumit Gulati

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Storyline

"In the badlands of Delhi's dystopic underbelly, Titli, the youngest member of a violent car-jacking brotherhood plots a desperate bid to escape the 'family' business. His struggle to do, so is countered at each stage by his indignant brothers, who finally try marrying him off to 'settle' him. Titli finds an unlikely ally in his new wife, Neelu, who nurtures her own set of frustrated dreams. They form a strange, mutually exploitative partnership in a desperate bid to escape the stranglehold of their family roots. But is escape the same as freedom?

Movie Reviews

Very raw and untouched story of an urban below middle class family.

4 November 2015 | by Shreyansh Verma – See all my reviews

Strong base of raw and creative story. This movie had unfold another picture of the Indian suburbs which lies in the family situated in there. If one talks about the screenplay, they have done full justice by keeping it slight gritty. The music dwells in situation, defining every bit of the movie. The movie maintains a normal pace, the storytelling not fast but holds the content in its pace. From assisting LSD and Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, Kanu Behl made a promising debut in the line of direction. If you are familiar with the dark, noxious underbelly of Delhi, then Titli hits you in the guts right from the first frame. Because it is about a world which co-exists right in our midst, a world so lowly that we ignore but never forget while driving back home in the still of the night. Even if you haven't been to any such place in the capital, or encountered the people who inhabit these crowded bylanes, the fact is that Titli could be about any city, and its people.

Titli (Shashank Arora) is the youngest in a family of poor car-jackers who live in the outskirts of Delhi. These bylanes are occupied by people who're oscillating between the idea of a better life and their ruined present. Titli's elder brothers, Vikram (Ranvir Shorey) and Bawla (Amit Sial) are emotionally traumatised, drifting from one day to the other, without any concrete plan for their future. It's this oppressed section of the society which is untouchable for the growing 'corporate' India. Writers Sharat Katariya and Kanu Behl don't keep you at an objective distance. They challenge you to stop ignoring the so-called social blots, and once you're sucked in, they make you believe that the injustice behind the rough exterior is systematic. It could be anything from the patriarchal mindset to the hurried urbanisation, or maybe it's a mixture of both and many more twisted theories. The language, lifestyle and aspirations of these people living beside a gutter prompt a lot of Dilliwaallaahs to deny their existence despite knowing that it's actually the 'civilised' world which is contributing to pushing them over the edge. No, Titli doesn't frighten you. It doesn't make you privy to some private conversations either. Instead, it pushes you out of slumber and makes you see the after-effects of a waywardly classic liberal economy. Kanu Behl's Titli is the most impressive film of this year so far. Its tryst with reality will keep you hooked till the end, to say the least. Titli is the latest gem from evolving Indian cinema. Don't even think of missing it.