Cobalt Blue review: Netflix film, based on Sachin Kundalkar’s novel, explores queer love

3/5

Story: When an aspiring author and his free-spirited sister both fall for the enigmatic paying guest at their home, ensuing events rock their traditional family.

Verdict: The long-delayed Cobalt Blue, based on Sachin Kundalkar's Marathi book, is set in the 90s when same-sex relationships were not only unimaginable but illegal. The first few moments that preface the story take us through the tranquillity of Fort Kochi, where Tanay, a young writer/poet lives with his family. The film remains a picturesque treat throughout, thanks to Vincenzo Condorelli's cinematography.

The story is about Tanay (Tanay (Neelay Mehendale) and his Anuja (Anjali Sivaraman), who fall in love with their paying guest (Prateik Babbar), a handsome stranger who is a sight for sore eyes in their household. I haven’t read the book, so I cannot draw comparisons with the source material, but I presumed the film would be something like Call Me By Your Name. There are some similarities though. While one is set in the scenic Italian countryside, here we are in the backwaters of Kerala. Another is the motif of this enigma of a person who awakens feelings of want and desire.

Call Me By Your Name focuses on Elio (Timothee Chalamet) and Oliver (Armie Hammer), but Cobalt Blue chronicles two perspectives that differ starkly mostly because of their gender identities. The film does not shy away from exploring the nameless tenant and Tanay’s growing emotional and physical proximity, and the heady rush of first love that both siblings feel. Mehendale brings out the naïveté of his character with near-perfection and Sivaraman plays the headstrong Anju who is defiant in the face of all the societal expectations that come her way.

The supporting performances are fantastic, as they would be if you have a cast with actors like Geetanjali Kulkarni, Shishir Sharma and Neil Bhoopalam. Sharma is seen as the archetype of the Indian dad, he's hot-tempered, dominating and only needs a nudge to lose his cool, while Kulkarni's character is compliant and docile, though not out of choice. Meanwhile, Bhoopalam plays Tanay's professor, an older gay man who tries to win him over with books and movies. A certain kind of sadness and loneliness lingers in his characterisation that initially makes you want to sympathise with him, but his will to be closer to Tanay, the casual touch on the shoulder, the invitation to his house quickly steer into the creepy domain. 

Verdict: Cobalt Blue is a delicate telling of adolescent passion, made even better by its aesthetics.

Cobalt Blue is streaming on Netflix. Watch the trailer here —