I Want To Talk Review: What if Piku let Bhaskor treat himself ft. Abhishek Bachchan

3.5/5

I Want To Talk Review: Plot - Arjun Sen (Abhishek Bachchan), a marketing genius who only believes in "If you cannot convince, confuse," is diagnosed with laryngeal cancer. One surgery leads to another, and by the time we fully understand who Arjun is, he has undergone around 20. Almost a dismantled body put together piece by piece, he is also a doting (almost manipulatively so) father who doesn’t want his daughter to see the pain he is enduring. How does he manage that? By micromanaging her life like a spirit hovering over her head. When she bursts, their relationship finally begins to bloom. 

I Want To Talk Review: Analysis

The art of translating a medical condition onto the screen is one of the most difficult to master. What is even more challenging is depicting a medical procedure and its before-and-after effects in a way that doesn't just convince the audience but places them in the hospital ward with you. Remember Dan in October, when he checked Shiuli’s urine bag or located her bed in the hospital for the first time? There was no sense of an actor playing a part, just a human caring for another and waiting for them to reclaim their life. Few filmmakers in India have captured the haunting yet hopeful aura of a hospital as Shoojit Sircar has. With I Want To Talk, he returns with another story of a person enduring medical hardship.

The most fascinating aspect of Shoojit Sircar’s filmography is how each film stands apart from the rest. There is hardly any recurring trope or leitmotif traveling through his movies that becomes his hallmark. Everything is distinct yet feels part of the same creative grid. I Want To Talk marks Sircar’s second venture into exploring a medical condition, third if you count Piku (though Bhaskor never let her take him to a hospital). As the Abhishek Bachchan starrer unfolds in a muted fashion, with still frames and a slow-paced screenplay, the restlessness builds to understand what exactly the filmmaker wants to convey.

Much like October, Sircar cuts a misleading trailer, drawing audiences into a tale as ambiguous as that one. Yet, it is in this vagueness that Sircar draws most of his strength. To him, stories are supposed to be vague and unpredictable because life itself is. This story, based on a real-life person who endured everything shown on screen, adds an extra layer of intrigue. For I Want To Talk, Sircar reunites with his longtime collaborator Ritesh Shah (Pink, Sardar Udham, D-Day) to pen the story of a man we meet mid-presentation. Arjun speaks non-stop for 10 minutes until his body gives way, and the doctor announces his cancer diagnosis.

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Thus begins the journey of a man determined to cheat death. His method? Subjecting his body to the knife repeatedly, not once or twice but dozens of times—willingly. Even more shocking is his stoicism throughout, refusing to display pain lest it makes him appear weak before his daughter, already torn between him and her mother, who are separated. Interestingly, Shoojit Sircar never clearly shows who Arjun was married to. The ex-wife is strong, happy, and uninterested in returning to him. This suggests a lot about the trauma Arjun likely caused her due to his God complex, which hinders his ability to accept pain and death, even at the cost of continuously wounding his body.

However, Sircar doesn’t frame Arjun as a villain. Instead, he shapes him as a human grappling with his predicament while the world adjusts around him, much like real life. Abhishek Bachchan breathes life into Arjun with immense dedication, delivering a stellar performance. It’s no easy task to act in a film with still frames that keep the spotlight on you, especially when portraying someone ailing. The drama is measured, and Abhishek never loses control. His performance is so immersive that during the biggest surgery scene, I could feel the cuts and scars. The sight of his stitched and scarred body in the aftermath of the umpteenth surgery was deeply unsettling—almost making me look away. That’s the power of exceptional filmmaking and a brilliant performance.

In a parallel universe, Bhaskor from Piku might have been Arjun if Piku had allowed him to undergo treatment. (Remember his disappointment when the reports came out normal?) Sircar takes his time, focusing on a limited set of events rather than delving into multiple directions. However, some aspects feel underexplored. How does Arjun manage to fund so many surgeries? Why aren’t his human bonds explored more closely, especially given how their absence affects him? The narrative also randomly jumps through time, which could confuse inattentive viewers.

Tana Chake’s music is great, though it lacks the magic of the Shoojit Sircar-Shantanu Moitra duo, which this film truly deserved. Avik Mukhopadhyay’s cinematography captures the stillness and absence of excitement in this world, evoking the same emotional tone as October. Sircar’s use of the hospital’s soundscape adds to the atmosphere.

I Want To Talk Review: Final Verdict

I Want To Talk is not a comfortable watch and may draw criticism for its pacing. But this discomfort is intentional, as the second half reveals. It’s the story of a man battling death, and nothing can shake his resolve.

I Want To Talk releases on November 22, 2024, on the big screen. Stay tuned to OTTplay for more updates on this and everything from the world of streaming and films.

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