★★★★

Whilst I was digging through the Colombo Film Festival schedule, a rather unusual picture caught my attention. Not only was the trailer mesmerizing but it had already been selected for the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes: an honour for any director, especially a first-timer. I could sense that Kanu Behl’s directorial debut, Titli, was something special.

I was wrong. Titli wasn’t just special. It was utterly captivating.

The story follows the eponymous Titli (Shashank Arora) – the youngest brother of a violent carjacking family – who dreams of a way out of all the bloodshed and bad memories. After being forcefully married off to Neelu (Shivani Raghuvanshi) – a young woman his cutthroat brothers plan to use as an accessory in later heists – he hatches an escape plan. If executed properly, the plan would allow him to purchase a parking lot and Neelu to marry her lover. As always, complications arise: hands are broken, secrets are uncovered and more blood is spilt, culminating in a conclusion some may find mildly dissatisfying.

As the lights came back up, the editor of my own film, Elephant, leaned over and gushed about the cutting of Behl’s fractured family drama. For one, the use of slow motion felt hypnotizing, illustrating the weight of past crimes on Titli’s guilty mind. The unpredictability of Titili’s actions is further heightened by the intensity of sequences where the character reveals his darker, damaged side to the audience or when his brothers nonchalantly beat a car salesman to death with a hammer. Brutal, but effective.

Amazed and intrigued by the verisimilitude of the drama, I questioned Behl on his methods: did the director use improvisation? Yes, came his answer. Much of the film was built on improv exercises, the script being used merely as a guide. A stark contrast to much of the rehearsed Hollywood fare one sees in cinemas nowadays, perhaps this is the way forward?

Sadly, one will have to wait until December for Behl’s barnstormer to hit cinemas, where it will almost certainly be a hit.

Don’t miss out. This one’s well worth the wait.

Reviewed by Rehan Mudannayake