Friday, January 6, 2017

1000 Rupee Note (2014) - Foreign Film Friday



Number Rolled: 77
Movie Name/Year: 1000 Rupee Note (2014)
Tagline: None
Genre: Drama
Length: 89 minutes
Rating: NR
Production Companies: Infinitum Productions
Producer: Ranjit Gugle, Shekhar Sathe, Shrihari Sathe
Director: Shrihari Sathe
Writer: Shrikant Bojewar
Actors: Devendra Gaikwad, Usha Naik, Pooja Nayak, Sandeep Pathak, Shekhar Sathe, Ganesh Yadav, Shrikant Yadav
Stunt Doubles: N/A

Languages
Speech Available: Marathi
Subtitles Available: English, Traditional Chinese, French, German, Spanish

Blurb from Netflix: After randomly receiving a handsome political bribe, a sweet, poor elderly woman decides to treat herself a shopping spree, which doesn’t go smoothly.

Selina’s Point of View:
Straight drama isn’t my thing, but I can still appreciate it when it comes in the form of a great film. And 1000 Rupee Note is a GREAT film.

There were some cultural references that went right over my head, but that’s bound to happen. Not just because we haven’t been doing Foreign Film Fridays for very long, but because this was a very unique film for Netflix in general. This was the only Marathi language film I saw available. I have no idea how that particular Indian culture differs from the others. I imagine it’s similar to the U.S., where there is a huge cultural difference between the country, the suburbs, and the cities.

Despite a few names that just didn’t ring any bells at all, I still found it easy to disappear into Budhi’s tragic story. 1000 Rupee Note was a tale about human kindness, corruption, and greed. The plot went down roads I’m certain an American film wouldn’t have taken and told the plot in such a way that it spoke to many emotions all at one.


Usha Naik (Half Ticket, Jai Mohata Devi, Lapachhapi) was a phenomenal choice for the lead character, Budhi. She played her character so well that I couldn’t look away from the screen for more than a few seconds at a time. That’s impressive because this is the kind of film I would normally consider slow and boring – but it absolutely was neither of those things.

Budhi’s story was a strong and highly realistic one. Chinmay Kelkar (Timepass 2, Let the Wind Blow, And Gandhi Goes Missing…), the person in charge of casting, could have easily given the part to someone that tried to take it in a more surreal direction – which would have ruined everything. Naik 100% makes 1000 Rupee Note what it is.

Because I’m not a drama fan, I likely won’t be watching this film again – but that’s my own personal choice. I would highly recommend it to anyone that does enjoy the genre.

Cat’s Point of View:
I dove straight in on this one. I didn’t read the blurb or look for trailers. I worried a little in the beginning of the movie that I was going to be as bored as I was for that first foreign film we watched.

That quickly changed.

Do I think this is something to go screaming from the rooftops about? Ehh, not so much. What I do think is that this was a pretty solid movie. I connected with the main characters and I empathized with them.


I think I would have gotten a little more out of the movie had I been able to tie the musical selections in. Since they weren’t something I could easily recognize (such as the cover songs from that prior film we watched), and there were no subtitles for the lyrics; it was little more than ambient sound as part of the setting backdrop.

My curiosity is piqued by the music mostly because I recognize that there is much significance in every gesture and motion in Indian dance – such as seen in the Bollywood movies. It tells a story as much as the dialogue and other physical acting.

There was a lot of bleakness; but at the same time, the film was full of heart. It was a well told tale of how money can cause as many problems as it solves. I may not feel the need to watch this one again, but at least I do not feel that my time was wasted.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 80%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – None

Netflix’s Prediction for Selina – 3/5
Selina’s Trust-the-Dice Score5/5

Netflix’s Prediction for Cat – 3/5
Cat’s Trust-the-Dice Score3/5

The Random Rating: PG-13 (Keep in mind that this goes by the United States MPAA guidelines. Due to a difference in culture between the U.S. and India, we can't guarantee this meets Indian rating standards.)

Movie Trailer:

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