Cast: Rasika Dugal, Alekh Sangal, Sudhir Pednekar
Director: Karan Gour
"If you ever looked at me once with what I know is in you, I would be your slave." Emily Bronte's words might captivate minds and hearts in a romantic way but these very words also form the theme of Karan Gour's much acclaimed film 'Kshay'. One woman's obsession with an idol of Goddess Lakshmi completely changes the course of her life. 'Kshay' revolves around a housewife (Chaya) and her fixation for the statue which completely enslaves her mind and soul.
Married to a construction worker Arvind, Chaya finds it difficult to make ends meet, but she finds a way to persuade her husband to buy the idol. Undergone the trauma of miscarriage, Chaya begins to believe that the idol will change things in her life and soon her faith turns into an obsession.
Interestingly, 'Kshay' is multi layered and the director beautifully uses Goddess Lakshmi as a metaphor in the film. The idol is shown as the Goddess of wealth and every person's obsession to acquire the same.
But at the same time, Gour beautifully uses the undertone of romance in the film. Though, 'Kshay' advertently uses obsession for wealth as the metaphor in the film, but it also subtly brings to light the subject of love. Be it Chaya's love for the unborn child or her love for the idol or Arvind's love for Chaya, the film somewhere makes obsession and romance become the major point of yearning for the protagonists.
Her yearning for a child takes a turn when her hope suddenly turns into an obsession. From selling her household to stealing her friend's jewellery to physically torturing herself, Chaya's psychological decline forms the crux of the film.
A gripping tale, 'Kshay' manages to keep you hooked on till the end. Shot in black and white, 'Kshay' brings to light Chaya's psychological decline through her disturbing dreams and illusions. Gour gives haunting music score more space than dialogues in the film, making the audience feel every inch of pain that his protagonist goes through.
The jarring close ups and the grainy effect adds to the entire drama making it a brilliant piece of work.
Rasika Dugal fits into the character of a lonely wife driven by the obsession to acquire the Lakshmi idol. Her long pauses and blank expressions make you cringe at most of the points in the film and undoubtedly the actress stands tall as the backbone of 'Kshay' doing every bit of justice to the script of the film. Complementing her in the role of husband, Alekh Sangal comes across as a loving husband who goes to lengths to keep up with wife's maddening obsession with the idol.
'Kshay' stands firm on the ground it terms of a strong screenplay and some stellar performances by Rasika and Alekh. The gripping tale might turn depressing towards the end but unlike other Indie films, 'Kshay' is high on blood, gore and intense drama. Karan Gour take a bow!####
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