Most of the times, its the star cast, trailer, hype around the budget, rumours about the storyline that are the factors that get people excited about a movie. But it was all quite different for Lucia. Mainly because none of the factors mentioned above were the catalysts behind promoting it.
I had been following Pawan's updates on Facebook since he set shop on Lucia. Not only is this a one of a kind crowd funded Kannada movie but in my opinion, should have actually been called "SociaLucia". Mainly because the musical backbone and tune pumping arteries were actually discovered using Facebook and Youtube. I also felt that Pawan's openness in sharing intricate details of the project regularly was very commendable.
So this meant that as soon as I heard about Lucia being featured on the London Indian Film Festival (LIFF), I booked the tickets for its world première. On the day, me and silent arrived quite early at the venue and saw Pawan walking around quite tensed, mainly because he couldn't connect to the wifi and update his followers. He genuinely sounded quite apologetic that he couldn't carry out live streaming as promised. But must say, a humble guy who still has his feet grounded and a vision set for the stars. He too studied in PESIT and was a dropout and I'm glad he did that!!
I'm not going to play a spoilsport and hence will not be revealing any spoilers here. The movie starts with the hero Satish having a pretty relaxed life as an usher in his close friend's movie theatre (to get the exactly feel of the scene, in his words its "ನಮ್ ಶಂಕರನ್ನನ talkies ನಾಗೆ ಬ್ಯಾಟೆರಿ ಬುಡೋ ಕೆಲಸ ನಂದು") . His only problem in life being insomnia. One day he comes across a few guys who introduce him to "Lucia" which would then change his life totally.
He then starts dreaming that he is a pretty famous movie star who is not devoid of all the fame and glamour attached to it. What follows this is two stories that run in parallel throughout the movie. To differentiate the movie star story from the ಬ್ಯಾಟೆರಿ ಬುಡೋ story, its shown in black and white.
While he maintains a rugged look with a stubble as an usher, he has a clean shaven (surprisingly extremely smart) look as a movie star. For any sequence that occurs in one side of the story, there is a well thought of sequence occurring in the other. While he falls in love with a girl who visits the theatre to watch a movie with her friends, the same girl enters his dreams as an item dancer who starts flirting with him (*plays Jamma Jamma song*).
There are hundreds of such scenarios throughout the movie and I stand the risk of drifting towards revealing spoilers if I start explaining them in detail. The stories move at a good pace on both the sides and at the end, you see a guy who finally finds a cure for his insomnia in a way which most people would find quite calming.
I give the movie a 5/5 for numerous factors. Firstly, because of the story and the vision behind it. Must say, it had a certain "Nolanesque" feel to it. You might hear people saying that its similar to Inception, The Machinist , Insomnia etc but don't believe them. Its nothing like any of them and is based on a totally different concept which I haven't seen in any movie.
Secondly, the music is absolutely fantastic and if you've followed Pawan on Facebook, you would have even seen the long history behind some of the songs which makes it even better. "ನೀ ಮಾಯೆಯೊಳಗೋ, ಮಾಯೆ ನಿನ್ನೊಳಗೊ" is probably one of the best songs that I've heard that actually mirror the situation in the movie. In an essence, the lyrics of that song actually sum up the movie.
Finally, Satish and Sruthi are absolutely wonderful in both their roles. ಕ್ವಾಟಲೆ Satisha has indeed given a kwaatle performance in the movie. When the movie does come out in your city, please watch it as I can guarantee you that its going to be a cult favourite. Oh !! and one more thing, you might want to watch the movie a second time. You'll know the reason once you watch it.
To contribute your bit to become a part of history and also help the movie makers, please do pre-order the movie using the below link.
Preorder Lucia and make the dream come true
Preorder Lucia and make the dream come true
