Netflix’s algorithm works rather strangely, its ‘new releases’ section sometimes featuring films that have been released almost a year ago on the OTT. Also, I’m beginning to doubt the legitimacy of its ‘Trending now’ list which throws in random movies and series to get the audience to watch something they’d probably skip otherwise.
Anyway, Netflix recently threw a 2007 Indian film in my profile, a film I knew about but never watched as the name didn’t appeal to me. But when I finally did go through the film that had been on ‘my list’ for a few weeks “Manorama Six Feet Under” turned out to be the exact kind of movie for which I have Netflix installed.
Inspired by the controversial Roman Polanski 1974 neo-noir classic “Chinatown”, Manorama Six Feet Under is an Indian thriller co-written and directed by Navdeep Singh. Not a commercial success back then, the film turns out to have a cult following, with most critics giving it positive reviews. Released in 2007 when Bollywood was testing the waters for realistic films that broke industry stereotypes (“Swami,” “Khoya Khoya Chand”, “Dharm”), Manorama falls squarely in the list of experimental Bollywood productions that were ahead of their time and served to create benchmarks for the future.
Satyaveer Singh Randhawa (Abhay Deol) is an aspiring writer whose debut novel Manorama has failed miserably. Having been implicated and suspended on bribery charges, the desolate engineer is living a dull life in dry Lakhot in Rajasthan with his wife Nimmi (Gul Panag) and a young son.
Things change overnight when he gets a strange visitor at home—a middle-aged woman who identifies herself as Mrs. P. P. Rathore (Sarika), the wife of the local irrigation minister and former Maharaja P. P. Rathore (Kulbhushan Kharbanda). Mrs Rathore, who claims to be a fan of Satyaveer’s novel, requests him to spy on her husband, who she believes is having an affair.
Initially shocked at the strange request, Satyaveer reluctantly agrees to the woman’s plea in return for a decent sum of money. But in no time, the newly turned private detective finds himself in deep trouble. Satyaveer finds that the woman visiting him is not Mrs Rathore but Manorama, an activist who then suddenly dies by suicide, further complicating the plot for Satyaveer. Intrigued and intimidated at the same time, Satyaveer decides to find out the truth and gets in too deep in a series of mysteries.
Manorama is a slow burner. The events unfold at a grittily sluggish pace, but all that seems to be intentional. The writing and direction serve to divert audience attention from the fact that the film is based in a small and austere town in Rajasthan. The audience is too occupied following the central character of Satyaveer and his small successes and big failures.
This is where we also come to realize that Abhay Deol, as an actor, is criminally underrated in Bollywood. Maybe his belonging to Bollywood’s ‘macho men’ family created unwanted expectations that hindered his career. But he doesn’t lack talent and it is sad that the industry failed to make the best use of it. In Manorama, Deol is the driving force upon whom the whole film revolves. He plays Satyaveer with honesty and consistency throughout.
In a film that is evidently low-budget and doesn’t seem to invest much in creating appealing visuals, the cast, besides strong writing and direction, is the strength of Manorama. It also features the talented Vinay Pathak as Brijmohan, a cop and Satyaveer’s brother-in-law, and one of the early supporting roles played by the now famous Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Chhaila, a local goon.
Who should watch it?
If you haven’t watched Manorama Six Feet Under already, you have missed out on an important thriller movie. Even though the slow pace and length might not appeal to everyone, Manorama is not a film to missed by the lovers of suspense thrillers.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Genre: Crime, drama
Actors: Abhay Deol, Sarika, Vinay Pathak
Director: Navdeep Singh
Run time: 2h 17min
