Classic: Not Really!

Movie: Classic

Director: Dinesh Raut

Starring: Aryan Sigdel, Namrata Shrestha, and others

In my eyes: 1.5/5

When it comes to movies, love stories are the ones that we have watched so many times. What makes a love story interesting? Answers differ. While happy ones are loved most, I guess the tragic ones are the most famous among others. Classic has one tragic love story to tell, which I found similar to something like ‘the old wine in a new bottle’. Sadly, wine tasted no good.

Honestly, the first half was very boring. The flashback and a couple of twists and turns did not help enough to arouse any engagingness. The second half was better though. The story moved at a good pace and it somehow became interesting to watch, slash the awkward looking conversations. Perhaps, the tragic sentiments helped post interval!

There is nothing new in the story. One of the principal characters is about to die and the drama revolves around the very same premise. Well, you can predict what-what happens. But again, there are twists that are not so helpful. Most of the dialogues are way too formal to digest; they sound like the well-developed sentences in Nepali subject, therefore, making the conversations look acted rather than natural and satisfying.

Direction is not very good. When the screenplay is already just the average one, the good presentation matters highly to lift up the movie but that does not happen in the case of Classic. Characters talk more which prevents from forming the space to connect the audience to the characters’ feelings. The sub-plot of the flashback scene is not convincing. The main drawback alongside the writing is that the movie is unable to hold the grip.

Music is vital here as the main characters have the ambition of their musical career, hence the songs every now and then. The same song gets repeated frequently which sounds annoying after a while even though the song is not bad. Moreover, the high pitch in the songs did not suit much to the actors.

The remembrance of childhood, the drama after knowing that one is about to die, the climax and post-climax scenes pretty much reminds you of Mero Euta Sathi Chha.

Having said all these, there are indeed few good sides too. Few dialogues were actually nice (Malai royeko mann pardaina ani royeko manchhe lai fakauna pani aaudaina / Maile maya gareko maanchhe po hau ta timi) and some sound in the right accordance with the characters as the blindness factor has added a layer to the characterization. Lyrics of Prakritiko Sundar Shristi sounds good as per the setting of movie. The drama post interval is well-handled, i.e. sentimental portions were nice. There are also few occasional comic reliefs, which were laughable enough.

Cinematography is good - visual aesthetics is impressive here. The costumes of Aryan and Namrata are really nice, well, the attractiveness on outer shell… Editing, background score, soundtracks are average.

Coming to performances, it seems like the writing has restrained the actors to give their fullest. Namrata Shrestha is better among all the others. She has played the blind girl quite convincingly. She is good, especially in emotional sequences. Aryan Sigdel is good overall but goes a bit over the top at places. Both of them can deliver better acts than this for sure. Tika Bhakta Jirel is good as Hang dai. Priyanka Karki in the extended cameo is just okay. Romi Wani Ghimire, Samuna KC, Prajwal Sujal Giri and Shakuntala Sharma are average.

Final Say:

Classic suffers due to poor writing and weak presentation. Looks attractive, but only on the surface.

Sadly, it was below the expectations. Doesn’t matter to give it a miss; Classic is not really classic.

And anyway, why is the movie’s name Classic??

Photo Courtesy: facebook.com/namratashrestha.org