Let's be honest here, October is highly anticipated because we are getting to see a different range of Varun Dhawan as an actor. The movie is directed by Shoojit Sircar with whom Varun Dhawan is collaborating for the first time. Double mint girl Banita Sandhu is making her Bollywood debut with the movie. Like the trailers hinted to us, October is not a movie you usually associate with any Bollywood mainstream leading star. Check out our review below,

Dan (Varun Dhawan) and Shiuli (Banita Sandhu) are hotel management trainees in a five-star property in Delhi. While Shiuli is smart and and an achiever, Dan is more laid-back and irresponsible. Moreover, they are friendly just on professional terms. In an unfortunate accident, Shiuli ends up in a coma. After what was supposed to be a casual visit to the hospital, Dan gets obsessed about her well-being, especially when he learns last thing Shiuli asked before her accident was about him. But is that curiosity reason enough for Dan to nearly ruin his career to take care of her? Or, the bigger question - will he be able to bring her back to normalcy when even the doctors doesn't have much hopes?

October is not like any mainstream movie you have seen in Bollywood. In fact, save for Varun Dhawan's casting, there is nothing mainstream about it. There is no romance to say, even though the movie is about love. There are no songs to act as speed-breakers, or some big twist to say. There are no explanation or exposition about how certain people are behaving. October moves at its own leisurely pace as it wants us to get along with Dan in trying to revive Shiuli.

In short, October is an odd piece of cinema and sometimes that works in its favour. It is not everyone's cup of tea, and will definitely leave you with mixed feelings. There are questions you want to ask - like why is Dan obsessed with Shiuli's condition even before he knows she asked about him? Is he himself suffering from a psychological disorder himself or is he just naive? How is Shiuli's mother managing to afford her daughter's exorbitant medical expenses? Are Shiuli's friends right in not visiting her much as Dan because they have priorities in life?

October makes you ask these questions but never provides the answers. Instead it is just interested in moving along the journey of the two main characters - one who is trying to get back to life and the other trying to find why she asked about him in her last conscious moment, even if it meant ruining his life. And even when it isn't interested in answering questions, October does add a particular nuance to the issue of euthanasia - isn't the victim the right person to decide whether the plug needs to be pulled or not?

Like I said, October is odd.

But there is charm to that oddness. Even when the movie is mostly confined in the air-conditioned grimness of the hospital, Sircar manages to find wry humour, mainly through Dan's naivety in understanding what's going on around him.

The dewy visuals by Avik Mukhopadhyay brings out a never-seen before beauty in Delhi, focussing more on the quaint quietness rather than the bustle. Shantanu Moitra's soft, mellow notes adds poignancy to the proceedings. Shoojit Sircar uses these aspects to add a lovely halo around Dan and Shiuli's bonding, even when the screenplay offers not much to do. In fact, if you are looking for any scene to make an impact, you might be sorely disappointed. The languorous pace might also shake off your interest at times. In these weak moments, what holds October together is Varun Dhawan.

Can I say October is Varun Dhawan's best performance till date? Oh yes, I can! Shorn of his stardom or his entertaining quirks, this is quite a disarming performance from an actor, who is more known for his Dishooms and Judwaa 2s. October rides on the broad shoulders of Varun and he never lets his director down even for a moment. You will fall in love with the laid-back innocence of his character and will feel for him when reality check drives a wedge between him and Shiuli. With this act, Varun Dhawan can acquit himself of a couple more Judwaa's. Okay, fine, let's not get too ahead of ourselves.

In her debut role, Banita Sandhu doesn't get much scope in terms of histrionics. But she does manage to convey a lot through her eyes. Gitanjali Rao who played Shiuli's mother, is fantastic.

On a separate note, being a hotel management student myself (not exactly a success at that), can I ask how Dan gets so many good opportunities in his career despite being such a bad trainee?

Yay!

- Varun Dhawan's career-best performance

- Supporting cast is good, especially Githanjali Rao

- The lovely visuals and the background score

- Shoojit Sircar's assured direction

- Finding wry humour even in tense situations

Nay!

- The languorous pace will be off-putting to general audience

- Some character traits of Dan never explained

- Nothing unusual about the plot

Final Thoughts

October can boast of Varun Dhawan's most interesting, finest performance till date. His performance adds a lovely hue to what can be seen as Shoojit Sircar's dreamy take on life, love and death. Normal cine-goers might find the snail-pace proceedings difficult to ingest. October is a palatable fare to those with a taste for cinema that goes beyond mainstream.

Rating:3.5

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 12, 2018 07:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).