Qala Movie Review: Tripti Dimri's Fragile Performance and Amit Trivedi's Evocative Score Empowers Anvita Dutt's Psychological Drama (LatestLY Exclusive)

Qala Movie Review: Anvita Dutt's Qala is a psychological drama set during the emergence of golden phase of music in '50s and '60s. Starring Tripti Dimri in the lead with Swastika Mukherjee, the movie marks the acting debut of late Irrfan Khan's son Babil Khan. Qala is about a popular singer who still suffers from the psychological damage caused by the second-hand treatment meted to her by her own mother, and the guilt of a past crime that comes back to haunt her. Qala Song Shauq: Samir Kochhar and Babil Khan Lip Sync to This Fine Tune In a Clip From the Psychological Drama.

Qala (Tripti Dimri) is that singer who is now at the peak of her career, having just won a Golden Vinyl award for her work and getting praised by none less than then PM Jawaharlal Nehru. At the press conference following her win, we see the first signs of her mental breakdown when she gets spaced out after being asked about her family and a 'brother'. As Qala begins to experience haunting imagery and hallucinations, the movie delves into her past and her tormentous relationship with her mother Urmila, played with required emotional brutality by Swastika Mukherjee.

Watch the Trailer:

Like Dutt's debut directorial Bulbbul, also starring Tripti Dimri, that highlighted strampling of women's privileges in a male dominated hierarchy through a supernatural tale, Qala tries to address the same themes this time as a psychological saga, driven by Amit Trivedi's effervescent score. The entirety of Qala's life and career is being driven by the influence of the men, both present and absent, to the point that she has to take extreme steps to get what she wants and redeem herself in front of her mother.

In the beginning, we see Qala facing a barrage of male reporters, and she has to exclude out one female journalist from them to take her picture. When she suffers from lack of sleep and mental distress, her male doctor (Abhishek Banerjee) blames it on her monthly 'problem' and women issues. Her rise to being a playback singer, delved later in the film, progresses through horrifying compromises.

When the men isn't around to dictate terms, it is the implications of being born in a man's world that plays into the damage right from the time she is born, and it is told to her mother that her twin brother didn't survive the birth. Urmila wants her to be 'Pandit' like Qala's absent father, and nothing less than that, because being a female singer in a film industry, according to her, is nothing less than being a courtesan. Qala is further destroyed emotionally when Urmila takes in her fold and into her home, a talented orphaned singer Jagan (Babil Khan).

Qala's ambition to be a singer is driven by a raging desire to prove herself in Urmila's eyes that she is nothing less than a son, and for Jagan, music is what his life. I am not sure whether Qala recognises if Jagan could be more talented than her, she is seething that she is never given that spotlight to be allowed to shine like him, even by her own mother. This contrast seeps into the prickly relationship Qala and Jagan have with each other, where while Jagan realises what she is going through, can offer mere words of wisdom, and fails to realise the danger her emotional turmoil may cause both of them.

One of the film's most affecting scenes is when Qala, not wanting to be sent away from her home after marriage, tells Urmila that she will marry Jagan, which leaves her mother disgusted. Even though the reason isn't hard to guess, when Urmila says it out loud with enough revulsion, the impact those words feel on Qala is well-depicted and excellently performed by both actors. One another such scene that felt very awkward to watch, but deliberately done so, is when Qala tries to seduce a sleazy composer (Amit Sial), inspired by what she saw her mother do once. It felt like a child attempting to do the forbidden what she thinks adults can get away it. These scenes feel so troubling to watch that even a murder attempt, which is a repercussion of pent-up frustrations, doesn't even come shocking. Qala: Irrfan Khan’s Son Babil Makes His Netflix Debut; Film’s Singer Amit Trivedi Shares, ‘Certain That My Fans Will Shower Love on This Album’.

I couldn't help but be reminded of Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan when watching the protagonist's plight, and the use of certain hallucinatory scenes. I feel the director gives tribute to that film during one such hallucination scene at a party, when Qala even turns into a 'black swan' for a moment.

The gloomy, kinda gothic atmosphere that Dutt brings about with some fantastic imagery created by cinematographer Siddharth Diwan and great use of light and shadows, suits this tragic tale really well.

The movie is easily at its best when the focus falls together on Qala and Urmila and their brittle relationship, but pales significantly in the latter portions that delves into Qala's ascension to be a singer. The final act traipses through a very predictable path, including a tame conclusion, while needlessly spelling out a reveal that we could have easily inferred, without the need to be told.

Performances are quite good throughout, with Tripti Dimri delivering another powerhouse performance and making us thoroughly invested in Qala's turbulent life, even when the slow pacing does the film in. Swastika Mukherjee is excellent. Babil Khan makes a confident debut, the actor especially shining in the singing portions and also in the scene where he meets Qala right after she is done seducing the composer. Amit Sial, Swanand Kirkire, Girija Oak, Varun Grover (playing the most affable male of the lot) do their parts well.

Another stronghold of Qala are the songs. Amit Trivedi's score do not overpower the narrative but blends in well with the pathos, and also special mention to the lyricists Amitabh Bhattacharya, Varun Grover,  Swanand Kirkire and singers Sireesha Bhagavatula and Sireesha Bhagavatula for making each song sound so magnifique.

Final Thoughts

Qala is empowered by a fluid storytelling from Anvita Dutt, powerful performances from Tripti and Swastika. The film is deliberately slow, and the finale may not live up to the expectations, but the movie manages to draw you in with disturbing depiction of skewered gender-politics and some haunting imagery. Qala is streaming on Netflix.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 01, 2022 05:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).