UI review: Two hours of torture that passes off for a movie that you’ve to decode

UI (Kannada)Cinema as a medium commands and deserves respect, both from its audience and those who work in it, especially directors and actors. So, how does one review a film where the hero and director are the same person, and when both work in tandem to leave you with a confused set of images that lead nowhere. What if they rest on past glories, justified or not, and leave you with problematic imagery and dialogues that leave your head spinning, and make you so want to say, ‘Boss, idhu 2024. 1980s alla’. By now, after years of practice, you kind of know what to expect in an Upendra movie. He swears by shock value and that worked till a certain age and time. Not any more. People even in the so-called B and C centres are used to craft in filmmaking. Or, at least, the bare minimum — a storyline or an experience..UI, which came riding a blitzkrieg of promotion, offers a smorgasbord of garish images — the colour is so saturated, it hurts your eyes. And the music, oh dear lord, is that really you, Ajaneesh? What was that god awful simpering moan of a woman in the background every time a woman appeared on screen?So, what’s the story you ask? After two hours and 13 minutes, I know this: A mother (let’s presume she’s Mother Earth) is violated by the world (in this case, men) — Upendra shows us this in psychedelic colours in a Utopian forest. She has two children or one and an alter ego — Satya and Kalki (both Upendra, but one wears white, the other black). This is what I understood anyway. Kalki imprisons Satya, who is the sort of person who takes a beating so someone else can go free, and sets about trying to right the wrong that happened to his mother. And to nature. And to the world. Oh, in between, there’s a bit of Adam and Eve too, and Achyuth Kumar as a godman. There are some things that can drive even those who are peace-loving into violence — wasting Achyuth Kumar in a role like this is one of them. After this, I shall wait for the decoding that’s bound to happen online to understand the film. The director himself is very eager for people to decode the introduction and the climax. This is but one part of the story. There’s another tangent — a movie called UI (very clever only!) plays in cinema halls to rapturous, even hypnotic, response, and everyone wants the film banned. A famous film critic, in this day of instant reviews, tells an anchor after a week’s delay that he will write his review after more research. Fifteen days to write a review. Very nice.So, he heads out to find out why people are reacting strangely to the film — a husband and wife break up happily, two pairs walk out, and the girls decide they are in love, leaving the boys all faint, a thug gives away his things, and also, point to be noted, his wife, to his friend. All of this sounds very nice, but where’s the scaffolding to hold all these bizarre thoughts together? Image after image, scene after scene flits across the scene, to the snatch of music, and you watch, like you watch reels in the pale glow of the early morning hours when sleep evades you. You consume everything, you consume nothing.Upendra seems to have a thing for Russia in the film — there’s one faint line that kind of hints at Afghanistan and the role played by the USSR and the US (who are depicted as wives!), but before you can ponder, the rest takes over. Many Russian girls surround Kalki. He’s basically surrounded by girls, who he trains the camera on, because the moaning background music has to be used, no? There’s a song too — aptly called “Cheap Song”, full marks for that, which compares sizes! The utter horror.There’s a heroine too — who happily indulges in self-harm without a warning on screen. She’s the kind of loosu ponnu we thought filmmakers had said bye to. She’s the person who delights when there’s a strand of hair in a ball of rice, because that makes the heart fonder. Bring on that headache roll-on now! It’s better to not write women characters, if this is what we are to get.For added effect, Upendra has people with dwarfism thrown in for some novelty value — their job is to walk in a train holding things, or press the feet of their masters. Nostalgia is a wonderful thing — it triggers love for people and the things they create, and makes you very forgiving as a person. But, there’s one terrible thing about nostalgia. It prevents you from calling out a wrong too, because of sheer loyalty. That’s how mediocrity is tolerated, even encouraged. Don’t be that person. Nostalgia has its place — in the past. To conclude, there is one thing I definitely did wrong today. One scene in the film clearly said: “If you are intelligent, get out of the theatre right now!” I’ve always been a self-doubter. Damn!Subha J Rao is an entertainment journalist covering Tamil and Kannada cinema and is based out of Mangaluru, Karnataka.Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Neither TNM nor any of its reviewers have any sort of business relationship with the film’s producers or any other members of its cast and crew.