Sequeira
Director: Raj Purohit
Star Report Rating: ***
Sometimes you go in with zero advance
knowledge of the film, and it surprises
you. Sixteen does exactly that, giving
you a bunch of mostly well-to-do Delhi-
based 16 year olds, and their brand of
confused, teenage angst, observed with a fair degree of sharpness and humour.
These are young people in 4G mode,
constantly on their cell-phones, exploring
their sexual selves, living parallel lives in
school and at home, trying to make
sense of the world around them. Tanisha
(Gabbi) lives with her youthful, single aunt, and looks upon a
slightly older man
(Sequeira) who has moved in as a tenant
with a clear-eyed amusement. "Arre,
uncle hai", she tells her pals, but the film
takes us to an interesting place between
Mehek and the said "uncle". Nidhi (Manwani) is her papa's darling and likes
to take it slow, not wanting to be
pushed into 'non-virgin-hood', just
because her pushy boyfriend can't wait.
Anu (Liete) comes from a home which
doesn't really give her a familial, comforting cushion, leaving her to fend
for herself. And Ashwin (Mathew) comes
from a slightly less well-off background,
with a father who wants him to breach
the IAS wall, regardless of the cost to his
son.
While the film does stretch, and becomes
slightly stagey in places (Ashwin's track
that takes him away from Delhi after a
tragedy, and dumps him in a place
where crime is his only recourse,
fumbles), most of Sixteen seems true to its subjects, and subject. The girls are
especially well-drawn, getting better
lines and situations than the boys/men.
And the lines seem true to life. This is
pretty much how the young are: slangy,
smart-alecky and uncaring of authority, though you do wonder if the young
female of a certain privileged metro
background should be comfortable
slinging about the word 'b---c'. Or is it
just an address, not invective?
There is heartbreak, and heartache here,
minus exaggeration. And some life-
affirming scenes, even if the film nearly
ends on a lecture about how 16-year-
olds can be the most misunderstood
breed. This Sixteen is slight, but stays fresh and honest for the most part.
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