For a large part of this brief film nothing seems to be happening.At least, nothing that we can consider dramatic enough to be considered cinematic in the acceptable sense. As I watched Sarovar Banka’s understated dialectic on the dynamics of the diasporic dilemma I wondered how he convinced his actors to do the film!

Luckily, just like the lead character Ashok, the camera (cinematography by Amol Rathod) doesn’t capture the country like a typical tourist would, but more like one who treats it as a comfortable home with all its flaws. Worth watching once.

It’s hardly surprising that NRI filmmakers manage to capture the essence and eccentricity of our ways with greater restraint. As evident here, theirs is essentially an outsider’s inside perspective, an honest union of craft and storytelling uncluttered by commercial aspirations.

A Decent Arrangement draws inspiration from Nagesh Kukunoor’s much acclaimed Hyderabad Blues but ends up being nothing more than a decent attempt at showing what has already been shown before.