X: Past Is Present
Movie Info
Synopsis
A filmmaker with a mid life crisis meets a mysterious young girl who reminds him of his first girlfriend at first, and subsequently, of every woman in his life.Who is she? Is she real or imaginary? A stalker or a ghost? His past catching up or a character from the script he is writing? A bold and original take on man-woman relationships, X: Past Is Present is a one-of-its-kind feature where 11 Indian filmmakers with strikingly different cinematic styles have come together to make different parts of the same film. One story told through the eyes of 11 unique storytellers.Wikipedia
Starring Cast
X: Past Is Present Reviews
2
Except for one segment, right at the end, which has Swara Bhaskar and the young Jha, and a sense of time and place, the rest have practically no weight, nor heft. They just go past in a blur, without any real markers. The lines sound forced, and Kapoor says them without investing anything in his character.
4
Experiments are good. Hindi cinema certainly has room for more. But you run the risk of things blowing up in your face. That’s what this one does.
6
Skip the movie if abstract scares you, for this will not only scare but also confuse. But do watch it if the intricacies of human mind and relationships intrigue you. Must watch for those interested in the art of filmmaking or storytelling too.
-
What it does tear open is the question of how ethical it is for film reviewers, who are in the business of commenting on other people’s films, have the power to influence opinion about films, to occasionally cross over to the other side. There is no ban on film reviewers/critics becoming filmmakers. But let us not for a second pretend that to get these assignments their clout, access as film critics was not in play. Often there are no rules. Often it is a personal standard of ethic that we all set for ourselves. These men, sadly, set them low.
5
In its misappropriation of Freudian themes, the movie gives its protagonist a truckload of guilt, but nothing more to chew on. And all this, means that the grand statement made isn't anything more than a South Mumbai kid's version of the all-conquering, all-observing, all-knowing feminine power.There's a lot of worship for women that's comes through in X. But is there enough love?
6
X: Past Is Present has its share of dull, grey patches, heightened by the hollow philosophy on life and art that K spouts in his weaker moments. But these are few and far between. From the heady to the humdrum, the film drifts much like the protagonist himself, but, like him again, makes it to a reasonably meaningful destination.
4
Avoid, X : Past is Present. It will fail to suit your filmi palettes and make you stay away from biryani for life with a very grotesque reference. You can do without such negativity.
3
...tries too hard at being modern-day filmmaking but in the lieu forgets audience’s commercial tastes. In one of the dialogues, K says that he does not believe in God but in Science. Well, God, Science and Filmmaking, all three seem to be a lost cause here.
4
Overall, this movie is like a biryani prepared by 11 cooks. You can imagine the taste if one cook has forgotten to inform the other whether he has added salt!
6
Consistency is sorely missing, thanks to different cinematographers and their styles. While it is a strain to train your eyes to adjust to various lightings, it is also an effort to switch from one style of narration to another as it veers from sublime to batshit crazy to downright tacky in the course of just 100-plus minutes. Unfortunately and unnecessarily, one thing that is more or less consistent is the camera’s obsession with lurking in and out of the assets of the women involved.
8
X Past Is Present is an audacious experimental film that left me craving for more. And I am not too sure if I mean that in a good way.
-
Considering how ambitious the intention is, in attempting to diversify the film into various genres and interpretations of love, it is commendable that the present life of K is well tied up with all the other stories set in the past. It just about makes it a watchable, cohesive whole, though not necessarily something that makes sense.
4
X Past is Present is an experiment at best and should be watched as one; if at all!
-
Most Bollywood films are accused of being mind numbing. Brainless and devoid of sense, they attract much of our ire and rightfully so, but sometimes things take a turn for the worse. Every once in a while there appears a film gift wrapped in its own smug air of eccentric madness, dripping with pretentious profundity and pseudo-intellectuality. X-Past is Present is just that.
-
...a cinematic kaleidoscope full of diverse genres, styles, and cast that all come together to fit perfectly and form a colorful film full of expression.
2
...a movie like this sure would have looked good on paper, but its execution just doesn't work well with the viewers. Too many cooks do spoil the broth, we say.
