Film title: Katiyabaaz 

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Genre: Documentary 

Year: 2013 

Dir: Deepti Kakkar and Fahad Mustafa

With last year’s Superman of Malegaon and now Katiyabaaz, two things are confirmed – that India is capable of producing some seriously high quality documentaries, and that the era of India being a hub of brainless masala movies is over. 

Katiyabaaz, a documentary that plays out like a Dibakar Bannerjee movie, tells in its own unique way the story of the power crisis in Kanpur. Veering between real and reel, the film is a comedy, an expose, a satire, a vigilante tale, an unapologetic bit of manipulation and at times one of the most intelligent Indian films I’ve ever seen. It is required viewing not only for those looking for a ‘relevant’ and ‘important’ bit of desi cinema but also for those seeking an entertaining time at the movies.

The film follows Loha Singh, a dark knight-esque figure in Kanpur who fiddles with transformers and reroutes power cables illegally to power the homes of the destitute and give the finger to the tyranny of the Uttar Pradesh government.  We travel with Loha across power-ravaged Kanpur as he hurls one subversive, amusingly scathing statement after another. Loha’s footage is intercut with footage of Ritu Maheshwari, the managing director of Kanpur’s electricity supply company, who struggles to find a middle path between bureaucracy and adhocracy. There’s a method to this, however, as Ritu in her first world luxury exudes helplessness in the face of practicality. Loha becomes a vigilante figure as the story spirals into scripted beats. The contrast between Loha’s acerbic commentary and the Ritu’s practical worldview makes Katiyabaaz and its documentary style provocative and enormous fun.

Directors Deepti Kakkar and Fahad Mustafa had the task of selling the film to the Indian audience that rarely watches documentaries, and they somehow managed to hit the sweet spot. Katiyabaaz might be a docu but is more hilarious, insightful and gorgeous than a feature film. And thanks to Namrata Rao’s editing, the film is an energetic, chaotic look at a world that is foreign to many of us.

Most documentaries have scripted segments and it’s only a matter of how well the filmmakers conceal them. Katiyabaaz has quite a few of these scenes, including shots taken with a crane. But even if the entire documentary is a giant put-on it doesn’t matter, because Katiyabaaz does so many things right. For starters it talks about a major political issue in the most politically volatile Indian state and it does it in a quirky, entertaining style. The film isn’t the final word on the power struggle in UP but it does provide insight into an issue with one of the most interesting protagonists on screen. You might stay in a town where load shedding is the norm, but how many of you know who reroutes cables for a living and what the people in power are actually doing about it?

Moreover, Katiyabaaz has some truly incredible footage and moments, like the scene where a mini riot breaks out when a transformer blows out and the city plunges into darkness. It doesn’t hurt that the film is frantically paced and beautifully scored with Indian Ocean’s music and Varun Grover’s lyrics. The filmmakers’ electric style of rebellion transcends from the protagonist to the film in a scene where Loha has a drunk philosophical argument with his uncle –if that scene was scripted it is brilliant, and if it wasn’t it is still endlessly fascinating and absolutely unforgettable.

Mihir fadnavis is a film critic and certified movie geek who has consumed more movies than meals.