Chabi Wali Pocket Watch: A Promising Beginning review

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How FTII graduate Vibhu Puri's award winning Diploma film is different from other student films, Bikas Mishra writes

If I’ve to ever make a general statement on student films, I would say they are ambitious, self obsessed some times narcissist, mostly non linear to the extent of being incoherent and emblazoned with tributes to the who’s who of world cinema. What makes Vibhu Puri’s Chabi Wali Pocket Watch stand apart is that it consciously steers clear of most of these fallacies that student films tend to fall prey to.

Over the past five years I’ve seen Vibhu’s works attaining a simplicity very difficult for new filmmakers. What I like the most about his film is that he doesn’t get tempted to trick us by the medium but rather concentrates on the simple yet powerful storyline.

Chabi Wali Pocket watch is the story of Babba, a dying Urdu poet, who writes for himself and refuses to get his work published. Baaba is quite fond of a wannabe big publisher Pappan Miyan but even Miyan couldn’t persuade the old poet to get published. Babba however promises the publisher to keep his writings after his death with the plea that he shouldn’t publish them with his name.

Chabi Wali Pocket Watch is full of symbolism. The dying Babba could be looked at as the humble language Urdu. Pappan Miyan could again represent a whole class of people who don’t love the language but only want to make a career out of it.

The filmmaker’s strength lies in shaping the characters and giving them earthly quality. Babba’s young and pretty daughter has lost her heart to Pappan Miyan and so has Pappan. An unspoken, unfulfilled and intense attraction that either eyes or Urdu poetry could express. ---- camera captures that immaculately.

Even Babba is not a dry humored, dying, decaying character. He’s someone you’ll tend to admire, someone who has an indulgent bath in a tub kept behind his bedroom, who dresses up to celebrate life, flies kites and talks to pigeons. More than anything he understands human desire and craving for love. He is such a lively character that seeing him die would have been unbelievable hence the filmmaker intelligently lets him die off screen.

His daughter is young, pretty, witty and impressionable. The publisher not only wins her over but also gets her convinced to persuade her father to publish his works. Publisher though tries hard to make his career with Babba’s verses but somewhere deep down he’s a devotee, an admirer of the man Babba is.

You watch the film and you feel the kind of efforts has gone into developing the characters. All of them seem complete, who have desires, passions, feeling and a style of their own. Coming back to my general statement on student films, where characters often turn out to be like blinkered horses who don’t look off the road. This is again where Vibhu scores over the rest, his characters are humans not horses.

Mostly the story progresses in a linear fashion, however simultaneously Vibhu adds layers to the narrative. Why I say mostly because it opens with the end, quite uncalled for in such a narrative.

Not only the storytelling but also in terms of production value Chabi Wali Pocket Watch looks quite professional and mature. Cinematography, lighting does add to the story. Editing is seamless. I particularly liked the editing of the song sequence. Yes, this film has a song as well beautifully written and composed. I only realized when I started humming it after watching the film.

Have known Vibhu for almost five years and have seen his tryst with cinema closely through his student films. Vibhu, Chabi Wali Pocket Watch is a significant step forward, don’t look behind, we’re anxiously waiting for your stories to be painted on celluloid. Wish you and every member of the crew and cast all the best.

Note: This film won special Jury Mention in the National Film Awards and was screened at Cannes '2007 in Emerging Filmmakers segment.

The Short Circuit is screening Chabi Wali Pocket Watch on September 8, 2007 at Avishkar, Mumbai. It will also be screened at The FTII Festival on September 9, 2007