Hot take: Zoo

‘Zoo’ (2018), by Shlok Sharma, is an intriguing portrait of young men and women across class lines and their struggles to escape from their circumstances in the megapolis of Bombay. Shot entirely on iphone, the film follows the lives of two brothers, one of whom works at a cafe but actually peddles drugs for a living and the other who wants to become a football player; a young rich girl haunted by her past who is a coke-addict; and two slum boys who use rap as a means to vent their anger at the system.

The acting performances are good but somewhat inconsistent, and it was lovely to see the lesser-known and more insalubrious parts of Mumbai depicted on screen - like the old fishing villages. The film works as intriguing slice-of-life cinema, especially the thread following the two young rappers which is depicted with the most genuine warmth, but fails in providing true dramatic impact as the writing lacks heft and the plot twists towards the end are not made clear. Overall, an interesting insight into the cages, self-imposed and otherwise, that we are all in.

Genre: Drama

Language: Hindi/English

Runtime: 1h 40min

Year of release: 2018

Streaming platform: N/A

Hot take is a series in which I offer my first impressions of films from India and around the world.