★★
Hoping to do good while making millions, three graduates create a startup. But as business begins to flourish, their own bond starts to fray.
Classification: 15
This ineffective examination of India's own silicon valley in both predictable and forgettable as writer-director Udai Singh Pawar go through the most obvious success and divisions for his characters. Creating a phone app that can deliver medicine to poor Indian villages, main characters Kapil, Yash, and Vinay develop the "Uber of medicine delivery" and stake their futures in the success of the startup. Soon however outside influences of wealthy investors and shady business practices drives wedges between the characters as they become prey to their worst instincts. Upstarts due to its conventional storytelling and characters is unable to deliver a compelling narrative to make the messaging resonate to the disinterested audience.
Pawar has social issues woven through his story including suicide and alcoholism, wanting to provide a message on how newer technologies can combat colossal strife and issues. The character's app "Carry Karo" is designed with humanitarian goals in mind but because of the obvious "evil rich investor" storyline, these additions seem trivial and only included to create superficial drama between the characters than any meaningful commentary. The character of Yash portrayed by Chandrachoor Rai storyline has a strong start, a bright young man fearful for his father's illness and suffering from financial stress from the startup begins heavily drinking. It's Upstarts attempt to inject reality into the fantasy of being a part of a wildly successful business, while Kapil reaps the benefits his friends and what he believes in suffer because of his selfish desires. The glamour of wealth and success divides the friends but the script doesn't create anything new or interesting with this conflict and just becomes a standard man realises vast wealth doesn't equal happiness story.
The most engaging element to the film is its setting of India and having their startup address serious issues in the country. However, just like its characters its all bogged down by the exaggerated dramatics, Upstarts doesn't seem to want to put the country's issues under the microscope just to use them as a backdrop for the characters cliché bickering. That is, unfortunately, all Pawar can do with his film as the script makes all the personal issues, boardroom betrayals and social commentary just feel like poor recreations. The actors do what they can to make the characters sympathetic but there is no standout performance and outside of the main three, the rest are delegated to shallow stereotypes.
Nothing about Upstarts grabs the audience and makes it noteworthy even in our technology fuelled world. It doesn't necessarily fail in what it sets out to do but it makes no noise or impact in how it tells its story, it's just bland and forgettable. It's a well-intentioned attempt from Udai Singh Pawar but without any compelling filmmaking or performances, there is very little on offer to make the film worth investing in.
Director: #UdaiSinghPawar
Release Date: October 18th 2019
Available exclusively on Netflix
Trailer:
Written review copyright ©CoreyBullochReviews
Images and Synopsis from the Internet Movie Database
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