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FILM REVIEW: ‘THAT GIRL IN YELLOW BOOTS’

Anurag Kashyap’s Much-Anticipated Thriller Finally Arrives in Theaters

By: Parimal M. Rohit
August 29, 2011

(National Film Development Corporation of India) After debuting with the controversial film Paanch and following with equally contentious productions such as Dev D, Black Friday, Gulaal, and No Smoking, Anurag Kashyap's That Girl In Yellow Boots (starring Kalki Koechlin and Nasseruddin Shah) finally opens on September 2nd after debuting at the Venice Film Festival almost a full year earlier.

 

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Also screening at the high-profile Toronto International Film Festival as well as the Ninth Annual indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, That Girl In Yellow Boots thought it would never see the light of day - err, the light of a projector throwing the film's moving images onto a big silver screen.
 
Co-writing the project with the film’s lead star and wife Ms. Koechlin, Mr. Kashyap brings to the big screen a gripping tale of a British girl meandering across India in search of her Indian father (who deserted her and her family 15 years earlier due to a tragedy he was unable to bear).
 
Also starring veteran Bollywood actor Mr. Shah, That Girl In Yellow Boots, consistent with Mr. Kashyap’s filmmaking style, is not your typical Indian movie.
 
Mainstream audiences may struggle to wrap their respective heads around this cerebral production of a 20-year-old woman (Ruth) who balances the rough life of a foreigner living in Mumbai against the many perceptions working against her, including her young age, European features, and relationship status (Ruth is “single” throughout the film).
 
Along the way, Ruth’s search for her sole paternal soul is muddied by escapades with some of the creepiest individuals (drug dealers, henchmen, sex addicts, and philandering men) and the shadiest of situations (her job at a massage parlor and inefficient government bureaucracy operated by corrupt officials).
 
Through it all, That Girl in Yellow Boots keeps viewers from figuring out what comes next, what with the plot’s constant unpredictability and unexpected twists and turns that give the film depth and color.
 
Just the same, the acting performances are solid, as expected in any art house film finding success on the festival circuit. Ms. Koechlin does justice to Ruth, which is more impressive as she lived up to the expectations created by the fact that she helped write the role (with her critically acclaimed director boyfriend, no less). As always, Mr. Shah is his rugged self, bringing an air of earned respect to any role he plays, whether it be friend or foe.
 
Also delivering a solid performance is Prashant Prakash as Ruth’s part-time boyfriend.
 
The story takes a very deliberate pace, so do not expect a fast-paced dramatic thriller. Instead, Mr. Kashyap does in That Girl With Yellow Boots what he always does best: delve deep into the troubled psyche of his protagonist as she battles her demons.
 
Overall, That Girl In Yellow Boots is another gem of a flick from Mr. Kashyap and representative of a new Indian independent film movement that is quickly establishing itself as a mainstay in Mumbai, what with films such as Delhi Belly leading the way.
 
'That Girl With Yellow Boots' opens just after Eid on September 2, 2011.
 
Grade: B