The Disciple

The movie, The Disciple is the director Chaitanya Tamhane's ode to artists who work hard at their art to master it. The movie has won international accolades when it completes at the 77th Venice International Film Festival. Why am I making a mention of this? This is because this movie is not getting the attention it deserves like many good movies.The reason is what is depicted in the movie itself, there are many artists who are long forgotten and never remembered because they do not get the recognition they deserve. They are lost in time.

This is a subtle yet hard hitting way at a look at the art industry and it's artists. This is a brilliant narration about a young man's journey in the world of music. It is his story of self discovery. This movie reveals itself in layers and tells us what we have been witnessing for years in the field of art.

This is a story of a young boy, Sharad Nerulkar ( Aditya Modak)who is a classical singer who wants to master his art form. He has a Guru, Pandit Vinayak Pradhan who mentors him along with a couple of other students. The background score and the setting is just apt for the situations depicted. This is all about the Guru-shishya varasa and the ways of the art world. The bibs between the teacher and his student is also nicely shown. The acting is brilliant and the inner turmoils and the angst at what is happening around the protagonist is vividly portrayed. This is all about the artists who are forgotten and those who agrees trying to revive their art, and the challenges they are facing in doing so. So many things are left unsaid but they are felt if you see it with an open mind. Subtle references to some great artists are made without being too obvious. There is a constant pointing out at the commercializing of art. There is a mention of how some artists are seen as icons yet there are so many who have not been recognized for their talent and remain obscure.

The change we see in the female participant from the time she auditions in the beginning stage, to what she becomes later, is one such indicator of how art is seen, portrayed and takes shape. It also shows how an artist changes his art to suit the audience for whatever reasons.

So many different aspects of art and artists beautifully portrayed in an interesting manner! Here it was about classical singing but the same truth holds for all kinds of art. This one here is a love story of art and the artist.

The film boasts of some great music recitals for us and leaves us with many questions about whether we are actually honoring the real artists as we should be doing or we are just surrounded by those who have a better PR working behind them.

An intelligent and thought provoking film that is a must watch if you want to watch good cinema. Please be forewarned, this is not be be watched for entertainment, it has more depth in it.

The Disciple is streaming on Netflix.