Black, White and Gray Love Kills review: A plot told with conviction, backed by solid performances
There are flashes of familiarity in Black, White and Gray—Love Kills in the broad thematic connections it is attempting at, between young lovers on the run, and the obstacles that come in their way. Patriarchy, parental opposition, class differences, power structures, are all present in this crime drama, reminding you of several others that have come before. But it stands out in the way it takes us along the ride, joining and erasing the dots, while creating vivid portraits of its characters and societal mores.
I watched the six episodes of about 40-45 minutes each in a single gulp, because it got me invested in the people it was tracking, and wanted to know what happens next. Yes, there are contrivances — the structure of a documentary filmmaker speaking to 'real' people, with a parallel track being played out by those standing in for them, is the biggest of them all — and a few slack, improbable patches, but they are not deal breakers.
Often a mockumentary style calls attention to itself, and stands in between conviction and disbelief. Here, the seguing between the 'real characters' and the actors playing them is pretty seamless, as the boy (Mayur More) and the girl (Palak Jaiswal) run from danger, whose degree shifts with locations (Nagpur, Hyderabad, Uttarakhand, Nepal) and people: a Malayali cab driver (Hakkim Shahjahan), an ex-cop (Tigmanshu Dhulia) having trouble with his sight, an on-duty cop (Kamlesh Sawant), a bounty hunter (Deven Bhojani) and a few others.
A couple of strands don't work as well as the others, especially the ones with a reporter, standing in for a famous real-life man of courage, switching sides, and a haranguing TV anchor, also a stand-in: as ever, the moment a web series tries to get in an authentic portrayal of a newsroom, it comes both comic-book and stagey. Some dialogues are so on-the-nose that you stop in your tracks.
But when it comes to the thing between the 'boy' and 'girl' who go smartly unnamed, it is on the money. Strong mutual attraction doesn't see class, or caste (not specified, again, but clearly hinted at), and both More and Jaiswal are excellent. So is the 'real boy': Sanjay Kumar Sahu's subtle shifts in expression, caught by an adept camera, tell us more than his lines. And Tigmanshu Dhulia's flavourful turn reminds us, over again, that he should do more acting work.
This is an example of a well-cast ensemble working together: having stars front a story almost always causes dis-balance. A plot told with conviction and backed by solid performances, is all you need.
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