Director: Udai Singh Pawar
Cast: Priyanshu Painyuli, Chandrachoor Rai, Shadab Kamal
‘Upstarts’, a Netflix original film in Hindi, aims to weave together a story about the startup scene in India and the various protagonists and antagonists in its wake. Let’s hold it right there for a second..who are these protagonists and antagonists anyway in this ‘ecosystem of dreams’? Is the venture capitalist who refuses to fund a ‘Startup NGO’, simply because it does not guarantee a return for his hard-earned money, an ‘antagonist’? Or is the young founder/CEO of a company that aims to make the world a better place in its own inspiring way, even if it means fudging a few numbers here and there, a ‘protagonist’?
‘Upstarts’ tries to answer all these contradictory questions and more in this ambitious, if not groundbreaking attempt. The main plot revolves around three young men-Kapil, Yash and Vinay (played splendidly by Priyanshu Painyuli, Chandrachoor Rai and Shadab Kamal), who have a compelling new idea for a start-up. The bug bites them hard and there’s no holding them back as they spiral into entrepreneurial delirium. The writers seem to have done their research and various technical jargons from the start-up world are tossed at us from the word go! We hear talk of ‘Valuations’ and ‘Lock-in-periods’ and to the credit of the makers, none of this really feels intrusive or obstructive to the flow of the story.
Just as everything seems to be coming together nicely for Kapil and his friends though, there is a rift. They don’t see eye to eye anymore. And some are affected by this way more than others, Yash for instance. Having walked out of the company he helped found, he falls into an unsettling abyss of alcohol abuse and mental agony. Chandrachoor Rai just laps up this role and his essay of the near-maniacal Yash was one of the biggest highlights in the film for me.
‘Upstarts’ gets more things right than wrong from a filmmaking perspective. There were some oddball scenes that weren’t convincing enough at times. For example, when a village is supposedly hit by severe floods and no other company is able to deliver critical medications, Yash and Vinay coolly drive into town in a Maruti Omni and accomplish this seemingly impossible task! I also felt the various vignettes from the start up world that found their way into the script were quite cliched. Most of these episodes had an air of familiarity about them, especially when compared with popular shows like ‘Silicon Valley’ or even films like David Fincher’s ‘The Social Network’ that dealt with a similar plotline. I would have loved to see more creativity in the writing..some non-linearity in the narration for instance! It’s almost as if the writers wanted to play this real safe, which is surprising considering the film did not have to deal with pressures that come with a traditional box-office release.
The staging of scenes, and dialogues especially were quite impressive throughout. I loved the witty retorts and powerful lines that consistently popped up throughout the film. There is this hilarious scene where Kapil and his team are so broke that they are unable to muster up enough cash to even pay their maid. So what do they do- they cheekily offer her stocks in their company in lieu of her pay! There is also an impressive parallel track about a young woman who tries to attract investors to her ‘Startup NGO’. Some of the disappointments and bias she endures, only because of her gender, are very well brought out and eye opening. The film also teases the audience with the possibility of a romantic track between this character and another key figure but handles this in a really refreshing manner, breaking clichés for a change!
‘Upstarts’ is ultimately one of those films that tend towards the ‘mixed bag’ category but is still memorable enough for some of its hard-hitting messaging. Take the scene towards the end of the film for instance- a beaten down Yash tries to resurrect his career, only to find that the same skills he showed off at the start of the film are now already outdated! You feel for his character, but this is the harsh reality we all face today. The company that Kapil, Yash and Vinay start up is named ‘CarryKaro’ and aptly, the film does have a lot of honest ‘take-aways’ for aspiring entrepreneurs and start-up enthusiasts.
