qala movie review in hindi

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Qala Review : A haunting tale of validation and penance

In-depth analysis.

Our overall critic’s rating is not an average of the sub scores below.

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Users' Reviews

Refrain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks, name calling or inciting hatred against any community. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines by marking them offensive . Let's work together to keep the conversation civil.

Seema David 375 days ago

Excellent movie. Refreshing one. A thousand times better than the 100 crore club movies. Watched it a few hours before and here i am! Still haunting!

Ram Thakur 596 days ago

Gem of a movie. Excellent direction, sterling performances by actors. Babil Khan makes an impressive debut. I see a promising career ahead of him. The apt use of Chamba folk song Ämma puchdi . . .", especially at the end of the movie.

M k 623 days ago

Underrated movie of 2022. Unique way of story telling started in India by this movie. Movie's cinematography is superb. This deserves more popularity.This musical movie gives vibes of the old songs .This movie has separate fanbase. Highly recommended movie

Rohit 631 days ago

Good Movie Nice and Well

Himanshu Chawda 632 days ago

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Qala Review: संगीत और सस्पेंस से भरी है कला, बाबिल खान-तृप्ति डिमरी ने किया कमाल

कला को डायरेक्टर अन्विता दत्त ने बनाया है. अन्विता ने एक चित्रकार और संगीतकार के रूप में ये फिल्म बनाई है. फिल्म आजादी के बाद के भारत की है. इसमें उस जमाने की संगीत की दुनिया दिखाई गई है, जब इंडस्ट्री कलकत्ता में हुआ करती थी. तृप्ति डिमरी, बाबिल खान की इस फिल्म का रिव्यू पढ़िए..

अमित त्यागी

• 01 दिसंबर 2022,
• (अपडेटेड 01 दिसंबर 2022, 7:32 PM IST)

• कलाकार : तृप्ति डिमरी, बाबिल खान, स्वस्तिका मुखर्जी, समीर कोचर, वरुण ग्रोवर
• निर्देशक : अन्विता दत्त 

जो लोग सिनेमाघर में फिल्में नहीं देख पा रहे हैं उनके लिए अब ओटीटी चैनल्स एक नया विकल्प बन गया है. मेकर्स ने भी अपनी फिल्मों को सिनेमा से अलग हट के ओटीटी पर रिलीज करना शुरू कर दिया है. ऐसी ही एक फिल्म आज नेटफ्लिक्स पर आई है, जिसका नाम है कला (Qala).

कला को डायरेक्टर अन्विता दत्त ने बनाया है. अन्विता ने एक चित्रकार और संगीतकार के रूप में ये फिल्म बनाई है. कला के मुख्य किरदार लता मंगेशकर, के एल सहगल, नूरजहां जैसी सितारों से प्रभावित है. कश्मीर की वादियां और मुंबई में सेट्स के साथ 40 के दशक के ग्रामोफोन म्यूजिक और फिल्म इंडस्ट्री की पॉलिटिक्स को इसमें दिखाया गया है. इंसान सबसे भाग सकता है लेकिन अपने आप से नहीं और कैसे अपना पाप खुद को ही सजा देता है ये इस फिल्म का सार है. यही बात ये फिल्म... संगीत... पात्र और चलचित्रों के माध्यम से कहती है.

जानते है इस हफ्ते नेटफ्लिक्स पर रिलीज हुई फिल्म कला में दिखाई गईं कुछ खास बातें - 

सम्बंधित ख़बरें

अनुष्का शर्मा की मॉर्निंग डाइट में क्या खास? 

इन एक्टर्स का कारगिल युद्ध से कनेक्शन, किसी के पिता ने लड़ी जंग, किसी ने खुद लिया हिस्सा 

लंदन शिफ्ट होने की चर्चाओं के बीच 'विरुष्का' की फोटोज़ वायरल 

कोकीन केस में फंसे रकुल प्रीत सिंह के भाई, अंबानी वेडिंग छोड़ सत्संग में बिजी अनुष्का-विराट  

अनुष्का शर्मा को लेकर क्या सोचते हैं विराट कोहली? देखें VIDEO 

अभिनय और कलाकार 

तृप्ति डिमरी ने बुलबुल के बाद एक और शानदार परफॉरमेंस दी है. फ़िल्म की कहानी शुरू से अंत से तृप्ति के किरदार के इर्द-गिर्द घूमती है. दिवंगत अभिनेता इरफान खान के बेटे बाबिल खान ने इस फिल्म से अभिनय के क्षेत्र में कदम रखा है. फिल्म में बाबिल का रोल काफी छोटा लेकिन अहम है. अपने अभिनय ने उन्होंने छाप छोड़ी है. फिल्म में एक और अहम रोल बंगाली फिल्मों की अभिनेत्री स्वातिका मुखर्जी का है. मशहूर लेखक और कॉमेडियन वरुण ग्रोवर भी मजबूत किरदार निभाया है.

फिल्म आजादी के बाद के भारत की है. इसमें उस जमाने की संगीत की दुनिया दिखाई गई है, जब इंडस्ट्री कलकत्ता में हुआ करती थी. किस्सा है 40 के दशक की फिल्मों की सफल गायिका कला का है, जो अपने अतीत से जूझ रही है. कला की कामयाबी के पीछे है उसका एक काला सच है, जो उसकी गाने की कला पर काले साये की तरह मंडराता है. साथ ही कहानी हिमाचल में कला के बचपन की भी चलती है, जहां उसकी मां उर्मिला उसकी संगीत गुरु है. लेकिन उर्मिला, कला को गायिका के रूप में नहीं देखती. बचपन से ही कला अपनी मां की संगीत कला को पाने की कोशिश करती है, लेकिन मां को उसकी कला पर विश्वास नहीं. 

ऐसे में उनके घर में आता है जगन, जो अनाथ है लेकिन गाने की कला में पारंगत है. उर्मिला, जगन को गायक बनाने में जुट जाती है और कला फिर से कुंठीत हो जाती है. उर्मिला, जगन को कलकत्ता के मशहूर संगीतकार से मिलाने ले जाती है. लेकिन वहां जगन की तबीयत अचानक खराब हो जाती है और फिर धीरे-धीरे कहानी भयंकर ट्विस्ट लेती है. ये क्या ट्विस्ट है, कला की कहानी कहां खत्म होती है? जगन के साथ क्या हुआ? ये सब फिल्म में देखने वाली बातें हैं. 

फिल्म की मुख्य बातें  

फिल्म में कश्मीर की वादियों को दिखाया गया है. बर्फ फिल्म को अलग रंग देती है. फिल्म का चित्रांकन बहुत खूबसूरत है. संगीत, फिल्म कला की कहानी का किरदार है और हर तरह के गाने इसको आगे बढ़ाते हैं. सभी कलाकारों का लुक और अंदाज बेहद सहज और 40 के दशक के अनुकूल है.

फिल्म में कलकत्ता का हावड़ा ब्रिज बनते हुए बैकग्राउंड में दिखना और म्यूजिक की रिकॉर्डिंग के सुनहरे पल सभी देखना काफी बढ़िया लगता है. फिल्म की नायिका कला को सब दीदी कहते है जो लगता है लता मंगेशकर से प्रेरित है. बाबिल का किरदार के एल सहगल से प्रेरित लगता है. इसकी गति धीमी है, जिसकी वजह से आप कभी-कभी बोझिल हो जाते हैं. लेकिन ये अपनी कहानी और पात्रों के अभिनय से आपको बांधे रखती है. तृप्ति और बाबिल का प्रेम फिल्म की मुख्य कहानी में कहीं दब गया, लेकिन दोनों कलाकारों का अपनी आंखों से अभिनय आपके दिल में जगह करता है.

क्यों देखें फिल्म?

कुल मिलाकर कला एक आम बॉलीवुड मसाला फिल्म से हटकर कुछ अलग कहने की कोशिश है. भारतीय सिनेमा में हमेशा कला पर आर्ट फिल्में और मसाला फिल्म एक साथ पसंद की जाती रही है. बस फर्क ये है कि आजकल ओटीटी पर इस तरह की फिल्मों को देखने का एक झरोखा मिल गया है, जो पिछले कुछ समय से फिल्म फेस्टिवल और क्रिटिक्स को मिलता था. जिसे कला और संगीत पर आधारित सीरियस सिनेमा पसंद है उन्हें ये फिल्म जरूर पसंद आएगी.

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Qala Review: Period Drama Rides On Impressive Turns By Triptii Dimri And Swastika Mukherjee

Qala review: the film also gives debutant babil khan the space to deliver a poignant act as a gifted but ill-fated singer proud of his talent..

Cast: Triptii Dimri, Swastika Mukherjee, Babil Khan, Amit Sial and Varun Grover

Director : Anvita Dutt

Rating : 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Fastidiously designed, heavily stylised and occasionally stolid, Qala is a music-themed, female-centric period drama that looks and sounds absolutely glorious. Powered as much by director Anvita Dutt's screenplay as by its cinematography, production design, soundscape and editing, the film delivers enough by way of theme and treatment not to be merely a surface-level sensory experience.

In soul and spirit, Dutt's soulful sophomore venture scores on many fronts, not the least of which is its sensitive exploration of the mental toll that ambition, success and disillusionment can take on the emotionally vulnerable in a cutthroat world that gives nobody any quarters, certainly not if it is a girl scarred in the manner of the film's eponymous protagonist.

Set in the 1930s, when Calcutta was the hub of Hindi film music, Qala tells the story of a female playback singer caught in a web of defeats and deceits, part of which are of her own making. Her life revolves around music and her mother. Single-minded pursuit of the former distances her from the love of the latter. The consequences are disastrous.

A meditative study of the daunting hurdles that stand in the way of a girl who deserves better, Qala is a worthy follow-up to the writer-director's debut film, Bulbbul. It sees Dutt reunite not only with Netflix, but also with producer Karnesh Sharma of Clean Slate Filmz, music director Amit Trivedi, cinematographer Siddharth Diwan and actor Triptii Dimri. The repeat collaboration yields another film that is chiselled with care, if only at times with overt artifice.

The occult makes way for the worldly. A young woman, pretty much like the child bride of Bulbbul , is up against a male-dominated society in which she has to work much harder than the men to get ahead in life. In the bargain, she must pay a high physical and emotional price.

The progress that the protagonist makes against all odds is slow and agonising, with her mother, who believes she has the girl's best interest at heart, playing both facilitator and spoilsport. There is something wrong with me, Qala intones when the family physician pays her visit after she has had a meltdown. That is a line she will have reason to repeat even when circumstances seem to be changing for the better.

Bulbbul was a feminist supernatural thriller set in 19th century Bengal. Qala , with an equally strong gender-sensitive core, is a tale that depicts the struggles of a young girl in pre-Independence India fighting for a niche in the fields of classical music and playback singing.

When a Solan boy Jagan Batwal (debutant Babil Khan), who literally comes in from the cold, infiltrates Qala 's world with the tacit encouragement of her mother Urmila (Swastika Mukherjee), the fragile girl faces a deep abyss and encounters noises in her head and fear in her heart. She is in danger of being deprived of the role she has always aspired to play as the undisputed bearer of a generations-old musical legacy.

A tragic past, her fraught relationship with her mother, the sudden advent of a male rival who threatens to scuttle her chances of making it big and her despairing response to the worsening situation combine to push Qala over the edge.

The director demonstrates a self-assured hand all the way through. She does not give in to the temptation of resorting to grand, overdramatic flourishes. She banks instead on a blend of suggestions and subtle sleights to capture the delicate state of Qala 's life and mind. Her screenplay keeps a tight leash on the protagonist's gradual descent into dire straits.

The line dividing the ponderous and the contemplative is inevitably thin. There are moments in Qala that seem a touch stagey, but the taut script ensures that the deliberate narrative arc moves along smoothly, never letting the focus shift from the struggles of the vocalist who resorts to measures that aggravate her relationship with her mother.

It is when dealing with the grey shades of the two principal characters - both mother and daughter have inner demons to ward off in the process of trying to realise their personal and familial dreams - that Qala is at its very best.

The depiction of two women determined to keep their music alive even as they take divergent routes in that direction is marked by understatement. The artistic choice to utilise visual methods rather than overtly emotional sweeps serves the film well for the most part. It carves out two differing portraits of pain, one of a mother looking for replacement for a son she has never had, the other of a daughter battling for agency in a milieu that militates against her need to assert and express herself.

Qala rides on a pair of impressive pivotal turns by Triptii Dimri and Swastika Mukherjee. They dig deep into the souls of two women who are as ambitious as they are susceptible to bouts of weakness and come up with compelling performances. The film also gives debutant Babil Khan the space to deliver a poignant act as a gifted but ill-fated singer proud of his talent.

Flitting between a feudal mansion in Himachal Pradesh and Calcutta, Qala is obviously a fictional tale. It, however, gives its supporting characters names that bring to mind Hindi film music greats of yore. The leading singer of the era is Chandan Lal Sanyal (Sameer Kochhar), a music composer is Sumant Kumar (Amit Sial) and a lyricist is Majrooh (Varun Grover). To top it all, Anushka Sharma appears in a black and white song sequence in which she evokes Madhubala.

Neither of these characters is derived from the realms of reality. Neither is the city that they work out of. Calcutta is the backdrop for a large part of the story but the city is recreated rather than real.

In one scene, an incomplete (presumably computer-generated Howrah Bridge looms in the background (in the form of a time-framing device) as Qala , at a crucial juncture of her career, negotiates with a demanding composer who believes that she isn't a finished article yet. The construction of the cantilever across the Hooghly began in the mid-1930s. With two ends of the bridge jutting outing over the river and link between them missing suggests that some years have passed.

A snow-covered Kashmir stands in for Himachal. The 'cheating' does not take anything away from the exquisite texture that the production designer and the director of photography are able to create and sustain. The constant interplay of light and shade, of warm interiors and cold exteriors, of subdued hues and extravagant glows lends the film visual variety and depth and accentuates the psychological dimensions that are at play.

Qala is out and out a director's film that has ample room for the technicians and the actors to give full rein to their skills. Meticulous to a fault, parts of the film might seem somewhat overwrought but the issues and concerns that it embeds in a story set eight decades ago have an unfailingly contemporary resonance.

• Cast Triptii Dimri, Swastika Mukherjee, Babil Khan, Amit Sial and Varun Grover
• Director Anvita Dutt

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Qala Review: हिंदी सिनेमा में फिर बजे हिंदुस्तानी सरगम के साज, अमित त्रिवेदी का संगीत बना फिल्म का असली हीरो

कुपुत्रो जायते, माता कुमाता न भवति, मानने वाले देश में फिल्म ‘कला’ एक ऐसी मां की कहानी है जिसे अपनी सगी बेटी से ज्यादा गुरुद्वारे से उठाकर लाए गए गवैये से प्यार है।  

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नेटफ्लिक्स वाकई हिंदुस्तानी हो रहा है। डरा हुआ सा, सहमा हुआ सा। कभी खराब से खराब फिल्में रिलीज के हफ्ते भर पहले दिखा देने वाला नेटफ्लिक्स अब अपनी बेहतरीन फिल्में भी रिलीज के दिन तक सीने से लगाकर रखता है। कला के क्षेत्र में डरना अच्छे दिनों की पहचान है। हर कलाकार के भीतर अपनी नई कलाकृति को लेकर ये डर बना ही रहता है। अंग्रेजी में जिसे ‘बटरफ्लाईज इन स्टमक’ कहते हैं और हिंदी में नरभसाना भी कह जाते हैं, वैसा ही कुछ हाल नेटफ्लिक्स का लगता है। लेकिन, उसका कहानियों का चयन इधर शानदार हो चला है। ‘मोनिका ओ माय डार्लिंग’ के तुरंत बाद ‘कला’। एक और ऐसी फिल्म जिसे देखने का और साथ ही सुनने का असली मजा सिनेमा हॉल में ही आ सकता है। फिर भी अगर ये फिल्म आप अपने स्मार्ट टीवी पर बढ़िया म्यूजिक सिस्टम के साथ देखें तो जाता हुआ साल थोड़ा और सिनेमाई हो जाएगा। कला फिल्म हिंदी फिल्मों के लौटकर ‘सिनेमा’ की तरफ आने की जोर की दस्तक है और ये दस्तक इस बात की भी है कि अमित त्रिवेदी को हिंदी फिल्मों के बड़े निर्माता खुली छूट दें तो वह अब भी सिर्फ अपने गानों के बूते दर्शकों को खींचकर सिनेमाघरों तक ला सकते हैं।

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फॉन्ट साइज चुनने की सुविधा केवल एप पर उपलब्ध है

अमर उजाला एप इंस्टॉल कर रजिस्टर करें और 100 कॉइन्स पाएं, केवल नए रजिस्ट्रेशन पर, अब मिलेगी लेटेस्ट, ट्रेंडिंग और ब्रेकिंग न्यूज आपके व्हाट्सएप पर.

सभी नौकरियों के बारे में जानने के लिए अभी डाउनलोड करें अमर उजाला ऐप

क्षमा करें यह सर्विस उपलब्ध नहीं है कृपया किसी और माध्यम से लॉगिन करने की कोशिश करें

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• Qala Movie Review: Tripti Dimri, Babil Khan's Musical Period Drama Marks The Journey Of Envy And Jealousy

Qala Movie Review: Tripti Dimri, Babil Khan's musical period drama marks the journey of envy and jealousy

The movie qala impressively brings together the beauty and the dark reality of the music world, backed by great direction, cinematography and background score. the film is not just a must-watch but an experience to be lived..

• Movie Name: Qala
• Critics Rating: 3.5 / 5
• Release Date: DEC 1, 2022
• Director: Anvita Dutt
• Genre: Psychological thriller

Qala Movie Review: The impeccable portrayal of envy and jealousy by Tripti Dimri and Babil Khan in the movie has won the hearts of the audience. The relationship between a mother (played by Swastika Mukherjee) and a daughter (played by Tripti Dimri) in a male-dominated society and the struggles to fit in the space are well displayed in the movie. Anvita Dutt’s psychological drama ‘Qala’ is like an impressionist painting. The background is perfect, whether it is the snowy mountains of Himachal, or the warm, jewelled tones of a Calcutta night, with a boat gliding down the Hooghly bridge. 

Set in the 1930s, when Calcutta was the hub of Hindi film music, Qala tells the story of a female playback singer caught in a web of defeats and deceits, part of which are of her own making. Her life revolves around music and her mother. Single-minded pursuit of the former distances her from the love of the latter. The consequences are disastrous. Both the actors Tripti and Babil justified the characters. Marking the first step in Bollywood, Irfan Khan's son Babil has rightfully taken over the legacy of his father. A glimpse of his late father is evidently visible in his acting skills. 

As a young girl, Qala wishes to become a great singer, mostly to win her mother Urmila's approval. The flashbacks reveal how they live isolated in a dimly-lit house in the Himachal, where her mother tells her that she has to work harder than any man to achieve success as a playback singer. Qala constantly shifts from the present to the past, as Anvita tries to situate her views in the mind of her female protagonist. Whether we see her hallucinating or crumbling down with nervousness, there is a certain confidence in the way the director constructs the narrative fabric of Qala. Yet, Qala's journey is built in a suspended deceit that does not quite know where to focus. 

The constant interplay of light and shade, of warm interiors and cold exteriors, of subdued hues and extravagant glow lends the film visual variety and depth along with accentuating the psychological dimensions that are at play.

Gorgeously shot by Siddharth Diwan, each scene is mapped out like a painting. Meenal Agarwal's production design serves as a dreamlike space for these characters to inhabit. 

Overall, Qala impressively brings together the beauty and the dark reality of the music world, backed by great direction, cinematography and background score. The film is not just a must-watch but an experience to be lived.

Watch Qala trailer:

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‘Qala’ movie review: Anvitaa Dutt’s mother-daughter tale is poignant and admirable

Marked by uplifting music and stirring lyrics, this tragic tale of a singer is worth admiring thanks to a formidable swastika mukherjee and a confident debut from babil khan.

December 02, 2022 07:36 pm | Updated 07:38 pm IST

Tripti Dimri in a still from ‘Qala’ | Photo Credit: Netflix

In an industry where storytellers usually avoid negotiating the mindscapes of their protagonists, writer-director Anvita Dutta is an exception. After the spooky Bulbbul , she weaves a musical exploration of the mind of a cuckoo-like girl who is caught between ambition and skill, between expectations and reality. It is difficult to like or empathise with Qala (Triptii Dimri). Like a cuckoo, she is a parasite. A doctor tells us that in her mother’s womb, she sucked her twin brother’s nutrition. Later, when she could not meet the standards set by her demanding mother Urmila (Swastika Mukherjee), a thumri singer past her prime, Qala decides to cull competition at home by making compromises that she ironically learnt while watching her mother walk on feet of clay.

But, in the process, Qala starts loathing her imposter self and descends into a vacuum. But the noise of her soul continues to trouble her. It is a tragic situation, and, in Amit Trivedi and a string of top lyricists of our time — Amitabh Bhattacharya, Swanand Kirkire, Kausar Munir, and Varun Grover — Anvitaa has a team to give voice to the chaos that plays havoc in Qala’s mind. Together with cinematographer Siddharth Divan and production designer Meenal Agrawal, she painstakingly paints the fuzzy inner world of Qala.

Qala (Hindi)

However, the magic of the visual and sonic tapestry doesn’t translate into interesting characters and motivations. There are moments that capture the tenuous relationship between the mother and daughter, but the screenwriting is more like sentences that have all the words, but in the wrong order. You can see that it is about a mother coming in the way of a daughter due to centuries of patriarchy, but there has to be something more that makes Qala wilt so easily. The screenplay seems full of unexplored possibilities... but Anvitaa surprisingly sticks to one-and-a-half notes.

Positioned in the film industry of the 1930s when Calcutta was still the cultural capital, the story refers to the time when courtesans were struggling to get rid of the Bai and Jaan surnames by finding a foothold in the Hindustani classical music. It was the time when the top male classical singers were addressed as ‘Pandit’ but the female stars were yet to be addressed as ‘Vidushis’.

Urmila seems to have emerged from a similar space and wants her daughter to rule the rarefied space of classical music. Unfortunately, Qala doesn’t have the mettle to make it. One day, the mother and daughter come across the performance of a boy from Solan. He sings Kabir in a soiree where Qala renders a classical bandish. The mother soon discovers that divinity sings through Jagan Batwal (Babil Khan) and decides to adopt the orphan. As expected, Qala develops a complex and goes into a shell. She feels that she could at least become a playback singer, but Urmila stops her and pushes Jagan instead. Like most of us, Qala is seeking validation from her mother who is in no mood to serve her daughter to the predators in show business. But Qala has different plans that put her on the path of self-destruction.

There are references to the legendary singing star of Bengali cinema Pahari Sanyal, lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri, and ace photographer Homai Vyarwalla by naming characters after their first names or surnames that bring alive an era when music was organically made and female artists were rare in public space.

However, as the narrative progresses, a degree of artifice creeps into storytelling. Qala may be morally weak from the inside but her confrontation with herself is not. Too much styling becomes a distraction as well. The shutter sound of cameras and the gilt-edged frames are good to marvel at, but they do not fully transport us into a bygone era. It is like building a story by looking at a photo album, and becomes impassive very much like Triptii’s performance. She has an unmistakable spark, but looks a bit stiff for the challenges that the role demands. No such issues with Swastika, who like a cascading river, evokes an old-world charm. Amit Sial chips in as the predator in the skin of a well-wisher.

Meanwhile, Babil makes a confident debut. With deep eyes that resemble those of father Irrfan Khan, he shines as a singer who breathes music. When Qala tries to insert a thermometer into Jagan’s mouth, he almost breaks into an impromptu alaap . It is such magical moments that make Qala worth admiring.

Qala is currently streaming on Netflix

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‘Qala’ review: As a playback singer unravels, moths, mothers and metaphors abound

Anvitaa dutt’s follow-up to ‘bulbbul’ is being streamed on netflix..

Anvitaa Dutt has followed up her beguiling debut feature Bulbbul (2020) with another heretical tale of thwarted female desire. While Bulbbul rewrote the rules of witchcraft lore in feudal Bengal through a feminist heroine, Qala presents a counter-narrative to accounts of women in the early years of the Hindi film industry.

Qala shares with Bulbbul a fantastical approach, hyper-real backdrops and anachronistic detail. Although the Hindi-language film takes place in the 1930s and 1940s, revisionist ambition guides the dialogue (some of which includes contemporary English phrases and sentiments), Amit Trivedi’s interpretive score and the treatment of stock characters from the period.

Qala (Triptii Dimri), a playback singer at the peak of her game, tells a journalist after receiving her latest burst of praise that she feels as though she has reached home, exhausted, to find her mother is waiting for her.

It’s a gossamer lie, spun by Qala to maintain a facade that rips upon close scrutiny. Qala’s thorny relationship with her mother Urmila (Swastika Mukherjee), Urmila’s preference for the gifted folk singer Jagan (Babil Khan), and Qala’s desperate need for validation have brought her to the edge of insanity. This black swan harbours painful secrets, some of it the result of Urmila’s intransigence and some of it flowing from Qala’s circumstances.

Despite the loyal support of her secretary Sudha (Girija Oak), the soothing counsel of lyricist Majrooh (Varun Grover) and the encouragement of composer Naseeban (Tasveer Kamil), Qala flutters and flails, much like the moth that is irresistibly attracted to the flame that will eventually consume it.

The metaphor of the moth that dominates Dutt’s screenplay becomes literal when it appears as a motif on Qala’s saris and accessories scattered about her home. There are other metaphors too, some less explicit than others and all the more effective as a result.

Qala harbours unsettling memories of her loveless childhood, giving the narrative the surreal flavour of a waking nightmare. Another metaphor, whose meaning solders Qala with Jagan, is inventively explored through scenes, costumes, and sets.

Qala has been released on Netflix, as was Bulbbul . What is lost by a small-screen viewing might be gained by the unique advantage of the streaming experience: a particular tablueax can be frozen to take in cinematographer Siddharth Diwan’s lighting exercises and Meenal Agarawal’s evocative production design . This film needs a very large television set to admire Agarwal’s dazzling Art Nouveau-inspired sets and Veera Kapur Ee’s delicate costumes.

Inky blacks and metallic greys in Qala’s ancestral home in Himachal Pradesh give way to lighter fabrics and pastel shades after she makes her mark in Kolkata. Snow machines, fog machines and artificial lights are hard at work in a highly stylised narrative that sets out to boldly reimagine what we think we know about a woman’s place in the showbiz hustle.

Qala’s dealings, particularly with music composer Samant Kumar (Amit Sial), underscore the vulnerability of women in the film industry. There are shards of reality in Qala’s efforts to shake off the burden of a classical music legacy to craft a career in showbiz. Does this performer with the sweet and virginal voice remind some of us of a playback singer who emerged in this period?

The dance between overtly constructed backdrops and Qala’s acutely real trauma is not always graceful. A feeling of eternal winter abounds in a 119-minute narrative that is cold to the touch despite dealing with the passions of the heart.

The film’s dollhouse-like quality is creakiest when exploring the tortured mother-daughter relationship. The mesh of style and intent is smoothest in Dutt’s analysis of the treacherous ways of showbiz, which wounds women more than men.

The archness to the performances and dialogue delivery poses an insurmountable challenge to Triptii Dimri. The ease with which Dimri portrayed complex characters in Laila Majnu (2018) and Bulbbul is missing in Qala , and not just because her character is required to teeter on the edge at nearly all times. The leadenness of Swastika Mukherjee’s silver jewellery-laden diva too isn’t just a result of characterisation.

The actors in shorter roles, who are unburdened with having to convey meaning through metaphor, fare much better. Amit Sial is a wonderfully smooth operator. Babil Khan, in his debut role, has a soulful air as Urmila’s golden-voiced protege.

Varun Grover has an affecting cameo as a lyricist who sees through Qala’s bravado. Apart from paying tribute to Hindi cinema’s great Urdu wordsmiths, Grover has one of Qala ’s sharpest lines: “The times change. This is an old trick of time.”

The art of ‘Qala’: Art Nouveau and ‘a lot of drama in the darkness’

• Qala review
• Anvitaa Dutt
• Triptii Dimri
• Swastika Mukherjee

Delhi Messenger

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Qala movie review: An artful masterpiece from Bollywood

I watched the trailer of Qala a few days before it released on Netflix. And I immediately knew I HAD to watch the film. Not only was the trailer intriguing, but I very much looked forward to what director Anvita Dutt would bring us after Bulbbul , with Triptii Dimri in the lead once again. So here is my review of Qala .

Qala’s music

I think the Hindi film industry was long due for a truly amazing album. After a string of remixes of hit Punjabi numbers, I was starting to feel that there is a certain vacuum. But Amit Trivedi has filled up that gap so well and reminded us that he is still very much in the game, and going strong. Heart-touching melodies with lyrics that will leave you wanting more is what this film’s soundtrack is all about.

Amitabh Bhattacharya, Swanand Kirkire, Kausar Munir, Anvita Dutt herself, and Varun Grover (who also has a small role in the film) have all written the lyrics to the various songs. Coupled with Trivedi’s skilful compositions, each of the songs contribute to the overall mood and emotions that the film is trying to depict.

My personal favourite is Shauq , which I have been obsessed with. Shahid Mallya’s vocals are the cherry on top of the cake.

The performances

First off, I would like to appreciate Babil Khan’s smart choice in choosing this role as his first. The film is clearly all about the lead character portrayed by Triptii Dimri. But Babil still manages to leave a deep impression with his toned-down, nuanced performance without the pressure of carrying the entire movie on his inexperienced shoulders. He is very much reminiscent of his father Irrfan Khan early in his career (think Salaam Bombay ).

Triptii Dimri gives another stellar performance as the struggling singer in the 1940s, dealing with a whole range of mental health issues. The film is not too full of dialogues. But Dimri’s facial expressions, coupled with the foreboding background music and the stellar cinematography by Siddharth Divan, is what carries this film through. She captures very well the struggles that Qala is facing, and manages to portray the ‘shor’ that is going on inside her head.

Swastika Mukherjee as the hardened mother and taskmaster always leaves us sympathising with Qala. And Varun Grover as the under-appreciated lyricist named Majrooh (an ode to Majrooh Sultanpuri) has some of the most poignant lines in the film, according to me. His line, ‘Daur badlega, daur ki ye purani aadat hai,’ is definitely my favourite.

Qala’s plot

The film explores the deeply complex relationship that Qala has with her mother, and also with her art. But it has so many more nuances. Like Bulbbul, it also touches upon feminist themes. Mental health (especially women’s), sexism in the entertainment industry, and how far an artist is willing to go to achieve validation are some of the other important themes in the film.

I would not like to limit the genre of Qala by calling it a psychological thriller, because it is so much more emotional and deeper. The plot has a number of twists and turns, that will definitely leave you shocked or stunned.

Every frame has been designed like a work of art, a painting of sorts. And the entire art design is a reflection of what is going through Qala’s mind at that moment.

The only thing I felt that is missing is perhaps the other characters could have been explored a little more. Swastika Mukherjee’s Urmila is underused, and we never really get a clear picture of why she is the way she is. I wish the movie was a bit longer!

The verdict

Definitely, a must-watch. As the title says, I do believe that this is a masterpiece that comes once in every 10-15 years. Just when I thought the Hindi film industry has all but given up, it pulled me back in!

Anvita Dutt is almost creating a new genre of fantastical feminist plots, but totally backed by amazing performances, music, art direction, and cinematography. I am looking forward to her next film now.

Cast: Triptii Dimri, Swastika Mukherjee, Babil Khan, Amit Sial and Varun Grover

Director: Anvita Dutt

Music: Amit Trivedi

Qala is now streaming on Netflix.

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Qala movie review: Anvitaa Dutt's film struggles to rise above its parts

Qala movie review: tripti dimri, swastika mukherjee and babil khan star in this psychological drama about a singer haunted by her past, trying to find her ground..

When the doctor asks Qala about her symptoms for her health condition, she is firmly articulate in the way she says it's not physical ailment, but more of an emotional turmoil. "It's like," she begins to whisper, "I've been waiting for something to happen. And it is happening." The doctor tells her not to overthink, and concentrate more on her singing. That's precisely the point everyone tries to make, where Qala's mental health is not to be given too much importance. Given the setting is Calcutta in the 1930s, it is almost an outlier as a topic. Yet, this particular scene, that arrives quite early in Anvitaa Dutt's sophomore feature film directorial, establishes the narrative's revolving theme of mining out the inner landscape of an artist. (Also read: Babil Khan says he hates the word 'debut' ahead of Qala release: ‘If I wasn’t Irrfan Khan’s son nobody would have cared’ )

Qala follows the eponymous protagonist (played by Tripti Dimri) as a young girl who wishes to become a great singer, mostly to win her mother Urmila's (Swastika Mukherjee) approval. The flashback tells us how they live isolated in a dimly-lit house in the Himachal, where her mother tells her that she has to work harder than any man to achieve success as a playback singer. Qala tries her best, but there's an extent to which hardwork can lead up to talent, which Qala lacks. Urmila notices this, and rebukes her- "akal mein zero, shakal mein zero, talent mein zero." Qala is left with a blinding sense of inadequacy, as she yearns only to seek Urmila's approval above everything else.

When an orphan named Jagan (Babil Khan, making his debut) appears out of nowhere, and charms his way through his gorgeous vocals, Qala notices how her mother responds so willingly to him. Qala is devastated when her mother gives him the space at their home, and sets him up for regular practice sessions and introduces him to eminent film personalities to help him with his career. What is to become of Qala then? Urmila tells her that a daughter's place is always with her husband, so she should get married as well. What can Qala do now to safeguard her artistic pursuits?

Qala constantly shifts from present to the past, as Anvitaa tries to situate her viewers in the mind of her female protagonist. Whether we see her hallucinating or crumbling down with nervousness, there is a certain confidence in the way the Bulbbul director constructs the narrative fabric of Qala. Yet, Qala's journey is built in a suspended deceit that does not quite know where to focus. On one hand, it is about the toxic and abusive relationship between a mother and daughter, and then it transforms into an artist's quest for expression and identity, while also revealing the misogynistic tendencies that are brushed under the carpet in any industry. Qala feels disjointed as a whole as it tries to bridge these elements together, and becomes a sum of its individual ideas, never fully transforming into a whole portrait of an artist in crisis. Flashbacks to Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan are evident, yet Qala is quieter, more reserved in its own wavelength.

Technically, Qala is superb. As evident in Bulbbul, director Anvitaa Dutt masterfully assembles an expert team of artists that help in bringing the film together. Gorgeously shot by Siddharth Diwan, each scene is mapped out like a painting. Meenal Agarwal's production design serves a dreamlike space for these characters to inhabit. Most of all, it is Amit Trivedi's music that powers through the moods and rhythms of the film with an icy-cold opacity, giving Qala its much-needed energy. Yet for so much scope and vision in its technical aspects, Qala falls flat when the light reveals the characters.

Tripti Dimri is in fine form but her character is frustratingly one-note and delivered mostly in the same anxious wavelength. Swastika Mukherjee, clad in those gorgeous silver jewelry, plays Urmila with force and power, but her character is given little to no scope to reveal the change of heart that occurs later in the film, leaving behind too many questions unanswered. As Jagan, Babil Khan gives a haunting debut turn, unusually charming yet also underutilized in the film's treatment overall. His introduction scene alone is one for the ages. Varun Grover is quite a revelation in his cameo as the lyricist Majrooh, with the sly reveal of his red nail paint quite playful in the world of hypocritical male figures. By the time, Qala's arc spirals, the film edges on to an otherwise predictable climax, giving the journey a vacant denouement.

There's a lot to like in Qala, and somewhere within its overcrowded chambers lies a potent film about mental health and female agency. Even with so much happening, there's not much that gets past. One wishes the film mirrored Qala's temperament with a little more vigour. Qala, even in its persuasive best, ultimately feels lost in its stylistic embellishments to figure out how to make the underlying conflict visible.

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Haunted by her past, a talented singer with a rising career copes with the pressure of success, a mother's disdain and the voices of doubt within her. Haunted by her past, a talented singer with a rising career copes with the pressure of success, a mother's disdain and the voices of doubt within her. Haunted by her past, a talented singer with a rising career copes with the pressure of success, a mother's disdain and the voices of doubt within her.

• Anvita Dutt
• Triptii Dimri
• Swastika Mukherjee
• 127 User reviews
• 24 Critic reviews
• 14 wins & 39 nominations

Top cast 16

• Qala Manjushree

• Urmila Manjushree

• Sumant Kumar

• Chandan Lal Sanyal

• Doctor Banerjee
• Recording Engineer 2
• Dr. Goyenka

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• Trivia Babil Khan, who is the son of late Irrfan Khan, Qala is Babil's debut movie.
• Soundtracks Ghodey Pe Sawaar Vocals by Sireesha Bhagavatula Lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya Music by Amit Trivedi

User reviews 127

• Nov 30, 2022
• How long is Qala? Powered by Alexa
• December 1, 2022 (United States)
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• Kashmir, India
• Clean Slate Films
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• Runtime 1 hour 59 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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'qala' review: true to its name, triptii dimri-babil khan film is a work of art, triptii dimri and babil khan's film, 'qala' is available to stream on netflix..

"Every decision I've ever made in my life has led me to this exact moment," I think as I cry in a fast food restaurant about something I'm sure I'd consider mundane now.

But that's a sentiment that every human echoes multiple times in their life. And Anvitaa Dutt's latest Qala is about those moments in life that are less experience, more consequence.

Qala is about a young singer Qala (Triptii Dimri) who dedicates her life to winning her mother's approval even as the latter shuts her out. The film's initial setting isolates Qala and her mother Urmila (Swastika Mukherjee) from the rest of the world, their home surrounded by ice.

Triptii Dimri in an as Qala. 

(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)

In this isolation, there is a dense space between Qala and Urmila, one that the former struggles to wade through and the latter lets fester. Triptii Dimri as Qala is both radiant and demure, in essence exactly what her career demands. The film flits between her past and her present as her actions in the past continue to haunt her.

At home, Qala seems almost immature and childish (which is understandable considering her fraught relationship with her mother devoid of the affection necessary for a child to grow into a well-adjusted adult). In the present, she’s at the zenith of fame and uses her sway to uplift female artists around her.

Through Qala, Anvitaa Dutt manages to explore intergenerational trauma, patriarchy in families and in the industry, childhood trauma and how it affects one’s psyche, and more.

The ways in which Qala has internalised her mother’s blame and criticism are stark on screen.

Yet Qala doesn’t make villains out of its characters. One is inclined perhaps to dislike Urmila but ‘hate’ doesn’t arise because she, too, is a character born out of her circumstance. Her quiet hesitance and loud disdain are all conveyed through Swastika Mukherjee’s remarkable skill.

A still from the film Qala. 

Also worthy of mention is Babil Khan, who stars as Jagan, a talented singer who was raised in a gurdwara .

In his debut film, Babil proves to be an actor to watch out for, almost evolving with his character’s arc.

Urmila’s acceptance of Jagan contrasts her disdain for Qala (something that is also connected to the latter’s birth). Even as Qala tries to make a place for herself, there are several instances that will make you wonder, “Would Gagan have had the same experience?”

The way patriarchy seeps into Qala’s life is magnificently explored in the film, exploring multiple facets of how women are disadvantaged in their lives and their careers. Even beyond the story, Qala is a film of expertise in art and music.

Production designer Meenal Agarwal and Dutt manage to create a story rooted in emotions set in places that seem almost fantastical. The suffocation of Qala’s house in Himachal (with her mother) turns into a suffocation of a much more constricted space in her own residence in Calcutta.

The motifs of moths, snow, and mercury all seem out of place in their settings in the most efficient of ways. There might be flaws in the film but they are overshadowed by the makers’ vision.

Swastika Mukherjee in the film Qala. 

One might have to watch Qala all over again just to catch the references to Dutch artists like Rembrandt and Vermeer. The director of photography Siddharth Diwan executes Dutt and Agarwal’s vision to perfection – not a shot is out of place.

Saving the best for the last, Qala ’s music. The music by Amit Trivedi, consisting of tracks like ‘Rubaiyaan’ and ‘Shauq’, has a transforming quality to it. Every track drags the listener to 1940s Calcutta and is the kind of music Indian cinema came to be known for.

Qala is about so much more than I could fit in this review and that is telling of the film’s brilliance. 

Rating: 4 Quints of 5

'Qala' Trailer: Tripti Dimri & Swastika Mukherjee Star In A Heartbreaking Tale

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Qala Movie Review (2022)

Anvita dutt's exquisite 'qala', on netflix, puts us into the state of mind of a disturbed playback singer.

Qala Movie Cast & Crew

Anvita Dutt's films do have a story. They have characters and events. And yet, her films are less about "following a plot" than entering a state of mind, a series of spaces painted by her brilliant cinematographer Siddharth Diwan. Like Bulbbul , Qala feels as though we are taking a guided tour of the interiors of someone's head. Ingmar Bergman said that "ever since my childhood I have pictured the inside of the soul as a moist membrane in shades of red." It's something like that. Qala is the name of a famous playback singer, and we see her psyche through the swirls of colours over the opening credits. We see it in the textures of her clothes, in their unvivid shades. We see it in the sets and in the shadows of props and the lanterns on boats and the statues of gargoyles. We see it in a surreal spotlight from the sky. We see it in the snow of Qala's home in Himachal and in the fringe of her hairstyle, which is often tightly bound. Rarely is her hair let loose.

As played by Triptii Dimri, Qala – similarly – is a tightly wound character. With all her success, you'd think she'd be a looser person, a blithe spirit swanning through the Hindi film industry of the 1940s. Or maybe it's the 1950s. It doesn't matter – just like the British Raj period setting did not really matter in Bulbbul . Despite these carefully recreated eras, Anvita evokes an exquisite sense of timelessness that makes these films feel like Gothic dreams. There are big scenes that function as a narrative through-line – they help us hold on to a semblance of a "plot". And yet, there are gaps – and the back-and-forth of time, the segues between the past and the present, are so fluid that it takes a second or two to realise where we are. It's like how we remember dreams.

The story could be seen as both "feminist" and merely "female-centric". Qala rebels when someone calls her secretary a "female secretary". She asks if the gender indicator is really necessary. During a press conference filled with male journalists, Qala singles out a female photographer hiding in the back and gives her precedence. In another scene, Qala asks for pay parity with a male singer. And yet, these feminist shows of strength are constantly undermined. Qala comes from a musical family, and her mother – superbly played by Swastika Mukherjee, whose face is weighted with sorrow – tells her that she can be a singer, too, but she will have to work harder. The point, she says, is to have a "Pandit" before your name, not a "Bai" after – like a courtesan.

Now, this mother – she's a real piece of work, a classic Gothic character. She's like Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca , protecting the memory of a dead person and actively sabotaging Qala's efforts to take the place of that dead person in her heart. Even her smiles are tinged with pain, with memories of her big loss. And that results in an enormous yearning in Qala. She wants her mother's love, and she also wants her mother's acknowledgement that she is a good singer. Anvita and Triptii (who is magnificent) shape Qala with this yearning. At the press conference, Qala is asked how she feels after winning a big award. She says, with a slight smile, " Aisa lagta hai ki thak ke ghar pahunchi hoon aur maa ne darwaza khola hai. " What a line. It shows her tiredness, her longing for "home", her yearning for her mother's open arms.

Behind her smiles, Triptii suggests a constant tremulousness, tentativeness, the sense that her psyche is constantly walking a wobbly tightrope. Look at the scene where Qala finally confronts her mother. She pours out her emotions, but without raising her voice. It could be the mildest cinematic confrontation ever. And you see why we are hardly shown scenes of Qala's success – she just does not have confidence, and she's always feeling second-best. There are some lovely scenes - including a few with a superbly watchful and empathetic Varun Grover, as a lyricist named Majrooh (as in… Sultanpuri?) - where we see Qala in her element, in her world. But the lines in the song Rubaaiyaan say this: " Gumnaam andheron ke saaye / Aawaaz ke raaz chhupaaye… " The person with the famous voice exists in a shadow world. The story behind the recording of Qala's first film song says a lot.

Amit Trivedi's music is wonderful. The voices are not super-polished like we usually hear in films, and every time we hear a song, it sounds like a rehearsal we are being privy to. There's the sense of an unfinished quality here, too – like Qala. Why is Qala's mother this way? I am not going to explain this further – but it's because Qala, in a way, "ate up" her son. And we realise this is as much a horror story as Bulbbul . Only, the horror is entirely psychological. And Qala pays for her deed by being upstaged by another "son" who becomes her mother's protégé. This character, named jagan, is beautifully played by Babil Khan, and he is introduced after Qala has rendered a thumri in front of a distinguished audience. He is an orphan brought up in a gurdwara and he breaks into a Shabad Gurbani kirtan that pierces everyone's heart with its raw emotion. It overshadows Qala's technical virtuosity – and another layer of doubt is added to the character. Will Qala ever be able to sing like that ?

Anvita appears to love birds. There was bulbbul. Here, Qala is equated to a koel. A song comes with a line: " Ud jayega hans akela ". And based on her two films, she either makes her heroine fly or clips her wings. And what I love most about her work is her insistence that women are not born evil. They do bad things because people, in turn, do bad things to them. And that is why Qala remains a sympathetic character throughout. Even the mother isn't someone you hate. Recall the scene with the cradle and you know what's made her that way. The men, on the other hand, aren't explained so well – they come across as genuinely bad or just plain insensitive people. For instance, for all his artistic sensitivity, couldn't Jagan see how much Qala wanted to be a singer? But then, if he had, Qala would have been sorted, and we would never have gotten this gorgeous dreamscape of a movie.

About Author

Baradwaj Rangan

National Award-winning film critic Baradwaj Rangan, former deputy editor of The Hindu and senior editor of Film Companion, has carved a niche for himself over the years as a powerful voice in cinema, especially the Tamil film industry, with his reviews of films. While he was pursuing his chemical engineering degree, he was fascinated with the writing and analysis of world cinema by American critics. Baradwaj completed his Master’s degree in Advertising and Public Relations through scholarship. His first review was for the Hindi film Dum, published on January 30, 2003, in the Madras Plus supplement of The Economic Times. He then started critiquing Tamil films in 2014 and did a review on the film Subramaniapuram, while also debuting as a writer in the unreleased rom-com Kadhal 2 Kalyanam. Furthermore, Baradwaj has authored two books - Conversations with Mani Ratnam, 2012, and A Journey Through Indian Cinema, 2014. In 2017, he joined Film Companion South and continued to show his prowess in critiquing for the next five years garnering a wide viewership and a fan following of his own before announcing to be a part of Galatta Media in March 2022.

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‘Qala’ Review: A Lullaby Of A Film That Tries To Talk About Toxic Parenting, Jealousy, & The Music Industry

Anvita Dutt has been in the Hindi film industry since the mid-2000s, writing lyrics and/or dialogues for movies like “Bachna Ae Haseeno,” “Dostana,” “I Hate Luv Storys,” “Anjaana Anjaani,” “Patiala House,” “Student of the Year,” “Bang Bang!” and more. But it wasn’t until the 2020 Netflix release, “Bulbbul,” that she helmed her first feature film. It received a significant amount of hype for the overall production design, Triptii Dimri’s performance, and Dutt’s subversion of the stereotypical portrayal of witches in Indian folklore. In my opinion, the film only managed to make surface-level statements about violent men, feminism, and allyship while prioritizing style over substance. Dutt’s highly anticipated “Qala” not only marks her second collaboration with Dimri but also introduces Irrfan Khan’s son, Babil Khan. And to be honest, Dutt’s attempt at entering the psychological horror subgenre is bad at best and painfully boring at worst.

“Qala,” tells the story of the titular character, played by Triptii Dimri, who is one of the most popular playback singers in 1930s Kolkata. Her assistant is Sudha (Girija Oak). She is best buddies with her colleagues Naseeban Aapa (Tasveer Kamil) and lyricist Majrooh (Varun Grover). Her future seems to be bright and full of opportunities. But she is haunted by the toxic relationship with her mother, Urmila (Swastika Mukherjee), who has always held a grudge against Qala for being the twin who survived childbirth and killed her unborn son in the process. This animosity was inadvertently aggravated by the arrival of a grass-roots level singer named Jagan (Babil Khan), as Urmila treated him like her son. When Urmila began to do everything in her power to make Jagan an established mainstream artist, Qala became more and more jealous of him. This caused her to take some unsavory steps, the consequences of which weigh heavily on her mind. 

Dutt lays out the main conflict of the film, what is at stake, as well as the themes that she wants to tackle within the first 10-15 minutes. Since “Qala” is set around the music industry, there’s sexual abuse, favoritism, and a general air of disdain towards lyricists. There are loads of internalized sexism when it comes to Urmila and Qala, with Jagan seeming like an innocent soul who has unknowingly walked into this mess. And then there’s the “crime,” which ignites the horror element of this psychological horror. But, apart from mentioning the fact that these topics exist in the film, Dutt doesn’t do anything with them. She explains the obvious in the most mundane ways possible. Character motivations plainly hint towards certain plot twists, and the film’s awkward commentary on mental health runs in circles, much like the vinyl records, until they reach their hollow conclusions. And the possible reason behind it is the immense focus on the film’s “pretty” visuals. 

There’s no denying that the work on display by Dutt, cinematographer Siddharth Diwan, production designer Meenal Agarwal, art director Ramesh Yadav, and the VFX artists is stunning. The use of snow, reflective surfaces, smoky exteriors and interiors, and the unmotivated lighting choices to evoke a noir-esque atmosphere is creative and hence, commendable. But what does it exactly do other than provide a faux sense of three-dimensionality to “Qala”? Well-composed frames end up being impressionable when they’re backed by solid storytelling. Or else it feels like a compilation of music videos and nothing else. Yes, Amit Trivedi’s songs are great. But they are mixed so poorly into the film and lip-synced so awfully by the actors that the final product looks rushed and half-hearted. The issue with the sound mixing isn’t limited to the songs and extends to the dialogue sequences too. However, the moment where every sense of immersion is destroyed is when Jason Hill’s “Silk Drape” from “Mindhunter” Season 2 plays around the film’s 49-minute mark. I’ll admit that I’m making this claim based on the screener I was provided by Netflix (screeners are often early cuts of the film), but if that’s in the final cut, this is horrible and inexcusable. 

The acting department of “Qala” is an absolute dud. Triptii Dimri is clearly doing a lot as if she has been tasked with filling up everyone’s quota of “acting” (because everyone else is under-acting the hell out of their roles). Babil Khan’s debut is disastrous. Nothing that he does sticks in any way. Everyone from Swastika Mukherjee to Amit Sial, Sameer Kochhar, Girija Oak, Swanand Kirkire, Tasveer Kamil, Varun Grover, Abhishek Banerjee, etc., are simply there, trying way too hard to be synonymous with characteristics like “regal,” “demure,” and “sophisticated.” But much like the plot and the visuals of the film, it’s all on the surface. None of them seem to have inhabited their characters or let the characters inhabit them. They seem to be aware of when the camera is going to roll, where their marks are, how long the camera is going to be on them, and that’s it. So, technically, they are doing what’s expected of them without going the extra mile and making this world feel tangible and realistic. If that’s enough for you, then you won’t be disappointed. 

In conclusion, “Qala” is a sleep-inducing movie that looks spectacular. Anvita Dutt evidently wants to talk about a lot of things because she is aware that those topics exist. But she fails to unpack them through her characters. At the cost of sounding repetitive, she does have an eye for composing gorgeous visuals. However, she must understand that there’s more to a movie than visuals and repetitive announcements of the plot’s underlying themes. She has committed the same mistake twice now, and I hope that she learns something before venturing into her third project. This is the second time that Anushka Sharma has collaborated with Dutt as a producer. This is the second time Triptii has collaborated with Dutt as an actor. So, they obviously see something in Dutt that’s not translating into her final products. It’s a good thing that she’s trying to carve her place in the horror genre, which is quite dicey in India but very fruitful internationally. I just think she needs to understand her subject matter before deciding how she’s going to present it on screen.

See More: ‘Qala’ Ending, Explained: Were Jagan, Urmila, And Sumant Responsible For Qala’s Breakdown?

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Qala (2022) Movie Review – A visually breathtaking movie that artistically explores psychological themes

A visually breathtaking movie artistically exploring psychological themes

Anvita Dutt’s period musical drama “Qala”, is among the most visually beautiful movies of the year; each scene resembles an impressionist painting. Regardless of whether it’s a ferry floating over the Hooghly bridge or the snow-capped Himachal highlands, or even the rich, jewel-toned hues of a Calcutta evening, the backdrop is exquisite.

The figures in the forefront are seen next after viewers have taken in the precision with which the entire composition has been put together and it might just be what defines and influences how we watch the movie.

Anvita Dutta and Muhammad Asif Ali, the writers and directors of the movie, beautifully explores the mental landscapes of the primary characters. Following the eerie Bulbbul, she crafts a musical journey into the thoughts of a girl who resembles a cuckoo and is torn between passion and talent, expectations and realities.

The musically rich psychological horror movie is set during the pre-independence period and it paints a moving picture that revolves around Qala, a young, gorgeous, gifted vocalist who ventures into playback singing and finds fame. Sadly, though, underneath all the glitz, reverence, and honors, she is consumed by her desire to succeed, tormented by her past, and is fervently seeking approval from her estranged mother.

Qala soon begins to let her mind dominate as she struggles with the demands of the movie industry, which eventually results in her destruction.

It is challenging to like or feel any sympathy for Qala and yet you do. She seems to be a parasite; a morally grey character just like a cuckoo. According to a doctor, she ingested her twin brother’s nutrients while being in her mother’s womb. Qala chooses to eliminate the competition at her mom’s place by making a terrible choice after failing to live up to her mom Urmila’s expectations, a demanding thumri musician who is already past her prime.

The vintage lyrical drama, which features strong performances starring Tripti Dimri, Babil Khan, and Swastika Mukherjee, offers an artistic depiction of pressing issues including childhood trauma, the challenges faced in mother-daughter bonds, and the ugly side of stardom.

Throughout the movie, the filmmaker handles everything with assurance. She resists the need to overdo it with extravagant twists and theatrics. Instead, she relies on a mix of inferences and clever tricks to accurately depict the fragile nature of Qala’s reality and psyche. Additionally, she employs fine symbolisms, for instance, the cuckoo to reflect our morally questionable protagonist and the boat sequence to represent a moral conundrum as the protagonist faces a challenging decision in later scenes. Additionally, her screenplay tightly controls the character’s slow slide into psychological ruin.

The threshold between being reflective and becoming ponderous is often blurry in the movie. There are some stagey elements in Qala, however, the precise screenplay keeps the meticulous narrative arc moving forward without ever letting the spotlight leave the challenges of the musician who turns to actions that worsen her bond with her mother.

The psychological horror movie is at its strongest while addressing the darker undertones of the central leads. The mother-daughter duo, both face emotional wounds that they fight against while attempting to accomplish their own and their family’s aspirations.

The creative approach to use visual elements instead of blatantly dramatic sweeps benefits the movie. It outlines two distinct portrayals of suffering: one of a parent searching for a substitute for the child she never really had, and another of a daughter fighting for the love and acceptance of her mother.

The movie’s visual richness and complexity are enhanced by the ongoing interaction of complementary colors, warmer interiors and chilly exteriors, subtle hues and grandiose glows. This also exemplifies the psychological aspects that are at work.

Qala is clearly a made-up story that swings between a feudal palace in Himachal Pradesh as well as Calcutta, an aesthetically beautiful place. Additionally, it gives the supporting cast members names that paint a picture of legendary composers of old Hindi melodies.

Chandan Lal Sanyal serves as the most renowned musician of the time, while Majrooh is a lyricist and Sumant Kumar seems to be a music composer, and to add a crown to it all, Madhubala-inspired Anushka Sharma makes an appearance in what seems like a black and white musical scene.

A significant portion of the tale takes place in Calcutta, an unfinished and also quite possibly digitally generated Howrah Bridge hovers over Qala as she bargains with a demanding composer who reckons she isn’t quite prepared yet. This is a pivotal point in Qala’s professional life. Roughly halfway through the 1930’s, the work on the cantilever bridge over the Hooghly commenced. The bridge’s two ends sticking out into the river as well as the missing link connecting them indicate that some time has elapsed.

Triptii Dimri and Swastika Mukherjee’s stunning key performances carry Qala. They dive deep into the psyche of two brave women who are equally driven and prone to vulnerability, delivering outstanding performances. Babil Khan, who is making his movie debut here, is also given the opportunity to play a talented but unfortunate singer who is proud of his capabilities in a moving performance.

Qala is a visual treat and it makes use of its medium to present psychological elements. The movie brilliantly explores disturbing subjects while presenting sympathetic morally grey characters. The performers excel in their roles and genuinely bring the characters to life. This is a surprisingly compelling watch and one of the bigger surprises this month.

Feel free to check out more of our movie reviews here!

• Verdict - 9/10 9/10

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'Qala' Movie Review: Stunning, serene Qala-nagar

Updated on: 03 December,2022 09:13 PM IST  |  Mumbai Mayank Shekhar | [email protected]

• Text  

The film is decidedly a playground for a first-rate production designer (Meenal Agarwal). Use of colours in closed spaces for a filmy world-building, makes Qala also a legit extension from the horror-fantasy, Bulbbul (2020), screenwriter Anvita Dutt’s debut as director. 

A still from the movie, 'Qala' (Pic courtesy: Twitter)

Film: Qala On: Netflix  Director: Anvita Dutt Actors: Tripti Dimri, Swastika Mukherjee, Babil Khan Rating: 3/ 5

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In terms of mediocrity and talent, jealousy and ambition, think of Qala as anti-thesis of, say, A Star Is Born—the templated film, with multiple remakes on the same theme. It is just as external, as this one is internal—drawing out the lead character’s struggles within, while she’s unable to express it to the world outside. 

So much so that all through, as the period film seamlessly flits between past and present, I kept wondering about its exact setting in history. We know the heroine, as a young adult, has a marriage proposal from a suitable boy, serving in Royal Air Force, which means it’s pre-independence.

The heroine in the present—hardly that old, really—compliments a female, professional photographer for her pictures of Indira Gandhi. The Indira years could be anywhere ’60s onwards. 

Also Read:  'Mili' Movie Review: Survival of the ‘chill’est

None of which matters in the scheme of things. Let alone the world beyond—we barely get any idea of the film-world that this movie is set within. The protagonist is a leading playback singer. 

The filmmakers here are wholly focussed, like the heroine herself, on the life of her mind—memories and guilt, loneliness and pain. Such a serene, somnolent, even slightly surreal film—because of the superficial nature of the medium itself—is as hard to make, as it is to watch, by viewers, attuned to more mainstream ways, anyway. Yes, you have to sit through overlong stretches beyond bothering with the usual set-up, payoff routine. 

Qala belongs to the golden age of home entertainment for India, in particular, where audiences are willing to expand their range, along with taste. Likewise, platforms like Netflix are happy to foot the global bill. Another case in point, given music + mediocrity for theme: Chaitanya Tamhane ’s The Disciple (2020), best Indian film of the decade (so far!)—also playing at a Netflix near you. 

Theatre-wallahs, on the other hand, would’ve been obsessed with Day One footfalls alone. Few may have walked in—causing heartburn to a bunch of well-meaning, capable blokes, who wished to aesthetically express themselves, that’s all. This film exudes a strongly feminist voice, with a quiet, experiential quality to it. That in itself makes it a rare Hindi movie!

The title Qala here, to be sure, is ‘kala’, as in art—like, say, Kala Nagar (artists’ colony), where late cartoonist-politician Bal Thackeray lived in Bombay. And not ‘kala’—as in Sanjay Leela Bhansali ’s Black (2004). 

Although look/feel wise, the exquisite Qala Nagar, created for the screen here, could be closer to Bhansali’s Black—almost entirely indoors, with a gently depressing palette; natural light streaming in through large windows; portions of Victorian opulence, under flickering candle lamps… Notably, overdressed cast, and extras—always in three-piece suits, in Bombay.

The film is decidedly a playground for a first-rate production designer (Meenal Agarwal). Use of colours in closed spaces for a filmy world-building, makes Qala also a legit extension from the horror-fantasy, Bulbbul (2020), screenwriter Anvita Dutt ’s debut as director. 

This is Dutt’s second, also starring the ethereal Tripti Dimri as heroine, and on whom the picture is wholly centred. Making Dimri, the director’s own discovery, her movie-muse of sorts. We’ve known male directors and their male-hero muses forever in the movies. Glad to see genders reverse. 

Bulbbul (Nightingale) was, in a sense, a film about the eponymous protagonist, physically trapped in a cage—the same way the lead character that Qala is titled after, and who’s also referred to as the bird, koel (cuckoo), senses complete mental imprisonment. 

But she’s incarcerated by her past. Only, the actions leading to it are her own. I liked Qala over Bulbbul (also on Netflix), foremost, because it is a musical, in the desi construct—meaning, full of songs, reprising the golden era of Hindi cinema (music), through vivid inspirations; not remixes. 

Also Read:  ‘Uunchai’ movie review: Uunth pahad ke neeche!

It’s an Amit Trivedi soundtrack—that, like all good stuff, I guess, will take a few listen-ins, to find its place—the song, Shauq, I suspect, has sunk in already. Qala is, of course, about a professional playback singer’s life. While you can tell minor references to Hemant Kumar (Amit Sial) here, or KL Saigal (Sameer Kochchar) there—it is, from everything I know, a totally fictional Bollywood account. Can’t classify it as biopic, all of them are hagiographies anyway!

This one delves into some interesting spaces, examining the place of both the woman, and popular arts, back in the day. Just consider the names of famous female singers then, being suffixed with ‘Bai’, for a courtesan. Male dons of high-brow Hindustani classical were always pandits, ustads. 

The girl Qala belongs to one such accomplished family. There’s a lot of pressure to perform then—riyaaz and royalty alone won’t help. Her mother ( Swastika Mukherjee ) finds another boy more talented. 

Young Babil Khan plays this part. He is the great, late Irrfan’s son. It’s his first film. Glad he hasn’t taken unnecessary pressure to act the hell out of this role, keeping it simple, straight. Wish him well.

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Qala Review: An Enchanting Mix of Method and Madness

Director : Anvitaa Dutt Writer : Anvitaa Dutt Cast : Triptii Dimri, Swastika Mukherjee, Babil Khan, Amit Sial, Varun Grover

Qala opens with a hero. Her name is Qala Manjushree ( Triptii Dimri ), and she has a voice. She is the nation’s leading playback singer. Having just won the Golden Vinyl in the late 1930s, Qala is seated in a roomful of reporters. Before taking questions, however, she requests the sole female photographer in the room to capture her moment. She makes the men wait, posing for the lady, who in turn reacts like this isn’t the first time Qala’s picked her. Later, at a recording session, the film director wonders why she has a female secretary unlike other stars. Qala gently chides him for using a gender prefix – "you can just say secretary, no?” – while rehearsing with her music director, also a woman, and her queer lyricist. Her breakout song years ago was about the playful politics of consent, centered on a heroine (a cameo by producer Anushka Sharma ) who croons about an entitled lover unwilling to understand that “no means no”. 

Everything about Qala’s career suggests that she is the voice of the marginalised – a trailblazing girlboss determined to use her privilege and push for equality in a deeply chauvinist system. Her own path to success has been troubled. So her inner strength is now in service to others like her, those who strive to break the glass ceiling in an industry averse to short vocal cords and long umbilical cords. Maybe, while she’s at it, she might channel this power and punish all the villains of her journey – a heartless mother, a male rival, a sexual predator. Perhaps she might avenge the brutality of being a woman. She is a hero, after all. 

In many ways, appreciating Anvitaa Dutt’s haunting Qala merits a look at her haunted directorial debut, Bulbbul (2020). One is the spiritual sequel to the other. Bulbbul , set in the Bengal Presidency of 1901, tells the (love) story of a mysterious landlady who moonlights as a vengeful, man-eating ‘chudail’. She nurses a chilling past by day and preys on male offenders by night. Flashbacks convey that this former child bride was subjected to years of abuse by her husband and his family. The goth-horror period tone almost wills her supernatural transformation – into a creature worthy of her fantasy surroundings. The film follows M. Night Shyamalan ’s “the broken are the more evolved” superhero motif. It’s as though the story finds solace in the mythical after being disillusioned by man; the vigilante demon is the consequence – the afterlife – of all that suppressed trauma and rage. At one point in Qala , her lyricist friend, Majroo ( Varun Grover) , hints at something similar – he mentions that her silence might trigger a “sailaab” (flood) one day. 

But the triumph of Qala is that it remains tragically human. The sailaab is more life than afterlife. It’s more Black Swan than Bulbbul . Qala’s transformation is not supernatural but natural – into an anti-creature at odds with the film’s fantasy surroundings. Flashbacks convey her years of suffering and abuse, but the only demons here are internal. We see not the consequence, but the toll of all that trauma. There is no chudail, no vigilantism; just a crisis of conscience. It’s just Qala and the voices in her head. If anything, her feminism emerges as a manner of doubling down on the toxic agency that she embraced as a teenager yearning for the validation of her mother. It becomes her way of purifying the womanhood she once weaponised – her body, soul, moral core – to reach the top. Slowly but steadily, her veneer cracks. Her image fades. Her arc addresses the callousness of a culture that often trivialises the mental health of celebrities as the “pressures of fame”. We blame it on something as public as fame, but movies like Qala remind us that stardom is only the medium. The catalyst can be something as private – as achingly ordinary – as heartbreak or familial discord. 

To Dutt’s credit, the striking visual language of Qala expresses the anatomy of madness. It feels like part of the narrative detail, as though the story gets consumed by man despite being on the brink of the mythical. Amit Trivedi ’s best soundtrack since Manmarziyaan (2018) combines with Meenal Agarwal’s production design and Siddharth Diwan’s camerawork to create a psychological palette that works on multiple levels. It’s not just the artful symbolism – like Qala’s Calcutta apartment reflecting the greens of envy and blues of faded masculinity, her songs playing out like melancholic pleas to be heard, or her snowy childhood home replicating the starkness of mental isolation. It’s also the way Qala thinks. Unlike Bulbbul, it’s her mind that determines the sensory tone of this film. The world she sees is very different from the one we do, almost like she’s reimagining the aesthetic of the black-and-white era to renovate her own sanity. She longs for the indoor colours to be beautiful – and the symmetry to be poetic – so that it hides the ugliness inside her. Her obsession is softened by wall mirrors and moths around flames. But when she’s outside, her strings vanish. The sky turns dark and cloudy on the day she compromises her dignity. She hallucinates when the press hounds her for an interview on the street. The snow evokes not just her mindscape but her misdeeds too. A top-angle shot reveals her body crumpled at the center of an icy hedge maze in her yard, foreshadowing the role of a mercury maze in the plot. 

There are other lovely touches, too. Qala, like the legendary Lata Mangeshkar, is fondly termed ‘didi’ (sister). Except to her, it also sounds like an accusation, because it’s being a sister that Qala has failed at. Her mother Urmila Devi’s (Swastika Mukherjee) resentment stems from the fact that Qala survived at the cost of a twin brother in the womb. A son that, the woman hoped, would do justice to their family’s classical legacy. When Urmila adopts a talented orphan named Jagan (Babil Khan), who becomes Qala’s stepbrother of sorts, her jealousy shapes the story. Then there’s the choice of period – pre-Independence India – that’s just about cosmetic enough to convey that social shackles like patriarchy are timeless. The writing isn’t afraid to sound a bit contemporary – for instance, when Majroo uses a MeToo-adjacent line to comfort Qala – in its pursuit of cultural fluidity.

The cast bleeds into the film, in all the right ways. Swastika Mukherjee is eerily unsettling as the parent that subverts the Indian father-son dynamic. The late Irrfan’s son, Babil Khan , has a stirring screen presence; his face is lit in part to invoke some of his father’s most memorable roles. You keep looking for his Jagan to give Qala a bigger reason to hate him, but his only crime is that he’s a true artist; even the camera thinks so. Triptii Dimri is strangely persuasive as Qala herself. Her performance brings to mind a sheltered innocence that one usually associates with a Janhvi Kapoor character. Qala’s emotions are stunted, just like her sense of cruelty. Her imposter syndrome is literal. Her personality is derived from pieces of the people around her – evident in how she imitates her mother while seducing a man, or even the way she steals Jagan’s words to explain her condition to a doctor. There are shades of Devdas (2002) in her fraught relationship with Urmila Devi – a mother-daughter story that wears the drama of an unrequited love story. 

At times, it appears like the film’s internet-age writing is taunting Qala for being fragile – for being too childish to allow for a supernatural twist. But Dutt’s script implies that a woman’s agency need not only be restricted to the act of having control; it can also be defined by the freedom to lose control. Qala’s sound is, for better or worse, a phonetic subset of being unsound. While watching Bulbbul , I remember observing that Hindi cinema is biased towards performative male breakdowns. Stories too often stage sadness – rather than madness – as the cornerstone of female heartache. Qala rectifies that. Because it is not reluctant to admit that one condition is simply the sequel to the other.

• हिंदी मराठी বাংলা

In A Historically Bad Year For Hindi Films, ‘Qala’ Explores An Unexpected Theme—& Delivers

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Never judge a book by its cover, or in this case, a film by its poster. Not that the poster of Anvita Dutt’s directorial Qala betrays its theme—a singer at the top of her game. But in this case, the movie’s layered storytelling couldn’t possibly be depicted by a poster alone.

Dutt’s second outing as a director brings together Triptii Dimri—also the protagonist of her first film, Bulbbul , Babil Khan, who marks his Bollywood debut with Karnesh Ssharma’s Clean Salte Filmz production, and Swastika Mukherjee in pivotal roles. This is also where I must add that it took a while but finally, here’s a Hindi film in 2022 worth talking about.  Spoilers ahead.

‘Qala’ film review: The plot brings together multiple themes with ease

Credit: Clean Slate Filmz, Netflix

Themes of envy, competition and persistence are not new to the Hindi film industry. From the 1973 musical drama Abhimaan to Imtiaz Ali’s 2011 film Rockstar , Bollywood has had its fair share of it all. Qala , however, interlinks these themes known to us with its progressive storytelling, bringing to the forefront a complex mother-daughter relationship that threatens to outweigh everything else. It does and somehow, it doesn’t.

© Clean Slate Filmz, Netflix

Qala (Triptii Dimri), the twin who survived, struggles for her mother Urmila’s (Swastika Mukherjee) affection because she lived. She observes her poised mama from a distance, copies her actions and looks to her for attention and validation—traits which don’t leave her until the very end. So when Urmila suggests that she sing to carry forward her late father’s legacy, she does.

We know she makes it big, for the film oscillates between the current day—where she is ‘didi’, a revered singer—and the past, where she goes the extra mile to please her mother but is never able to.

The film honestly portrays a toxic mother-daughter relationship

If Qala’s complex and toxic relationship with her mother defines the crux of this musical drama, what drives it forward is Jagan (Babil Khan), a talented singer who’s accidentally discovered by Urmila. With her mother showering all her attention on her protégé–the son she couldn’t have—Qala struggles more than ever, more so because everyone else, too, seems to love Jagan’s otherwordly voice.

“He is very good at replacing people,” she mutters to an industry bigwig, knowing fully well that she has been replaced.

It would be an error to not mention the use of light and shadows; it’s beautifully done, to say the least, a metaphor perhaps for the darkness inside.

Like ‘Bulbbul’, ‘Qala’ looks at the world through a woman’s eyes

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The feminist tone of Anvita Dutt’s supernatural thriller Bulbbul , set in the 19th century, was difficult to miss and the same can be said for Qala, which is set in the 1940s. When a producer suggests hiring a guy (who works for all the stars) to replace her “female secretary”, Qala says, “Sirf secretary bhi to bol sakte hain. Female lagana zaruri hai kya?” The thought gives the man an expression similar to someone hearing about an alien invasion.

Another time, when her mother forbids her from singing at an event where Jagan is all set to perform, she tells her mother in a matter-of-fact tone, “So the rules are different.”

The comparison between the two films doesn’t end here. Like Anvita Dutt’s debut directorial venture, this one, too, navigates through sexual harassment, highlighting that the times may change but reality tends to remain the same because people in power prefer so.

The storyline of ‘Qala’ includes mental health issues with nuance

However, the unexpected theme the film explores is that of mental health, narrated through the bit-by-bit worsening condition of two singers, one going through a change he didn’t foresee and the other struggling with something we do not yet know.

“Something is wrong with me, mama,” Qala cries to her mother who is more absent than ever. The theme is unexpected because, in a country where mental health crisis has been ignored more often than not , represented fleetingly and often incorrectly in Hindi films, you don’t really see nuance in the portrayal of someone going through it.

The plot doesn’t falter; if it’s difficult for people to explain mental health-related issues today in 2022, the makers do a terrific job of the protagonist struggling, trying to make sense of what exactly is happening to her, without any language to explain it in the 1940s.

In a stark reflection of our society, or the vast majority of it at least, the film shows a doctor labelling the singer’s visible turmoil as everything ranging from exhaustion and artistic leanings to, wait for it, those days aka menstruation.

A brilliant cast and some noteworthy cameos

When we finally find out what has been troubling Qala all along, all the loose ends are tied up. Not that it comes too soon or too late because other than the layered storytelling, Qala rests on the shoulders of its excellent cast. Triptii Dimri is beautifully cast as the protagonist and Swastika Mukherjee has, yet again, outdone herself (a phrase we seem to be using for every other one of the actor’s performances).

Babil Khan—who carries a legacy which will undoubtedly be brought up time and again—shines with the ease of a seasoned actor in his first-ever appearance. His debut is not one based on glitz or dynamic entries, but an underrated, raw performance. It’s clear that there’s more to him and for that, we must wait.

The cameos and supporting cast—Amit Sial, Abhishek Banerjee, Varun Grover (who has also penned the lyrics for one of the songs) and others—are on point and if you’re paying attention, you might even see a leading actress play one on the silver screen.

Of course, it’s criminal to not mention the music composed by Amit Trivedi which runs parallel to the film’s plot. The music album is, as they say, everything and then some.

By this point, Qala has done a lot for films in 2022, but there’s one more thing it does. It shows filmmakers—who lament that films should only exist for “entertainment purposes” and not “educating” people—that with a bit of nuance , a good story, and by leaving behind the good old preaching games, you can do both. And for that alone, we must applaud it.

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Qala ending explained — what exactly happened at the end of the artsy psychological drama that leaves you with some haunting questions

By the time the credits to  Qala roll around, you’re already feeling blue. Not your ordinary run-of-the-mill blue; more like the silvery-blue that’s used generously as a theme throughout the film. And that’s not the only time that the Tripti Dimri, Swastika Mukherjee and Babil -starrer movie uses colour to evoke a certain kind of emotion in the viewer. 

Set in pre-independence India,  Qala is as much an art film as it is a fairly disturbing psychological drama. The clever use of light and shadow, wooden furnishings replete with a fireplace, rustic gramophones, records, even down to the pipes they’re all smoking… every little detail has a telling bit of flair. 

The storyline follows the titular character, Qala Manjushree (Tripti Dimri) as she emerges as one of the most celebrated singers in the Indian music industry. However, the hundreds of accolades — that include the most prestigious golden vinyl, the frenetic media devotion and high praise from the industry biggies all fall short in the face of the thing she craves the most. Her mother’s approval. 

Qala’s been fighting to win her mother’s favour from when she was in the womb. Urmila Manjushree (Swastika Mukherjee) is considered music royalty in the Hindustani classical music space. When she learns that Qala’s twin brother has died in childbirth, her dream of the family’s musical legacy reigning unchecked gets a crack. Even as a baby, Qala is made to feel that being a woman is a weakness. After all, it’s a man’s world. 

Despite tireless training sessions and an austere upbringing, nothing seems to be enough. Her mother is disgusted, belittling her at every step and it’s no wonder that the girl spends her whole childhood vying for even a morsel of affection. And then enter Jagan (Babil) to make things worse. Jagan, an orphan who self-trained in the gurdwara he grew up in, literally has the voice of an angel and a personality to match. He sings, Urmila is mesmerised and her mind is made up. Jagan is coming home with them. 

By the end of the movie, you hate Urmila. The tragedy that struck both Jagan and Qala is a consequence of her neglect, and her obsessive need to launch talent that only meets her lofty standards. It also paints a grim picture of the patriarchy that’s rampant in this age, with even a woman as powerful as Urmila enabling it. 

Present-day Qala may be a singing sensation, but the glory has come with a heavy price. By this point, we already know that sweet, sweet Jagan had killed himself after losing his voice mid-way through a game-changing performance. His voice, as he tells Qala throughout the movie, is his identity. And when Qala reaches the peak of celebrity, even resorting to desperate means to achieve it, all she has is visions of Jagan accusing her of stealing his life and success. 

And as the movie gears up to its curtain close, we know why. Qala, who had spent months playing second fiddle to Jagan for her mother’s attention — who considers the latter the son she lost in childbirth — snaps. It is revealed that on the day of Jagan’s big performance, she had mixed mercury in the warm milk her mother made her serve him. Mercury, as we know from an earlier scene in the movie, has certain traces of poison and can destroy someone’s voice. Incidentally, Qala uses traces of mercury from a game that Jagan had given her in a moment of camaraderie. 

And so for years, Qala carries the debilitating guilt of Jagan’s death on her conscience, which after a point, starts manifesting in these visions. Reality blurs and in one disturbing instance that the media laps up, she starts talking to him out loud. By some fluke, Urmila hears that peculiar exchange on the radio and at the same time gets a worrying call from Qala’s doctor. Qala has tried to kill herself. 

The final climax comes with a flavour of regret. Finally realising her role in Qala’s descent into mental turmoil, Urmila reaches Calcutta, determined to take her daughter home. But she’s too late. In a scene of (the worst kind) poetic justice, Urmila barges into Qala’s room to find that she has hung herself, mimicking Jagan in his final moments. 

This too is fitting because, in many ways, Jagan is more of a family member (and maybe even mentor) to her than her mother could ever be. In one beautiful scene, he even tells her that she should stop singing for her mother, and sing instead for herself. But for Qala, her world started and ended with her mother. Something that Urmila realised a little too late. 

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Qala: Each Frame is beautiful

Just finished watching this on Netflix and just couldn’t wait to post this.

3 things I liked:

— Tripti Dimri totally hit it out of the park with her performance in this one. Easily one of the best performance this year. The melancholy of her character was truly felt.

— Cinematography and lighting of the film is class apart. If you pause at any point of time, you can say it has been shot with utmost care.

— Movie has to offer multiple themes and they are all dealt with maturity. The symbolism through dialogues, costumes and motifs really speak out.

Has anyone else seen it yet?

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