Film: Faactory (Releasing in theatres)
Duration: 96 minutes
Director: Faissal Khan
Cast: Faissal Khan, Raoleey Ryan, Raj Kumar Kanojia, Ribbhu Mehra, Sharad Singh, Aasha Singh and Sharif Khan
Rating: **1/2
By Troy Ribeiro
One would have to figure out as to what to make of this film. It is a twisted love story that is intriguing but absurdly mounted. It is the absurdity that keeps you hooked to the screen till the viewing gets tedious. In fact, the film is tolerable, albeit immediately forgettable.
Honestly, one would watch this film primarily because of Faissal Khan. 'Faactory' is his canvas as an actor and director and on both counts, he floats with a bloated script of cardboard-thin characters.
As an actor, he over-ambitiously delivers with a cartoonish disposition resembling Dilton from Archie comics and Mr Spock of 'Star Trek'. Imagine these two characters blended into one: that's Yash Kadam, the lovelorn psychopath who is creepy for the sake of being creepy. To top it all, his dialogue delivery is loud, theatrical and far from impressive.
Love has no reasons, hence Yash falls hook, line and sinker for his student, Natasha, who is totally unaware of his feelings till the day she is kidnapped by him and is held hostage in a defunct factory where most of the film's action takes place. That's where the film gets its name from.
'Faactory' is a talk-heavy film with Yash going into long monologues and when he is short of words, he breaks into songs, which are responded to with equal fervour by his love interest, Natasha (Roaleey Ryan).
Roaleey Ryan as Natasha is a dependable actress delivering what is expected of her, but her performance falters as she saunters through her role without making an effort to look devastated or harrowed.
The others who share the screen along with Faissal and Roaleey are Ribbhu Mehra as Natasha's husband Rahul, Sharad Singh as Mr Bhalla, Natasha's business associate, Aasha Singh as Mrs Bhalla, Sharif Khan as Natasha's driver and Raj Kumar Kanojia as Yash's handyman Tommy, who would do anything to please Yash. All of them have their moments of on-screen glory, but fail to impress, probably because the writing is poor.
Directorially too, the film is treated with old-world sensibilities: read 1980s B- grade films. The plot, filled with contrived scenes, lack the chutzpah of a thriller. It is neither predictable, nor gripping. Rolling on an even keel with no exciting graph, the narrative loses momentum in a few places and the climax falls on a flat note that appears as a desperate 'deus ex machina'.
Overall, mounted with moderate production values, 'Faactory' is a testing film where the hero, in this case Yash, tests the girl whether she loves him or not, and the director, in this case the actor himself, tests the audience's patience in understanding his plight.
(Troy Ribeiro can be contacted at troy.r@ians.in)