While the lockdown actuated by the COVID-19 pandemic has constrained individuals to manage being cooped up in their homes for quite a long time and even months, the circumstance has just compounded the predicament of casualties of aggressive behavior at home as they have been trapped in the bad habit like grasp of their victimizers, frequently with no plan of action.
The Relationship Manager is the latest offering by Falguni Thakore (written & directed) who has been a costume designer for various Neeraj Pandey films. Starring Annup Sonii as Vinay – a Relationship Manager for a bank, Divya Dutta as Kavita – Vinay’s client, Juuhi Babbar Soni as Riya – Vijay’s wife.
Shot in the respective houses of the Sonii’s, Kher, Khan and Dutta, the film is put together with some deft editing by Praveen Kathikuloth. The real heroine is obviously writer-director Falguni Thakore, whose skills show a fascinating potential of being a big-screen filmmaker.
Divya plays a homemaker who is confronting maltreatment from her husband and Soniii happens to catch a sound that causes him to think something isn’t right. He chooses to ring her and enquire, however as a bank’s rep, he has his constraints. In his own words, “Mai apka relationship manager hoon. Kuch bhi bolo to logo ko lagta hai, ab kuch bechega. (I am your relationship manager, no matter what I say you will be wondering what am I trying to sell).” With that in his psyche, in what manner will he expand that assistance, without sounding excessively meddlesome?
The fundamental essence works for Divya Dutta’s torment lashed voice. With that inconspicuous tremble in her voice and eyes that pass on unspeakable agony, Divya truly didn’t require that wound on her brow to embrace her maltreatment.
The film has its heart in the right place and the performances by Dutta and Sonii stand out, but one wishes the filmmaker had thought a bit more in depth about gender than just the issue being highlighted.
The Relationship Manager was released on YouTube last week. Watch the film below.