Lately, the Indian film industry seems to
be producing a series of films on the older woman and younger man romance.
After recent releases like Farhan Akhtar's 'Dil Chahta Hai', Shahsilal Nair's
'Ek Chotisi Love Story', Somnath Sen's 'Leela', the latest to join the bandwagon
is Deepti Naval starrer 'Freaky Chakra' directed by V.K Prakash which was
formally launched in Mumbai for release on 7 February.
'Freaky Chakra' is a film about an edgy 40-year-old widow played by Deepti
Naval, whose life comes to a standstill after her husband's death. Her
life becomes lonely and ritualistic. A retired banker named Sundaram (Sachin
Khadekar) who has a soft corner for the lady doesn't have the guts to
confess his feelings for her. But it's the relationship with her 19-year-old
paying guest that brings changes in her life overnight.
Former ad-filmmaker-turned-film director, V K Prakash's debut film 'Punaradhivasam'
featuring Nandita Das won the National Award for best Malayalam film.
His second venture 'Freaky Chakra' which is in English with Hindi songs,
might seem to be repetitive in its content but he insists that structure-
wise it is completely different from what the Indian audiences have been
used to viewing which sets the film apart from the others.
After Subhash Ghai's 'Saudagar' in 1991 and Feroz Khan's 'Yalgaar' in
1992 Deepti Naval kept away from films out of choice. Her comeback as
a social worker in Jagmohan Mundra's 'Bawander' set the release of a series
of her films like Boney Kapoor's 'Shakti', Somanath Sen's 'Leela' and
Raj Basu's 'Wings of Hope'. All these films have given her the creative
vent that Deepti found missing in formula films. Her eccentric character
as Ms Thomas in 'Freaky Chakra' is the kind which was never performed
and she believes that it gives a new perspective to the portrayal of Indian
women in Indian cinema
Another character which has helped the director in giving the film its
unique structure is VJ turned actor Ranvir. Ranvir has the key role of
a narrator in the film and is also involved in the plot of the film.
Freaky Chakra has a punch line which reads 'a rectangular love story'.
This has built up a lot of curiosity among audiences who are now eagerly
awaiting the release of this 'Structural Experiment' on 7 February
