BTS movie review: A moving anthology on ordinary people with extraordinary dreams about cinema

A still from ‘BTS’
| Photo Credit: A2 Music Official/YouTube

In the hero-obsessed film industry, it’s refreshing to see movies that highlight the unsung heroes of filmmaking. The Kannada five-film anthology BTS (Behind The Scenes) is a realistic exploration of the ordinary lives of people with extraordinary dreams.

The first short, Baanigondu Elle Ellide (a line from the evergreen song from Dr Rajkumar’s Premada Kanike), shows how a film buff draws a line between cinema and reality. Imitating his beloved star’s dialogues and behaving like the characters portrayed by his favourite actor, a young boy is living in an illusion until reality hits him hard.

A son of a brass trumpet player, he feels sorry for his acts as his father suffers a public humiliation. The film has an emotional core, but director Prajwal MR treats his subject like a thriller. He amps up the tension with pounding music as the plot keeps you intrigued till the end. The film mentions Rajkumar’s cult classic Bangaarada Manushya as the director bats for getting inspired by movies for the right reasons.

The second short, Coffee, Cigarettes and Lines, by director Sai Shrinidhi, shows the struggles of upcoming writer-directors who strive for originality. They are often faced with stars or producers who want tried-and-tested formulas. In this film, a hero is still in the hangover from the 2016 blockbuster Kirik Party and wants similar fun romantic dramas. He fails to understand the difference between an arthouse film and a satirical comedy.

We see four stories within the short film as the director attempts to convince the hero to work with him. In one of the stories, actor Medini Kelamane hits it out of the park as someone upset with how her body and not her calibre have become her identity. The short film takes a dig at the current-day intolerance towards themes such as caste and religion in movies. The story of a young man’s quest to eliminate desires is terrific. The idea of four stories within a short can be challenging on paper, but Coffee, Cigarettes, and Lines gets help from meticulous writing.

Hero from Kuldeep Cariappa is the most straightforward short in the anthology. The film is about a rag-picker who dreams of being a star. It’s an endearing tale told with realism, as Kuldeep is on point with his world-building. 

We see how somebody who earns just for survival has an ambition beyond his reach. However, what happens when you get a small opportunity to experience something you thought was unattainable? How the short ends can leave people divided. How do you want to see a man in a hopeless scenario? Would you give him hope of better days to come? Or will you expect him to accept his harsh reality and enjoy the small joys of life?

A still from the film ‘BTS’.
| Photo Credit:
A2 Music Official/YouTube

The fourth short, Blockbuster from Rajesh N Shankadh, attempts to understand a writer’s inner pain as he strives to finish that one “perfect” script. Ambitiously shot, the black-and-white short leaves a lot to decode. It brilliantly uses the tool of mind voice as we hear the internal dialogues of the protagonist, who tries hard to overcome writer’s block. The short film seems to be the visual representation of Ernest Hemingway’s famous quote on writing that says: “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”

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The last short, Sumoha, is a well-rounded short directed by Apoorva Bhardwaj. Be it at shooting spots, events, or ahead of interviews, actors prefer last-minute touch-ups. The film is a peek into the life of a touch-up guy who goes unnoticed most of the time. It’s a moving story about his relationship with his innocent wife, who craves his time amidst his unpredictable work schedule. The film makes subtle nods to financial insecurity experienced by people in unstable professions. Mahadev Prasad and Sri Priya are fantastic as a couple, becoming the soul of the short film.

BTS is currently running in theatres