official description
As India’s independent film movement surges, Anurag Kashyap is at the forefront of the action. His Dev D. stripped away Bollywood’s commercial sheen to reveal a generation of urban Indians as they are today: ambitious, exciting and international. That Girl in Yellow Boots takes a hard look at those South Asians who live in between worlds. A portrait of a biracial woman trying to find her place in Bombay, it is exactly the brand of urgent, passionate filmmaking that is transforming how we think about Indian cinema.
Ruth has spent enough time in India to know how to work the system, including how to manipulate the sleazy bureaucrat at the immigration office. With her visa extended, she returns to “studying massage,” which is really a soul-squandering job servicing men at a backroom parlour. Her boyfriend, Prashant, offers no rescue from the dangers of her work. In fact, his drug use, money problems and brushes with violent criminals put her in the way of ever-present harm. But Ruth puts on a tough face and braves the risks of her challenging, urban life for one deeply personal reason: her estranged father lives somewhere in the city. As she searches for her last remaining link with her family, she falls deeper into Bombay’s underworld. But a part of Ruth seems to embrace the danger. That girl in yellow boots is a complex character: brash but sensitive, numbed to men but desperately needing to connect.
Kashyap shot the film in a mere thirteen days and it carries that anything-goes spirit. At the same time, it boasts sophisticated widescreen cinematography that pushes its characters together in the frame, compressing them against Bombay’s humid mass of concrete and people. This is an enormously stylish film, crafting intimate pockets within the city where layered performances can unfold. In both style and subject, Kashyap defines the pulse of today’s Hindi independent cinema – Hindie, if you like.
Cameron Bailey
Principal Cast: Kalki Koechlin, Prashant Prakash, Gulshan Devaiah, Naseeruddin Shah
Producer: Anurag Kashyap
Executive Producer: Guneet Monga
Cinematographer: Rajeev Ravi
Editor: Shweta Venkat Matthew
Sound: Kunal Sharma
Music: Naren Chandavarkar & Benedict Taylor
Production Designer: Wasiq Khan
Production Company: Anurag Kashyap Film Pvt. Ltd.
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