Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap’s brand of cinema is diametrically opposite to the mindless comedy or emotional tearjerkers dished out by Bollywood. In fact, Kashyap’s cinema is dark, broody and psychologically claustrophobic in form and meaning. Starring Kalki Koechlin, Naseeruddin Shah and Shiv Subramaniyam, ‘The Girl In Yellow Boots’ traces the life of an illegal immigrant to Mumbai – Ruth (Kalki) and her search for her missing father, who abandoned her family when she was a kid. The film paints a sinister picture of Mumbai, a place often called the city of dreams. Ruth’s brush with Mumbai evokes the stark reality of the city underbelly which is infested by warped anomalies of human life while Ruth tries to locate her father. In order to survive, Ruth takes up the job in a shady massage parlour and gives in to the desire of old men (Naseeruddin Shah being one of them) to make her ends meet. Single in the city, Ruth falls prey to her drug addict boyfriend (Prashant Prakash) and local goon Chitippa (Gulshan Devaiah). In ‘The Girl In Yellow Boots,’ Ruth internalises the trauma as she comes across the perils of an unknown cityscape. Ruth struggles to keep her sanity intact in the big bad city – a city which constantly gnaws her. Kalki literally lives up to the role of Ruth and so does Prashant and Gulshan, who add a lot of depth and conviction to their characters. Well, here’s another masterstroke from Kashyap, ‘That Girl In Yellow Boots’ is a must watch film.
