My THAT GIRL IN YELLOW BOOTS Review: Not what was expected from Kashyap

*ing: Kalki Koechlin, Naseeruddhin Shah, Gulshan Devaiah

That Girl in Yellow Boots (TGIYB) is story of Ruth, a 20 year-old British girl with Indian origin, who is in India in search of her father Arjun Patel. Arjun had left Ruth and her mother 15 years ago, after Ruth’s 15 years old pregnant sister killed herself. To support her stay in India Ruth works at a massage parlor and earns extra money by giving “handshake”  to the interested clients for extra 1000 bucks. She also has a boyfriend Prashant who is a cokehead. TGIYB  shows the hardships Ruth has to undergo in the search of her father. She is forced to bribe the police officer as her VISA has already expired and she also has to bribe postmaster and take help of who seems to be an influential officer from Foreigner's Registration Office (with she returning favor by making his investors happy) to help her locate her father. She is also troubled by a Kannada goon Chittiapa Gowda (Gulshan Devaiah) after Prashant tries to steal coke from Chittiapa.

To be fair, TGIYB is not a movie that one would expect from the talented Anurag Kashyap, the strongest pillar of Indian indie cinema. TGIYB is supported neither by good performances nor well-written material. Kalki Koechlin, also the wife of Anurag Kashyap, is at best a below average actress. Her act neither captivates the viewer nor makes a viewer feel for her at any moment in the movie. It is heartening to hear that Kashyap has decided not to direct Kalki again. Naseeruddhin Shah, a fine actor is wasted in an inconsequential role. Kumud Mishra is forgettable. Pooja Swarup, playing Maya who is blabbering on the phone throughout the movie makes an interesting character and performs a fine job.

But the best and only noteworthy performance of the movie comes from Gulshan Devaiah who is a live wire in this otherwise dull movie. He is good in his every single scene. The best scene of the movie is when he and his gang members are enjoying Kannada song on TV after breaking into Ruth’s house. His struggle to find correct remote control to switch off the TV and his broken English will surely have everyone in splits. The best line of the movie is also delivered by him. He asks Ruth her name. When she answers Ruth, he says, “Ch*t? Ch*t?? Nice. I am Chutiyapa.” Hilarious. I would love to see Gulshan in other movies doing meatier roles. Piyush Mishra, Rajat Kapoor, Ronit Roy, Makrand Deshpande, who all are good actors are wasted in useless cameos.

The sole intention of TGIYB seems to be shocking audience with its bold ending which an average viewer will see coming little earlier than the end itself (I am refraining from revealing the ending here.). This abrupt ending left me unconvinced and dissatisfied. There is no point in taking up a bold subject and squandering it by just using it to shock audience. Anurag Kashyap should have been bold enough to deal the subject profoundly and with much care. 


I was neither bothered about the identity of Ruth's father nor the drama (whatever there is) that unfolds on the screen and mind you, the movie is about Ruth's search of her father. To me that is the biggest failure of TGIYB. TGIYB is the weakest movie of Anurag Kashyap  (I have only watched the parts of No Smoking and I am not counting The Return of Hanuman which I have not watched), the man who gave us Paanch, Dev D, Gulaal and Black Friday. I will be eagerly waiting for Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur. I am sure he will deliver the goods next time. TGIYB can be watched once but do not expect much. 

My rating:   

(An extra half has been given for Gulshan's entertaining act.)