TW: The following write-up may contain some disturbing pictures.

The essence of Delhi which Shoojit Sircar captures via his movies is beyond words. Imtiaz Ali and Shoojit Sircar’s Delhi are two complementary worlds existing in one place.

Before starting up the dissection of October I want to comment on its color palette. The transition inthe film’s color palette from warm to cold after Shiuli’s death impressed me a lot. The movie's second half is full of melancholy and a cold color palette. Whenever Dan thinks about Shiuli, there is some warm element in the frame. She was like a ray of hope and brightness in his cold world.

The establishing shots of the movie are beautifully captured but it gives a sneak peek into Dan’s world. Dan is introduced to us as a very irritated and the black sheep of the herd. He is always lost in his world and doesn’t even bother to treat the guests with the treatment he is supposed to provide them.

Contrary to this we have Shiuli. She’s the kind of teacher's pet who makes sure that she doesn’t give her seniors any opportunity to scold her or point out her mistakes. That department is perfectly looked after by our Danish Walia. Every day he is seen doing the tasks that are allotted to the interns as a punishment. By the first glimpse of him, we can’t think of fact how compassionate he is.

Shoojit da makes sure that we get a direct picture of Shiuli’s personality as soon as she appears on the screen. She had a very delicate and gentle personality. The way she picked up the flowers from the garden and collected them was enough to prove this. The particular scene where Shiuli’s flower bowl falls on the floor because of Dan he still behaves ignorant towards it and Shiuli collects them back without complaining shows how Shiuli is all about acceptance and moving forward. Her attitude does make Dan change a little bit. He also picks one flower from the floor :-)

Let’s move towards one of the most hard-hitting scenes from the movie. Yes! You guessed it right. I’m referring to the scene where Shiuli asks ‘Where is Dan?’ This scene was not easy to process as a lot of activities were happening inside just one frame. People are dancing, Shiuli grabbing some snacks, and Manjeet sitting on the floor and talking to his friend. And suddenly Shiuli falls from the 4^th floor of the hotel.

Casting Geetanjali Rao as Vidya Iyer was one of the best decisions of the casting director. The way she portrayed the emotions of a single mother.

The interval in the movie is meant to indicate that the story is about transformation. The best transformation of the movie is Dan’s character growth. Hospitals are one of the most disturbing places one can ever visit. Seeing people pray and cry for their loved ones is one of the most heart-wrenching experiences. The same happened with Dan. His visit to the hospital ICU to see Shiuli impacted him. The convo he had with Manjeet is tense and comic at the same time. The way he was giving such a detailed explanation of Shiuli’s surroundings spoke a lot about the extent to which he was affected by this happening.

When Dan got to know that Shiuli asked about him before her accident he immediately ran towards the site and he was not the same Dan anymore. He believed that he has some responsibility towards her. She meant something him and he meant something to her. His reaction towards his friends that why they were not as affected as him was very relevant. Like, how can someone be so casual when their ‘friend” has met with a fatal accident!!

Dan talking about his absence at New Year’s Eve, talking to the attendees in the hospital, showing compassion towards sweepers, collecting flowers for Shiuli, fetching medicines for her, sticking his passport size photos on Shiuli’s hospital bed and being protective towards his love was what I liked the most. Dan teasing Shiuli and her not recognizing him in front of her family is what I’ll call sheer romance. No words but they knew what their reactions meant to each other.

There is a particular frame where a wedding procession was going through the street and Dan was waiting for medical store to get medicines for Shiuli is a beautiful depiction of how contrasting lives at a particular moment.

Dan moves to Manali as ordered by Vidya, his obedience to s Vidya ji was a kind surrender towards Shiuli. Shoojit Sircar says that Dan had a motherly compassion for Shiuli. Here we do get to see the frames cut from Dan to Vidya ji.

Whenever I think about the climax of this movie it still breaks something inside me. It creates a void which can’t be filled easily. We get to feel the pain which Dan and Vidya were going through. I hope someone can just give the viewers a Shiuli plant just like the way Vidya ji gave one to Dan so that he can nurture Shiuli’s presence in his surrounding and his memories.

Shiuli’s accident and her passing away did changed Dan. She changed him for good. When people become hopeless after losing someone close, Dan worked on himself, improved himself. Now, he was not the black sheep of the herd. He became sincere towards his work. According to me this was his way of remembering Shiuli and keeping a part of her alive within himself.

I hope you liked the write-up. Let’s get back to streaming October!!