Shreelancer Movie Review: Let's Travel Somewhere

Director: Sandeep Mohan

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

For writing about this movie I had to put myself through the process of deadline. Like Shreepad Naik (Arjun Radhakrishnan) who always works on a deadline. Similar to every other freelancer there. Shreelancer, like its name suggests, is the story of a freelancer named Shree (a 28-year-old guy); who is in a quandary about his pertinence as an artist. Whether he is an artist or its just a matter of time that he has to start finding a regular job, earning a regular salary. This is further explored during one of his job interviews and again when he is writing a blog post which goes like, "Why would someone who is otherwise so confident hide his art  work from her?"

The film tries to put forth many a struggle of a freelancer which may not be evident to someone who is not in his shoes. As freelancing implies independence to many; freedom from working under someone and being your own boss. But it is just one side of the coin while the other side shows that the clients don't really care much about them and almost never pay their said remuneration on time.

Another theme explored in the film is of Shree's overdependence on his phone which is noticeable in his way of enjoying life which is always through the screen even if the person is just before him. Be it a traffic jam or a cafe from where he does most of his work, he wants to make people  (Facebook friends) cognizant of every minute detail of his life. At one point in the film it is more about others approval of what he posts or uploads than his own urge to tell it to them. All this is part of his life in Bangalore which completely turns upside down when he goes to North India (Chandigarh) for the first time for a friend's marriage, where he learns the hard way about life (by way of travelling) via a string of life changing incidents that what life is all about. From being caught up in Nepal to narrowly escaping from the people who saved him from the people in Nepal. In the middle of all this he discovers the real beauty of his own country which he totally missed out on until then and was stuck at cafes and gigs in one city only. And even calling one of the picturesque location as "photoshopped" when his friend showed the image of the same to him.

Having lost his mother, Shree is only left with his father (Salmin Sheriff) and his mother's Provident Fund. That's why his father wants him to get a regular salaried job which atleast gives the assurance of a steady income, unlike freelancing. Its only after going to the place of work that he realises "he is not cut out for a salaried job". This scene feels similar to the one towards the end of the film "Love Aaj Kal" but with entirely different motivation of the same emotional state for the protagonist. I have used the analogy of "Love Aaj Kal" because in both the films something else felt more important to the protagonist than where he currently is.

At the end, the messaging of the film does come off well as from the time we meet Shreepad; he has completely changed from being someone who has no inclination to go out of Bangalore and explore new places to being someone who wants to cover all the 29 states of the country before turning 30. Having said that, the weakest link of the story are the other characters whose purpose in the film starts but then comes to a close abruptly, like his friend Ravi, who invites him to Chandigarh and Ravi's four other friends. Similarly many other themes were being explored like boycotting of elections, working of the Soul Harvesting Organisation but all these were just touched upon. It can also be seen in a way that they were just new learnings for Shreepad as he has been living in his own bubble for quite sometime and all these events shaped his worldview in a major way which even seems evident to his father when he says "I don't know how you turned out this way." Maybe that was just a general statement but Shree's sudden decision to leave the job and his new found love for travelling could have instigated his father to say what he said.

Certain other things like "French word of the day: Tu es mignon (You are cute)" written inwards in a cafe's washroom door is put to use by Shreepad when he meets a French lady who somewhat rescues him from the people in Nepal and again the girl in the cafe seen around 8 minutes into the film joins the co-worker space in his home. These instances point out that whatever we read (even casually) or the people we meet (even if not personally) can play a huge role in whatever small way possible in our lives. Even the overall music of the film goes well with the state of mind of the protagonist especially the song by Ankur Tewari and Prateek Kuhad "Dil Beparvah." The lyrics of this particular song completely sums up Shreepad as a person.

All in all, Shreelancer aptly depicts the struggle and simultaneous dubiety of someone who doesn't know if he is good enough to call himself an artist or its just another way (in his mind) to escape any other routine job by being free to work anywhere and at whatever hour of the day one wants to.