The concept of the “home invasion” has been used repeatedly in cinema, in various forms, usually for movies that unfold as thrillers. This time, however, Dipankar Giri and Mithun Debnath present a whole different take on the concept, by inducing humor and Bollywood references.
An intensely self-admiring burglar crashes into yet another house, where he proceeds on looking himself on the mirror and throwing kisses his own way. Soon, however, he encounters another man in the apartment, who seems to be even weirder than him. As the references to Amitabh Bachchan and “Agneepath” follow one another, their interaction becomes more and more stranger. Eventually, the second man, Jahangir, starts talking on two phones at the same time, one with his girlfriend and one with an associate, whom supposedly he waits for in the apartment.
Dipankar Giri and Mithun Debnath direct a short that does not seem to lead somewhere specific narratively, particularly to the viewer who does not understand the movie references. However, it still emerges as rather interesting due to the unlikely event, as much as the two men that interact with each other in a fashion that could be described as weirdly hilarious. Mithun Debnath’s constant smile as Jahangir, that looks rather paranoid, and Vasil Khan‘s self-adoration that turns into perplexion and then worry in the role of the thief work excellently in that regard, as the two of them carry the peculiar narrative for the whole of the short’s 13+ minutes.
On the other hand, technically the issues are many. The first scenes, that take place in the dark, are literally unwatchable, as very little can seen on screen due to the faulty lighting. The visual issues remain throughout the duration, with the quality being quite low, to the point that the result looks more like a home-made video than an actual movie, despite the fact that the work done in the sound is of significantlly higher quality. The last segment, with the presentation of the cast works quite well and tones down a bit the lack of artistry, but in the end, the short emerges as a film of very low technical quality, even for a quarantine title.
Dipankar Giri and Mithun Debnath show that they have some very interesting ideas and a great sense of humor in “Perfect Strangers” but they need a lot of work in the technical aspect.
