In an interview I had with Anurag Kashyap last year, I asked him who rules India, and he told me Big Dairy. The impact of the milk companies in the country is definite, and the way people seem to manipulate production and distribution has been dealt with in Indian cinema, with the recently restored “Manthan” that screened this year in Cannes being a prime example. Sourabh Doke also uses the concept as his basis, in a film, however, which quickly moves into completely different directions, following the rules of the crime thriller.
Milk, Rice And The Blood review is part of the Submit Your Film Initiative
Siddharth arrives in the city in order to discover what happened to his brother, Pradip. Pradip, hailing from a Dalit family, had always been an advocate for goodness and kindness, which unfortunately made him a target for the cruelty of the upper-caste individuals in the city. The initial reason for the treatment he received was his will to introduce high quality milk to the area, from his home place. His efforts brought him in a clash with the area’s monopoly, and particularly the Gavali brothers, who were in charge of distribution. However, when the cycle of violence opens, it is not easy to close.
As mentioned in the prologue, Sourabh Doke comes up with a crime film essentially, which uses the fate of the protagonists in order to make a number of social comments. The aforementioned about milk and the way the mafia has become part of the industry is a central one but not the only. The racism Dalits and also people who come from the country face when they reach the big cities is also intensely commented on, while the theme of crime and punishment definitely takes over after a fashion. Patriarchy, especially in the way relationships between men and women function is another issue presented here, while the way the sum of all the aforementioned inevitably leads to revenge and violence, cementing the rather rich context here.
Check also this interview
The back and forth in timeline add to the sense of agony the movie emits, while the build up to the rather violent finale is quite good, in a testament to Doke’s direction. At the same time, though, the flashbacks do emerge as too many, and after a point, they make the narrative somewhat disorienting. At the same time, and although the impact of the finale and the progression of the story are well done, the story does go a bit too far after a point. On the other hand, one could say that the approach was in order to ‘service’ the exploitation aspect of the movie, and in that regard, works quite well.
Yash And Sairaj’s cinematography captures the claustrophobic settings the protagonists inhabit most of the time with gusto, with the violent scenes especially being quite well shot. Doke’s own editing induces the film with a fast pace that allows the story to unfold leisurely in the 45 minutes of its duration, but the problem with the placement of the flashbacks is significant.
Swapnil Badnale as Pradip and Doke himself as Siddharth give impactful performances, but the former does suffer a bit from the characterization, since, although he is supposed to be a victim, he also emerges as rather annoying on occasion. Aditya and Sandesh Mantri as the Gavali brothers play the villains with gusto.
Despite the evident low budget, “Milk, Rice and Blood” emerges as a well-presented crime film which includes both rich social commentary and exploitation elements. Sourabh Doke just needs to improve his directorial and editing approach in order to get to the next level.
