*Spoiler Alert*
‘House Arrest’ is a movie about a young ex-banker, who has consciously decided to stay inside his spacious and luxurious apartment for nine months, and shut himself up from the outside world. This Netflix Original movie released on 15 November 2019, and has been directed by Samit Basu and Shashanka Ghosh.
Karan (Ali Fazal) has found his best friend in JD (Jim Sarbh) who calls him while urinating, taking a massage, gyming and post-sex. Karan and JD have been friends since school. JD sends a journalist friend Saira (Shriya Pilgaonkar) to Karan’s house for an interview. Saira is a journalist who has never been shown taking notes, writing on a notepad or even recording the interview in the movie. Maybe the director relied on her utter intelligence, assuming that she will remember every bit of the interview.
Karan has a quite chirpy neighbour, Pinky (Barkha Singh) who hands him a pink suitcase with the help of her extremely tall and hefty bodyguard, Rambo. The content of the suitcase seems suspicious. One thing intriguing about Pinky is that in order to justify her name, she has been shown wearing pink clothes, pink lipstick, pink hairband, and pink hairstreaks. She is an over-friendly Delhi girl, and her character in the movie is something viewers may remember.
The movie starts with a radio announcement, “Hello, Delhi! It’s eight o’clock on Monday and we’re all off to work. The traffic is terrible. But of course, darling, this is NCR’s Delhi. If you are stuck in your car making lists of the battles you are fighting this week with your rivals, colleagues, and clients, there must be a little thought, in some corner of your mind, wondering why Sunday ended at all. Man, why did I leave the house at all? I could be curled in bed, doing nothing. After all, there’s no place like home”.
The above announcement sets the tone for the 104-minutes-long movie. Karan admits that the entire world is looking for ways to get him out of the house and is unsure about how long will he be able to carry on like this. In Karan’s character, viewers will find some traits of Mirzapur, sadly it fades away suddenly. Karan talks about the concept of zero physical and social contact, rejecting society – Hikikomori.
Saira believes that Karan is not alone but lucky. She thinks that Karan has many friends and family members who care about him and want to see him happy. Confessing her state, she says that if she decides to stay at home, cut herself off from society, weeks would pass by and no would notice.
The entire concept of urban loneliness has not been explored on a serious note in the movie. There are bits and pieces of it spread across the entire length of the movie but who has the time to collect those pieces together? The responsibility is on the writer who has written the script. Leaving it in the hands of the viewer has left this movie a bit mundane.
Karan just wants one day where no one would disturb him. Will he be able to accomplish that goal? If you are interested in his destiny, you can go and watch this movie.
The love chemistry between Karan and Saira, will, of course, keep you captivated.