Being Cyrus can aptly be titled a Hinglish or English film. It is a different, interesting and unique movie. Fortunately, many moviegoers today want something different from Indian cinema, and Being Cyrus caters to exactly to those people. Being Cyrus is a film, which will definitely appeal to the thinking man, rather than common folk. It may however get its fair share of recognition due to the rise of multiplexes, which cater to films as well as audiences with a different taste. Being Cyrus has a distinct flavour to it.
Being Cyrus has been produced under the banner of Times Infotainment Media Limited and its director is Homi Adajania. The star cast includes Saif Ali khan (Cyrus Mistry), Naseeruddin Shah (Dinshaw Sethna), Dimple Kapadia (Katy Sethna), Boman Irani (Farokh Sethna), Simone Singh (Tina Sethna), Manoj Pahwa (Inspector Maninder) and Honey Chhaya (Fardounjee Sethna). Being Cyrus revolves around the relationships of a dysfunctional Parsi family. Dinshaw Sethna is a retired sculptor and lives with his wife Katy in Panchgani hills in a dilapidated, rundown house.
Back in Mumbai his brother, Farokh lives with his wife Tina and their father. Cyrus is not related to any of them, but out of the blue turns up at Dinshaw’s house in Panchgani. He wants to be an assistant to Dinshaw, he wants to learn sculpting and pottery and ends up staying on for a year with the Sethna’s in Panchgani. During this time there seems to be an affair going on between Katy and Cyrus. During his stay many clandestine activities involving Cyrus takes place. He receives some money for an undisclosed reason and he is shown working in a lab on something secret.
Next Cyrus adopts the home of Farokh Sethna in Mumbai. They live in a typical Parsi colony in Mumbai. Their father lives in a small room in their apartment, but his son Farokh does not treat him well. Cyrus befriends their father. However, Farokh dislikes this man instantly and does not trust him. Also simultaneously, Katy keeps getting some mysterious calls from Mumbai. Tina, Farokh’s wife befriends a cop, Lovely. As the story unfolds, one can see that there is a serious underlying problem with each of these seemingly ordinary characters. Everyone in the Sethna household has their own personal agenda and tries to make use of Cyrus.
Cyrus too has a strange, dark and foreboding side to him. As the plot unfurls we get to see the morbid, queer and distasteful side to each of these characters. Homi Adajani is a debutant director and he has also written the script along with Kersi Khambatta. The film can be termed as a dark comedy that unfurls the psychological aspects of different human beings. However, the subject deals with an insight into the psyche of these characters, which is a serious subject, the execution by Adajania is done in a unique manner and he somehow manages to incorporate humour into this film.
The film also deals with various relationships within this family, father-son, siblings and husband-wife. It depicts the eccentricities and quirks of this seemingly ordinary Parsi family. However, this film is in English and has a plot, which is layered with complexities. It deals with an abstract subject, such as the functioning of the mind; hence, it may not be very comprehensible to everyone. Moreover, due to the language constraint, it manages to exclude a sizeable audience. It is definitely not in the category of commercial cinema. In addition, the story starts off in a very basic way and then later on all the drama is incorporated.
The film requires minute attention to every single detail; otherwise, one loses the thread of understanding mid-way. Being Cyrus has an international appeal to it; it is distinctive and original in choice of subject. The feel, look and style of the Parsi community is definitely an effective way to enhance the attractiveness of the film. The director has done quite a good job, especially for his first film. The use of the entire story being narrated by Cyrus, the protagonist’s viewpoint is quite innovative. Also, the climax itself is quite unique and different. It leaves you with mixed feelings and gets the audience thinking. It tries to convey that there are generally no extremes in life or in people, there are no good or bad people, merely people with shades of grey and who fall in between these two extremes.
The background music seems very apt for the film. The movie has been made in a very slick manner. Homi has managed to get some of the most classy actors in Indian Cinema. Saif Ali Khan played the character of Cyrus exceptionally well, he was truly convincing as a complex individual with several layers to his personality. Naseeruddin Shah is a seasoned actor who was perfect for the spaced out sculptor. Boman Irani, being a Parsi himself brought a part of himself to the role and his role of a contemptuous man truly made one dislike him, Dimple Kapadia was fine in her part, Simone Singh was good too and Pahwa provided some light moments in the film.
The characters played in the film felt as if they were written for these actors; the cast was truly a strong point for the film. This film will do well in multiplexes and will hit a note with only specific audiences, as it is an offbeat film. But we hope this is yet another new beginning for Indian Cinema to experiment and bring fore different styles and types of movies.