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Cast: Ash Chadler, Suchitra Pillai, Deven Khote & Bhavna Pani
Director & Writer & Producer: Ashwin Gidwani
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Rating: 3.5/5
The interesting thing about a powerful script is that it does much more than tell a good story when it falls into into the hands of actors that are able to convert their performances into masterpieces. The Scent Of a Man directed and produced by Ashwin Gidwani, is an ideal representation of a bold script, which uses its theatrical elements to stimulate individual performances.
The Scent Of A Man is a visual portrayal of a fast-flowing riotous and up-roaring adult comedy, which centers around the subject of infidelity, along with lust and smart lies. It revolves around two married couples Nikil (Ash Chandler), a successful advertising executive and his self-proclaimed intelligent wife and marriage counselor Mallika (Suchitra Pillai), along with Ananya (Bhavna Pani) a Tupperware saleswoman and her husband Partho (Deven Khote) who’s a college professor. The four of them decide to meet for a casual dinner one night, where unexpectedly they happen to be caught up in a chaotic love quadrilateral, which leads to a series of unassuming events, until it all falls in place at the end.
Ash Chandler is one of the most distinctive actors I’ve watched, when it comes to subtlety of timing. With a strong western influence in the way in which he projects his tone and dialogues, gave the character of Nikhil a lot of variation, whilst being witty simultaneously.
Having watched Suchitra Pillai over the years on TV, it was refreshing to watch her perform on stage for the first time. She fitted into the role of Mallika quite brilliantly, as she was consistent in making her high esteemed character, essentially to the eventual outcome of the story. Not to forget, her conventional charm shines through from the very first line she says.
Bhavna Pani is that type of an actor that you want to keep seeing more of. Her tremendous gift of stage presence, coupled with an incredible ability to showcase every mood, must be a director’s delight. Even though her character of Ananya is constantly overpowered by her loud husband Partho, she manages to express the simplicity of her role very realistically.
If there is one actor that I wish I had watched more off before watching him in The Scent Of A Man, it would be Deven Khote. His natural persona on stage is rather infectious, as he used the character of Partho to master the art of surprising the audience with every smart and sarcastic witty comment he delivers. He makes your mouth hurt after all that non-stop laughing for an hour and a half.
They say, a good actor is one that is able to convey a message through the elements of humor and spontaneous gestures whilst approaching a script that is designed for success. Be it timing or just pure skill, but when an actor is able to reenact the script through his/her natural style, it gives the audience that element of completeness which they invariably expect. And, if that’s what your looking for, then shouldn’t miss out on watching The Scent Of A Man.
