The best thing about Being Cyrus is the spoken word. The descriptions, the dialogues alternate nicely between the literary and the smart. In that sense, it's a rare Indian English film where the language doesn't sound stilted but comes across as naturally conversational and spontaneous. Early on in the film, there's this hilarious description of the voluptuous Katie (Dimple): her t**s are her front office and she's the one who doesn't believe in eye contact but in breast contact. The other interesting aspect about the film is its fluid imagery. I particularly liked the way Adjania casually shoves in images of food and eating even as a crime is being committed. The murder-food combo seems inspired from Hitchcock's Rope, but one must admit that Adjania integrates the element rather ingeniously in his own unique way in Being Cyrus. The film is hugely edgy in the way it makes you laugh one minute at its kooky characters and then takes you right into the dark recesses of their mind. In a word, it can only be described as macabre and bizarrely funny. So, whether you like it or not will depend largely on your appetite for the weird. Every single character here is eccentric, doesn't belong to the mainstream but seems to inhabit the fringes. The Sethna family, into which the orphan Cyrus (Saif) makes an entry, is totally dysfunctional. As Cyrus says: "It's one screwed up family like any other". There's the doped-out potter Dinshaw (Naseer), his flirtatious wife Katie, his ill-tempered, estranged brother Farukh (Boman Irani). Cyrus himself is not the normal kind of guy, carries along many ghosts from his troubled past. Even the police officer who comes in later in the narrative to investigate the curious happenings in the family is rather odd. The film deliberately goes overboard on the peculiarities and kinkiness. It's an interesting experiment but one which seems too consciously clever at times.
However, my problem with the film is with the so-called Hitchockian suspense and the proverbial twist in the tale. It didn't hit me on the jaw, didn't come as a surprise and didn't tease me at all. And many aspects about the mystery didn't work themselves out logically, left me feeling uncomfortable and dissatisfied. The other gripe: the scene of Parsi neighbours fighting over cars and puppies—way too loud and farcical.
INDIAN Top 5
1. Malamaal Weekly
2. Rang De Basanti
3. Being Cyrus
4. Taxi No 9211
5. Teesri Aankh
US Top 5
1. V for Vendetta
2. Failure to Launch
3. The Shaggy Dog
4. She's the Man
5. The Hills Have Eyes
Courtesy: Film Information
