{"id":5587,"date":"2016-05-11T20:09:36","date_gmt":"2016-05-11T14:39:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5587"},"modified":"2016-05-11T20:09:36","modified_gmt":"2016-05-11T14:39:36","slug":"upstarts-review-netflix-india-a-start-up-drama-that-fails-to-fully-take-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=5587","title":{"rendered":"Upstarts Review: A Start-up Drama that Fails to Fully Take Off"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I<\/span><\/p><\/div>

n the last few years, we\u2019ve seen a number of films and web-series bringing to life the entrepreneurial spirit and struggle that comes with starting one\u2019s own company. Popularised abroad by shows like <\/span>Silicon Valley<\/span><\/i>, and explored back home in movies like Shimit Amin\u2019s <\/span>Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year<\/span><\/i>, and web-series like TVF\u2019s <\/span>Pitchers<\/span><\/i>, the \u201c<\/span>start-up<\/span><\/a> drama\u201d is the newest genre of storytelling to go mainstream.<\/span>\n\nUpstarts<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Netflix<\/span><\/a> India\u2019s latest offering from first time director Udai Singh Pawar, seems to fall well within this category. Makes sense, since Pawar \u2014 who has earlier worked on films such as Raja Krishna Menon\u2019s <\/span>Airlift<\/span><\/i> and Sudhir Mishra\u2019s <\/span>Inkaar<\/span><\/i> \u2014 is himself an alumnus of IIT Kanpur and has worked at Microsoft Research. In an <\/span>interview<\/span><\/a> with Freepress Journal, he said he wanted to make a \u201cpersonal film\u201d \u2014\u00a0tell the story about an Indian startup in the same way David Fincher brought Facebook to life in <\/span>The Social Network<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span>\n\nThe film traces the story of three <\/span>friends<\/span><\/a>, Kapil (Priyanshu Painyuli), Yash (Chandrachoor Rai) and Vinay (Shadab Kamal). After an attempt to elope go awry, one of these friends, Kapil comes up with \u201crunawaymarriage.com\u201d, an app and site that simplifies the process of eloping. It\u2019s a joke idea that leads to some of the lighter moments in the film, and establishes Kapil as the sort who is constantly dishing out quirky app ideas.<\/span>\n\nBut the plot shifts after an old man in the <\/span>village<\/span><\/a> dies, unable to get his medicines delivered on time. Kapil, shocked by the death, decides to create an app that will deliver medicines to villages that don\u2019t have access to decent pharmacies. He calls it \u201cDawaiyon Ka Uber\u201d, and spends a decent amount of his time struggling to teach the villagers how to use the app.<\/span>\n\n

At points, it seems Upstarts<\/i> is obsessed with the cycle of friendship and betrayal in the start-up world, which doesn’t really add anything to the plot.<\/p><\/blockquote> \n\nEven as a <\/span>debate<\/span><\/a> rages on the regulation of e-pharmacies, <\/span>Upstarts<\/span><\/i> choses to focus on the app\u2019s benefits for <\/span>citizens<\/span><\/a> living in rural areas of the country. In one scene, Kapil is asked if a case can be filed against his company in case it delivers the wrong medicines. But it seems neither Kapil, nor the film have an answer to these imperative questions. Instead, a majority of the runtime of this film deals with the relationship between the three friends and how they handle their clashing <\/span>egos<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\n\nMeanwhile, even though the film attempts to make a comment on the discrimination women entrepreneurs face, it fails to fully address the issue. An app created by Jaya (Sheetal Thakur) to help prevent <\/span>suicides<\/span><\/a> is rejected by the start-up guild on the grounds that the business will suffer after she gets married. But even with this promising plot \u2014\u00a0and Jaya being so much more than simply the \u201c<\/span>love interest<\/span><\/a>\u201d \u2014 her character isn\u2019t fully fleshed out, and she doesn\u2019t get as much screen-time as the three male friends.\u00a0<\/span>\n\nThe film seems to drift apart towards the end, and the story overall drags, especially after the conclusion is abundantly apparent. At points, it seems <\/span>Upstarts<\/span><\/i> is obsessed with the cycle of friendship and <\/span>betrayal<\/span><\/a> in the start-up world, which doesn’t really add anything to the plot, and is a message that doesn\u2019t need repeating. Maybe the film would have benefitted from trying not to do so much with such a straightforward narrative, and instead kept it simple.<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Upstarts, Netflix India\u2019s latest offering from first time director Udai Singh Pawar, falls in the same category as shows Pitchers and movies like Rocket Singh. But while it attempts to differentiate itself by making a comment on the discrimination women entrepreneurs face, it fails to fully address the issue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":356,"featured_media":5588,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[9485,2027,9486,9487,9488,9489,9490],"class_list":["post-5587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop-culture","tag-gender-discrimination","tag-movie-review","tag-netflix-india","tag-start-up","tag-udai-singh-pawar","tag-upstarts","tag-upstarts-review"],"yoast_head":"\nUpstarts Review: A Start-up Drama that Fails to Fully Take Off<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Upstarts, Netflix India\u2019s latest offering from first time director Udai Singh Pawar, falls in the same category as shows Pitchers and movies like Rocket Singh. 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