Cargo (2019 film)
| Cargo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Arati Kadav |
| Written by | Arati Kadav |
| Produced by | Navin Shetty Shlok Sharma Arati Kadav Anurag Kashyap |
| Starring | Vikrant Massey Shweta Tripathi |
| Cinematography | Kaushal Shah |
| Edited by | Paramita Ghosh |
| Music by | Shezan Shaikh |
Production companies | Fundamental Pictures Electric Films |
Release date |
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| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
Cargo is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language science fiction film written and directed by Arati Kadav.[1][2] The film is produced by Kadav, Shlok Sharma, Navin Shetty and Anurag Kashyap.[3] Starring Vikrant Massey and Shweta Tripathi in the lead roles, the story is set on a spaceship named Pushpak 634A where a demon Prahastha, works for the Post Death Transition services with the help of a female astronaut, where dead people are recycled for rebirth.[4][5] Cargo premiered at the 2019 MAMI Film Festival under the spotlight section.[6][7] It will have its North American premiere at the 2020 South by Southwest film festival.[8]
Cast
- Vikrant Massey as Prahastha
- Shweta Tripathi as Yuvishka
- Nandu Madhav
Production
The idea of Cargo came to director Arati Kadav in 2017 after she worked on pre-production for a film for 6 months before it got shelved. After getting angry at the situation, Kadav started writing another script and after 2-3 months, she developed an idea.[9] Cargo is the sixth screenplay written by Kadav who has earlier made short films like Time Machine. In order to manage the budget of the film, Kadav decided to make a film with minimum location.[10] She wrote a science fiction story set in a spaceship that also tapped into Indian mythology and isses like life and death. Kadav decided to showcase the technology in the film from the 1980s and not very advanced. She said, "I didn't want the tech to be intimidating but more endearing."[10]
Kadav cited Argentine short-story writer Jorge Luis Borges and sci-fi writer Ted Chiang as her inspirations for the story.[9] She stated: "Eastern sci-fi is more relatable as it matches with Indian culture in its milieu and values."[9] Massey felt the story "abstract and gorgeous", further mentioning: "I had to read the script in detail to [decipher] what she was saying. It stunned me, and that's when I knew I had to do this film."[11] The film was shot in a spaceship set for 27 days. There were two spaceship sets for both interior and exterior shoots. The film was also shot in outdoors for nearly 10 days.[10] Shooting was finished in November, 2018.[12] The spaceship design was inspired from a bio-mechanism of a gelly fish.[13] The music is composed by Shezan Shaikh.[14]
Reception
Pradeep Menon of Firstpost wrote: "A philosophical tale, a dark comedy, and a tight budget space film all rolled into one, Cargo is one of those oddball movies that will undoubtedly go on to develop a bit of a cult following over time."[15] Tipu Sultan of HuffPost said that Kadav's "true success lies in how she wraps all this up under the garb of a comedy and serves up a film that is devilishly hilarious and ceaselessly entertaining."[9] Eric Kohn of IndieWire noted, "While Cargo stumbles on plot, it excels at vision, and bodes well for the potential of a filmmaker capable of innovating within familiar restraint."[16] Peter Debruge of Variety said that Kadav "shows creativity and a gift for world-building in this unlikely sci-fi fable, which playfully reimagines reincarnation."[17]
References
- ^ Sharma, Priyanka (18 October 2019). "MAMI 2019: Five new female voices to watch out for". The Indian Express. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
- ^ "Vikrant Massey Plays Demon in Anurag Kashyap's Cargo, India's First-ever Spaceship Sci-fi Film". CNN-News18. 15 October 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
- ^ "Cargo teaser: Vikrant Massey plays Prahastha, a demon, in sci-fi film produced by Anurag Kashyap". Firstpost. 15 October 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
- ^ "Vikrant Massey, Shweta Tripathi's science fiction film 'Cargo' to be screened at Jio MAMI in Mumbai". The Free Press Journal. 9 October 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
- ^ "Cargo: India's first-ever sci-fi spaceship film teaser released". Wion. 17 October 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
- ^ "Vikrant Massey and Shweta Tripathi starrer sci-fi film 'Cargo' teaser unveiled". The Times of India. 15 October 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
- ^ "Vikrant Massey, Shweta Tripathis Cargo at Jio MAMI film fest". Outlook. 9 October 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
- ^ "Vikrant Massey's 'Cargo' to be screened at South by Southwest festival in US". The Week. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
- ^ a b c d Sultan, Tipu (22 October 2019). "How Director Arati Kadav Made 'Cargo', A Wildly Original Indian Sci-Fi Drama". HuffPost. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ a b c Sahani, Alaka (17 October 2019). "Sci-fi acts as a prism to help look at reality: Cargo director Arati Kadav". The Indian Express. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
- ^ Basu, Mohar (19 October 2019). "Vikrant Massey: Film is abstract and gorgeous". Mid Day. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
- ^ "Shweta Tripathi and Vikrant Massey to play Astronauts in 'Cargo'". The Times of India. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
- ^ "Each shot planned to the last detail, says Cargo director Arati Kadav". Mid Day. 8 October 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
- ^ Tagat, Anurag (26 October 2019). "Guitarist Shezan Shaikh on Going From Metal to Movies as Producer-Composer". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
- ^ "Jio MAMI 21st Mumbai Film Festival: Arati Kadav's Cargo will undoubtedly develop cult following over time". Firstpost. 21 October 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ Kohn, Eric (15 March 2020). "'Cargo' Review: The Afterlife Reimagined as a Low-Budget, Indian Sci-Fi Space Epic". IndieWire. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
- ^ "'Cargo': Film Review". Variety. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2020.