Mitch G.

I’ve worked with people like these, though outside of law. The one-upmanship, quick rejoindering and affection for derrières are all painfully similar. But what pure catharsis watching them played out in a contemporary drama! The repartees are brilliant! I wonder how much intrigue from Shakespeare’s histories has been slyly inserted here.

Watching Sandler mature through ever more serious roles is a great pleasure. His prolonged adolescence, exemplified in crude humor, gave him more time to grow, it seems. He may turn out to be one of the greats of cinema itself, finding his way through surprisingly deeper and deeper roles.

So agree with Amman Aziz here. This music is a journey. There is no final arrival, whether at so-called success or self-satisfaction. The Disciple portrays several misconceptions. While there will always be the pull of gravity toward a conventional grihasthya life, sweating to win ridiculous competitions, feverish scrolling through YouTubes, comparing oneself and one’s website with others and theirs — all the pitfalls and illusions depicted in this film shift away from what ought to have been and should still be nothing but a journey of self-discovery, born to survive a mayhem of vanities. You never see Sharad, upon executing a flawless phrase, show a hint of peace, and yet he had good reason to, and to ignore his guru’s dyspeptic criticism. He had all the reason in this sorry world to throw his head back and laugh, no less at the myth of bygone purity than at the tinsel and claptrap surrounding modern classical superstar culture, with all the jet, car and train fuel it burns for nothing but a bunch of knee-jerk kyaabaats, empty praise, meaningless garlanding, obligatory handshakes and oh, of course, one’s fee. Little recompense that, comparatively speaking.

Believable acting followed up by unbelievably cynical actions. The same way the young man with Asperger’s was hooked on the lovely lady, I was hooked on what I *thought* was going on in this fine mystery/drama.