Sachin Kundalkar wrote and directed Cobalt Blue, an Indian Hindi language film. Prateik Babbar, Anjali Sivaraman, and Neelay Mehendale star in the film. Sachin Kundalkar’s bestseller novel of the same name serves as the inspiration for the film. Open Air Films Production is in charge of the film’s production.
Genres – LGBTQ Films, Hindi-Language Films, Book-Based Films, Dramas, and Independent Films
It is based on Indian film director, screenwriter, and playwright Sachin Kundalkar’s 2013 fictitious drama novel Cobalt Blue. It was Kundalkar’s first novel, and it was first published in Marathi in 2006. It was re-released in English in 2013, with a translation by Jerry Pinto. The story follows Tanay and Anuja, two brothers who fall in love with a paying guest at their Pune home. Sexuality, family, and society are all themes explored in the story.
Cobalt Blue was written by Kundalkar shortly after he moved to Mumbai at the age of 22. He started composing Tanay’s monologue and then Anuja’s since he had “nothing else to do.” He began writing it at the age of 20 and finished it at the age of 22. After that, he showed it to his pals, who all thought it was a novel. It was later translated into Marathi and published in 2006.
Jerry Pinto read the novel in 2013 because Shanta Gokhale suggested that do so, and he enjoyed it. He later worked as an English translator for the novel. Kundalkar stated that he read Pinto’s version’s text. “I noticed that it was done in a very natural way. Technically, that was incorrect. It hit the emotional mark perfectly.” Pinto said he read the novel to his Marathi teacher for feedback after translating it. He then read it to Gokhale and then Kundalkar after getting their consent on the language.
Cast of Cobalt Blue
- Prateik Babbar
- Neil Bhoopalam
- Anant Joshi
- Geetanjali Kulkarni
- Shishir Sharma
- Anjali Sivaraman
Plot of Cobalt Blue
Brother (Neelay Mehendale) and sister (Anjali Sivaraman) are at the centre of this mayhem. They fall in love with the same man and get their hearts destroyed. This is a refreshing narrative of love and heartbreak, with plenty of Me By Your Name parallels.
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Prateik Babbar is as charming as ever as the paying visitor who joins the life of a conservative, middle-class family in order to cause turmoil, uncertainty, and heartbreak. Prateik Babbar is back in the movie business after a long hiatus. He has a number of projects in the works.
Neelay plays the younger brother, who aspires to be a writer and finds peace in the simple pleasures of life. He’s dreamy, and with this new addition to his family, he creates his own universe.
Her sporty pixie-cut sister is a striking contrast to her brother. She, too, falls in love with this new man and marries him one day, betraying her family and brother.
The plot has previously earned a lot of praise. “With its intricate narrative design and imaginative imagination, [the novel] far surpasses most English-language fiction that has published in India so far this year,” wrote Mint’s Somak Ghoshal in his review. Cobalt Blue is a novel that will engulf you while you’re reading it, and haunt you long after you’ve finished it, according to Joanna Lobo of Daily News and Analysis. Kundalkar’s reflections on life, she added, were “sharp and funny.”
The story “raises serious concerns about the power of love and the numerous ways one transgresses in its name,” according to Sandip Roy of Firstpost. “In his debut novel, Kundalkar combines two separate and complimentary voices to deliver a rich and intricate storey about love, family, and forging one’s own way,” Publishers Weekly noted in a review. It’s a “high-quality coming-of-age story,” according to The Hindu’s Saaz Aggarwal, that covers the “discovery, resulting uncertainty, and bravado of homosexuality in a hostile setting.”
“A captivating tale about heartbreak, memory, and the easiness of falling in love balanced against the difficulties of completely knowing other people,” wrote author Kamila Shamsie.
The novel is divided into two halves, with each character narrating their own account of the man’s footprints. Tanay’s world is turned upside down when he learns that his sister has eloped with this new stranger in their home. The story then blends at their varied views of the same happenings, resulting in a clever scenario. Blue is a colour that represents sadness and the stark contrast between the two siblings’ love for the same man.
Based on author Sachin Kundalkar’s 2006 Marathi novel, in which he delivers a visual depiction of his own words in this finely produced film. Cobalt Blue is a refreshing indie watch on Netflix amidst all of its big-budget commercial movies, directed by Sachin Kundalkar, who adapted his novel of the same name. It tells the story of a family that recently relocated to Kerala and chose to rent out one of their extra rooms. And how the arrival of a new paying guest flips the conservative family’s world upside down, triggering a flurry.
