“When you’re safe at home you wish you wee having an adventure; when you’re having an adventure you wish you were safe at home.”- Thornton Wilder
But what if you decide to never step out of your home and put yourself on voluntary house arrest? Sounds impossible. Not to the protagonist of Netflix’s just-released slice of life movie House Arrest who hasn’t ventured outside his house for nine months.
Directed by Samit Basu, Shashanka Ghosh and starring Ali Fazal, Shriya Pilgaonkar and Jim Sarbh, the film leaves you thinking about the work life balance that’s missing in the lives of most of the people these days.
Karan (Ali Fazal) has locked himself inside the house and no he’s not a fan of Bigg Boss. He spends his entire day inside the confines of his house dusting, arranging things, fixing his meals, talking occasionally on phone with his bestie (played by Jim Sarbh) and would not step out of it even when somebody is stealing his car or for that matter framing him for murder. His stillness of life is interrupted by the occasional ringing of the doorbell that signals the arrival of his online orders or sometimes the restaurant delivery person who has landed at the wrong address. These disruptions are important to break the stillness of his solitary life, we realise. But the man is in love with romancing himself and would not mind carry on this vipassna sort of life forever.
Oh our protagonist is not a psychopath or a criminal on the run. He is simply running from the society or maybe from himself. His life seems like an antidote to all the stress, madness, and our everyday chaotic life.
It’s a dream for some of us. And for some of us a reminder that you need to press play and pause from time to time or someday life will press the stop button.
But life does not always remain the same and when you try to avoid troubles by locking yourself inside, trouble rings your doorbell and enter just like that.
So what happens is that Jim Sarbh sends a friend of a friend who’s a journo and finds Karan’s decision to not step out of his house interesting for a story. Saira (Shriya Pilgaonkar) is fascinated by his life and as she begins exploring his house, life and personality, she feels herself drawn towards him.
All good till here. But the viewers already know the trouble is about to tumble out of Karan’s closet at the most unexpected moment.
So before the journo comes to Karan’s house, his strange, sexy and pushy neighbour accompanied by her giant-sized body guard comes with a parcel. It’s a huge pink box with well a body in it. Karan is given no choice and any resistance would mean his life coming abruptly to an end.
Now coming back to the point where things are heating up between our lead couple and now that they are thinking of committing to each other, bam comes the Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron angle which leaves Saira utterly shocked.
Now this is one film which will disappoint you for the lack of proper twists and turns and a drab, almost yawn inducing end. But the film is refreshing as an afternoon nap, something you are always craving for but would not give priority to in this fast-paced world.
It allows you to dream for a slow-paced lifestyle like our protagonist who has all the comforts at home but a lack of sense of adventure.
One of the high points of the film is Mirzapur couple Ali and Shriya’s natural chemistry. They are made for each other in the digital verse.
The two are a delight to watch and make us forget the flaws of the film with their easy chemistry. The film could have been made crisper for the binge-watching generation who wants twists after every other scene, but sometimes going with the flow is more pleasurable than sitting at the edge of your seat and House Arrest is a winner on that front.
Watch the film on a lazy Sunday when you plan to put yourself on a House Arrest for a day.