“Upstarts” — An Indian Startup Drama
2019, in India, seems like an odd time to make a Film on Startups. With a downturn in the economy, startups seem like a distant 2015-fad. But anyway, better late than never.
The last time, I’d seen an Indian show flirt with the idea of a startup, was back in 2015, with TVF Pitchers. That by far, is the most popular dramatization of the world of startups. The tall highs and deep lows of the adventure of trying to build your own Tech Startup.
“Upstarts” is a Netflix Original Film, directed by Udai Singh Pawar. It is a story of 3 college graduates (Kapil, Yash and Vinay) from UP, who after graduating move to Bangalore for their work. Right in the first 5 minutes of the film, we see Vinay suffering from heartbreak. The love of his life, decides to do the cliched thing of staying with her dad (very anti-Sairat moment). For the rest of the show, Vinay is seen meditating and trying to find meaning of his life.
Kapil is the ambitious one, always hustling and trying to find the next big startup idea. He has a humdrum job, and on the side is trying to come up with an idea that he can sell. He is the CEO material in the group. And then, there’s Yash.
He is the technical brains of the team. He gets irritated with things too quickly, and has an alcohol problem, exacerbated by his dad’s Parkinson’s. He is waiting for the Parkinson’s to set in for himself — the classic Self-Destruction.
While volunteering for an NGO, Kapil comes up with the idea that they can develop an app which will deliver medicines to the rural India. They try to get funding, but the startup finally fails, until Kapil hustles up a rich kid to sponsor them.
The rest of the film is about the strain that a rising startup puts on human relationships. The film touches upon a lot of points — the startup Bubble, the idea of Hope in a startup and the human need to have desires to rise in the world.
All in all, “Upstarts” was a watchable film. There were some discontinuous scenes — characters behaving out of character, and the film seemed a bit rushed. There was no poise in the scenes, and every scene seemed to foreshadow something big that never seemed to happen. If you liked HBO’s Silicon Valley and have 2 hours to pass, you can certainly watch this film.
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