Coming out of the same studio that gave us RuPaul's Drag Race, and stacked with a whole crew of former contestants, Stop! That! Train! plays like RuPaul basically taking a bow for the entire franchise she's built. It's not really a gay film in the traditional sense, but with so many drag stars from Ru's shows popping up alongside a few cameos from well known out gay actors, I figured it earns a spot on this blog anyway. The whole thing is completely over the top, packed with GenZ slang, loud flashy visuals, and humor that's constantly winking at you knowing how ridiculous it is. Going in you'd assume it's meant to be a laugh riot, and a lot of critics online seem to be eating it up, but I just couldn't get into it at all. I've never really been someone who vibes with campy silly stuff like this, so honestly my reaction doesn't surprise me one bit. The setup follows Tess and DeeDee, two low level stewardesses who sneak onto the fancy Glamazonian E...
The story is about Mansi, an aids counselor, in a public health office in Mumbai, India. The film focusses on her and her five counselees whose story revolve with or around AIDS and HIV positive. We meet a bar dancer who is the only source of income for his family. When he has no option left with him after the bar is closed , he takes up prostitution and is forced to do unsafe sex because otherwise no one gives him money. We also meet an aging prostitute, who is diagnosed with HIV by accident. Suddenly all her clients are gone and now all she worries is about her daughter, her well-being and her future. We also meet Nishit, an intravenous drug user, who finally catches HIV because of his own negligence and is now struggling to first accept himself that he is positive and then later tell his girlfriend about it. Finally there is a gay couple. Kiran works with Mansi in the center who is in a very happy and romantic relationship with his boyfriend. He is a happy go lucky guy whose all dreams are shattered when he is diagnosed HIV positive and it turns out that his boyfriend cheated on him. A counselor’s ethics demand that she maintain confidentiality, be objective and not get emotional. But for a sensitive young woman like Mansi it is difficult to remain unaffected. Her true feelings are reflected in 68 pages of her personal diary, and hence the title.
Showing a gay couple and a transexual bar dancer is a huge jump for indian cinema. The good thing is that the film maker doesn't make an issue of either of the two. The focus of all sties is still HIV and AIDS. I wish this films gets more publicity and i seen by more people in India. Now if I had to do a critical view of the film, the direction of the film was very poor and of a novice but really when the intentions behind are so novel, the question is, how much of this other stuff matters. Acting by characters is ok but some stories are either half baked or use somehow have a magical happy conclusion. It doesn't matter though, like I said before. The stories have the capacity to touch, heal, change lives and hopefully bring about a better understanding of their fight to live with dignity. Many people might be able to identify themselves with some of these characters.
A film that was much need in India for people of India.My ratings are gonna be from both critical and educational perspective. (5.5/10)
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