Draft:Buddha.mov

Buddha.mov is a 2017 hybrid documentary/docufiction film directed by Kabir Mehta. The film follows flamboyant pro-cricketer, Buddha, who starts authorising unrestricted access into the most private parts of his life.

The film had its world premiere at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in 2017. It also had a screening at 20th MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in 2018.

Synopsis
Buddha.mov is a brilliantly honest hybrid of reality and fantasy examining the interplay between sex and social media. Buddha Mangaldas, a handsome big-league cricket star in tropical Goa, gives Director Kabir Mehta unrestricted access to the infrastructure and intimacies of his bohemian bacchanalia. Professing that “p***y is what I live for”, Buddha devotes his life to building his identity as a sex symbol. He makes flyers for his Instagram account (@Buddha.gram) and promotes himself as a #moviestar. Functioning as a steroid to Buddha’s playboy muscle, the documentary becomes its own subject – a case study in how the production of a film can be used to build social stature.

Production
The film revolves around Buddha Mangaldas, a pro-cricketer cricketer from Goa, who authorises unrestricted access into the most private parts of his life in exchange of a film offer. Twenty minutes into the film, the genre oscillates between documentary and fiction. On paper, Buddha rash driving a luxury sports car in the narrow lanes of Goa and making out with a girl in full sight at a fort would seem like stuff that reality TV is made of. But the narrative technique does not feel designed like an MTV show. It merely observes Buddha, even during the less happening parts of his day. Fascinated by this tension between documentary and fiction, Kabir Mehta, the director decided to make a film with him. As he said, "He agreed to be a part of my film because he had a different film in his mind. He thought it’s an MTV-like documentary. And in my mind, it was an experimental film on identity. I was quite strict initially when I got in but he was quite adamant on the film he wanted it to be. Then it was about allowing this tension to emerge and to make this exist in the film. The idea was for the audience to question whether the people I’m watching know I’m watching them or do they not know, whether I should be watching it (their intimate moments) or I should not be watching it."

Release
The film had its world premiere at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in 2017. It also had a screening at 20th MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in 2018.

The film was selected for the competition section in the 55th Ann Arbor Film Festival, where it was screened on 22 March 2018. In May 2018, it was invited to the 15th Documenta Madrid Film Festival held from 3 May to 13 May, where it was nominated in the Fugas Features Competition, a section focusing on films that are innovative, daring and have a distinct political and experimental character. In the same month, it was also selected in the documentary competition of Mammoth Lakes Film Festival held from 24 May – 27 May 2018 where it won the Jury Special Mention for Documentary Feature.

Streaming
The film was released on Mubi as 'Film of The Day' in 2020 and in the same year made available worldwide on the Mubi Library.

Reception
Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter, reviewing the film wrote, "Buddhadev Mangaldas bares all in 'Buddha.mov,' director Kabir Mehta’s good-humored, occasionally eye-popping mocu/docu uncovering vapid, macho lifestyles." Young concluding her review remarked, that the film is, "Racy, revealing and hilariously deadpan.".

After its American premiere at the 55th Ann Arbor Film Festival, Theo Schear reviewing for Film Threat wrote, "Buddha.mov is a brilliantly honest hybrid of reality and fantasy examining the interplay between sex and social media." He further compared the film to Ross McElwee’s Sherman’s March and Joe Swanberg’s The Zone, adding that, "Buddha.mov finds art in the shameless pursuit of women by deconstructing the systems that facilitate his escapades. Buddha’s lifestyle isn’t exactly agreeable, but the willingness to expose himself (despite being fuelled by vanity) deserves considerable commendation."

Rounding up their highlights for the 2017 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Patrick Gamble wrote about the film in Little White Lies calling it, "a hilarious, if often worrying, examination of digital self-curation"; and Ben Nicholson in Cinevue added, "Mehta utilises candid observation, clear simulation, smartphone screenshots and desktop recording to compile a portrait of an astute man forging his own celebrity."

Udita Jhunjhunwala reviewing for Firstpost opined, "Buddha’s surrender to the film – occasionally guiding it, sometimes manipulating it, but never shying away, combined with Mehta’s exploration of shifting authorship and the hypocrisy around morality make Buddha.mov unexpected and riveting." In another Firstpost review by Devansh Sharma, wrote, "Though Kabir never breaks the fourth wall... he allows the conflict between manufactured reality and investigative gaze seep into every corner of his film."

Rahul Desai for his review of the film Film Companion, wrote, "Mehta's documentary is essentially a disorienting manifestation of our internalization of digital voyeurism: a weirdly cinematic rendition of a person scrolling through a fascinating online profile." Film Companion further enlisted the film and Mehta in it's 2018 list for "25 prime innovators in entertainment".

Asian Movie Pulse listed the film as one of '10 Great Asian Mockumentaries'.