Heist minus Bollywood budget

Review

31 MILLION REASONS (7/10)

Musgrave, Gateway, Suncoast, Pavilion, Galleria

They say the new locally shot film, 31 Million Reasons, which had its Durban premiere at Gateway last week, reflects “Bollywood meets South Africa”. I think not.

It’s an SA story based on the biggest heist in this country’s history, which grabbed the headlines in 1997 when a group of men led an “SBV” robbery of a cash store in Pinetown.

Just because the men were SA Indians and the action was shot in places such as Chatsworth and “lugs” (Blue Lagoon) does not make this a Bollywood movie. It’s a good film, but considering how legendary the story is, 31 Million Reasons is not as sleek as I expected.

It was clearly made on a tight budget, which is unfortunately the case for most SA movies. So, it’s nowhere near big-budget Bollywood. There’s also no Bollywood-style extravagant dance sequences.

And, besides, it’s all in English; granted, with some of the characters talking in the local Indian accent and with distinctly Durban lingo and swear words. That all makes the film realistic and local, and one needs to appreciate that.

31 Million Reasons comes from the producers who brought us Spud– Ross Garland and Brad Logan – and is directed by John Barker. Yes, Barker is the son of top SA soccer coach Clive Barker and directed another Durban movie, Bunny Chow.

The ace of the film is leading man Jack Devnarain, who pulls off the role of crooked cop Ronnie Gopal very well. No doubt his inside track as a former policeman helped, but honing his acting skills as one of the stars on soapie Isidingo has boosted his profile ahead of his first big lead in a film.

Another noteworthy appearance is by supporting cast member and ECR DJ Neville Pillay as Reggie, who pulls off a credible performance as the scruffy, alcoholic gambler who worked for the cash-in-transit company.

Other cast members included Meren Reddy (Sashwin), Hamish Kyd (Uncle), Afzal Khan (Smiley), Rahul Brijnath (Jugs), Mary Makhato (Captain Ndaba), Trevor Gumbi (McIntyre) and Christine Moses (Chantal).

The film gives you a take on Durban through the eyes of the Indian community, but be prepared for sweaty scenes on the streets of Chatsworth and Durban as well as in the bedroom.

The storyline gets better as the film progresses, but at the beginning it feels like an uncomfortable transition almost straight into the heist.

Much of the film is centred on how the gang deals with stressful situations after the heist and how things begin to unravel as they get found out.

They get more then they bargained for and so will you when you watch this movie. It’s a rugged, honest look at one of Durban’s biggest stories.