The semi-urban and rural heartlands of north India have provided Hindi cinema with a topos to explore various aspects of the Indian present—focussing on questions of community, the state, patriarchy, caste, and the desire for mobility—over the last decades. Joining the ranks of the best of such films, Ghamasaan presents a riveting cat-and-mouse narrative where the homoerotic currents of male friendships and antagonisms shine through. The film in its unfolding, especially through its protagonists and ingenious casting, invites a fresh eye on a world that we might, at first glance, consider to have been exposed to already. The herds of men, on two sides of the law, open up spatial networks as they traverse the arid lands from jungles to hamlets to houses to offices, creating a sense of a sedimented place where unexplored histories and affects reside. When made to crackle with electrifying performances and affects, a genre film is always a pleasure.

- Ratheesh Radhakrishnan