7 songs movie review

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Chris Eigeman

Lola Glaudini

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An aimless quasi-comedy about an immature rock star, "7 Songs" is a movie that doesn't know what it wants to be when it grows up. Pic makes faint gestures toward "This Is Spinal Tap"-type satire without following through, while story muscle (such as there is) can scarcely support even brief run-time. Prospects ain't rockin'.

By Dennis Harvey

Dennis Harvey

Film Critic

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An aimless quasi-comedy about an immature rock star, “7 Songs” is a movie that doesn’t know what it wants to be when it grows up. Pic makes faint gestures toward “This Is Spinal Tap”-type satire without following through, while story muscle (such as there is) can scarcely support even brief run-time. Prospects ain’t rockin’.

Micah (Chris Eigeman) is a multi-million selling alt-rocker soured by success. He’s an irresponsible absentee dad to one young (but annoyingly precocious) daughter. He frustrates bandmates and label chief by refusing to finish a long-awaited album. Addled by drugs, alcohol, ego and general angst, he hasn’t played live in some time. Mostly he hangs out with an Aussie chauffeur (Terry Camillieri) and ex-model-turned-manager girlfriend (Lola Glaudini), when not mouthing clearly pre-recorded tracks penned and sung by ex-Smashing Pumpkin Chris Holmes. Latter are pleasant enough, but it’s not clear whether their damp lyrics (“I can’t see/just who I’m meant to be/And it’s killin’ me,” etc.) are meant to be parody or not. Despite occasional funny lines and promising situations, tepid story goes nowhere, then simply stops, as if production funds ran out. Tech aspects are mediocre.

Production: A Soft Service Pictures presentation of a ZHFilms production. Produced by Marc Ambrose. Executive producer, Isaac Lekach. Directed, written by Noah Stern.
Crew: Camera (color, Beta SP), Kristian Bernier; editor, Greg Tenant; original songs, Chris Holmes; production designer, Margaret M. Miles. Reviewed at Cinequest Film Festival, San Jose, March 8, 2003. Running time: 76 MIN.
With: With: Chris Eigeman, Lola Glaudini, Terry Camillieri, Chaka Forman, Douglas Weston, Nic Harcourt.

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The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs

Frustration is a sensation that is felt at certain points by each of the three key characters in "The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs" and it is one that will also be experienced by most people watching it. Pushpendra Singh 's film is certainly not lacking for ambition—at various times, it veers between folklore, myth, feminism, and metaphorical commentary and the turbulent history of the province of Jammu and Kashmir where the story is set—and it has a number of individual moments and elements that are undeniably striking. The trouble is that while many of these bits and pieces are often fascinating, they never quite pull together into a truly compelling or satisfying narrative.

The film, which is based on a short story by Vijaydan Detha and also takes inspiration from the works of 14th century poetess Lalleshwari, begins when Tanvir ( Sadakkit Bijran ), a nomadic shepherd traveling through the Kashmir region, is smitten by beautiful local Laila (Navjot Randawa). He asks the elders for her hand in marriage after undergoing a ritual involving lifting several large rocks. Laila, it should be noted, is not exactly thrilled about marrying him but does not really have any say in the matter. The two are soon wed and Laila is forced to leave her own home for a settlement at the base of the Himalayan mountains where she begins her duties as Tanvir's bride.

Because Tanvir and the other members of his tribe do not have the proper paperwork, they arouse the suspicions of the Indian police, who begin visiting their encampment quite frequently. One officer, Mushtaq ( Shahnawaz Bhat ), also falls hopelessly in love with Laila, though she wants nothing to do with him either, even going so far as to smack around a colleague of his who also makes his romantic intentions towards her known. Borne out of equal parts boredom and resentment about being the object of desire for two people she does not care for, Laila begins to torment Mushtaq by arranging for late-night rendezvouses and then figuring out ways to have the unsuspecting Tanvir accompany her to the meetings, forcing Mushtaq to create elaborate ruses to explain why he just happens to be hanging around Tanvir's barn amid the sheep at midnight. As the bait-and-switches continue, it soon becomes apparent—though evidently not to Tanvir or Mushtaq—that Laila is using the unacknowledged power she has over the two as a way to hopefully gain her ultimate freedom from them.

This is all kind of interesting to a point but after a while, "The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs" begins to run out of steam. Singh is trying to do a lot here but the central story is not that strong and cannot quite bear the weight of the feminist and political allegory that has been loaded on top of it. A big part of the problem is that it never really manages to establish Laila as a compelling character in her own right. Yes, Randawa is beautiful and has a natural sense of screen charisma, but there is precious little about Laila that we see that explains why everyone is so driven to distraction by her. And since the film doesn't really make the case for her as an individual trapped in circumstances not of her making, it is therefore hard for the audience to have much of a rooting interest in whether she is able to break free of those constraints or not. This is especially evident in the final moments that simply do not hit as hard as Singh clearly hoped because we have little emotional involvement in what is happening.

At the same time, while the film as a whole did not quite work for me, there are a number of things I did enjoy. The cinematography by Ranabir Das is appropriately spectacular; it imposes a sense of mystery and atmosphere to the proceedings and draws you in than the storytelling. The section in which Laila subverts her supposedly clandestine meetings with Mushtaq by bringing an unsuspecting Tanvir along is funny and inspired enough to allow you to overlook the fact that you are essentially watching the same joke being replayed numerous times. And while it doesn't quite pay off in terms of its dramatic power, the final moments are indeed pretty spectacular, the kind of sequence that Werner Herzog would have been proud to pull off.

But while I suppose I am glad that I saw it on some fundamental level—in the sense that I am always happy to see films that offer me a glimpse into lands and cultures unfamiliar to me—I cannot quite bring myself to recommend "The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs." Here is a film that is too remote and reserved for its own good.

Peter Sobczynski

A moderately insightful critic, full-on Swiftie and all-around bon vivant , Peter Sobczynski, in addition to his work at this site, is also a contributor to The Spool and can be heard weekly discussing new Blu-Ray releases on the Movie Madness podcast on the Now Playing network.

Navjot Randhawa as Laila
Sadakkit Bijran as Tanvir
Shahnawaz Bhat as Mushtaq
Ranjit Khajuria as Inspector
Mohammed Yasin as Uncle

Original Music Composer

Benedict Taylor
Naren Chandavarkar
Pushpendra Singh

Director of Photography

Ranabir Das
Samarth Dixit

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Seven Songs (2017)
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