Moonwalk movie review: A heartfelt tribute to the breakdancing subculture

Moonwalk authentically captures the early 1990s breakdancing subculture with fresh young performers and era-evoking soundtrack.

Evoking a time period is a challenge of a lesser order as opposed to effectively transporting the audience to that period. A few carefully chosen props might be enough to pull off the former, while the latter involves the arduous task of authentically capturing the zeitgeist of that time and hitting all the right notes to make it believable for those who might have lived through those times. In Moonwalk, debutant filmmaker Vinod A.K. makes a bold attempt for the latter and lands stylishly on his toes, evoking the iconic dance move of the early 1990s.

The world that he recreates is the early 1990s in the coastal and rural belts of Thiruvananthapuram or rather more specifically, the emergence of a breakdancing subculture among groups of youths during that period. Of course, there are the grainy VHS tape visuals, Walkman, STD booths, disco-inspired costumes, frizzy long hair, Michael Jackson fanhood and every other nostalgia-evoking material from those times, but all of these are woven organically into a straight-forward, simple plot that holds an emotional pull.

Part of Moonwalk’s zestful appeal rests with its fresh cast of young performers, many of whom were not probably born during the period in which the film is set. Yet, that does not come as a barrier for them in convincingly portraying the demeanour of the youths of that period. Prasanth Pillai’s groovy disco-synth soundtrack which goes in step with Ansar Shah’s cinematography sets the rhythm for the film quite early on, managing to hook the audience and carrying them along even through the mundane moments. He comes up with an era-evoking soundtrack that lends character, colour, and an irresistible energy to the film.

The lack of a major, earth-shattering conflict in the lives of these youths can be held against the film, but they do go through enough experiences for their age, from picking up avoidable fights due to their hot-headedness to facing parental pressures owing to their chosen art and the staple physical makeovers that goes with it. The romances are fleeting affairs that fills the time between their dance practises and performances, but even these are imbued with some character like the personally chosen mix-tape that one of them gifts the other.

Vinod A.K., who has written the screenplay with Mathew Varghese and Sunil Gopalakrishnan, also plays with some interesting juxtapositions between rural and urban youth as well as the class differences that comes into play during interactions between them as well as with the police force. The way some of the working class characters blend their new-found dance moves to their jobs is a delight. The film hits its high towards the end with a solo dance performance that really lifts it when it appeared to sag a bit. The character arc of the dancer also ends up as one of the highlights of the film. In a way, the character’s struggles are reflective of the challenges in bringing the film to the theatres after it remained without any takers for some years.

Moonwalk is a heartfelt tribute to a time period and to the breakdancing subculture that ruled the campuses and street venues during that time.

Moonwalk is currently running in cinemas.