Visuals/ Hustle and Flow.

7th June 2010.

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One man's struggle to rise above his circumstances prompts him to try a career in music in this acclaimed drama from writer and director Craig Brewer. Djay (Terrence Howard) is a low-level pimp and drug dealer who scraped together a living in the ghettos of Memphis, TN. Djay isn't happy with his life, and the realization that he's reached the same age when his father unexpectedly died has made him start thinking about changing his ways. Djay has always had a gift for spinning stories, and after picking up a cheap keyboard, he begins picking out beats to go along with his rhymes. After bumping into an old high-school buddy who works in gospel music, Key (Anthony Anderson), Djay decided to take the plunge and remake himself as a rapper. With the technical know-how of Key and the musical input of a local beat maker named Shelby (DJ Qualls), Djay begins turning his way with words and his first-hand knowledge of the street life into music, as his two live-in girlfriends, Lexus (Paula Jai Parker) and Shug (Taraji P.Henson), add their musical input and emotional support and Nola (Taryn Manning) continues to turn tricks to pay the bills. When local boy-turned-nationwide hip-hop star Skinny Black (Ludacris) comes to town to pay a visit to Arnel (Isaac Hayes), a club owner friendly with Djay, he sees an opportunity to put his demo in the hands of someone who can bring his music to the masses, though it turns out to be far more difficult than he expected.

Keep hustling..keep flowing...! and thats not all that keeps you glued. The cinema is in the real and as crude as it can get in an environment as is portrayed. Even the technicalities were marvellous with the focus on tighter, closer frames which makes it absolutely difficult and challenging for the actors because the expressions are under constant review where the scene is crammed.

Interestingly there is no background score either!Its either only the music that is composed then and there or the background in a bar which does not make it as superficial as other prime time cinemas can get to be.

From another perspective, it is about people. The age of innocence is over and the anti-social realm is held in close observation where everything flows in a vicious circle until the protagonist dares to break this circle of crude emotions.Skinny Black mutilates DJay's records but the chain breaks there when the latter agrees to listen to the records of the cops in the jail. The systems that fall into place with Nola who initially was a passive call girl takes charge and apparently brings about a notable movement in the movie and brings out DJay in the music market against all odds. It makes you think not only about costumes and appeal but cinematography, music, acting and thought.


As the man says : Everybody gotta have a dream!!