Last week was “Yeh saali Zindagi” – a quirky dark comedy and this week “7 Khoon Maaf”. Seems like “dark” dimensions are the new “in” things in Bollywood.
Honestly, it was quite difficult for me to write this movie’s review. This is a movie which people will either like it or discard it altogether (like the college teens sitting behind me in the theatre and planned to leave in interval).
So I decided to ask myself a few questions:
Did I like the movie myself? “May Be”
Was the movie bad? “Definitely not”
How was the direction? “All I can say is that I have my doubts if someone else could have directed it better. Vishal Bhardwaj has always been a brilliant director. I don’t think there were ever any doubts. Whether it was his first movie Maqbool or the other ones that followed like Omkara, Ishqiya and Kaminey. He has the habit of exploring the dark psyche of his characters and does it beautifully.”
What about Acting? “7 Khoon Maaf is a movie that transitions with the central character of Priyanka Chopra (Susanna) and her transformation from a shy, scared of her husband housewife to a bold, unapologetic elderly female as she moves from 1 murder to another. Once again I am not sure if someone else could have played Susanna better. All actors (Neil Nitin Mukesh, John Abraham, Naseeruddin Shah, Annu Kapoor, Vivaan Shah, Irrfan Khan and the Russian actor) have their own moments in the movie. Priyanka though brilliant is still restrained and doesn’t try to overshadow the others.”
Where I am trying to reach through this self Q&A is that the subject of the movie was complex. It is inspired from a short story by Ruskin Bond “Susanna’s seven husbands”.
With a complicated subject like this and still managing to hold the audience attention as one murder unfolds after another is definitely an achievement and who better than Vishal Bhardwaj? There are some scenes that are top-notch in Indian cinema and that’s where the director’s brilliance comes in.
The movie picks pace in the second half which is much better than the first. Inspite being a dark movie, it still manages some witty moments and also an excellent surprise (Suspense) in the end. I also liked the fact that though so many husbands are murdered but at no point you either feel sympathetic for the wife or express anger and resentment. Somehow, they continue to have a detached feel.
Overall, cant say whether you will like it or not (I am figuring out myself) but you will certainly have an opinion on it. By the way, it certainly might be the critics’ choice for this year with Vishal and Priyanka bagging the honors.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Ajmal Kasab case - Is this really a win for our judicial system?
This week, Ajmal Kasab’s verdict was announced and he was sentenced to death.
The news was on all National Dailies and media for 1 day and then slowly faded away for other news like Godhra Verdict (after 9 years), World cup cricket (Biggies winning over minnows) and others.
The news was also coupled with lot of smart people providing their comments and analysis. Some were praising the Indian democracy and how he was given a proper court hearing which can happen only in India. There were others who appreciated the speed of Indian judicial system in reaching the verdict so fast (in just 24 months). While others just spoke about how Indian legal system has all the right ingredients in place to ensure that the criminals are punished. One of the politician even went ahead and said while we have completed the process, Pakistan has not even started the case (Read he was referring to Pakistan trying the perpetrators of this heinous act within their own country against those people whom India has suggested were involved in it).
All these praises were for a case of a lone terrorist who survived out of the 10 who mercilessly killed scores of Indians. This guy was caught red handed, was witnessed by numerous people, was caught on CCTV and media cameras while committing the act. He initially even accepted his guilt (only to be retracted later). Everyone in the country including the judge, lawyers, general public and Indian politicos were aware of the case, the accused and I can bet everyone were also sure of the verdict in advance. Still in order to prove that we have the world’s best democracy and may be the world’s best legal system now (???), we went ahead with this long court drama with multiple charges levelled against him (including Ajmal travelling without ticket in a local train), numerous witnesses being paraded in court, many defense lawyers being replaced (after some of them were bashed up by local “Senas”) and providing a ‘Z’ level security to Kasab (So that he doesn’t die before him being pronounced guilty).
All in all, we spent Rs 45 Crore so far (and still counting) and this is over and above the crores that this guy anyways inflicted upon the Indian infrastructure by bombs and bullets. This guy can still appeal in Supreme court and file for mercy petition. There are also very high chances that he might never be hanged (as is the case with previous death sentences) and we continue to bear his expenses.
So should we believe all of this and feel proud about our democracy and judicial system? Was it really important to conduct this entire farce?
Food for thought: What if like the Jessica Lal case (the witnesses would have changed their statements and turned hostile) and there was no proof to convict him, would he have walked out scot-free? What would have we done then?
The news was on all National Dailies and media for 1 day and then slowly faded away for other news like Godhra Verdict (after 9 years), World cup cricket (Biggies winning over minnows) and others.
The news was also coupled with lot of smart people providing their comments and analysis. Some were praising the Indian democracy and how he was given a proper court hearing which can happen only in India. There were others who appreciated the speed of Indian judicial system in reaching the verdict so fast (in just 24 months). While others just spoke about how Indian legal system has all the right ingredients in place to ensure that the criminals are punished. One of the politician even went ahead and said while we have completed the process, Pakistan has not even started the case (Read he was referring to Pakistan trying the perpetrators of this heinous act within their own country against those people whom India has suggested were involved in it).
All these praises were for a case of a lone terrorist who survived out of the 10 who mercilessly killed scores of Indians. This guy was caught red handed, was witnessed by numerous people, was caught on CCTV and media cameras while committing the act. He initially even accepted his guilt (only to be retracted later). Everyone in the country including the judge, lawyers, general public and Indian politicos were aware of the case, the accused and I can bet everyone were also sure of the verdict in advance. Still in order to prove that we have the world’s best democracy and may be the world’s best legal system now (???), we went ahead with this long court drama with multiple charges levelled against him (including Ajmal travelling without ticket in a local train), numerous witnesses being paraded in court, many defense lawyers being replaced (after some of them were bashed up by local “Senas”) and providing a ‘Z’ level security to Kasab (So that he doesn’t die before him being pronounced guilty).
All in all, we spent Rs 45 Crore so far (and still counting) and this is over and above the crores that this guy anyways inflicted upon the Indian infrastructure by bombs and bullets. This guy can still appeal in Supreme court and file for mercy petition. There are also very high chances that he might never be hanged (as is the case with previous death sentences) and we continue to bear his expenses.
So should we believe all of this and feel proud about our democracy and judicial system? Was it really important to conduct this entire farce?
Food for thought: What if like the Jessica Lal case (the witnesses would have changed their statements and turned hostile) and there was no proof to convict him, would he have walked out scot-free? What would have we done then?
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Yeh Saali Zindagi - 100% raw
When a director like Sudhir Mishra teams up with someone like Prakash Jha, you can be assured the movie will be good, but if the final product exceeds your already high expectations, you know it that the movie was definitely worth much more than the ticket price.
“Yeh Saali Zindagi” is edgy and 100% raw. For those who have loved Quentin Tarantino cinema, Yeh Saali Zindagi has all its traits and characteristics albeit with a Desi Stamp and feel.
There is no point describing the story because the movie has many plots, many turns and many many twists. Each character has its main story and a side story which is dark.
The highlight of the movie is by no doubt its crudeness which gets reflected in its sharp dialogues. The dialogues are rough, witty, coarse, and may be even offensive to many. The direction is superb with the voiceover providing strength to the many storylines. And acting... well the movie has Irrfan Khan, Saurabh Shukla, Sushant Singh, Yashpal Sharma, Chitrangada so no doubt it cant go wrong here as well. Irrfan Khan is brilliant to say the least. In fact he is so good that sometimes he overshadows the other actors in the movie who otherwise have acted brilliantly on their own as well. Chitrangada Singh is sensuous. Arunodya Singh (last seen in Mirchi) has also tried hard to compete with the other stalwarts. In fact his numerous smooches with the newcomer Aditi Rao can give competition to our Emraan Hashmi.
The movie has been shot in Delhi. Recently, “Dilli” has taken centre stage in many Bollywood ventures and this one also tries to have the same “Dilliness” in it. The plot can happen anywhere but “Dilli” feel lends its own charm.
The title song is superb and I am still humming it while writing this review.
I could have easily rated this movie as top stars but for the length of the movie. Such movies should be short so that their crispiness can be maintained. I think that’s where Sudhir might have erred a bit. In order to make it more twisting and turning, he indulged himself further.
Just one last point: The movie has been rated as “A” so respect the decision of Censor Boards and keep your kids at home. There is not a single scene in the movie where you will not cringe if your kids are somewhere nearby.
“Yeh Saali Zindagi” is edgy and 100% raw. For those who have loved Quentin Tarantino cinema, Yeh Saali Zindagi has all its traits and characteristics albeit with a Desi Stamp and feel.
There is no point describing the story because the movie has many plots, many turns and many many twists. Each character has its main story and a side story which is dark.
The highlight of the movie is by no doubt its crudeness which gets reflected in its sharp dialogues. The dialogues are rough, witty, coarse, and may be even offensive to many. The direction is superb with the voiceover providing strength to the many storylines. And acting... well the movie has Irrfan Khan, Saurabh Shukla, Sushant Singh, Yashpal Sharma, Chitrangada so no doubt it cant go wrong here as well. Irrfan Khan is brilliant to say the least. In fact he is so good that sometimes he overshadows the other actors in the movie who otherwise have acted brilliantly on their own as well. Chitrangada Singh is sensuous. Arunodya Singh (last seen in Mirchi) has also tried hard to compete with the other stalwarts. In fact his numerous smooches with the newcomer Aditi Rao can give competition to our Emraan Hashmi.
The movie has been shot in Delhi. Recently, “Dilli” has taken centre stage in many Bollywood ventures and this one also tries to have the same “Dilliness” in it. The plot can happen anywhere but “Dilli” feel lends its own charm.
The title song is superb and I am still humming it while writing this review.
I could have easily rated this movie as top stars but for the length of the movie. Such movies should be short so that their crispiness can be maintained. I think that’s where Sudhir might have erred a bit. In order to make it more twisting and turning, he indulged himself further.
Just one last point: The movie has been rated as “A” so respect the decision of Censor Boards and keep your kids at home. There is not a single scene in the movie where you will not cringe if your kids are somewhere nearby.
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