Review : Apaharan

Posted on December 21, 2005 by amodini

Rating : Above average (3.65/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2005
Running time : 2 hrs and 52 minutes
Director : Prakash Jha
Cast : Ajay Devgan, Bipasha Basu, Nana Patekar, Mohan Agashe, Yashpal Sharma, Ayub Khan, Mukesh Tiwari

APAHARAN : Grim reality makes interesting cinema

This is another “socially realistic” film from Prakash Jha, after Gangajal, and does have shades of Gangajal in it, in the power-packed dialogues, and the grim depiction of reality. Apaharan is the story of the Bihar kidnappings, and one honest man’s entanglement in the (comparatively) easy life of crime. Devgan plays Ajay, son of a true, country-loving and corruption-hating activist Raghuvansh Shastri (Agashe). Ajay wishes to join the police force, but is thwarted by the corrupt system. Frustrated and angry, he is slowly drawn into a life of crime, working with local mafioso Tabrez Alam (Patekar) and emerging from it seems difficult.

This is a trademark Jha film, thus interesting. Prepare yourself for depressing depictions of corruption and self-serving politicians (or you could watch the “sting” operations on TV), because this is what Jha does well – bring out the glaring underbelly of crime into the limelight. As in Gangajal, women do not figure too much in the film. There’s Bipasha, but she’s there primarily for the visual appeal, and there are no other female characters besides her. Basu plays Ajay’s going-to-be-doctor (really Basu’s too old to be playing a teen now) girlfriend who wishes to stand by him, but marries another man, when Ajay takes to crime. Besides not looking the part, Bipasha has very little to do – but she does it allright. Ayub Khan appears as Ajay’s loyal friend, who joins him in the new life of crime.

Direction is good, although the film drags a bit during the second half. Dialogues are “real” and pack a punch. The villains, as expected are odious, but well-drawn – Gaya (Yashpal Sharma), Tabrez’s right hand man is shown operating from the safety of a jail, where he is free to come and go. Patekar is his usual, psychotic self, portraying ruthless and conniving Tabrez to the hilt. Most of the actors do well, with Sharma and Agashe shining in smaller roles. Tiwari plays honest SP Khan, who is hot in pursuit of Tabrz and Ajay, and gives an effective performance. Devgan himself is very good, although he now shows his age.

All-in-all a good film. Hard-hitting and depressing – yes. But well worth your time, if you’re up for it.

Posted in drama, rating-PG13, watchable | 2 Comments

Recommended films

Posted on December 16, 2005 by amodini

Recommended films (which didn’t make it to the Top 10 )

The following films are good – they didn’t make the cut for the top 10, but 10 is such a limited number. So here are the rest :

For 2005 :

– Bunty aur Babli
– Morning raga
– Bride and prejudice
– D
– Viruddh

For 2004 and earlier :

Good old movies (more than 15 years old, in no particular order) :

    – Sitara
    – Kinara
    – Chhoti si baat
    – Abhimaan
    – Aandhi
    – Parichay
Posted in Best hindi movies | 2 Comments

Review : The Film

Posted on December 15, 2005 by amodini

Rating : Average (3/5)
Genre : Suspense
Year : 2005
Running time : 2 hrs and 28 minutes
Director : Junaid Memon
Cast : Mahima Chaudhary, Sulabha Deshpande, Vivek Madan, Khalid Siddiqui, Ananya Khare, Chahat Khanna, Vaibhav Jhalani, Ravi Gosai, Naseer
Abdullah

THE FILM : Surprise suspense film !

This film started off normally enough. Just when I was begining to have my doubts about the director (seemed juvenile), and nodding off to sleep the film changed course, to become a suspense thriller. Well, not thriller exactly but close enough. The debut vehicle for 20 year old director Junaid Memon, “The Film” develops a suspense drama around the extortion racket and the Hindi film industry. It has a large cast, with a great chunk of the action going to Mahima Chaudhary. Now Ms. Chaudhary I consider to be cute, peppy, bubbly (and now aging) and a very, very average actress. Therefore you correctly surmise that she hath not the goods to carry off the part, although she makes a very brave attempt. The rest of the cast are mostly TV artistes and/or newcomers, and the poor acting shows. Direction could have been a lot tighter, the film attempting to rise to the “suspense” genre. Here are the essentials :

Sushmita Mukherjee (who else but youthfully-clad Mahima) is a struggling script-writer. She lives in a sprawling bungalow in Bombay as a paying guest of Mrs. Braganza (Sulabha Deshpande) – hey, where’s the fun without a kindly Goan mother-figure ? The other paying guests of Mrs. B are : wanna-be-director Vijay (Khaled Siddiqui), aspiring lyricist Irfan (Vivek Madan), struggling singer Nandini (Ananya Khare – remember her from “Chandni Bar” ?), wanna-be-actress Ankita (Chahat Khanna), wanna-be-actor Aditya (Vaibhav Jhalani) and aspiring-music-composer Raman (Ravi Gosai). Now all these guys are strugglers trying to get a foot-hold in the film-industry, and really all nice people although they can’t pay the rent on time. Still, they go along trying, gamboling like young people do.

Sushmita has been trying for 12 years, but has not made it, because she isn’t willing to compromise on her principles/or tweak her scripts to suit producer/director tastes. One day, in fun, her friend suggests that she make her own film, with money extorted from the film industry – she can extort using Shameem bhai’s (a well-known gangster) name. Although said in jest, Sushmita acts upon it, enlisting the help of her other PG (paying guest) friends. The extortion plan has a few hitches but the seven do manage to get the money. However, just as they are rejoicing, people start dying and dissappearing. Can they escape their mysterious nemesis and the police ?

OK, the script is a little weak – I had trouble swallowing it whole. The motive is a little unclear and the crazed killer bit has been done once too often. I have already mentioned the troubles with the direction and acting. The songs are of the listen-and-forget variety. Even so, this film keeps you interested and that’s no small feat. It has “sustaining” power – not for a large theatre maybe, but surely for a home DVD viewing.

I’d say, at least watch it once.

Posted in 2005 | Comments Off on Review : The Film

Review : Hazaar chaurasi ki ma

Posted on December 9, 2005 by amodini

Rating : Above average (3.75/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 1997
Running time : 2 hrs and 28 minutes
Director : Govind Nihalani
Cast : Jaya Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Nandita Das, Joy Sengupta, Seema Biswas, Milind Gunaji

HAZAAR CHAURASI KI MAA : Ponderous !

HCKM is Nihalani’s adaptation of Mahasweta Devi’s novel “Hazaar Churashir ma” (originally written in Bengali). Set in Calcutta in the early 70’s HCKM is an emotional story of a mother’s awakening to her son’s beliefs after his death. This is a well-told tale, but seems like it wants to say more, and can’t get the words across. Poignant, yes. Mind-blowing, no.Sujata Chatterjee is an upperclass Bengali woman, a bank-officer, with 4 adult children out of whom the youngest, Brati (Sengupta) is her favorite. She no longer sees eye-to-eye with her philandering husband (Kher) of many years, and their relationship now is one of aloofness and discord. She wakes up one morning from normal life to get news of Brati’s death. His body is in the police morgue, corpse number 1084. Brati was involved in the Naxalite movement and was killed in a skirmish with anti-Naxalites/policemen. His family is now called to the morgue to identify the body.

While Brati’s father (Kher) and his brother hasten to cover up Brati’s connection to the Naxal movement and prevent his name from being published in the paper, to avoid “dishonor” to the family, Sujata is plagued by pangs of guilt at not having known her son well enough, or sensed his thoughts and concerns. She tries to find out more about Brati’s beliefs and his need to join the movement. In this quest, she meets his friends, and girlfriend (Nandita Das) who is also a Naxalite. She also meets the mother (Biswas) of Somu, one of his friends and comes to know of the incident which lead to Brati and Somu and their friend’s deaths. In this process, she becomes aware of the world around her, and senses it’s hypocrisy. Gradually she steps out of her traditional boundaries, and questions the mores and customs which culture and society force on her.

One of her dialogues which caught in my mind, runs like this (don’t remember the exact words) : “Why would I not do what was expected of me ? That was what I was taught, that was how I was brought up. (They said) a woman must serve, her family, her parents, her children, always someone.”

Although the film does not offer any moments of ephiphany, it beautiful depicts the love between a mother and her son, and gives voice to some strong truths. Bachchan is an immaculate actress, and she is supported ably by Kher, Sengupta and the rest of the stellar cast. Direction is good, but the script and the narrative spine could have been tighter.

Still, highly recommended.

Posted in 2005, bollywood, drama, recommended | 4 Comments

Review : My father’s daughter

Posted on November 28, 2005 by amodini

Rating : Below average (2.75/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2005
Director : Parul Bhatia
Cast : Parul Bhatia, Nishedu Vasavada, Suraiya Hyder, Abhay Dhir, Devadas George, Ilram Choi and Stefani Case

MY FATHER’S DAUGHTER : Good story bogged down by direction/acting

MFD is a hinglish film, (actually English) about the immigrant Indians in the US. It is the story of a family which moves from Delhi to Dallas, in the hopes of a better life. Some months down the line, the mother (Hyder) and the two children (both grown-up) have settled down, but the father (Vasavada) misses his family and India. Moreover, the other 3 have occupations, either work or school, while the father is unable to get a job. Coming from a patriarchial mind-set, he gets depressed and dejected when faced with his wife’s scorn, and takes to alcohol, and even beating his wife.

The story revolves around Tara (Bhatia) , the college-going daughter, who is desperate to help her father break-out of his depressive condition and urges her mother to be more patient and loving toward him. The Mom is shown as forward looking and progressive, and we know she loves the US (she says so), but she reacts badly to her husband’s inability to get and retain a worthwhile (in her opinion one paying more than minimum wage) job. Rohit (Dhir), the son, is shown as a wastrel in the earlier part of the film, although later they inject him with some sense. Things continue, until the father attempts to take his own life, and then the family is forced to take stock of the situation.

The story of the film is actually pretty interesting, but the direction and the acting is poor. Some shots are needlessly long, and add nothing to the story, while some are too thinly fleshed out. The script, I’m guessing is not well-weighted and prevents adequate treatment. A good effort, but leaves a lot to be desired. Also, am not sure if the dad’s character was meant to evoke sympathy, because he gets none from me. Yes, stress can make you go bonkers, but the man is shown without any redeeming qualities. His character (actually all the characters) needed to be fleshed out more to interest the viewer.

The film gives you a play-like feel, it’s like its being performed on a stage in front of you. Some shots like that of the brother-sister pair singing and dancing to a hindi film song are awkward. The films songs are pretty decent, although a bit on the melodramatic side. Out of all the charcaters, the mom’s character seems consistent and remotely likeable, Tara’s generates no interest, either because she tries to speak with the eyes and they don’t, or because her dialogue often sounds slurred and unclear.

As the film progresses it gets better; the second half shows improvement. Plus it gets pretty emotional, so even if you don’t give a whit about any characters (which really you don’t), the sheer unfairness of it all drags you in. For all that, this is still rated poor. Decidedly it’s a little below par all the other “immigrant desi” films I’ve seen, save “Where’s the party, yaar ?”. So, maybe worth a watch if you’re a desi in America, and if it’s a sleepy afternoon, and if there’s a famine of watchable Hindi films.

Posted in 2005, bollywood, drama, watchable | Comments Off on Review : My father’s daughter

Review : Deewane huye paagal

Posted on November 28, 2005 by amodini

Rating : Poor (2.5/5)
Genre : All-in-one
Year : 2005
Running time : Approx. 2.5 hrs
Director : Vikram Bhatt
Cast : Akshay Kumar, Rimi Sen, Shahid Kapoor, Sunil Shetty, Aftab Shivadasani, Paresh Rawal, Om Puri, Vijay Raaz, Suresh Menon, Supriya Pilgaonkar

DEEWANE HUYE PAGAL : A mind-numbing mess !

This film started off well, with a poetic narrative from Vivek Oberoi, and I was hoping for a Wodehouse-ian comedy. However, the film soon degenerated into what can only be called an absolute mess of perfectly good tripe. To be fair, the begining and end are OK, it’s the big, stretchy middle which is the problem. If this is a remake of “There’s something about Mary”, it’s a pretty pathetic one.The film has 2 plots, out of which one actually gave me hope. The first deals with a scientist (Puri) who discovers the formula to ever-lasting youth, and plans to sell it. However, his assistant betrays him, and tries to sell the formula to the scientist’s criminal twin brother. The scientist however manages to lock the formula’s secret into a safe, records the safe’s combination into a voice-recording parrot-toy, and runs away with it. Before the goons murder him, he slips the parrot into a girl’s (Sen) bag. The girl witnesses the murder, and the criminals see her, but she manages to escape. The criminals get the safe but not the code, and are unable to open it.

Now for the second plot : Tanya (Sen) is a happy-go-lucky college girl, without parents, but has a retarded younger brother (an aging Rakesh Bedi). What she uses for money is anybody’s guess – maybe she’s an heiress ! Anyway, poor Karan (Kapoor) who is a student and works in the college canteen to make end’s meet is besotted with her. And she comes to like him too. It is to his B’day celebration that she’s driving when she encounters the scientist, and he unbeknownst to her slips the parrot into the gift she’s carrying for Karan.

After witnessing the scientist’s murder, Tanya, scared for her life, goes back home, gathers up her belongings and her brother, and runs away. Karan waits for her, but realises she’s left, when he comes to her home to find her. He finds the gift she was bringing to him, looks inside and finds the parrot, and believing it to be from her, keeps it as a treasured memory. He still tries to find her, and gets news that she’s in Dubai living with an aunt. Hence intelligent Karan, and the canteen’s owner Murugan, hire Rocky (Akshay Kumar) to find her in Dubai, and Karan gives Rocky the parrot to show to Tanya as a sign of recognition/love.

Rocky travels to Dubai, finds her, and falls in love with her himself. Being a crook of the first order, he gives Karan a story about Tanya being married and disabled etc. Karan is undeterred however and wishes to assist her, therefore stays back in Dubai. He soons finds out that Tanya has changed her name to Natasha, and Rocky has been decieving him because of his own feelings for Tanya.

Tanya’s coterie consists of her aunt (Supriya Pilgaonkar), handicapped Tommy (Paresh Rawal), wanna-be-boyfriend and handicapped architect Sanju (Shetty). Now Tommy, Sanju, Rocky and Karan, and a blind scooterist (Asrani) are all vying for Tanya’s love, and Tanya’s just the innocent babe in the woods. Now who actually gets her ? Also you’ve got to be wondering about the first plot, and the parrot, which is currently in Rocky’s custody. It all mashes together in the end, with some interesting chase sequences, and the daily dose of sacrifice (we are desi, what to do ?).

Now for the acting : Shahid Kapoor and Rimi Sen are bad actors – plain and simple. Johnny Lever as Murugan overacts and is not funny. On Puri, Suresh Menon (as Puri’s son) and Vijay Raaz (as Rocky’s side-kick) contribute hugely towards the comedy. Paresh Rawal and Akshay Kumar are good in their roles, and Supriya Pilgaonkar is about average.

The film moves at a pretty fast clip, there’s lots happening and it’s happening really fast. Sandwiched in-between are the songs, which don’t uplift the movie any. Direction is OK although the film’s story has BIG kinks in it. Even ignoring some of the minor ones, here’s a biggie : Why is Tanya/Natasha who’s so scared for her life, that she’s actually changed her name, attempting to be a singing star (a public figure) and prancing about on television ? Won’t the killers actually find her then ?

Oh, well ! I can’t recommend this movie. But if you absolutely ignore the voice in your head that tells you that the director is insane, you might be able to sit through this one.

Posted in 2005, bollywood, drama | Comments Off on Review : Deewane huye paagal

Review : Main meri patni aur woh

Posted on November 22, 2005 by amodini

[amazon_link id=”B000G27FEG” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Main Meri Patni Aur Woh[/amazon_link] Rating : Above average (3.75/5)
Genre : Comedy
Year : 2005
Director : Chandan Arora
Cast : Rajpal Yadav, Kaykay Menon, Rituparna Sengupta, Vinod Nagpal, Varun Badola

MAIN MERI PATNI AUR WOH : Interesting situational comedy

Take a look at Indian society. Look closely at our hang-ups with marriage : caste/creed, gender, height, color, weight, wealth etc. Into this prejudicial society introduce a short, plain, unassuming man, and his tall, beautiful, vivacious wife. And let the fireworks begin.MMPAW is a very detailed look at the life of Lucknow based Mithilesh Shukla (Yadav), a regular, non-descript sort of a guy, who has washed his hands off marriage, until his nagging mom and her concerned brother (Vinod Nagpal) get him to see Veena (Sengupta) as a prospective bride. Veena is beautiful, cultured, educated and pretty much everything Mithilesh wants. She is also leggy, a good 6″ taller than our hero. This doesn’t concern him too much, until he overhears people talk and laugh at his relative lack of stature/looks. Everyday situations, such as driving a scooter, with a tall wife towering from the back-seat, or a fawning doodh-wala (milk-man) delivering milk, become a nagging headache for the insecure Mithilesh. More problems crop up when Veena’s good college friend, the TALL, worldly, smart Akash (Menon) moves into the flat next door, and jealousy consumes Mithilesh, leading him into a quagmire of problems, which threaten to rip apart his life.

Akash is everything Mithilesh is not. He’s charming, suave, interesting and has the gift of the gab, as compared to our awe-struck librarian. Mithilesh in attempt to be more like him, tries medicene from quacks, and exercise, and even tries to imitate Akash’s style. But does that help ? See the film to find out.

This is very off-beat film, with outstanding performances from the cast. Yadav and Menon are masters at their art, and Rituparna is no less. Varun Badola as Salim, Mithilesh’s friend, manages just the right amount of exhuberance. And Vinod Nagpal (remember him from “Humlog” ?) as the “Mama” is very convincing. Characters are well-fleshed out, and the dialogues are apt for the situations and the locale.

The film is told completely from Mithilesh’s view-point, his fears and his paranoia form the crux of the problem. We see Veena, Akash, Salim and others as Mithilesh sees them. Admittedly there are flaws. By the nature of it’s telling the film is slow, the pace is of day-to-day happenings. And the story has it’s kinks, which seem unrealistic. Veena’s character changes subtly through the film, from a thoughful girl (what else would you call a girl who chooses a husband not for his height but his intellect, i.e.; one not influenced by society’s prejudices) to one who wants romantic, candle-lit dinners, and that for me took away some of the impact.

Chandan Arora, who brought us the stellar “Main Madhuri Dixit banna chahti hoo” (see best films of 2003) impresses once again with this delightful film. Touted as a comedy, MMPAW is actually more of a thoughful drama, with doses of realistic humor, and a welcome change from the mind-numbing slapstick which passes for Hindi cinema these days. A must-see.

Posted in 2005, bollywood, comedy, drama, rating-PG13, recommended | Tagged | 9 Comments

Review : James

Posted on October 17, 2005 by amodini

Rating : Average (3/5)
Genre : Action
Year : 2005
Director : Rohit Jugraj
Cast : Mohit Ahlawat, Nisha Kothari, Zakir Husain, Mohan Agashe, Rajpal Yadav, Ravi Kale, Snehal Dabhi, Sherveer Vakil

: Intense slam-fest !

Another film from the RGV camp, James is the debut vehicle for newcomers Mohit Ahlawat, and Nisha Kothari, and director Jugraj. Out of its running-time, approximately 2/3rd is what I would call a slam fest. The villains keep coming and the hero keeps beating them to pulp. Nice, on the philosophical level, where one roots for the common man. However, in the reality of commercial cinema this turns into gory fight sequences and bone-crunching assaults drawn a little too long.

The story is an oft-repeated one; the honest common-man James (Ahlawat) in conflict with the corrupt, power-drunk Neta Shanti Narayan (Hussain) and his hairy brother Radhey (Vakil). Add to the mix, model Nisha (Kothari), daughter of the DCP of Mumbai (Agashe), stir with a filmi wand, and there you have the story of “James”. Radhey lusts after Nisha, and James believes in doing the right thing, which means protecting Nisha when her DCP father seems unable to lift a finger against the wrong-doers. Thus James and Radhey meet. Now Radhey lusts for Nisha and James’s blood, which throws the pair togther in jungles and other scenic locales, on the run. Radhey chases and James and Nisha run/defend. And this goes on until the end.

The film focusses on in-your-face violence, and there is hardly any other emotion in the film. Raw action is the USP of the film, raw being the keyword. Much of the movie is just plain fighting, with swords, fists, guns etc. Kothari acts passably, and bares quite a bit, donning the most negligible of mini-skirts. Not really heroine material, she strikes me as a younger version of Khushboo. Well-muscled Mohit Ahlawat has a serious angry young man role, and he uses his limited repertoire to exhibit one, maybe two (and that’s a stretch) emotions through the entirety of the film. James is a pretty uni-dimensional character; we know he’s a good guy, but what is he actually like ? Ahlawat doesn’t give us any clues. It remains to be seen if he can actually act, in a role which requires more than expressions of anger/intensity. Acting apart, he has screen presence, and is . . . visually appealing. Shows promise.

Zakir Hussain does well as the diabolic Shanti N., while Sherveer Vakil is convincing as the venomous Radhey. Agashe in a small role in as good as ever, while Yadav prances through his comic role. The film has a distinctly Southie flavor to it. James’s friend Babloo (Snehal Dabhi in a highly overdone role) seemed to have walked in straight from a Tamil/Telugu film. The song picturisations are a la Rangeela, and Kothari is made up like an early Matondkar too.

Direction is sharp, but hurried. The fight sequences are shot well to maximise impact, allowing the hero to flip villains on their backs with ease, and break necks and wrists with a flick of his fingers. The cinematography relies on shadows, and dark alleys to pump up the intensity of the chase. Dialogues are a mix of realism and overdone filmi sound-bytes. Amar Mohile’s sound-track is a mixed bag, aiding the film at places, but also a pain in the head in others. The songs are just about OK, nothing to write to Mum about.

All said and done, “James” is still worth a watch.

Posted in 2005, action, bollywood, drama, rating-PG13, thriller, watchable | 1 Comment

Review : Chocolate

Posted on October 11, 2005 by amodini

Rating : Average (3/5)
Genre : Thriller
Year : 2005
Running time : 159 minutes
Director : Vivek Agnihotri
Cast : Irfan Khan, Sushma Reddy, Anil Kapoor, Arshad Warsi, Sunil Shetty, Emran Hashmi, Tanushree Dutta

CHOCOLATE : Edible, but only just !

The film is based in London, and is about a mysterious murder, robbery, arm theft and the resolution of it all. Shot differently, the story is narrated via intermittent flashbacks, interspersed with the present day. And although commendable in it’s effort, this desi adaptation of “The Usual Suspects” drags it’s feet, and lacks pace in the first half. Shallow, one dimensional characters do not garner audience sympathy. The second half has one intrigued but does not come together.

Chip, Deva, Rocker, PP and Sim are 5 musical friends, who come together to make music in the evenings after their day jobs end. Sim or Simran (Dutta) is a lucre-loving gold-digger, PP (Irfan Khan) an artist, Chip (Warsi) a computer hacker, and Rocker (Shetty) steals cars. Devaa (Hashmi) is a musician. Among these five people with very different personalities, there are under-current of conflict and attraction. Mysteriously one day, a sum of 20 million pounds is stolen, and 30 people are killed on a boat carrying arms. Rocker, also dead, is blamed and his friends Sim and PP are hauled in for questioning by the British cops. Monsoon, a journalist gets wind of the news, and persuades cocky and succesful attorney Krish Pundit to take their case.

As Krish delves into the intricacies of the case, and tries to get the story out of Sim and PP, many versions emerge. The depiction of the story versions, in flashbacks, take up most of the film. Krish then defends them in the court. Does he succeed in setting them free ?

The first half of the film is insipid. The second half fares better. Kapoor is full of bluster and swagger, and unbelievable, and looks unintelligent. Warsi as Chip has a short role, and is wasted in inconsequentialities. Among the rest, the only one who can act is Irfan Khan, and he does a good job as the sly, manipulative PP. Tanushree, poured into skin-tight, miniscule bits of clothing, desperately needs to improve her acting. Sushma Reddy in very mismatched, non-chic clothing (is this what British journalists wear ?) adds very little to this film, with her non-existent acting skills (or was it the badly defined role/character ?).

Direction is passable, but not consistent. The dialogues are flashy and screenplay not watertight (as it should be when attempting a suspense film). The script has moments of interest in the post-interval half, and obvious red-herrings are scattered throughout (what ? cinema for dolts ?). Honestly if you can get through the first half, (where I was sorely tempted to shut off the film) it does get better. I was intrigued by the whole rapidly changing story thing – so yes there’s suspense. The characters are highly unlikeable people, mild deviants really, badly developed in the film, so you really aren’t rooting for anyone, and you don’t really care if they live or die. This is a major flaw.

The music of the film is very good, almost all numbers haunting and catchy. “Halka halka sa” reminded me of “Pehla Nasha” from “Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar”.

All-in-all worth watching once.

Posted in 2005, bollywood, drama | 1 Comment

Review : My wife’s murder

Posted on September 13, 2005 by amodini

Rating : Average (3/5)
Genre : Suspense
Year : 2005
Running time : 1 hr and 43 minutes
Director : Jijy Philip
Cast : Anil Kapoor, Suchitra Krishnamurthy, Nandana Sem, BomanIrani, Rajesh Tandon, Abhijit Lahiri

MY WIFE’S MURDER : Novel effort !

The RGV camp innovates and tries new things. MWM is one such novel effort. And although different, this films lack the pace, and the power to keep one engrossed. This is a fine film, but you can’t call it gripping.

Ravi Patwardhan (Kapoor) is a film editor, working with apprentice Reena (Sen). Ravi is married to suspicious Sheela (Krishnamurthy), who doubts Ravi and Reena’s relationship, and harangues Ravi about it no end. Reena meanwhile, daughter of a moneyed man, is living in with her boyfriend (Tandon), but sympathizes with Ravi’s frustrations at home.

Sheela’s parents invite Sheela, Ravi and their two children on a trip to Shirdi with them, but Ravi pleads work and refuses to go. He does ask Sheela to go if she wants to. This stokes Sheela’s jealousy, and she nags mild Ravi about his supposed affair with Reena again. In a subsequent marital squabble, Ravi pushes Sheela, and she falls hitting her head on the wooden bed bolster. Unexpectedly she dies. Ravi panics and disposes of the body. When her parents raise a hue and cry about her dissapearance and file a police complaint, Inspector Tejpal Randhawa (Irani) gets in hot pursuit. His number one suspect : Ravi.

Philip’s direction although adequate, falters in some sequences. The actors do well, whether it be Kapoor with his depiction of a broken, listless man, or Krishnamurty in her effective potrayal of a shrill nag. Sen imbues her character with the right nuances; an apprentice sure, but are there hidden feelings for her boss ? Tandon as the live-in boyfriend, torn between jealousy and self-preservation, is very good. Irani excels in his role of food-chomping Inspector Tejpal, appearing fair and conniving at the same time. The character of Sheela’s father’s is essayed well by Abhijit Lahiri.

The cinematography and the look of the film is realistic – Ravi’s home is as middle-class as it should be. Dialogues are apt. However, I found the background score problematic, in that it didn’t help build suspense in a film where it was sorely needed. Also the film should have been tauter; it drags needlessly in some sequences. The ending lacks finality and the satisfaction a movie-goer expects, kind of like in the Matrix, where you expected closure, but at the end they told you to come see it in Part 3. If the USP of the film is potraying the cat-and-mouse game between the police and the supposedly innocent man, it succeeds, but that’s pretty much it.

The above notwithstanding, MWM is definitely worth a watch.

Posted in 2005, bollywood, drama, rating-PG13, thriller | Comments Off on Review : My wife’s murder