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Derek Malcolm's rating
Thriller outstaying its welcome
By
Derek Malcolm
25 Oct 2007
Hindi film-makers attempting to refresh Bollywood generally do so at their peril. The old tried-and-tested formulas still work best.
Sympathy, then, for writer-director Anurag Kashyap whose fantasy thriller has John Abraham as a chain-smoking, self-regarding husband whose wife (Ayesha Takia) leaves him and who then resolves to give up the ciggies.
The only way to do it involves a mysterious guru who makes him sign a contract which virtually means first the removal of a finger and then worse if he touches the weed again.
The film swirls about frantically in the effort to entertain, has a terrible Bob Fosse-like dance sequence and generally overstays its welcome.
But Abraham is solidly impressive, the production values are good and at least Kashyap tries to eschew the usual Bollywood clichés.
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Reader views (1)
To an Indian 15-year old like me, this was an Anton Chekhov on the silver screen.
I had always pined to see something surreal, something dark in a cinema near my home in Delhi and without resorting to foreign art.
This was the first such Indian movie i saw. The metaphors were so powerful that they disturbed me inside out. Some scenes like when K's soul watches the police officers thinking about a new convict, and how the convict passes through the officers reflection(you need to watch the movie to get me), were simply uplifting.
Unfortunately most critics in India found this movie too esoteric to deserve good comments. I wish Anurag Kashyap were born in the US or a western democracy, where his talents would have been given deserving applause.
Thank you Mr.Kashyap for making my day.
- Vrishketan, delhi india, 07/11/2007 18:45
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