Happy Ending (21 Nov 2014)

Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Ileana D’Cruz, Kalki Koechlin, Ranvir Shorey, Govinda, Preity Zinta, Shivani Tanksale

Director: Krishna DK, Raj Nidimoru     Music: Sachin-Jigar     Writer: Krishna DK, Raj Nidimoru, Sita Menon

Running Time: 136 minutes

‘Happy Ending’ is like an age old and time tested multi course meal served in a new diner which calls out the name and necessity (also read as state-of-no choice) of each course before serving the same. It seems as if the sellers don’t really believe in their wares, but end up offering the same (albeit packaged differently) acting on the law of demand and supply. But neither do they fulfill the buyer’s expectation, nor is their new packaging attractive enough to hold the buyer’s interest!

Yudi Jaitley (Saif Ali Khan) is a USA based ‘one book wonder’ writer and a casanova. He is phobic of love/marriage and has thus indulged into a trail of shallow relationships with the opposite gender. He likes to enjoy his relationships without any strings attached. So, the moment a girl utters the quintessential ‘I love you’, he mumbles and fumbles, but never reciprocates the same. Only two steady relationships of his life are Montu (Ranvir Shorey), his long time BFF and Divya (Preity Zinta), his ex GF, the one he actually loved. Both are married. Yudi also has a paunchy, beardy, bespectacled, shorts clad and ever-eating  alter ego Yogi who forecasts the impending turn of events.

Yudi’s free spirited lifestyle and the state of no new publication since five and a half years, result into his bankruptcy. While scouting for new assignment, he witnesses a rival writer, Aanchal Reddy (Ileana D’Cruz) gaining momentum with his publisher. As expected, in due course of time, their rivalry gives way to attraction and companionship. But this time, the tables are turned. And Yudi is the one who utters the magical three words in vain!

Alongside, Armaan (Govinda), an aging actor visits USA for dual purpose. First – to avail the top notch cosmetic surgery to attain a younger face and toned up body (read six-pack), and Second – to approach Yudi to pen down a highly inspired (read copying from a plethora of hit movies) rom-com that will change Armaan’s status from a single screen actor to a multiplex actor. And yes, there is also the nutcase Vishakha (Kalki Koechlin), Yogi’s dentist, who is in love with Yogi and too mesmerized to break up with him, in spite of him repeatedly trying to do the same!

As per the movie title, the protagonist is expected to avail happiness aka success in both love and career. And the movie progresses on the similar lines.

The movie has a story, but its execution is not up to the mark. It is a classic case of casting gone wrong. Also, in spite of good effort, there is no chemistry between the lead actors. Preity Zinta just plays a cameo in the film and surprisingly there is perfect chemistry between Saif and Preity. Alter ego concept could have been made so much interesting, but it comes out as plain vanilla. Saif has been a pro in playing such roles. But the well settled real life mid forties ‘nawab’ with his diva like new wife, grown up kids and estates galore, can no more look or act like a playboy. Music is average and a bevy of singers have been used. The track ‘G Phaad Ke’ will be a hit amongst the disc goers. Cinematography has well covered the west coast of America.

Saif looks charming and is good with comedy. Ileana has acted well. She looks stylish and confidant, in fact a little too confidant. Kalki appears like a psycho in love. Whether the role demanded the same, or it was her style of execution, its debatable. Ranvir and Shivani are OK. Its Preity, who doesn’t try too hard and still brings the life in the couple of scenes that she is in. Govinda is especially good with his action-reactions and dancing. While dancing, he simply captures the screen. But you do miss the ‘connection’ that he had with his co actors in all of his earlier films. Call it computer wizardry or something else, but the scene towards the end where Govinda appears with a much younger face, six pack abs etc. is a pleasant surprise.

Kill/Dil (14 Nov 2014)

Cast: Ranveer Singh, Ali Zafar, Parineeti Chopra, Govinda, Alok Nath

Director: Shaad Ali   Writer: Nitesh Tiwari, Shreyas Jain, Nikhil Mehrotra   Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

Running Time: 145 minutes

The centre point of the movie is the critical choosing of the protagonist between ‘Kill’ and ‘Dil’ aka heart (read sweetheart), and hence the name Kill/Dil. Alongside, the movie also ‘kills’ your celluloid expectations and breaks your trusting ‘heart’. And you are left wondering, how come the dynamic combination of – country’s most successful production factory with one of their cherished directors, team of young and successful lead actors, middle age veteran actor; can be submerged in the platter of a shallow plot, incomplete characterizations and unfocused direction! 

Bhaiyaji (Govinda), an anti-social, finds two abandoned newborns amongst garbage. He brings them home and they grow up as Dev (Ranveer Singh) and Tutu (Ali Zafar), who carry out shooting assignments for Bhaiyaji without any question or remorse. Rather, they carry out their executions with fun and style! And they never miss.

In a disc, Dev saves Disha (Parineeti Chopra) and her friends from some gun pointing rowdies. Disha is a super rich urban girl who works for the rehabilitation of jail inmates. This chance meeting eventually leads to love and Dev’s heart filled with new found love finds it impossible to further kill. He tries to turn a new leaf, so as to protect Disha from his past misgivings. Tutu unconditionally helps him in the process. This irks Bhaiyaji to no end as he cannot bear to see his return on investment go awry. And thus he arranges for Disha to know the truth in the most ruthless of manners. Disha breaks off with Dev, giving him no choice but to return to Bhaiyaji. Instantly, Bhaiyaji gives a heavy assignment to the killer duo. Will Dev be able to kill again? What will be the fate of his love? Therein lies the movie suspense.

The movie is filled with designer wear and style. It has good music and cinematography. Couple of tracks will be quite a hit amongst the disc goers. The music directors, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have used a bevy of good singers for their tracks. However, the movie lacks logic and depth. The protagonists live on a rooftop with basic and depreciating furniture. However their cooking table is laden with modern and sleek kitchenware. Actors have performed well but many scenes are pretty boring. All the actors are emitting their individual energy. But there is no fusion of the same into one big energy, that runs throughout the movie and makes it entertaining to the audience.

It is noteworthy to see the protagonists perform the action of killing as pure duty towards their provider and then going back to him with the sentiment and expression of that of children, who have scored highest in their class and will be loved and rewarded for the same!

Ranveer Singh has acted very well. His child like glee is endearing. Also, he appears very sincere and natural in crying scenes, something which very few male actors can boast of. Ali Zafar has completely given in to his character, never bothering for angles or screen capture. Parineeti has experimented with delicate (read skin showing) designer wear, which has not gone well. She is blessed with the screen presence of a la Kajol. Wonder why she is trying to fit in the shoes of the delicate damsels? Also, in her bid to appear stylish, she has over acted. Govinda has appeared in a full fledged role in an A-list movie after a gap of almost seven years. Still he is natural and commanding. As expected, he has been given some mean dance moves and he has performed them with aplomb. But dancing seems very out of character for the dominating and ruthless killing contractor played by him.

Last but not the least, don’t miss the red imprint of Govinda’s palm on Ranveer Singh’s face after a stinging slap scene. Whether its real or makeup, its definitely minute production design.

Khoobsurat (19 Sep 2014)

Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Fawad Afzal Khan, Ratna Pathak Shah, Kirron Kher, Aamir Raza Hussain, Aditi Rao Hydari

Director: Shashanka Ghosh   Writer: D.N. Mukherjee (original story), Indira Bisht (screenplay), Juhi Chaturvedi (dialogue)   Music: Sneha Khanwalkar

Producer: Anil Kapoor Film Company, Walt Disney Pictures   Distributor: UTV Motion Pictures

Running Time: 130 minutes

‘Khoobsurat’ is the remake of ‘Khubsoorat’ (1980), a family drama, well directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and very ably enacted by Rekha.

Both these movies have some superfluous similarities – the name (with ‘u’ and ‘oo’ being swapped), the leading ladies Rekha and Sonam being the real life fashionistas, and hard core disciplinarian role essayed by Dina Pathak in the original and her daughter Ratna Pathak Shah in the remake.

The original ‘Khubsoorat’ was the celebration of emergence of free spirited but downright loyal and homely lass of modern India who attempted to break through the strict and stifling family codes of the old world with her smile and chirp intact. It was a real world scenario and the masses very well identified with both the situation and the solution. Whereas the remake ‘Khoobsurat’ shows a gawky but urban working woman unable to merge in with the codes of the royals, but still managing to achieve success in her task at hand with her enthusiasm intact. It is a kind of dream world scenario and the masses will identify with the bits and pieces of the same.

Dr. Milli Chakravarty (Sonam Kapoor) is a visiting physiotherapist at the mansion of the Rathores, one of the Rajasthan royals. Along with a train of staff, the mansion occupies the wheel chair bound family head aka Milli’s patient (Aamir Raza Hussain), his boisterous, business savvy and disciplinarian wife, Nirmala Devi (Ratna Pathak Shah), his handsome and workaholic son Vikram (Fawad Afzal Khan) and his underage daughter (read seventeen) who nurses secret acting aspirations. Milli is gawky and free spirited, wears unmatched outfits, eats with hand and noise, stumbles every now and then, and video chats for all her big and small problems with her equally eccentric mother Manju (Kirron Kher), whom is refers as ‘Manju’ only! Everyone is courteous and patient with her. But she is trapped in a hostile environment – where her patient shows no wish or effort in getting well, Nirmala Devi’s disdain towards her presence is quite apparent and the handsome son thinks of her as ‘aafat’ (problem). As expected, Milli finds her way around the place, reignites the passion for life in her patient and also manages to flutter Vikram’s heart.

This is the first Disney Bollywood flick and it has total Disney world feel - larger than life setting, beautiful people, gentle comic approach and no real villain. But the movie also lacks well researched characterization and depth. The protagonist’s wardrobe is color fanatic, so much so that, by the time the movie ends, you actually cannot differentiate one color from the other! With father and sister being the co-producers (Anil Kapoor and Rhea Kapoor), Sonam Kapoor is handled with utmost respect by the hero as well as the chanced upon villains!

Sonam Kapoor has given an OTT (over the top) performance. It’s quite in your face. But still its somewhere better than her other flicks. Fawad Afzal Khan is a famous Pakistani singer and TV & movie actor. This is his Bollywood debut. With his chiseled good looks and baritone voice, he very well suits the character and has performed well. One looks forward to see his performance driven flick. Ratna Pathak Shah looks immaculate like ever. You expect her to be the lady with the iron fist. But she comes across as the one with strong head but broken will. And you get confused because you cannot really understand if it’s successful enactment of a complex character or stepping away from the character. Kirron Kher has become a pro in playing a OTT Punjabi mother. Still, she could have adorned a little less of the countless oxide jewelries. Aditi Rao Hyadari plays a cameo (Vikram’s girlfriend) and looks very royal. The director Shashanka Ghosh is known for well directing small budget eccentric flicks. You miss the expected eccentricity here. Music is OK. ‘Engine ki ceeti’ track is good and catchy.

All in all, it’s a simple flick, best to be seen with tinted glasses and not much logic. Last but not the least, when Milli comes to confront her patient in the garden, her earrings magically change.

Finding Fanny (12 Sep 2014)

Cast: Deepika Padukone, Arjun Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Anjali Gupta, Ranveer Singh (Cameo), Anand Tiwari

Director: Homi Adajania   Writer: Homi Adajania, Kersi Khambatta   Music: Mathias Duplessy

Cinematography: Anil Mehta   Production Design: Manisha Khandelwal   Costume Design: Anaita Shroff

Running Time: 105 minutes

‘Finding Fanny’ is like one of those medium paced Mexican flicks, that invariably contain – rural setting with old and unkempt style housings surrounded with nature, an unassuming village lass oozing with passion and sexuality, liquor influenced scenes, unconventional characterization of leading characters and a simple story, which will neither make your heart loose a beat, nor make your mind wander elsewhere.

The movie is based in Pocolim, an obscure Goan village with no presence on the map. It’s a quaint and non happening village, with such dull routine that, when their old postman, Ferdie (Naseeruddin Shah) decides to embark on a road trip to find his long lost love Stefanie Fernandes (Anjali Gupta) aka Fanny, he is invariably joined in by four other villagers on one pretext or the other!

The movie opens with Ferdie receiving a return mail, which was actually his love declaration to the woman of his dreams, Fanny. This declaration was mailed forty six years before, and in the event of receiving no reply, Ferdie had been since living the life of rejection and solitude! The mere realization that such a life was lead in vain makes him utterly miserable and depressed. His good friend Angie (Deepika Padukone), the youthful virgin widow advises him to at least find his lost love and know her sentiments, so as to bring a closure to his questioning state of mind. She decides to accompany and arrange for his trip. And thus, another young but bitter villager Savio Da Gama (Arjun Kapoor), a recent Mumbai returned, is roped in because he knows driving and car repair. Don Pedro Cleto Colaco (Pankaj Kapur), a visiting painter with a roving eye and artistic musings for extra curvaceous women is also roped in, so as to use his car as the vehicle in the road trip. Angie’s mother-in-law and mother to the deceased Joffrey (Ranveer Singh), Rosie Eucharistica (Dimple Kapadia), the self proclaimed first lady of the village, accompanies the foursome to simply ensure the safety of her daughter-in-law! On the front, it is an expedition to bring peace to the soul of a fellow villager, but in actuality all the co-passengers see the journey as an escape from their respective dull routines and silently hope to find some answers and solution to their own quests of life! Savio has the hots for Angie, while Don Pedro has the hots for Rosie. The ladies in question are also not really happy with their ‘single’ status. And so, the lost and pining five some along with Rosie’s pet cat embark on their journey and in the process, get lost, find both expected and unexpected answers to their respective quests, and ultimately attain their destined closure.

Neither it’s a perfect story, nor does it serve any cause. In fact, instead of harping on the occurrence of true love or ‘united till death’ syndrome, it emphasizes on the ‘idea of love’ and the need and pursue of the same, even in the event of loss of the original partner! Without promoting infidelity, it signifies that the basic need of life is to feel and share love and it is not dependent on the existence or fidelity of the one with whom you have united your heart and promised to share the rest of your life! The shoes of the deceased or betraying partner need to be filled by someone appropriate enough as per the present timeline of life, because the need to have a breathing and devoted partner is perennial.

This movie has a bilingual release i.e. in both Hindi and English. It also has a good measure of sub titled Goan lines. The genre is amalgamation of comedy, satire and drama. It’s well made in its own way. The content and presentation is new for the Indian screen. It is meant for the ‘thinking audience’ and thankfully is devoid of unnecessary songs and/or titillation. More than the masses, the film seems to be targeted for the international audience (Fox Star Studios being the distributor). No wonder, it is slated to be released at both Busan (South Korea) and Toronto (Canada) International Film Festivals.

The movie is based on five main characters and all of them are well casted and have delivered flawless performances. But still you feel that Pankaj Kapur has stolen the show and Arjun Kapur is the weakest link of the lot. Deepika Padukone looks confidant, wise and very beautiful and that too in a non glamorous role. The lady is pretty regular with flesh bare clothing. But never before has she looked so illuminous and desirable. Dimple Kapadia seems to be becoming a pro with character driven roles, caring a damn about her looks. This is a far cry from her younger and much more successful diva days. To give the lady her due, one must mention that, nearing sixty, she still looks very glamorous. Naseeruddin Shah is an acting school in himself. The opening scene requires an ocean of emotions, followed by outburst and silent retreat. It is impossible to think of anyone else, who can even analyze the scene like him. Pankaj Kapur plays the most complex character of all. He is supposed to be a flamboyant artist (painter), find his muse in extra curvaceous women and appear disinterested in everything else to the point of appearing selfish. And he has successfully depicted all this in good dignity! Arjun Kapoor has acted average. Acting with such polished actors, he was expected to display much more depth in his character. Ranveer Singh and Anjali Gupta (remember the feisty naxalite from ‘Chakravyuh’) and Anand Tiwari (the priest) are effective in their small roles. The director Homi Adajania has well attempted a relatively new concept in movie making. Without caring to give in to the superfluous  needs of the commercial cinema, he has neither diluted his philosophy, nor hastened the pulse of the movie. To do this, and that too after the roaring success of his commercial hit ‘Cocktail’, he must be a very confidant man. ‘O Fanny Re’ track touches your soul. Given the limited scope provided by the storyline, cinematography and costume design are exceptionally good. They are in-line and noteworthy.

To sum it up, in an art gallery where patrons mostly find and appreciate well defined forms and subjects (like human, God, nature), this movie is like a well made abstract painting, which many will fail to enjoy because of their routine preferences, and the remaining will derive their own meaning of a particular - brush stroke, shape or even corner!

Mary Kom (5 Sep 2014)

Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Darshan Kumaar, Sunil Thapa, Zachary Coffin

Director: Omung Kumar   Music: Rohit Kulkarni (Background), Shashi, Shivam

Writer: Saiwyn Qadras (Story & Screenplay), Ramendra Vashishth & Karan Singh Rathore (Dialogue)

Running Time: 122 minutes

The movie ‘Mary Kom’ is the biopic of Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom, aka Mary Kom, the five time World Amateur Boxing champion from Manipur, India. Barring this, she is also the proud winner of various Asian and other championships, as well as civilian accolades. The prestigious ‘Padma Bhushan’ (2013) award by Govt. of India is the latest feather in her cap.

The aforesaid gender, sport, as well as the state, sadly don’t enjoy enough prominence in our country. So, its obvious that during her struggling years, Mary Kom must have highly lacked the required infrastructure and support (both moral and financial). Her success story must have been a far cry from those sports personalities whose career were either carefully carved since their early age, or whose normal passion of a particular support, which they were never barred from playing, eventually turned into a career. It is for these reasons, that this amazing sports woman deserves double round of applause. Also, hats off to Omung Kumar for making his directorial debut with such a different and deserving subject.

In the movie, as a child, Mary Kom (Priyanka Chopra) lives with her parents and two kid siblings. She belongs to a very simple Manipur style rural household, sans any luxury, but is blissfully unaware of that. Rather, she chance finds a pair of boxing gloves in a destruction site and keeps it as her prized possession, much to the disdain of her father, who thinks that such a sport will spoil her face, thereby making her unfit for marriage. Even during her adolescence, she is unaware of the emotion ‘fear’ and sans any combat training, doesn’t think twice before entering into a combat with a boy her age. Upon chance meeting with the Manipur state boxing coach (Sunil Thapa), she persuades him to teach her boxing. Initially, the coach ignores her. But finally he discovers one of his best pupils in her and sends in her name for the inter state championship. Thereby, one victory leads to the other, and Mary Kom embarks on her victorious journey, conquering Asian championships as well as World championships in the process!

But this is easier said than done. In an almost non existing infrastructure, she is required to work ridiculously hard on a body that can throw as well as bear international quality punches. And she is required to train for boxing, alongside being a regular daughter and/or wife which includes the regular plethora of cooking, cleaning, laundry etc. She faces opposition and irk of her father, for practicing a non woman type sport. At times, just because the opposing contestant belongs to a much more prominent state, she faces injustice in tournaments. And upon voicing protest, she is subjected to boycott, bad will and humiliation! The three facts that keep her going are – guidance and sheer expectation of her coach, unconditional love and support of her friend turned husband Onler Kom (Darshan Kumaar), and her personal grit and determination to simply win for India. When most career women, especially sports women willingly/unwillingly put an end to their career after marriage and motherhood, Mary Kom goes ahead and does the unthinkable. She gets married, gives birth to twin baby boys, faces emotional turmoil, re-trains herself and wins more championships! The biopic ends here. But the real Mary Kom, has since given birth to another baby boy and harbors the dream of bringing more medals for India!

Priyanka Chopra proved her acting excellence with ‘Barfi’. But with ‘Mary Com’, she has entered a different league altogether. In fact her passionate and unassuming style of acting will remind you of Leonardo DiCaprio! For this movie, the actress has simply given in her body, mind and soul. She plays the age range of a school girl to a mother with elan. She also lives through the profiles of being a boxing student to a boxing champion with flying colors. The actress recently suffered the demise of her dear father. It seems that life without him, in itself was a strugglefor her, and that sense of struggle and anguish was portrayed in her training and boxing scenes. You feel like, she trains to contest, and she contests to win, and that is the only way she can proceed with living! Very few actresses will go through such difficult role that requires no make-up and athletic level of physical labor. Rest of the cast is good as well.

The movie is well paced and it well depicts the tale of a simple Manipur girl, who loves boxing, dreams of consistently winning for India and finally gives shape to her dream. What is noteworthy here is that, apart from simply winning, she doesn’t attach any other gain, clout or mammoth change of lifestyle with her victories. She is well tuned in her family life, family chores and surroundings. It is an inspirational movie with deserving subject, world class acting by the protagonist, good screenplay and direction. Silent trusting bond enjoyed between the protagonist and her coach is something to watch out for. The movie also slightly touches the subject of poor nutrition, improper infrastructure and above all not enough respect meated out to sports women/men during their sports tours. With every sports based movie, hinting at this scenario, may be the sports federation will soon do the needful, and thereby enable winning of more medals by Indian sports personnels.

Singham Returns (15 Aug 2014)

Cast: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Mahesh Manjrekar, Amol Gupte, Anupam Kher, Zakir Hussain, Dayanand Shetty, Sharat Saxena, Pankaj Tripathi, Ganesh Yadav, Ashwini Kalsekar

Director: Rohit Shetty   Writer: Farhad, Sajid, Yunus Sajawal, Rohit Shetty  

Music: Ankit Tewari, Jeet Gangulli, Meet Bros Anjjan, Yo Yo Honey Singh

Running Time: 145 minutes

This movie celebrates the successful actor-director partnership of Ajay Devgn-Rohit Shetty and the Mumbai Police. Of course, the movie has a good enough storyline and a popular heroine. But, in spite of being substantial, they haze out in the aforesaid celebration. Also, it is one of the very sequels, which is better (also read original) than it’s prequel i.e. ‘Singham’!

Instead of a core story, there is a core villain Satyaraj Baba (Amol Gupte), who is a religious preacher with enough power and clout, enabling him to have a substantial say in the functioning of the ruling political party! In contrast to him, there is Guruji (Anupam Kher), the party mentor, who is a man of principles and enjoys great respect of Mumbai DCP (Ajay Devgn), as well as the Maharashtra CM (Sanjay Manjrekar). Guruji’s strategy of introducing new and young candidates for the upcoming elections is not well received by Baba. While Guruji perceives their enthusiasm, professional training and capability as the door to better functioning of the new government, and thereby better living of the common man, Baba cares a damn about any of this and worries about loosing constituencies, in the absence of old and popular candidates. Soon Guruji gets assassinated by masked and heavily armed professionals. Alongside, a van is found in a river body, along with a dead driver and crores of rupees. The dead driver is a trusted subordinate of Bajirao. Both these events and their repercussions instigate the super cop in Bajirao and he goes into full fledged investigations, interrogations, arrests and secret follow-ups, so as to obtain enough proof to – a) arrest Baba, and b) clear his subordinate’s name.

The movie has good energy, cool stunts, weak villain, new but not in tandem storyline, and for a change, it only highlights the glory of the police force. It highlights - the demanding and risky nature of their job, unrealistic expectations from an aging cop, thankless attitude of media and public in general, mass attack protocol (‘lathi’ charge) followed only in times of sheer crisis and the perennial chance of nullifying of all their hard work by anyone in ‘power’.

As expected, Ajay Devgn is the ‘Singham’. If he throws a punch, then it is a real punch and not a make believe one. And he is particularly good in depicting pain and anger simultaneously through his eyes. Kareena Kapoor plays his friend cum girlfriend (Avni), runs a beauty parlour and is supposed to eat like a glutton. She has well experimented with a new style of comedy. But for the glutton part, you instantly miss the hogging of Aamir Khan in ‘Rang De Basanti’. You will find Kareena picking on many foods, making enough face and hand gestures, but her food bites are very small and very few actually go into her mouth! But she is adorable all the same. Sadly, Kareena seems to be making the sole attempt in establishing the hero-heroine chemistry! Amol Gupte has performed well. But you need a much bigger (impactful) villain for a movie of this caliber. Anupam Kher, Mahesh Manjrekar, Ashwini Kalsekar (reporter) have small roles and they have done justice to it. Earlier Dayanand Shetty (cop ‘Daya’) was breaking doors on TV (soap ‘CID’) and now he is doing the same in films! Like TV, herein too, he has well played the second-in-command. Zakir Hussain (Prakash Rao) and Pankaj Tripathi (Altaf Khan) have now become constant with important side roles. Ganesh Yadav (Mahesh Jhadav, the dead cop) and Sharat Saxena (Shiv Rathod, Mumbai CP) have also acted well.

Mardaani (22 Aug 2014)

Cast: Rani Mukerji, Jisshu Sengupta, Tahir Bhasin, Priyanka Sharma, Sanjay Taneja, Anil George, Mona Ambegaonkar

Director: Pradeep Sarkar   Writer: Gopi Puthran   Music: Salim-Sulaiman Background Music: Julius Packiam   Casting Director: Shanoo Sharma   Editor: Sanjib Datta

Running Time: 113 minutes

During our school years, most of us must have come across these famous lines from an inspiring patriotic poem “Khoob ladi mardaani, wo toh Jhaansi wali Rani thi”. Watching this movie would instantly remind you of the same. The simile is hard to miss. During British rule, Rani Laxmi Bai fought fearlessly with the Britishers in order to attain freedom of her motherland. And in this movie, Shivani Shivaji Roy (Rani Mukerji) fights with focus sans any fear, to attain freedom of young girls trapped in the human trafficking ring. Also, both are Marathi women.

Shivani Shivaji Roy is a hands-on senior crime branch officer. She stays with her husband (Jisshu Sengupta) and orphaned niece. In the past, she had rescued Pyari (Priyanka Sharma) from being sold by her uncle and placed her in a shelter home. She considers her like her daughter and Pyari is an important part of Shivani’s life.

Unfortunately, Pyari gets abducted by human traffickers. Shivani gets a whiff of this and gradually realizes that a powerful and organized syndicate is behind it and the bosses will leave no stone unturned to keep their identities hidden. She resolves to bring back Pyari. An action-reaction series commences between her and Junior (the core brain of the trafficking operation). Since the bosses are nameless and faceless, the term ‘Junior’ is coined by Shivani herself. It’s based on the voice quality that makes intimidating, threatening and untraceable calls to her. While Shivani single mindedly focuses on reducing the gap between her and Junior, Junior focuses on discouraging her attempt by harming her dear ones and terminating the links that can lead Shivani to him!

But Shivani is a seasoned officer, who is well versed with intimidation techniques, laws of the land and psycho profiling. She uses her absolute determination, professional training and system support to free all the victims and bring the culprits to justice.

The movie has been very well casted, directed, acted and edited. In fact the pace and visual tone of the movie is that of a prime Hollywood flick! It voices the social cause of abduction and forced prostitution, but keeps safe distance from cheap thrills. It does not have any item number or even any lovey-dovey number (to depict the blessed marital life of the lady cop)! The idea is to acquaint the audience with the inhuman and shameful bearings enforced upon the girl victims by human trafficking goons. But while dealing with such issues, there is a thin line between being realistic and being repulsive. Hats off to the makers for maintaining this decorum and also keeping the content commercially viable! Achieving this sans any thunderous dialogue or eye popping stunt is no mean feat. A great deal of input has been given in the psychological research into the making of each character, something which is almost always amiss in most Bollywood (even prime) flicks.

Most of the movie centers round Rani Mukerji and she has done a commendable job. Her character is well researched and throughout the movie, she manages to stay within it. She has enough close-up frames and she well manages to portray nonchalance, smirk, knowing glance, deep pain and mental calculation. And all of these emotions are depicted without any OTT (over the top) acting. For a change, this lady ‘maseeha’ (savior) is not born out of exploitation and tears. She is a hard core cop, well trained by mind and body, practical and dedicated to her duty.

It is a pleasant surprise that Pradeep Sarkar, the man best known for his period drama flick ‘Parineeta’  can ably direct such a movie. Special mention needs to be made of a particular scene, wherein Shivani arrives with her team to save her husband from some chaos. Going by her fireball character, you expect her to pounce, abuse and even break a bone or two. Instead, she stands and stare in shunned silence! Then, upon coming across him, she goes oblivious of her surroundings, and simply connects with the pain and sheer disbelief of her husband. And, if such a scene enactment was achieved due to the director’s visualization and direction, then, this maestro is definitely a bearer of many hidden layers.

Jisshu Sengupta (Shivani’s husband) has a small and silent role. He is a Bengali movie star and this is his third Bollywood release. As for Tahir Bhasin, this is his second Bollywood release. He plays Junior, for whom the entire trafficking operation is just a big trade (read in hundreds of crores), no more, no less. And he will do anything to keep the tap running. He is young, urban, updated, sharp and well merges with the crowd. Even when he is constantly trying to ruthlessly harm/kill Shivani, somewhere he is appreciative of her courage and intelligence and can connect to her! Tahir Bhasin has impersonated this character very well. His acting is subtle but effective. Rest of the cast has also done well. Background music also well suits the mood of the movie.

Don’t miss the climax, wherein Rani Mukerji ably shows her martial art skills! Some real hard work this lass has done to get her teeth into the character.