Every time I watch a movie by Anurag Kashyap, I am scared as I feel this time he has peaked for sure. And then he comes back with a better one. And this time he really has outdone himself and a lot of others. Another instant classic from this auteur. It's a thriller centered around the kidnapping of a girl. But the plot just acts the backdrop for an insanely dark mural on the nightmare we call as the human condition. It's something you will love and hate to extremes. No pseudo-intellectual allusions here, there are no lovable aliens, no boy meets girl. This one starts dark grey and only gets darker from there. The acting by every single person is incredible. The storytelling is impeccable. The script is the best I have seen in ages. It just keeps the horror of the situation lingering like a deadly parasite slowly eating into your brain. All the time. Undoubtedly the best movie to come out of India in 2014. This, however, is something that will take some strong constitution to digest. Consider yourself warned. 10/10
Reviews
5 Reviews
Black Swan
(2010)
A masterpiece
15 January 2011
A perfectionist ballerina Nina Sayers (played by the delicate Natalie Portman) gets the role all ballerinas crave all their lives, the lead role in Swan Lake. We follow her into her coming of age, to break the repressive boundaries, that she has been confined in all her life, to transcend herself to another plane.
Just like "The Wrestler" (another masterpiece by the great Darren Aronofsky) this is an emotional roller-coaster ride. Framed as a sort of dark psychological thriller, the movie, like it's lead, transcends the boundaries of genres towards the end to become the best movie I have seen this year.
Natalie Portman is Nina Sayers. I mean, she "is" Nina Sayers. She is the alpha and the omega of the movie. Remember Mickey Rourke from The Wrestler? This movie is about Natalie Portman. She gives, what can only be described as, the acting performance of the year. However, make no mistake, the supporting cast are very good and make convincing cases for the roles they play.
I could not but save a separate line to mention the background score. Mostly derived from the Swan Lake, the music really gets you into the mood. The movie would not be what it is but for the haunting music.
On the technical side, cinematography is very good, and in tone with the dark theme of the movie.
In short, go get a ticket and see the movie in a theater. This is Hollywood at it's best.
Just like "The Wrestler" (another masterpiece by the great Darren Aronofsky) this is an emotional roller-coaster ride. Framed as a sort of dark psychological thriller, the movie, like it's lead, transcends the boundaries of genres towards the end to become the best movie I have seen this year.
Natalie Portman is Nina Sayers. I mean, she "is" Nina Sayers. She is the alpha and the omega of the movie. Remember Mickey Rourke from The Wrestler? This movie is about Natalie Portman. She gives, what can only be described as, the acting performance of the year. However, make no mistake, the supporting cast are very good and make convincing cases for the roles they play.
I could not but save a separate line to mention the background score. Mostly derived from the Swan Lake, the music really gets you into the mood. The movie would not be what it is but for the haunting music.
On the technical side, cinematography is very good, and in tone with the dark theme of the movie.
In short, go get a ticket and see the movie in a theater. This is Hollywood at it's best.
No One Killed Jessica
(2011)
A good way to start the year
8 January 2011
"No one killed jessica" is an important movie. The storyline is a dramatized version of the Jessica Lal murder case and the events that transpired after that: a girl (Jessica) who was killed in a pub in Delhi, the sub-sequent attempts at the cover-ups and the painstaking efforts undertaken by the victim's family and the news agencies that finally forced the powers that be, to take notice and punish the guilty.
What pulled this movie through is the direction and technique. Specially the first half of the movie was top-notch. The tension in the scenes was right there at the edge. The acting was impeccable.
The second-half saw some dilution from the onset, primarily due to the awful, melodramatic and over-the-top performance by Rani Mukherjee. May what the requirements be, she still acts like a teenager. Maybe someone with better acting caliber like Nanidta Das would have made for a better candidate to play this role. However, I would say that this is as much a fault of the people that wanted the character to be this way, as the actress. Towards the end, however Rajkumar Gupta somewhat managed to get things back on track.
Regarding acting, two people would stick to the mind long after the movie ends .. First is Vidya Balan. She plays Jessica's sister Sabrina with such panache, it would be difficult to imagine others doing that role. The second one is Rajesh Sharma, the police inspector, a very Grey character who plays his part to bring the perpetrators to justice from the background. His acting is very good and one wishes to see such character actors get more screen time in good movies.
The background score and sound track are great, and help to keep the viewers at the edge. The cinematography is good throughout the movie.
The main reason why I gave this movie a 7 out of ten is that I felt that towards the end, the movie ended up as being somewhat another masala Hindi flick.
Overall, I would recommend everyone to see this movie for the subject, the overall techniques employed in telling the story and Vidya Balan. But don't expect to see an Erin Brokovich or an Aamir.
What pulled this movie through is the direction and technique. Specially the first half of the movie was top-notch. The tension in the scenes was right there at the edge. The acting was impeccable.
The second-half saw some dilution from the onset, primarily due to the awful, melodramatic and over-the-top performance by Rani Mukherjee. May what the requirements be, she still acts like a teenager. Maybe someone with better acting caliber like Nanidta Das would have made for a better candidate to play this role. However, I would say that this is as much a fault of the people that wanted the character to be this way, as the actress. Towards the end, however Rajkumar Gupta somewhat managed to get things back on track.
Regarding acting, two people would stick to the mind long after the movie ends .. First is Vidya Balan. She plays Jessica's sister Sabrina with such panache, it would be difficult to imagine others doing that role. The second one is Rajesh Sharma, the police inspector, a very Grey character who plays his part to bring the perpetrators to justice from the background. His acting is very good and one wishes to see such character actors get more screen time in good movies.
The background score and sound track are great, and help to keep the viewers at the edge. The cinematography is good throughout the movie.
The main reason why I gave this movie a 7 out of ten is that I felt that towards the end, the movie ended up as being somewhat another masala Hindi flick.
Overall, I would recommend everyone to see this movie for the subject, the overall techniques employed in telling the story and Vidya Balan. But don't expect to see an Erin Brokovich or an Aamir.
Quantum of Solace
(2008)
A search for salvation
10 November 2008
Saw this last Friday, the first day of release in my country. First of all consider this to be a sequel to "Casino Royale". Not that it's a bad thing, but the experience would be better if you have seen Casino Royale. The story revolves around a Bond who has been mortally wounded in the heart by the betrayal by Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale. He tries to reconcile himself to the fact that she is no more, in the process becoming a reckless (to the verge of being suicidal) and vengeful killing machine. There is indeed a plot, unlike what some of the comments on the message boards would like you too believe. Oh yes, there is action, a lot of it, I might add, as bond travels around the globe fighting a powerful group of terrorists. However, the fight is as much with himself as with the others. The plot only acts as a beacon for bond's search for salvation. A search for a guarantee that the love that he once had was real and not a passionless game played upon him by the beautiful Vesper Lynd. Beyond all the mind numbing (and beautifully shot) action is actually a desperate man trying to get back to touch with reality. How is it comparable to the other bond movies? I don't know, I have seen them all, but I think it's like comparing apples and carrots. It's a good movie, go with an open mind and you will surely like it a lot.
A Wednesday
(2008)
Okay but only so...
13 October 2008
The biggest asset to this film is the plot. It targets a topic which is relevant and at the same time has been beaten to death by movies from Hollywood, bolly-wood and everywhere else. It manages to introduce enough twists and turns to keep the viewer engaged almost till the end. The basic storyline revolves around events that unfolded after when the commissioner of police (Anupam Kher) receives a phone call from an anonymous caller (Nasiruddin Shah) telling him that bombs have been placed at specific locations in Mumbai. Performance was very good from Nasiruddin Shah. I was a little bit surprised by Jimmy Shergil. He appeared pretty good as the angry ATS agent Arif. However, the biggest weak points of this movie was the script and the sound. The script was nowhere the level to do any kind of justice to the plot. The dialogues were cheesy and cliché. Dialogs spoken by Anupam Kher's character seemed unbelievable most of the times, and trust me, I am putting it lightly. It is only because it was played by anupam kher that this character seems to be marginally realistic. But only marginally so. The sound effect was worse. The sound of footsteps were never matching with the actual footsteps on the screen. The punches sounded like the victim was being hit by a mail train. The background music was terrible. At some points it seemed to arbitrarily start and stop. In short it was distracting. I think the movie would have been a lot more good with a lot less of the music. My recommendation: Go see it. It's worthy enough for the plot alone. Inspite of the cheesy dialogue it will give you a few things to think about. And it never hurts to catch a little bit more of Nasiruddin Shah and Anupam Kher on screen.
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