What happens when a director is in full control of his craft, his crew and his subject? You get an unexpected wonder like Aamir. Nevermind that it is built on a shoe-string budget, has a low profile cast and hardly had any publicity-spend.
The screenplay is brilliant. It is built piece by piece to create riveting drama. The camera work is raw and real. The locations are actual Mumbai mean streets and alleys. The supporting cast is very real. It is like Rajeev Khandelwal is walking through a real day in his life. Ah yes, Rajeev Khandelwal ! He is plain amazing. The character he plays is in a turmoil - vulnerable, helpless, frustrated, tired and angry. But Rajeev Khandelwal - he is just effortless. Easily the best performance of the year so far.
Raj Kumar Gupta makes a fine directorial debut. He does not fall into the clichés that a newcomer may be susceptible to. It would have been an easy choice to shoot the story in a dark night instead of the broad daylight that Gupta chose. He chose not to hide in darkness. He throws his craft open in blinding sunlight. Instead of a la-Hollywood film-noir style, he places his drama-thriller in the dusty Indian landscape.
Of course, there are overtures of terrorism and disillusionment of a community but these are not the highlights of the film. And thankfully, the film does not editorialize. It is basically a drama-thriller - and a good one.
There is excellent use of slow motion in the climax. It makes it the edge-of-the-seat moments of the film. Best film of this summer !
