Ugly

Anurag Kashyap yet again proves that he is in a league by himself among accomplished Bollywood directors. Lately in Bollywood there has been a surge in talented writers/directors creating movies that steer away from typical Bollywood glitz, glamor and grandeur. These glamorous movies appeal to the delusions of most of the Indian audience. But audience who take movies as a form of art and source for inspiration can see through the bling and realize that the substance is utterly lacking. Writers/Directors like Kashyap do not have audience in their mind when they create movies, they cater their work for themselves, which in my opinion brings the best out of any creator of art.

Ugly is a tale of ordinary lives involved in extraordinary circumstances. It starts out with a missing child followed by sequences that will make you utterly hate some characters initially. But as the movie unfolds and characters develop on screen, opinions on most of the characters will gradually change. This is a rarity in Bollywood movies, because many of them have characters that are purely good or evil. There is no middle ground, everything is looked as black or white and 30 minutes into the movie you can predict the plot by connecting dots between good and bad characters. But what if you start watching a movie where characters are constantly evolving on screen and every character has some evil and some nobility to him? That is when things become unpredictable and keep you on the edge of your seat if it is a thriller like this story is.

Greed and desperation, combined with poverty has a way of bringing out monsters in people you would usually deem as normal. Let me go ahead and say that you will find no character likable in the movie. Correction, I liked all the characters, but I could not root for any of them. But if I had to make an exception I would say one character would come out in a positive light by the end of the movie, even if there is some evil to him/her.

This movie is very condensed and concentrated with many raw, heavy hitting scenes that prompt vivid reactions from expressive audience. The plot is captivating and progresses linearly, with some retrospection in-between. Kashyap manages to have his audience on the edge of their seats 15 minutes into the movie. If you are a sucker for suspense thrillers like I am, you wont be leaning back for the rest of the movie. Kashyap also compels you to empathize and cringe at the plight and despair of characters, a lot of which is brought onto them by themselves.

Kashyap is a master at writing characters and finding impeccable actors to bring them to life. The lack of make up combined with many improvised scenes give a "real life" rawness and experience you are not used to in Bollywood movies. The movie "Apocalypse Now" where the character played by Marlon Brando talks about "the horror" is a scene that resonates deeply with audience. That was an improvised scene played by Brando who hardly could remember the lines and thus improvised in front of cameras to give us arguably the greatest scene ever. Kashyap obviously understands the positives of improvisation and lets his extremely talented cast do their thing. I only hope these actors get the recognition they deserve.

All in all, Ugly is the best Bollywood has to offer for the year 2014. I can confidently say that without even watching 99% of Hindi movies that came out in 2014. It is entertaining and inspiring. I wish I could meet Mr. Kashyap in person and thank him for all the wonderful creations. He is one of the very few reasons I still bother with Bollywood. I wish he managed to squeeze in Kay Kay Menon and Manoj Bajpai somewhere, that is the only (silly) complaint I have about this movie.

It is one of the best to have come out of the Kashyap factory in terms of script and characters. It is one taut, dark, intense and disturbing tale of wretched nature of the human motives and how the grand plan has it's own way of laughing at those.

Interestingly Ugly through each of it's elements will take you back to Kashyap's previous works and remind you why he is truly the king. The brilliant script writing will remind you of Black Friday, Kashyap's first masterpiece. The excellent visual treatment, even though it's not a feature throughout the film is something without which any of AK's films is incomplete. The trippy background score by Brian Oncomber is the stand out feature in the second half of the film when the film begins to approach the tipping point.

Without doubt, the hero of the film is it's characters. Rarely would you come across a film full of complex characters, where the motives of every action of those characters get automatically clear as the story progresses. You do not know what to appreciate more, the courage with which the director is bluntly showing the depraved complexion of human nature or the ease with which that has been knit in a story.The non linear nature of the storytelling in the first half brings the necessary variation which adds to the build up.

Rahul Bhat who is seen on screen after a long gap tells you why there is no dearth of excellent character actors in the country, it's just that there are not enough roles for them. Vineet Singh, aka Danish Khan from GOW, will make you cringe and laugh with the expletive chain reaction. Ronit Roy, in his second powerhouse appearance in a Kashyap production, is perfectly cast. And one performance which is straight out of life is of Girish Kulkarni, as the police inspector. There is as much sincerity in his laugh as is in his sombre face. The one liners are so on mark that you would forget that there is a reel rolling.

Surely, the film has some of it's elements similar to that of Fargo, the classic Hollywood dark comedy, but it never plays on your mind, so it wouldn't qualify as lifting. Kashyapwa has done it again. Can't believe what made them to hold the film for so long.

Dear AK, you are the dark shining light of Bollywood. Keep'em coming

This movie left you with the feeling of numb .Ugly sets a new dimension to the Indian Cinema . I am not a frequent watcher of Bollywood movies.But ugly movie is just beyond the ugliness of everything. A grungy, dark police procedural set in motion by a little girl's kidnapping, Ugly has few discernible auteur touches to set it apart from standard genre fare. Gone are the farcical, hyperbolic violence and the larger-than-life, tongue-in-cheek gangsters who modeled themselves on the movies. Gone is the wacky humor. Here the pettiness, egotism and corruption of modern Mumbai rule and the characters are all cheap and small—even the kidnapping victim is annoying. There may be a method here but if so, the result is very dark and downbeat for general audiences. The film's Cannes outing and Kashyap's cult standing could give it a little shelf life at festivals before it heads into genre venues. The cast of characters is presented haphazardly. Shalini (Tejaswini Kolhapure) is a desperate, middle-class housewife kept at home as a semi-prisoner by her macho police-chief husband Bose (Ronit Roy). She's about to blow her brains out with his gun when a knock on the door stops her. It's her daughter Kali (Anishika Shrivastava), whining for her to call her estranged father. This is Rahul (Rahul Bhatt), a down-and-out actor still waiting for his big break, who comes to take her for a drive. He's so distracted with phone calls he barely looks at her, and then he ominously leaves her alone in the car while he goes to talk business with his friend and casting director Chaitanya (Vineet Kumar Singh). Within minutes the girl is missing. Rahul becomes the hero by default as he searches for the girl, first through the police, then following the kidnappers' ransom messages. What little sympathy he inspires in the audience comes from his terrifying interview with local police captain Jadhav (played with gusto by the fine comic actor Girish Kulkarni). Instead of launching a manhunt for the girl, the captain absurdly chats about CELL PHONES and computers while the distraught Rahul chafes and Chaitanya attempts to cajole him into action. All at once, Jadhav realizes the missing girl is the stepdaughter of police honcho Bose, and his attitude switches to FBI pro. At this point the stone-faced Bose, who hates his wife's ex, orders him to accuse Rahul of the kidnapping and be beaten senseless. The rest of the film is a battle of wits between Bose and Rahul to find the girl while tripping up the other. Rahul and Chaitanya are monotonously arrested and rearrested. Police violence is graphic and frightening. They use the "latest" gadgets in their investigation— computers, CELL PHONES and GPS—like they were major novelties on CSI: Miami, which makes it seem the film is aimed mainly at local audiences. There is, however, a continuous sense of vitality and movement in the film, whose action scenes are foot chases filmed from a distance. Kashyap's nasty point is that, between violence, greed and corruption, just about no one is innocent in the end. Certainly all the characters are selfish beyond belief. This existential cynicism hits home in the horrific crime revealed in the last shot, but by that time, the emotions feel light-years away.

Anurag Kashyap delivers a disturbing & unsettling tale with 'Ugly', a film that's raw & realistic. Kashyap also aces with superb performances, led by Ronit Roy & Rahul Bhat.

'Ugly' Synopsis: A terrible tale of corruption, indifference, and systemic violence starts when 10 year old daughter of an aspiring actor disappears.

Throughly engaging & interesting, Kashyap creates a world of deception & cruelty, with absolutely no inhibitions. 'Ugly' is entirely grim & bleak, a film that has an atmosphere of its own. The characters are Grey, while the narrative is blunt & on-your-face.

Kashyap's Screenplay is excellent. Its entirely twisted & serious. I'd like to point out, the last scene of the film, it's haunting & the Screenplay peaks itself then. Kashyap's Direction is suitably creepy & eerie. Cinematography & Editing are perfect

Performance-Wise: Ronit Roy is outstanding as the cop. Displaying anger & frustration, with zeal. Rahul Bhat is a revelation. His performance here, deserves distinction marks. Tejaswini Kolhapure is brilliantly restrained. Vineet Kumar Singh is fabulous, yet again. Girish Kulkarni is highly effective. Surveen Chawla is effective, in a brief role. Siddhanth Kapoor is impressive. Late Abir Goswami is decent.

On the whole, 'Ugly' is a massive winner from Kashyap! He ends 2014, with a roar! Very Strongly Recommended!

Even the most expensive special effects cannot match 1% of what viewers can create simply with their imagination. Very few directors have the skill to use this ability of the audience. Unseen is always a lot more scary and disturbing than seen.

There is a 5 minute scene in first half of Ugly. It has no dialogues. There is hardly any action. But it will chill your bones and you will remember it for a long time. It is worth watching Ugly, just to experience the skill of the director in this one scene.

Anurag is truly the gangsta of Hindi cinema. He drags his audience to ultra real, scary and uncomfortable places to meet and confront demons who look just like people you see every day.

Ugly's world is a dog-eat-dog world. Everyone is in it for themselves. They will sell their best friend and his kids to the highest bidder in the blink of an eye.

If you enjoyed Black Friday, Dev D, Gulaal and Gangs of W, you will enjoy Ugly. If you did not, then it is best to stick to Mega Entertainer Sal Khan's movies.