Moksha: Salvation

Hello,

Since I bought Moksha sometime last year I wanted to see it. So today I made time to see it. After the movie I kicked and punched myself, for not watching it sooner. This movie won national award for Cinematography and Audiography. This movie reminded me of Memento. Different camera angles were used and overused which were sometimes distracting. The music was not impressive but went well with the story. There was pacing problems in some part of the movie especially the first half. The casting was perfect!!! Lots of symbolism used in the movie. I liked the use of black & white to portray present and color to potray past(flashback). I also liked the dream sequences. If you have seen this movie, please post your opinions.

Thanks Fin

MOKSHA - **** out of *****

Moksha was the launching pad for Arjun Rampal and was first directorial debut of then famous cinematographer. The movie is excellent is every respect. Be it the story, the camera work, the background score; However, it was made ahead of its time. If it was made these days where experimental and substance movies are being recognized, it would have worked well with the audience. Nevertheless, I recommened this movie those people who appreciate quality cinema.

Director- Ashok Maheta *Arjun Rampal, Manisha Koirala

Simply brilliant! Moksha is a thinking man's dream film. Ashok Mehta done great job.Starring Arjun Ramphal and Manisha Koirala, Mehta's Moksha is an artistic look at the psychological trauma imposed on a good-natured man's mind by an uncaring and selfish world leading him to social deviance and despair. Arjun Rampal's best performance has been in this film, the way his frustration has been shown through eyes of anger is absolute world class. It's sad that he never performed so well in his life, the way he did in this film. . He is excellent in the dramatic scenes and is quite the natural with his facial expressions an emoting. I think he deserved best actor award that year. This film is honestly one of the most underrated films of Bollywood but a real treat to watch! So please folks. Do me a favor and please don't ignore this beautiful piece of art. It's not a perfect film, but it's just so good. It's evident why this movie is hitting the Film Festival circuit (It was recently screened at the Cairo Film Festival as well as the Locarno Film Festival). The film even picked up two National Awards at this year's ceremonies. So don't listen to some of lame-brained, intelligence-impaired, self-proclaimed trade analysts who gave this film the rotten review treatment. They wouldn't know a good film if it ran up behind them and bit them (You critics listening?). You'll be happy for it, believe me! Moksha is an excellent film. I can't stand it when an excellent film goes unnoticed. But hey, that's the Indian Film Industry for you.

9/10

What worked: This movie was a pleasant surprise to me. One of the distinct quality of the movie is the cinematography, which is very dominant aspect of the movie. The screenplay and the concept was great and well done. As a mental health professional, I was impressed by the portrayal of an unstable character with mental health issue in this fashion, and it was done with total honesty by Arjun. It's a well executed, engaging movie, and I loved how the vulnerability, duality of the main character is portrayed. I loved the use of shades and colors in the narrative What did not work: I would take out songs at any cost considering they are disturbing the narrative rather than enhancing them, but also considering the beautiful visual aspect. Final verdict: recommended

Moksha is a classial example of an Indian movie that lacks originality and attempts to show a sequence of events in a Hollywood style. The movie is basically about a law graduate (arjun rampal) who studied law because of his passion towards helping those who cannot help themselves. Money was never an incentive for him to practice law. This dogma of life caused problems between him and his father (oberoi) because his father was a money motivated person and resented his son for his way of thinking. Further into the movie, he meets and falls in love with a naive, vulnerable but good looking young girl (manisha) and they begin to spend a lot of time together. Eventually, he begins to confide in her. After witnessing injustice at a local village where several impoverished people underwent a momentous amount of suffering, he decides to open up a charity foundation for the poor and needy. However acknowledging the need for funding, he explores all possible "legal" avenues but fails to get the funds. Even his father turns his back on him. This compels him to use illegal methods to obtain the required funds and during the course of doing so, he begins to turn insane. So thats the plot of the movie. The problem with this movie is that it mimics the Hollywood style of direction (i.e. the black and white flashbacks and the obscure dream) and overall seems very illogical. The plot however was very good in my opinion, but unfortunately, the movie failed to demonstrate it effectively.

If you like movies like "phir teree kahani yaad aye", "Daddy", "Jo Jetee howee sikandar", then Moksha is a below average movie.However, if you are crazy about Indian movies and relish watching all kinds of junk, then Moksha is a great movie. I give it ** / ***** (2/5 stars)