Bas Ek Pal

People say it's a "complex" movie . Hello if the audience here is not even prepared to watch such films then nothing but the sad plight of Indian cinema is reflected.

This film not only portrays the fact that we are nothing but puppets in the hands of destiny but it also unerringly maps the rival geography of the human heart. So, I feel BEP is a winner and it also scores over MBN.

Most people these days watch movies after hearing the reviews and that too on DVDs. So whether a film is a Box-Office hit or not , today it hardly matters for the reputation of the film.

BEP has a superb cast.I am spellbound to watch Juhi and Jimmy in such roles .Hats-off to Onir to bring out the best in such a talented cast and most importantly because he projected the actors in a way never before.

Bravo Onir .Kuddos to you .Keep up the good work

An overwrought movie relying almost entirely upon an implausible plot. And before people go on celebrating this movie's "brave" darkness.. watch for the sequence of clichés: alcoholic, abusive husband who suspects wife of having affairs; intelligent and sincere wife who feels too bad to leave him (wtf?); love at first sight etc. etc. Nauseating.

The characters have little depth, and when they experience emotions it's either jealousy/guilt, or it's unyielding love/sheer cunning/unthinking evil.. usually in predictable sequences. What ridiculous emotional dichotomies.

Weak performances all around, and Juhi Chawla is completely wasted in this movie. So is Sanjay Suri. Both were so promising in Onir's far superior "My Brother Nikhil." Here they stumble around with weakly written characters. Urmila Matondkar is predictably annoying. Jimmy Shergill was kind of okay in his brief romance scenes with his first love interest in the movie, but quickly got much worse in the rest of the movie.

As has happened so often before, the Indian reaction to this movie doesn't predict my reaction at all. I have to say that Urmila Matondkar makes the most interesting movies! Banaras, Bas Ek Pal, Main Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara, Ek Hasina Thi, Tehzeeb. There is a MINUTE number of artists in the India movie trade who can produce on that level over and over. But in this movie, she is matched with a fine cast. I'm not a great Jimmy Shergill fan, but I gotta say that drop him down with Urmila, Juhi, and Sanjay Suri, and he blends into that environment. And when that happens, he's a different guy.

This is a very mixed up but realistic plot about a guy who falls in love with a girl he runs into when he goes out for a good time with his buddy. But he has no idea just what a tangled mess he's stepping into (sorta like Bush in Iraq!) Soon he finds himself charged with attempted murder, caged with the worst scum of Mumbai, his life in tatters. I think this is also one of the SCARIEST movies I've seen because something like this could happen to any of us. It is really the grace of God that saves us, nothing else.

Juhi of course is pure gold. If its possible to be in love with a complete stranger you only see on the screen, them I'm in love with her. I know if I met her in real life, I'd be useless to the world because I'd be able to think of nothing but her.

What I really liked in this movie was the quiet dialogue with mood-setting music in the background. It is so rare in Indian movies, but I hardly wanted to breathe, the mood seemed so fragile.

Anyway, the critics who badmouth this movie are TOTALLY wrong. The fans who shunned it are TOTALLY wrong. This is a 9/10 if there ever was one.

But if your idea of a good movie is Krish or Rang De Basanti, don't see this. You won't like it.

After running a good trailer and Aatif's intense "Tere Bin" I was kinda curious about Bas Ek Pal. It genuinely sounded like movie which will take a fine look at relationships. This is second film by director Onir whose last 'My Brother Nikhil' was critically acclaimed. While promoting this film I still remember Urmila saying "what I feel is best of this movie is even if characters are complex, situations are complex –but characters are written with clarity", after walking out of the hall I could only give a sarcastic smile to this statement. Only thing I like in this is its central twist which I suspected coming but forgot as time passed, some of its music and one of the relationships that happens after interval. That's the reason two and half stars are given.

We get to know Nikhil (Suri) is back from US to India after five years bumped into Urmila in a disc where she helps him to get into there. They like each other and start to play. Urmila pretends to be hard to get and Suri continue to peruse her. Rahul (Jimmy) and Nikhil are friends, Rahul is friend with Steve who is on down slope of his marriage with Ira(Juhi). Then an incident takes place which turns everything up side down. What happens after that is better left for interested viewers to go and figure out.

Bas EK Pal does wander in the relationship pitfalls - insecurity, paranoia, misunderstandings, jealousy, lust but it would have been effective if it's supported by a strong plot rather than a fate play. Lots of drama goes on screen but it fails to make us care for what is happening on screen. There are many ridiculous scenes when Nikhil only looks like psycho obsessive lover despite a man with so much of bad luck. He is supposed to be lead character but nothing we feel about him. And same is the story for other characters. We never feel for them. They are like born with worst luck in the world, tangled in such complex situation but still no. Why Nikhil is so deeply in love with her we never know. Is love at first sight is not enough to justify such a difficult subject? No. For other it will be revealing too much so I stop here.

Only thing it manages it way up is one of the relationships. Its central twist is good one and justifies its fate plot after first half. Aatif's 'Tere bin' is there when credits are rolling but audience has suffered enough and is too late till then.

When it comes to performances in such movies with such a subject - actors get chance to show what they are capable of but alas! Not even one of five has en-cashed this opportunity. Suri is capable actor and he has shown that in Zankaar Beats but here he is deadpan. Juhi, Jimmy and Rehmaan are OK. And Urmila- God, actress of her caliber who was brilliant in her last outings like Ek Haseena Thi (for me her best so far. Others are Rangeela and Kaun?) and Pinjar is a huge let down. She has made comeback after such a long break but looks like has caught rust.

Sorry to say Mr. Onir, like your characters bad luck for you and for us this time.

Watched it for 'Tere Bin' song, acting is good but script is too weak.