CastleToe
Joined Jul 2010
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CastleToe's rating
Anurag Kashyap stands for the rebel in Indian cinema. He knows it too. Black Friday, Dev.D, Gulaal give him every reason in the world to be proud of his tag. This feeling is clearly reflected in Gangs of Wasseypur, which turns out to be his most ambitious & financed project ever. He works with his long-time friends, Manoj Bajpayee, Tigmanshu Dhulia and others, deciding to make a film which does not fall into the cliché of other commercial films. An epic film that tells the story of violence originating through monopoly of coal mines in North India but later feeds itself off the ego of proud descendants of their brave forefathers.
It is as difficult to loathe this film as it is to hate history lessons taught through audio-visuals. The story takes us in, helping us to absorb the details. It starts in one era, moves to another, shows familiar black & white clips, returns to some other era before finally falling on a linear time-line. Characters, places, eras are introduced either by text or the voice-over by Piyush Mishra who plays the uncle to a revenge-vowing bald Sardar Khan (Bajpayee, excelling himself like never before) who's father Shahid Khan (Jaideep Ahlawat, strong screen presence) was killed off by his employer Ramadhir Singh (Dhulia, another remarkable work). Yes, it is difficult to follow the names but fairly easier to remember the faces. The characters develop beautifully through the plot. I wasn't bored at any point, maybe could have watched the second part too.
Kashyap's screenplay stresses more on the plot than the characters. He makes lovable characters throughout the film but has no mercy on them. For instance, the revenge-vowing lead is unashamed of his libido and sleeps around which his wife (Richa Chadda) eventually comes to terms with, which one would would not usually expect (there are numerous other examples with almost every character which would kill the suspense, if mentioned). But these are heartless gangsters which you would feel no sympathy for if you heard about them on the news. This Godfather-esque play of values which have been used time and again in movies makes you expect more from the film as it moves on. Sadly, it doesn't deliver the expected punch as the characterizations lead to digressions in the plot rather than help it move forward.
Then again, how do we fall in love with a movie knowing that whole genealogical parts can be comfortably replaced by sporadic lines of reminiscence? And what exactly goes wrong in this movie that boasts of a strong ensemble of actors, a terrific earthy music score (Sneha Khanwalkar) and spot-on cinematography (his regular, Rajeev Ravi)? It is not hard to see the bits & pieces of frustration (that oozed in No Smoking (2007)) in the ambitions and grandeur of Gangs... Kashyap was in the past forced to tone down Black Friday (2004) by Censors and has not yet been allowed to release his first film Paanch. Maybe, this time around, he decided that not cutting down at all on the partly mundane details would enhance the epic-quotient of the film. It does not. However, the trailer and characters for GoW-Part 2 are 'definite'ly more interesting.
PS: I'm a die-hard Kashyap fan and it pains me to not be able to fall in love with his movie. But this is certainly, not his best.
7/10
It is as difficult to loathe this film as it is to hate history lessons taught through audio-visuals. The story takes us in, helping us to absorb the details. It starts in one era, moves to another, shows familiar black & white clips, returns to some other era before finally falling on a linear time-line. Characters, places, eras are introduced either by text or the voice-over by Piyush Mishra who plays the uncle to a revenge-vowing bald Sardar Khan (Bajpayee, excelling himself like never before) who's father Shahid Khan (Jaideep Ahlawat, strong screen presence) was killed off by his employer Ramadhir Singh (Dhulia, another remarkable work). Yes, it is difficult to follow the names but fairly easier to remember the faces. The characters develop beautifully through the plot. I wasn't bored at any point, maybe could have watched the second part too.
Kashyap's screenplay stresses more on the plot than the characters. He makes lovable characters throughout the film but has no mercy on them. For instance, the revenge-vowing lead is unashamed of his libido and sleeps around which his wife (Richa Chadda) eventually comes to terms with, which one would would not usually expect (there are numerous other examples with almost every character which would kill the suspense, if mentioned). But these are heartless gangsters which you would feel no sympathy for if you heard about them on the news. This Godfather-esque play of values which have been used time and again in movies makes you expect more from the film as it moves on. Sadly, it doesn't deliver the expected punch as the characterizations lead to digressions in the plot rather than help it move forward.
Then again, how do we fall in love with a movie knowing that whole genealogical parts can be comfortably replaced by sporadic lines of reminiscence? And what exactly goes wrong in this movie that boasts of a strong ensemble of actors, a terrific earthy music score (Sneha Khanwalkar) and spot-on cinematography (his regular, Rajeev Ravi)? It is not hard to see the bits & pieces of frustration (that oozed in No Smoking (2007)) in the ambitions and grandeur of Gangs... Kashyap was in the past forced to tone down Black Friday (2004) by Censors and has not yet been allowed to release his first film Paanch. Maybe, this time around, he decided that not cutting down at all on the partly mundane details would enhance the epic-quotient of the film. It does not. However, the trailer and characters for GoW-Part 2 are 'definite'ly more interesting.
PS: I'm a die-hard Kashyap fan and it pains me to not be able to fall in love with his movie. But this is certainly, not his best.
7/10
Imagine you are making a movie about something really energetic in its own way, for instance, the enormous amount of water that is required to fill a large Sintex tank on top of a building. You may begin by showing how water fills up such a huge tank, the energy of flowing water and so forth. It is however important to note here that it is not the water alone but also the magnanimity of the tank, the height of the building etc. that must get to play an important role. Without an uncompromising projection of how huge the tank is, how it was carried over to the top of a large building and, so on, it will become impossible to feel the enormous presence of the water that fills it.
And that would sum up how The Dirty Picture was executed. The energy of Vidya Balan in the central role was simply enormous. So much so, that the rest of the picture was unable to match up and consequently felt bland and weak in comparison. People often ask, if the writer writes the story, cinematographer films it, actors act and music director scores, what does the director get to do? The director must ensure that the energy of all people involved in the project is channelised in a single stream that gets projected on the screen and must be eventually, felt by the audience.
Director Milan Luthria fails miserably in his job here. A hammy comical Naseeruddin, a controlled Emraan Hashmi and a joke of a Tusshar Kapoor comprise the side characters around the unabashed and shamelessly unapologetic Vidya Balan. Her power over the crowd is merely shown each time by repeated shots of punching movie tickets, crowds of people rushing in and a different dance sequence on the screen. A shabby compromise! The promising biopic is not only slaughtered in its execution by the director but also in its clichéd screenplay (by Rajat Arora who adopts the same dialogue-styles from his previous OUATIM) that allows for an unnecessary narration sequence by Emraan Hashmi and a frequent spew of corny lines and witty (yet, effective) one-liners that end up disrupting the mood of the scene. The audience are however shamelessly satisfied without noticing the loose threads in the story. Like, what happened to the other character who sang with Silk? But who watched it for the story! People cheered when an extra half inch of Silk's bosom became visible or when she has finally got to kiss the medley of different heroes on screen. Special jeers and remarks for Hashmi's kiss. And I was in a multiplex hall.
Cinematography comprised of a sepia-ish hue to depict the 80s period in South India which went very well with the art direction but sadly, it avoided wider angled shots which could have been used to capture scenes involving Silk's audiences or at least to add authenticity to the period drama. This, coupled with the screenplay greatly limited the scope of this movie. The star power that the soft-porn star exhibited was neglected in various scenes. For instance, in the scene where Silk was creating a ruckus outside someone's house, the gathering of the crowd and their cheers were avoided and instead, the focus was on Naseeruddin, Tusshar and other star people involved. Better editing could have spiced up many of such shots.
Music score was mismatched and even slightly boisterous in some places.(I suspect that they must have hired the guy who gives those reaction sounds from Ekta's TV soaps for some of the scenes). Ooh La La was the only fun song. Honeymoon Ki Raat was a mind-boggler! Why was it even there? Sufiana was an unnecessary addition towards the end but they had to have it to show Hashmi kissing Balan.
Acting wise, however, this movie saves its face. Naseeruddin maintained the humour in the first half. Hashmi was consistent throughout. Tusshar was vapid and maintained a stupid look on his face in most of the scenes. Rajesh Sharma is indeed the discovery of the year. After a helpless police officer in No One Killed Jessica, he is unbelievably perfect as the B grade-ish producer. Expectedly, Vidya Balan saves the day by lifting the entire weight of the dirt of this picture and excelling herself as she has done in her past movies. Every performance since her past 3-4 movies has saved her movies from going noticeably awry. I was never a Balan fan from the start. But as of today, all I can say is that no one in Bollywood is in a position to make a picture that can sustain her energy and performance. It's like taking all the water meant to fill the Sintex tank and using it to fill your water bottle. The bottle is enough for you, not for the water.
Producer Ekta Kapoor must have a really weird sense of humour. This movie that holds the vulgar expectations of the audience responsible for the rise and fall of Silk targets the very same from the audience of this film. And apparently she has hit the right spot. Sadly, this is apparently what "Entertainment" in a film is all about! When I walked in for a fourth day's show, many people around me were able to repeat various monologues by rote and in sync with the actors. The Irony!
And that would sum up how The Dirty Picture was executed. The energy of Vidya Balan in the central role was simply enormous. So much so, that the rest of the picture was unable to match up and consequently felt bland and weak in comparison. People often ask, if the writer writes the story, cinematographer films it, actors act and music director scores, what does the director get to do? The director must ensure that the energy of all people involved in the project is channelised in a single stream that gets projected on the screen and must be eventually, felt by the audience.
Director Milan Luthria fails miserably in his job here. A hammy comical Naseeruddin, a controlled Emraan Hashmi and a joke of a Tusshar Kapoor comprise the side characters around the unabashed and shamelessly unapologetic Vidya Balan. Her power over the crowd is merely shown each time by repeated shots of punching movie tickets, crowds of people rushing in and a different dance sequence on the screen. A shabby compromise! The promising biopic is not only slaughtered in its execution by the director but also in its clichéd screenplay (by Rajat Arora who adopts the same dialogue-styles from his previous OUATIM) that allows for an unnecessary narration sequence by Emraan Hashmi and a frequent spew of corny lines and witty (yet, effective) one-liners that end up disrupting the mood of the scene. The audience are however shamelessly satisfied without noticing the loose threads in the story. Like, what happened to the other character who sang with Silk? But who watched it for the story! People cheered when an extra half inch of Silk's bosom became visible or when she has finally got to kiss the medley of different heroes on screen. Special jeers and remarks for Hashmi's kiss. And I was in a multiplex hall.
Cinematography comprised of a sepia-ish hue to depict the 80s period in South India which went very well with the art direction but sadly, it avoided wider angled shots which could have been used to capture scenes involving Silk's audiences or at least to add authenticity to the period drama. This, coupled with the screenplay greatly limited the scope of this movie. The star power that the soft-porn star exhibited was neglected in various scenes. For instance, in the scene where Silk was creating a ruckus outside someone's house, the gathering of the crowd and their cheers were avoided and instead, the focus was on Naseeruddin, Tusshar and other star people involved. Better editing could have spiced up many of such shots.
Music score was mismatched and even slightly boisterous in some places.(I suspect that they must have hired the guy who gives those reaction sounds from Ekta's TV soaps for some of the scenes). Ooh La La was the only fun song. Honeymoon Ki Raat was a mind-boggler! Why was it even there? Sufiana was an unnecessary addition towards the end but they had to have it to show Hashmi kissing Balan.
Acting wise, however, this movie saves its face. Naseeruddin maintained the humour in the first half. Hashmi was consistent throughout. Tusshar was vapid and maintained a stupid look on his face in most of the scenes. Rajesh Sharma is indeed the discovery of the year. After a helpless police officer in No One Killed Jessica, he is unbelievably perfect as the B grade-ish producer. Expectedly, Vidya Balan saves the day by lifting the entire weight of the dirt of this picture and excelling herself as she has done in her past movies. Every performance since her past 3-4 movies has saved her movies from going noticeably awry. I was never a Balan fan from the start. But as of today, all I can say is that no one in Bollywood is in a position to make a picture that can sustain her energy and performance. It's like taking all the water meant to fill the Sintex tank and using it to fill your water bottle. The bottle is enough for you, not for the water.
Producer Ekta Kapoor must have a really weird sense of humour. This movie that holds the vulgar expectations of the audience responsible for the rise and fall of Silk targets the very same from the audience of this film. And apparently she has hit the right spot. Sadly, this is apparently what "Entertainment" in a film is all about! When I walked in for a fourth day's show, many people around me were able to repeat various monologues by rote and in sync with the actors. The Irony!
At the time of going for the movie, I had heard that Sarat Chandra's novel Devdas has been adapted at least 9 times (some say 16 times, figures vary) on the silver screen. It includes the famous renderings by Dilip Kumar and Shah Rukh Khan. But nothing, I mean none of those adaptations prepares you for watching this reckless contemporary take on the same novel. The vision of Abhay Deol brought on screen by Anurag Kashyap (and Vikramaditya Motwane) is nothing short of speechlessly rebellious by nature.
I was an amateur film-goer back then. Dev.D was one of my initial Hindi films in a theatre. In fact, seeing the initial credit of a "Thank You" to Danny Boyle, I even joked to my friend that he had mistakenly bought a ticket to Slumdog Millionaire! Not Funny. But the initial ten minutes of the movie certainly were funny. In their own wicked way, at that. It gave an outrageous background of lust to the lead characters of Devinder Singh Dhillon and Parminder (so much for adapted names!) in stark contrast to their love that forms the soul of the story of Devdas.
Thereafter, the movie moves wildly through the lives of the three lead characters and how they get affected by the gossip of the side characters. The language use was preposterous in places. But limited to the point of enhancing the movie and not degrading it. It was amazing to see the amount of care that Kashyap has paid to the detailing in each scene. I particularly remember three of these scenes. In the first, when Dev.D first meets the pimp Chunni (Dibyendu Bhattacharya), the background flashes a big neon light that spells out RAND (slang for "prostitute" in Hindi). I was shocked as no one else seemed to notice it and I pointed it out to my friend who was amused. We waited and watched and as they started walking, the camera zoomed out and we read the words "GRAND HOTEL". Our respect for Kashyap had increased manyfold. The second scene was similar in nature and displayed the words HIV in the background of a brothel balcony where Chanda was standing. (I didn't manage to catch the remainder of the word but never mind!) The third scene involves a verbal fight between a girl and Dev.D in the bus and the camera zooming to catch the word "Mahilaye" ("Ladies" in Hindi) on the bus with the letter "Ma" scratched out. It now spelt out as "Hilaye" ("Jerk off" in Hindi). It gives the clue to the viewer that a break-up is on the cards. Hillariously Epic!
Such kind of detailing by a filmmaker is rarely observed in Indian cinema. Who, after all, bothers to show anything else apart from the actor's faces and body language at the most? But Kashyap, the rebel that he is, refused to stop with just that. He has used dizzying camera angles and tricks (apparently taught by Danny Boyle) that are usually not employed by Indian filmmakers. The drinking scene during the song "Pardesi" uses a special camera that was imported from Holland by Danny Boyle and can capture an incredulous 40 frames per second in contrast to normal 25fps cameras (not sure about the specs, read about them a long time ago).
The adapted writing also includes three narrators that appear throughout the movie and keep an eye on the characters, some real-life incidents that serve as backdrop for many important scenes (the Delhi school MMS scandal,the BMW hit-and-run case) and also some awesome scenes (the hilarious episode at the bus, the car crash outside the phone booth) that have been adapted from world cinemas as an ode to them. By the way, the first customer of Chanda (Kalki Koechlin) is a cameo by Anurag Kashyap. See if you can spot him!
The brilliance of this movie does not, however, end with the screenplay and direction. The trippy soundtracks featuring 18 tracks by Amit Trivedi (that fetched him a National Award) are a treat to listen to. They still remain my all-time favourite soundtrack album. Sadly, I have never heard any of these underrated songs sung in any stage concert or in any of those mind-dumbing reality shows. The extraordinary cinematography (Kashyap's regular Rajeev Ravi) has been carefully used throughout the movie to enhance the mood of the different scenes. The cutting-edge editing (by Kasyap-experienced ex-wife Aarti Bajaj) in many of the drinking scenes take this movie to the dizzying level you would expect to find yourself if you were as drunk as Devdas.
I still remember to having spent the least amount on a Multiplex movie ticket (Rs.60) but having enjoyed it more than the costlier bigger budget extravaganzas. In fact, the only ever thing that I could complain about this movie, was the way it ended. I really didn't expect the lights to switch on at that point. It kinda leaves you incomplete. But the rest of the movie makes up for it.
Lose your control, Kashyap. Be the rebel forever!
8/10
I was an amateur film-goer back then. Dev.D was one of my initial Hindi films in a theatre. In fact, seeing the initial credit of a "Thank You" to Danny Boyle, I even joked to my friend that he had mistakenly bought a ticket to Slumdog Millionaire! Not Funny. But the initial ten minutes of the movie certainly were funny. In their own wicked way, at that. It gave an outrageous background of lust to the lead characters of Devinder Singh Dhillon and Parminder (so much for adapted names!) in stark contrast to their love that forms the soul of the story of Devdas.
Thereafter, the movie moves wildly through the lives of the three lead characters and how they get affected by the gossip of the side characters. The language use was preposterous in places. But limited to the point of enhancing the movie and not degrading it. It was amazing to see the amount of care that Kashyap has paid to the detailing in each scene. I particularly remember three of these scenes. In the first, when Dev.D first meets the pimp Chunni (Dibyendu Bhattacharya), the background flashes a big neon light that spells out RAND (slang for "prostitute" in Hindi). I was shocked as no one else seemed to notice it and I pointed it out to my friend who was amused. We waited and watched and as they started walking, the camera zoomed out and we read the words "GRAND HOTEL". Our respect for Kashyap had increased manyfold. The second scene was similar in nature and displayed the words HIV in the background of a brothel balcony where Chanda was standing. (I didn't manage to catch the remainder of the word but never mind!) The third scene involves a verbal fight between a girl and Dev.D in the bus and the camera zooming to catch the word "Mahilaye" ("Ladies" in Hindi) on the bus with the letter "Ma" scratched out. It now spelt out as "Hilaye" ("Jerk off" in Hindi). It gives the clue to the viewer that a break-up is on the cards. Hillariously Epic!
Such kind of detailing by a filmmaker is rarely observed in Indian cinema. Who, after all, bothers to show anything else apart from the actor's faces and body language at the most? But Kashyap, the rebel that he is, refused to stop with just that. He has used dizzying camera angles and tricks (apparently taught by Danny Boyle) that are usually not employed by Indian filmmakers. The drinking scene during the song "Pardesi" uses a special camera that was imported from Holland by Danny Boyle and can capture an incredulous 40 frames per second in contrast to normal 25fps cameras (not sure about the specs, read about them a long time ago).
The adapted writing also includes three narrators that appear throughout the movie and keep an eye on the characters, some real-life incidents that serve as backdrop for many important scenes (the Delhi school MMS scandal,the BMW hit-and-run case) and also some awesome scenes (the hilarious episode at the bus, the car crash outside the phone booth) that have been adapted from world cinemas as an ode to them. By the way, the first customer of Chanda (Kalki Koechlin) is a cameo by Anurag Kashyap. See if you can spot him!
The brilliance of this movie does not, however, end with the screenplay and direction. The trippy soundtracks featuring 18 tracks by Amit Trivedi (that fetched him a National Award) are a treat to listen to. They still remain my all-time favourite soundtrack album. Sadly, I have never heard any of these underrated songs sung in any stage concert or in any of those mind-dumbing reality shows. The extraordinary cinematography (Kashyap's regular Rajeev Ravi) has been carefully used throughout the movie to enhance the mood of the different scenes. The cutting-edge editing (by Kasyap-experienced ex-wife Aarti Bajaj) in many of the drinking scenes take this movie to the dizzying level you would expect to find yourself if you were as drunk as Devdas.
I still remember to having spent the least amount on a Multiplex movie ticket (Rs.60) but having enjoyed it more than the costlier bigger budget extravaganzas. In fact, the only ever thing that I could complain about this movie, was the way it ended. I really didn't expect the lights to switch on at that point. It kinda leaves you incomplete. But the rest of the movie makes up for it.
Lose your control, Kashyap. Be the rebel forever!
8/10