The Good : Different take on the hackneyed issue; great, and more importantly relevant research which comes out really well
The Bad : Sanjay Dutt, filmy sequences, climax
The Ugly : nothing really
The thing that really pleased me about the movie is that, it signifies the coming of age of Indian cinema, long gone are the days when movies were made at the behest of the government (read the times of L.B. Shastri and Manoj Kumar) or when the government really ran a tight leash on anything coming out of Hindi film industry (read Emergency). We really have come a long way from the times of 'Dehleez' when for the first time the words 'Sarhad paar dushman' were uttered to 'Sarfarosh' where the phrase 'padosi desh' acquired a name for the first time.
The Technicals : The cinematography is brilliant at places, whereas in the same breath it must be mentioned that at times one is left wondering whether it has been over-done to an extent. The area where the movie really scores is depicting that yes, there is an element of ordinary day to day life to Kashmir, that there is a Kashmir beyond the beautiful snow clad mountains, beyond the borders with the 'patriotic songs singing soldiers', there is an element of 'normal' life to Kashmir, the curfews, the stone pelting crowds and all. And another way in which the movie scores over similar movies made earlier is the aesthetics of 'war' and 'counter insurgency'. I guess it's a sign of maturity that we don't find cops running around with sniper rifles in close quarter combats. I guess Indian directors have been devoting time and effort to research more in this direction.
The Acting : My biggest grouse with the movie is Sanjay Dutt. Yes!! you heard it right, the supposedly biggest star in the movie is the biggest eyesore of it. Infact the few places where the movie seems to digress from it's realistic path to a filmy one is one where they try to justify Sanjay Dutt's stardom and give him hero like action sequences. On the other hand Kunal Kapoor is pretty convincing in his depiction of a former militant, whereas Bipasha Basu, in my opinion is the real 'Star' of the movie. She has done fabulous work in this de-glam role. And as for Anupam Kher, he proves yet again, why he is still counted as one of the doyens of Indian cinema.
Verdict: All in all, a good movie, good direction, decent acting on the whole. An interesting watch, I say, for the treatment of the subject.
All in all, 3.5 stars out of 5.
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1 comment:
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