***[Contains SPOLERS]***
This is not a Fan post. Nor is this an attempt to make people watch the movie. I'll be glad if someone watches the movie because of this post, but that would be a side effect.
The main reason for writing this post is simple - I just couldn't keep it to myself! Such a powerful movie and so many things it had. Phew, Dibakar has taken us to a new place, again.
By the way 4/4 is a good score for a director. And each of the points he has scored, is a different than his previous one. He has experimented with the stories and the direction style- keeping his eye for the details and characters.
Lets take it in a different manner- I'll list a few bullet points which I loved about the movie-
Bold Movie
When I call this as the boldest movie - please don't associate the word with its popular Bollywood meaning. Bold in Bollywood means shedding of clothes and creating a body shop out of a woman.
I mean the word in its literal sense- Bold, a gutsy performance which requires a lot of courage.
First of all, this is an outright political movie. Not the political movie about politicians and their families - those are easy to hatch. This is a movie about clash of ideals (or lack of it) and how that takes place in our society.
IBP, their point of development, Prof. Ahmadi and his opposition to the betterment of a few, IAS officers and their positions on these issues, common man and his inability to grasp the greater picture, riots and fights happening for no apparent reasons, local politicians and their sidekicks - its all there.
Story of today's India
Dibakar has taken a character from each strata of Indian Society and placed it in his canvas. there's a politician who's all to powerful, there's a bureaucrat who likes to think himself as a middle class person but who's a rich minority class, there are people who do all sorts of things to make two ends meet and there are hooligans and rest.All of these people are important even if some of them have little control over their own life. All of them are entangled in this complex SEZ issue in their own ways.
The locations and events are more fact than fiction and sometimes they border really close to our present day reality. This makes me cringe, the movie induces this "horror" element which sits back of my mind and makes me shiver every time I see evidence of today's India in Dibakar's camera.
Characters, Characters, Character
A huge strong hold of Dibakar. We see more characters than any of his movies and yet each one has a strong base. You of course remember the leading duo, The IAS officers and the idealistic Student and her professor. But you also remember the house maid, the politician sidekick and few anonymous faces lurking in the background- they form the collective character of "hysterical masses". This is the scariest and most complex character I've seen in any hindi movie.
Shades of Gray
Who is right? who is wrong? When dibakar presents a single Scene- it is easy to point out who's right. But immidietly in the next scene we see a different context and the whole meaning changes.
Jaggu kills the professor and we can label him a villain. But jaggu is merely a pawn in hands of bigger powers and at that level, jaggu becomes a victim. Similarly Professor is a hero when you look at him from a neutral point of view, but his inability to achieve a single rehabilitation makes him a misfit idealistic. There's no one who's side you can take and empathize comfortably. The director has made us watch each of his protagonists and their good/bad sides so it becomes a harrowing experience for the viewer- whose side am I on? What is really going on here? Is this how things stand today?
And what I really liked ...
I loved Pitobash (Bhaggu) and Anant Jog (jaggu mama). I adored Pitobash's character - a typical youth who has nothing to do but who aims big without really knowing how he's going to do it. The lost eyes of Jaggu mama and his soulless presence once the inevitable has happened.
I loved the school turned into headquarter of Inquiry commission and a ball rolling in from the playground- amidst of a tense argument.
I was really horrified to see Damle (politician's chamcha) telling Imraan hashmi "not to worry".
His was the really menacing character.
I liked the subtle south Indian accent of Krishnan, not your typical Bollywood Tamilian.
I totally enjoyed the scene when Shalini meets Jaggu under unexpected circumstances- the change of emotions in those 2 scenes is awesome.
And I loved Dibakar's Camera (Ramu- Please take a note if you're still not turned into an alien)
Enough said, I'm going to watch it again.
This is not a Fan post. Nor is this an attempt to make people watch the movie. I'll be glad if someone watches the movie because of this post, but that would be a side effect.
The main reason for writing this post is simple - I just couldn't keep it to myself! Such a powerful movie and so many things it had. Phew, Dibakar has taken us to a new place, again.
By the way 4/4 is a good score for a director. And each of the points he has scored, is a different than his previous one. He has experimented with the stories and the direction style- keeping his eye for the details and characters.
Lets take it in a different manner- I'll list a few bullet points which I loved about the movie-
Bold Movie
When I call this as the boldest movie - please don't associate the word with its popular Bollywood meaning. Bold in Bollywood means shedding of clothes and creating a body shop out of a woman.
I mean the word in its literal sense- Bold, a gutsy performance which requires a lot of courage.
First of all, this is an outright political movie. Not the political movie about politicians and their families - those are easy to hatch. This is a movie about clash of ideals (or lack of it) and how that takes place in our society.
IBP, their point of development, Prof. Ahmadi and his opposition to the betterment of a few, IAS officers and their positions on these issues, common man and his inability to grasp the greater picture, riots and fights happening for no apparent reasons, local politicians and their sidekicks - its all there.
Story of today's India
Dibakar has taken a character from each strata of Indian Society and placed it in his canvas. there's a politician who's all to powerful, there's a bureaucrat who likes to think himself as a middle class person but who's a rich minority class, there are people who do all sorts of things to make two ends meet and there are hooligans and rest.All of these people are important even if some of them have little control over their own life. All of them are entangled in this complex SEZ issue in their own ways.
The locations and events are more fact than fiction and sometimes they border really close to our present day reality. This makes me cringe, the movie induces this "horror" element which sits back of my mind and makes me shiver every time I see evidence of today's India in Dibakar's camera.
Characters, Characters, Character
A huge strong hold of Dibakar. We see more characters than any of his movies and yet each one has a strong base. You of course remember the leading duo, The IAS officers and the idealistic Student and her professor. But you also remember the house maid, the politician sidekick and few anonymous faces lurking in the background- they form the collective character of "hysterical masses". This is the scariest and most complex character I've seen in any hindi movie.
Shades of Gray
Who is right? who is wrong? When dibakar presents a single Scene- it is easy to point out who's right. But immidietly in the next scene we see a different context and the whole meaning changes.
Jaggu kills the professor and we can label him a villain. But jaggu is merely a pawn in hands of bigger powers and at that level, jaggu becomes a victim. Similarly Professor is a hero when you look at him from a neutral point of view, but his inability to achieve a single rehabilitation makes him a misfit idealistic. There's no one who's side you can take and empathize comfortably. The director has made us watch each of his protagonists and their good/bad sides so it becomes a harrowing experience for the viewer- whose side am I on? What is really going on here? Is this how things stand today?
And what I really liked ...
I loved Pitobash (Bhaggu) and Anant Jog (jaggu mama). I adored Pitobash's character - a typical youth who has nothing to do but who aims big without really knowing how he's going to do it. The lost eyes of Jaggu mama and his soulless presence once the inevitable has happened.
I loved the school turned into headquarter of Inquiry commission and a ball rolling in from the playground- amidst of a tense argument.
I was really horrified to see Damle (politician's chamcha) telling Imraan hashmi "not to worry".
His was the really menacing character.
I liked the subtle south Indian accent of Krishnan, not your typical Bollywood Tamilian.
I totally enjoyed the scene when Shalini meets Jaggu under unexpected circumstances- the change of emotions in those 2 scenes is awesome.
And I loved Dibakar's Camera (Ramu- Please take a note if you're still not turned into an alien)
Enough said, I'm going to watch it again.
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