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Tag: Nawazuddin Siddiqui

  • Talaash: A futile search

    Talaash: A futile search

    MUMBAI: ‘I will come back to haunt you‘ must be the oldest phrase used in a relationship. It bears no logic but makes one wary. It is a supernatural shrap (curse). A lot of rumours have been spread about the ‘the end‘ of Talaash during its pre-release publicity; all suspected to be the makers‘ own PR gimmicks. But no gimmick is worth a cinema ticket costing 300 rupees. If gimmicks made money, why make films?

    Three young men go on a joyride, meet with an accident and dump the victim, who they presume is dead. Then the victim comes back to seek revenge! Whichever way you look at Talaash and whatever the efforts to ‘Indianise‘ it with supernatural and life-after-death angles, the ghost of ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer‘ haunts the film all through. Rest is all an exercise in convolution. The usual ‘inspirational‘ Hollywood films run for 100 minutes or less; so Talaash has a parallel story of Aamir Khan, and his spouse Rani Mukerji eternally pining for their son who died due to drowning. This helps stretch the film to 140 minutes. It is also the film‘s undoing.There is a lot of speculation about which foreign film has inspired Talaash. From the look of it, Talaash seems to have got its genes from the Hollywood film ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer‘, itself badly panned by media there but lapped up by moviegoers.

    Like any metro-oriented film, Talaash establishes its base city, Mumbai, in its title song. This is mainly the seedy side, the underbelly of the city, which includes the whores, the pimps, the nightlife and the violence. Then it goes on to establish its protagonists. This affirms that it is going to be a long-winded film.

    Three years after the joyride accident, a top film star dies in a freaky car accident on the same spot when his car swerves suddenly on an open road late one night and lands in the sea. Khan is a reputed encounter specialist but he is called in to investigate the accident since it involves a high-profile star. There are no evident clues and he is told that this is not the first time such an accident has happened at this spot. When not investigating the case, Khan, in tandem with his wife, Mukerji get into bouts of depression and brooding over their dead son. Khan thinks it was his fault but keeps punishing Mukerji by keeping away from her or avoiding communicating. He does not even want another child. Mukerji on her part is under psychiatric treatment until a neighbour, Shernaz Patel, acquaints her with a message from her dead son. "He wants to talk to his dada," she says.

    Being a mother, Mukerji tags along to communicate with her son through Patel. This leads to another flashpoint between the couple, Khan and Mukerji. Khan would rather have nothing to do with such mumbo jumbo.

    In the process of his investigations, Khan meets a prostitute, Kareena Kapoor, whose pimp was the last person to communicate with the dead film star. The pimp, who is suspected of blackmailing the star and who collected rupees 20 lakh from him just before the accident, is missing. Khan expects Kapoor to lead to him. Instead, she is only interested in leading him to a seedy hotel room with an invitation to make out!

    As some more bodies fall and some more red herrings are dropped, the film meanders on and on till it springs what the makers think is a surprise element. The mystery is solved the way it was created.

    Talaash is such a dry and insipid film that it becomes a drain on the viewer. It lags in almost all aspects. As the script is weak, the director never gets a grip on the film. Music is no help in the absence of romance. Farhan Akhtar‘s dialogue is generally mundane. His forte being wit, the film offers him no scope. Preferring to project the dark side of the metro, visually too the film provides no relief except, ironically, the accident site. The seafront location is pleasing to eye. And why choose red light area whores? Kapoor could very well have been a high class one and the film could have had some glamour and finesse! Khan has no historic moments and does nothing to satisfy his fans. Kapoor looks too glamorous for the kind of joint she works at. Mukerji, as a totally deglamourised housewife, does well. Among others, Nawazuddin Siddiqui shines. Patel, Raj Kumar Yadav, Suhasi Goradia and Subra Dutta lend fair support.

    Talaash is disappointing fare, for Khan fans as well as for box office prospects.

  • Kahaani: All thrills, no frills

    Kahaani: All thrills, no frills

    MUMBAI: It is not often that a film based on Kolkata background is made and when one is made, Pujo and Rabindra sangeet are mandatory as are visuals of the Victoria Memorial and the Howrah Bridge; however, what is not mandatory is having an all local supporting cast when you plan to appeal to an all India audience. That leaves little option for a viewer, not much used to heroine oriented films in the first place, but to be content with Vidya Balan.

     

    Producers: Kaushal Kantilal Gada, Sujoy Ghosh.
    Director: Sujoy Ghosh.
    Cast: Vidya Balan, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

    A heavily pregnant Vidya Balan ascends on Kolkata in search for her missing husband and makes a police station her first halt and seeks help to trace her husband. Next she checks into a guest house where her husband was supposed to have stayed and used to call her from. She has a young police inspector, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, at all times and takes her around in her search. At the data centre, she is told that though there is no record of her husband having worked there, they did have an ex-employee named Damji resembling the husband‘s picture she carried. Vidya Balan‘s search is not easy for wherever she checks; the traces of her husband as well as his lookalike have been deleted, from files as well as the computers. What is more, whoever helps her or is willing to help her is killed while she herself has some close shaves from the killer.

    It is when she finds the picture and address of Damji from old records from the data centre‘s old, unused office that she stirs things up and soon a senior intelligence office from Delhi, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, joins the action. This results in some twists and turns and thrilling moments as the climax is played out during a Pujo procession and Vidya Balan springs a surprise on all those involved on the wrong as well as the right side of the law.

    Director Sujoy Ghosh chooses the inner, drab and crowded parts of Kolkata which add to the atmosphere and create anxiety. His handling of the subject is deft with ample help from a tight script without distraction in the form of songs except for “Ekla chalo” number in the background in pre-climax.

    The film is an out and out Vidya Balan show in a role that offers her no frills; she is a desperate pregnant woman on a mission and she goes around it credibly. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is impressive balancing his act between negative and positive shades adding to the suspense. Parambrata Chattopadhyay is natural.

    Kahaani a fair thriller and due for much acclaim; however its business will be limited to few metro multiplexes.
     

    An inconsistent film with limited prospects

     

    Producer: Samir Karnik.
    Director: Samir Karnik.
    Cast: Tusshar Kapoor, Kulraj Randhawa, Anupam Kher, Om Puri, Mukul Dev, Johny Lever, Anita Raaj, Sushant Singh, Chandrachur Singh, Rahul Singh, Farida Jalal.

     

    A vibrant, bubbly girl lands up in a stubborn family of erstwhile Rajasthan royals who still live in the same delusions of being royal Rajputs. The family is full of oddballs all taking a fancy to her in their own way. A romantic comedy needs ample gags and characters; Chaar Din Ki Chandni has some of the latter. In an attempt to add a bit of everything from royalty to status barrier and the Indian wedding with romance and comedy, the film is a farce made of a series of situations.

    Tusshar Kapoor arrives in Rajasthan to attend his sister‘s wedding with his girlfriend, Kulraj Randhawa, whom he plans to introduce to his family and obtain their approval to marry her. However Anupam Kher, his father, has these notions of Rajput superiority and none of his children can marry anybody else but a Rajput and he always keeps a gun handy if the case is otherwise. Besides this trait he is a jovial person. Given this situation, Tusshar Kapoor fumbles at the last moment and introduces Kulraj Randhawa as a journalist from UK here to cover an Indian royal wedding. Tusshar Kapoor has four brothers, all with their own peculiarities – one is a drunkard, other is headstrong and violent while yet another is a womaniser; only one of them is sober and okay with Tusshar‘s romance since he himself is heartbroken. Soon, Kulraj Randhawa has won the hearts of all members of the household; while Anupam Kher treats her as a daughter of the house and even promises to get her married to a suitable Punjabi boy, the three wayward brothers each try to score with her in their own clumsy ways while Tusshar Kapoor and Kulraj Randhawa keep romancing on the sly. To add to the tricky situation come Om Puri and Farida Jalal on the scene enthused that their daughter is planning to get engaged; but they are soon passed off as decorator and his chief assistant by Tusshar Kapoor as revealing their true identity would not work with Anupam Kher. With so many characters involved, there is a series of gags, some good some flat. In an old-fashioned way, the climax is a free for all with Johny Lever as one of the parties.

    The story idea for Chaar Din Ki Chandni is the second half of the director‘s earlier film, Yamla Pagla Deewana which had a huge Punjabi family and false identities; with many characters to share the screen, Samir Karnik keeps the pace moving. Using old film songs is a good ploy. Dialogue is not much help. Tusshar Kapoor is okay. Kulraj Randhawa is fairly good. Anupam Kher‘s versatility is obvious. Om Puri Plays his loud Punjabi guy very well. Mukul Dev, Sushant Singh, Chandrachur Singh and Harrish as brothers along with Rahul Singh, Farida Jalal and Anita Raj are good in support. Johny Lever is wasted.

    Chaar Din Ki Chandni is a passable entertainer with limited prospects.