Watched it last nite....i dunt think it was as bad as some of the reviews are making it out to be. was DEFINITELY disappointed but i wouldn't call it a disaster...judging it as an independent film without the baggage of expectations, its average.
Things I liked about the movie:
Aishwarya Rai was nice. I dont mean brilliant, i dont mean gr8....just plain nice. She didnt make me cringe during her scenes. Just like in JA, she is understated and elegant....so as long as shes not causing any damage, im fine with her acting... As usual, she amazes me with her beauty. How can a woman in her mid 30's, with a not -that-gr8 body, with no make up on, dressed in the dowdiest of clothes, with bruised skin and reddened eyes look so beautiful???
Vikram: Tough and no-nonsense, he was wonderful as the cop. I wouldnt say i liked his role, or the amount of footage he was given....but absolutely no complaints with him and his acting.
Supporting cast: Nikhil, Govinda, priyanmani and Ravi kissen (suprisingly!!!) impressed me. Their moments were some of the best in the film. I literally cried when priyamani narrates wht was done to her in the police station, to abhishek. It was heartbreaking.
Non Linear Narrative: I think this is the first time i am seeing this in an indian movie...but the non-linear story telling worked for me. It kind of kept the suspense alive coz they would show a random scene first, and then much later on, show the scenes which lead up tht scene. I found it interesting...atleast they didnt spoon feed us with every single detail and take the audience as complete dumbos. A nice attempt.
Starting credits: AWSOMENESS....
Technical details: Photography, costumes and Background music were par excellence. I would go to the length of saying tht it is one of the best shot films in the past few years. The camera work and bgm together make for some really poetic frames in the film and i loved it!!! two thumbs up to the technical department. AMAZING.
Things I didnt like
Abhishek: I am sorry to say this but Abhishek is NOT a good actor according to me. The only performance of his which i liked was KANK...he was natural, crazy and uninhibited in the muvie which made me totally luv him and hate srk. But in all the other "acclaimed" muvies, he was just trying too hard. I appreciate the fact that he is sincere in his attempts but acc to me, acting shld be natural and in abhi's case, its jarringly labored. Didint like him one bit in this muvie. Beera was more like a dope head rather than a passionate, fierce guy. He was more comical than scary. Didn't work for me at all.
Vikram's role: It was such a caricature...as if all cops are deceptive and put work b4 emotions. He was projected the wrong way....I thought Mani would show us the good and grey sides of each character but it seemed to me that he was trying to show Vikram as the villain and abhi as the "good hearted" hero. Vikram was given a raw deal and i was very unhappy with his role and the amount of scope he got.
Screenplay: There were a lot of unnecessary scenes which could have been easily avoided..the long "fight" sequence between ash and abhishek was tiresome and boring. The way they showed ash developing feelings for abhi's character is sudden and not gradual. It was very wishy washy because the scenes were not well connected with each other.
There were a few embarrassing scenes like the polygraph test thingy, the climax and govinda's silly introduction.
Songs: Was disappointed with the picturisation of all of them except maybe khilli re.
All in all - it could have been a gr8 film, but its not. Its average at best. Remove all the amazing technical work done for this film and u would have a clumsily directed, shabby script. A let down by mani ratnam's standards, but watchable if you dunt expect too much from it.
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