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poppy2009

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Posted: 12 years ago

http://www.rediff.com/movies/review/review-issaq-is-an-insultingly-bad-film/20130726.htm

Review: Issaq is an insultingly bad film

Last updated on: July 26, 2013 12:12 IST

Issaq is a shoddily written film with a cringeworthy performance from its leading man Prateik Babbar, writes Raja Sen.

Back when he was making his Othello adaptation, Vishal Bhardwaj almost titled the film Issaq -- a take on the Hindi heartland's pronunciation of Ishq. Leading man Ajay Devgan's love for that title aside, better sense prevailed and Bhardwaj went ahead with the alliteratively correct Omkara.

This week a film called Issaq releases across the country, and it's yet another Shakespeare adaptation: Romeo And Juliet, this time, set in Benaras.

It is a preposterously bad film, a shoddy wannabe that -- despite taking scraps from the table of Shakespearewallah Bhardwaj -- lacks ambition, soul, clarity. In case you were wondering, that title is pronounced iss-suck. And the film takes that last syllable far, far too seriously. The first time I saw Prateik Babbar in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na I was significantly intrigued. The second time I saw him, this time as a leading man, I was impressed.

Without holding his Dum Maaro Dum squeakiness against him, I thought he'd be a solid choice to play that most overplayed of romantics. Also, I'd found many a merit in director Manish Tiwary's first film, Dil Dosti Etc. Guided by the bard's most universally evocative (and most frequently evoked) text, I thought something interesting might be on the cards.

It isn't. This is a monstrosity, a shoddily put-together collection of weakly written scenes that don't even attempt to flow from one scene to the other. The editors may be the chief culprits here, but the leading man must be chastised first.

Babbar is an enormous failure and an overblown embarrassment. His performance, lacking in both consistency and sincerity, is affected also by a simian gracelessness: his line-readings are atrocious, and every other dialogue is delivered in a different kind of pitch.

It is one of those cringeworthy producer's-son kind of performances, but I hear the Ramaiyya Vastavaiyya bloke was less painful. (I don't doubt it. What Babbar achieves here is a quite spectacular trainwreck; Tushhhar Kapoor and Jacckkie Bhagnani, however they spell their names, should hit theaters immediately for a good laugh.)

Perhaps in a misplaced tribute/slur, Tiwary names his battling families Kashyap and Mishra: it feels as if independent filmmaking buddies Anurag and Sudhir had a truly bloody falling out.

The two families are out and baying for each other's blood, but in the middle of their gangland strife is shoehorned a strange "Madrasi" Naxalite who gets his men to wear his face on masks and sculpt likenesses of him in the sand. It is all most exasperatingly harebrained and amateurish.

But then doesn't that particular play work even when performed by schoolboys in drag dangling over cardboard balconies? The whole point of that love-struck romeo and his street-side serenade is that you know all the inevitable, gristly facts but hey... whatcha gonna do about it?

Except here you just wait for the slicing and dicing to happen sooner in a film that feels four hours long.

Amyra Dastur, the debutant who plays Juliet isn't half-bad: she's pretty and bright-eyed and altogether like a tolerable version of Prachi Desai, but then maybe she only seems decent here in comparison to the blundering Babbar.

There's a sweet scene with her getting her nose pierced for love, but that's about it. Vineet Kumar (he of that Bombay Talkies murabba story) eats a lot and is made to act in a totally different sur than others around him, as if he was borrowed from a Kashyap film, his style left unchanged.

Similarly Sudhir Pandey acts like he was in a Priyadarshan movie (complete with boing-boing background score 'hilarity') and Ravi Kissen hams it up as if Prakash Jha's life depended on it. Rajeshwari Sachdev is the only one who actually does well in the context of the movie, though an argument may perhaps also be made for the every-grizzly Makarand Deshpande who plays a ganja-loving swami (the obvious apothecary).

Issaq is, then, an insultingly bad film.

At one point the Naxalite nutjob asks his troops what they want: a car, a bungalow, a lot of cash. "Katrina Kaif," they yell back in fevered unison. I disagree. After the way Babbar manages to smile beatifically through this mess, forget car or Kaif, I'll have whatever he's having.

Rediff Rating:

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poppy2009

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Posted: 12 years ago

http://movies.ndtv.com/movie-reviews/issaq-movie-review-851

Issaq movie review

(Drama, Romance)
Saibal Chatterjee
Friday, July 26, 2013

inShare0

Cast:Prateik Babbar, Amyra Dastur, Evelyn Sharma, Makarand Deshpande
Director: Manish Tewary

SPOILERS ALERT

Manish Tiwary's Issaq attempts a giant leap from Verona to Varanasi and falls with a thud between two completely mismatched stools.

The tools at the director's disposal and the narrative material that he opts for are separated by both geography and sensibility. Either way, the gap is too wide for Tiwary to bridge. The result is a big yawn of a film.

The director gives new skeins to William Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers and transports the duo to the holy town on the banks of the Ganges, where an unholy war is raging between two bloodthirsty clans.

The Montagues become the Mishras and the Capulets mutate into the Kashyaps in this tangled tragedy that never manages to find its bearings.

Set in the back lanes, mansions and ghats of Benaras, the film focusses on a clash between pure love and the lust for power. The result is disastrous – as much for the two families involved in the fictional fracas as for the film that seeks to re-imagine the Bard's classic scenario in a contemporary desi context.

As the two warring clans battle for lucrative sand-mining contracts, Rahul Mishra (Prateik Babbar) and Bachchi Kashyap (Amyra Dastur) do the unthinkable in the fond hope of mending fences.

Matters take a turn for the worse when a band of Naxalites, led by a Malayalam-speaking rebel (Prashant Narayanan), infiltrates the area and snipes for control of the sand pits monopolised by the Mishras and the Kashyaps.

Issaq parlays the powerful dramatic directness of 'Romeo and Juliet' into a more twisted rendition of human frailties as they play out in the complex socio-political cauldron of Benaras.

Quite apart from not being able to get a firm handle on the serious issues that are at stake in this narrative, Issaq falls well short of capturing the sizzling passion that lay at the heart of the Romeo and Juliet love story.

The fact that the lead pair of Prateik Babbar and debutante Amyra Dastur does not seem to share any palpable on-screen chemistry does not help the film's cause.

Tiwary and his co-writers Pawan Sony and Padmaja Thakore-Tiwary bite off more than they can chew and cram the canvas with details that only serve to divert attention away from the film's focal point – the love story.

Issaq, which runs for nearly two and a half hours, suffers from an overload of plots and sub-plots that are peopled with sketchily fleshed out characters that walk into the frame abruptly and vanish just as hastily.

As a result, the film feels more like a vengeance saga than the emotionally charged tragedy that it is supposed to be.

Most of the characters are mere caricatures and do not, therefore, come across as believable small-town figures.

The worst of the lot are the Maoist leader, a ganja-smoking godman (Makarand Deshpande) who pontificates meaninglessly about love and life, and a firangi girl (Evelyn Sharma) that our lovelorn Romeo pursues until he finds his Juliet.

The armed rebels float around more like a bunch of tripped-out day-trippers out to have some fun than a band of brigands fighting a life-and-death battle against their feudal exploiters.

The young lovers, on their part, look like a pair that has been airdropped here from south Mumbai – at least their diction suggests as much. Bachchi pronounces special as 'suppecial' on more than one occasion, but she is perfectly capable of intoning "Main virgin hoon" with absolute clarity of diction.

What Issaq projects is a completely Bollywoodized view of Benaras. Nothing in this portrait rings true, not even the rebellious spirit of the Mishra patriarch's second wife (Rajeshwari Sachdev), who thinks nothing of lusting for the brother of her husband's first wife (Ravi Kishen).

As a result of the sluggish pace of the narrative and the poorly etched characters, Issaq never achieves the intensity of a Shakespearean adaptation.

Actors like Amit Sial and Vineet Kumar Singh play supporting parts but manage to make an impression whenever they are on the screen. Rajeshwari Sachdev, too, strikes a chord with her portrayal of a married seductress who evolves into a fiery revenge-seeker.

All that Issaq manages to be, despite all the sparkling compositions that the cinematographer strings together, is an unconvincing story of ill-fated love. It is not at all easy to sit through.

By then it's too late

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poppy2009

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Posted: 12 years ago

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/movie-review-issaq/1147125/

Movie review: Issaq drowns in its own noise

Cast

: Prateik Babbar, Amyra Dastur, Ravi Kishan, Rajeshwari Sachdev, Prashant Narayanan, Neena Gupta, Sudhir Pande, Makarand Deshpande, Vineet Kumar

Director: Manish Tiwary

The Indian Express ratings: *1/2

After the recent Raanjhanaa, Varanasi is back in focus in this week's Issaq, as the setting for a love story based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. But neither the town nor the author would be grateful for this representation, which stays consistently high-pitched and doused in blood and bullets and melodrama.

I had hopes from the colour-saturated beginning, because everything sprang up with such vividness. The picturesque Banaras, which never dims despite a million sightings. The young man, who like all young men, is desirous. The girl who has a freshness to her. But within a few minutes, it was clear that Issaq was going to layer the love story with high decibels, and a constant rampage of characters.

Rahul (Babbar) sees Bachchi (Dastur) during a riotous holi celebration at her haveli, and is instantly smitten. But these two belong to warring families, the Kashyaps and the Mishras. We know this because of the bristling bandooks on display every time there is a skirmish between the two parties. But the story never tells us what the enmity is about. Not only does the plot gloss over this point, it also doesn't tell us why Bachchi's family is on display so much of the time, with so little given over to Rahul's. It could well be because the girl's side is full of such colourful types as a sloping-towards-old-age father (Pande) whose second, young wife (Sachdev) has the hots for the first wife's virile brother (Kishan); the boy, on the other hand, seems to spend all his time lolling about with his two friends, when he is not running after the girl.

In the increasingly convoluted second half, even the remaining coherence curdles. A bunch of rifle-toting hoods, led by a muttering fellow (Narayanan) keep showing up and shooting people and shouting 'lal salaam': this thread hangs from its entry to its exit. A ganja-smoking guru (Deshpande) who keeps doing the invisible rope trick (a Banaras film without a levitating baba on the steps of the ghats? impossible), much to the deliriousness of his bhakts, is also an important participant in the proceedings. And so on it goes, till the tragic end.

Babbar has a smile that lights up his face, but he never really fits in with the milieu the film is striving for, and his passionate lover dissipates after initial promise. The new girl is pretty but patchy, sometimes getting the tone right, and sometimes not. Kishan, bristling with machismo, is so over-the-top that he consumes himself. And the rest of the good acting back-up, Kumar as the friend-of-the-hero, Sachdev as the lustful second wife, Narayannan as the evil Maoist leader, and Gupta as the dai-ma-of-the-heroine, are gobbled by the contortions of the plot.

Tiwary's earlier film, Dil Dosti Etc, which was situated in Delhi University, showed he had a sense of place, and an ear for smart dialogue. Issaq sounds like so many of the other recent UP-as-badlands films, without a singular voice of its own. Finally, it drowns in its own noise.

shubhra.gupta@expressindia.com

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poppy2009

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Posted: 12 years ago

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130726/entertainment-bollywood/article/issaq-review-khaike-paan-shakespearewala

'Issaq' review: Khaike paan Shakespearewala

Khalid Mohamed | 30 min 42 sec ago

Cast: Prateik Babbar, Amyra Dastur
Director: Manish Tiwary
Rating: Two stars

Viva Varanasi. We are back on the ghats, the prime destination of the moviewallas nowadays since the magnificent city is ideal for the staging of festival fervour, a diya-illuminated scene or two, and teeming crowds which can fill up the frames for the do-or-die-very-hard climax. It worked big-time for 'Raanjhanaa'. But but but…is it conducive for a strictly Bollywood update of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet?

Ummm, you're not sure of that all, on trembling and quaking at the blood-drenched 'Issaq', directed by Manish Tiwary. For one, too many unnecessary characters, sob-plots and dramatic licentiousness have been added to stretch the immortal love story into a two-and-half-hour opus pocus. And second, the violence-crammed result is plain tiresome – impressive, occasionally for its lavish production design and camera stealth. Eventually, though, it adds up to a saga of sound and fury signifying zilch.

Tiwary, whose first feature 'Dil Dosti Etc', displayed a searching, independent quality, on landing a cushy budget, doesn't strive for an original style or sensibility. Flashes of 'Qayamat se Qayamat Tak' (perhaps the most refined of Mumbai's Romeo and Juliet adaptations), 'Ishaqzaade', as well as the influence of Vishal Bharadwaj and Prakash Jha, are more than apparent. Elements of adultery, political chicanery, and assorted dark edges suffuse the plot which is so overwritten that it hurts. Ouch get on with the main story, you want to holler out. Why grow interminably like Jack's beanstalk into the clouds from which there may be no return?

Anyway, the love story, or whatever survives of it, blossoms between Romeo Rahul Mishra (Prateik Babbar) and Juliet Bachi Kashyap (Amyra Dastur), whose hearts go dhak dhak at first sight on the colourful day of Holi. He pursues her over the phone with the persistence of a stalker, and yo, the two are madly, deeply etc in love. Flies in the ointment: their respective familes, of course, which have been feuding over the sand trade. Yes, sand.

Like the Montagues and Capulets, the Mishras and the Kashyaps are at lethal daggers drawn – and if you think that's an in-joke about Sudhir Mishra and Anurag Kashyap – just titter and forget about it. After all, there's too much other jiggery pokery erupting on the scene. Not a moment's relief.

Chez le Kashyaps' khaandaan, Juliet's stepmom (Rajeshwari Sachdev) is in the throes of an affair with a villainous stereotype (Ravi Kissan). Stepmom breathes fire generally till you want to douse her with buckets of water. And at the Mishras', acolytes galore indulge in much boozin', paan-chewin'. Plain irritatin'.

Tiwary and his writers also bring in a duplicitous political rebel rouser (Prashant Narayanan), who covets a slice of the sand trade and speaks in a south Indian dialect. Ergo, he's called Madrasi! How parochial is that?

Neena Gupta makes an unannounced comeback as a benign nanny, while Makarand Deshpande fetches up as a tantric, pot-puffing sadhu. Now that's some unwieldy ensemble, drastically reducing the prominence of the star-cross'd Rahul and Bachi, there essentially for nuzzling, sprinting down rooftops, darting candle-melting looks, singin', dancin' and succumbing to a closure, which should not be a spoiler alert for those acquainted with Shakespeare's classic.

The music score won't entice your toes to tap. As for the dialogue, it keeps in sync with the melodramatic bombardment.

Neither does any performance vault above the assigned material. At best, Rajeshwari Sachdev does an effective job of her vampish act. Newcomer Amyra Dastur lacks the vulnerability and grace required of a Juliet. Most disappointing of all, Prateik Babbar still has to reach some comfort level – both in terms of diction and physical fluidity -- in front of the camera. He looks as out of control as the rest of 'Issaq'.

Do let the bard rest in peace, guys.

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poppy2009

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Posted: 12 years ago

http://www.emirates247.com/entertainment/films-music/bollywood-review-prateik-s-steamy-love-story-issaq-just-doesn-t-make-the-cut-2013-07-25-1.515546

Bollywood review: Prateik's steamy love story 'Issaq' just doesn't make the cut

Despite banking on a Shakespearean classic, Manish Tiwary's second movie doesn't have the heart in the right place

Sneha May Francis

Published Thursday, July 25, 2013

A girl and a boy fall hopelessly in love, notwithstanding the hatred festered by their warring families.

They innocently hope their love, once discovered, will miraculously force their families to overlook their bloody past and hearten them to rebuild better relations.

Love, they believe is immensely powerful and can easily achieve miracles.

While most (Bollywood) dreamers might easily buy into this fantasy, realists might find it tough to comprehend.

That said, director Manish Tiwary sets out with a safe story that banks on Shakespeare's tragic romance 'Romeo and Juliet'.

However, he and his co-writers Pawan Sony and Padmaja Thakore Tiwary are unable to retain the simplicity of the classic and end up creating an incoherent love story that stretches over 150 minutes.

There are plots and sub-plots, attacks and counter-attacks, and numerous characters that make this revenge saga rather bewildering.

The many songs and dances, and the unnecessary use of tacky computer graphics just add to the chaos.

'Issaq', which subtly captures the rustic twang of North India, does work in bits and parts, but not in entirety.

What's most unforgiving is his decision to mock a revolution unnecessarily. Although the scene where the rebels are masked in sync does evoke a few chuckles, it almost undermines their cause.

That, in effect, is where Tiwary fumbles. He's unable to flesh out his characters or their pursuits impressively.

While the director might deny any Bollywood influences, it's tough not to ignore glimpses of 'Ishaqzaade' and Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak' in his canvas.

Set along the rustic terrains of Benaras, two influential families – the Mishras and the Kashyaps – are locked in constant fights.

Their enmity is legendary, and something that a bunch of socialist rebels are vying to take advantage of.

Caught in this crossfire are the next generation – Rahul Mishra and Bachchi Kashyap – who, despite knowing the lethal implications are willing to let their hearts rule their mind.

Their romance blossoms in the hope of a better, more peaceful tomorrow.

Although the screenplay is partial to the romantics, capturing Rahul and Bachchi in many glorious frames and tunes, it's the wicked men (and woman) who emerge more substantial.

Ravi Kishen stands out as the menacing Teeta Singh, whose greed for power finds him unabashedly romancing a married woman. Every appearance of his is faultless, and he clearly overshadows the rest of the cast.

Following close behind is Prashant Narayan as the rebel leader, who mouths Malayalam and Hindi dialogues with impeccable ease. Despite his Malayali roots, he's nicknamed 'Madrasi' as if to stress the oversight that's fairly common in North India.

There's also Amit Sial and Vineet Kumar Singh, who get to indulge in a fair deal of menacing acts as the feisty Murari and Bihata.

Rajeshwari Sachdev fills in as the conniving second-wife of a notorious leader who isn't ashamed to hide her feelings for a man other than her husband. And, when the battle intensifies, she sheds her seductress image for something more daring. At every turn, she shocks and surprises, leaving an incredible impact.

Seasoned artists Makarand Despande and Neena Gupta are left with nothing much to do. Of the two, it is Makarand who gets a better deal and he's unfailingly impressive as the boisterous sage who alters his prayers to keep his audience entertained.

The lovers – Prateik and Amyra Dastur – flaunt good physical attributes, but their acting capabilities aren't worthy of much. Everything from their accent to their coy interactions are inconsistently half-baked

Prateik's life flashes over time, and we often see him run with passion, only this story is less about the athletics and more about the heart.Alas, the director wasn't as focused.

With Bollywood inundated with glorious stories of love, this one just doesn't make us skip a heartbeat.

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poppy2009

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Posted: 12 years ago

http://www.sify.com/movies/issaq-review-more-style-than-substance-review-bollywood-15034946.html

Issaq review: More style than substance

Sonia Chopra

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Movie:

Issaq

Director:

Manish Tiwary

Cast:

Prateik, Amyra Dastur, Ravi Kishen, Rajeshwari Sachdev, Makarand Deshpande, Prashant Kumar, Prashant Narayanan

Avg user rating:

'Jiski goli uski boli,' says one of the characters in the film. Teeta Singh's words (Ravi Kishan) encapsulate the thinking of most of our characters. He belongs to the Kashyap side that is at constant war with the Mishras. Their fight over land, tenders and the like represents a hatred going back several years. Between this 'Mafiyon ke beech' war is the third angle of this hate triangle— a Naxal group. The film introduces us to Rahul Kashyap (Prateik) who's wooing a foreigner, a guest of the Kashyap family. His friends who also work with him in the gang, talk about 'Gori chamde ke jalwe'. Indeed the film speaks derogatorily about foreign women throughout the film. On the other hand is Bachchi Kashyap who Rahul meets when he gatecrashes the enemies' holi party. Just out of braces, wearing a devils horn hairband, and an impish smile, Bachchi is irresistible to Rahul. He kisses her and is back on her balcony that very night. Their love develops (very fast) and soon leads to the inevitable end. We've all seen countless adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Each adaptation has a unique quality to it. The film has some sweet moments through the romance. The songs are lovely. The skilled atmospherics transport you to to Benares with the busy markets, homes, people, and the always present Ganga. The film is visually arresting with a propensity for stunning underwater shots. Steps lit up with diyas, fists of smoke adding mystery, architecture and carvings, are all expertly captured by cinematographer Vishal Sinha. Sound design is beautiful. There are attempts at humorous touches that mostly fall flat – a sadhu levitating to foreigners' delight, out-of-place funny music when she's talking of dying, and her antics in class. The acting is patchy. Prateik is vapid and let down by a weak characterization. Amyra Dastur looks the part and does reasonably well. But it's the actors, apart from the lead, that steal the show. Rajeshwari Sachdev is a delight as the scheming, step-mother to Bachchi. Ravi Kissen is dependably good (when he's not hamming) as is Prashant Narayan as the Naxal leader. Director Manish Tiwary makes a film that gets the peripherals right, but has the fundamentals messed up. The film is a superficial attempt at romance, and adaptation of the main story. We don't understand why Bachchi is okay being stalked around by Rahul. Why she offers up her virginity to Rahul as a prize for their wedding night (Shakespeare would have never done this to his heroine). Why she apologizes for asking about his violent background. We also don't understand the perplexing and skewed take on Naxals. There is a central problem with characterization as well. Rahul's character lacks the basic innocence of Romeo and is more a lout (like Arjun Kapoor in Ishaqzaade).Then there's the crudity, unnecessarily added. Like one character that talks of khudai and …. (rhyme it). More style than substance, this is one of the few films you wish you could recommend in its entirety.

Rating: Two stars

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poppy2009

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Posted: 12 years ago

http://www.india-forums.com/bollywood/film-reviews/35500-movie-review-issaq.htm

Movie Review : Issaq

Film: "Issaq"; Cast: Prateik, Amyra Dastur, Ravi Kishen, Rajeshwari Sachdev, Makarand Deshpande, Prashant Kumar and Prashant Narayanan; Director: Manish Tiwary; Rating: ****

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Friday, July 26, 2013 | Copyright: IANS | 3 Comments | 821 Views

Film: "Issaq"; Cast: Prateik, Amyra Dastur, Ravi Kishen, Rajeshwari Sachdev, Makarand Deshpande, Prashant Kumar and Prashant Narayanan; Director: Manish Tiwary.

Nothing prepares you for this. The bludgeoning impact of director Manish Tiwary's desi Varanasi must-see adaptation of William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" would certainly have made Shakespeare smile.

Just a few weeks ago, we had Aanand Rai taking us to Varanasi for a ravishing romantic romp in "Raanjhanaa". Now, this!

With considerable support from his co-writers Padmaja Thakore-Tiwary and Pawan Soni, Manish Tiwary has written a raw, rugged and rapacious "Romeo abd Juliet", which has no 'Balcony Scene' (thank god!) and yes, Juliet remains a proud virgin till the end. The deviations apart, "Issaq" is a frightfully fertile film filled with images of rancour and tenderness.

Tiwary wastes no time in getting into the thick of Montague-Capulet feud. Here they are named the Mishras and the Kashyaps - but what's in a name? Families teeming with gun-toting leery men whose voracious appetite for killing is matched by their libidos.

issaq movie review Tiwary's plot is Machiavellian in its Shakespearean ambitions. He twists and coils the love tale into shapes of great wonderment. So, if he chooses not to tamper with the original Shakespearean ending (down to the apothecary's potion working cruel deceptions on the couple's turbulent destiny), he makes radical changes in the Shakespearean play's politics.

Naxalism and Maoism are interwoven into the romance and courtship through a character, brilliantly played by the ever-dependable Prashant Narayanan, while the couple in love couldn't care less if the world all around them is going up in flames. Manish Tiwary manages to make his lead pair look so much in love and so oblivious to its damning repercussions that we wonder if this pair's karma is engendered by despair.

Indeed doom has seldom seemed so desirable on screen. Tiwary's brilliant production designer Ashwini Shrivastav gives to Varanasi a look of lived-in and loved-in splendour. Yes, we have been through these crowded bustling bylanes and river ghats of the holy city in a number of films. But somehow Varanasi looks... born again! Vishal Sinha's cinematography is plush and passionate and yet the film's visuals never topples over into the kingdom of the garish.

And what visuals! The director makes the desi Romeo and Juliet's turbulent togetherness an occasion for optical enchantment.

Rahul and Bachi, that is Tiwary's Romeo and Juliet, stroll in a bangles market, the loud vibrant colours of the glass ornament screaming out a riot of lovelorn messages. This lush sequences transpires right after Rahul's two sardonic friends (one of whom will die a movie review issaq gangwar-infused fearless death soon after) discuss how nowadays Rahul has lost his machismo.

But we are jumping the gun. Can't help it. Guns blaze all across this choleric love tale where the desi Romeo meets the ghar ki Juliet at a Holi bash. Here, the shot of Prateik falling from the rooftop into a yellow-coloured water tank is so brilliant that you fear the director's visual aptitude may overpower the basic plot.

Fear not. Manish Tiwary knows his Shakespeare as well as he knows the rugged north Indian hinterland of blood savagery and abuses, which Vishal Bhardwaj and Anurag Kashyap have brought so persistently into our range of vision.

Tiwary cleverly holds back the boorishness. There's little or no vulgarity and uncouthness in the script. "Issaq" manages to project the perky innocence of first-love without getting over-cute, cloying or cheesy.

A lot of the endearing and enduring impact of the romance comes from the two players.

Prateik is born again as an actor. His performance as a love-smitten Romeo is so apt that you tend to forgive his past embarrassing performances. There's a marked improvement in his diction delivery. The Uttar Pradesh accent does fall off. But what the heck! This Romeo is real. So are the songs, which mesh so fluently into the plot that you wonder why Shakespeare didn't write his tragic play as a musical.

Amyra Dastur is a prized find. Precocious, pretty, expressive and agile, this girl is a star in her very first film. True,she does come across as slightly too 'convent' to be a Varanasi girl, but her radiant sincerity simply melts your misgivings. Together, Prateik and Amyra create the best Romeo and Juliet since Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey in Franco Zeffireli's "Romeo & Juliet".

Among the rest of the very fine cast, Ravi Kishen is simply outstanding as Amyra's protective angry violent uncle. Whenever Ravi is on screen, it's hard to look at any other actor. Rajeshwari Sachdev as Amyra's stepmom steps into a randy role with relish. She is in splendid form, bringing to her character both a sexual frankness and a moral ambivalence on which hangs the impact of the tragedy.

I've to mention a sequence where Bachchi/Juliet is being married off to the cop-suitor(Prashant Kumar, well cast). Rajeshwari applies the haldi on her grieving stepdaughter. Within seconds, Rajeshwari's expressions go from contempt and smugness to feminine empathy and compassion... the hallmark of a great actress.

Tiwary blends such moments of free-flowing sensitivity with the darker, murkier reality of blazing guns and furtive fornication without letting the sleaze touch the purity of the central romance. Love and war come together in a passionate embrace. A sense of desperate longing runs through this adrenaline-pumping drama driven forward by a cast of actors who know there is something vital happening here.

So do we.

This is one of the most innovative adaptations of Romeo & Juliet in any language.

Rating: ****

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known as KAI, name is Jasmine

@Kai.

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+ 3

Posted: 12 years ago

🤔 how come IF ratings contradict other reviews!

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poppy2009

@poppy2009

Rocker

Posted: 12 years ago

Originally posted by: Kai.
🤔 how come IF ratings contradict other reviews!

😆 So true, I mean, one could understand if the reviews were mixed and IF was giving a top rating to a film. But the reviews for this film are universally bad and yet IF goes and gives it a 4 star review?😕 Dal mein kuch kaala hain!

Anyway, I don't think this is IF's own reviewer doing the job...they probably take the review from some outside source and pass it as their own!

Edited by poppy2009 - 12 years ago

Quote

poppy2009

@poppy2009

Rocker

Posted: 12 years ago

#10

http://www.koimoi.com/reviews/issaq-review/

Issaq Review

July 26th, 2013 by Mohar Basu

Comments ( 1 )

Issaq Movie Poster

Rating: 2/5 stars (Two Stars)

Star cast: Prateik Babbar, Amyra Dastur, Ravi Kishan, Rajeshwari Sachdev, Makrand Deshpande, Neena Gupta, Prashant Narayanan, Sudhir Pandey, Amit Sial, Vineet Kumar, Yuri Suri, Prashant Kumar, Evelyn Sharma

Director: Manish Tiwary

What's Good: There is just one good thing in Issaq and that is its picturesque cinematography.

What's Bad: Everything Else. Everything!

Loo break: Lots of them.

Watch or Not?: Issaq was indeed a thorough waste. With such a promising idea, the film's pseudo-artistic style of narration is half baked and dishonest. Barring a few picturesque shots that encapsulate the fascinating charm of Benaras, the film has absolutely nothing more to boast of. Even if you have a lot of time to spare, avoid this; it comes with the price of aspirin.

User Rating:

23 Votes

In the land by the Ganges, Benaras' tale of family feud begins with the animosity between the Mishras and Kashyaps. Following the vein of epic Shakespearean love of Romeo and Juliet, Rahul and Bachchi engage themselves in a heartfelt and enticing relationship which becomes difficult to give up. With hitches in the beginning, they decide to go forward with their love story. However, their end isn't any different from that of Romeo and Juliet. It is the toiling they go through is what makes the crux of the film.

Watch their love bloom and wither in what is attempted at being incredible.

Amyra Dastur And Prateik Babbar in Issaq Movie Stills

Issaq Review: Script Analysis

There are too many cracks in the film's script. Trying to elucidate the tale of two families who have a history of rivalry between them, the writers unnecessarily adds a communist angle to it, almost to enrage you. With very little knowledge of what pushes communist terrorism to the brink of violence, the Laal Salaam part of the story is forced and pointless.

The family rivalries come with no back story and the comic tinge right at the outset shows the lack of depth. There is a clear insincerity and lack of simplicity in a love story that is flawless in its innocence. This one is so warped in the vagaries of its plots that you'll lose yourself in this matrix of revenge. The needless violence perhaps depicts the way of life in Benaras, which is bizarre! Somehow, Bollywood is suddenly obsessed with lechers harassing women and portraying Benarasi men in such rude light is unfair. The freedom of women in our side of the world is already not something to be proud of and such films surely boost these unacceptable traits as heroines so simply fall for heroes who consistently stalk them!

The anticlimactic climax is almost spoof-like and the intentional gags are flat. This adaptation of Romeo and Juliet will surely bring Shakespeare alive from the dead to haunt the makers of this film.

Issaq Review: Star Performances

Prateik is dismally misfit in the role of Rahul. Being the blue eyed boy following his mamma's legacy in the industry, the role itself lacked anything concrete. He is adequate in his part, despite his accent failing him at parts. The young lad must be careful about his choice of roles, or he'll lose out on the edge which got him noticed in the first place.

Amyra Dastur is fine as the coy Bacchi but then again, her character wasn't well etched out giving her a sketchy personality to work off.

Prashant Narayan is dependable as always and he manages to give a solid performance in the character which was odd to begin with.

The two people who stand out are Ravi Kishan as Teeta Singh whose menacing presence is powerfully executed and Rajeshwari Sachdev is a pleasant surprise as she bravely pulls through her role with grace.

Seasoned actors like Makarand Deshpande and Neena Gupta have been left unused in the film sadly.

Issaq Review: Direction, Screenplay and Music

Manish Tiwary has the ability to dish out crass with such beauty that you almost have the urge of falling for the film. However, there is a clear lack of soul here which is its prime drawback. Unable to infuse any energy in the story, the whole thing passes by without leaving an ounce of effect on you. The pain of its characters fails to touch you, their helplessness doesn't make you weary and their romance feels stretched out, lame and tedious! The screenplay was inconsistent with too many loopholes which makes the weaknesses of the film even more apparent. However, its music was outstanding with every note of Sachin-Jigar hitting the right pitch. The cinematography and photography is ace and only if the story had some steam, a crackling product could have been created.

Issaq Review: The Last Word

Issaq is a tedious film which retells the story of amateur love. A flaky plot and wavering narrative makes Issaq a novel concept that is compromised at the altar of the director's need to prove his artistic bent. I am going with a 2/5 for this one. Those precious 2 hours of my life are never returning! What a tragedy – for me!