Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai - 09 Aug 2025 EDT
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Crazy Creatives Wish Everyone a very Happy Raksha Bandhan
Ok! I don't carry a label of film critic! But talent pehchananeka talent hai mujh mein! I have the talent to recognise talent when I see it! So whatever 'not so good' reviews you have come across till now, print those, burn those and flush them down your toilettes!
Go ahead and book your tickets for the movie. It gives you an experience of watching an English film, fast paced, beautifully enacted and well directed...as Barun mentioned, intellectual!
No surprise! It's Barun choice of script after all! This man hasn't disappointed us from his debut MAMR, then THMS and now 22 Yards.
The film is very much about cricket and shows us what goes on in cricket beyond what we see on our screens. So if anybody says, there's no cricket game shown, tell them it's all the nuances, the challenges, the dark other side of cricket which is perfectly presented!
The story is inspiring, too; because Barun brings to us the exact emotions of fall from high and then rise after the fall.
The man shows a plethora of colours in his acting through the transition of the character. Perfection cannot be improved; but this man does it, in his stylish swagger as the high flying cricket agent, improved even further than his Arnav swagger in IPK1.
His cocky retorts to fellow members in public versus his "Chaay piyenge, kaka?" showing his human core with his driver... Barun builds our interest in the story right in the initial scenes.
He achieves summit of acting when he first sees the TV news. As actor and director, that scene is par excellent.
The dramatic change in his body language after the fall is seen in his gait in the walk on the roads in hot sun. It's a sudden contrast to his initial strut. The stress and then the despair, Barun brings through his superb facial expressions and the subtle yet impressive body language.
If you have been fan of Arnav who resisted a tilak, you'll love Ron Sen with slight hesitancy for tilak. If you have loved Arnav as drummer, you'll enjoy dhol of Ron Sen. The man does it so perfect.
You like him in white, he's in white, you like him in black, he's in black, you like his clean shaven look, it's there, you like his bearded look it's there. This guy even makes Pink look good.
Without losing it anywhere in the journey till the last scene, where again Barun nails it through superb combination of body language and facial expressions...there's no fist air pumping or clapping, but his eyes tell us, he's come out as winner!
There is so much more to write... but then my words won't do justice to his talent. Go and experience it yourself! Don't miss the chance. He so very much deserves the best actor award, go and check yourself.
Whoever wrote that casting is not good, just 'control alt del' from your mind. The cast, right down to the driver and Barun's assistant also do perfect justice apart from the main cast Barun, Amartya, Panchhi, Rajat, Chaiti!
About Mitali's direction, and the other cast Watch out my next!
p.s. I wrote this after THMS
Barun did such perfect emoting in 22 yards movie's proposal, starting from the car telecon to the Barun special hug...to declare your love when the woman is connecting with another man, in front of that man.
Again, Aamir had a long shot, a fight and a big scene around the whole thing in DCH; but Barun and Mitali together made it better than what Aamir and Farhan together did. What would have taken, in a TV series perhaps a 20 minutes episode or more, Barun brings us all the layers, all the emotions in hardly 2 mins.
Barun's act was perfect with the beggar lady knocking on his car window, then his fingers twitching but shaking ...to open or not open window, when a Nadeem call is heard. And this man, can make your eyes shimmer to see his emotions in a simple salad cutting shot!
There was a story there, Shonali said as much in their first date; but the movie didn't show the whole story, so are we getting a sequel?
There's the Barun famous missed kiss, too!😉( we are now used to it in all Barun's movies and series)😆
I laughed at Panchhi dialogue "still engaged"; it should have been "sorry, engaged!" as Panchhi was engaged and got married immediately after the movie shoot. That is what her mother told me, happened to first time meet and connect with her mother during the show.
I was wondering why Panchhi Bora was missing from all promotions, but got to know Panchhi is married and has a small daughter, settled in US; so my doubts clarified.
Last but not the least, as the movie clearly states "Public believes what media tells them. So guys and gals, a sincere request to all, not for my sake but for Barun's and the movie's sake, go ahead and share/re tweet these to all your friends. It's a very good movie, let it get the success it deserves and let people not miss the pleasure.
👏👏👏
Neha, thank you very much for the review! The review is not great, but gives a clear idea of the great game Barun Sobti. I can't watch the movie myself yet. But do not much doubt that the film is excellent and the game Baruna as always on top! Critics as a blueprint wrote his review, even before the start of the film, not seeing it, it is not ethical on their part. Thank you again! For me your assessment is very important! I wish our guy good luck, happiness and great victories!😊
Let me start this post with a "Hip Hip Hooray!Hip Hip Hooray!Hip Hip Hooray!
👏 👏 👏
Three cheers for Mitali Ghoshal, the director of Barun's latest film 22 yards. I am not very sure, but maybe it's her first attempt at direction; yet it's turned out to be an accomplishment! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
I can only imagine her struggles, her hard work to get the film going...to strive as a director in a male dominated Bollywood is not easy!
And I commemorate her for placing her trust in Barun's talent in much earlier days. His recent shows/ series/ films etc were not released then and the man was focusing his entire time on just hard work.
Not only that, she has fully tapped his talent and the talent of a mix of newcomers plus veterans to bring us a wonderful film.
The film opens on three helicopters hovering on a cricket stadium, followed by the kind of military level security and then the crowds cheering...her direction and the camera work make us realise, within a second, the high stakes involved in the game far beyond what we watch on our TV screens.
In the next shot immediately after, she brings us down from the skies to ground reality. The unsung heroes working hard on the field, so that players can score their careers and people enjoy cheering them.
So in this very first opening shot, her beautiful camera work tells you clearly, "The movie is about cricket, the other side" even if, one hasn't seen the trailer and just walks in the theater.
Another beauty of direction! Who dares to show their lead star entry in the men's toilette? Mitali and Barun have done it! Because these hush games and politics of cricket do happen a lot in Men's privacy secretly. Without wasting any time, the shot brings you to the drama of the film, the main conflict!
Then she slowly opens the character of Ron Sen, a high flying cricket agent...His shrewd smartness in diverse relations at different levels...
The drama begins to build, in the undercurrents flowing , seen in each frame, every dialogue!
No time wastage, no typical bollywood style love' direction; but she taps on Barun's expressions when he notices Shonali, the first time. His interest in her, the immediate drama coming in, wonderfully depicted in that one single dialogue competently delivered by Barun, "Lunch?... Break ho gaya na!"
(Lunch?...it's break, right!)...and then Mitali shows the bitchy cold war between two females over the male fish, a handsome loaded catch!
In next few minutes through simple shots, the soaring in the skies, overseas of Ron are shown in crisp airport shots.
No unnecessary dialogue-baaji there!...rather, his challenges as competitors want to snatch his stars are shown.
When the fire breaks open, the shot is wonderfully directed and superbly enacted. Man gets the news, he nonchalantly puts the TV on and without looking much proceeds to his morning chores...and then his reaction on hearing his reference in the news...
initially there's no rage, there's just confusion, pure disbelief of such fraud happening with you... Mitali uses a nice frame of cast falling out in wall frame...a wonderful message there!
The sense of wildfire comes to you, by the glass bottle breaking and his bleeding...his love interest is at the door knowing the wildfire is going to hit him.
Then there's another glass breaking... the still fragile, just blooming relation between Ron and Shonali by Ron's rage and his demand to be left alone.
Mitali shows her talent, in not creating theatrical scenes like banging the bottle against some mirror or something... Rather she taps Barun's acting caliber and leaves it to our intelligence to know that things have messed up... That's why I called it 'like an English film' in my earlier post.
Mitali's talent is seen in the way each song carries the story ahead and is not just there because Bollywood films have songs.
The Sanjheya song shows the familiarity and underneath love blooming between the lead pair, through easy natural daily activities.
Ruk Ja Nadeem song shows us Ron's despair and the direct hit on a very vulnerable lonely core inside without any melodrama. She uses wonderful camera angles, carefully designed shots.
I liked the way she shows us the time lapse and the depression settling in the way Ron gets a beard and starts chain smoking... talented shot there!
Bande daud song brings us to the strife to rise after a fall for both players. And who are these two players? She has shown in that wonderful cricket pitch scene where Ron convinces Shom.
Mitali so subtly, yet so impressively brings out Ron's fight against Shom's resistance, in that one shot of Ron jogging with Shom. Barun's expression captured there narrates you the entire paradigm.
Again, the time frame is shown wonderfully, from Ron's earlier birthday when Shonali takes him shopping and he first sees Shom.
And then later his next birthday, when he declares in his office that Shom will play high stakes game.
The shot is beautifully exploited further in bringing the fear drama out from Shom's sister.
The character of businessman Ron remains intact throughout. From initial scenes and his cocky dialogue "Don't get too happy, your Salary has not risen." To the birthday shot, "Isn't there work in office?" shows that the man has sprung back to life.
Without playing too much melodrama, Mitali beautifully brings out heartbreak of Ron on knowing her engagement in the "Tumi Dalal Ho" shot and then Shonali's emotions in seeing Ron hugging her cold war rival after springing back.
Mitali has used simple frames but brought us the huge depth of each character so very complex, so layered and their interactions in the film.
Watch out my next post about the other characters, equally significant players in the drama... lots to talk about Mitali, Barun, Amartya, Chaiti and Panchhi.
In the meantime, Gals what are you waiting for? Appreciate their hard work and Book your tickets fast.If you are overseas, ask all your India friends, relatives to book their tickets, today itself!.. Tomorrow never comes!
Anupamaa
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