ISHQIYA: MOVIE + MEMBER Reviews - POST HERE

You need to have a strong stomach to absorb ISHQIYA. It's high on drama, it's wild, it's real. But it's not dark, it's not sleazy, it's not crass. Frankly, you don't expect debutante director Abhishek Chaubey to make a stereotypical fare thanks to the tutelage by his guru Vishal Bhardwaj, who loves to swim against the tide and undertake risks in film after film.

You could call ISHQIYA a distant cousin of OMKARA. Set in Gorakhpur in North India, the film has a rustic feel, depicts characters that may make you uncomfortable and is laced with saucy lingo. Yet, it's different than OMKARA.

Final word? You can't help but fall in ishq with ISHQIYA. Tired of sherbat? Try this spicy jaljeera for a change!

Two thieves, Khalujaan [Naseeruddin Shah] and Babban [Arshad Warsi], are on the run from their boss, Mushtaq. They seek refuge at a friend's house, but instead meet his widow, Krishna [Vidya Balan]. The time spent together draws the duo to her, Khalu with his tinted vision of old-fashioned love and Babban with his lustful eye. But the past catches up with all three!

There's no denying that the promos had prepared me of the journey ahead, yet it took me a good 15-odd minutes to get into the world of Khalujaan, Babban and Krishna. But once you get sucked into their world, the blurred images start getting clearer and clearer and you become an active participant in their journey.

The first hour passes in a jiffy, but the story actually gets dramatic and volatile in its second hour. It's at this stage that things start getting more and more unpredictable. The story does a somersault every 10 minutes and by the time it reaches its finale, you're curious to know how the debutante director would conclude this saga. The end, of course, will have its share of advocates and adversaries, but the fact remains that it's offbeat.

Abhishek Chaubey is a welcome addition to the ranks of avid storytellers. His choice of the subject and also handling of the material is what makes this film so eminently watchable. Not once do you feel that ISHQIYA has been helmed by a first-timer. Note the change of events in the song 'Dil To Bachcha Hain Ji' or the kidnap drama and the heated argument that follows thereafter. Even the passionate lovemaking sequence between Arshad and Vidya has been dexterously canned.

However, Chaubey and his team of writers could've kept the writing simplistic towards the finale. It's complex and also lacks clarity. Yet, all said and done, screenplay writers Vishal Bhardwaj, Sabrina Dhawan and Abhishek Chaubey deserve kudos for coming up with a film that keeps you hooked for most parts.

Vishal Bhardwaj's musical score has his unmistakable stamp all over. The film is embellished with two lilting gems - 'Ibne Batuta' and 'Dil To Bachcha Hain Ji' - which are a rage with listeners already and have been juxtaposed beautifully in the plot. Mohana Krishna's cinematography is first-rate. Dialogues [Vishal Bhardwaj] are acidic and a few lines are indeed startling.

Every actor in ISHQIYA delivers a sparkling performance! Naseeruddin Shah is superb as a romantic. He is matchless in the sequence when he learns the truth about Vidya and Arshad. Arshad packs in a bravura performance yet again. Post MUNNABHAI films, Arshad should be liked in this one the maximum. Vidya continues to surprise. It's a dynamic performance undoubtedly. PAA and ISHQIYA are two landmarks in her career.

The actors enacting the role of Jijaji, the kidnapped victim and Vidya's husband are all perfect. The child, who interacts with Arshad, is natural. In fact, every performance in ISHQIYA is worthy of mention.

On the whole, ISHQIYA is definitely worth a watch. The film has a riveting plot, great performances, soulful music, an absorbing story and skilful direction to make the viewer fall in ishq with it. It should appeal to the hardcore masses as also the multiplex junta.



http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/review/13854/index.html

January 29, 2010 10:05 IST

Tags: Abhishek Chaubey, Ishqiya, Vishal Bhardwaj, Khalujaan, Mohana Krishna

Rarely are grace and profanity cited in the same breath. Debutant filmmaker Abhishek Chaubey's Ishqiya, however, is a privileged exception.

Regardless of its colourful language, simmering sexuality, ribald humour and unabashed reverence for the offensive, the drama has enough lyricism, layers and eccentricity to stereotype it as grim or gawky.

Produced, co-written (along with Chaubey and Sabrina Dhawan) and composed by Vishal Bhardwaj [ Images ], Ishqiya bears his stamp of brains, brilliance and blasphemy but leaves enough space for Chaubey to establish his credibility. And that's not an easy task when your film is set in the same milieu and texture as Bhardwaj's Omkara [ Images ]. But like Chaubey mentions in an interview, the similarities are mostly 'cosmetic.' He's quite right too.

Barring the fact that both films are set in Eastern Uttar Pradesh [ Images ] belt, which obviously reflects in the conversations, mannerisms and clothing, there's no further resemblance. Interestingly, Chaubey's UP is not just a contrived hamlet featuring mooing cows and stray dogs but a self-sufficient town with malls, restaurants and beauty parlours.

Comfortable in its capricious skin, Ishqiya -- a tricky and moody tale of a whimsical trio caught in twisted circumstances -- gets even more complicated owing to the impulsiveness of heart.

The fickle tone is set in the opening sequence itself wherein a couple shares intimate moments of domesticity when their bliss is shattered after a gas cylinder blows off. This then immediately follows with some wonderful on-the-road bonhomie between Naseeruddin Shah [ Images ] and Arshad Warsi [ Images ], courtesy the supremely infectious Ibn-e-batuta. The drastic change of tracks is conducted with such crispness and panache; it's quite impressive, really.

The afore-mentioned actors play Khalujaan and Babban, small-time crooks on the run after stealing from their gun-toting boss, Mushtaq (Salman Shahid). Things don't work out as planned and they are forced to take refuge at a deceased friend's dilapidated abode in Gorakhpur (striking props and production design by Nitin Chandrakant Desai) run single-handedly by his melancholic widow, Krishna (Vidya Balan [ Images ]).

While Khalujaan is clearly the experienced yet emotional of the lot, Babban, underneath the cocky surface is disarmingly boyish and sensitive. As for Krishna, she's exactly like the tone of this movie -- unpredictable.

Her melodious charms instantly find an aficionado in Khalujaan who reveals his antecedent belonged to the 'Great Gharana of Indore' for his tabla-playing skills whereas the perennially aroused Babban befriends a 'Bees-kam-paanch' adolescent lad (Aalok Kumar) to track down the nearest brothel in town. Eventually, he too starts competing with Khalu for Krishna's hard-to-tell affections.

Just as we get comfortable with the romance, Chaubey throws a new twist our way. Certain developments in the script implore them to kidnap a specific Mr Kakkad as the only resort to wiggle out of the ensuing dilemma. What follows is a wild ride of set-ups, heartbreaks, revelations and a high-five worthy awesome climax.

While Ishqiya is a terrific first-time effort from Chaubey, there were a couple of things that strike a jarring note. Firstly, the pace could have been tauter and done away with all the excessive ambiguity surrounding characters, sub-plots and their objectives. If the idea is to keep them enigmatic, it is tediously conveyed.

As much as one appreciates Mohana Krishna's fluid camerawork, which captures both the day scenes of dingy countryside lanes as well as the shady night-themed drama of red-light areas with precision and play, the editing by Namrata Rao is mostly sloppy.

Ishqiya's individuality lies in the fact that it's stylish, very stylish, mind you, only not in the sense we are conditioned to acknowledge. There's none of the cowboy swagger nor is the blasphemy or sexuality, read a long lip lock between Arshad and Vidya, induced with the intent to jolt or titillate.

Like Popeye's simplistic philosophy, 'I yam what I yam,' Ishqiya tells it like it is, no judging, in the face of most bizarre circumstances. Therein lies the charm and triumph of Chaubey's fondly titled caper which bears the rustic imagery of Shyam Benegal's [ Images ] vision and the aggression of a Vishal Bhardwaj film.

Though set against a rural backdrop, Ishqiya has a very urban mind and approach, which is evident in its narrative if not lingo. Chaubey, like Bhardwaj in Kaminey [ Images ], handpicks classic melodies of Rahul Dev [ Images ] Burman and Hemant Kumar to lend dual perspective to a scene, which is both effective and cool.

Considering Bhardwaj's contribution to this film, his mention is mandatory. As expected, he brings his ardour and understanding of the art with some forceful and quotable word play: 'Humne galti karne mein thodi der kardi aur aapne maafi maangne mein thodi jaldi.' Or communicate just a hint of ethnic differences with 'Khalujaan, yeh jagah bahut danger hain. Apne yahan toh sirf Shia-Sunni hote hain. Yahan toh Pandey, Yadav, Jat sabne apni fauj bana rakhi hai.'

He influences Chaubey in the most constructive way possible instilling the importance of a solid, even if virtually unknown, supporting cast. And so you'll come across some incredible pieces of acting from actors -- spanning all age groups, besides the main three.

And what a threesome! Even as Naseer keeps it understated letting his keen presence, droopy eyes and shy smile express his besotted state, Arshad Warsi demonstrates his un-Circuit self in a role that demands sly sensuality and locker-room humour.

The lady, however, steals the show. Vidya Balan seems to be on a roll. After Paa, she once again rises to the occasion to reaffirm her credentials as a powerhouse performer. Along the lines of Hema Malini [ Images ], Vidya is a rare combination of grit and grace even when swearing in the strongest possible language draped in dowdy, fluorescent yellows and reds. If this is not remarkable, what is?

Although one of the best moments of Ishqiya comes during the climax as three maverick Ishqians walk away from a scene of destruction to Bharadwaj's escalating score, an unmistakable ode to the genius of Ennio Morricone.

If VB is the equivalent of Quentin Tarantino [ Images ] in Hindi cinema, safe to say with Chaubey, we have a Robert Rodriguez in the making.

Rediff Rating:

Anupama Chopra, Consulting Editor, Films, NDTV

Friday, January 29, 2010

I know its only January but I think its safe to say that Ishqiya is the most crackling film you'll see this year. It's feisty and sly and very, very sexy.

Which is astounding considering that it is set in Gorakhpur. But in the hands of debutant director Abhishek Chaubey, the badlands of Eastern UP are simmering with dirty deeds and dark desires. This desi noir is so feverish, it makes everything else look anemic in comparison.

Written by Vishal Bharadwaj, Chaubey and Sabrina Dhawan, Ishqiya gives us a love triangle unlike any we've seen before.

Two petty thieves, uncle Khalujan, played by Naseeruddin Shan and his nephew Babban, played by Arshad Warsi, are on the run after double-crossing their boss. When all other avenues for shelter dry up, they land up at the house of a friend only to be told that he is dead. His widow Krishna, played by Vidya Balan, takes them in. What follows is an incredibly tangled tale of love and longing, guns and deceit.

You know you are in for a roller coaster ride the minute the film starts. The standard disclaimer that the film and its characters are fictional informs us that characters kafi hadh tak imaginary hain.

It will take you several minutes to adjust to the terrain and the language but Ishqiya seeps in like slow intoxication.

Chaubey keeps the pacing brisk and the humor, crisp. He skillfully shifts notes going from suspense to laughter in a blink. And the dialogue, by Vishal, is pitch perfect.

Krishna, who is described as a desi tamancha and a sutli bomb, plays the men like an organ.

Both uncle and nephew fall inexorably in love with her. Khalujan conducts an old-world romance, listening to her sing and in a lovely scene, even peeling garlic in her kitchen. Babban is aggressively sexual but the poetry of their love is underlined with danger. You are always aware that nothing is quite what it seems.

Ishqiya would have faltered if the performances had not matched the writing but all three leads are absolutely terrific.

Vidya Balan's smoldering looks scorch the screen even as her eyes hint at tragedy. She proves that she is miles ahead of the cookie cutter Barbie dolls that clutter Bollywood and that sensuality has very little to do with showing skin.

Arshad Warsi is feral as Babban and Naseeruddin Shah, heart-achingly vulnerable as an old man giddy with love. Watch his smiling eyes in Bharadwaj's lilting composition Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji.

After hearing Krishna sing, Khalujan immediately starts to color his graying hair. Little touches like this stay with you even after the film is over.

Of course Ishqiya isn't an entirely smooth ride.

In the second half, there are stretches in which the plot starts to blur and the end-twist is less than convincing. But if you have the patience and the willingness to savor an edgier, less populist popular Hindi cinema, you will be amply rewarded.

I strongly recommend that you see it.

http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_review.aspx?id=473&albumname=Ishqiya

some1 told me , vidya balan showed how even in a saree one cn luk soo hot n sexy ..it al lies in attitude.

and naseeruddin shah is always a genius!!