Vidhu Vinod Chaopra’s latest release (i.e. Mission Kashmir) didn’t exactly do wonders at the box office and neither was it that great a film. But after seeing this film, you realise how much talent he really has compared to the so-called greats such as Yash Chopra and Karan Jowhar.
I think that this was one of his first commercial films. (He was nominated for an Oscar for best short film ’’ Encounter with faces’’ in 1979).
The first thing that strikes you about this film is, well, how non-filmi it is. There are no mega fight scenes, no fights between hero and villain involving a entire private army and building being destroyed, no sissy college romances and (not many) love songs.
I’m sure that you WILL NOT find the climax in ANY other Hindi film. (Shool comes a close second though)
The thing that stands out the most in the film is its (sometimes-cheesy) classical background music.
Another thing that you notice while watching this movie is that there’s really no ’’hero’’ or ’’villan’’ in the traditional sense. All of the characters are evil/bad in one way or another.
The story revolves around the lives of two brothers (viz. Jackie Shroff and Anil Kapoor) Jackie is a gangster affiliated to Nana Patekar. Anil is an unemployed brother. (Thank God, he’s not a police officer ala Deewar).
Gradually Anil also gets involved in the world of crime and this starts destroying both Jackie’s and Anil’s personal lives. As the plot thickens, Nana becomes a foe of Jackie’s which leads to Anil’s death at his hands.
The final scene where Jackie kills Nana has to be the most realistic end to any Hindi film ever. Thanks to a suggestion from one of the readers, I wll not reveal it to you. Go watch the movie yourself and find out. Sure to give you a big suprise. Very tastefully done .
Other highlights include superb acting by everyone involved and the clever use of birds (i.e parinda of the title).
Your filmi life is incomplete if you haven’t seen this film.