Ishqiya - Gripping, Gritty and Gory.
Love & lust are fire, whether it is going to warm your heart, or burn down your house, you can never tell. So is the movie Ishqiya with its tagline - Ishq mein sab bewaja hai (Everything in love is unreasonable)
The plot is quite simple, the first few minutes of the movie sets the mood, perspective & character relationships. The movie starts with two thieves – Khalujan (Naseeruddin Shah) and his nephew Babban ( Arshad Warsi) who tries to escape from their boss, Mushtaq. (Salman Shahid).Two thieves Babban and Khalujaan plan to cross the border to Nepal with the help of their old friend, here they meet a widow Krishna (Vidya Balan) In-between a kidnap drama is plotted to raise money to pay off the creditors.
However things don’t always work according to their plans, the situations in the plot lead the characters to experience the emotion creeping into their lives in the most unexpected manner. The movie is all about three different characters played by Khalujan, Babban & Krishna.
All the characters in the movie have different layers on them. And one can never guess the outcome of all the characters. The movie theme beautifully explores the basic human emotion that is influenced by desire, greed, betrayal, and revenge. The movie revolves around a small town of Uttar Pradesh. Rural life is introduced very effectively in the movie.
One of the best aspects of the movie is its casting. Each one of the actors seems to have been made for their respective roles. Debutant director Abhishek Chaubey has managed to extract powerful and gripping performances from his cast. The actors here all rise above the script and spring a surprise.
Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah, one of the most versatile actor is back in a role tailor made for him. He is without a doubt the perfect performer and he has proven that time after time. Some of his scenes were a pure delight to watch.
Arshad Warsi back in form after a long time. He is perfect as the crook, who realizes the meaning of love and betrayal.
Vidya Balan is certainly in a never seen before role. Beauty with brains. Her acting is flawless. She is the surprise package of the movie. She leaves her mark in a natural performance.
Adil Husain as Verma and Master Alok Kumar as Nandu are the other actors that deserve a special mention. All the actors get into the skin of the character completely, making the film all the more convincing.
Abhishek Chaubey the debutant director has successfully learnt the direction well from his guru, Vishal Bharadwaj and it’s a very confident debut. Though this is not Abhishek’s masterpiece movie, but definitely he has browed a piece from his master Vishal Bhardwaj.
Vishal Bhardwaj’s musical score has his quality stamp all over. With Gulzar saheb’s earthy lyrics, Rahath fateh Ali Khan’s poignant voice & Vishal Bharadwaj’s sheer magic music gives one of the most mesmerizing numbers in recent times – ‘ Dil To Bachcha Hai Ji’ . Another lilting gems song, Ibne Batuta is already a rage with listeners.
Despite being multidimensional plot, screenplay written by Abhishek Chaubey, Vishal Bhardwaj and Sabrina Dhawan is spellbinding. Vishal Bharadwaj’s dialogues are very crude. Strictly no for family audiences. Cinematography is simply superb. Right from the first frame to the last. Editing deserves full marks.
The movie is all about rural, but beautiful & different India. Totally away from the glamour, foreign locales, item songs … If you are ready for it, Ishqiya is worth a watch.
In short, ’Ishiqiya’ is the stuff cinema lovers wait for. Quirky, funny and very earthy it has an interesting plot, great characters and soulful music. Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi and Vidya Balan’s roles seem tailor made for them. Not a family watch though!