An sms from my dear friend Sanjoy(FE) -Missing this movie would be crime.
Everyday that passed thereafter, I felt like a fugitive. Like a gaddaar. It had been only one week but it felt like I had been listening about this movie from eternity.
Things I already knew – it was a thriller, a tribute to the maestros of the genre Vijay Anand and James Hadley Chase, the modus operandi of crime influenced by lesser known Amitabh starrer ‘Parwana’, Neil Nitin Mukesh was the next sensation, Sriram Raghavan had delivered a doosra after Ek Haseena Thi, Dharam paaji’s dream comeback continued, the supporting cast performed wonderfully(Vinay Pathak, Zakir Hussain, Ashwiwni Kalsekar), even Rimi Sen who was among the lesser known but successful mushrooming breed of Sens(Riya, Raima, Sushmita.) had delivered a powerpacked performance.
ENOUGH! I said. Like a cocaine starved drug addict I rushed to the nearest PVR to have a puff of what everyone around seemed to be enjoying.
The tickets were readily available on a Sunday evening show. I had heard it was not for women, children and weak hearted. That must have kept half the people away – I told myself. There were no songs even. Anyways, the movie started. I had been told by my well wishers what not to miss, what to watch carefully, how to watch, what to observe – I kept my ears and eyes(even nose) WIDE OPEN. The credits rolled and it did have the ‘tribute’ effect written all over it. The fonts, the colours, the background music transferred me to the thriller movies of 60s and 70s. It started with a monochrome sequence of someone being killed by someone on a rainy night. Clever. Just like you would start from the later pages of a crime novel and then move back to initial pages.
The characters arrived. There weren’t many. Sooraj Barjatya would have suffered a heart attack if he would have got the same starcast which hardly added upto ten. That’s what crime thrillers are about. More leads to confusion. Five members of a gang putting in 50 lacs each with one member supposed to take away the booty in suitcase and reach Bangalore where a deal was supposed to be done which would result in a windfall for all. The five members were as different as the five pandavas. Dharam paaji played the wise and respected Yudhisthira. Daya Shetty seemed like a giant Bheema. Neil Nitin MUkesh was the Arjuna. Vinay Pathak and Zakir Hussain picked up the remaining roles. Well, I don’t know whether it was deliberate but I observed that 3 names started with’SH’.
Dharam – Sheshadri, Daya – Shiva, Zakir – Shardul, Neil – Vikram, Vinay – Prakash.
And yes. Rimi plays Shardul’s wife having a secret love affair with the charming hunk Vikram. Ashiwini Kelsekar plays Vinay’s wife. Dharam paaji lives with his dead wives memories and recorded voice which he time and again plays on a taperecorder he even carries to his loo(well, that is how much he loved his dead wife. Not like nowdays husbands who wish their wives were dead).
After a lot of hassles, everyone somehow manages to put their share on the designated date and the entire amount is transferred to a giant suitcase. But one of the members of the gang has got his masterplan ready. He picks up a novel of James Hadley Chase and happens to watch Amitabh starrrer ‘Parwana’ and he has enough ideas up his sleeve. What happens next? Does he succeed? Or it opens a Pandora box of sex, lies and cellotapes(Yes cellotapes. Lots of them. Those who have watched the movie would know what I am talking about. Those who haven’t, please do.)
Here lies my problem with the movie. And I have too many to list here.
First: Greed chooses just ONE person to strike. Even intelligence chooses the same person. Rest are either too naïve or too submissive to even think about the idea. If you watch closely, other than the one who plots his secret plan, rest are all plain IDIOTS. Buffoons to be precise. There are no equals. That takes some sheen off from a prospective combat and confrontation that could have made the things more thrilling towards the end.
Two: It’s a child’s play to kill anyone by the bullet and plot alibis. Forensic experts, police investigations, even the media which lives in every house nowdays is conspicuous by its absence. Maybe this tribute was happening in the 60s and 70s.There aren’t even witnesses and even if there are, they are blind, deaf and dumb. I maybe mistaken.
Three: There is so much of personal vendetta going around that you are confused as to what is happening. The characters are ill defined. Crime happens by motive. It can happen to anyone and you don’t need a background– Raghavan may argue.
Four: You don’t get worried if you don’t find your house keys which you had just moments ago. You choose to be a fool and ignorant. How will the story proceed then?
Five: You can make predictable thrilling. This isn’t a WHOdunnit. The WHO is known. This is a HOWdunnit. Fine. I don’t have a problem here sorry. It was thrilling in bits and pieces. Raghavan made his inspirations clear. It was as clear as cheating in an examination with the books open. So nice and ethical of him. But that’s what makes the movie so predictable. You know what is going to happen next, right? Somehow, the sequence of events seemed out of a TV detective serial.
I don’t know whether it was the curiosity which killed the cat. Whether it was loads of expectations I had from this movie which took away the joy I would have otherwise had. People told me to handover my expectations at the security check at the cinema hall’s entrance. But even the security men loaded me with more expectations.
I was told Neil had arrived. I won’t be ruthless to him. He sure has potential. But hello? Arrived? Maybe we should say he is knocking on the door. He has to prove his versatility. Has a long way to go.