Aye bhai.dekh ke chal! Meri aishwarya.aaj to tu Madhubala dikh reli hai re. Aaj apne ko Bhai ke ghar bulaya hai.mast chicken biryani aur do teen taka tak. Aaj dhandhaich nahin hua re. sala wo naya inispector hai na. usko to mai. aye bhai jara sambhal ke yahaan signal par bhi CAIMERA lagela hai.haannn.
This is the language subjected to our ears. familiar? Its bumbaiyya hindi. maa bhen kar daleli hai apun ke bhaasha ki! **chyaila.*
Madhur Bhandarkar and his whims. Appreciate the sheer will to make such realistic cinema. TRAFFIC SIGNAL is a thread woven into a typical Mumbai scenario, which is just known to others but experienced everyday by Mumbaiites. And yes. traffic signal can be an area of hot gosips of what is happening at the nearest police beat, the new havaldar at the signal, the good guy in the mercedes benz and the new gajrewali who wants a piece of our business terrain(apun ka ilaaka!)
This a typical theme of a guy called SILSILA, Kunal Khemu (note the name. given because he has many girl friends or girls dying for his attention) who has grown on the signal and is now a handsome man who is looked upon by elders and the young as a HERO! The twists in the tale are the introduction of an Engineer, the MLA, The builder, The Bhai’s etc. Add to it a dash of love. Neetu Chandra as Rani.
Jaffer bhai and mausi are Silsila’s idols as bhai has taught him the "bizness" and mausi is god mother. The thread of the TS is that the life of these people. How they allocate areas of bizness and the hafta collection as against the sad almost brutal way of their upbringing. The only language they understand is that if you are good be good to you if you are bad be brutally bad. Brick for a brick an eye for an eye. The movie is almost honest in its own way of getting close to the world that surrounds these people. The involvement of Bhai’s in placating people who arenot corrupt, the upstaging of their own Basti which gives them do teen khokha in hafta, and equally lurid is the thread of cell phones being flicked and bhai’s using it!
The night life depicted was only created for Konkana Sen(another neat performance by this very versatile actress) with Ranvir Shourey who secretly admires her and wants her in a motherly sorta way! His only meaning ful dialogue in the film is his story of his mom and how he came face to face with reality. His death in the film was completely meaningless and for Konkana only.
*Upside*
The movie is absolute guts and determination! It is a nicely woven thread which is sewed into an open ended vest. You cannot really have a script for this.
The part of a child who keeps rubbing a fairness cream on his face(childs name: DAMBAR(TAR)) is very endearing and brings a smile on your face when he is shown throwing stones at the same creams hoarding! Another child calling a TSUNAMI CENTRE for his parents whereabouts and being told to keep calling inspite of his parents being declared dead is quite heart wrenching! Also thrown in is a marriage ceremony with an item song! Only librty taken by Mr. Bhandarkar in the film!
The scene where Noorie(Konkana) and Dominic(Ranvir) are talking about his mom.when Noorie has to take care of dhandha is almost hard to digest but being in Mumbai and having seen the night life before the time regulations. IS HAPPENING(maybe even today)!
When the traffic Signal is being taken apart the entire basti is crying and watching it as though there world is being torn apart!
Kunal, Neetu have done their bits to perfection!, Langda is amazing, and Paaya(Sameer Khan) is adequate(could have been used more. but like I said there is no script for such realistic cinema as liberties are limited!). Sudhir Mishra is done his bit as a Bhai of the entire ilaaka.
*Downside*
Personally, any given length for such a topic is not sufficient! True life(realistic) cinema cannot be depicted so fast! The plot could not be woven intricately as such a topic has too many characters to do justice to. Maybe Mr. Bhandarkar needs to make a sequel to this after Silsila turns a new leaf!
Watch it for his sheer experiment on the subject! Its not entertaining its thought provoking! Doesnt make you feel sad but makes you think about the world within your world and makes you feel good thanking for the world you live in!
Sound track OK!
Cinmatography GOOD!
Action NOT MUCH!
Direction GOOD!
*Are Credit Card scams, Finance as in Personal Loans and the whirlpool surrounding it coming soon Mr. Bhandarkar?*
Watch it just for getting to know Mumbai better!
people who live in this world find a way to make it work while it can! Chalti ka naam Zindagi! Bapu.tu kidhar ko gayela hai.?
p.s apun ne shanti se bola tha ke. bole to hindi pikture pe apun likhega.is sunday koich. bole to DEKH.daal diyela hai revu!(to you Shanti!)