VIRASAT
For casual onlooker, I can say in one word, this movie is Brilliant. Don’t miss it in any case.
The word Bollywood is more often than not uttered with contempt. Even original (if I can say so, considering the usual masala routine) movies are viewed with skepticism. As regards, to remakes, the lesser said the better. However, for once an excellent remake has been made. I haven’t seen Thevar Megan (the kamal haasan movie on which Viraasat was based) and therefore am commenting entirely on the merit of this film. I must admit, that I was not a great fan of Anil Kapoor and went to see the movie only because it was directed by Priyadarshan.
I will state two major points in this review:
Point 1
One of the major mistakes that the film makers make when they are depicting a by-gone era or a non-urban setting, is total lack of coherence between music and the setup of movie. After a long time, Virasat was a movie in which the background score effectively contributed in putting forth its settings effectively , i.e rural background. Heavy instruments were consciously avoided, and beautiful use of flute and dholak effectively added its bit to the rustic setting.
This point will be appreciated if you watch songs of a rather recent film Asoka. The songs of Asoka are totally out of place with the era that they are depicting. The songs, in their lyrics, and more importantly in the choice of instruments, sound very contemporary, and spoil the feel. On the other hand think of Lagaan. Why was one so engrossed in the movie, it settings?? The reason was that its background score, its lyrics, the instruments, language of characters, all seemed to be a part of era that the movie was depicting. Another example of this type is Amrapali, in which particularly the choice of instruments aided immensely in creating an impression of by gone era
Point 2
Acting of Amrish Puri
This was easily the best performance of this highly underrated actor. (He won Filmfare award for this role. (Which for once was extremely justified)). It seemed as if he almost had internalized the role. The sincerity, maturity and emotional trauma of the character that he depicted were totally internalized by him. Aided by excellent dialogue and superb direction he gave a performance, which is easily comparable with some of the best in the world. I had seen him in Ghaatak, where he was quite excellent, but his performance in this movie is almost comparable to Anupam Kher’s in Saaransh.
Other details of the movie are as follows:
Pros:
A compact screenplay
Excellent performance by Anil Kapoor, and Tabu
For a newcomer, a promising performance by Pooja Batra, which sadly was never repeated in her future movies
Unlike Dayawan, the entire setup of the movie was revised. Sincere efforts were made to remake (in its true sense) the movie. The settings was of a north Indian rural village, which for a change looked like one.
Excellent Music. The songs of the movie are not random, but add to the pace of the movie in real sense. Jaspinder Nirula in”Tarein hain Barati” is outstanding, and more than “Pyaar to hona hi thaa” , it is this song which is her best rendering till date.
The much-maligned Anu Malik has given his best compositon till date. Even surpassing his better known movies like Baazigar, Sir or Akele Hum Akele Tum.
The soothing lyrics and sensitivity of the lyrics was a welcome change.
The film is a lesson to those copycats, “Nakal ke liye bhi akal chaiye” (One needs brain even to make a copy).