Viruddh is that kind of movie u know everything about even before watching and yet u want to watch it. why?
first because of Big B, obviously,
second, Sharmils, after a loooong time
third, John Abraham, drop dead looks
fourth, Anusha, she’s hot, at least looks that way to the younger crowd
fifth, Mahesh Manjrekar excels at simple stories
yet, somewhere this film lacks, I dont know where, but it does. this is not to say that this is a bad product or anything, yet I got the feeling this is not quite what it could have been.
the biggest positive, of course Amitabh: Vidyadhar Patwardhan is cranky and cool, petulant and passionate, adamant and accommodating. There are many episodes where the actor goes beyond the script and the cues provided by his co-stars.
in other reviews u can know all about this movie’s merits, so i’ll talk about a few of the things that this movie lacked:
By the time Vidyadhar takes to the gun for self-justice, you are squirming in your seat at the compromises that the script imposes on the protagonist. Vidyadhar’s critical sequence with his son’s powerfully-placed killer in the latter’s office is so clumsily weighed against the adversary, so consciously designed to spotlight the tyranny of villainy that you wonder why Manjrekar allowed his tale to lapse from lyricism to theatricality.
You miss that spousal succour and erotic bantering with Hema Malini in Baghban or even the quiet flow of empathy with Supriya Pathak in Sarkar. You also miss that evened-out tone and structure that separates the great works from the also-rans.
still, eminently watchable, even though u have seen a man fight against the system a zillion time before, still.........much better than a lot of trash being produced these days.