Shortly after I had started to get excited over the highly acclaimed Bollywood Neo-Noir Johnny Gaddaar finally arriving in the post,I was happy to discover an exciting-looking Gangster Neo-Noir Bollywood film being sold for a surprisingly cheap price at my local CEX!.With the delivery date for Johnny Gaddaar still being a few days away,I decided to take a look at the "Dammed (lives) Life" of this cleverly made film.
The plot:
As the blood from a bullet wound in his back starts to drip out,Arun begins to think about the events which have led to his current situation,whilst the girl who he is secretly attractive to (Priti) attempts to keep him conscious.
A few days earlier:
Being told by a gangster (Metha) who he had spent several months helping to make some pretty shady "business" deals succeed,that he was going back on his promise and not giving him a penny from any of the deals that they had made together.
Arun decides that he needs to get the most attention possible over Metha's backstabbing.This leads Arun to hanging on a ledge,and almost accidentally killing himself!,until a group of friends arrive in the nick of time,and stop him from becoming a piece of road kill.Giving in to Arun's display of insanity,Metha sets up a meeting where he tells Arun again that he will not give him a single penny.
With the meeting crumbling right before his eyes,Arun beings to think about the first ever time he had experienced "love at first sight",when he had seen a singer called Priti perform during a night on the town from long ago with Metha.Impressivly pulling back the meeting from breaking point and making it into a successful stalemate,Arun decides to celebrate his achievement by giving his lover-in waiting a call.Expecting to hear excitement over his surprise phone call,Arun is angered to discover that Priti seems to have become romantically involved with a man called Shyam Singhania (whose secretly seeing,(and is engaged) to a daughter of a powerful politician.)
Deciding to pay a surprise visit,Arun heads for Shyam's house to show that he wont give up without a fight to win Priti's heart.Getting himself all prepared to open his car door,walk up and finally knock on Singhania's door.Arun,is stopped dead in his tracks,when a rag-tag group of gangsters, (who do not know of Priti's presence in the house) suddenly break into Shyam's house,to kidnap Singhania,and the politician's daughter in order to demand a potentially damaging ransom
View on the film:
From the opening credits that would make Saul Bass loudly applaud,co- writer/ (along with Manu Rishi Chadha and Swanand Kirkire) director Sudhir Mishra displays a stunning level of skill,which makes each of the (originally separate) plot lines ones that can be enjoyed separately,and also as a whole.
Mishra cleverly interlocks the plot lines into a terrific Neo-Noir style Thriller,from the first scenes in the film featuring Arun (played by a brilliantly smart and sneaky Irrfan Khan) having a meeting with Metha, (the enjoyably moody Saurabh Shukla)the first thing which completely grabbed my attention was the writers fantastically gritty dialogue that mixes wonderfully sharp moments of swearing,with a grim Film Noir narration and a terrific group of "outlaw" gangsters.
During my viewing of this excellent movie,I originally started to get a bit fearful that this (potentially) great film may be about to fall apart at any moment!,due to Mishra introducing each of the characters in an extremely fast pace that only allows a broad outline to be initially made.Impressivly,Mishra makes sure that the film's thread's never become too tangled,with the after effect of the kidnapping allowing the writers to show the full desperation and confusion that all of the characters are experiencing as a result of the kidnapping and hidden desires.
Along with the terrific twisting & turning screenplay,Mishra's brilliant,creatively stylised directing, (with highlights being scenes such as the gangsters tense invasion of Shyam's house,and a weirdly funny "missed bullet".)helps to create an amazing setting for his wonderfully intense and disturbed characters.
The plot:
As the blood from a bullet wound in his back starts to drip out,Arun begins to think about the events which have led to his current situation,whilst the girl who he is secretly attractive to (Priti) attempts to keep him conscious.
A few days earlier:
Being told by a gangster (Metha) who he had spent several months helping to make some pretty shady "business" deals succeed,that he was going back on his promise and not giving him a penny from any of the deals that they had made together.
Arun decides that he needs to get the most attention possible over Metha's backstabbing.This leads Arun to hanging on a ledge,and almost accidentally killing himself!,until a group of friends arrive in the nick of time,and stop him from becoming a piece of road kill.Giving in to Arun's display of insanity,Metha sets up a meeting where he tells Arun again that he will not give him a single penny.
With the meeting crumbling right before his eyes,Arun beings to think about the first ever time he had experienced "love at first sight",when he had seen a singer called Priti perform during a night on the town from long ago with Metha.Impressivly pulling back the meeting from breaking point and making it into a successful stalemate,Arun decides to celebrate his achievement by giving his lover-in waiting a call.Expecting to hear excitement over his surprise phone call,Arun is angered to discover that Priti seems to have become romantically involved with a man called Shyam Singhania (whose secretly seeing,(and is engaged) to a daughter of a powerful politician.)
Deciding to pay a surprise visit,Arun heads for Shyam's house to show that he wont give up without a fight to win Priti's heart.Getting himself all prepared to open his car door,walk up and finally knock on Singhania's door.Arun,is stopped dead in his tracks,when a rag-tag group of gangsters, (who do not know of Priti's presence in the house) suddenly break into Shyam's house,to kidnap Singhania,and the politician's daughter in order to demand a potentially damaging ransom
View on the film:
From the opening credits that would make Saul Bass loudly applaud,co- writer/ (along with Manu Rishi Chadha and Swanand Kirkire) director Sudhir Mishra displays a stunning level of skill,which makes each of the (originally separate) plot lines ones that can be enjoyed separately,and also as a whole.
Mishra cleverly interlocks the plot lines into a terrific Neo-Noir style Thriller,from the first scenes in the film featuring Arun (played by a brilliantly smart and sneaky Irrfan Khan) having a meeting with Metha, (the enjoyably moody Saurabh Shukla)the first thing which completely grabbed my attention was the writers fantastically gritty dialogue that mixes wonderfully sharp moments of swearing,with a grim Film Noir narration and a terrific group of "outlaw" gangsters.
During my viewing of this excellent movie,I originally started to get a bit fearful that this (potentially) great film may be about to fall apart at any moment!,due to Mishra introducing each of the characters in an extremely fast pace that only allows a broad outline to be initially made.Impressivly,Mishra makes sure that the film's thread's never become too tangled,with the after effect of the kidnapping allowing the writers to show the full desperation and confusion that all of the characters are experiencing as a result of the kidnapping and hidden desires.
Along with the terrific twisting & turning screenplay,Mishra's brilliant,creatively stylised directing, (with highlights being scenes such as the gangsters tense invasion of Shyam's house,and a weirdly funny "missed bullet".)helps to create an amazing setting for his wonderfully intense and disturbed characters.