FICTIONAL INTERVIEW OF SATYAJIT RAY

https://weeklyscribbler.wordpress.com/2017/06/16/dead-celeb-interview-satyajit-ray/

Kate's the one to watch - The Reader (old post)

In an attempt to preserve it for selfish reasons.. http://www.mouthshut.com/review/The-Reader-review-rtsmqtpprm What does a woman do, in times of losing her sense of balance, and security? She succumbs to fate dictated by others. The story of The Reader makes you uncomfortable. The romance makes you writhe because never have I seen raw power of the body move in harmony with the senses of the mind. That’s The Reader’s victory. A lone woman, a young boy go on to have a romance that leaves scars behind. The young lad never really grows out of it, though his sense of understanding the woman grows with time. The movie, like a few others, lingers on your mind long after you’ve moved out of the theatre and gone home. It stays with you, and makes you ask questions about human relationships. Kate’s longing for an identity is subtly played out in silence and the boy’s sudden break into adulthood through her, destroys not only his innocence, also his sensitivity to love another. Without a dramatic play out of the two lives, the story links the pain of the two. One is longing to know herself better through innocence, and the other, becomes jaded in adoloscence.

Jalsaghar and a house that speaks

A fine movie with a house that's got more soul than its occupants. Imagine being walked into a house that in all it's finery appears lonely. There's debauchery and decadence, and almost a sense of tragedy lurking in the corners. As if an expensive structure has an apologetic look engulfing it. The technical brilliance of the film consumes you. With each faltering step of the protagonist, the house responds by almost losing a limb. The downfall is gradual, and the crumbling is in sync.

Some reasons to love Chidiyakhana

1) the plot there's something very forthcoming about the story itself, something that comes at you breaking all aspects of time. This could've been today barring some of the technical stuff of register and tropes. The plot leaps at you 2) dialogues the opening scene is full of satire and foreboding brilliant you don't understand it until the plot's moved on 3) the setting it's just fantastical, the people who occupy chidiyakhana and their 'master' the judge who's preoccupied with the idea of retribution and is forced into a game of cat and mouse. And even as a lot of Feluda stories are concerned with judges keen on washing off guilt or possible mistakes, this one's absolutely bizarre.

She

The most compelling scene from Charulata, to my mind, is this one. And, frankly, how do I even describe it? The physicality of the scene is most striking, where violence finds its palpable presence in the turmoil-ridden household. I am quite new to Ray, so I won't be able to do justice to this film (or any other of his) but this scene has stuck in my mind, with her voice booming, as she charges in, forcing her brother-in-law to look at her achievement.And, I'm not even going to talk about what this really means for her. But, the camera captures this aggression in her so bloody well. The hair is open, her look is wild, and her persona in contrast to the woman in the frame. Like, Charulata is out of her 'frame', her cage, even if it is temporary. And, the camera as the voyeur just following her moves without any trace of intrusion, bowing to her rage. Very striking! Love it.

Realism and its form

Remembering Durga's character from Pather Panchali, few things simply stand out. One, her death marks the breakdown of some of the tangible prospects of the setting. With her presence gone, you see the house as a mere broken down structure of brick and mortar and that's not just referring to the storm aftermath alone. While she was growing up, in the literal sense, you see the progression, or signs of growth and nature with glimpses offered by the stolen fruits repeatedly showing up, almost like a precursor to her nascent desires, and from there on to being taken to a lavish wedding, her own fantasy of being a bride, and the very poignant scene with the train showcasing the changing times and the curiosity within her prompting her to include her brother in her adventure. Finally, with the onset of monsoon, her unfortunate last embrace of something larger than life abruptly ends. The progression reverses into something more brutal, all-consuming disaster that tears into the landscape leaving behind only the banal signs of poverty bereft of soul.

Skyfall-some thoughts

Judi Dench as M, fends off criticism of her seemingly redundant department quoting lines from Tennyson's Ulysses before she's cut short to face her nemesis. Now, that for a Bond movie, is stretching things quite a bit, isn't it?

You wouldn't expect Bond to be drunk, winning bets in a nondescript pub, or going through a regurgitated phase of training to prove he is ready to be on field duty. But you will not only see Bond as the unshaven, sunken-eyed droll, you will then see him resurrected.

Towards the end, though, he plays out an adult version of Home Alone with such profundity, you'll wonder why I even bothered to make that allusion in the first place. But, I just did, for he defends not only his vulnerability, he comes out looking like someone you've just known within a span of two hours and forty minutes and not someone who's done this all his life. And, that you've seen different men doing this with panache. Craig, as Bond, manages to portray a form of rage, that makes you feel here is a fist fight, with fate and time.

Like W.B. Yeats (who revered Tennyson)  wrote in The Second Coming, that the best lack all conviction and the worst are full of passionate intensity, but surely, there must be a second coming at hand. Therefore, the past revisits in a new form, a more bestial form but with intellect heading it, and in this case, Sam Mendes, that's why this Bond movie is not just an in-your-face bullet.

Jean Genet, the French dramatist, had written this play The Balcony (the only work of art I have read by him) in which, portraying, among other things, the emptiness behind roles of authority. And perverseness. The movie, like Bardem's menacing hands, expose the scars on Bond, the skin behind the opaque and must I add, expensive robe.

There are gimmicks in the movie, there's high-wired drama, but there's also apprehension felt that the end is near. Bond and M cannot win, for they're too small, weakened by time and they're bloody sentimental. But, there is closure, there's a fake British bull dog at the end, to remind Bond that he must, while being old, continue to learn new tricks, and carry the flag. 

Rise and Shine?

The Dark Knight Rises, indeed. But, does he rise high enough to successfully close the trilogy?


Over the weekend, I saw it twice. It is quite tough to answer this question, because a lot has changed since Batman Begins in 2005. That film, had the fire of a man rising to a superhero status, complete with a fantastic performance from Liam Neeson as Ra's al Ghul and the setting of a story that would spiral across 7 years to find its closure. 


Let's begin from the beginning. An orphan billionaire, dissuaded by the loss of his parents, finds himself an unusual escape route--into the city's darkest realms of crime, and depravity. He is found languishing in a prison by Neeson, who then, mentors him into becoming an extraordinarily skilled fighter. What follows next is Bruce Wayne trying to clean up Gotham city, ridding it of criminals, and corporate sharks alike. The next film, The Dark Knight gave us the evil Joker, who captured the imagination of millions. Joker, of course, played by Heath Ledger, posed a big crisis for Batman, the superhero, before successfully finishing a thriller sequel. 


Batman chooses to live long enough to be the villain, even as the city deifies its fallen hero, Harvey Dent. He lives in isolation, a billionaire recluse. 


Nolan tries hard to make the knight fight the twin battles of his broken sense of self, as well as put an end to a new menace. 


Tough task this, as the vigilante strives to let the people believe in the system, rather than a caped crusader delivering justice. With absolutely no superhero power vested in him (unless you count the training by the League of Shadows), Wayne tries to retire, leaving the city to bask in a memory of a  dead hero, Harvey Dent. As the third part begins, you see a lingering shadow of Wayne, who has peacefully retired to the East wing of the Wayne mansion, for eight long years. He has made peace with his shadowy existence sans the mask and the cape. 


Having lived on two lies all these years, of believing Rachael loved him, and letting the city believe in Harvey Dent, Wayne/Batman reluctantly seeks a release.


But, another masked man is swiftly making his moves on Gotham city, and not only is he clunky and excessively animated, he lacks the sinister element that Heath Ledger so effortlessly lent to the Joker. And, the Joker belonged to no one in particular. Here, in this movie, a bombastic, over-the-top Bane, fails to produce that impact. 


The fight sequences are messy, symbolisms lost, as a mumbling villain charges on to the city and on to its people. 


But, the sinister is present. It is present in an ancient part of the world, in the pit. The pit reflects poignant symbolism, and only here, one sees Bane delivering the only good dialogue he had in the entire movie--"And, it is here, I learnt the truth about despair. There cannot be true despair, without hope."  


But, a contrived escape (though I feel Batman is resourceful enough) makes the 'rise' look a lot flawed. And, like any other Hollywood flick, where a nuclear explosion is set to happen, the Batman charges away with the reactor, which hangs out of the Batwing. 


Well. 


The jumps are awkward in many of the sequences, but there are memorable moments. Michael Caine as the trusting Alfred, has some beautiful lines. Along the way, his character claims stronger ties to the series, as the wise friend of a reluctant superhero, who is saved from true despair more than once. 

Hugo, remembered

To begin with a digression, is perhaps my favourite start. This year has undoubtedly been the best of my life so far. Far from personal progression, let me quickly plunge into what I would call, one of the finest movies for children in a while - Hugo.

There would be, in hindsight, many who would say it's the best in terms of technique and cinematography (frankly, never quite got what it really means) for a film as beautiful as this, mere Imagination should, let's say, suffice to be the stronghold of this movie. Based on a book by Brian Selznick, which I have read partly by now, the story progresses, with immense help of black and white sketches. The writing is simple, and doesn't lose its pace. The movie is almost magical, and metacinematical in many layers. I could go on with describing, how with every scene, Martin Scorsese captures details and presents a long, yet delicate frame of a story. It is undoubtedly moving, yet sentimentality doesn't hinder either the pace or the chronology. Hugo Cabret is an orphan, yet the sadness in his wide eyes is kept mellowed, and restrained as tightly as the automaton, with a missing heart. It is, as if, the journey is complete once the 'key' to the heart is restored, and things fall into place, but it isn't deus ex machina.  Dip into the film, if you haven't yet. I keep the rest of the movie in my mind, without giving away too much for the labour of writing.  

(images thanks to Wikipedia and Google)

Shanghai and justice ka sapna..

 For one, in my memory of movie watching, I haven't seen so much subtlety in popular Bollywood cinema. People have been comparing the movie to Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron, which is undoubtedly one of the best satires, and black comedies of social-political realities.

Shanghai scores on a lot of fronts - in technical aspects, acting, and it's neatly packed inside two hours!

My pick of the cast was Abhay Deol, as Krishnan - the fussy, elite bureaucrat, whose brush with reality ends up in a collision with disturbing truths and ultimately confronting him with a life altering decision.

The reason I liked Deol's character in the film, is because he exudes subtlety, much  to the point of annoyance, as his silence is too overpowering. However, he does find his resolution, albeit, surprisingly so. But, the defining moment of 'transformation' is missing, unlike in other Hindi movies. Here, of course, he is gradually inching towards change, from being fussy over mosquito coils, and tolerating intimidating cops, he quietly undergoes a change, which at first instance might seem 'surprising.' The director's craft is such, that too much is left to imagination, a daring act. I won't boast that I am aligned with his perspective, but to me, I am sure Krishnan's character was the most complex.

Krishnan opens the investigation with much skepticism from the viewer, as it is already known that his past experience with the almost-dead professor wasn't quite profitable. Idealism meets system, and thereafter begins a journey where very little is said, yet much is conveyed. Krishnan begins unfolding, what looks initially to be a knotted case, and as he tries to do his 'best', he is confronted with difficult choices. Who or what guides these choices isn't explicitly shown, but the closest reference point looks to the professor himself, who lying immobile, is perhaps able to do what a perfectly healthy and powerful man can't  do. Now, at the risk of confusing you, I should elaborate. Emran Hashmi and Kalki Koechlin are the physical catalysts, who intrude, and make themselves loud and clear. Now, why should a man with his eyes on a plush job, who's at the helm of a hollow committee, listen to two very odd crusaders of justice? He doesn't even know them that closely. But, he knows the cause. He knows that the professor is on his death bed for the cause that somewhere begins to slowly cause disruption and dilemma in the bureaucrat's mind. To me, that was the key takeaway that beneath the veneer of power, lies vulnerability and the moments of change are those that silently creep in, and lead to something bigger.

He knows he's being bullied by the cops and cajoled by the politicians to 'give up' the investigations, he knows that he too is the lone crusader against the machine, and the trigger to revolt comes from a dying man's words. To use his cause, to stand up and prevent justice from getting into comatose, while he can still help it. Of course, this wouldn't have been possible without the help of the two (Koechlin and Hashmi), who find themselves back at the fringes towards the end.

The movie, of course, resonates long after you've stepped out. No perfect solutions are offered, the three characters are not shown uniting in their efforts for justice, it is only the time for mourning, and ironically, a new face of power, a new complexity at hand is taking over, a sense of Orwellian world is taking shape yet again.

Guzaarish is your cinematic deathwish

Gosh! I WAITED all week for The Vigil Idiot's comic spoof of this incredibly dumb movie, which is right here --> http://www.4shared.com/photo/ziK57CUi/Guzaarish_-_The_Vigil_Idiot.html

And, since you may not return here after reading THAT, you may just want to know my thoughts on this movie.

If you have strained equation with people you want back in your life, you can sit in the movie hall, make most of it by catching up. Why make all the effort, you might ask?! Fair enough. But, if you happen to be in the hall after a round of drinks and couldn't think of doing anything besides watching a movie with friends, this is PURRFFECT setting for those kind of moments, uh huh.

Anyway, if you still think you want to know any further, I would say, get a life :p

Why is Chris Nolan's movie so worth the mumble mumble..no, this is not PR!

I generally have few basic ideas while watching a movie. Like everyone else, I too want to be entertained, involved and thrilled. Also, my expectations are normally set very low when it comes to cinema these days. And yes, my intellectual acumen can be put to question, so I don't want to stake too many claims. Lastly, I am a bad storyteller.

I am not anti-experiment cinema, and when I say that, I am talking of movies that break the notion of the beginning, the middle, and the end. Not that I will break off into an essay here, just that all of us have seen this kind of cinema in the last few years. Going by Nolan's own history, the movies I've watched--The Prestige, Memento, besides the Batman series, both have been experimental and played with psyche. I think that's his art that he is attempting to master-the human psyche. I appreciate his intention, but I do think with Inception, things could have been better, yes.

Nolan's logic of putting dream within a dream, using physics, and lot of other flying-spaghetti logic, there was still lot of depth that could have been explored in the movie. If you are experimenting with science and drama, then the attempt has to be to restore some palpable logic. And here, he does attempt to thrill as well as let his imagination loose. But, people who claim to have good concentration skills, of course I claim that too, aren't they disappointed in hindsight of being left with too many details? While I do admit I liked it when I came out, I realised I had very little to say why. When you talk back for a movie you watched, everyone has a personal touch of their experience. Mine was, that I tried too hard to concentrate, getting lost somewhere in the middle, then being told by my friend about the construed logic of the sequence. Apart from that, what I later realised is that watching a movie became a sort of project mid-way, I was frowning. Can anyone tell me what I've just missed? The movie of the century! I liked the fact it was gripping, but what was it saying?

If I think of pros, I would say increasingly complex world realities, I think, have bred this kind of psychological warfare. And, I do not know for sure whether Nolan was attempting to show the manic desire of human mind to overpower reality completely or simply showing his cunning when it comes to designing a movie so complex, people would hesitate to put it down! Either way, he had me think. This is relatively new ground, and he has delved somewhere into the basics of human mind to string it together. But is it tightly strung or attempting to be something new altogether, is again, a painful thought. What do I take home from this?

I am left with just DiCaprio to talk about, for whom, this is a consecutive mind-game genre film after Shutter Island. The about to turn 40-year-old, Mr. DiCaprio said in an interview, that roles like these help him purge. Surely, film scripts like these should help Nolan uncover his own mind, like he said so himself that he had this idea 10 years ago. Is too much art, just for art sake then, to be loved or loathed? I have a pathetic sense of devising a straight answer here.

Much love, Mr.DiCaprio. No love lost.

Karthik's Calling

I wouldn't have seen the movie on a working day, had it not been for Ana who wanted to catch a film on a Thursday evening. Fair enough. I reluctantly dragged myself because after a tiring day, during which your digestion poses interesting dilemmas, I somehow managed to keep a straight face. But, my patience started to thin out when the usher, by his own clock, refused to let us in on time! Geez, talk about irony. Anyhow, the security upstairs at PVR Plaza, tried to act tough over a box of grapes. One cannot bring food or anything in a cinema hall, BUT! Not everyone is coming straight from home, you see. Some of us lesser blokes, are coming from our offices with long faces and tired brains, which obviously misses their scanners.

So, I told them that their worry is overrated in this context, and without the box, I won't go in. And, they allowed me to leave it with them so I can pick it up on my way back. Did anyone say jerks?

I quickly got settled into the movie from frame one because it begins on a note of total and complete isolation, which is by far, one of my picked themes for any genre. The sounds were very absorbing thanks to Baylon Fonseca (from Rock On!!, Rang De..., Dostana, Wake up Sid, and many more). He is quite a neat find, though at some places in the second half, which mostly kind of just dragged, the sounds weren't of any help.

The treatment of the story was crisp in the first half, but lost a bit of steam progressing towards the finale act. Since the screenplay mostly revolved around few characters, sound had a lot to do in terms of reflecting Akhtar's state of mind. And here, I think the director should have been more subtle rather than let shrill sounds break the poignant moments in the last few sequences. Here, the narrative of Shiffali Shah works nicely into the unravelling of the mystery (something I unravelled an hour before) with the effects, and colours.

Farhan Akhtar is a stolid actor, which works for him in characters that are sketched with layers of complexities. His portait of Aditya in Rock On!! again had a lot of passive mystery to it, which he could muster with a bit of grace. But, in some scenes here, he could have been a bit subtle without showing too much of twitching of skin, or generally paranoid.

Deepika Padukone looks tired in most frames, and she just can't bring herself to emote. Is it something to do with Om Shanti Om's success that she feels too confident and has given a fine impression to directors or are they just blind? I had read somewhere that Farhan Akhtar wanted a gorgeous girl to be opposite him. Wondering...

And, to sum it up, I had to rush back upstairs to fetch my box of grapes. A final note for the movie: keep your eyes open to know the mystery before it is unfolded on its own.

http://www.mouthshut.com/review/The_Reader-164485-1.html

This is my review for movie 'The Reader' on mouthshut.com

Madagascar II - Escape to Heaven!!!

I love, I love, I love Mada-Hoo-Haa. My Madagascar family has me Alex, The Alex, Aparna as Gloria, Aditya as Melman, and Bipro as Skipper (he is also Plan B, when we feel like it). The full-time Marty hunt is still on though. However, we also double up as Julien, and Marty whenever the need arises. Also, our bosses are fossa. But, but, this movie is the sequel. It was overwhelming to see the movie open on the big screen after three years, and I was (not ashamed of it) moved to tears. Madagascar was my first movie that I watched in Bombay.

The movie is AWESOMEXCELLENTOS what else do you expect me to tell you? Melman loves Gloria! Ohmigosh! This is definitely Bollywood style, though these guys are the best.

Alex tells Marty, "You won't believe this, but lions don't dance." Marty, "WHAAAAA"

The movie is to be watched at least eight times on the screen though I wish I have the time to do that. I love these guys, and I love Stiller, and David from F.R.I.E.N.D.S who do the voiceovers. Not to forget is Cedric the Entertainer, Chris Rock, and Jada Pinkett Smith. wowowowowowowowowow

Aditya Chopra's Punjab moves out of the khet to a well lit Amritsar

It's not the khet, and women running in coloured dupattas to a farmer. The camera has moved to a milieu that is infested with people emulating everything Western. It's still concentrating heavily on tradition, and family between the toxic culture we call 'wannabe' and tries hard to find the in-betweens, who struggle to balance familyhood and 'love'. Chopra tells us, as always, love can be found within tradition and the walls of the house.

The movie opens at the Golden Temple, and it forms a concrete space inside the movie. The emphasis on religion, and godly presence is not just inside the title, it's all over. The lover is not just physical, he/she is someone in whom you find God. Holy Cow! The movie's big dose on love, pedestalising the lover, is uncanny in these times. It is unreal. But, Bollywood believes a lot in pedestalising lovers, so it's taken for granted. However, if you've caught a show on Star World on geeks paired with girls, who are good looking, so to speak, the concept is pretty much the same that how the twain engage with each other.

The husband does everything outside of his imagination to please his wife, to win her love. He becomes 'Raj', which is meta-cinematical (if there's such a word after meta-textual), considering we have known Mr.Khan as 'Raj' in n number of movies.

The movie also seems like a remnant picked up from Aaja Nachle (Chopra camp). In that movie, Vinay Pathak's role is similar to Mr.Khan's character in this movie. The boring husband marrying a vivacious woman, hence love's demise at the very beginning. The movie robs us of our imagination soon, when the wife joins the yawwwn dance competition (drama in Aaja Nachle). The husband sniffs opportunity, and prepares to woo the daylights out of her (lighting up her life, by proposing through peculiar use of electricity).

The movie is too long for the concept. Some snip, snip should have been done.

Mr.Khan acts well. He makes you feel sad for the middle-class man, but cringe each time he turns up as his alter ego image of 'Raj'. The husband image, he dons well, and pulls it off successfully. Anushka looks pretty, sober, and acts well. But, the movie drags, yawn, yawn and double yawn. But, but, for once, I have patiently sat through the credits of a movie. That's an interesting, and funny bit, one may not want to skip.

free words - series I

It's a funny thing about comin' home. Looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. You'll realize what's changed is you. - Benjamin Button in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

He does not have a soul, so he uses grand gestures. - The In-laws.

Samoan Joe's Barman: It's a cocktail. You asked for a cocktail.
Bacon: No. I asked you to give me a refreshing drink. I wasn't expecting a fucking rainforest! You could fall in love with an orangutan in that!
Samoan Joe's Barman: You want a pint, you go to the pub.
Bacon: I thought this was a pub!
Samoan Joes Barman: It's a Samoan pub. - Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels.

My name is Turkish. Funny name for an Englishman, I know. My parents to be were on the same plane when it crashed. That's how they met. They named me after the name of the plane. Not many people are named after a plane crash. That's Tommy. He tells people he was named after a gun, but I know he was really named after a famous 19th century ballet dancer. - Snatch

Mirrors .. break 'em all I say..

What a bad ending to a beautiful weekend evening. Such a pity you'd wonder. The four of us were left wondering about the movie, which brings me to ask what on earth was Kiefer Sutherland thinking?! He could have done well saying 'no' to the movie. I don't think after having done movies like A Few Good Men, and thrilling us with Phonebooth, the actor is in dire straits for projects. So much for acting. Pheww.

The plot sickens you, first with the gore, and then with the absolute lack of script to dot the plot. What was happening is understood, the not-so understood part was the "why is this happening?!"

Anyway, to cut a long drubbing short, I'd say don't waste your money like I did.

Quantum of Solace

Mr.Bond? He is not charming the ladies anymore! He is playing his own self out sans the chutzpah of a clean cut, witty rover, while you are tied to a stimulating breakaway from the earlier Bond movies. His lady love had died in the last film, while you watch, his transformation to a ruthless blood-sniffing man with revenge writ large in his crystal blue eyes. But, he cleans up nonetheless.

James Craig Bond keeps the trail cold, until he has no choices left. The Angry Man has taken charge, behold! While he is filled with it, the slick and wild Bond goes about murdering the targeted suspects. He is framed, tempted, and therefore, I would say he met all expectations of an intense, restrained mourner. He is therefore, someone who is out to exorcise the demons of the past, even as he cattily keeps reminding M about the team she cannot trust.

THE IDEAL Bond?
No, not really. He makes you cringe for him. His shadows are his team, a ticking reminder of a mechanical past, and a very likely future. The taunts for Bond are to my mind, a clear win strategy to break his erstwhile impeccable never-underdog USP.

He is keeping the audience emotionally tied to his task, while the bigger picture cleverly breaks into the backdrop. The bond girls are on their own mostly, though Olga Kurylenko teams up with him for she is being chased too. Watch out for the excellent chase sequences, and do pause to admire this unexplored team.

One-up for the movie. No shakes and nothing stirred. A fantasy trail of a near-perfect stranger.

Layperson's gaze meets movie buff's heart: watching Fashion

The movie..Aaaahh..sigh..a long drawn wait for some good Hindi movie is over, but before you wonder "is it that good?!", and raise those eyebrows, I have a few observations to make. To begin with, see this movie, with eyes wide open, as mine were, as a first hand approach to behind the ramp. Beyond the pictures, and the giggles and awe towards designers, and basically the dreams in the desi fashion industry.

Priyanka Chopra is good, but Kangana is better. Ranaut steals the limelight on the ramp, with such effortless ease, Priyanka doesn't really match up even when she replaces the stunner later on in the movie.

Script wise, the bit just before the intermission, when Ms. Chopra leaves her boyfriend's flat, and smokes her first cigarette, you wonder if that really had to be a reason to smoke!

About the men, well, the less said the better. Clearly, our director here believes, or is trying to convince us that the industry is only filled with gay men at the top, bottom, middle, wherever you may care to look. It comes across as sad and complacent on his part, something Bhandarkar should have studied better, since his earlier movies too had touched on such aspects. Having said that, I wondered whether this was his only attempt to incite laughter, since there are many instances in the script, where men make such dramatic overtures, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Mughdha Godse spills on to the screen, with a garish appearance. Her transformation happens quietly, behind the towering Chopra and Ranaut, who take centrestage. A good comparison between Priyanka and Mughdha can be drawn in a scene post-interval, where a born-again model Chopra comes back to Mumbai, and apologises for her rash, and uncalled for behaviour with Godse. The newcomer overshadows Priyanka completely in that sequence.

In many places, the movie becomes over the top, and largely predictable, and is all-pants towards the end. But, you come out wondering about the highs and lows of a world uncorked. A good watch.