I wouldn’t say this is a triumph for
Indian cinema. I won’t say this movie
is a flawless masterpiece. And no, I
won’t say this movie is very deep.
What I will say is that this is a
really dark, really fucked-up,
thoroughly outrageous, and really
quirky graphic-novella-turned-movie.
One of the few India produces every
two-three years or so (Last year it
was Being Cyrus). So yes, this
is a treat for the eyes, for all who
know the works of Alan Moore, Garth
Ennis, and Stephen King (the idea is
borrowed from King’s short story,
Quitter’s Inc.). Sure, director Anurag
Kashyap is a long way from making
12 Monkeys, or Se7en (Seven),
but I wouldn’t rule out a possible
Fargo, or even a Man Bites Dog
in the near future.
The plot of the movie: it does not
exist, really. K (Just K, John
Abraham, shot from very flattering
angles, but needs to act a little
more), is a super rich, narcissist,
and arrogant tycoon, who has a passion
for smokes. He smokes in the living
room, the bedroom, toilet, his
balcony, his office, and even in the
bathtub, oblivious to the constant
bickering of his secretary-cum-wife (Ayesha
Takia, she needs to shed the baby fat,
and start looking less chubby). He
smokes with a passion, often lighting
the fresh cigarette with the outgoing
cigarette butt (apparently Abraham
smoked 100 cigarettes a day during the
shoot). The wife is totally aghast and
is considering leaving him for good.
One day, K has a chance meeting with
his childhood friend (Ranvir Shorey,
cross eyed, strictly OK), who used to
be a regular smoker, but has now
entirely quit. The friend now sports
hearing aids, and wears leather gloves
to hide his severed hand. When
inquired, he makes an excuse of being
in a
horrible accident. When K tries to
force a friendly cigarette on him, the
friend completely freaks out, and gets
violent. K’s wife is intrigued, and
asks him how he managed to quit
smoking completely. The friend slips a
card in her hands which says ‘Kalcutta
Carpets’ which is run by a certain
Shri Shri Baba Bengali, and claims
that these guys are pretty good, and
better than Smokers Anonymous and cure
almost every bad habit, but their
major concentration is on
anti-smoking. A prayogshala is
mentioned in hushed tones.
K is completely unmoved, and goes
on with his ruthless smoking. The wife
finally decides she has had enough,
and leaves. K panics, and declares he
will try hard to quit smoking now. His
brother J is in the hospital,
recovering from a surgery of the
lungs. Another chance meeting with
another friend (who has quit smoking
too, and wears the same set of hearing
aids) pops out the name prayogshala
again. K is really intrigued now, and
decides to
visit the prayogshala himself.
From then on, the movie transforms
into a screwed up, myriad, creepy, and
extremely twisted fantasy.
It would be wrong on my part to
give out any more juice about the
movie. All I’ll say is, that the rest
of the movie is intriguing enough to
keep you unmoved from your seat. True,
there were a lot of things left
unsaid, and unexplained in the movie,
but then all I have to say about that,
that it is a Hindi movie, and we are
still learning.
The
sets in the movie are gritty and very
realistic. The art direction is superb
and doesn’t look like a squeaky-clean
paint job. It’s really dirty when it’s
supposed to be dirty, and so on. The
film was shot in many locations
including Dharawai, Dongri, Aasif Ali
Road (chor bazaar), and Uzbekistan,
and the camerawork is superb. As far
as performances go, there is nothing
to write home about, though John
Abraham tries really hard, often
succeeding. Paresh Rawal is very good
at times, as the prayogshala
honcho, but tends to be predictable
every now and then.
Many a times, the characteristics
of the characters get more interesting
than the characters themselves. This
is clearly a director’s/writer’s
movie, and there is nothing much
anyone else could have done. Kashyap
tends to go Kafkaesque, more than
once. You can really feel than Kashyap
really had a ball making this film.
What really impressed me was the
quirkyness in the storyline, and the
director’s willingness to go all out
on executing it in real-time.
As far as I see, I doubt if the
movie will be a success, since it
caters only to a niche (read comic
book/fantasy genre lovers) audience,
and even then,
people might need to see the movie
more than once to fully get it. So, if
you are going to watch this movie,
please go with no expectations and you
might be in for a few surprises.
‘nuff said.
