Sheesha

I had never heard of this film before seeing it on YouTube. Basu Chatterjee, who has directed numerous great films for Indian cinema, directed the movie. This film lacks the flare of his earlier work, yet it is still worth seeing. Everyone in the film gives excellent performances, but Mithun Chakraborty's steals the show. Mallika and Moon-Moon's work is also excellent. The film addresses a serious subject.

Dinesh (Mithun) is a successful CEO of a pharma company who takes his job extremely seriously. He adores his wife Manisha (Moon Moon Sen) and lives a happy life. Dinesh is arrested one day for attempting to rape his office receptionist, Poonam (Mallika Sarabhai). Dinesh and Manisha's marriage suffers a setback. But then Manisha vows that she will do whatever she can to help Dinesh. Dinesh's friend Ashok is a well-known lawyer who helps them in this tough time.

Is Dinesh truly guilty, or has a plot been created against him?

The film conveyed a very important message. The film may have been better, but it is still extremely nice despite its weak plot. Mithun did an excellent job with his serious acting, while Mallika did an excellent job with her sensual gestures.

Sheesha tells a brief story of a court case in which Dinesh, a young businessman, is accused of trying to rape one of his employees, a young woman named Poonam. The film follows this case and at the same time shows his young wife Manisha's doubts and attempts to find out the truth. Whether Dinesh is really guilty or not is a question that remains unanswered until the very final scene of the film. The film is directed by Basu Chatterjee, the one who made many great films and whose style has often resembled the style of Hrishikesh Mukherjee's film-making. In this one the director also tries to make this film authentic, but the film is not very convincingly done although the story is excellent and the message it conveys is good. Some of the flashbacks do not really make sense, the way the story unfolds is a bit too dragged, and the development is unclear and confusing. The portrayal of the relationship between Dinesh and Manisha as a married couple is also pretty flawed. The acting is average to okay. Mithun plays a very ordinary kind of a fellow, Moon Moon Sen is beautiful but her acting is average, and Mallika Sarabhai is okay as the prosecutor. The film's biggest surprise is the ending which manages to leave a mark despite the otherwise mediocre movie. Sheesha is a disappointment though it's definitely watchable for its story and unlike most Hindi movies, it's actually not too long.

I am surprised that I had never heard anything about this very good movie until recently. It definitely is an out and out Basu Chatterjee film. All the things you associate with his brand of cinema. The simple and real characters, situations. People seem to be actual working individuals in his films, unlike most bollywood or even hollywood films, where everyone seems to be on extended vacations, partying in exotic locations, etc. Anyway getting back to this film, its about a sexual harassment case, much like Aitraaz, and Disclosure, and all such films. The good thing here is that the actual incident is not shown, so as a viewer, we dont know who is true and who is lying. The thing that appealed to me the most, was the end scene, the pathos, the emotions it evokes. Worth watching it solely for that. Recommended for people who like sensitive films.