Calcutta Mail

This was one of those movies that had a good cast, but was scattered all over. Let's forget about the Music before we even start the review. I forwarded all the songs. Good first half of the movie can easily turn many viewers away, as nothing core was in it. Anil Kapoor walks around in a 'chaal' looking for someone in Calcutta with Rani Mukherjee appearing in between. Whoever wrote the little summary created a fully unjustified and false image of the movie, portraying it as a great suspense movie. There was no suspense in it. Simply a story of a kidnapping shown in 2 hours. Anil Kapoor is the only thing watchable in it. Move on and find something else to watch. 4/10 I can't believe that 9 has been the most frequent rating for this movie.

Calcutta Mail deserves a look. The story line, casting, and cinematography are well above-average for a Bollywood film. Anil Kapoor fills the role of the anguished father well; Sayaji Shinde makes a very credible nearly-out-of-control serial killer (he's had some practice playing such a character); and Rani Mukherjee is a delight. Although, as another reviewer has noted, the songs are a little disappointing, "Yeh Saheb Ajeeb Hai" is well worth a look, perhaps repeatedly. In particular, the choreography of "Yeh Saheb Ajeeb Hai" is fresh, fun, and Rani Mukherjee's on-screen energy definitely carries that scene. It's a pleasant change from the 20s-something NRI market focus of many recent Hindi movies.

I thoroughly enjoyed Calcutta Mail from beginning to end but will have to agree with other viewers and critics that the songs, although very good, tend to bring the roller coaster ride of a film to a screeching halt. Meybe it was felt that the viewers needed to catch their breath since this is a very intense film that and, outside of the songs, never lets up. All the performances were excellent as was the story although, it is interesting that, as in Bichoo, Rani Mukherjee, plays a girl who looses her apartment and moves in with the hero.

The real star is Calcutta and how it is so beautifully photographed throughout the film and the sounds of Calcutta and everything in the film is perfectly realized.

Movie opens on an intriguing mode that continues to be stronger as it progresses introducing the characters. They have a strong presentation that keeps the audience involved all the time until around intermission when suspense is completely unfolded. Looses the audience around the mid part for 10-15 minutes but the new character then keep them entertained. Songs are unnecessary but who can dare to make a hindi flick without songs. 1st song is really impressive. Rani Mukharajee keeps the tense situation, breezy. Satish Kaushik is unique. Shinde is incredible as usual. Certainly an entertainer.

Anil Kapoor seems to be getting too old to act in lead roles, although he gave a good performance. Rani Mukherji had no really important role; she was just a supporter/admirer of Anil. Manisha had a better role. The first half was badly made. People were running after other people and randomly killing. I don't know what was going on in the first half because the story was not revealed until the second half. Once it was revealed, it became much more interesting. However, by then, I had lost interest.