goyamjain-212-381704

It had one of best music scores. I think screenplay was amazing. Editing was top notch. Camera was rolled at all beautiful angles. Story was engrossing. Acting was captivating. Direction was enthralling. Tone was just and apt. Hardly a movie rates high on all so many levels. This individual and technical superiority of all departments was blended into somewhat messy but mostly scintillating piece of cinema. With minor faults here and there but overall a joyous expierience of almost perfect cinema.

The narration seems forced. Political undertone is overdone and doesn't connect with plot in a subtle way. Yet the movie is entertaining overall. Action sequences are very well done with good amount of realism and built tension. Plot works but again few dialogues are long and tedious and forced. Acting is fine with no stand out performance. Overall movie leaves you with mixed feelings.

I was strolling through amazon prime archives for movies in Hindi language. After crap load of 8 page search, i came across an oddly titled movie i had never heard of. It immediately kept my attention as i excitingly saw the director, Shaam Benegal. I had heard of middle cinema but had never witnessed one. And for the next 2 hr and some 20 minutes, movie had my utmost attention. It was gem of a find and it kept me engrossed with its masterful direction, crafty storytelling and surrealistic layers of symbolism scattered all throughout.

Movie is about 3 different stories entangled together at later stage. It amazingly captures same sequences through eyes of different subjects thus peeling of perspectives for same situation and scenes. It dwells into characters and suddenly comments through larger societal lens. And keeps on doing that for much of first half. For sure you would not have seen brutal realism of love stories as portrayed here. Narrative has no particular end, no moments of realization or take away but it flows on like life in general. Story itself is captivating enough. Our main protagonist is connected deeply with stories much later when we further learn how dicey human morals are, how we are mere product of our environment and act to maximize social gains from that environment. There is above all a surrealistic undertone, a detachment of sorts through out the movie. Characters are closely intertwined yet largely detached. And our protagonist is at forefront of this. Until of course the climax of movie hits us hard. And it tells us well that when the music is over, turn off the lights.