Monsoon Shootout

MONSOON SHOOTOUT at the 12th Indian FIlm Festival of Los Angeles LAIFF Reviewed by Alex Deleon-Sinha, April 29, 2014. --- Monsoon Shootout", a brilliant multi-layered debut feature by Amit Kumar is, among other things, a dazzling noir thriller drenched in rain starring Nawaz Siddiqui as a serial hatchet killer (!). It was really the main event of the 2014 IFFLA, but was inexplicably programmed as a throwaway on the last day and not given much attention while a dumb movie in the main hall pulled in the biggest crowd of the week.

Director Amit Kumar of Monsoon Shootout did show up on the very last night, in and out ~ to accompany his film and hold a Q & A. after which, over a drink in the lobby, he revealed to me that he was very impressed by the Polish film "Blind Chance" (Przypadek) a 1981 masterpiece by Krzysztof Kieslowski -- and that the basic idea for Monsoon Shootoot came from the Kieslowski picture. In both pictures -- both classic mindbenders -- the same story is told three times over with different outcomes each time. In this one you see normally lovable Nawaz Siddiqi as a psychotic ax-killer in two versions, but the last one makes you question which one was reality, and which ones were fantasy. Did the rookie cop who was stalking him all the time really have to shoot him as he was clambering over a wall? -- and Maybe he wasn't really the killer after all ....Huh?

This was a revelation to me because I too was greatly impressed by "Blind Chance" when I saw it in Poland years ago, and subliminally caught the parallels between the two films as I watched the current "Monsoon Shootout", but the Indian details as worked out by Kumar are totally different. It would make a remarkable evening of film watching to pair these two films up -- among other things to see the contrasting cultures and the contrasting acting styles of two fantastic actors-- Nawazzudin Sadiqi and Polish actor Boguslaw Linda who, in 1981, was the most popular film star in Poland. The film title is itself multi-resonant, suggesting an imploded version of "Monsoon Wedding" engaged to a Watery vision of "Shootout at the O.K. Corral" -- with the latter of which it has far more in common. A terrific movie that needs to be seen several time to pick up on all the nuances and counter- themes -- but do Bring an umbrella!

#MonsoonShootout takes a fresh look at the cop vs criminal story. What if a newly-recruited cop comes face to face with a suspected criminal? Does he shoot him? Or does he let him escape? What happens to the criminal's family thereafter? Does his young son turn into another criminal? We get to see different versions of the same situation. Hats off to director Amit Kumar n cinematographer Rajeev Ravi for their efforts. They ensure that the viewer is completely involved in the proceedings. Performances by Vijay Varma, Neeraj Kabi, Siddiqui, r first-rate. Definitely worth watching. Rating 3.5/5.

A film set in Mumbai dealing with gangsters and police. A rookie policeman in the crime department comes across a situation where he is chasing a man who could be a gangster or he could not be. The film depicts three scenarios that he can take, the right path, the wrong path and the middle way.

All three paths taken lead to someone or the other getting hurt. This is a gritty realistic depiction of the dilemmas faced by the police in the line of duty. The performances are good but there are so many characters and outcomes that we are confused. A dialed down version would make a better film.

This one is good. It could be far better. BTW, Anurag Kashyap was a producer of this film.

This movie was in my list from a very long time but never bothered to watch it.

Finally i did and the movie was fantastic.

Lot of people are praising Nawazuddin, I am surprised because he was not the best actor in the film.

It was actually Vijay Verma who was top notch in the movie, this was Vijay Verma's movie and the whole film was shown from his angle.

People are biased in their reviews and completely refusing to praise vijay verma is shocking to me, Nawazuddin barely had dialogues in this movie.

Overall this film was satisfactory, Movie was ahead of its time. Vijay Verma and all the actors performed well.