Ek Ruka Hua Faisla

I saw this movie back in '98 on SONY TV. It was very engrossing. I thought it was a great one until I came across Sidney Lumet's 12 Angry Men. I'm giving it 8/10 for being true to the original and not including unnecessary song sequences or deviations as seen in other remakes. The movie has some good performances from each of the actors. The movie may be one of the few movies devoid of female actors. I don't know whether this is true or not but one of my friend told me this movie is shown at IIMs for briefing on negotiations and dealings. Also I wonder whether there is any such jury system in India as shown in the movie. Well anyway a good remake and worth watching again and again.

The 99% movie is filmed in one single room. And camera angle is set very thoughtfully. All the actors have done a really wonderful job. Which no other Indian actor has done yet. Not even Amitabh or Raj Kapoor can do it. I have seen the film 3-4 times. And every time I have seen the movie with same excitement. The way the actor gets the confidence of all the jurors is really good. The dialogues are really realistic. It seems that you yourself are one of the juror. And you too want to prove that the boy is innocent.

Really one in a million movie.

" Ek Ruka Hua Faisla " Too Good To Resist......

This is probably the best Hindi remake (The original is a fantastic Sidney Lumet movie, "Twelve angry men" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050083/)) I've watched. K. K. Raina is no Henry Fonda; but he's done a great job -- as has the rest of the very talented cast; and none more than the brilliant Pankaj Kapoor as the broken-hearted father/juror no 3 (played by Lee J. Cobb in the original) Ironically, what makes it work is the fact that it is such a complete plagiarism; it is guided entirely by Lumet's masterpiece in style and substance. The cast and the crew have done an excellent job with the execution; but they could have probably done it without the director. An interesting artifact of the plagiarism is that we have this movie about a hung jury -- when India doesn't have a jury system at all! Oh well! Given that Bollywood is all about plagiarism anyway; I guess we should be thankful when they occasionally do a good job of it!

I can't remember watching a film where every 10-15 mins I have exclaimed, "Too good, too good, too good!" or "What a film!" 12 jurors, in a single room, for two hours, no change of scenery - it still manages to keep you riveted, and much more!

A timeless film which has so many undertones - morality vs reason, fact vs opinion, sincerity vs flippancy, assumptions vs critical thinking... and more. Inner conditionings of each character are brought out so well, there's also social commentary that's relevant even today.

Each of the 12 actors (most from NSD) have put their all into the roles. The film is a remake of ''Twelve Angry Men' which I haven't seen. But Basu Chatterjee has created one of India's best film adaptations here.

Truly an intellectuals' delight.

My one take away from this movie is - A calm attitude can work wonders in the most difficult situation!! This movie has demonstrated this fact beautifully!! Other sideline issues that have been touched are - First, how prejudice blurs the judgement and secondly, danger of giving a very sensitive duty to insufficiently sincere people.

Acting - Superb! Why would it not be when the cast is filled with legendary actors.. Story - Very interesting!

A must watch for people who have a like 'Off the beaten track' movies..