Company

'Company' opens with Malik's haunting introductory monologue about the underworld and this is followed by Urmila Matondkar's bloodthirsty sadistic number, the tune of which will echo throughout the film. The song sequence itself, 'Aaja re Mere Gale Lag ja' describes the underworld. 'Company' ranks among one of Ram Gopal Verma's best and one of the best crime films of Indian cinema. A fellow commenter has wonderfully made comparisons with Shakespeare's King Lear. Sahni's writing is of high quality and it just keeps one's eyes glued towards the screen.

There are several words that can describe the film-making. A few that pop up include: realism, slick, gritty, stylish without being over the top, and fine editing. Cinematography deserves special mention as the camera acts as an eye. Use of lighting is remarkable as this gives the city and crime-world a darkly raw look and use of sound effects e.g. the ringing mobile phones is skillfully done.

The songs are thankfully relegated to the background except for one, 'Khallas'. All the songs add to the narration and 'Khallas' is a situational song that takes place in a nightclub, the lyrics of which cleverly describe the events.

Verma also displays the relationships between the characters in a very concise manner. Even though, the main focus is the relationship between Chandu and Malik, with just a few scenes who shows us the significance of the connections between the other characters. For example, just that one scene where Saroja is in bed telling Malik about her mother's wish for them to get married is enough of an indication of their bond.

Ajay Devgan formidably underplays his part. He could safely add 'Company' at the top of his list of achievements. Vivek Oberoi delivers a knockout debut performance. The actor has shown tremendous potential and like Devgan, he too can add this to the top of his list. Mohanlal is adequate. However, I don't quite understand this respect he has for Malik. The guy's a cold-blooded killer (well he has other's to do the dirty work) and Sreenivasan is shown as a good cop so what's the basis of this mutual respect? Manisha Koirala again does what she's best at doing. She gives a subtle but enigmatic performance. Seema Biswas is likable and she naturally gets under the skin of her part. Antara Mali is mind-blowing, and like the men, she too can include 'Company' at the top of her list.

Finally, 'Company' is Verma's masterpiece. He's the one who brought it all together to make the film and tell the dark story of the underworld. One of the best films of the genre.

Terrific performances from Mohanlal, Ajay Devgan and Vivek Oberoi and a slick, stylish picture about the underworld make this movie a must see. Hats off to Ram Gopal Verma. The direction, story line, cinematography - every aspect is brilliant and the movie on a whole is very gripping and fast paced. My personal favorite character in the movie is Mohanlal who plays a commissioner and I guess he is one of the coolest cops ever shown on Indian screen.

I give Company 10 out of 10.

Ram Gopal Varma's latest offering 'Company' is probably one of the best Indian gangster films ever made (after Nayakan and Satya). This film is so well done that the viewers feel like they are watching real-life events. And people living in India will know that some of the events are actually inspired by real-life incidents, although the film does not admit it.

Company is the story of two friends - Malik (Ajay Devgan) and Chandu (Vivek Oberoi) - how they build up the 'Company' - Bombay underworld on a global scale and thus establish their supremacy. A small misunderstanding between them turns into a large scale mafia war. The cast in this film is great, a special mention must be made of Vivek Oberoi. The son of Suresh Oberoi (former Bollywood star) is talented and seems to have put in a lot of effort for his first film. I only hope he doesn't get type-casted in the future after such a hard-hitting role on debut. Ajay Devgan fits very well into the role of Malik, a cold blooded don who always means business. Manisha Koirala enacts the role of Malik's girlfriend pretty well and is refreshing. However, the biggest surprise of this film was Antara Mali. She has done a great job as Chandu's wife, and it only goes to show that there is no dearth of talent in the country.

The narrative is well paced, and the viewer never gets bored. Some people might find the absence of songs in the film annoying, but their presence would only hamper the pace of the film. The script is well written, and some of the dialogues are really memorable - for example, when Malik says "To forgive a friend's mistake is an even bigger mistake in the 'Company'". The background music by Sandeep Chowta really complements the plot and he certainly deserves some credit. But more than anything, it is Ram Gopal Varma's direction that needs to be appreciated. He has proved once again that with a good story, an excellent cast and a lot of determination, one can make a memorable film and defy some of Bollywood's age old norms. A special mention must also be made of Mohanlal. He is certainly one of the best Indian actors of all time and although his Hindi dialogue-delivery in Company is quite sloppy, he deserves a lot of praise for making a good effort. His portrayal of an honest, determined cop trying to eradicate crime in Bombay (loosely based on Sivanandan, Joint Commissioner of Police, Mumbai) is very well executed.

The film gives us an in-depth view into the dark world of Bombay Mafia, where only the fittest survive, and how their operations have spread on a global scale. One thing I found intriguing about this film was the role that mobile phones play, how everything can be controlled efficiently by just making one phone call, and how business deals and murders can be executed with, quite literally, just one push of a button.

Bottomline: This film is a must-watch. A landmark in Indian film-making, all thanks to Ram Gopal Varma. An easy 9 out of 10.

This is a stunning film, awesome story, acting and music makes this one of the most enjoyable movies i have ever seen - hindi or english. The performances are excellent, with special mention to the new actors- Vivek Oberoi and Antara Mali, who played their parts with such expertise and conviction.

Highly recomended

Where Satya was moving but not very original, Company mixes HK, US and indian influences to look like something unique. The dancing scenes are better integrated than in Satya, the movie is short for an indian movie but more efficient, the story is well written although the idea of mafia as a business has been seen many times, acting is wonderful. But the best thing here is Varma's masterful visual style combining a dirty photography, an editing influenced by Hong Kong cinema, a documentary like visual style to create his own unique style and giving the movie a hot, heavy, dark, dirty atmosphere. It might be edited like an MTV video sometimes, being sometimes too long but although Varma is not (yet?) a director of the scale of Tarantino or Ferrara this movie brings something new in gangster movie. Highly recommended.