Viruddh... Family Comes First

Impressive performances by Big B and Sharmila Tagore are enough to make the movie worth a watch. The first half is good with quite a few light moments thrown in. The second half kinda spins the mood on it's head and become serious. A few characters in the movie have been wasted (like sharat saxena and prem chopra). Sharmila Tagore's on screen chemistry with Mr.Bachchan is excellent. John Abraham has done justice to his role. And newcomer Anusha Dandekar does a decent job with her screen time. Sanjay Dutt turns in a good performance with the limited role he had (with flashes of munna bhai appearing!!) Mahesh Manjerakar is at home with plots revolving around family and sentiments. If any flaws are to be pointed out...it can only be sed of the marginally illogical end. But anything else would have made the movie less acceptable to the movie going public.

This movie once agen proves that Big B is indeed BIG.

Wow did I like this movie. I might even buy it. First of all, to see Sharmila Tagore acting after SO long (24 years, I think) is like watching a beautiful butterfly light on a nearby flower. She really hasn't lost it. She's amazing. And she and Amitabh still do the couple thing well. I can't really decide if he's better with Jaya or Sharmila. He's such a great actor, he can turn it on and off whenever the director says "action".

The story is about an Indian boy who goes to a party, sees a woman shot, and decides to intervene. Huge mistake. The shooter is the son of the Home Minister, and before the struggle is over the, boy (Amar, son of Vidhya) has been fatally shot himself. He had JUST been properly married by his parents to Jenny, his love who is English. Of course the whole family and all its friends is totally convulsed, including Jenny who has seen her husband snatched away by death on the wedding day itself.

Well, the whole rest of the movie is about the struggle of Vidhya to get justice for his dead son. It is narrated by the ghost of Amar (more ghosts, ghosts seem all over the place in Bollywood). The theme of the movie is that when powerful people commit heinous crimes, Justice becomes not only blind but deaf and cold-hearted.

There are so many nice performances in this movie, its impossible to remember them all. Sanjay Dutt plays a mechanic who buys the building next to Vidhya's house and does noisy repair work when Vidhya and Sumi are taking an afternoon nap. There is a lot of conflict at first, but eventually they all become best friends. It becomes important to the plot.

John Abraham. Man he is GREAT as the faithful and respectful son. I know this won't make him give up his "bad boy" persona, but now fans know he has two (or more) dimensions. Jenny is played by Anusha Dhandekar who did an item number in the Rahul Bose-Perizaad Zorabian movie Mumbai Matinée. Her English accent (assuming someone didn't dub the movie) gives me to believe she is NRI. In any case, she is bahut bahut cute! She reminds me of a more familiar actress but I can't think of whom.

It is not a very musical movie, so don't expect that. It is a family drama and masala in the sense of laughter and tears all mixed together.

Anyway, for Amitji, Sharmilaji, and John, I give it an 8/10. And here's hoping Sharmila is now "back in the saddle" for good. She can give her son a bit of competition.

A gaze that can penetrate steel and the clothing of a corrupt Police Officer-the ensuing scene and dialog is a snippet of a good Film. Very few actors are blessed with this talent-like Rod Steiger in the "In the Heat of the Night", Robert De'Nero in "Good Fellas", Al Pacino in "God Father". Bachchan, the indisputable Icon, has managed to give another impeccable role probably the best in his career.This scene coupled with few other memorable scenes puts Mahesh Manjrekar as the top in his Profession. Khedekar as the Police Officer is another fine actor. After"Swades", I enjoyed this movie. The imbeciles who selected "Paheli" as the entry for the Oscars are a National disgrace.This SRK idiot,not just walk the Red carpet but take a walk, period.

I am coming from Tamilnadu. In Tamil picture circuit rarely two post retirement/post menopausal couple are the chief protagonists. The last such film, I remember was "Vietnam Veedu". The Tamil filmdom thinks that old people can only be character actors. In our films even old male actors with fading faces have to act as lovers of heroines of their daughters' age. It is sometimes pathetic to see the old heavy actors making some dance sequences. So it is refreshing to see the old couple both in their mild and mature flirting with care for each other and the poignancy of their tragedy of the murder of their son and subsequent legal shenanigans. It is the younger men are the character actors in this film.

Amitab Bachan and Sharmila Tagore act brilliantly bringing the gamut of emotions. The final meeting with the murderer was excellent. Of course the story line is linear and some excellent pieces of dialogue crop up.

Yet there are a few rather typical cinematic scenes which are rather incongruous The old lady who is a retired teacher goes out with her teacher's cane and beats up the roguish Ali and others to bring some sense of decency in them which is rather too dramatic. Similarly the last verdict of NOT GUILTY on the old man is rather surprising. I am not a lawyer and am not aware of judicial nuances. But after all the old man is a murderer however justifiable his actions are and some token punishment (at least the time spent in the prison so far) would have been more judicial. Besides during the first trial the Home Minister and the Police went far out of the way in harassing Patwrdhan and his family but after his son's death the Home Minister seem to have been paralyzed. Nobody even tried to confiscate the tape recorder which ultimately reaches the presiding Judge of the second trial -"a shocking piece of evidence". The police officer who foisted the Drugs in the son's bedroom seemed to have gone scot-free.

But for these loose ends, deliberately left for dramatic purposes, Viruddh is a very good and interesting film.

A movie that is full with power packed performances from Amitabh Bachchan, Sharmila Tagore, Sanjay Dutt and John Abraham. It shows how the political power in India can ruin the life of a simple "common man". It shows how the entire system is inside a corrupted vicious cycle. It shows how the police, witnesses, and even law succumbs to political pressure.

And Mahesh Manjrekar (as usual) gives an excellent output. Another good thing about the movie is that it contains no unnecessary songs/dance. Its kept to the point. The first half seemed a bit too long, and could have been shortened. However, it was compensated by a fast-paced second half.

The film basically revolves around Amitabh and Sharmila Tagore, and all other characters including Sanjay Dutt, John Abraham, and Anusha Dandekar seemed to be doing a side role.

All said and done, it is one of the best movies I have seen in 2005. Great performances, great story, and an overall good movie!!!

Rating: 10/10