आर या पार

Aar Ya Paar is not what you expect from a regular Bollywood movie. The plot was way ahead of its time. The movie is pacy with very minimum dull moments. Actually a remake as an OTT would be great option during these times.. Ketan Mehta has made this really well and direction is fast. Jackie was excellent in his role and performed the role to the T. A complete no nonsense role by him and has elevated the movie by his presence. Paresh Rawal is also fantastic in his role. Others do a decent job in their limited roles. Kamal Sidhu was bad and very loud in her role. Somebody else would have done a better job. All in all must watch Bollywood thriller. An ode to James Hadley Chase.

The director that made "Bhav Ni Bhavai", "Mirch Masala" or even "Mangal Panday" is not even close to being his best in "Aar ya Paar". It looks like a cheap and easy movie he was arm-twisted into making so he sleep-walked through it. Th story of "The Sucker Punch" has been made into a Gujarati Drama: Shrugal. Paresh Rawal who played the inspector in the movie actually played the crook husband in the Drama - a much more entertaining performance than Jackie Shroff. Ketan Mehta also once more used his then Girlfriend, now wife Deepa Sahi in the movie. She is not particularly talented and when she tries to be sexy, she becomes laughable. Ketan should have learned from V. Shantaram and Chetan Anand's disastrous pampering of their spouses/lovers. The other girl who plays Meena is not even able to read her lines convincingly.

This movie is one of my all time favourites,not just because of the fast paced nature of the flick or the performances but because it is nothing like what most other Hindi movies are. No weepy crap or family drama,Aar Ya Paar is a kick ass movie. I was very impressed when I first saw it and couldn't believe it was original. I was right.The entire dialogue has been lifted from James Hadley Chase's 'The Sucker Punch'.Not one part of the story has been changed and I think all the scriptwriter(???) has done is translated Chase's book in Hindi. I don't think any actor could've played Shekhar Khosla the way Jackie Shroff did.The only thing this movie lacks is originality. A very well made movie with a brilliant performance by Jackie Shroff.

This movie has everything viewers want.... 1. A brilliant story 2. Good performance by everyone especially Jackie, Paresh Rawal... 3. Good songs and 4. A brilliant climax.

The only reason the film did not do well in the box office is that it got caught up with the censor board who wanted a few scenes cut off it.

Otherwise the movie is really worth viewing.

Aar Ya Paar review :

Ketan Mehta's underrated thriller which was evidently inspired from a popular James Hadley Chase novel. Aar Ya Paar had Jackie Shroff playing an anti hero who marries a richie rich sanki lady (Kamal Siddhu) for her wealth and then plots to kill her with help from her sexy secretary Deepa Sahi. The plan is executed but goes awry due to his past girlfriend Ritu Shivpuri. What happens next?

Of the cast, Jackie aka Jaggu Dada was perfect as the philandering anti hero. It is one of his best performances yet highly underrated. Deepa Sahi was equally good in her complex role and she looked truly ravishing in a swimsuit. On the other hand, Kamal Siddhu and Ritu were bad casting decisions. Paresh Rawal left an impression in a small but important role of ACP Khan.

Mehta Saahab's direction was competent (though he concentrated more on his wife Deepa than the other two ladies). Music by Viju Shah was also memorable with a song filmed in Venice, Italy.

Despite being a well executed taut thriller, Aar Ya Paar didn't work at the box office. The audience just couldnt accept the main lead as a villain killing his own wife. But today, the film makes for an entertaining watch and can pass off as a precursor to Sriram Raghavan's neo noir thrillers like Johnny Gaddar (2007) and Andhadhun (2018).

I had seen this film at Hindmata cinema Dadar during its theatrical run and loved it. Was pretty disappointed by its box office outcome then. Well as the clichè goes, some films are way ahead of its time. This one surely was!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni