Viruddh... Family Comes First

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.

Viruddh starts as a very nice and light family movie which presents an elderly middle-class couple played by Amitabh Bachchan and Sharmila Tagore living an ordinary and happy life while their only son is settled in London. Soon he comes back with a young non-Indian girlfriend and following his parents' approval, the two get married. While everything seems to be perfect, a tragedy strikes the family when their son is killed in a party. There starts a hard double-struggle for the family, as they have to live with the pain of losing their only son and at the same time prove the murder and his innocence as it was covered up by false reports of him being a smuggler.

At first, Viruddh is a watchable yet strikingly ordinary movie and it looks like nothing special is coming. When the son came back with a new foreign bride, I thought this would be the film's main conflict and was prepared to be disappointed by an old-fashioned melodrama. But a rather unexpected twist changed the picture and slowly the story started taking shape. Mahesh Manjrekar is a prolific director and some of his films are excellent. Viruddh is not at all his best, but it is an appreciable effort. After watching Baghban, a good but melodramatic movie, somehow I thought this one would be similar in execution and I was wrong. Manjrekar pays attention to small details and portrays the movie realistically.

The second half is interesting, although the concept itself does tend to remind of those horrible masala movies dealing with injustice and corruptness. The movie does falter there a bit, but Manjrekar tries to do everything differently by giving the narrative a rather subtle feel, and he partly succeeds. The film has absolutely no songs, it is devoid of overdone melodrama, the characters look authentic and genuine, and the dialogues are simple. More than anything, what marks the film is the portrayal of the elderly couple, their love, their care for each other, and their common pain and struggle. Again, unlike the exaggerated romance in Baghban, here their relationship looks believable and real.

The film's main lead is played by Amitabh Bachchan and Sharmila Tagore, and both are excellent. They were not paired together that much in their heydays, but their chemistry here is very good. Just look at the scenes portraying their struggle post their son's death. There isn't much overdone sentimentality, just quiet suffering. This phase of the film is very convincing, and due credit goes to them. Bachchan efficiently plays his character's grief and determination. Tagore delivers one of her finest performances. The first half is entirely dominated by her wonderful presence, while the second presents her brilliantly understated portrait of anguish and strength.

Among the supporting actors, Sanjay Dutt is very likable as the neighbour. Anusha Dhandekar is pretty good as the daughter in-law. John Abraham is okay, nothing impressive, and well, his is not that demanding a role to begin with. This brings me to one of the film's aspects which I quite disliked, and it's the narration. I cannot understand why Abraham's character had to appear on-screen while narrating the story. It took away a lot from the credibility and did not contribute much. The ending is very sugarcoated, and reminded me in a way of B.R Chopra's Insaaf Ka Tarazu. Having said that, this one is definitely better than Chopra's son Ravi's Baghban, and is quite a nice movie overall.

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.

"Viruddh" is a very unusual film in that it's like two totally different films. The first portion is lighthearted and fun--the second extremely sad and cynical. And, this final portion will do little to encourage tourism in India--particularly to Mumbai!

When the film begins, Vidhyadar (Amitabh Bachchan) is sitting in a jail cell--refusing to eat. The police inspector says he feels guilt every time Vidhyadar comes to his office or looks at him. Why? What immediately follows is NOT an explanation of this short prologue but instead is a surprisingly warm and lighthearted segment about Vidhyadar's life before some incident occurred--and what that incident is you'll just have to wait to see. This sweet portion of the film concerns the man and his relationship with his wife. They obviously love each other and their life is quite predictable but nice. Their son, Amal, lives lives in London and helps to support his retired parents. However, you know that Amal will soon die, as his ghost narrates portions of the movie!

The film changes when Amal returns home for a visit. Surprisingly, he brings along his girlfriend, Jenny, and he's worried that his parents may not approve of this relationship. However, they all become fast friends and life is looking just fine. But, when Amal just happens to be in the wrong place soon after his marriage, he is murdered and everything is turned upside down. It isn't just because of the murder but because the savage killer is well-connected and his father's influence manages to completely subvert justice. It's the police themselves who not only help the killer escape justice but also to ruin Amal's reputation in order to get the murderer off for his crimes. Vidhyadar's faith in the system is destroyed and he then decides to take it upon himself to receive justice. What this is and how he does it is something you'll need to see for yourself.

There is a lot to admire about the film. Bachchan's acting (as usual) is superb and it's easy to see why he's probably the most beloved and famous Bollywood actor today. His emotional range is astoundingly good. In fact, the acting is excellent all around. Also, the direction and production values are generally quite nice. The story is also very compelling and your heart breaks for the parents--as you feel really connected with them.

On the other hand, there are a few problems which prevent an even higher score. The biggest is that the ending, while satisfying to watch, is awfully difficult to believe. I'll say no more--you just need to see it to know what I mean. Additionally, I think the use of slow-motion was a bit over-used. Still, a super-impressive film and one that cannot help but grab your heart. And a great example of an Indian film that is every bit as good as most of the films coming out of Hollywood.

Also, for non-Indians, there needs to be a bit of an explanation for one small bit in the film. The father's attending a meeting where folks stand in the park just to laugh hysterically with their friends IS a real thing. Mira Nair shows this in her made for TV film "The Laughing Club of India" and these clubs have been promoted for good physical and emotional health.