Malli, le combat d'une vie

The Terrorist has one of THE BEST turning points in it I've ever seen in a picture. It's a really great life vs death story - that puts bigger - messier stories to shame. Sure there are some audio problems and it's clearly been shot on the cheap, who cares.

If you're like me then only two things will ever matter for you - Story and Star.

The Terrorist has a story that draws you in then lays on of the best complications on you and the performance from Ayesha Dharkar is the kind of stuff that stars are made of.

If you haven't seen The Terrorist, do yourself a favour and watch it.

The movie lacks in substance. It is a very simple plot yes, but the telling doesn't have to be so simple. The movie is devoid of substance, innovativeness and anything interesting. Visually it is appealing but so are lot more films from India. That doesnt necessarily mean the director can dwell on slow motions, extreme closeups and some pictureseque shots without getting on with the story.

What's good? Photography, a couple of ideas/concepts, the girl. What's not? Screenplay, sound (major sound problems), direction (wayward), acting, production values (every gunshot in the movie looks/sounds fake and the movie is called the terrorist) and the movie.

the terrorist is one of the best movies ever to come out of india. the movie is totally unlike the normal indian bollywood movie. part-inspired by the events surrounding the assassination of late prime-minister rajiv gandhi, terrorist takes a look into the minds of an assassin.

the movie moves at a steady pace giving us time to understand the protagonist and sympathise with her. this bond is accentuated by ayesha dharkar's terrific acting, she clearly is a unique talent and hopefully the whole world will get to appreciate her in star wars II.

santosh sivan who is essentially a cinematographer takes to directing and comes up with a gripping tale. the movie shines with his brilliant work behind the camera as well, capturing every beautiful raindrop & the subtleties in dharkar's expressions.

the movie stands out as special, intelligent & warm, among its peers. a truly significant movie

a fantastic 10!!

The movie is about a girl who is sent on a mission to assassinate a VIP by becoming a human bomb. It can be related to the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India. A notable fact is that no where in the movie is there a mention about the roots of the girl nor who the VIP is. It rather narrates the incidents that occur from the time she is chosen on this mission.

The movie has wonderful cinematography by Santosh Sivan and good performances by all the artists. All the artists were very natural making the movie more realistic.

The unconventional ending has done justice to the narration.

I just finished teaching a course in northern Thailand called "Understanding Cultures Through Cinema." This movie was the favorite of the class (and I had some great titles in there!). The students were very moved by the movie, and wrote great papers in response. This short line is my favorite example: "I liked (reviewer) because (that reviewer) doesn't say whether a terrorist who wanted to sacrifice her life was right or wrong. When your country is controlled by others, you want to have freedom." And this from a young sophomore who loves romantic comedies! Talk about a breakthrough!!! Culturally, the students tuned in to some important aspects that don't get noticed: Malli sharing meals with Mr. Vasu, the important moral role played by Lotus/Sorya, and the visual irony of the belt. I gave them a study guide question: How would YOU end this movie? The answers were poignant, and of course, they all mentioned the prevailing motif (which I won't mention here because that would be a spoiler, yes?).

When I first saw this movie, I gave it 9. After seeing it several times since, and especially seeing the reaction of my Thai students, I gladly raise it to 10. This is one of my top ten movies of all time.