Black Friday

'Black Friday' is horrifyingly raw. It's overwhelmingly dark. It's frighteningly real. It's daringly gritty and graphic. Anurag Kashyap's film is one of the most skillfully executed movies of recent times. A great screenplay, strong light effects, the use of color, the direction, the performances, the background score work together very effectively. The cinematography, whether the shaky camera, the zooming or the closeup shots, works brilliantly. 'Black Friday' is slick (but not so much as to take away from the realness). Actors Kay Kay Menon, Aditya Shrivastava and Pavan Malhotra do an excellent job in the acting department.

Based on Hussain Zaidi's book of the same title, 'Black Friday' revolves around the investigation of the infamous Bombay blasts (after which Bombay became Mumbai) in the early 90s. The movie opens with a 'boom' and from then on the intricate investigation proceeds. As the trial was still in process, Kashyap had to wait years before his movie could finally release in 2007. The director deserves credit for bravely making a film on such a serious and risky subject.

However, it does have the documentary feel. Kashyap breaks the film into chapters and this gave the feeling that one was watching a documentary series. The pace isn't steady because the film does drag at certain points.

'Black Friday' is a brave well-made film and it is one that should be watched. Not everyone might like it but on some level they may appreciate it.

Films based on books are a rarity in India. Probably that accounts for the huge amount of movies without any coherent screenplay that India churns out. Black Friday, on the other hand, is an exception, which will make any film maker proud.

The movie, revolving around the investigation following the horrifying Bombay bomb blasts, and also showing the perpetrators' lives just before and after the incident, took a long time to get through the Censor Board, and it's not difficult to imagine why once you have seen the movie. The movie tries to portray everything the way it actually happened, or at least as the book says it happened, and succeeds. Technically the movie is top league, compared to other Hindi movies, though the editing is choppy in places. The music, by Indian Ocean, is brilliant, and more importantly suits the plot. Despite the length of the movie the director never loses grip, and that's really commendable.

I haven't seen Satya (and I am sorry for that), so I am not very familiar with Anurag Kashyap's work (though he also did the dialogues, I believe, for Yuva, which I have seen), but considering the smoke he generates with every movie, I knew there had to be some fire to it too. And Black Friday IS fiery! The movie doesn't ever try to be politically correct and the director is almost obsessed with showing everything - even the correct language - which shall make it unsuitable for family viewing.

The actors, with Kay Kay (he should be getting awards for this one) and Aditya Srivastava worth special mention, do a very good job too, and I think many of them are of a theatre background, which ensures a high pedigree in Indian movies. Those familiar with Indian TV serials must have seen Srivastava in an eminently well-made series called 9 Malabar Hill from the late 90s, which also starred Pawan Malhotra. Srivastava has been seen in many other smaller roles in movies and TV serials since then, but that particular role had showed how good an actor he is, and it is proved here once more. Pawan Malhotra is also a known face in India's parallel cinema movement, though he is prone to overact at times. Kay Kay is one of the best actors to have hit the Indian screen in recent years, and brilliant performances aren't new to him.

The movie is unique in the sense that it shows the life of a terrorist AFTER the blast and how he copes with all the pressures. Then there's the pressure faced by the investigators to get to the terrorist, but taking care at the same time that they don't harm innocent people in their zeal. When I saw in the credits that the movie was based on a book by a Muslim author, I started feeling that it was going to be a biased description of the atrocities of Mumbai police on innocent members of the Musilm community during the investigations. Such a thought process is shameful, but natural in India's circumstances. But surprisingly, and thankfully, the movie, and so I suppose the book too, is as objective as it could have been without appearing sympathetic to either of the parties.

To finish off, this is one of those (very rare) movies that convince you that the future isn't all that bad for Hindi cinema. A must watch for all Hindi movie fans, and even those who normally don't watch Hindi movies because of the unrealistic gloss and song-and-dance routines.

This is not only a film. It's a lesson. It's a message. It's cruelly true history. It's an initiative. It's an attempt. It's a bold step, forward. It's known yet untold bare truth. And after all it's a film.

No doubt the film opens old wounds, but only to find the root cause of it, only to find cure for them, only to make sure they are eradicated and never surface again. The film presents the hard facts about the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai (then Bombay). The film gives a new dimension to real life cinema, with real name, real incidents, and real people. The usage of actual news footage of the incidents make you believe whatever you are watching. It takes courage to take names of some of the biggest name in underworld and Indian politics as bluntly, and the filmmaker shows that courage. The story doesn't point finger on any particular person, group or community as the culprit for what is still Indian crime history's biggest tragedy. It tries to make a point how some clever minds make their business out of our religious sentiments, at the cost of lives of common men. Men who are common in every sense of it. The terror, the attacks, the explosions, the riots inhales not any particular community but the whole humanity.

Director churns out a stunning effort. Technically too the film is impeccable. The blast sequences couldn't have got any more realistic. Each actor performs his character to full honesty, but Badshah Khan and Tiger Memon stand out.

And before you jump to your own conclusion to decide the culprit(s), to decide the fate of them, the film concludes with the quote that says it all.

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

A must watch.

this is movie is fantastic. two things; i seen this movies in Bombay( Mumbai) where it had no subtitles. i didn't understand a single word that was being said but i totally understood almost every scene in the film ,(except those that all new characters in them). luckily i had just read Maximum City, Bombay Lost and Found By sekula Metha, which details a lot of the events in the movie. i am from Ireland and i don't speak any of the languages in th film. Marastaha? Hindi? As an exercise in visual film Making it was excellent. i cant wait to watch this again with subtitles

The acting was superb. deserves to be seen in the west

I remember watching the trailers of Black Friday a couple of years ago and making it a point to watch it.Never before has anyone dared to approach such a controversial issue so blatantly,which is probably why it worked.The events that are depicted in this movie shook not only the city of Bombay but the nation as a whole.To add to the documentary-like look at the blasts of '93,director Anurag Kashyap has done a brilliant job of elucidating moving,intense performances from fine actors like Kay Kay Menon and Aditya Srivastava. Technically, Black Friday is more visionary than most Hindi movies ever made.It did not have exotic locations,an ensemble star cast of the most high profile actors in the industry,or an unlimited budget,all of which are necessities for an Indian movie.The use of complex Steadicam shots,slow motion and hand-held cameras really put the movie into a different perspective.The use of lighting in situations such as the interrogations being bathed in red light also helped set the mood required to really go into the depths of all the stories of the main characters which have been intricately woven together with finesse. Hats off to Mr. Anurag Kashyap for bringing such a fine piece of art to Indian cinema.Seems like the time spent with Mr. Mani Ratnam,the greatest Indian director ever to get behind a camera,is paying off.This is evident in the tinge of patriotism and realism portrayed.Personally i hope guys with vision like this continue bringing quality to Indian cinema.It really needs it.