The Vow

Rating : 8/10
Release Date : 9th March, 2012 (India)
Time : 104 minutes
Director : Michael Suchsy; Writers : Jason Katims, Stuart Sender; Music : Michael Brook, Rachel Portman
Starring : Rachel McAdams, Channing Tatum, Sam Neill, Jessica Lange, Scott Speedman, Jessica McNamee, Tatiana Maslany, Jeannane Goossen, Dillon Casey

Suppose, you got a chance to travel back in time four years of your life and restart your life from that point, without any memory of what you’ve done in those last four years. Do you think you’d end up doing the same things or take a different path ?

Our main protagonist, Rachel McAdams, is happily married to Channing, had left her parents house a few years ago (and is not on talking terms with them), has quit law school to pursue a career as a sculptor and is happy with the life she’s leading. Until an accident happens. Which erases all her memories of the past few years. When she wakes up from her coma, in her head, she is still living with her parents, still going to law school and is engaged to her childhood sweetheart, Scott.

The fact that she doesn’t remember Channing at all, that Channing has never met her parents, that her parents are rich and she & Channing aren’t, the fact that her father is dominating and clearly wants to run her life, while Channing wants her to just be, make for an interesting film.

The subtle humour and moments shown, help keep the film in non-intense territory. From their wedding vows (and ceremony), the forget-me-nots, the chocolate Russian roulette, the blueberry Mojito & sorority girl remark, the ‘you didn’t knock’ to ‘I have to be back by ten in the morning’, the jokes feel real and not the product of a scriptwriters imagination. Incidents like the one involving Channing and her father, Sam, or her fiancée Scott, came across as filmy while the one between Channing and her sisters fiancée, Dillon once about recording studios being a dying industry & then about Radiohead were just right.

Memory is an amazing thing. She remembers the way to her parents house, a conversation with Scott, her moms phone number but not her own house, the fact that she turned vegetarian or her own husband. As Channing points out, we are the sum total of all the moments we have lived. But what if, you forget everyone of those moments ? Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams give a great performance to make us believe in their predicament and keep us engaged as they figure their way out.

Sliding Doors-esque in its approach, the film raises some pertinent questions about life, the choices we make. We seem to use the word ‘chick flick’ in an almost derogatory fashion. This one is a chick flick, but with a message if you’d care to find it…

No One Killed Jessica

Rating : 7/10
Release Date : 7th January, 2011
Time : 136 minutes
Director & Writer : Raj Kumar Gupta; Music : Amit Trivedi
Starring : Vidya Balan, Rani Mukherjee, Rajesh Sharma, Neil Bhoopalam, Yogendra Tikku, Shireesh Sharma, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub

This is a brilliantly made film, one which keeps you gripped despite your knowing exactly how things will turn out. One which makes you glad and angry at the same time, as you leave the hall. Glad that someone made a film on a topic like this and at the way things eventually pan out. And angry, very angry that in our country we continually let those in power abuse those without it, to the point that they think they can get away with anything, even murder. And in most cases we let them …


It is a fictionalised account of what happened to an aspiring middle-class model, Jessica who is shot dead by a rich, spoilt, drunk politician's son at point blank range simply because she refused to serve him a drink after closing hours. She is shot at a party full of about 300 people, most of them rich and influential. And yet the courts acquitted the defendants, that too after 6 years. This is the story of how this came to pass and what became of it after.

Four things set this movie apart. Great direction, superb editing, excellent casting / performances and a pulsating soundtrack. The direction & writing sets the ambience perfectly, it captures the essence of Delhi with all its rudeness, power and money obsession, feistiness and even its heart. The editing makes sure the pace is at a fast clip throughout and despite it being a true story, the surprise moments keep coming through. The performances breathe life to the characters. Rani shows some spark after a long time as the TV journalist demanding justice. Vidya manages to somehow shrink and shrivel up as she plays Jessica’s sister Sabrina who despite being an introvert just keeps going ahead through sheer bull-headedness. There’s the inspector (Rajesh sharma) who’s had enough of high society people and their foibles. The extremely good looking star witness (Neil Bhoopalam) who is given an offer he cant refuse. Both the fathers, one weak willed and helpless (Yogendra Tikku), the other silent but powerful. The self indulgent high society aunt who is too confused at the wrong moments. And a soundtrack that makes the film come alive, enhancing the mood at every occasion.



If I have to nit-pick, I thought the pace flagged just a notch in the middle and towards the end of the second half. I thought the opening credits commentary, while interesting, was almost drowned out in the midst of the music, didn’t get a chance to standout. But these are really small points – in the larger scheme of things and versus most other cheap, gimmicky or mindless films coming out today, this one towers up and above.


A constant thought, sometimes articulated in the film, is this could so easily have been happening to us. Its so real. Another thought, again articulated briefly in the beginning, is that in Delhi you’re nobody if you don’t know somebody and that’s why everybody is always a somebody (‘tu jaanta nahin main kaun hoon ?’). Here’s to the day when everybody will genuinely just need to be himself to get justice and to other cities not becoming like Delhi…