Rating : 4/10
Release Date : 18th February, 2011
Time : 154 minutes
Director, Music & Writer : Vishal Bhardwaj; Co-Writer : Matthew Robbins (based on the story by Ruskin Bond);
Starring : Priyanka Chopra, Vivaan Shah, Neil Nitin Mukesh, John Abraham, Irrfan Khan, Aleksandr Dyachenko, Annu Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Usha Uthup, Shashi Malviya
I really admire the marketing that accompanies certain directors nowadays. It builds up the film to a degree and in a way that it almost makes you feel like you’re a cinematic idiot if you don’t like it. Call me a philistine but I didn’t like it. I didn’t get it. I found it too dark and too long and weird and unreal and unsettling.
Its about Priyanka and her 7 husbands. And yes, she murders them. And she has a loyal entourage (Vivaan Shah, Usha Uthup, Shashi Malviya among others) who accompany her through her travails. I wont tell you anymore about the story, but leave it to you to discover the who’s, the when’s, the how’s and the why’s.
Suffice to say I never understood the why’s. Or the character played by Priyanka. Or her entourage. There were never any conversations between them of any depth (bar one) which tried to make sense of whats happening. I enjoyed looking at her, she looks stunning, acts beautifully but I don’t follow her thoughts or feel any empathy for her, like her or find her coherent. And that’s why the film feels much longer than its two and a half hours.
Since the movie has to go through so many husbands (remember Whats Your Rashee ?), by definition the men have very little time devoted to them and end up being mere caricatures, just getting fattened for the slaughter. Neil and Annu Kapoor stand out though for making their characters come to life a bit more than the others.
Am not sure about the philosophy or thought being propagated by the film as well. Is there one ? Its almost as if murder is the first and only resort and that cannot be ? Its a film rich in music (Darling & the haunting Bekaraan standing out) and lovely atmospherics but again, without characters you like, it doesnt hold you or make it enjoyable. I don’t think every great book will make a great movie. I haven’t read this story but wish this one had been left alone.
