A hero... a heroine... a villain... a murder... a revenge... sounds stereotypical? Thankfully this is NOT what the movie is all about... it's about how life comes a full circle... how a villain's life is toppled by another villain, and the cumulative culmination of their tales... a scarily parallel tale of two love stories... two individuals, their respective princesses, their relationships, the complications in their lives, and their ways of dealing with the same...
As mentioned before, the story has not one, but two villains... then what about the hero, you may ask! Well, the story is the hero here... a taut, crisp narrative conceived and executed in the best way, the tension and emotions enhanced a hundred times over by the non-linear pattern of the narrative... one act flows into the other like water, not letting you take off your eyes or distract your mind for one split-second, the movie keeps you engaged to the very end, and is consistently well edited- keeping it slow enough to comprehend and feel for, and fast enough not to let it drag (a total screentime of 2h 7min) and leaves you with a beautiful ending, although slightly predictable, but entirely satisfying...
The romance is tender, the violence brutal and emotions palpable... there is also a good amount of humor, sometimes at unexpected junctures, which only add to it's merit... here I must appreciate the fact that the violence is chilling but never gory, there's minimal bloodshed and a good part of it is symbolic...
The direction is top-notch, and Mohit Suri is in full control of the proceedings... he knows what exactly he's upto and that shows on screen... not a single visual is wasted... and the lines show the flair this story requires... the characters are all well-etched and strongly detailed...
The ENTIRE cast is in it's best form, with Siddharth and Riteish getting the best roles, who do more than full justice to themselves and the story... Siddharth's built complements his Guru, his eyes intense and vulnerable and body language believable... he brinngs out the complexities of his role with enormous clarity... for instance, that particular fight sequence when he's least bothered in bashing up the hundred goons that come his way, and is only focused on getting the answer that he wants... brilliant!
Riteish makes for the perfect choice to play Rakesh, and is eeriely crazy and scary... his eyes are consistently cold, except for when he looks at his wife, and portrays the multitude of layers that his role has with effortless ease... trust me, a killer with a stupid and straight face is atleast a thousand times more frightening than a one with a scary face ( remember Bob Biswas of Kahaani?)
Shraddha shines in parts... she does almost full justice to her role, except for the few moments when her suitably modulated and emotive voice isn't really complimented by facial expressions... but surely has come a long way from the plastic princess that she was in Aashiqui 2...
Aamna Sharif does a fab job, and gets into the skin of her character... an unexpected helping of Kamaal R. Khan might leave you anywhere from amused to irritated depending on your liking to him, and plays a role that looks quite relatable to his real life persona... the rest of the supporting cast are excellent, too!
There are only few things not-so-good in the otherwise flawless tale... there are a few liberties the director takes, but are not too noteworthy... one thing that amused me or distracted me rather, was that I really don't see any regular middle class woman to be styling her hair in the most fashionable dos on an everyday basis, even if she is Aamna Sharif...
These apart, everything else fall perfectly into place... and is as dark and engaging as lucid and feel good it is, and is an interesting thriller, with an interesting story, a lot of twists and turns, and great acting and direction!
Two thumbs up for this one!
As mentioned before, the story has not one, but two villains... then what about the hero, you may ask! Well, the story is the hero here... a taut, crisp narrative conceived and executed in the best way, the tension and emotions enhanced a hundred times over by the non-linear pattern of the narrative... one act flows into the other like water, not letting you take off your eyes or distract your mind for one split-second, the movie keeps you engaged to the very end, and is consistently well edited- keeping it slow enough to comprehend and feel for, and fast enough not to let it drag (a total screentime of 2h 7min) and leaves you with a beautiful ending, although slightly predictable, but entirely satisfying...
The romance is tender, the violence brutal and emotions palpable... there is also a good amount of humor, sometimes at unexpected junctures, which only add to it's merit... here I must appreciate the fact that the violence is chilling but never gory, there's minimal bloodshed and a good part of it is symbolic...
The direction is top-notch, and Mohit Suri is in full control of the proceedings... he knows what exactly he's upto and that shows on screen... not a single visual is wasted... and the lines show the flair this story requires... the characters are all well-etched and strongly detailed...
The ENTIRE cast is in it's best form, with Siddharth and Riteish getting the best roles, who do more than full justice to themselves and the story... Siddharth's built complements his Guru, his eyes intense and vulnerable and body language believable... he brinngs out the complexities of his role with enormous clarity... for instance, that particular fight sequence when he's least bothered in bashing up the hundred goons that come his way, and is only focused on getting the answer that he wants... brilliant!
Riteish makes for the perfect choice to play Rakesh, and is eeriely crazy and scary... his eyes are consistently cold, except for when he looks at his wife, and portrays the multitude of layers that his role has with effortless ease... trust me, a killer with a stupid and straight face is atleast a thousand times more frightening than a one with a scary face ( remember Bob Biswas of Kahaani?)
Shraddha shines in parts... she does almost full justice to her role, except for the few moments when her suitably modulated and emotive voice isn't really complimented by facial expressions... but surely has come a long way from the plastic princess that she was in Aashiqui 2...
Aamna Sharif does a fab job, and gets into the skin of her character... an unexpected helping of Kamaal R. Khan might leave you anywhere from amused to irritated depending on your liking to him, and plays a role that looks quite relatable to his real life persona... the rest of the supporting cast are excellent, too!
There are only few things not-so-good in the otherwise flawless tale... there are a few liberties the director takes, but are not too noteworthy... one thing that amused me or distracted me rather, was that I really don't see any regular middle class woman to be styling her hair in the most fashionable dos on an everyday basis, even if she is Aamna Sharif...
These apart, everything else fall perfectly into place... and is as dark and engaging as lucid and feel good it is, and is an interesting thriller, with an interesting story, a lot of twists and turns, and great acting and direction!
Two thumbs up for this one!
