Straight | Movie Review

Men and women have different sense of humor. I am not comparing the quality but yes they think differently and joke differently. My biggest fear when I went in to watch Straight was that the director, who is a woman, might not be able to do complete justice to the story which is about a man who gets confused about his sexuality. Thankfully, she did not goof up there but that doesn’t mean that the film succeeds in its endeavor. Straight is not that straight a film as it meanders along expected lines before finally bringing home the fact that our man in question – Pinu Patel is not actually gay.

Straight does have an interesting story line. An introvert man whose biggest problem is his virginity and being subjected to ridicule by people develops a bonding with his cook at his restaurant. The problems compound as he gets confused about his sexuality. He goes about proving to himself that he is not a gay afterall. At the end of the story he realizes that he is not gay and then everyone goes home feeling happy for Pinu Patel. So far so good but when it finally comes to execution, Straight does not live upto expectations.

Straight has casual humor and a few of the scenes do make you laugh but individual scenes cannot bind a film to make it entertaining. This is where the director has to take the blame. Parvati had a decent outing with Rules:Pyar Ka Superhit Formula 6 years back but this time around, she fails to create an impact. She has executed a few comic scenes quite splendidly and also extracted good work from the lead protagonists – Vinay Pathak, Gul Panag and Anuj Chaudhari but sadly, the film fails when you look at it as a complete package. There is a satire on arranged marriages but the impact goes missing as the director repeats the same stories that have been told a lot many times. Just like the humor, everything else about the film looked casual too. Some funny scenes kept me glued initially bu tthen my thoughts began to wander as the story progressed.

Vinay Pathak is a seasoned actor and he doesn’t fail you here too. I cannot imagine anyone else playing Pinu Patel with the conviction that he did. Having said that, I think Vinay Pathak is overexposing himself by playing similar characters. Bheja Fry, Dasvidaniya and Straight all have Vinay playing a guy who is made fun of. It is about time he gives such roles a break. I am sure he is capable enough of handling other complex roles with ease too (but the question is – Are they coming?). Gul Panag oozes confidence and is a brainy actress. I feel that she is highly underrated as an actress. She does justice to her role in the film. Anuj Chaudhari is a new face. He too plays his part quite convincingly. The support cast is okay. Since they don’t get much footage, you can’t hold that against them.

There are a couple of good rock numbers in the film. Sagar Desai might be a guy to watch out for. Not related to the story but these songs do bring some life into the jerky paced movie.

There is nothing much to talk about the film or maybe I forgot to notice much as I didn’t find the narrative smooth. I would suggest that if you have not watched Straight till now, give it a miss. Believe me you will definitely end up doing something better in the time you save. I tried to like it but couldn’t do so. Straight gets a thumbs down from my side.

Read more...

Dasvidaniya - The Review

Dasvidaniya is a film that you will probably connect with. Vinay Pathak and his team deliver it third time in a row after Bheja Fry and Mithya. As for what makes Dasvidaniya worth a watch, there are ample reasons for that.

When you have a gang of actors like Vinay Pathak, Saurabh Shukla, Rajat Kapoor and Ranvir Shorey the director's work becomes easy. The debutant director Shashant Shah looks in form in the film but I am not too sure if he would be able to pull of something like Dasvidaniya again. Remember Sagar Bellary of the Bheja Fry fame? Last heard he was planning sequels to Bheja Fry. I hope I am not sounding too much of a cynic but this is more of an actor's film rather than a director's. So, I am not going to attribute a larger share of the success of Dasvidaniya to the director.

Vinay Pathak - the actor turns into a producer with this film. Having played character roles so far in Bollywood, I think he must not be having the kind of money a Subhash Ghai has to splurge on something as inane as Yuvvraj. That shows in the film. The production value is very poor indeed. The outdoors are evidently manipulated. What is shown as Russia might as well be some place near the Amby valley. Sure the story is not about Russia but when the title is Dasvidaniya, you ought to show that dude. If money was the problem, we should probably excuse him because the overall product turned out to be good.

The music is refreshingly good. Kailash Kher's music does stand out in the film. It is difficult to compose music in a film that doesn't have too much scope for a song and dance. It is not a Yash Raj movie where situation for songs are created and picturised in exotic locales to add to their value. The movie has three songs and they gel well with the mood of the film. Maa is the better one of the lot because of the sentiments attached.

The story is not well developed. There are no surprises and it toes the "expected" line. A man suffering from cancer decides to do what he always wanted in life but could never do. The team probably wanted to pick a straight forward story of a terminally ill man and give the meaning of life their own interpretation. I must mention here that Dasvidaniya is not inspired from Anand. Anand was about spreading happiness in everyone's lives before exiting the World's stage while Dasvidaniya is about making oneself happy (not in a selfish sense though!). It is inspired from The Bucket List in that sense. The screenplay is good. The characters are introduced in the plot seamlessly. The dialogues are intelligent.

One place where the film scores heavily is acting. And that again was expected when it comes from the stable of competent actors like Pathak and Co. They are all good actors but it is easier said than done. Vinay Pathak plays two characters - one of the seedha Amar Kaul and the other of his hidden shaana Amar Kaul. It is unbelievable how he convincingly plays both of them. They look two distinctly different people. Very few actors besides Vinay Pathak can portray that. You have to look minutely to witness the subtleness with which he changes expressions on his face.

There is a scene where he gives a lift to his childhood sweetheart and she gets a phone call. He thinks its her boy friend and gets sad but the very next monent when he realises that it was her mother, his expressions change to being happy suddenly. Very natural! Another scene that needs a mention is the one where he expresses his love to her. There is no dialogue exchange but the emotion is conveyed. Though it is cliched to say I Love You in films, this one scene would probably count as one of the better ones among the lot that capture the moment.

Rest of the cast supports Pathak ably. No one has a lengthy role but they make their presence felt. Saurabh Shukla as the inconsiderate boss, Gaurav Gera as the estranged brother, Sarita Joshi as the mother, Ranvir Shorey as the Chunni Babu (of Devdas fame) reincarnation and Rajat Kapoor as Amar Kaul's childhood buddy. Everyone gives the film the support it requires.

Dasvidaniya will not be an Anand that will be remembered in the years to come. Probably because the story is not novel and has oft been retold in different ways. It will at best be remembered as a profitable attempt catering to the taste of the urban audience that watches films in multiplexes. But it will always be a film that will probably cheer you up and tell you that life is a bigger deal than death is!

Though its quite late in the day, go watch Dasvidaniya if you haven't. My rating 3.5 out of 5.

Read more...