A very interesting movie indeed! Screenplay, acting and direction are strong points. Some incidents are very disturbing. Nagesh Kukunoor is a better director than actor (he's not a bad actor though). The climax - ? I have to watch the movie again. I sure did not expect the climax, even though once it started unfolding, I started getting the whole thing. I'm not sure what I think of the climax.
MAJOR, MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD - PLEASE DO NOT READ AHEAD IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE
If Ishaan is the only one who knows what is going on right from the beginning of the movie, does it mean that Naseeruddin Shah and the director decided to deliberately deceive the audience by not portraying the role as they should have? "Aapko pehle kahin dekha hoon" is the lamest excuse. May be I did miss Ishaan's reactions when I watched the movie for the first time. So I don't know for sure if this is greatness or this is cheating that Kukunoor pulled the wool on my eyes, though I tend to think it's the latter.
In any case, the way Kukunoor used the inspiration from Shawshank Redemption is brilliant. Kudos!
*** END MAJOR SPOILERS
The movie clocks at just 2 hours. I wished Juhi's life could be fleshed out a little bit better. Shri Vallabh Vyas's role as her husband is woefully underused and underwritten. Pity.
On the other hand, the prison life as depicted in the movie deeply affected me - particularly the issue of prison homosexuality and AIDS. The conflict of the HIV+ rapist is eschewed to show him as a monster. The indirect effect is the negative impression of homosexuality that all gay men are predators. Even though one can objectively see that the hatred depicted for him is because he is a rapist who could get away with the heinous crime, it could very easily be projected on to homosexuals in general. A pretty damning condition of homosexuals in India. I wish Kukunoor had not muddled up different issues here.
Overall, a very interesting movie by Nagesh Kukunoor. Keep it up!
MAJOR, MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD - PLEASE DO NOT READ AHEAD IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE
If Ishaan is the only one who knows what is going on right from the beginning of the movie, does it mean that Naseeruddin Shah and the director decided to deliberately deceive the audience by not portraying the role as they should have? "Aapko pehle kahin dekha hoon" is the lamest excuse. May be I did miss Ishaan's reactions when I watched the movie for the first time. So I don't know for sure if this is greatness or this is cheating that Kukunoor pulled the wool on my eyes, though I tend to think it's the latter.
In any case, the way Kukunoor used the inspiration from Shawshank Redemption is brilliant. Kudos!
*** END MAJOR SPOILERS
The movie clocks at just 2 hours. I wished Juhi's life could be fleshed out a little bit better. Shri Vallabh Vyas's role as her husband is woefully underused and underwritten. Pity.
On the other hand, the prison life as depicted in the movie deeply affected me - particularly the issue of prison homosexuality and AIDS. The conflict of the HIV+ rapist is eschewed to show him as a monster. The indirect effect is the negative impression of homosexuality that all gay men are predators. Even though one can objectively see that the hatred depicted for him is because he is a rapist who could get away with the heinous crime, it could very easily be projected on to homosexuals in general. A pretty damning condition of homosexuals in India. I wish Kukunoor had not muddled up different issues here.
Overall, a very interesting movie by Nagesh Kukunoor. Keep it up!