Going in, I had read/heard mixed reviews. A few suggested that this one was a rip-off of 'English Vinglish' (more on that later). A few, said that the only 2 things worth watching were Kangana Ranaut's performance and the final 20 minutes. I did not know of Vikas Bahl (the helmer, who previously worked on the not-quite-here-or-there 'Chillar Party').
I had seen/enjoyed 'English/Vinglish', and the one thing this one has in common with that is the music composer, Amit Trivedi (who's yet to surpass his own 'Dev D', but is probably belting out some of the best stuff that's out there these days).
Kangana Ranaut: This is one actress at whom the entire audience was laughing at, when she tried 'acting' drunk in her first movie, 'Gangster', which was a hit because of its narration and great soundtrack, no credit to her, IMO. However, I did watch other movies she performed in, including 'Life in a metro' and 'Tanu weds Manu', and she was fantastic in both of them (also helped that both movies were very good, and the former also reflect director Anurag Basu's growth in terms of choosing subjects, though he did rip off the Jack Lemmon vehicle, 'Apartment' for the segment with Ranaut/Kohli/Menon - unkind words were said about her character in the movie mimicking her experiences in real-life at that time).
She really owns it in this one, and it was kinda sad to note the material not really pushing it to the max, and staying safe, considering (I think) she was in a place so perfect that her performance would have benefited from some envelope-pushing. Having said that though, this Phantom production (Kashyap, et al, just coming off of the success of 'Hasee toh phasee') pushes all the (just) right buttons, and manages to educate and entertain at the same time. Wrong release timing though, since womens' day was a couple weeks earlier.
This sure tries to be quite a few things at the same time: Rebelling against the typical conservative response to rejection is one theme, along with turning into a mismatched buddy-comedy where one learns from the other (along with some welcome same sex erotic overtones in a few sequences, though they're ultimately played for laughs), a competitive cook-off, Hostel 3 (just kidding, but I had to put this out there as well - you'll know when you watch it). Given that it tries to accomplish so many things at the same time in the same flick, I was as (pleasantly) surprised as I was watching 'English/Vinglish' when that also tried to become something more, while ultimately chickening out, just this way this one does as well. Too much to ask, I suppose.
Lisa Haydon, an Angelina-done-right in terms of looks, has some amazing screen presence, but her acting definitely needs to shine better (she does have the looks to pull anything off, and her performance here is much better than a lot of good-looking wooden blocks that populate Bollywood). The supporting characters lend some able support, merging into the background when needed, and Kangana shines all through, as was the objective since the beginning.
Though it sure has some sequences that left me scratching my head, more so from the censoring perspective - Lisa's bra is blurred in this theatrical cut, but the scene in the sex toy store is intact, as are few cleavage shots. Very confusing, and inconsistent, though their inconsistency's sure consistent.
Definitely worth a watch, esp. on the big screen, though I wish it had been done much better.
I had seen/enjoyed 'English/Vinglish', and the one thing this one has in common with that is the music composer, Amit Trivedi (who's yet to surpass his own 'Dev D', but is probably belting out some of the best stuff that's out there these days).
Kangana Ranaut: This is one actress at whom the entire audience was laughing at, when she tried 'acting' drunk in her first movie, 'Gangster', which was a hit because of its narration and great soundtrack, no credit to her, IMO. However, I did watch other movies she performed in, including 'Life in a metro' and 'Tanu weds Manu', and she was fantastic in both of them (also helped that both movies were very good, and the former also reflect director Anurag Basu's growth in terms of choosing subjects, though he did rip off the Jack Lemmon vehicle, 'Apartment' for the segment with Ranaut/Kohli/Menon - unkind words were said about her character in the movie mimicking her experiences in real-life at that time).
She really owns it in this one, and it was kinda sad to note the material not really pushing it to the max, and staying safe, considering (I think) she was in a place so perfect that her performance would have benefited from some envelope-pushing. Having said that though, this Phantom production (Kashyap, et al, just coming off of the success of 'Hasee toh phasee') pushes all the (just) right buttons, and manages to educate and entertain at the same time. Wrong release timing though, since womens' day was a couple weeks earlier.
This sure tries to be quite a few things at the same time: Rebelling against the typical conservative response to rejection is one theme, along with turning into a mismatched buddy-comedy where one learns from the other (along with some welcome same sex erotic overtones in a few sequences, though they're ultimately played for laughs), a competitive cook-off, Hostel 3 (just kidding, but I had to put this out there as well - you'll know when you watch it). Given that it tries to accomplish so many things at the same time in the same flick, I was as (pleasantly) surprised as I was watching 'English/Vinglish' when that also tried to become something more, while ultimately chickening out, just this way this one does as well. Too much to ask, I suppose.
Lisa Haydon, an Angelina-done-right in terms of looks, has some amazing screen presence, but her acting definitely needs to shine better (she does have the looks to pull anything off, and her performance here is much better than a lot of good-looking wooden blocks that populate Bollywood). The supporting characters lend some able support, merging into the background when needed, and Kangana shines all through, as was the objective since the beginning.
Though it sure has some sequences that left me scratching my head, more so from the censoring perspective - Lisa's bra is blurred in this theatrical cut, but the scene in the sex toy store is intact, as are few cleavage shots. Very confusing, and inconsistent, though their inconsistency's sure consistent.
Definitely worth a watch, esp. on the big screen, though I wish it had been done much better.