That's true. After a long time, a movie worthy of watching, let me stress that, “worthy of watching” and going back not feeling intellectually insulted. That may be way too condescending for the movies being churned out with the unrelenting efficiency of a Automobile Assembly line in Bollwood. Before reading any further, please answer the below questions
- When was the last time a suspense thriller had, well, “Suspense” and not suspension of brain activity? (Please don't answer this with any RGV movies or you will be “Aag”-ed?
- When was the last time a commercial movie had a heroine backed plot?
- When was the last time a commercial movie sans the song and dance routine create such buzz?
If you answered the above questions with “Long time”, “Long long time” or “Once upon a time”, then, proceed to read the rest.
Kahaani is an intelligently packaged film. I was a bit apprehensive, considering that it has been riding on the success of the media's newfound sensation- Ms. Vidya Balan in that Picture which was supposedly Dirty. Somehow, after watching many of the recently released over-hyped movies, you feel you have just served yourself to Dr. Hannibal Lecter who removes your brain and makes a recipe out of it to be fed to the Bollywood film makers. It's a common joke nowadays, please leave your brains at homes and come watch movies, because the film makers themselves did that when making the movie. However, 15 mins into “Kahaani”, I felt I would need my brain back in place in all its glory to decipher the suspense thrown at me by Mr. Sujoy Ghosh (Director). The movie starts with a terrorist attack in a Train and then all of a sudden changes tracks to the search of Mrs. V(B)idya Bagchi's hubby right in the center of a city gearing up for its most loved and celebrated festival, the Durga Puja. Add to this the fact that Bidyaji is expecting a baby pretty soon. What a setting? Wow!!! The clues never seem to end and one clue leads to another and we follow Bidya Bagchi and the innocent-faced Rana as they try to unravel the mystery of the Missing Hubby. Questions galore keep you hooked like how is Bidya's search related to the Terrorist incident? is there a Mr. Bagchi after all? Why is the IB trying to suppress and depress to oppress the facts about the supposedly Mr. Bagchi lookalike? The pace of the movie is just right ot keep you guessing all alone and has lots of clues thrown in the running time for you to decipher in the climax.
Vidya Balan is amazing as always and I wish she gets a national award every year if she is willing to do such roles regularly. The best thing about her are her eyes, deceptive inherently that we are always guessing if she is on the wrong side or the right one. I remember a certain Kajol from Gupt a long time back, who was amazing at deception. The supporting cast is equally great and sometimes even better especially a certain Nawazuddin Siddiqui who plays the role of an IB sleuth. Where did they find this guy? He is a monsterball of energy chewing away everyone else who share screenspace with him in his scenes. This diminutive dude spews fire in each dialogue he has and his body language over compensates for the lack of a body build to play an IB detective. Vidya and Nawazuddin have some great exchanges in some scenes and its downright thrilling to watch the performances. However, the heart of the movie is Parambrata Chatterjee. The eternally soft spoken policeman who stands by Bidya Bagchi in her quest for her husband in spite of several challenges thrown at them. He is the one who really handholds us as we find our way through the clues because, he is equally clueless like us about the happenings around them. It’s like we ride along with him in the movie accompanying Bidya unraveling the mystery. That said casting has been absolutely apt from the Station SI to the IT company HR head to the local guest house receptionist to the Insurance agent/ Contract killer.
Sewing up everything in place is the director. I remember watching his “Jhankaar Beats” with a perennial smile throughout the movie. I am happy that he has taken some time to prosper since then to reach Kahaani. The maturity is evident in the film and hats off for trusting his instinct for such a off-the-beaten-track subject. He has had to wait for the Dirty Picture to succeed to bring his “Kahaani” out of the cans but he should be happy with the box office results. Hoping to see more of this promising director in the coming years.
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