The best Bollywood movies of 2015

Bollywood had a decent 2015 for cine lovers.

In the midst of intolerable mediocrity masquerading as cinema, though some from this group went into the multi hundred crore clubs, there were movies made for the connoisseurs of quality cinema as well. And then there were some high quality wholesome entertainers.

It is very difficult to decide lists of best movies. All good movies require excellent team effort and passion. Then these are cross genre with different styles of direction and acting. The way I decide primarily is how entertained, engrossed and excited I felt during the course of the movie and how many layers of emotion the movie could unfold inside me; and I try to hold on to these thoughts. How I felt overall while coming out of the cinema hall, in terms of the overall technicalities of cinema. Then, if the movie plays again on television how excited would I be to watch it again.

So here is my list of the top dozen movies of 2015.

1) Baby
2) Tanu weds Manu Returns
3) Masaan
4) Tamasha
5) Detective Byomkesh Bakshy
6) Majhi the mountain man
7) Margarita with a straw
8) Drishyam
9) Talvar
10) Dum Lagake Haisha
11) Piku
12) Bajirao Mastani

Badlapur, Dil Dhadakne Do, NH10, Hunterr and Angry Indian Goddesses are the other good movies of 2015 that addressed different issues. I could not watch Main aur Charles, Titli and Shaandaar. Understand these are also well made movies, would catch them as soon as possible. I did not consider Bahubali in this list since it is a Telugu movie. But kudos to director Rajamouli for being able to execute a movie in high-fantasy genre with minimal flaws. Eagerly waiting for the second installment in 2016. Bahubali would spawn many movies in this genre in the near future and Prabhas and Rana Daggubati might be seen often in Bollywood movies.

Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Ranbir Kapoor, Sushant Singh Rajput, Ranveer Singh and Nawazuddin would be nominated for the "best actor" awards. The way things work, Nawaz would get the critics awards and the others would be shared by Amitabh, Akshay, Ranveer and Ranbir. I read that Ranvir(Sheorey) in Tilti was also a par performance, so this category would be interesting.

Among the leading ladies, Deepika Padukone would sweep the awards and may find two of three nominations in the best acrtress category. However Richa Chaddha, Kalki and Kangana would give her very tough competition. Anuskha and Konkona may also be nominated. Ideally for me, Kalki should have equal chances of winning, but again the way our awards work, Kalki or Richa may get the "critics" awards, most would be taken by Deepika and some by Kangana. Neeraj Pandey, Anand Rai, Neeraj Ghaywan, Imtiaz Ali and Dibakar Banerjee would share the director awards. My personal favourites would be Pandey or Ghaywan.

Coming back to the movies,"Baby" is at the top because of Akshay Kumar and Neeraj Pandey's direction on how exactly one should make a gripping movie in this genre. The camerawork, the screenplay and the characterization. No you do not need over the top action sequences, spies are not supermen. You do not need that unnecessary item number as well. I would like to see Pandey making a lot more movies and would like Akki to stick to such quality roles.And I really liked the girl Tapsee, would love to see her more often as well. :)

I must confess that "Tanu Weds Manu Returns" is right at the top for me simply because of Deepak Dobriyal, though Madhavan and especially Kangana were very competent as well. When you take one particular art to an entirely different level, comedy in Dobriyal's case, you carry a lot of the movie on your shoulders and take it to a different level as well. Off late I do not remember better comic timing than "Pappi".

For a debut, "Masaan" is an exceptional effort by Neeraj Ghaywan. One really needs to watch this one to understand the conflicts, the rebel and the ethical conflicts of the characters and the situations created in the movie. Excellent parallel movie with underrated but brilliant actors, especially Richa Chaddha.

"Tamasha" again is not really mainstream but with highly commercial actors doing different stuff and carrying it off in style. The movie is indulgent in parts, but the way it critiques "growing up" in the Indian society, especially for a non conformist, like a lyrical poem, is simply out of the world. Hats of the Imtiaz Ali and more like these please!

With "Detective Byomkesh Bakshy", Dibakar Banerjee has successfully been able to pull of a Noir. Yes this is not the drawing room detective we all know and have read about. The character has transformed much like Sherlock Holmes in the series we have currently seen, but nonetheless Sushant Singh Rajput did complete justice to the character and we can expect a fine detective series of our own. Neeraj Kabi is one of the most underrated actors in Indian cinema today and we should be able to see a lot more of him.

Nawazuddin is one of the best actors in Bollywood, probably the best in his generation, if we leave out the stalwarts. By the time he ends, he would be right up there with the likes of Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Anupam Kher. He proves it yet again in "Majhi the mountain man". Kalki in turn showed her acting prowess in Margarita with a straw. Very few movies have been made in India that sensibly and sensitively tackle the lives and struggles of people with special needs. I would rate it alongside the legendary Sanjeev Kumar's "Koshish". "Drishyam" makes it to the list because of its excellent plot and incredible ending. Of course Devgan's acting supported ably by the others was also above par.

Without making any judgements, "Talvar" skilfully shows all the possibilities of one of the most disturbing and infamous double murders in India. Neeraj Kabi and Konkona come up with brilliant performances and Meghna Gulzar deserves kudos for the presentation and making us think what if the parents are innocent indeed and the investigation was really botched up.Dum Laga Ke Haisha was different and cute. The director breaks convention and shows that the world has all kinds of people and lead actresses need not always be size zero and actors must not sport six packs. You are the hero and heroine of your own lives and can do things to make your little world happy and exciting. Good performance again by the lead actors. Piku did not get into the preaching space, but had a nice funny story about father-daughter bonding, constipation and their lives around it, executed cannily by Shoojit Sircar.

I could not review "Bajirao Mastani" yet, so I will write a bit about the movie. For the first 30 minutes one would feel that if may go down as one of the classics of all time! It was so refreshing to see Ranveer Singh not hamming and actually playing the role instead of himself, and sincerely trying to get into the skin of Bajirao. Deepika took off from she left in Tamasha and is steadily moving towards becoming the actress of the era with her choice and roles and delivery. As Bajirao’s love interest the passion, the sacrifice, the rebel, all facets of the character came out pretty well. Priyanka Chopra is also very good as Bajirao’s wife. However Tanvi Azmi as Bajirao’s widowed mother would take the cake for the best performance among the actresses. The quality of acting is actually top notch by the support cast as well.

The culprit however is the director Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

Yes cinema is a piece of art and yes you have a liberty to make the movie as you like. But there is a thin line between cinematic liberty and over indulgence. Braveheart and Gladiator are two of the best period movies that has come out from Hollywood about great warriors. Imagine, William Wallace and Maximus Decimus Meridius jumping around and dancing after winning a war with his soldiers

Fine, Mastani can dance, but does she need to sing and dance everywhere? Then what is wrong if she was being called a “baijee”? Priyanka and Mastani also dance on "Pinga Gapori" even after  a highly strained relationship for obvious reasons. Bhansali has to understand that if he destroys the flow of what could have been a great movie, by repeatedly putting in unnecessary songs and dance sequences and over indulging himself he would be remembered as a good director but not a great one and his movies would be good movies but not classics. The movie should be watched however for the performances of all the actors, the huge canvas and the cinematography.

Hope 2016 would be a an exciting year for movie lovers. Would love to discuss movies, music, acting and direction with you all in real life and cyberspace. :)

Tamasha: Lyrical, exquisite, different

One fine day, we all kill the child within us, “grow up”, leave the world of fantasy and become practical, domesticated and professional. For most it is a normal routine process, probably the way they envisioned themselves to be anyway, or they condition themselves better for the world.

But what about the ones that are different and remain fantasied? Those who could never come to terms with the banal realities of life, whose passion, creativity and effervescence constantly fight the mundane expectations of the world? They fight, but ultimately give up, start lying to themselves and try becoming something they are not. However they become lonely in a world where others do a better job of lying to themselves.

Imtiaz Ali captures this process through his protagonist Ved(Ranbir Kapoor) like a craftsman and like an artist he weaves the movie around him. Ved wanted to be nothing but a story teller, but forced by conventional wisdom, he takes up engineering, management, then the job of a brand manager and starts believing that this was actually meant for him. He meets a girl from a past encounter in Corsica, France, with whom he had gelled immediately and had had a short passionate relationship. They fall in love again, but the girl realizes that he is not the same man and  helps him get back to what he actually is.

However the treatment and presentation of this simple storyline is unique and lyrical. Lovely cinematography, deft camerawork, shifting timeframes of storytelling and a deep understanding of human emotions and vulnerabilities. Irshad Kamil’s lyrics add excellent value to the plot points and non sequiturs.

The way a kid’s interest towards a part of life is formed, his fervent visits to the storyteller, how different stories impact his mind with characters and their myriad facets, all this has been brought out very well. The way a creative person’s mind works, Sanyukta marrying Prithiviraj Chauhan in a Church and many other sequences where boundaries blur and classics we have heard since childhood merge together.

Some of the scenes just penetrate through the heart. The simple discussion with the auto driver who wanted to be a singer, who says, “Koi mai ka laal nahi bata sakhta main kaun hoon, par main andar se kuch koi aur hee hoon aur bahar se majboor!” The protagonist probably realizes that the problem is across classes, but maybe the auto guy is more enlightened than him on the issue. 

The symbolism of keeping the flowers at the backseat, that get wizened after sometime, to show that in the grind of life we leave the beautiful things in the backseat. The parties we go with people we do not have a connection with, the show off that we are having fun, while actually we are stuck in a tedious routine. The movie does not say, it shows. In many ways the movie projects a mirror on our faces, that many of us choose to ignore.

Ranbir Kapoor as Ved, brilliantly brings out the confusion, the latent anger, the synthetic cool attitude of a man following a mirage. As the storyteller, who landed up in the corporate world, there are a few close shots where he has to deliver confused and emotionally intense expressions together and he does not falter. After Piku, Deepika Padukone again resoundingly silences her critics(including me) with a vivacious portrayal of Tara, the girl who was made for the original Ved.  She is choosing her roles very well and in terms of acting she is right up there among the top  two or three leading ladies. The multi-talented Piyush Mishra as the story teller is peerless as ever, especially during the last scene. Vivek Mushran and Javed Sheikh as Ved’s boss and father respectively are competent. 

Rahman’s music is good, Mohit Chauhan, Arijit Singh and others bring out the best of their styles that go very well with the theme of the movie. However uncharacteristically my favourite happens to be “Heer to badi sad hai” by Mika Singh, whom I do not like particularly, but must say he has done a great job with the subtle variations of the song.

The good things notwithstanding, the movie has its flaws. Sometimes Imtiaz Ali sets himself too free at the cost of a tight screenplay and the film wanders. Though the music is good, the timing of some of the songs did not seem right and the ideas got repetitive. The first half drags a bit probably in order to drive home the point the director is trying to make. Common Imtiaz, we are intelligent enough, at times think of the producers and commercial viability too! ;)

Please note that Tamasha is not for everyone.

I believe at some point we all ask ourselves, “What am I, why am I doing this? Was it meant to be like this?” Basically hanging between esteem and self-actualization on the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. If one is already asking such questions, is fighting internal battles with the self or otherwise has an excellent understanding of the multi layered emotional fabric of human beings, then this movie is for them. 

If you appreciate the different aspects of movie making, a different style of storytelling, with exaggeration as a catalyst, because the protagonist himself is a story teller that involves exaggeration, and if metaphors, symbolism, poetry and painting appeal to you, then this movie is for you. 

Please do not watch this is you do not want to think much and specifically want to see a “paisa vasool mass entertainer”. In that case wait for Rohit Shetty’s Dilwale, that will surely make 300 crores or more!

4 out of 5 for this one!

Aamir Khan and the intolerance debate

Somehow, we seem to have lost a sense of proportion and perspective over issues. 

For example our PM is either a dangerous monster or the greatest statesman to have walked the earth. There is nothing in between and no one can discuss anything with the pro and anti Modi groups without taking one of these extreme positions. There is a growing culture of taking up half-truths and parading them as universal facts written on stone, on almost all issues. 

Aamir Khan went overboard with his view on intolerance in India. He may have an opinion on the issue like others, but I do not see any way in which someone’s wife in his social class, Hindu or Muslim, someone who has access to Z level security, can be insecure enough to think of leaving the country. His view indeed contradicted many stands he has taken in the past and the fact that he is superstar in this nation. Probably he should have articulated better.  

Just as I find his statement immature and not really well thought out, I am equally surprised by the reaction to his comment. TV channels are only showing this news, I would like to know how my friends in Chennai are doing now. Or for that matter would Russia take any action against the fighter jet that was downed by Turkey today, but no! 

People on FB and Twitter are angry. He made a statement that has hurt people and others have the right to contradict him, many have rightly done so, probably because many like him a lot. But protesting in front of his house and throwing stones, uninstalling Snapdeal Apps, are these things not going overboard again? Is this issue so big that warrants this kind of action? If so, should we not have similar protests when Sakshi Maharaj for example, repeatedly spouted nonsense? Are those comments not worse for a nation like ours? We talk of “selective” anger, is this not selective “patriotism”? 

I heard people say that all this is tarnishing our image in the world. Let us think of some headlines in foreign newspapers tomorrow. “Indian movie superstar picketed and his posters burnt by protesters because of comment on intolerance” or “Indian ecommerce App ratings go down, as protests against actor who made a comment on intolerance”. Would this be good for the image for India? Are these actions now not justifying what Aamir Khan said? 

Coming back to being selective, Kamal Hassan had also threatened to leave India when Muslim fanatics wanted his movie banned. I did not hear anyone call him anti national? I did not like the movie PK, not because I thought it insulted religion, but because it had a poor script and at times, poor direction. The movie made 300+ crores and that shows we Indians do not mind criticism of our religion and are overall tolerant. But fringe elements protested a lot, I can see some posts on FB today. However “Oh My God” took on religion equally strongly, if not more, but protests were not raised against Paresh Rawal.

We need to think why?

In any case these are actors and not script writers or directors so why target them? Why nothing was said against Raju Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra or Abhijat Joshi? Do we fall for ideological propaganda based upon our own subconscious prejudices, without thinking in a fair manner?

 On the larger debate of intolerance, I think there has been an overreaction and in some cases there were vested political and/or ideological interests. But then, if Nayantara Sehgal is Nehru’s niece, although she does not seem to have enjoyed good relations with the Gandhi family, Anupam Kher’s wife is also a BJP MP. However for many, that seems to have nothing to do with the great actor supporting the current government.

 To dismiss everything as a Congress ploy, saying that everyone has been paid to return awards or speak against real or perceived intolerance is very simplistic and is making the current government lose the battle of perception, because there are genuine people in this lot. The President of India, the Vice President, Gulzar, Raghuram Rajan, Kiran Mazumdar, Narayanmurthy, eminent scientists, writers, directors, retired army men among others have spoken up. Challenging the credibility of some of these people may really backfire as it probably did in Bihar.  Just to set the record straight, even after the Bihar elections, 3 writers have returned awards and we have had the issue with Girish Karnad and now Aamir Khan, so it is not entirely due to politics.

 It is not easy being a PM and being Modi is tougher. However if I were the PM, I would have invited some of these people, maybe Gulzar, Kiran Majumdar, Dibakar Banerjee and an eminent writer, maybe Anupam Kher and Shyam Benegal too for a 30 minute “chai par charcha”. Would have listened to their concerns and views, reassured them and would have posted the discussion on Facebook and Twitter. But that may antagonize the hardcore Hindu vote bank, so Modi has his compulsions and barriers.

 All I am saying is, as citizens, let us try to be a bit more balanced in our views, read and consider all kinds of opinions, know the full truth and not many half-truths and then form our views. Over the years we seem to be becoming too opinionated, harbouring extreme ideas, one way or the other. It need not be either this group or that group and always hating one party or person or the other.

 Nothing is black and white in this world, it is high time we appreciate shades of grey, to off white, light black and so on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tanu Weds Manu Returns - Must watch for Kangana, comedy

The plot of "Tanu Weds Manu Returns" is thin and does not have many non sequiturs, but director Anand Rai succeeds exceedingly well yet again, in bringing out the mundane incidents in the day to day lives of the people in the suburbs of India and showcasing them in a very interesting way.

The movie starts with Tanu and Manu settled in the UK, going through serious marital problems. After a hilarious scene with some doctors, Manu ends up in a mental asylum. Tanu comes back to India and gets back to her old fun and carefree lifestyle, even meeting up with her old love interest Raja (Jimmy Shergill).

Later Manu also comes to India and falls for Kusum (also played by Ranaut) and the story moves on alongside sub plots involving the supporting actors. Madhavan underplays his role, as per the demand of the script and delivers a decent performance.

Kangana Ranaut is currently the best mainstream Bollywood actress(I did not say heroine).

Deepika Padukone is working hard and was impressive in Piku. Vidya Balan is very capable but she has lost her fizz and needs to cut a lot of flab. The likes of Priyanka Chopra and Alia Bhat among others are all decent, but they have a lot of catching up to do after Queen, for which Ranaut won her second national award, and especially now after Tanu weds Manu Returns, that could potentially help the girl from Himachal sweep all the popular acting awards, if not a third national award.

Where she seems to score is the way she gets under the skin of a character. In a double role here, one as the feisty, big-hearted and rebellious Tanu, we know from the prequel and the other as a rustic and upright Haryanvi girl who forms a love triangle with Manu; she does complete justice to both avatars with aplomb.

To get the mannerisms and especially the diction of another language flawlessly right (Haryanvi in this case), is a great achievement in itself considering that Priyanka Chopra struggled with the same in Mary Kom (Manipuri) and even Big B did not get it perfectly right in Piku(Bangla).

The other area where the film succeeds big time is humour; the comedy is really top class. The film belongs to Pappi (Deepak Dobriyal) in equal measure. He also carries the film on his shoulders with exceptional comic timing, expressions and dialogues. Dobriyal brings the house down again and again throughout the movie, even in very serious situations.

I have rarely laughed so much off late and his comedy would go down as one of the best post 2000 right up there with the likes of Paresh Rawal and Johny Lever. The rest of the supporting cast is also top class though one would feel that very good actors like Swara Bhaskar, Rajesh Sharma and Zeeshan Ayyub were a bit wasted.

The film is not without its flaws though. After an excellent first half, where one would not be able to bat an eyelid and would get stomach cramps laughing, the second half slows down a bit and becomes too predictable, though the brilliant acting and humour stills sees it through. The lecture on women issues and one of the songs in the second half were not really required. Some of the incidents shown are a bit over the top, but then we need to give some "cinematic liberty".

I give 5 stars for Kangana, Dobriyal, and the first half. Overall the movie gets 4 stars from me. 

Margarita with a Straw - A good watch, albeit the unusual subject and some flaws

“So what if your kid is Autistic. I heard they are very intelligent and he will become ‘alright’.”

“So what if you do not have kids? I know a great doctor, go to him. You can adopt also right?”

Our society is slowly becoming sensitive to people who are going through struggles in life or if they themselves or someone they love, have special needs. However often we try to be extra sympathetic without knowing the facts and may not understand that the way we choose to provide our support may actually hurt them.

They may not need that extra bit of sympathy or advice. We need to realize that more often than not, people do not want sympathy, which is sometimes synthetic in the first place. All they need is an effort to sincerely understand their situation and to be genuinely treated as equals.

“Margarita with a Straw” is an excellent attempt to show the life, the struggles and the coming of age of a girl with cerebral palsy and hits most of the right cords regarding the mental condition of such people, the overall attitude of their family and the society towards them.

Kalki as the protagonist Laila is par excellence. Due to her condition she has severe problems with her motor skills and speech, but she has enough talent otherwise and is passionate about music. She writes the lyrics for her college band and her emotions and desires are just like any other college going kid.

To get into such a character, the expressions, the mannerisms, the speech, the helplessness sometimes followed by the courage and the resilience, everything is perfect. A lot of effort goes into playing a character like that, so full marks for the same.

Revathy as the supportive mother is as seasoned an actress as ever. Her steel like supportive attitude towards her family, in spite of being a cancer patient, especially towards her daughter with special needs, even when she wants to go abroad to pursue higher education, her sadness within at times, has been excellently executed. Sayani Gupta as a blind girl, Laila’s friend and roommate Khanum also delivers a very good performance, as an important character in the plot.

Director Shonali Bose gets most things right with her story telling and she deserves kudos for making a movie on this subject. Realities like the society tries to understand such conditions, friends are helpful most of the times, people show sympathy, but then we are still not there yet completely have been portrayed very well. The middle finger to the senior lady at the music competition is an excellent scene for example.

The fact that the person with special needs would also have grey shades like any of us, would bargain for things, can be selfish and may subconsciously use people have been shown honestly. The idea that we all want to fit in and eventually realize that real happiness and contentment is found within our own selves has been driven through in a nice and subtle way.

Movie goers must encourage such subjects because they help people understand such conditions.

However the sensitive subject should not make one reluctant of having a critical view of all the aspects of the film. When I watch such movies I consider Dustin Hoffman’s “Rainman” and the Sanjeev Kumar, Jaya Bhaduri starrer “Koshish” as benchmarks.

Off late while most Hindi movies have been way off the mark in portraying characters with special needs, Taare Zameer Par is one bright exception. Priyanka Chopra’s depiction as an Autistic person in Barfi is also a good example.

Though the character building of the protagonist is top notch, the film does fail at some levels. It successfully portrays that the explorations and understanding of the self, the yearnings and desires of a person with a special condition is the same as other human beings. Understanding one’s sexuality is also a part of it. However it is just one part.

In the movie, the sexual aspect is too emphasized and by the end it becomes a bit of overkill. Other aspects like aspirations, the relationship with others and the struggles thereof, the other myriad facets of the journey called life are covered, but not in as much depth as they should have been.

Acceptance and sensitivity towards people with special needs is something we need to develop a lot more as a nation of people. Acceptance of gay relationships is another such issue. While I support both issues, mixing them in one movie seemed to shift the actual focus.

The other way to look at it might be that that the movie rightly does not educate or preach. It just shows the story of girl with cerebral palsy, who also happens to be bisexual.

It is a bit slow and on an unusual subject and hence may not do well at the box office. However it is a good watch, primarily due to the acting prowess of the leading ladies. The thin storyline and less than excellent screenplay prevent it from being the masterpiece it could have been.

Please do watch it for Kalki’s acting though, 3 stars out of 5 from me. 

Detective Byomkesh Bakshy: A different Satyanveshi, but must watch!!

One thing is certain, slowly but surely, Indian cinema is changing for the better.

We may not be right up there with the best as yet and we still produce lots of garbage masquerading as cinema, but when you watch a Hindi movie with no cringe worthy moments and you unabashedly compare it with good international movies in the same genre, things definitely are moving in the right direction.

This change is being led by directors like Dibakar Banerjee. Already having feathers like “Kholsa ka Ghosla” in his cap, Banerjee is a clear winner again in “Detective Byomkesh Bakshy” and delivers a stylish crime drama with aplomb.

The nostalgic or the purist, who were born and brought up with the cool and suave Rajat Kapoor in the Doordarshan series with the same name, or those that have a fixed idea of “Satyanveshi” in their minds through readings and depictions in other movies, may take time to accept Sushant Singh Rajput as the famous detective.

This depiction Byomkesh is arrogant initially, clearly has his human shortcomings and Rajput as an actor does not try hard to fit into any mould. This has its pros and cons.

While it is always advisable for an actor not to copy anyone and become one’s own character, one may ask how a Bengali babumoshai of Kolkata in the 1940s can have such impeccable Hindi with no mother tongue influence whatsoever and no real mannerisms of a young Bengali lad, ironically while every other character looked and behaved more Bengali. Others may feel would it have been better to cast someone like Rajkumar Rao as the protagonist.

Having said this and the above points apart, Rajput does make the most of it, honestly works hard, grows into the role and becomes very good by the climax.

Ajit contacts Byomkesh to find his father, a chemical scientist, who has gone missing. Byomkesh starts staying in the boarding house where Ajit’s father used to stay just before he went missing and starts unravelling the mystery along with Anukul Guha, the lodge owner.

The first story of Sharadindu Banerjee in the actual Byomkesh series starts in a hostel as well, in the backdrop of a couple of murders, but the similarity ends there. Unlike the actual “humble” Byomkesh stories that constitute theft, impersonation or a couple of murders at the most, involving domestic or local issues, the plot for this movie is like a huge canvass.

Highly complex, but makes sense as we are slowly able to join the dots. The overall plot includes the Second World War, the Kolkata bombings by Japan, powerful politicians and the opium mafia of China, alongside dead bodies and corpses found at every plot point.

The supporting cast is simply excellent. The character of Ajit is not what Sharadindu Banerjee wrote, but has been very well played by the ‘seasoned’ Anand Tiwari. Neeraj Kabi as the lodge owner is a revelation, excellent acting and we must see more of him in the future. Swastika Mukherjee who was the leading lady in the highly acclaimed and awarded Bengali movie “Jatishwar”, plays the role of a dangerous seductress to perfection. Meiyang Chang, Divya Menon as Satyavati, the other housemates and characters are competent.

If “Kahaani” showed contemporary Kolkata with finesse, Banerjee has been able to depict pre Independence Kolkata with mastery. The trams, the clutter, the beauty, the Howrah bridge, the British, the Japanese, the politicians of those times, all woven together in a gripping screenplay.

The cinematography is brilliant, the background music and songs add to the intense situations.

One cannot help but compare with movies like “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows”. Some of the scenes seem to be inspired by this Sherlock flick, sometimes during the build-up and during the climax. No one can accuse Banerjee of plagiarism though; this can be termed as positive influence because nothing has been lifted directly, except the presentation in some sequences.

Overall Banerjee scores because while Holmes was transformed into a James Bond in the said Hollywood movie braving cannons and missiles, Bakshy is still largely a "drawing room detective" in this one, solving complex situations and motives in his mind and waiting for that one elusive missing clue and then for his Eureka moment. As the director, Banerjee did the right thing to spice up and tweak the character to keep up with current audiences, while keeping the soul of the character intact.

The climax is a notch lower than the build-up and the final scenes that were put in only as a platform for the second part are a bit hammy.

I would wait for part 2 though, 4 stars for part one. 3.5 for the movie and 0.5 because we are making such movies!