The Hindu : New Delhi News : A trainload of mixed emotions aboard the last local....

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 20, 2007
ePaper

New Delhi

New Delhi

A trainload of mixed emotions aboard the last local....

ZIYA US SALAM

EK CHALIS KI LAST LOCAL

(At Spice PVR, Noida; and Delhi theatres)

A little sweet, a little sour, a little heady, a little flat: that is how one would describe debutant director Sanjay Khanduri's brand new film "Ek Chalis Ki Last Local". For a few sunshine moments, he holds cheerful promise. His frames are well chalked out. His camera zooms in but never invades; it lingers but never ever stagnates. Then there is dialogue that is healthy and appetising. Neither monosyllabic nor a monologue, the words between the lead pair fall naturally. The silences, the pauses, too are well occasioned. Every moment of silence lies in eager anticipation of the spoken word. There is an easy chemistry between Abhay Deol and Neha Dhupia. They are suitably dressed too: he is a call centre worker who must get into regular pants and a bright shirt, she is returning from an engagement, hence gives the director a little leeway to show a bit of skin.

The youngsters miss their last train and find themselves stranded at the station with only guards and dogs for company. They do the next best thing: walk out, try to get some other means of public transport. Not to be. Soon we get a heavy rainfall. That is when Khanduri controls his urges: no, there is not that mandatory rain-drenched song. Just a little kiss, a little miss. All that is fine until then. It is when he decides to bring in the underworld element, corrupt cops, and a bit of the gutter language that the film resembles any jaded flick Bollywood has been dishing out in stupor over the last couple of years. And what was set to be a nice romance with interchangeable praises slips into an ugly saga with the lead pair facing death in an encounter!

That is when Khanduri loses a lot of points, and reinforces the notion that he knows the technicalities of the medium, and can sustain interest for a few minutes, but two hours is another matter.

Saving graces? Well, beyond the technical polish, the film is dark but that does not for a second mean that it is sad or gloomy. Indeed there is that thread of humour that runs all along: the laughs are good, and most of them are clean. Understated, and for a large part sophisticated humour. That is if you turn a Nelson's eye and a deaf ear to the goings-on between a girl of the street and a driver yet to be "touched" by life!

Catch "Ek Chalis Ki Last Local" if you want a film where the sum of the parts is not much greater than the whole. Else, just keep the index of expectations low and you won't be disappointed.

RAQEEB

(At Shiela and other Delhi theatres)

As yours truly was going across to watch this film, some curious cinemagoers asked the meaning of the word "raqeeb"? Some wondered if it was the same as "rafiq". The answer was not easy to grasp for an audience that has never been to an Urdu class. Some wondered who was a friend, who was an enemy. A little later, director Anurag Singh solved the problem for everybody. A couple of hours of "Raqeeb" and we were all certain: Singh is nobody's friend, or "rafiq". More likely his own enemy, "raqeeb".

It is a thorough film. A thoroughly confused film made by a confused man. One moment it seems he had his sights set firmly on Halle Berry when she came in that James Bond flick. So he gets Tanushree Dutta to surf and slide, wet and wild. She pauses and pouts. Water drips from her hair, clothes cling on.

Then for a few minutes it seems he had watched films like "Humraaz" and "Deewangee" with rapt attention. So the effects seep through. Tanushree plays that mean girl who loves a guy and loves another guy's millions: Rahul Khanna has all that can be stacked up in the bank, Jimmy Shergill all that stays stashed away in the treasure trove of the heart. Just when the viewers settle down to watch a game of two-timing, Anurag Singh decides to spring an ugly surprise. Since the heroine is Tanushree whose allergy to apparel is well revealed, the director decides to get his heroine bed-hopping too. But just when the story picks up a bit of momentum as the girl decides to get rid of Mr. Money Bags for Mr. Romeo, Mr. Singh comes up with a new twist. And soon a two-hero-one-heroine romance begins to resemble a horror movie with people being felled by ketch-up bullets, bodies being buried, then rising from the grave!

Add another man to the tale, and some real corny dialogues involving the terribly terrible Vivek Shauq and you have a film that leaves as disgruntled as the first man in the queue who is greeted by a "Closed for lunch" sign at the bank.

Saving grace? Sharman Joshi. As Khanna's sidekick he is quite a livewire. Just as he was in an ensemble cast of "Metro" recently. In all his films he has played a wonderful cog so far. Some day he would bring up the pivot. And soon too!

Want to watch "Raqeeb" still? Well, as a "rafiq" one can dish out a simple piece of advice: stay away from "Raqeeb".

SUNSHINE

(At PVR Saket and other Delhi theatres)

Director Danny Boyle here gets ambitious. After trips to the moon, we get a trip to a fading sun. A futuristic sci-fi saga, this one takes us to the year 2057 with the earth in danger of being reduced to an ice-ball. There is just one hope: Mission Icarus II.

The technocrats get down to work with their gizmo-style ware to impart material to get the sun hot and burning again. The idea is to bomb it to trigger its fire again.

However, it is not as smooth as that: an earlier mission had failed. And this time round there is enough oxygen only for three persons.

Who would miss out? The physicist is needed. As are the other scientists and the basement guys. The fall guy isn't easy to find.

However, Boyle does not let the film turn into a human saga at all: not an astronaut's versions of the sinking ship tale here. Suffice it to say, the film moves slowly, very slowly. The action is too late, too little.

The film has academic air about it and immediately makes you want to breath in fresh air. The dialogues are monosyllabic, the acting methodical without being attractive.

Go for it if you like docu-drama of sci-fi kind without the thrills. Not too interested in the world of scientists? Good. It is dark and gloomy, so unlike its name.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi

News Update

Stories in this Section