Kahaani review: Sonia Chopra:
This
mystery is worth
unraveling.
Ah, what fun! A true-blue
Bollywood mystery after long
years! The last few one can
remember are 100 days (1991),
Gupt (1997), and Kaun (1999). London-based software
engineer Vidya Bagchi (Vidya
Balan) lands in dusty Kolkata
with a suitcase, a photograph
of her missing husband, and a
bottle of mineral water. The cab driver is surprised that this
heavily pregnant woman asks
to go straight to the police
station. The cops too are taken aback
at the woman’s predicament.
Mrs. Bagchi, as they call her, is
looking for her husband who
had arrived in Kolkata on an
assignment. She hasn’t heard from him in two weeks. One policeman, sympathetic to
her state, tries his best to help.
As they get closer to the target,
key people start getting
murdered. But this gutsy lady
shows no sign of giving up. In an interview with this
writer, Balan had summed up
her character as having great
strength of character; that,
despite her ordeal doesn’t lose
her sense of humour. And that is exactly what’s striking about
Mrs. Bagchi’s character. It is Vidya’s triumph as an
actor that she brings an
everywoman quality to this
extraordinary role, making the
viewer incredibly connected
with her journey. She plays the character with truth and
emotion, making the ‘helpless
heroine’ starkly outdated. Her
rendering of the role is intense,
without a hint of exaggeration.
It’s a performance to savor. Parambrata Chattopadhyay as
her cop-ally, Saswata
Chatterjee as the hit-man with
a boring day job, Nawazuddin
Siddique as an IB agent are
simply extraordinary. These peripheral characters have
their own tracks and agendas,
which makes the journey that
much more interesting. The ‘twists and turns’ of
Kahaani are not the kind that
can be smelt a mile away.
Here, it’s challenging to
predict the developments;
there’s one surprise after the other. In doing so writer-
director Sujoy Ghosh (Jhankaar
Beats, Aladin) falls into the
trap of putting in too many
sub-plots. A story getting
convoluted along the way is never a good thing. There are
portions in the film that, if
removed, would make the story
cleaner and easier to follow. Still, the crackling dialogue,
bits of humour, and superb
performances keep you
engaged. There’s an especially
funny joke about “running hot
water” in a guesthouse. And plenty of sinful dark humour to
keep you smirking. Editing by Namrata Rao keeps
the film pacy, but never out of
breath. Setu’s cinematography
aptly captures the vivid visuals
of Kolkata’s underbelly. Vishal-
Shekhar’s lilting music blends in the background, doing its
job without taking centre-
stage. The film’s finale is a confluence
of lurking danger and the
colour and celebration of the
Durga Pooja. The Durga
reference has been done often
in melodramatic “women- centric” films. Here, the Durga
metaphor is more subtle and
tasteful. The magic of Kolkata
during the Pooja has been
captured in all its chaos and
beauty, almost as if entire city has poured out on the streets
in one big, connected festivity. Watch Kahaani to relish a
suspense thriller with a
fascinating story and a
masterful performance by
Vidya Balan. And then, you’ll
probably want to watch it again!
Rating: 4 stars
http://www.sify.com/movies/review.php?id=14993812
This
mystery is worth
unraveling.
Ah, what fun! A true-blue
Bollywood mystery after long
years! The last few one can
remember are 100 days (1991),
Gupt (1997), and Kaun (1999). London-based software
engineer Vidya Bagchi (Vidya
Balan) lands in dusty Kolkata
with a suitcase, a photograph
of her missing husband, and a
bottle of mineral water. The cab driver is surprised that this
heavily pregnant woman asks
to go straight to the police
station. The cops too are taken aback
at the woman’s predicament.
Mrs. Bagchi, as they call her, is
looking for her husband who
had arrived in Kolkata on an
assignment. She hasn’t heard from him in two weeks. One policeman, sympathetic to
her state, tries his best to help.
As they get closer to the target,
key people start getting
murdered. But this gutsy lady
shows no sign of giving up. In an interview with this
writer, Balan had summed up
her character as having great
strength of character; that,
despite her ordeal doesn’t lose
her sense of humour. And that is exactly what’s striking about
Mrs. Bagchi’s character. It is Vidya’s triumph as an
actor that she brings an
everywoman quality to this
extraordinary role, making the
viewer incredibly connected
with her journey. She plays the character with truth and
emotion, making the ‘helpless
heroine’ starkly outdated. Her
rendering of the role is intense,
without a hint of exaggeration.
It’s a performance to savor. Parambrata Chattopadhyay as
her cop-ally, Saswata
Chatterjee as the hit-man with
a boring day job, Nawazuddin
Siddique as an IB agent are
simply extraordinary. These peripheral characters have
their own tracks and agendas,
which makes the journey that
much more interesting. The ‘twists and turns’ of
Kahaani are not the kind that
can be smelt a mile away.
Here, it’s challenging to
predict the developments;
there’s one surprise after the other. In doing so writer-
director Sujoy Ghosh (Jhankaar
Beats, Aladin) falls into the
trap of putting in too many
sub-plots. A story getting
convoluted along the way is never a good thing. There are
portions in the film that, if
removed, would make the story
cleaner and easier to follow. Still, the crackling dialogue,
bits of humour, and superb
performances keep you
engaged. There’s an especially
funny joke about “running hot
water” in a guesthouse. And plenty of sinful dark humour to
keep you smirking. Editing by Namrata Rao keeps
the film pacy, but never out of
breath. Setu’s cinematography
aptly captures the vivid visuals
of Kolkata’s underbelly. Vishal-
Shekhar’s lilting music blends in the background, doing its
job without taking centre-
stage. The film’s finale is a confluence
of lurking danger and the
colour and celebration of the
Durga Pooja. The Durga
reference has been done often
in melodramatic “women- centric” films. Here, the Durga
metaphor is more subtle and
tasteful. The magic of Kolkata
during the Pooja has been
captured in all its chaos and
beauty, almost as if entire city has poured out on the streets
in one big, connected festivity. Watch Kahaani to relish a
suspense thriller with a
fascinating story and a
masterful performance by
Vidya Balan. And then, you’ll
probably want to watch it again!
Rating: 4 stars
http://www.sify.com/movies/review.php?id=14993812
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