Double Deal: How Far Would You Go

"Where “fair is foul and foul is fair”… Double Deal, a psycho thriller, is a brilliant adaptation of “Killing Time” by Richard Stockwell and grips the audience’s attention from the very first scene.An intricate maze of motives, plots and sub-plots, the play boasts of powerful performances, by Mahesh Manjrekar and Sandhya Mridul, and a script taut with suspense. The play ushers the audiences into a rainy, turbulent night, with Rhea being escorted to an empty house by a stranger, Jeet. She is laden with shopping bags and is visibly distressed. In the course of their conversation we come to know that Jeet had helped her with her shopping bills as her wallet was flicked. This accidental encounter slowly breeds a friendly relation between the two, which soon takes a detour to a sinister world of deceit and betrayal; where nothing is what it seems. “A perfect stranger is perfect to talk to, since he wouldn’t judge you” and in the first scene we have Jeet and Rhea confess their darkest secrets to each other. It seems that these two distressed souls were predestined to meet.As soon as we reach the second act, what previously appeared to be a pleasant accident, turns out to be a meticulously planned one. Jeet had arranged for this chance encounter to avenge Satbir’s betrayal to him. Satbir is Rhea’s Husband and an old accomplice of Jeet. In his plan to kill Satbir, Jeet ropes in Rhea, who is a victim of her husband’s torture and wants to get rid of him as well. Rhea calls Satbir to Jeet’s place and we realise that none of the characters are sincerely devoted to the master plan and device plans of their own. Both want the other person to be held guilty of the homicide. Jeet’s pregnant remark,” What I tell you is the truth, what I don’t tell you is also the truth” finds an echo in almost all the scenes and as the play proceeds, newer secrets are revealed at regular intervals. Stories are told and untold and retold as both the characters oscillate between being the victimiser and the victimised. Dattani, a director par excellence, portrays the story of deceit, betrayal and greed with immense ease and intricacy. Returning to stage after 14 long years Mahesh Manjrekar yet again proves his mettle as an actor with his impeccable sense of timing, while Sandhya Mridul is inimitable as the sly and seductive Rhea.

JBJ: Much Ado about Nothing

Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, the latest film from Yash Chopra camp comes out as a surprise (pleasant or unpleasant is left on viewer’s discretion!) First let me tell you what the film is not. It is not a conventional Yash Chopra movie. It neither has chiffon clad heroines dancing their way to glory on the snow-capped mountains of Switzerland, nor the daily dose of gyan about the traditional Indian values. If you are looking for blasphemy, illicit relations, estranged lovers, muscle-flexing villains, and a few controversial, once there now gone sex scenes, this film is certainly not for you. If you are looking for some movie that can tingle your intellect, I would advice you to stay away from this one. So, what is the movie all about? Well I must admit I was unable to find any story as such in the film. I am not sure if Mr. Sherlock Holmes would have faired any better. Rikki Thukral [Abhishek Bachchan], our munda from Bhatinda, who lives in London; bumps into a London born Pakistani, Alvira Khan [Preity Zinta] on the platform of a busy London station, Waterloo. While waiting for the train which gets delayed, they end up sharing their own short and sweet “how I met my fiancé” stories. As time passes by, and the delayed train gets even more delayed in a true India style, Alvira and Rikki find themselves getting alarmingly attracted to each other! As for the performers on screen, Amitabh does his job as the "Sutradhar", by popping up every now and then in his hideous Jack Sparrow inspired outfit and dancing all around the place. However, this movie proves that he can give Mallika, Shilpa, and even his bahu Aishwarya a run for their money when it comes to doing item numbers. Abhishek Bachchan as Rikki Tuggral is brilliant with his comic timing and his dialogue delivery and avenges Aishwariya for her smooch with Hrithik (Dhoom2), by locking lips with the ummlecious Lara Dutta. Bobby Deol brings with him a breeze of fresh air and livens up the screen as the suave and sexy Steve as well as the nervous, ever nail biting, Mom’s darling, Satvinder. His comic timing comes in as a pleasant surprise. The film sees Lara Dutta in one of her best performance till date as plays the suave French Anaida, as well as the desi, crude; prostitute Laila, with same élan. As for Preity Zinta, well I seriously couldn’t discern anything good in her performance. This once lively, bubbly, spirited and sweet lady tries hard to play her old self but fails. One can’t help but miss Miss.Rani as London-born Paki, Alvira Khan. But, what made me like the film was the off screen cast, the exceptionally good cinematography by Ayananka Bose and the fact that the director at least tries to break away from the typical Bollywoodish style of filmmaking and goes to Hollywood for inspiration instead. Unlike copying a plot what Shaad Ali tries to follow their technical style. It follows the footsteps of the Hollywood musicals like Chicago in its approach of intermeshing the story with the songs (although in the process ends up copying the whole courtroom scene as well!) Ali tries to play an Allen act by making Alvira speak to the camera as she narrates her flashback. The way he introduces the same actors in the flashback episodes as two different characters in the latter part of the story is also very much Woody Allen. As for the music, Ali uses extensively uses SftM to serve as the background score as the radio churns out old classics like,”pyar kiya to darna kya”, “yeh dosti hum nehi chhorenge” and so on. Like a true musical, all the songs serve as an integral part of the story and the title song helps the “Sutradhar” to take the story forward. But, there is nothing brilliant about the songs and the audience who had high expectations from the creators of Bunty aur Bubbly was far from satisfied with this Shankar, Ehsan, Loy venture. Akki Nerula’s flamboyant costumes enhance the farcical tone of the film. Vaibhavi Merchant proves her mettle once again as the choreographer of the film and last but certainly not the least; the technicians deserve a special mention. Overall, Shaad Ali tries hard to make a mark as a director by following some brilliant filmmakers and their well-tested techniques, but in the process forgets to include a story! Hence, unlike his previous ventures Sathiya and Bunty aur Bubbly, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom turns out to be a concoction of spices with no sabzi to add it to!

LCMD

Post-Mortem After two years of hiatus Pradeep Sarkar of Parinita fame is back with Laga Chunari Mein Daag. The movie takes us to a small family of four in Benaras, where Shivshankar (Anupam Kher) and Sabitri Sahay (Jaya Bachchan) stay with their two daughters, Badki(Rani) and Chutki (Konkana).The family is in dire straits and to support the family Badki decides to go to Mumbai and eke out a living. She lacks educational qualification and the maddeningly murky metropolis turns a prostitute out of the pious and pure Badki and her lachrymose journey comes to full circle with Badki finding a suitable groom for herself in deus ex machina, Rohan (Abhishek). The story line is as predictable as the Ekta Kapoor serials; so much so that at times you feel that the name should have been KLaga Chunari Mein Daag instead.We have seen similar plot time and again in films like Aaina(1977), Doghi (1995), Julie (2004). Apart from the main story, we have a subplot with Shivshankar Sahay’s elder brother and his son trying to mess up the life of this already messed up family. This never really reaches anywhere; one wonders why we had it on the first place. The performances of all the three lead actresses are brilliant. Rani Mukherjee has time and again proved her mettle as one of the finest actors of our generation and gives a knock out performance as Badki. Although Konkona Sen’s character is not that well eked out, she gives it a whole new dimension with her acting abilities but for one scene when she comes to know of her sister’s dark secret. It reminds one of 15, Park Avenue. Jaya Bachchan is impeccable as Sabitri and it would not be inapt to say that it is one of her best performances till date. Anupam Kher does not have much to do and does not do much. Kunal Kapur as the carefree and bohemian Vivan, is at times a bit stiff. As for Abhishek Bachchan, it is high time he develops a style of his own and shed the shadows of his father. All his expressions still seem copy pasted from the Big B. The surprise element however is Hema Malini. She looks gorgeous and with her grace and subtle sensualitydoes full justice to the role of the middle aged Mujrawali. Pradeep Sarkar does not fully live up to the expectations but at times we see a flicker of the genius that made a film like Parinita, as he depicts the selfishness of the parents, with Sabitri accepting her daughter Badki’s money but not Badki and her profession, or the scene where Sabitri lashes out to her husband’s elder brother, carefully holding her pallu over her head. Like most Yash Chopra movies, the colour palate is tinged with an orange hue and the story with high melodrama. Although the cinematography is good, there is no such experimentation with camera angles or techniques and like most bollywood films the lazy camera is mostly content with mid-close-ups and close-ups. Benaras has seldom looked so beautiful and gorgeous, but the scenes shot in the studio do not blend well with the ones shot on location. One such scene is the balcony scene in the climax where the Ganga reminds of some cheap Durga puja lighting. The standard of the songs are not consistent. While hum to aese hay bhaiya has the look and feel of chhotey chhotey shehero se of Bunty aur Bubly, nistabdh khadi hu mein with its poignant lyrics and the whispered vocals by Shubha Mudgal and Meeta is bound to give you goose bumps. If Shantanu Moitra disappoints with his music, Swanand Kirkire surprises you with his pregnant lyrics which adds soul to the songs. There are a few questions that are left unanswered:

• Can mothers of such conservative families as that of the Sahay’s react so mildly when they come to know that their daughters had gone for a night out at the mujrawalis?
• Is Benaras that clean a city?
• Do people living there keep jumping into the river every now and then?
• Badki call up her mom to ask if she should sleep with a guy for a job. Doesn’t she have her own value system to guide her?
• Is entering the highly competitive business of escorting that easy?
• Who is Mischelle?Why and how she mentor Rani to be a top notch escort?Is she a Madam or an escort herself?
• Can Chhutki who lives in the same house actually be so ignorant about everything that is going on? Can anybody be so dumb and clueless?
• Does anybody actually keep 40 thousand cash in his or her office drawer?
• And last but not the least; what if Badki had chose to recite Humpty Dumpty instead of hanuman chalisa that day? Would Rohan have still accepted her?