The title of the movie suggests that even murder can be justified and forgivable. But what is definitely not forgivable is killing the immense faith and hopes of film lovers like me have in every new offering from Vishal Bharadwaj.
I saw the film yesterday and am still depressed about it. Why? How? What went wrong? These are some of the questions that are constantly plaguing one's mind.
Consider the story. A woman marries and kills a series of husbands. That's it. The rest is just the elaboration of the motivations and circumstances that led to all those killings. The premise is brilliant. It had huge scope to deliver on human insights and the fine line between good and evil.
What comes across though are characters that seem to have fallen between stools. Susanna is neither a psychopathic serial killer, nor a clear victim of circumstances. In fact she's a bit of both and ends up being totally unconvincing.
Every husband of hers personifies a kind of atrocity that women face. Jealous possessiveness, substance abuse, marital rape, infidelity, blackmailing, and gold-digging. Each could be reasons enough for murder seen from a certain perspective. And that probably was the intended theme of the film.
The portrayal, however, makes them seem shallow. In my opinion, the screenplay deserves the blame which made the pace drag considerably. In its defense, it does convey a lot in a highly subtle manner. Do I want to see it again to understand the subtleties better? Not so, because of the pace.
Naseeruddin Shah is picture perfect. Irrfan Khan is brilliant in portraying the duality of his character. Annu Kapoor is his usual competent self - perfect for the character. Neil Nitin Mukesh has lived up to his role without disappointing too much. The Russian is forgettable. John Abraham is pathetic.
Priyanka Chopra swings between brilliant and hammy. What could have been a performance to die for turns into just about above-average.
I can't put my finger on what I didn't like in the film. It was probably just too ambitious a venture to deliver. Maqbool's lyrical story-telling, Omkara's passion, The Blue Umbrella's pathos, Kaminey's energy, Makdee's intrigue and even Ishqiya's raw earthy appeal were all missing.
Comparisons with other great directors who have failed are inevitable and sad. A plea to anyone who watches this film: Please don't write off Mr Bharadwaj just yet. After delivering six brilliant pieces of creative outputs, I guess I can justify and forgive him this.
Isn't that what the film is all about anyway?
Friday, February 18, 2011
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