The concept of destiny irks me; that way, I buy into Dostoevsky’s morbid world view. But Danny Boyle (28 Days Later, Millions) has intricately woven magic realism into a modern day fable about survival and love; a film set at the center of India’s commercial hub.

Reaction to this film has been intriguing. Critics seem to be spellbound by the rather straightforward screenplay. The film would have never worked weren’t it for Danny Boyle (and his Indian counterpart, Loveleen Tandan). For one, Boyle infuses the proceedings with an overdose of realism; so much that you can almost smell what goes on. On the other hand, he romanticizes the aspirations of the protagonist. Jamal Malik, cares more for his long-lost sweetheart than the 2 Crore (20 Million in the film) Rupees at stake.

Remarkably, the use of HD (SI-2K Mini Digital Cinema Camera) gives a vibrancy and immediacy to the otherwise appalling backdrop. Boyle employs the frantic pace that he used so well in Trainspotting and achieves a structure that few Indian filmmakers have been capable of. Danny Boyle, much like Richard Linklater belongs to a rare breed of filmmakers – those capable of telling a story both empathetically as well as intellectually.

There is so much to say about the film- the characters, the score, some brilliant sequences; but I shall refrain at the risk of coming across as vapid and dense. To the discerning viewer, there are plenty of flaws but the audience at a limited screening I watched this film with burst into applause towards the end. The film is life-affirming without being overly sentimental, escapist without being ridiculous and most importantly, bloody entertaining. Reminded me why I love cinema so much.

9/10

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1010048/

Johnny Gaddar could have been a brilliant film. It could have been an Indian answer to the Coen Brothers, it could have been the smartest Hindi crime caper in recent times; but it’s not.

Johnny Gaddar is a play on the name Johnny from the eponymous Dev Anand film Johnny Mera Naam. The proceedings are peppered with various pop culture references, mostly involving the early films of Amitabh Bhachan; particularly a film called Parwaana that according to one of the characters, nobody remembers Bhachan for. The story involves 5 men who get into a scam to, well, get a lot of money. Vikram (Neil Mukesh) gets greedy and hatches a plan of his own to collect the entire moolah himself. As is always with schemes like these, things go wrong and people die. This is where the film closely resembles a Coen Brothers picture; the plot gets overly complicated and the main characters are motivated simply by greed.

The film is determined to be smart and hence tries to include as many references to  other films and books as possible. James Hadley Chase novels make frequent appearances as do scenes from Hindi films from the 70s. You even get to catch a glimpse of Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut. But the problem is none of these references serve much purpose. Watch Kiss Kiss Bang Bang to see how it’s done properly.

You have to give the film credit where it’s due; the film had me glued to the seat from the word go. It was clever, the humor was understated, the characters were interesting but alas, the tone was inconsistent. To top it off, you have shoddy camera work (What’s with all the weird angles?) and Rimi Sen who gives the word “Drama Queen” new meaning. Then again, it’s better than most of the crap that comes from the industry these days. 6.5/10

Also, is it me or does Dharmendra look like an aging porn star?