Friday 14 October 2011

Shor in the City

2011 by Krishna DK & Raj Nidimoru - Hindi movie

It is very rare that I feel happy at the end of a Bollywood movie. I really do not understand why Bollywood did not look proud about this movie. They always seems to promote some really stupid movies which is very unIndian. Here is a real Indian or Mumbai one from Bollywood.

5 characters in Mumbai city. Tilak publishes pirated books and sells them on the street and has two close friends, Ramesh and Mandook, who live on petty thievery. Sawan desperately wants to be selected in the Under 22 cricket team, so that he can start a new life with his girl friend whose parents are presenting a groom every day to get her married immediately. Abhay has just arrived in India and starts a small business. 

All these characters are linked some ways through the petty underworld thugs and the movie climaxes on the Vinayak Chathurthy festival day, when the first 4 are part of a horribly stupid bank robbery and the last wants to get rid of the petty thugs who has taken all his peace.

For so many aspects; the realism in the plot and settings which is rarely present in Bollywood, the vividness of the 5 main characters who are all some how linked together in the plot through the 3 small time thugs, for all those petty acts by the first three, the brilliant humour which is omni present and for a very fitting climax, I found this movie really good, a simple but wonderful entertainer. It is excellent because it does not follow the typical extra vagant methods of Bollywood, keeps it simple and genuine and still manages to entertain us. And the movie has a brilliant pace that we never feel that it has taken so much of our time. Its like the movie starts and within a second it finished.

There are so many hilarious moments in this movie. Some of this moments look really naive, but I found it really funny. And actually the writers are taking a real poke at the ways and psyche of the Mumbai society.  And some of the moments between the thugs and Abhay is quite shocking and chilling too.

The performances are truly exceptional. It is only very rarely that we feel the power of performances from a Bollywood movie. And especially Pitabash Tripathy as Mandook was brilliant. Each and every moment involving this actor was really really wonderful. Finally after long time, am able to see a new actor from Bollywood, who can act without acting.

This is a truly wonderful movie from Bollywood, but such a pity movies like this do not get the attention it requires. Every Bollywood movie which pretends, is marketed so well, but a true Indian movie from Bollywood is not. What a pity. I hope Bollywood will feel proud about this movie rather than about Shaitan or Delhi Belly.