Story:
It’s not a story but reality shown on screen with heightened drama for the cinematic effect. As the title says it’s about the attack of the terrorists on 26 November in Mumbai.
Performances:
Nana Patekar as usual steals the show with his arresting screen presence and commanding dialogues. There is no uncontrollable anger shown by the actor but a calm and internally driven anger is shown through his eyes. His climax act was brilliant.
Sanjeev Jaiswal as Ajmal Kasab gave good performance. His silences, his hatred and finally his end were neatly shown by the actor. However the actor doesn’t bring anything special to the table and seems to be just following the cue given by the director, hence just a good performance.
Others have very limited role and frankly don’t register at all.
Positives:
Some shots are breathtaking
Few sequences post interval
Climax
Negatives:
Too graphic, not for the weak hearts
RGV touch
Background score at times
Amateurish dialogues at times
Analysis:
The film is based on a true story so we aren’t sure at how exactly have the dramatic scenes been portrayed. The critical analysis is purely based on what was shown and acted on screen.
The director’s touch is something that every director who has a worth strives to achieve but as time goes on as this very touch becomes monotonous and stale and needs to be upgraded, some do it and some just can’t and unfortunately Ram Gopal Varma seems to have fallen into the later category. Mind you, we are not talking about the trademark camera angles that one generally associates with Ram Gopal Varma. It is the other small details in terms of the set up, the acting and other such things. Is having such a style problem? Absolutely not, but when one doesn’t evolve this gets very distracting.
For example let’s take the courtroom sequences of the film with Nana Patekar. The gestures, his hand moments, the pauses and the coffee sipping in between everything has that RGV stamp on it and it is this stamp on it which is becoming a great distraction now.
Even in the climax, which has the brilliance of Nana Patekar, the actor, you have the Tee served in between which almost breaks the flow of the film and not only that there is a pause too with the Tee right at his mouth. It is so distracting now that you almost want to throw the god-dam Tee down and mercifully enough the character of Nana Patekar does the same bringing a sense of relief to the face. This is a problem in any film for the director now and more so in a film like this where things are grim and when a scene like this, happens, people start joking at the very set up itself.
On the positive side some of the shots and scenes in the film which doesn’t have the above problem are brilliantly done in terms of the set up and the execution. Cinematography is fantastic and editing is smooth. Background score is very good in parts.
Bottom-line: For the Climax and Nana Patekar alone it’s a one time watch
Rating: 3.25/5
