awmurshedkar
ISHQYIA – 6.8/10 Director: Abhishek Chaubey Writer: Vishal Bhardwaj,Sabrina Dhawan, Abhishek ChaubeyI call this the Bhradwaj-Kashyap Syndrome (more about this later in a separate article on Kashyap). Both these directors are very well reputed and have enough of an underground fan following to generate revenues with a low-budget film without excessive marketing. Nevertheless, what is this syndrome? It is the belief & obsession these two directors have created, predominantly among the youth, that anything dealing with thugs, ruffians, underworld, druggies or basically the scum of the society, is a good film. Darker subjects are superior to others, and drama means a whole lot of murder, gore, expletives, sex or sexual innuendos. Ishqyia was a much awaited film, especially because of the name backing it – Vishal Bhardwaj; one of my favorite Bollywood director's. Ishqyia was not a run-away box office hit, yet it received a fair degree of critical acclaim and managed to delight the 'alternate' cinema bandwagon. What was it I found so wrong with Ishqyia? This is definitely going to earn me some serious ire.Ishqyia had a severely flawed script, not something rare in India. The film is a partial take from a Spanish film (I am still in process to find the name of the film), other than the fact that it has technical and structural errors. The film starts with two small time bandits, both legendary actors – Arshad Warsi (Babban) & Naseruddin Shah (Khalujaan). They are running from another bandit, to whom they owe money. The chase leads them to the saucy Vidhya Balan (Krishna) who is in search of her husband. So what is the issue with the script? The three plots in the film are – Vidhya Balan trying to find the truth about her missing husband; the two bandits who have to repay their debt, after they realize they cannot run away (established early on in the film); and the conflict building between the two bandits, shown to be trusted companions and relatives, over the woman. The primary plot though is how Vidhya Balan wants to use the two bandits on the run to reach her husband, the truth about whom she knows. So instead of focusing on that, the script – for a better part of the film – spends serious time & effort building conflict between the two lead actors vis-à-vis the damsel in distress. The director and script is leaving no stone unturned to show how the woman is seducing the men for her ulterior motive which is not revealed till the end.The problem though is, if I remove the third plot, which is not primary or secondary in context of the overall story, the story is not affected at all. And this problem is glaring since more than half the film is dealing with the tertiary plot. For that matter, the entire film could have been made with exactly the same details, without having the entire nonsensical chemistry-animosity building between the three characters. The two bandits would have kidnapped and stolen in any case, with or without the lady sucking on their fingers since their lives were on the line; further, since the tertiary plot on which so much of the film is based wasn't really of consequence, the director ends it abruptly with a street fight: the scene where Warsi & Shah fight on the road post which, all of a sudden, the entire tension between the three characters the film spends almost an hour creating, is resolved in a flash without a meaningful or consequential resolution. Further, I'll point out just two cases, you can look for the rest if you think it is worth your time. The biggest goof up is the kidnap: the trio monitor and survey the entire schedule of a notoriously rich man, who they know will surely have connections, only to kidnap him in the least effective way. They know he walks from the temple to the house of his mistress, which is his biggest secret that no one knows about. So they decide to kidnap him not during the isolated walk, not when he is just about to get into the house of his mistress, or get out of the room and is about to get into the car, but instead when he has already taken possession of a vehicle, is on road, can easily run away if needed. I don't call this creative liberty. This is just the director buying time with the audience. Secondly, the last scene is a pure technical blunder. At the end of the scene, the house blows-up, the trio walks away with Salman Shahid (Mushtaq) looking through a gun. But the police simply disappear, the trio is transported to wonderland via the bridge adjacent to the house, Mushtaq drives through a posse of cops (we don't know where they are) with guns and …. what just happened? Over dramatized, preconceived attempt to make the ending grandiose resulted in an unrealistic end; hence it abruptly folds at the convenience of the director.I am not sure what was the point of the film, and I am certain neither do the writers. Which is why there are several minor plots that are of no importance, take too much time to unfold and end abruptly without consequence or purpose, and it is precisely this reason the film had to be given artificial content with the use of verbose scenes with excessive expletives & rural twangs. Good films will always have clearly defined central plots, characters and stories that will be complemented and augmented at all times throughout the film. At no point is the viewer lost. Please note, if the viewer is lost, it is not a sign of intellect on part of the writer & director. So much for Ishqyia.
Biswajit Tripathy
Bihar and UP has always been the favorite among film makers specially for Prakash Jha and Vishal Bhardwaj. Story of two small time goons who are hiding from their boss whom they owe some money decides to take refuge in Vidya Balan's house. Both of them gets attracted to Vidya Balan who in turn uses them to kidnap a rich man for ransom. But hey hold on, this is just the beginning of the conspiracy.Ishqiya is a very simple story nicely told. The screen play, the music, the make up, cinematography, director all deserves 10 out of 10. The most touching song "Dil to bacha hei ji" is still the chart buster.Performance of each of the character is highly appreciated from all sections of the society. Naseeruddin Shah has played a big character after a long long time and it was a pleasure to see him in this movie.
AishFan
Vidya Balan gave a superb performance and is the show-stealer. The film's setting of a fringe city is quite fascinating as it showcases traditional values and lifestyles clashing with urban concepts and development in India's booming economy. Vidya did a great job playing her complex, multi-dimensional role as a woman who is a devoted and loving wife, who at the same time cannot settle for betrayal and expects the same level of devotion in return. It is interesting to see how she begins appreciating herself, and to an extent becomes selfish, and decides she needs to live for herself and avail of opportunities presented to her. Naseerudin and Arshad are an awesome combination and are hilarious together. A very well-scripted and directed film, Ishqiya is not like any other Bollywood film I have seen. It has an interesting, indie feel to it. Alongside, it also shows the eye-opening issue of caste wars.
rhitwick
Ishqiya 9/10 After a long time an Indian movie achieves the status of a perfect thriller. This is a milestone history of Hindi cinema.The story is very twisted and with every scene it opens up a bit more. You'll be guessing a lot of things but I can bet that till the end of movie you will still be guessing what and why are all these happening.Let me tell you, all events, actions, scenes, dialogs are important in this movie. If you miss even one frame your questions will be unanswered. Really this is a piece of art. I'm still clueless about a few things.Screenplay: 9/10. Good. If told in any other format, it would have looked so predictable that you could write the whole story from the beginning scene.Cinematography: Beautiful, captures a few good frames on village life. No unnecessary top shots, close ups, framing etc. Every scene is so well rehearsed, well prepared that they stand alone for praise.Dialogs: Whoa. This is the real asset of this movie. In your face dialog. No mercy, no hiding, total raw emotions comes out through dialog. Hats off to whoever wrote it.Acting: Vidya Balan has just washed out all others. Wow!!! She reminded me the actress from "Straw Dogs", doing something, telling something, thinking something and wishing something else...all at same time. Kudos to this girl. She simply rocked. Then comes Naseeruddin and Arshad, marvelous in their part. I want to say that everyone acted brilliantly, even that "nani" Directing: Man, bringing out this kind of believable acting from each and everyone of your crew is not easy. You need to have a clear idea about what exactly you want from this scene, what this frame should look like. Even if you are disgusted how you show your emotions....hats off to Abhishek Chaubey. Really looking forward to more from him.Songs: Now, what more should I tell. Everyone is singing "Dil to bachha hai ji", its a gr8 romantic track in recent times. All other songs are so nicely blended in the movie that you won't feel their presence at all.IMO, I rate it better than Kaminey. Kaminey became very predictable at the last hour. But this is way above all. Very very recommended to all
