No, im not referring to the classic mob movie, which later was made into the monkeying SRK starrer "Ram Jaane", but this title wouldve been very apt for "awarapan", as it talks of crime, despair, hope and spirituality, leading to redemption.
This weekend was a hub of movies at the cinemas, what with Apne, AKS, and Awarapan releasing all at once. While I am interested in watching the MOVIEE, just to roll in the aisles as I did with KANK(depending on the company of course), the movie that had caught my eye was Awarapan, as it genuinely seemed different, and not to mention that the director was very good, as was witnessed by his past works. Also, it showed Emraan Hashmi in a different light, who in my eyes is a competent actor if he has the right role and direction going for him. So with the expectation of watching a dark yet engrossing fare, I stepped into the screening. Were my expectations met?;ets read on to find out.
Plot:
The story begins in Lahore, where Reema(Mrinalini Sen) along with Bilal(Rehaan Khan) her fiance, is recounting the story of her escape from the flesh trade of Bangkok, where she was bought by Malik(Ashutosh Rana) and Hong Kong, where she was his mistress and captive.
This flashback and the role that Shivam(Emraan Hashmi) plays in her escape, is what forms the crux of this movie. I will not detail much into the plot as I personally enjoy the movie if I know less about it, and this movies story hasnt been used in a long time and one that should be enjoyed without much prior briefing.
Pros: *
The biggest advantage that this movie had was that it was single tracked. There was no meaningless comedic episode, no meaningless characters, and most importantly the mood was dark and bleak as it should be in a movie of this nature. Barring one or two sequences, the hero was not superman, he did hurt and the way he went about thing was quite believable.
Also, the locations were excellent and were captured brilliantly by Raaj Chakravarti, who uses Hong Kong as an excellent backdrop from this dark tale. Also the background music, song placement, and situations of use elevated the movie to a new high, it must be commended that this is a virtually songless movie, with most songs being played in the background, barring the first one I believe.
Cons:
The theme and dark scenes may no always go down well with the conservative audience, scenes such as one in which Emraan is shown being buried alive, and in general some scenes are quite disturbing and defeinitely arent for children. Then again, this movie is not one which should be watched by kids anyway, but I digress.
Also there are some places where one wishes a stronger side villain and nemesis couldve been used, Purab Kohli does nothing but ham, and Ashish Vidyarthi doesnt have a role to do justice to himself. However they are not huge flaws, at least the movie did not drag and was crisp.
Direction: Mohit Suri**, is one of the best young directors today, period. The man has the guts to take on unusual themes, package them even more unusually, yet makes sure that the result is very good if not always magnificent. This is no an easy story to film convincingly, as it gives a lot of scope for hamming, as well as unnecessary melodrama, but Suri does a great job in showing pain with subtlety, as he did in his last movie, Woh Lamhe. He gets the cast to perform very well and is solely responsible for Emraan Hashmis makeover in this movie, he gives him a different role and makes him run with it. One can only hope he continues on this trend and keeps making commercial, yet different movies.
The music of the movie is brilliant, and keeps well in the mood of the film, but most commendable is the usage of the songs in the background, they really help push the film along.
Performances:
Rehaan Khan is just there and Shaad Randhawa doesnt get much scope
Purab Kohli: A really good actor is made to ham like a madman in this movie. Sure people can be eccentric but if he was trying to channel Al Pacino here, all he ended up doing was remind me just how big a ham that legends become over the years. Eccentricity is good, but this guy was just looking like a buffoon to me instead of coming off as dangerous. I guess thats more a characterization fault, because he is a good actor, which he showed in Woh Lamhe and My Brother NIkhil.
Ashish Vidyarthi: Another actor who doesnt get roles, here he has an excellent presence and demanour but unfortunately the role lets him down. He does well wit hthe material he has but he can do excellently if give n the right role. In fact, Ashutosh Rana may have been good, Vidyarthi couldve done an excellent job of the villain himself. Hope he comes in better movies with better roles.
Shreya Saran: Her role as a Muslim girl in love with Emraan doesnt need much histrionics but her presence is very fresh and she does a good job in pushing the story forward and laying the base for subsequent events to come. Cant really say much about her acting, simply because she needs a better role for one to say for sure. Nonetheless, she does well in what time is alloted to her.
Mrinalini Sen: The main actress of the movie, she looks good and does a very good job although she overacts in a couple of scenes. Her role isnt the easiest and it must be said that for a first movie she has performed well in her role, it wasnt run of the mill. Again a good acting job, especially by someone doing their first movie.
Ashutosh Rana: A brilliant actor and villain who somehow lost his way, its refreshing to see him in a powerful character after a long time. He portrays Maliks silent anger, sarcasm and evil to the T, case in point being the conversation he has with Reema, he really shows his evil side there. A great job by this veteran who one hopes comes in more qualitative stuff in the future.
Emraan Hashmi: I was this close to suggesting ideas for movies like "Smoochy and the Bandit" for this guy, but he completes revamps himself with this movie. Gone is the forced cockiness, the twinkling eyes and other trademark mannerisms. Sure the role is author backed but then one also needs a competent enough actor to carry off the role. He may not be the best actor around, but he has definitely improved a lot and has the guts to carry a role so different from his image. Hope that he continues on this line and does more such diverse roles.
Conclusively, the theme of the movie surrounds one mans spirituality and redemption, but the way the journey is filmed, is what makes this movie worth watching. Definitely worth watching for the theme, direction and performances, making this an engrossing enough way to kill an evening.*
Hope to hear from you all with your comments, lets see what you have to say about the movie and review.
have fun
faraz
