The story was good and the intention was great but it suffers on the count of being too preachy and lengthy. Its good in parts but if you are not the serious cinema lover, then there is no 'entertainment' value in it. The performances are very crisp and impactful though. Watch it if you are looking for some serious work by technicians and actors.
Plot and Narrative: The movie is about the media-politics nexus and how they use each other for their own benefit. How news are not shown but 'made'. How news channels are nothing but loudspeakers for political parties. How a news channel is mis-used by a political party to topple a government. And in the end in true triumph of good vs evil style. Order is restored with a long (rather too long) and preachy speech by the lead character to drive home the point.
Performances: Everyone delivers. Amitabh Bachhan in his larger than life media persona commands respect. Sudeep (Phoonk fame) reminds of 'Bhawani' of Shiva in every frame. Ritesh delivers a very controlled and (thankfully) not exaggerated performance and does not over acts anywhere. Paresh Rawal is good and Rajpal Yadav funny as usual. Even Gul panag is decent in a couple of dialogues that she has. Mohnish Bahl, Suchitra Krishnamoorthy and Rajat kapoor are pretty good too. There are no hiccups here.
Technicals: The cinematography is experimental and delivers well especially in terms of camera angles and usage of shades of grey in the background. I just loved the close shots. Almost the whole movie is shot in close ups and that proves the weight being placed at actors' shoulders. Music is pathetic to the extent of being cacophonous but the background score accentuates the overall feel of movie. It gives a very broad dimension to the sequence and makes it larger than life.
Miscellaneous: At times the movie feels like a sermon, almost preaching media to being responsible. It begs media houses not to take sides while presenting, which is where it gets boring. Length is another problem area. Sometimes, you even feel like going outside to take a stroll and come back. It could easily have been made a good 30 minutes shorter and would have increased the impact as well. The end speech by Amitabh Bachhan again becomes too lengthy and too preachy. Dialogues are very well written especially while mocking the media and its functioning, when it compares Making news with Making Movies, stating that in reality they are both the same. A news is nothing but a small 5 minute movie only.
Positives: Performances, Technicals, Background Score, Good 'Thought'
Negatives: Preachy, Lengthy, Too Serious, Dark, Monodimensional, Boring at times
Overall: Go if you are a 'serious' cinema lover and can tolerate long stretches of boredom for some good performances.
Feel O Meter: 6/10
No comments:
Post a Comment