Friday, May 09, 2008

Shaurya

For those who don't have the time or inclination to read the review... the movie is good. If you haven't watched A Few Good Men (AFGM); do not miss this one. For the rest...

Putting together a cast that any director would die for, Samar Khan pulls together a much better attempt this time than his forgettable Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye! With KK Menon, Rahul Bose and Javed Jaffery the lead powerhouse characters were in place. Minissha Lamba ably plays the second fiddle. The movie overall is a tight piece of work with some good scenes and creditable performances, especially Javed Jaffery. Samar Khan seems to have taken scenes directly from AFGM to the extent that even the dialogues and the delivery seem to be rehashed versions. Technically, the movie is good. Camera work is helped by the very backdrop: Kashmir. The court room scene is well enacted by Rahul and KK, though Tom and Jack in the original leave the viewers astounded. I thought KK had the toughest role to do. Especially because his sequences were almost a replica of Jack's from the original.

As far as the plot goes, the original even today amazes me because nothing is personal there. Whereas, the Indianized version, though tightly woven, has the personal vendetta touch to it, the Hindu-Muslim yet again forming the backdrop. As much as the plot seems to be trite and banal, the director ensures a good flow and does not deviate with unnecessary songs or comedy tracks. Rahul, I feel, is falling with each movie into his own trap. His characterization of the carefree lawyer is very much like the one in Pyar ke Side Effects. He, I advise, has to come out of this self-typecasting. KK, in his introduction is a touch comical which doesn't hold up with his character. But again, holds his class in the scenes that matter the most.

Overall, a very good remake of an excellent movie. Go catch it.

2 comments:

Harini said...

On this note, I am actually waiting to see if any Bollywood director / FTII / NSD product has the guts to make an Indianized version of the absolutely brilliant "The Shawshank Redemption".

Abinav Kumar said...

see... you get it wrong.. with all due credit to Frank Darabont and Stephen King for the story, I don't think it is beyond Indian directors to direct a movie that good! But yes, most certainly it is way beyond an average Indian movie viewer to accept an Indian movie that good...