Movie Review: 7 Khoon Maaf is too long to be pardoned

Based on Ruskin Bond’s short story Suzanna’s Seven Husbands, Vishal Bhardwaj’s 7 Khoon Maaf is a demented, psychotic, dark tale for the search for true love – gruesome and relentless in its presentation. From the first frame itself there is a sense of foreboding in the air and one gears up for a thrilling and enthralling movie. But alas!

The movie is painstakingly slow!!…by the time we were rounding the first half, having done with 3 husbands and I read ‘4 more to go’ in the interval, I had almost made up my mind to walk out in sheer disappointment. If one were really looking for a parallel, one can probably call this a kind of ‘slowed down’ version of Kill Bill 2..but since that movie was regarded to be slow in itself..well, you can get the picture..The fact that there are many random ordinary songs in the first half as well didn’t help matters either. After the fast paced and absolutely thrilling Kaminey, this kind of a serving from a stalwart like Vishal Bhardawaj was quite unexpected and deeply disappointing.

However, the second half and really the last 40 minutes somewhat make up for the slack pace of the first one and a half hours, so much so that by the time you come out of the hall you are willing to say the movie was quite watchable. You get treated to the catchy tones of the delectable ‘Darrling’, the plot picks up pace and the narration becomes more engaging. Especially towards the end, some scenes are particularly powerful and somewhat justify the money spent on the movie ticket

In the acting department, Priyanka Chopra is at centerstage in this kind of a movie and she is certainly equal to the task. She is able to pull off a complex character like Suzanna and does justice to each of her ‘avatars’, though some are more convincing than the others. Vivaan Shah (Naseeruddin Shah’s son, for the uninitiated) is impressive for a rookie, as the narrator and one of the characters of this dark tale. The sidekicks to Suzanna also put in a noteworthy performance despite their small role.

The writing (surprisingly) is not as crisp, and some Bollywoodish dialogues just make you cringe and grind your teeth. There is nothing Bollywoodish about this movie otherwise, and they seem bizarrely out-of-place. One of the masterstrokes is really, the last dialogue of the movie though, where you get a glimpse of the class of Vishal Bhardwaj but that’s it

After a stunner like Kaminey it would not be far from the mark to say that 7 Khoon Maaf disappoints. As I said, on the whole the movie may be regarded as watchable but I have to say, given that this is Vishal Bhardwaj…I had hoped for more.

Movie Review: Yeh Saali Zindagi..is worth a shot…

Racy, pacy and action packed and extremely convoluted – the surprise hit of this week is worth giving a shot. Is it worthy of all the hooplah and kudos its received so far? Well, not exactly..but its still worth checking out

Yeh Saali Zindagi, a noir somewhat comic film (one can compare to Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part 2, as a reference point) is a refreshing change from your run of the mill predictable plotlines. Unfolding with a whole host of characters introduced every now and then, through the course of the movie, it is a very fresh approach to cinema, specially considering this is Bollywood we talking about

With an over complex and constantly convoluting plot, told with ‘in a jiffy’ back stories and a lot of confusion thrown in, the movie surely grabs your attention right from the first frame itself. In fact, at the time of the interval, one is almost breathless with all the chasing around and catching up one has to do. However, its the 2nd half that doesn’t live up to the expectations. Especially, at the juncture that the movie breaks at the intermission, expectations are built up well and high but the 2nd half doesn’t deliver as much.

Some scenes slow down way too much and given the situation in the movie, it doesn’t seem apt. Add to that one too many songs and that’s where the movie lets itself down. (though, the title track is melodious and lovely).

Extremely unapologetic and downright audacious in its presentation, the movie is rife with abuses and very ‘desi’ language used all throughout (an increasingly popular trend in movies these days). With smartly written dialogues and a decent script, it surely produces a lot of chuckles and the occasional burst of laughter but doesn’t manage to create that magic to make for a second viewing.

The actors (humungous in number though they are) all do justice to their roles. Chitrangda Singh looks gorgeous throughout the movie while Irrfan manages to leave a lasting impression (Despite not having too much air time). The much publicized 22 kisses (not from Chitrangda though..pity) are very much all there but I guess they get a bit too much for the context they are shown in

All in all, its one surprise hit for sure. I for one had never thought of this flick as first on my list but I guess it all aptly fits the lyrics of the title song:

‘Zindagi pe tera mera kisi ka na zor hai
Hum sochte hai kuch wo saali sochti kuch aur hai
Ye zindagi ye saali zindagi…’