Hardboiled Bollywood- Ek Chaalis…
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Let me say it straight out..this is not a review , like my thoughts on metro were not a review..just my opinion..
Just saw ek Chaalis ki last local, got back and was curious to see how the critics have reacted to it..Guess its time for me to apologise to khalid mohammad for he saw, what I knew he would, but will not accept it or say it.. I came back prepared that he would have trashed it.. I need to be less opinionated about him..
Hardboiled bollywood..is what I would call it.. I am more curious to see how the country reacts to this film.. but hats off to courageous Sanjay khanduri for pushing the envelope, for he really pushes it far..a film set in two and a half hours, real time, the craziest characters you don’t want to cross path with, all new faces, incredible actors, doing a song with not an item girl, staying within the mood of it.. I got out and imdtly got two calls from friends who hated it, and I asked them why and they said why should someone make a film like this and I said why not, you did’nt like it you should have left and they said we wanted to know what happens in the end.. well there it is..i remembered them asking me the same question when I made Paanch, and then again when I made Black Friday, I guess I have not forgiven those people yet..
It takes courage to make a film like this in this industry of ours.. I know it first hand.. it’s the kind of film that almost never gets made,it takes courage for an actor to do a scene like what Abhay deol did in the climax.. blindfolded , tied to the bed, fearing the worst.. no actor , who is a leading actor would have agreed to do a sequence like that.. that’s where I say AD shows his maturity, some might even call it foolishness.. what I also like about him is that this his fourth release and not counting Manorama, and all with new directors, and none of them safe..
And who was that actor who played the cop, and where was he all this while..
And Amit mistry rocked..
This film reminds me of the hardboiled pulps that I adore so much.. it could have done with some editing, but nevertheless, the depths of human depravity it reaches into, the creatures of the night, with their sorry lives that they live with élan, its another world that none will want to tread into..
This is the kind of film that with little editing would be a great proposition for the west, and the GrindHouse audience, so championed by QT,.. wish somebody had the vision to take it there..
And one thing that bothered me and stung like an insult in my face, was the producer’s credit that comes after the director’s who also is the writer.. even jerry Bruckheimer is not such a megalomaniac.. who the fuck is quartet films.. this film is a warning sign to all the directors to stay away from that banner.. makes me wonder what went behind the scenes.. Do we have an active Director’s association.. nothing calls for it, it might as well have been an Alan Smithee film..
Except that beginning credit rest of it should not be ignored.. do watch it ..
And forgot to add the amateurish continuity jerks.. well..
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Darn… why oh why oh why is it not released in the USA?
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oz, ab tera hi yeh haal hai tho mera kya hoga?
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By God ki kasam… time to open PFC Worldwide Marketing and Distribution Consultancy…
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Wonder when will it release? Or will it?
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Oz, I’m willing to run the Canadian branch of the PFCWWM&D Consultancy…
Anurag, I can understand you relating to the film and appreciating the writer/director’s courage to get this film made. I think we all should appreciate Sanjay Khanduri for creating something so different, and of course Abhay Deol submitting entirely to the directors vision.
But I can’t tell from your write up if you really enjoyed the film. I mean if you were truly entertained and you liked the characters, were captivated and gripped by the plot, etc.
Or were you just applauding the EFFORT to do something different?
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Anuurag Sir, being in USA I will have wait for the DVD of Ek Chalis. By the way, when is Paanch releasing? I am eagerly waiting for the film. Since it has been made quite a while back , do you think it will be outdated as far as content/technique goes?
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Review of E.C.K.Last local
Khalid mohemad-3stars; last line-(where were these guys hiding their extraordinary talent?……….its worth riding the last locol..)
Nikhat kazmi-1&1/2stars? matlab ; her say- meant only for the diehard mumbaikars who might find some sembalance of truth in the general trash
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well atray..having read khalid for a long time and also knowing him, i know he sees every film for what it is but he chooses to ignore it, gets personal..
well nikhat, she doesn’t even see it..
mayank, shubhra they are the reviews am looking forward to..
Manish..paanch, no clue
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sanjay khanduri ne film ki shuruaat bahut achchhi ki hai,lekin dhai ghante ki ghatna ko usse bhi kam samay mein dikhne ke liye chust patkatha ki zaroorat thi.sanjay ne prayas to kiya hai lekin kuch foohad drishyon mein ramne ke karan film ki gati aur mati dono khrab ki hai.
gay underworld sargana aur abhay deol ke beech ke samlangik notion ke drishya sahasee bhle hi lagen,lekin bhadde hain.yeh baatt jyada marmik aur prabhavpoorna tarike se bhi kahi ja sakti thi.
comic scene lamba ho jaaye to rulata ya khijhata hai.ECKLL ke saath is tarah ki dikkaten hain.
aur han…neha ne dupatta hawaldaar ko diya tha na…baad mein dupatta uske paas hawaldaar se mile bagair kaise aa gaya.
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sanjay khnduri ne film ki shuruaat achchhi ki hai,lekin kuch foohad drishyon mein ramne ke karan unhone film ki gati aur mati khrab ki hai.
aur han neha dhupia ne dupatta hawaldaar ko diya tha aur bhag gayi thi,phir bagair hawaldaar se mile dupatta uske pass kaise aa gaya.
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Anurag,
Mayank Shekhar a reviewer? Coming from you its surprising..the man is an ignoramus to the core.His reviews mostly prove his complete lack of cinema but also his bias or rather prejudice..and you know that..unless its a midday alliance you are forging.
What next.. calling Sukanya verma of rediff a reviewer worth a serious read?
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=d> Agree with what was said. ECKL. As a debutant director I think it was great attempt to show a life beyond the Illusionary world created. It was a different experience from the stereotype of movies, the movie did have a couple of loop holes but on the whole it was great attempt, Must watch at least once. The way Neha character/Abhay character were portrayed were very will pinned, specially the double crossing sequence and Climax of the movie =d> =d> . Its a great insight to watch what really goes on and how things unfold at a latter point.
>- 
>-
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*whew*…I was all set to get flogged for admiring the guts of the director (especially since most of the early reviews trashed it). But can always trust PFC to find support for creative movies.
I thought the movie was pretty cool too. It set out to tell a story in a different style and does that well.
The cop is Ashok Samarth, i believe. Is this Amit Mistry the same guy who has a good singing voice too?
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Mayank Shekar is the worst reviewer. He sometimes writes his reviews without even watching the movie.
Taran Adarsh and Komal Nahata are the best reviewers of hindi cinema.
Ek Chalis has been in the making for a long time. I like these one night films like Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin, The Warriors, etc. I even liked the plot of Oh Darling Yeh Hai India.
Will surely watch this movie.
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@justin,
taran adarsh? gaaawd he does business reviews not the movie ones…
even the business reviews are half baked
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@DPac
The movie reviews in indiafm.com are done by Taran Adarsh. He does both business reviews and movie reviews. He also has a great knowledge of Hindi movies. Need a lot of FAQs u can just ask him.
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i know suhruthe…
but his ‘reviews’ are not reviews but mere opinions
at least most of the time
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justin bhai, beware of taran adarsh!
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S.k.jha will be here…. anytime….!!
n Raja sen…:)
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Hi Anurag,
I met about four years ago when you were having a screening of Paanch and you wanted to invite Vineet to attend the screening. I am also from NSD and have been trying to reach you over the phone. Obviously your number has changed. Would love to email you if you can send me your email. Mine is vipinsemail@gmail.com and my number is 9819017687.
Vipin
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Anurag, do read Baradwaj Rangan’s review at http://desipundit.com/baradwajrangan/
You will find plenty of resonance of your thoughts there.
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read the review..yeah.. he says what i mean and in so much better ways.. thanks abhimanyu
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saw the film. it is one of the films like waisa bhi hota hai which finds acceptance a little late.i enjoyed the film even with it’s flaw. atleast i watching a movie i have not seen bedore. btw Anurag,does the dvd of black friday have director’s commentry?
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the movie is good… abhay deol is a knock out..
but more important is… @anurag has anybody obtained the release rights of Paanch??
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guys i want to meet ashok samarth..that actor who plays the cop..someone knows his number
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i guess sanjay khanduri will have. do u want khanduri’s no ?
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Wow!
I’m amazed that so many people liked this flick. I do like the pulpy trashiness of the film.. the characters are different especially the gun-trotting virago and the Nana Patekar rickshaw driver… From the minute the ugly titles started.. I got a B-Grade burp from the pit of my gut.
So he looses his jacket on a rainy night, gets gum stuck on his hand and gets kicked out of the station in Mumbai and there is no one around! Oh wait.. there’s a bum sleepin under his chewing gum-stuck bench… And of all the days.. today is a rickshaw-strike. He finds a lone rickshaw driver and then the resplendent Ms. Dhupia makes her grand entry in slo-mo in the rain and even she wants to go to Vikroli!! What a co-incidence?
Abhay Deol acted well? Ya.. when he wasn’t talking in his head we got to see a bit of his acting talent. Ya ya.. the director’s Noir-ish take on the film welcomed the first person voiceover narration.. but our protagonist was a fucking choot… far from a typical hard-ass, disillusioned male character. Could he have been cooler? Oh.. I forgot.. this was supposed to be a comedy.
The creatures of the night step out! The innocent sequin studded ingenue is not so innocent after all. We have Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs in one shot itself – The gun goes off by mistake and the ear comes off – original! Side by side we have natural born killers on a rampage as well. And surprisingly.. we all want to know what happens in the end.. even though we’ve seen the end in the beginning. Yes yes.. this film is Non-Linear as well!
My high point of the movie are the CUs to the voluptious parts of Ms. Dhupias’ body (and voluptious they are) and the sound of the orgasmic female Aaaaahs that gives them company! I wonder if that was a part of the script that Ms. Dhupia received.
We come back to Pulp Fiction and see Abhay Deol waiting to get impaled by a gay Don. Its a pity it does’nt happen cos by then you’re dying for some real action. In the heightened heat of moment I failed to realise how bold of Abhay it was to do that scene…as bold as it was for him to sign this movie..
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AM.. to each his own..
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Meri
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Anurag, I
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Totally worth watching. One good movie I’ve seen in a loooooooooong time!!!!!
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Fantastic interview of Aamir Khan in The Indian Express yesterday. In the interview, Aamir has confirmed that has directed Taare Zameen Par. Exciting. Wonder how he is as a director!
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Link paste karo anjaliiiiiiiiiiiii
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kaafir this is the link-
http://www.indianexpress.com/sunday/story/31323.html
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Oh sorry!!! http://www.indianexpress.com/sunday/story/31323.html
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Hi anurag hats off to u for appreciating the new comer director to my mind he has done a great job. Ek chalis is a fabulous film. Different subject gripping till the very end. Hats off to abhay deol he is the soul mate of new comers he fits into new filmmakers innovative ideas and not their budgets. He is a courages actor to my mind. Only bit i didn’t like about the characters they look too ugly. Overall I was entertained for 2 and half hrs without getting bored or disracted. go watch out this new experimental film. This year will be warning for the so called big banners. This genre is either you like the film or u don’t. No who is who of the industry is going to work with promising filmmakers like Anurag square I mean basu and kasyap, sanjay khundari, sake, shirish, ballery, lakhia and so many. Indian cinema is arrived.
appu
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anurag, a qs to you after watching ek chalis..that i had heard from papers that ayesha was req to shoot a kissing scene in ur film no smoking but she refused and having read ur articles women in ur films donot have gr8 roles..so why not take a neha dhupia who will do the kissing scene without any hassles..why not? now dont tell me charcter required a bubbly girl bcoz that aint working dude?hhaha
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akki..the article was picked up from my blog..its all in there in one of no smoking posts
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This comment has no connection with the article above…I wwas just checking the short films selected for cannes this year and it was quite amazing to see films from singapore also getting selected..but what caught my eyes was this film selected for cinefoundation called ‘ADITI SINGH’ its shot in mumbai by a french director ‘KUMMER’ about a university employee writing a letter to her superior in the university about her intentions..sounds quite interesting piece anyone have any clue about the making of this film in mumbai???
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Puffffffft!!!:((
Well, sadly yet AGAIN we are left with no choice but to wait for the dvd to release in its own sweet time, here in the U.K!
You know, I think I should become a distributer or something and screen these films on this side of the planet…:-?
Well, I guess I can do that…after I win the lottery!:d/
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Steve bhai!! kahaan ho?! waiting for your views on my music posts….
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i think justin was spot on mayank shekar sucks i watched ek chalis ki last local at amorning show at 70 bugs ya coz i am out of money n in an case dont hav any but its paisa vasool such films shuld b made coz there is a audience waiting 4 it but the film didnt open well i guess it will slowly anurag when is paanch realising yaar!
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hi nitin,
Aditi Singh was made in Mumbai by Mickael Kummer. I was the cinematographer on the film. It was shot on 16mm and blown up on 35. You can check out the official site for the film at
http://mychkine.com/fr/aditi_singh.html
If you want to know more details you can mail me at punkudge@gmail.com
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i saw u r interview with mayank shekar on filmy ……this is nothing related 2it but i just wanted 2 ask u what was radical in paanch……….n i saw u r interview with salil on b4u ………….where u told half of u r life ..i wanted to know how u got u r first break..how the hell u met rgv or was he who found u
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Hey Anurag,
Was hoping that you will drop me a line.
Vipin
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Anurag,
You promised a sequel of “Satya” blog..been waiting for that..please, oops no, PLEASE continue that blog
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Hi Anurag! This is Sanjay Khanduri. I hope u recive this message. I know it is late but never knew there is a place at bottom of this page frm whr I cud writ to u… till now.
Thank u for ur opinion and view on ‘Ek Chalis Ki Last Local’. When a praise comes from a cult writer director like you then no one elses views and reviews matter. I am happy my attempt looked honest to you and all my friends supporing the film today. Thanks you so much.
Regards
S. Khanduri.
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hey pankaj,
Is there any way i can watch the film? would really appreciate if i could..
thanks
ciao
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I thoroughly enjoyed Ek Chalis. It was the blackest humour that I have seen in Hindi cinema. I still can’t understand how someone had the balls to offer this script to a producer, which producer had the balls to fund it and who actually thought of distributing this film.
I am amazed and think I have been lucky to watch such a film. I doubt if something like this is going to get through to us again in the near future.
In my view, it was technically a very well-written story and screenplay and film with rocking performances. So removed from sweetness or sugariness or brawn or beauty. It was black as the night it was set in. All I have to do is briefly describe the characteristics of the characters for some one to vividly remember the characters. I can simply say the guy who has a headache, or the homosexual, or the Rajni cop or the cop who keeps blowing into his collar because of heat, or crazy woman or the guy with the false eye and so on.
Abhay Deol is so fucking special that it scares me when I think I may not see him in another film. First Socha Na Tha and then this, he is unbelievably good. He’s got balls… and the right sensibilites to be a part of memorable films. I really hope he gets paid well too. I loved ogling at Neha too. She is awesomely gutsy actress.
One thing, I am sure about this film is that you will either like the film very much, or be digusted and hate the film’s sensibilities. There is no middle path. I think if it makes even a little money, this will be cult film.
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Honestly, it was a stoners boozed out film. Which i’m not saying is bad. It’s nice to see a film like this for a change. I thought the characters were superb. Great performances by them too. Dialogues were the hero of the film. It pulled it together at the end. Else it was shoddy camera work & not greatly directed. But again, it’s good to see films like this out there.
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Nobody seems to have noticed the similiarity between PULP FICTION and ECKLL. STRANGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I missed it earlier. Someone by the name AM too thinks that this movie has lot of similarties with PULP FICTION. I came out of the theatre admiring PULP FICTION more than I had done before. In fact I liked ECKLL too.
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John, I think Last Local was more of a rental movie catalog, very referential.
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Generally agree with Anurag I’ll add only this much – Neha Dhupia has nice breasts. :”>
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Dear Anurag,
I am anindita from Star News and i am interested in doing an interview with you. This was the only way to get in touch with you so please do reply on my email id.
Its a request.
email:saranindita@gmail.com
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Nice to see the appreciation for ECKLL which we lived with for almost 2 years with 5/6 on the sets media interactions (something never heard of).
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hi anurag ji
This is my first post for your blog, really the movie is awesome…and please note that there is director’s thank you note for you in the comments no. 49 in case you just overlooked it…
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Hi Anurag.. good of you to appreciate the film…and everyone else…guys get a life..I know we are all very educated about cinema and all that but..if someone wants to make a film whihch is heavily homaged to Tarantino and Ritchie et all then what is the problem…the greatest of film makers have many nods to their inspirations in their stories. and for all you people crying plagiarism out there remember ‘every artist is a cannibal..every poet is a thief, all kill their inspiration and sing about the grief..’ so…Sanjay…way to go…i had many good laughs and enjoyed all the side ‘digs’ you made…may you make many such more ‘digs’
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luke boy dont make this site feel dedicated in makin Anurag kashyap a demi god….
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DIG THE FILM!! Even my mom, a hardcore johar/chopra style movie buff didn’t mind it. That’s what the deal was with most people I know, if they saw it that is, either they liked it or they didn’t dislike it. Not anyone, ‘cept some newspaper reviewers, who could say they didn’t like the film. There’s something strangely refreshing about the film that keeps you hooked on to the seat. Never mind the glaring conti. glitches and some lengthy scenes. And Abhay was quite interesting. Haven’t seen any of his previous films but after this one I’d look forward to seeing him in Manorama. Even otherwise DYING to see Manorama!!
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Hi Sanjay,
It was so nice to see you rise to this stature.I told my husband, this guy was in college with me and he was a great guy.I am settled in Caliifornia(San Diego).If you ever visit USA you are more than welcome.
And about the movie..it was brilliant attempt.We really enjoyed watching.Though a little too much for my 6 year old daughter but anyways she doesn’t understand much of hindi.I wish you lot of good luck and would love to hear from you.
Sudha Prasad
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My eamil address is
sudhakashu@yahoo.com
Sudha Prasad
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Excellent story telling, I absolutely love the movie and level of details he (Sanjay) captured. If I could reach to Sanjay Khanduri, he really deserves to know that all his courage has paid off and we are looking forward for his next work.
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maaaan the song promo kinda put me off track for a while…
but this film rocks…
IF—only if they had slashed out around 30-45 mins
would have loved it even more…
would have made my day…..
someone told me the other day film banana hai tho abhi mumbai pahunch ja.. sab aise film banaa rahe hain mein bhi book karta hoon ticket..
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hats off to nosmoking, great attempt to make a film full of time images. lots of tarkovsky kind of images are there. the opening shot with the depth of field is the best. the concept of cinema in india does not produce such images and shots. hoping to see more movies of the kind.
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I watched the movie yesterday only. And i was totally blown away.
grt movie.unpredictable to the core.humorous with brilliant witty one liners.
A must watch!!!!
“Khali pet goli khane se chakkar aate hain”!!
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