Ishqiya (Chaubey, 2009)

[kaytee]

Right after we get to see Vishal Bhardwaj's Kaminey, we get another one of his productions Ishqiya, starring the brilliant Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi and Vidya Balan. This looks like a movie out from the Sholay eras with a love twist and I am absolutely loving the trailer.

Everyone who can understand Hindi should watch this trailer. This has greatness written all over it and I cant believe that this is coming from Bollywood.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/Nfz2aTtrjSI&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/Nfz2aTtrjSI&rel=1</a>

[kaytee]

AK try to post this on the facebook page fast.

[sandeep]

awesome! vidya suits the part... naseer and arshad are doing such unique roles...

[shariqq]

Excellent, excellent trailer! And what inspired casting.

[kaytee]

The craze is going to be Chutiam Sulphate.

[kaytee]

Im loving the soundtrack of this film...My Name is Khan's sound track is garbage compared to this.

[shariqq]

oh yes, the soundtrack (4 songs only) is fantastic. I share your favourite: "Dil To Bachcha Hai".

[sandeep]

Ishqiya is a daring film, which works with village stereotypes but takes huge steps away from it as well, which make it difficult to digest. If one leaves the logic of village protocol aside, the 3 characters make for excellent entertainment. Vidya is the main hero of the film, acting out a spectrum of emotions and shades of black/gray/white. Arshad is a revelation, whereas Naseer is plain awesome. At his age to act so candid and juvenile, is great.

Points for direction, music and acting.
3/5

[sandeep]

dil to bachcha hai... reminds me of little children...

oh yes, the soundtrack (4 songs only) is fantastic. I share your favourite: "Dil To Bachcha Hai".

[kaytee]

I thought it was really well made, the story was perfect with 3 acts and the third act packed a solid punch. Vidya Balan playing femme fatale, Naseer playing a die hard romantic and Arshad Warsi as the rogue all involved in a circle of deceit, love and crime. Top marks to the director on keeping a rustic look and using a town which is very different from the fast paced Mumbai.

[fizz]

Raw, rugged and rural, Ishqiya combines elements of Tarantino's Kill Bill (femme fatale, out for revenge from the man who left her for dead) and the convoluted messiness of Christopher McQuarrie's kidnap caper Way of the Gun. As a hybrid buddy comedy, crime thriller, revenge film and Ménage à trois between the three leads, the film is more successful in its first half where we get to know these people, than it is in its second, where all of the dangling questions left hanging, come together in a manner thats not quite believable (a kidnap subplot, where every character we've met up until this point is somehow integral to the central drama!) When the film abandons character build up for its last act gun fight, it rings false, even when we've been conditioned to expect some sort of a showdown given the dangers the two men encounter throughout.

Despite this last minute blunder in the script, the dialogues remain strong and fresh. I've not heard Indian rural talk sound this realistic or appealing (and I'm sure fans of Bollywood cinema can point out that this is probably Vishal Bhardwaj's forte, producing this time). His protege, Abhishek Chaubey directs with a keen eye for detail - Vidya Balan's burn marks need no explanation, visual cues explain key plot points to us. The film is well balanced serving up Bollywood fans appetite for songs in key scenes where they play only in the background (apparently a new and thankfully, growing trend). The chemistry between Shah and Warsi is fantastic and their verbal spats highly engaging, reminiscent of the father/son hitmen from Nurse Betty. A good re-introduction to an alternate Bollywood.

Rating: 3.5/5

[shariqq]

Some notes I had made, couldn't doa proper review, so here as is:



Ishqiya has a wonderfully wicked rustic charm. It mainly takes advantage of its rural setting, a place less frequented by commercial Bollywood. This rural India is not a "village" of other films. It is a country-side landscape that includes open roads, villages, towns railroad crossings and untamed greenery. People dress in shirts & jeans, drive beaten-up vehicles and speak a dialect of localized idioms with words of English  thrown in.

Though Vishal Bhardwaj does not direct Ishqiya, the movie still benefits with him on board as Producer, Dialog writer and Music Composer. He also shares screen-writing credit with his protege & the director Abhishek Chaubey. And so, the movie unfolds while exploring and developing the main characters, something that has become a staple of Vishal Bhardwaj movies. Though the story takes logical leaps that make the going a little too convenient, Chaubey's enthusiastic story-telling and the charming threesome allow this to be overlooked. These three, Arshad Warsi, Naseeruddin Shah and Vidya Balan turn in wonderful performances, especially Warsi who finally gets a role to flex his acting muscles..

My rating --> 3.5 of 5