A Wednesday
Neeraj Pandey, 2008, India (9*)
This is a tightly plotted, finely crafted thriller from India, in fact, perhaps the best modern drama I’ve seen from there. The story is very timely: a police commissioner (Anupam Kher) receives a phone call from a common man, as he calls himself, brilliantly played by Naseeruddin Shah (whom you never suspect of being an actor), who claims to have planted five bombs throughout the city. As a show of good faith, he tells the commissioner the first bomb in the police station across the street. When that bomb is found, the authorities decide the man is serious, and they start meeting his demands, beginning with bringing four deadly terrorists together who are being held seperately. This story becomes a battle of wits, and of two computer experts: the ‘common man’ terrorist and a hacker the police bring in to pinpoint the location of his cell phone calls to the police.
I can’t reveal much without spoiling the surprising story, which should hit home with audiences around the world. Suffice to say that: (a) there are no music videos in this film (b) the running time is actually under two hours (c) a&b make this film unique among Indian films, at least in my experience! This is a much tighter story and better film than the top-grossing Ghajini, the previous review here.
This is a tightly plotted, finely crafted thriller from India, in fact, perhaps the best modern drama I’ve seen from there. The story is very timely: a police commissioner (Anupam Kher) receives a phone call from a common man, as he calls himself, brilliantly played by Naseeruddin Shah (whom you never suspect of being an actor), who claims to have planted five bombs throughout the city. As a show of good faith, he tells the commissioner the first bomb in the police station across the street. When that bomb is found, the authorities decide the man is serious, and they start meeting his demands, beginning with bringing four deadly terrorists together who are being held seperately. This story becomes a battle of wits, and of two computer experts: the ‘common man’ terrorist and a hacker the police bring in to pinpoint the location of his cell phone calls to the police.
I can’t reveal much without spoiling the surprising story, which should hit home with audiences around the world. Suffice to say that: (a) there are no music videos in this film (b) the running time is actually under two hours (c) a&b make this film unique among Indian films, at least in my experience! This is a much tighter story and better film than the top-grossing Ghajini, the previous review here.
4 comments:
I have reservations regarding your statement that this is the best modern drama you've seen from India, because I can name you numerous movies from here which are far better than Wednesday (in case you're not aware of it, even though Hindi movies, i.e. those made in the Bombay Film Industry, popularly known as Bollywood, earn more money, those made in Calcutta, in the Bengali language, are on average of far higher artistic value though not as widely seen). You'll be surprised to not that 'MTV-style music videos' (an apt description!) form a part of 'popular' or mainstream movie. The 'good' movies usually either completely do away with it, or have songs played in the background.
However, having said that, there's no denying the fact that this is a well made, and above all, a very honestly made movie. The story is taut and very relevant of our times. Interestingly, the infamous carnage at Bombay (Mumbai) by Pakistani terrorists took place a few days after this movie was released.
You're absolutely right in your observations about Naseeruddin Shah - he's one of the most respected actors in this country. His character perhaps represents the voice of many a people.
So which movie will you be reviewing next?
Hi Shubhajit - please recommend a few of the non-bollywood movies! I'm new to Indian films, we've always had Japanese and Chinese films available but not Indian. Of course, they need to be available as dvd rentals.
I have the Indian "Taxi Driver" in my queue, is that worth seeing? (diff't story from the Scorsese, I assume).
Too bad they can't copyright a title, the U.S. "Hero" is mediocre, the Chinese "Hero" by Zhang Yimou is a favorite film of mine; I can watch it over and over.
ps - If you want, I'll publish a guest post of yours at Worlds Best Films for Indian films "for westerners" to see!
ps2- Read your Dr. Mabuse, Gambler article, didn't know there was a silent one (ouch- those are painful for me! and four hours??)
thanks!! -- Jose
My apologies for the late response. Thanks for the offer for guest posts. I'll let you know some really good Indian movies of recent years that I feel you should see.
Indian "Taxi Driver"?!? Can't figure out which movie you're referring to. Could you tell me the original name of the movie?
Dr Mabuse, Gambler article?!? Are you sure you visited the right blog? The name of the movie blog I maintain is Cinemascope (http://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/).
The offer for writing on the best Indian movies sounds to be an interesting proposition.
Ok I remember. Taxi Driver, the movie you were referring to, doesn't have any resemblance that I know of to the Scorsese masterpiece (though I haven't watched the movie starring Dev Anand, the then superstar of the Bombay film industry). It was anyway made way before the De Nero starrer. It was a romantic noir, as far as I know, and a big hit. Maybe you could watch the movie and let me know if I should watch it too :)
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