Reviews

Dev D

Anurag Kashyap has always walked the thin line between brilliant storytelling and forcefully stuffing in every arbitrary whim of his like an adamant kid. This time too, he stumbles. What could have been a masterpiece turns into a two and a half hour long drag. Literally. The music is the best part of this movie and tries hard to keep one glued yet fails towards the end.

The plotline is strong. For those of you who have dismissed it to be yet another version of Devdas, it's not. It shows a much more relevant world and real lives as compared to its predecessors. It depicts the lives of Dev, a rich spoilt kid, Paro the simple girl who he loves and Chanda, a "commercial sex worker" and how they intricately run together merging here and seperating there. What kills are the n-multiple scenes of a drunk and doped Dev roaming about aimlessly which makes you scream, "Yeah! I get the picture. What next?!"

Did I say that music was the best part of this movie? Sample Nayan Tarse and O Pardesi from youtube or the next cheapest source of pirated music and you'll know what I'm talking about.

Overall, I'd say that if this was cut to a 100 minute movie, it would have been something else.

Rating: 3.5/5

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The movie has its novelty. But it is proof that you can't run a successful film only on an idea. Yet another drag of a potentially poetic description of the fleeting temporariness of life and love.

This is the story of Benjamin Button who was born old and frail but grows younger with time while he watches all those he loves grow old and die. Brad Pitt plays his part well and so does everyone else but I felt that the movie leaves you a bit more depressed than it should. The colours used and the pace could be equally responsible for this. True, maybe it was meant to be a tragedy. But that kick that you get when you come out of a movie irrespective of the genre was missing. Instead, I was just.. low. I'm not sure I like this movie for what it did to my mood.

Rating: 3/5