Do we still need superstars to sell our films? What happened to the reigning queen Kareena Kapoor's latest flick 'Ek main aur ek tu'? Or for instance, Shahrukh Khan's 'Ra - One'? Well..sometimes we do need stars to sell some shitty films (Ready, Bodyguard!) but for those,all credit goes to the masses, because you can't fool around with the multiplex junta! So, gone are the 80's and 90's where actresses were used just as mere props to dance around with their leading co stars or to get raped by the villains! (?), its time to celebrate womanhood! time for women oriented flicks to set the cash registers ringing at the box office! its time to say goodbye to those 40 plus actors banging and bashing up aliens/goons or dancing around with 20 something heroines onscreen (that too, shamelessly)!!
Sujoy Ghosh's Kahaani is a gripping,fast paced screenplay altogether right from
its commencement to conclusion. Vidya is wonderful,no doubt...but the film
shines all throughout primarily because of 3 aspects :
a) a well crafted story line (Ghosh along with novelist
Advaita Kala),
b) volley of first rate supporting characters who makes the
film come alive (entire Bong Gang here!) Parambrata Chatterjee (impressive),
Dhritiman Chatterjee, Kharaj Mukherjee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui
(brilliant,ruthlessness at its best!),Saswata Chatterjee (excellent cameo),Abir
Chatterjee, and Indraneil Sengupta (and..i go gasping for breath every time he
shows up!) and the 2 child artists...
c) the star of the film..the city..kolkata! with its
lanes,by lanes, metros,trams,streets,kumortuli,idols,old buildings,tea
stalls..the colour,vibrancy,and the liveliness of durga puja..all comes alive
beautifully! We have witnessed the same city before in recent times (Parineeta, Yuva, The Namesake), but never before the city has unfolded in such charming delight!
Vidya has undoubtedly played her cards very well in bollywood,placing herself as one of the brilliant performers in recent time,someone who's always been tailor made for women centric flicks ( Parineeta, Paa, No one killed Jessica, The dirty Picture and Kahaani) ,at times, reminding me of another 90's actress Tabu....Tabu, like Vidya, had also initiated her career with commercial potboilers, but in due course of time has proved her mettle with author backed roles in Maachis, Chandni Bar, Astitva, Virasat, The Namesake.....
Vidya has undoubtedly played her cards very well in bollywood,placing herself as one of the brilliant performers in recent time,someone who's always been tailor made for women centric flicks ( Parineeta, Paa, No one killed Jessica, The dirty Picture and Kahaani) ,at times, reminding me of another 90's actress Tabu....Tabu, like Vidya, had also initiated her career with commercial potboilers, but in due course of time has proved her mettle with author backed roles in Maachis, Chandni Bar, Astitva, Virasat, The Namesake.....
Vidya Balan has become a name to reckon with. She takes on a role and adds substance to it(literally in case of the "Dirty Picture"). She isn't afraid to look bland or deglamourized or even (God forbid!) old. I can't imagine a Katrina or Deepika being able to do that. "Kahaani" was really well-written movie(though there were quite a few formulaic plot points). The actors played their role to the hilt. But the thing is,it is not as feminist a movie as it is touted out to be-it fails the Bechdel Test(just saying). Oh and nice article you have got there! ;)
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