Movie Review- Inkaar love in the times of ambition

Something as simple as a vibe can form something as enormous as an opinion.

"Khamoshiyan awaaz hain labzon mein bass inkaar hai" - Sameer Anjaan's evocative lyrics and Shamir Tandon's compelling composition follows you out of this searing, probing drama on work ethics in corporate places.

This is one occasion when you don't mind being stalked.

There are no item songs in 'Inkaar'. The female form is here objectified not through celebratory songs but in the gender perceptions that often distinguish the male viewpoint from the female. The songs and music (largely by the talented Shantanu Moitra) seem to mock the sexual frisson between the two protagonists as they circle each other in a moral pugilism that can break both or one of them.

It is not easy being ambitious and true to the conscience. Towards the end of this riveting drama, Chitrangada confronts Arjun in a washroom where the light flickers menacingly on her ravaged face.

"Can people like you and I who want more from life than love, ever be happy?" she wonders in a choked voice.

Is Rahul Varma really guilty of sexual harassment? Or is the ambitious social climber Maya Luthria imagining things for her own convenience? Did she lead him on until it suited her ambitions and then cry 'harassment' when she had made her way to the top of the ladder and didn't want anyone peering up her skirt?

That versatile and vigorous storyteller Sudhir Mishra, doing yet another thematic flip-flop after the edgy crime drama 'Yeh Saali Zindagi', provides no easy solutions to the question of the male gaze and the female perception. 'Inkaar' makes you stop and think about that diaphanous divide between consensual flirting and sexual harassment.

But this is not a version of Barry Levinson's 'Disclosure'. Sudhir Mishra's treatise on the gender equation in an ambitious environment is far more dense and complex than a simple buffet of tongue-in-cheek innuendos interspersed with moral homilies. And yes, Arjun and Chitrangada are far more skilled actors than Michael Douglas and Demi Moore. It would be no exaggeration to say that the film wouldn't have worked with any other actors.

Arjun, in fact, grows better with each film, so much so that nowadays a film featuring him is an assurance of innovative aesthetics. Here, he sinks into the part of the part-mentor part-tormentor with impassioned familiarity. Arjun knows the world of the cut-throat corporate competitiveness where every promotion for an individual could be a moral and ethical demotion. As played by Arjun, Rahul Varma comes across as both sensitive and arrogant, considerate and sexist. He's a bit of a mystery, really.


Even so, Inkaar, with a running time that's little above two hours, starts out with promise and engages considerably until the plot hits a massive writer's block and transforms into an exasperating Alice who's lost her way and been kicked out of Wonderland. The upshot is a climax so moronic, it's easily one of the worst I've seen in recent times.

Truth be told, Arjun Rampal and Chitrangada, looking sharp, self-assured and comfortable in each other's presence, do the best within their limitations to not contribute to Inkaar's troubles, which is also guilty of wasting Shantanu Moitra's electric compositions around a lacklustre scenario.

In the end though, what could have been an engrossing take on modern-day relationships in a frantic, workaholic culture is single-handedly destroyed by warped publicity and ridiculous conclusions.

So am I going to recommend why two sorted-out professionals are dumbed down to thick-headed fools and sexual harassment is just another day in office? I don't think so.

Star -3/5

Movie Review- Table No. 21

First movie the year, generally records says never does a good business except last year no one killed jessica, in the starting i m saying does not mean it will not be a good movie. It's a nice acting suspense thriller flick.

An average class couple Vivaan (Rajeev Khandelwal) and Siya (Tina Desae) win a fully-paid trip to the Fiji Island for their anniversary. Cut to the picturesque locales of Fiji, the extravagance of their free trip, some song and dance sequences and an interesting turn. Enters Mr. Khan (Paresh Rawal) a millionaire restaurateur cum game show host who offers the couple a game Table No. 21 that could change their lives.. The price money is a whopping 21crs that can be easily won but with an only catch - You cannot quit the game and if you lie you die! What follows is a series of twists and turns and a blend of love and lies, truth and treachery, money and mind-games.

Paresh Rawal, looking like a reject character from Mad Max 2, plays a man named Khan who lures Vivaan (Rajeev Khandelwal) and Sia (Tena Desae) to Fiji to participate in a Web-based game show that will add Rs.21 crore to their low bank balance if they truthfully answer a series of questions (why Fiji? Probably because that country’s tourism department invited the producers over).

Ironically, Rajeev Khandelwal who was once the host of the reality game show Sach Ka Samna which dealt with the same topic only less brutal finds himself on the other side of the table with this film. And it's only filmmaker Aditya Dutt to be credited for such a casting. Known for his popular Bhatt film Aashiq Banaya Aapne, Aditya brings to celluloid a very interesting concept. A thriller revolving around a game show appeared intriguing right from the promos itself. However, the sooner the film starts unfolding itself with all the gruesome tasks that the actors are made to execute, one easily starts gauging the actual plot and it turns out to be pretty much so.

It's the predictability of the plot that gets to you and also the many loopholes that come your way as the story progresses. It's the build up to the suspense, primarily the game show part, instead of the suspense itself that makes for an intriguing plot. The suspense comes about as a done to death twist. 

For a film based completely on three characters, Aditya Dutt does a very good job not just in casting but also in the way he extracts performances from his actors. Paresh Rawal who is in top form post his last superhit OMG: Oh My God experiments with his look and get into the mode of a menacing and sinister looking mode. He pulls off his part very well. Rajeev Khandelwal too puts up a good show and contrasts Paresh Rawal's eccentricity and evilness with his vulnerability and strength very well. 

Table No. 21, although may not be a completely out of the box, never before concept but it's the execution of the story and the acting that makes this film a worth watch.

Stars- 2.5