The expectations were huge. The build up was too much. The hype was great too. Full 'Feel' bhi thi but it dint turn out to be full 'Dhan te Naan'. Vishal started to make a tarantino and he did, but ended up (literally in the end) mixing it with priyadarshan. Damn good script and dialogues have been written immaculately and delivered equally well. A Good watch but not a Vishal bhardwaj masterpiece. I think in order to do too much, the movie ended up not being 'up there' but just falls short of it, but even then it is FAB.. Damn FAB.. I just wish that the ending was a bit 'less filmy'My heart breaks when i write anything negative about it but gotta mention the weak points too. The critics i guess are not writing about the negatives, since criticizing a vishal bhardwaj can outcast you big time. It IS damn good even now but promised to be much much more. It had all the ingredients. Gripping Script. Amazing Story. Phenomenal Actors. Great technicals and Crazy Background score.. EVERYTHING.. But the movie loses its direction a couple of times and just falls short of being as pathbreaking as it promises to be. Bas yaar, ending change kar ke ek baar aur release kar do. I will watch it 100 times over.
Its about two brothers one who stammers and the other who has a lisp, who cant stand each other's sight. There are sub plots, a mushy love story, more than 10 different characters with their own pursuits and a plot that brings all of them together.
The first half is a bit slow but its justified. Its more like a play than a movie. It explains every character in detail and gives full bhaav to all the characters, not only to the 'hero-heroine' types. I guess thats why even after the movie is finished, you still remember ALL the characters. It builds up for a cracking second half.
The second half begins with a bang and delivers full throttle. Edge of the seat excitement and phenomenal work by all the characters AND the actors. But just when it reached THE level, priyadarshan and guy ritchie take over. The greatest movies have the best of the endings, and thats where the problem lies.
In order to mix humour with drama, he tends to dilute the intensity of the movie. He brings all the characters at one place and kills them all, which i thought was a phenomenal idea. Another Godfather i guess. But the problem was with the treatment, he leaves scrosese and tries to do a priyadarshan (hera-pheri, malamaal weekly, hungama types). I would have loved him to do a Godfather or even a Lock, Stock.. could have been great but sigh.. All the build up goes out when 'filmy' comedy takes over and add to it a tottal filmy 'new twins birth'.
Performances to SABKI todu hai specially the surprise package from Amol Gupte (Taare zameen par fame), Chandar and Shiv Subramanyam. Priyanka is Fab too. Shahid i guess was good but doesnt do a saif(omkara). Sexy ensemble of cast but i wish in place of shahid if he had taken somebody else. Cant think of who but i have that feel somehow.
Music toh has already been discussed everywhere, almost ALL the songs are phenomenal, whether its Dhan Te Naan, Fatak, Pehli baar mohabbat or Kaminey. Every track is Fab. Just superb
Technically, the camera work is damn neat but goes a bit blurry and shaky in a few close shots, but may be thats because Vishal wanted that effect. Background score is just like another character which maintains the pace of the movie from start to finish. Script and Dialogues to Bhayankar roop se Todu hai boss!!!
Overall, The movie is damn damn neat.. But just loses its focus in the end, i sooo wish that vishal had taken a scorsese-ish stance than a priyadarshan-ish. Even a Guy ritchie could have been pretty neat. Change the ending and i wish watch it 100 times over..
Feel-O-Meter: 7.5/10 (-2.0 for the ending and -0.5 for a somewhat slow first half, Rest ALL's good)