Contains Spoilers If you don't remember the movie TRISHAKTI for any other reason than for Milind Gunaji's awful acting, a very forgettable starlet in attractive swimsuits and the ever expressionless Sharad Kapoor - you should immediately upgrade yourself. The director of Trishakti (Madhur Bhandarkar) has come out with a work to remember - Chandni Bar.
If you attach only a single word with this movie, it's DARK. Some more options and you will say - realistic, gloomy, pessimistic, too much marathi / Bombay centric. All inclusive, the piece you must see if you liked Satya.
This movie has actors. Only name you probably heard before is Tabu. But others simply excel.
The story is gripping. The screenplay is by far the best after Satya, and very much comparable to Vaastav. Mumtaz (Tabu) comes to Bombay with her 'Mamu' after losing both her parents in a 'danga' in Sitapur, UP (circa 1983). Mamu puts her to a dancing bar guided by Iqbal ChamDi - the mohalla man. Anna (who really speaks a superb dialect) owns Chandi Bar. Podya - the local goon - gets attracted to Mumtaz and marries her. They have two kids when Podya is killed by police in a 'fake' encounter. It's interval and rest of the movie is Tabu's struggling against all odds and losing each time! Finally it ends when she sees her past in both her kids and not her 'future' as she imagined!
What makes the film depressing to watch is that the central character never grows as a person. She keeps wailing as misfortunes hit her but never does anything to overcome her 'fate'. She is showed to have told 'All the misfortunes ffall on me' and weep! It is hard to sympathise with a character who doesn't do anything to solve her problems. In fact, the only relatively positive step she takes is to marry Podya (Atul Kulkarni) and quit dancing.
There are few moments when this film assumes the character of a 'docu-drama' and sways off from the story. At times you will see mundane efforts to somehow establish this film as the comprehensive research work on Bombay's Beer Bar and NOT as an isolated story. (The director acks. this before the movie starts!). Too much of generalization at times. But it doesn't take too long to bounce back - such a tight screenplay it has.
There are juvenile homosexuality, criminal-politician nexus (so believable it looks on screen !), beer bar epic, marathi speaking Bombay police, and most of which you expect in a 'post-Satya' era.
The thing that will draw your attention is the (sometimes gross) coupling of the period with the then hindi movies. The beer bar is shown first time in 1980s. Anil Kapoor's photo hangs there. There is a Kimi Katkar show from Tarzaan too in case you wanna concentrate on those more! The posters are very much 80s. But when Mumtaz grows older the posters change to Shahrukh and then to Hrithik. The songs do it too. Probably there is a bit overdoing of it when Potya kills a 'khabri' (one who tips off police) and the background poster is from 'Khoon Bhari Maang'!!
For classical fans, Shubha Mudgal composed the title music. It's great!
The direction is good. But what will really impress you about this movie are the light and screenplay. The light work is blended very carefully particularly when it's inside the bar. Anyone who has been in a beer bar and police station in bombay will admit that this movie didn't at all look like being shot indoor!
Once again, this movie should be a lesson for young screenplay writers. It deals with many dimensions and still never ever on a single point it falls flat. There are patchy moments (like when Podya kills Mamu enraged over the fact he raped Mumtaz) - but the screenplay is so taut - you won't be distracted by those during the movie.
It's a must see. Do watch it. If nothing, the money will go towards 'Stop Yash Chopra Circus' fund!!
Note - Watch out for Atul Kulkarni. This guy has every potential to overcome Manoj Vajpayee. Off late Manoj has been only concentrating on mannerism. A lesson he could have avoided picking up while working with the B.
If you attach only a single word with this movie, it's DARK. Some more options and you will say - realistic, gloomy, pessimistic, too much marathi / Bombay centric. All inclusive, the piece you must see if you liked Satya.
This movie has actors. Only name you probably heard before is Tabu. But others simply excel.
The story is gripping. The screenplay is by far the best after Satya, and very much comparable to Vaastav. Mumtaz (Tabu) comes to Bombay with her 'Mamu' after losing both her parents in a 'danga' in Sitapur, UP (circa 1983). Mamu puts her to a dancing bar guided by Iqbal ChamDi - the mohalla man. Anna (who really speaks a superb dialect) owns Chandi Bar. Podya - the local goon - gets attracted to Mumtaz and marries her. They have two kids when Podya is killed by police in a 'fake' encounter. It's interval and rest of the movie is Tabu's struggling against all odds and losing each time! Finally it ends when she sees her past in both her kids and not her 'future' as she imagined!
What makes the film depressing to watch is that the central character never grows as a person. She keeps wailing as misfortunes hit her but never does anything to overcome her 'fate'. She is showed to have told 'All the misfortunes ffall on me' and weep! It is hard to sympathise with a character who doesn't do anything to solve her problems. In fact, the only relatively positive step she takes is to marry Podya (Atul Kulkarni) and quit dancing.
There are few moments when this film assumes the character of a 'docu-drama' and sways off from the story. At times you will see mundane efforts to somehow establish this film as the comprehensive research work on Bombay's Beer Bar and NOT as an isolated story. (The director acks. this before the movie starts!). Too much of generalization at times. But it doesn't take too long to bounce back - such a tight screenplay it has.
There are juvenile homosexuality, criminal-politician nexus (so believable it looks on screen !), beer bar epic, marathi speaking Bombay police, and most of which you expect in a 'post-Satya' era.
The thing that will draw your attention is the (sometimes gross) coupling of the period with the then hindi movies. The beer bar is shown first time in 1980s. Anil Kapoor's photo hangs there. There is a Kimi Katkar show from Tarzaan too in case you wanna concentrate on those more! The posters are very much 80s. But when Mumtaz grows older the posters change to Shahrukh and then to Hrithik. The songs do it too. Probably there is a bit overdoing of it when Potya kills a 'khabri' (one who tips off police) and the background poster is from 'Khoon Bhari Maang'!!
For classical fans, Shubha Mudgal composed the title music. It's great!
The direction is good. But what will really impress you about this movie are the light and screenplay. The light work is blended very carefully particularly when it's inside the bar. Anyone who has been in a beer bar and police station in bombay will admit that this movie didn't at all look like being shot indoor!
Once again, this movie should be a lesson for young screenplay writers. It deals with many dimensions and still never ever on a single point it falls flat. There are patchy moments (like when Podya kills Mamu enraged over the fact he raped Mumtaz) - but the screenplay is so taut - you won't be distracted by those during the movie.
It's a must see. Do watch it. If nothing, the money will go towards 'Stop Yash Chopra Circus' fund!!
Note - Watch out for Atul Kulkarni. This guy has every potential to overcome Manoj Vajpayee. Off late Manoj has been only concentrating on mannerism. A lesson he could have avoided picking up while working with the B.