Feb 04, 2011 07:42 PM
38171 Views
(Updated Feb 04, 2011 07:48 PM)
Guns, girls, profane language...a recipe that has often been seen before. So, what makes Yeh Saali Zindagi different from what you've already seen? Well, nothing much except the fact that the expletives and the cuss words are as real (and very frequent) as it gets, coupled with dark humour that surprises with its quirkiness now-n-then. The uniformly wonderful performances are a definite highlight too. Sudhir Mishra keeps you interested in his story for most parts as the mere mortals display their selfishness in making their 'life' better.
Good writing when tackled well makes celluloid beautiful. Story-screenplay by Sudhir Mishra (while the dialogues by Mishra-Manu Rishi) discovers the underbelly of crime and passion very well. The bullets fly off but a better way of getting things done is by ruthlessly squeezing the testicles. Ouch. The 'woman' is regularly addressed as a 'bitch' and you are delightfully confused as to where her 'loyalty' lies. People die-or-live based on the 'timing' and 'need'.
So true a fool is love, that in your will,
Though you do anything, he thinks no ill.
-William Shakespeare
The couplet sums up the state-of-mind of Arun (Irrfan Khan), a man adept at duping and bumping off people, falls for the coquettish charms of a club singer Priti (Chitrangda Singh). And becomes a part of the kidnap drama of a spoilt brat Shyam (Vipul Gupta) by a gang-pawn Kuldeep (Arunoday Singh). Police Inspector Satbeer (Sushant Singh), crime king Bade (Yashpal Sharma), his spineless spooky younger brother Chote (Prashant Narayanan), Arun's massage-friendly boss Mehta (Saurabh Shukla) and Kuldeep's smooch-happy, short tempered wife Shanti (Aditi Rao Hydari) are other crucial parts of the jigsaw puzzle. Everyone is hoping for a better future and for that they're willing to wipe out whatever comes in their own way. Only Arun is the one who falls prey to an astray bullet in pursuit of selfless love in this selfish saga.
As I said in the beginning, writer-director Sudhir Mishra keeps you interested for most parts but there are portions when the film tends to slacken up. A tighter editing (maybe by 15-20 mins) would have made it even better. Also, the usage of cuss words and the expletives, at times, seems forced, just to create the effect and get a response from the front-benchers. The frequent smooches between Arunoday and Aditi are clearly meant for titillation. The over all impact and the irreverent climax leaves a mark (the utilisation of dark humour even in the serious situations is really quirky at times).
Irrfan Khan, as expected, is very good. The dialogue delivery, the dead pan expressions, an uninhibited realism...this guy is in a league of extraordinary gentlemen. Chitrangda Singh holds her own amongst a deluge of scruffy looking men. She oozes sensuality, strength and vulnerability. Arunoday Singh is surprisingly quite impressive. He was the weak link in his last film 'Mirch'. But here, he holds his own against seasoned actors. Definitely an actor who's hungry to develop into someone worthwhile. Vipin Sharma (Darsheel's father in Taare Zameen Par) excels in a cameo of a slimy, foul mouthed side kick. Saurabh Shukla is in good form. Sushant Singh and Yashpal Sharma are impressive.
The title track 'Yeh Saali Zindagi' has been composed well by Nishat Khan while Swanand Kirkire's lyrics are thought provoking in all the songs. Sachin Kumar Krishnan's cinematography is very real and captures the various nuances of the small towns in the heart of North India superbly. Archit Rastogi's Editing utilises impressive cuts but as mentioned earlier, the film could have been further chopped to make the flow even more appealing.
Yeh Saali Zindagi is not meant for family audience. I don't think too many women will enjoy it either. But, as a piece of cinema its impressive. Watch it if you're in for gangsters and a thing called 'love'.
