NOVEMBER 2007 E-Magazine - Pravasi Today

well fits into the scheme of
things.Characters are beautifully
written and all the actors especially
Zakir Hussein and Vinay Pathak
make them memorable.
It's very reassuring to see a
second good film from Sriram
Raghvan. He's a director to look out
for. And Johny Gaddar is a movie to
celebrate our very own Bambaiya
cinema.
Now the next treat to my mind
and eyes was Manorama: Six Feet
Under.
I had already read so much about
the film that I decided to wait
sometime before watching it. And I
think many others did the same as
despite the movie being two weeks
old, the theatre was packed.
It's has been long since I saw
such a layered film from our very own
Bambai film Industry, an intelligent
and daring film that shows you some
nail biting truths and not-sostunningly
beautiful locales.A tribute
to film noir, what we notice from the
beginning is that the “hero” is not so
heroic, the bike he rides is a “gift” and
he's under suspension for accepting
bribe. To add to his glory is the fact
that he is a failed writer.
Not only a tribute to film noir, the
film also pays tribute to famous desi
detective series, at times I could hear
Byomkesh Bakshi speaking through
Abhay Deol's mouth. Not only this,
Manorma also celebrates not so
glamorous Hindi outcast B-grade
detective thriller novels and crime
story magazines.
Seems some sort of coincidence-
Johny Gaddar, another enjoyable and
intelligent film running now pays
tribute to Bollywood. Manorama
takes its central plot from the famous
1974 Roman Polanski film China
Town and pays tribute to it onscreen.
BOLLYWOOD
The high contrast and dimly lit setting
of China Town however gives way to
the arid expanse of desert in
Manorma. The director also plays
around with the inherent enigma
attached to desert. The opening
sequence of the film where Abhay
sees Yana Gupta on the road seems
like a signpost of things to come.
Though I remember having seen
small town India in a couple of
Bollywood movies, Navdeep's
vision looks very promising as it
neither glamorizes it nor demonizes
it.Life goes on here at its own pace
and follows its own rules. The
neighbors, the auto rickshaw, the
Malpuwa everything speaks of the
sound research that has gone into the
film.
I would say that at times film gets
predictable however the end
compensates for all the weak points.
The end is rather epic. The final
encounter of the detective and the
politician and their conversations are
worth an ovation.A fantastic film, a
sumptuous watch. And a very very
promising debut Navdeep, will be
looking forward to your next film. ■
November 2007 ✦ Pravasi Today
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