Worth all the wait, worth all the hype and much more...thats how me and my friends found Anurag Kashyap's 'Black Friday'. The three of us, walked out of the theater at 1:10 am (of a weekday) in the morning, stunned, shocked, happy, hypnotised and totally charged up to continue the movie in our conversations for the next one hour. For one of us, it was the second viewing.
Inspired by the likes of Gavras's Oscar winning 'Z' (1969) and Greengrass's 'Bloody Sunday' (2002), Anurag Kashyap, comes up with a chillingly stark and unbiased narrative of the '93 Bombay Blasts. The jinxed director must be very happy about his first theater release, which is based on a book by S Hussain Zaidi. Divided into different chapters, the flavour of a well-researched book prevails throughout the movie.
Excellent performances from everyone (even if he/she is there for a couple of small sequences), the reality like docu-drama structure and a brilliant score by Indian Ocean makes this one a major achievement by an Indian filmmaker. The movie must be heavily promoted in the outside world to showcase Mr Kashyap's talent.
Of lately, our nation is coming of age in allowing the freedom of speech in the movies. This was reflected earlier in 'Parzania' and now, this one. Good for us viewers, I'd say (am already planning my second viewing)
Other flicks in the last few days:
- Blowup (1966) by Michelangelo Antonioni: With the stylish 60's London, a brilliant plot magically and vaguely executed (the usual Anonioni touch), a great score by 'Herbie Hancock' and 'The Yardbirds' this one inspired many a movies like Palma's BlowOut, Coppola's 'The Conversations' and our very own first black comedy, Kundan Shah's 'Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron'.
- Elling (2001), a Norwegian movie by Petter Naess: A beautiful tale of two adult individuals who havent ever faced the world on their own, coming together to do so. This one got a nomination at the Oscars in the foreign movie category.
