Kaheen D'Aag lage lag jaye!

Though, it's more than two weeks since Laaga Chunari mein daag has been released, and it might be redundant to speak about it now; I find it imperative to speak about some of the issues about the movie which critics and audience have both disowned.

As director Pradeep Sarkar himself said that predicting the story line and its flow within 20 minutes of watching the film was certainly a no brainer, and it was all too evident from the promos itself what the story would be. So, whoever entered the theater hoping to catch more of 'Natasha' than 'Vibha' was sorely disappointed after not getting to see Rani Mukherjee in Neha 'Julie' Dhupia mode, mouthing suggestive dialogs .

The second grouse against the movie was it's poor acting by Rani and 'over' acting by Jaya Bachchan. I, hereby, must it make it very clear that unlike many others; I don't hold Jaya Bachchan's acting capability in high regard. To me she has been very repetitive in her expressions, always chose a certain kind of roles which suited her persona and she got lucky with a few roles where she excelled because either the director was as brillant as hrishikesh mukherjee or gulzar. However, I had to eat my words when I saw her perform in this film. She played a hapless mother torn between her ailing frustrated husband and daughter gone astray. Critics were unanimous to declare her performance a fixed expression wonder- perpetually carrying a scowl on face with epileptic facial movements. To say such a thing is real absurd, and I term this insolence as nothing but ignorance on part of critics having never stepped out of their bombay glass houses. I was so amazed to the subtleties she brought to her performance, her body language and expressions was something that I had encountered in thousands of women in UP. Shahrukh Khan whose expressions and body language have never changed in any film irrespective of the fact whether he was playing a bengali drunkard or a football coach in Newyork, yet crtics go ga- ga over him. So when I see somebody at least attempting to bring a realistic touch by changing their body language or accent-- which does not happen very often--it shows there is still hope for some acting in bollywood. Jaya Bachchan's stint in UP politics and her association must have brought her in contact with such women, and I must say she has done a good job of it, which could have become a caricature of sorts if handled ineptly by a lesser actress.

Now, if we come to Rani who is a fine actress and brings a certain honesty to her roles, has not let down her fans by a poor performance. She was dependable and good in most of her scenes. However, The toast of the critic was Koko. I have mentioned in my previous post that I feel that she is the best actress in India right now. But, certainly this was not her best role, and one does not have to bring down Rani by being effusive about the other actress who in her own wayz was extremely good.

Btw, if anyone has still not figured out, I didn't like the movie myself. And I know who is to blame. It was Pradeep Sarkaar who could not bring any freshness to the old story, the way he had done with Parineeta. Or, perhaps he was too lost in making the shots look too perfect that he forgot about the story and emotional graph. In todays time, if you bring a good set of technicians they will make sure the aesthetics are in place, and a Director must never forget what his job is all about.