Jaane Jaan Killed Devotion of Suspect X for Me . Read Full Review

 I was equally thrilled and doubtful when I heard that one of my favorite novels [read the review here] will be made in a film soon. With Kareena Kapoor as lead, the expectations went higher and I was eager to see it translated into a motion picture. While I had my doubts about the Bollywood mainstream execution. The doubts were somewhat backstage when I learned about other character lines, esp Ahlawat and Vijay Verma. If you know me, you would know that I had extra soft corners for c character artists [ all due to their immense acting talent] than the stars. To me, these character actors are the stars, and not otherwise, as they really leave a better impression in any film. 

Coming back to the Devotion of Suspect X, being translated as Jaane Jaan in Bollywood, I felt the fears were real and the film left me below my already low expectations. How? Read more to know...


1) Prose to Picture: First thing First, the storyline was unique with a dash of maths for mystery. I read this book way back in the early 2000s. I must say that when the book was given to me for review- I wasn't at all excited. I wasn't a big audience of Japanese or Asian books but given the genre, I picked up and needless to say, was left being a fan of this book. Yeah, I read the translated version of course. 

Now, converting a Japanese story into Indian Parlance may be a tough cookie and needs a little more genius than expected. Since am not a genius, I would leave that comment but will talk only as a viewer who chanced to have read the book before the film. There were many other films being made on this book, including the famous Drishyam [the Malayalam version which is leagues ahead of the Hindi one] allegedly being inspired by this book. Yet, I haven't watched any of those films but now am eager to watch one of them. 

The book was quite elaborative [ of course] and could paint a picture of everything while you read black and white. The film fails to do so in spite of an impressive North East backdrop. The story, characters, and the background didn't blend for me. 

2) Stars over Characters: Kareena Kapoor looked great and her acting was flawless yet she looked less like Sonia or Maya and more like Kareena. Ditto with the other 2 actors. Japideep, I felt was most brilliant but he was made to look unnecessarily repulsive when he could have gotten away as being made to look just plain and unattractive. Now, these two things are different hope you will understand how. 

3) Emphasis on the star rather than story, dojo rather than double genius.

Unnecessary emphasis was given to the opening fight scene of Vijay Verma. Was it an action film? No. Itna playing to the gallery could have been avoided kyunki then the story would become the backdrop and the stars would look like focus objects. Stars and not characters I must clarify. 

you feel as if those scenes and references were created to push/ maintain an image rather than being part of the storyline. It looked superficial. 

We all know Kareena is hot and could see that. Kareena. Yet the repeated instances looked rather odd, over-pushing than emphasizing. It felt like actors were not paid adequately and the director promised to substantiate that less by portrait and more by repeating sentences. 

The actor who played Ajit could be a good case in point. No efforts or lines were made to tell how sinister he could be, yet with his limited screen time and presence he seamlessly, creates that impression about him. 

While I liked how they infused mathematics with A=B=C in the film, much for the comprehension of a mathematically challenged person like me, the overall impact was missing. And so was the conjecture of the film's title [the famous Bollywood song] with the story. You keep on wondering why the film was named Jaane Jaan. 

4) Too much Too fast

So Vijay Verma was portrayed as a genius police officer with a sharp mind and great fitness, yet his solving 2+2=5 within a few minutes, looked disjointed, too quick, and to the fashion of reverse calculating a problem when you have the solution.

The climax was different than the book but was cliched. 

Numerounity Verdict: The film is a good time to watch and could have done better in theaters with its sound, backdrop, and subject. As a person who read the book accidentally [as I am not in Japanese lit] and loved it, the film falls short of expectations. If you separate the film from the Novel adaptation, then this film is way better than Neeyat.

But is this film better than OMG 2? Stay tuned to this blog.

Numerounity

Neeyat or Bad-Neeyat? Film Review

The problem with most new whodunnit, Indian murder mystery movies is that they lack novelty. They all look almost alike, drawn from multiple Hollywood films, widely and popularly streaming on OTT.

Here you can question my use of widely and popularly in the same line, however, that will not change the fact that Neeyat turned out to be a Badneeyat for me. Here let me tell you my views in bullets. 




1) Deja Vu, Over a top setting that doesn't just blend it.

Ok when you saw Glass Onion [one of the many inspired by films], you know it was made in a typical American, OTT manner. The island, the costumes, and the characters looked entirely from the land, part of the plot. In Neeyat, they looked mostly caricaturish. It is like the elaichi in your biryani or let me say- pasta ingredients inside the biryani handi. Ram Kapoor may be taken as an exception along with Prajakta but this can't be said for the rest of the cast. 

The actors were good and made for an interesting cast for me but their portrayal was below expectations or injust for their skills. And pl no matter how much we may have liked Shashank Arora in "Made in Heaven", he looked quite a misfit for a grown-up, estranged son. Most of them including Vidya Balan were wasted except for Rahul Bose who after an initial cliche appearance, looked quite true to his character in the film. 

Shefali Chayya was a fresh breath but then her role was hit and miss. What if she played Vidya Balan's character?

2) Vidya Balan's role looked less like a character than the scriptwriter's. 

She played the role of an impersonator, a CBI head, and from 1st scene, you can make out that she is far from the Officer and something else is cooking. On top of it, her finding answers to every single question in the room was far-fetched and again nauseating. You can easily guess that she has something to do with the lady in the news who committed suicide and the unleashing was less surprising but looked like a tick in the box. you know what I mean. Anyways, moving ahead.

3) Far-fetched Climax

I will not spoil for people who have not seen the film but if you have watched a few crime films, you will make out whether it was a murder or suicide. The truth is interesting but again the narration is just poor. It felt like they wanted to make a lavish murder mystery somehow, by hook and crook without actually spending time on craft and quality.

The movie indeed had a good story but the execution was more caricaturish than cherishable. It neither makes you think nor gives you an "Oh my gosh" moment at all. For me, it was quite a yawnfest and I wonder if my experience would have been different if I had not seen Glass Onion and Murder Mystery.

It is a one-time watch and the best watch on TV. 

Numerounity Rating 2/5

Raakh Dil [राख दिल]


सुना है कल तुम्हारे शहर में बारिश हुई थी
खूब गरम पकोड़े और चाय छानी।
थोड़े बूँदे यहाँ भी भेज देते
नेह की सूखीं ज़मीन तर जाती
मैंने कई ख़त भी तुम्हें भेज दिए
कुछ सस्नेह, कुछ दिल के हाथों मजबूर लिखे थे।
खून से लिखे रिश्तों में पिरो,
कई कही-अनकही जज़्बातों के
मुज़ाहिरे किए हुए।
कई दर्द छुपाए हुए।

लगता है तुमने वो सारे ख़त जला दिए
और राखों को किसी जंगी संदूक में बंद कर,
किसी समुंदर के हवाले कर दिए।
चलो वो समंदर ही भेज दो
खारा सही पानी तो होगा
में उन्ही को पालकों में समेट फिर किसी कोने में छुपा दूँगी।
या बारिश समझ गले से उतार लूँगी।
कुछ छलकेंगे तो सही,
छलकना इनकी क़िस्मत है,
छलकना इनकी कुदरत है।
छलकना अगर कुदरत है तो, कुदरत ही सही।
कल को मुझे भी राख ही होना है।
चाहे इंतेज़ार में या ऐतबार में।
बंद संदूक़ो या समंदरो के हवाले।
चलो राख है तो राख ही सही।
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सो कृपया इसे मेरी जानकारी के बग़ैर इश्तेमाल ना करे। धन्यवाद।
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Numerounity
©️ एकता खेतान  

भीड़ में तन्हाई

 अकेलापन इंसान की नियति है। 

या यह कह लो इंसानियत के बदलते दौर की प्रगति है यह। 

जितने भी रिश्ते बना लो, दिल से, मोहब्बत से या अहत्राम से। 

कौन कितनी दूर चलेगा यह कहना मुमकिन नहीं।


हर दिन नया रूप बदलता है वक्त।

हर दिन नए रंग बदलते है रिश्ते 

जो तुम्हारा था वो ज़रूरी नहीं की तुम्हारा ही रहे 

खून से सींचने से भी बाज दफ़ा पौधे सुख जाते है। 

रिश्तों पे मेहनत ज़रूर करो, मगर आस को घर मत बनाने दो।

यह जो आस व उमीदें है ना, यही सबसे ज़्यादा दिल तोड़ती है।


कभी वक्त, कभी हालात और कभी फीके हो चुके इंसानी जज़्बात 

रिश्तों के रूप उजागर करते है। 

एक पल की ख़ुशी में, महीनो की तन्हाई छोड़ जाते है। 

में या नहीं कहती की लोग ग़लत है।

ना ही दोष कभी वक्त को दिया है। 

यह सब ज़िंदगी की हक़ अदायगी है,

जिसे क़ुबूल कर आगे बढ़ना ही मुक़ाम है। 

बेगाने अक्सर हवा के झोंको से ही छूट जाते है।

जो अपने होते है वो हाथ साथ छोड़ते नहीं। 

जो अपने हो बेग़ाने हो जाए, उनपे सुभा करना फ़िज़ूल है।

कभी कभी माफ़ करने से भी दुनिया आगे नहीं बढ़ती।

और जो मूड के पीछे ना देखे तुम्हें, उन्हें हवा के मतालिफ छोड़ देना ही बेहतर है। 


सो गिला ना कर दिल ए मुरब्बत, अकेले होने का।

यह दुनिया कब किसी की थी जो तेरी होगी?

हर शक्श जो पास हो, वो ज़रूरी नहीं की ख़ास हो।

जो दूर रह के भी रिश्ते निभाते है,

वक्त-बेवक्त आपसे दामन नहीं छुड़ाते है,

वही अपने कहलाते है।


जो ऐसे अपनो को ना पाओ तो भी गिला ना करो,

तन्हाई भी अपनी है, 

यह वो राह है जिस पर सभी को चलना होता है। 



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Thar on Netflix Review

Breathtaking landscape, beautiful cinematography, great performances, and enormous suspense, yet something goes missing in Thar. What is it? Here's a quick review. [Kyunki if I give long reviews toh film kab dekhoge]

It is the story! It takes you a while before you can guess the story. And that is the good thing as it keeps your interest glued in till the last abduction. However, the revelation was stark and meaningful, yet it did not make a crisp unfolding to the overall setting. It appeared like the landscape was made to fit in the story.

When you see the trailer, you feel that the film would be more about Thar or the problems at Thar like the dacoit angle, the main plot however relegates or let's say digress from the extremely impactful setting. 

The film has violence, a little bit of noir, tons of suspense, and Anil Kapoor at his delicious best.

Anil Kapoor is one of the finest performers/actors and he proves that film after film, years after year. In spite of the big lineage of his films, you still want to see more of him. His tribulations as the clever yet under-achieved inspector who is nearing his retirement and tete a tete with his wife [perfectly played by Nivedita Bhattacharya] are worth watching on loop. 

So are his investigations with Bhure, his colleague played by Satish Kaushik. From the changing landscape of Mr. India' Arun and Calender to Thar' Surekha and Bhure, the duo still makes it all relevant and in sync.

Harshvardhan Kapoor is also quite promising. He is not your everyday 1-2 ka 4 hero but then we do not need such heroes these days. We have Anil Kapoor still doing it best. There is much more expected from lead actors these days given the variety of scripts and subjects, Harshvardhan seems a good fit. He has that silent, subtle, enigmatic persona that adds to the story and looks pleasing on screen. 

Other actors also fit the bill and make the characters look relevant. Jitendra Joshi who played Panna ensures that he is the man you are gonna hate for decades or till he comes in another powerful role with positive shades. Fatima as Chetna looks good in spite of an extremely stereotyped role, except for the end scene[s] which goes totally filmy stereotyped, and out of context like a forced climax. Why? No!

Mukti Mohan as Gauri is equally powerful as Chetna. In her two-bit role, she is far from cliche and looks natural. 

Another best thing about Thar is that though this film has a father-son duo, it doesn't succumb to the cliche that most the films cast two family members in one film, sharing frame does. Kudos to the actors n director for keeping it subtle and yet impactful. 

The film however suffers from the Wild West Hollywood effect, yet it is not as

Thar is a Revenge Drama and indeed worth a watch. You can watch it again for the landscapes and the brutal lifestyle condition in the desert. There is one scene, however, which did not go very well with me. It is the scene where Anil Kapoor was eating Palak Paneer for lunch. Getting lush green veggies in Thar heartland was a little too optimistic for me. But then it is a film and the prop is insignificant 😊

Do watch and share your reviews.

Numerounity

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