Manish Tiwari has got his timing wrong. It takes film goers to a Benares
trip too close to their energetic outing in Raanjana. Worse, this trip is loud,
fudged, inchoate and very uninspiring. After watching Dhanush and Sonam this week
offering looks a far cry from what was just received and received so well a few
weeks ago.
This is truly unbelievable. All of the 140 odd minutes is seeped in chaotic and
ambiguous appliques: a quilt full of colour at the cost of design. It is a
script that has no respect for chronology, a linear grammar or an editing
pattern. It has jokes like: cover the face and …. which is so crude and archaic
that you shudder to hear it on screen.
Our Capulets and Montagues are caricatures, just as the Romeo and Juliet are
far from being impressive characters. Placed in Benares the warring families
are shown being at logger heads without any cause or purpose. Apart from an odd
fight the two feuding families seem hardly even occupying the same space. Then
when cupid strikes unconvincingly Teetas (Ravi Kishen) when not passing lewd
looks at Paro (Rejeshwari) is threatening all and sundry with is penchant for
violence. Obviously love between Rahul (Prateek) and Baachi (Amyra Dastur) is
not accepted (for that matter even by the audience!!) as they head from
different camps. Don’t ask how they both meet so daringly and openly in what is
supposed to be a love affair that builds clandestinely .
Lover boy Rahul is said to have said ‘no’ to the family activity of guns and
shoots and has taken to music and love. But no, far from it . At every given
opportunity he too is trigger happy. After a few smooches and sways and batman
like acrobatics across the walls of Benares, the story moves to serious mode
when Teetas is killed and revenge is in the air. The subsequent march of events
then on is quick but yet disoriented and lacking in focus.
This Ode to the Bard is misconceived and fails to take off. The premise is
tested, the font is awry. The text is non-existent and the style wanting. The
cast simply is limp and listless. Amyra Dastur is harldy the Benarasi mould.
She is more a fashion chic moving around making faces to attract the crowds and
the audience who are simply and justifiably disinterested. Prateek is the
biggest disappointment. The lad who on debut showed so much promise has since
done little to justify his proud lineage. He is mechanical and displays a total
lack of drive. Come on, any one would understand that playing Romeo is a great
opportunity to showcase various moods of an actor and establish credentials as
one with range and punch. Here he is often lost in dark shots and even when
visible is very half heartedly at his job.
Issaq has nothing to offer. Not an iota of freshness, much less of anything
novel or genuine. Manish Tiwari assembles a whole set of laid back actors and
weaves a unconvincing tale of romance amidst hate. Yes you hate the romance and
are tired of this Benares outing.
L. Ravichander.