Showcase of talent

Chitrangda Singh rocks. With Yeh Saali Zindagi she reiterates mainstream cinema’s disrespect to talent. In a field where the Zeenats and the Hemas, Katrinas and Kapoor sisters make big money and pout success the Smithas, Deeptis and Sushmitas fade in a dark background. The refusal to take stock of genuine talent (like Smitha and Chitrangda) or accept attitude as part of package (Sushmita, Pooja Bhatt) Bollywood somehow has wasted a lot of talent. Mainstream cinema continues to see women as a necessary evil rather than as a pivotal factor of our cinema.

Race, Takshak both sold the all black men (and women) and partially like Kaante believed that a storyline could revolve around evil. Non apologetic evil. Just black, no grey.

Sudheer Mishra comes up with Kafkaesque Takshak – and there lies the tale. There is an assembly of talent. One checked (Irrfan Khan), one acknowledged (Chitrangda), some unexploited (Sushant Singh, Saurabh Shukla, Yashpal Sharma) and some raw promise (Aditi Rao Hydari, Arunoday Singh).

Irrfan has carved a space for himself. Unfortunately he brings a certain predictability to the manner in which he negotiates his roles. Yet the shades of Life in a Metro, Namesake, etc., echo in this outing to. For one backed with specialised scripts he could try a more distant outing from his cocooned style. Aditi Rao Hydari is amazing energy. The fact that the media has not gone to town talking about her doesn’t surprise me. She’s uninhabited in a role of record breaking smooches.

Another great promise is Arunoday Singh. He has the grace and stride of a leopard. If Bollywood gets tired of Khandom here is somebody to look forward to.

In short Yeh Saali Zindagi is a wonderful showcase of proven talent and promise. To those who love to see performances swim, seep, skate and shine to a script. Yeh Saali Zindagi is worth watching. Even otherwise this Sudheer Mishra look at Delhi Underbelly alongside a non praise non critic side of the badguys makes for compelling viewing. One short question: Yeh saale aise film kyon nahin banate?

L. Ravichander