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By: Mainak |

Hail Navdeep Singh everyone. We have another warrior who has joined the ranks of Indie Filmmakers. For this one is a Real one. He has made cinema. Good cinema. No pseudo-pretentious Indie bullshit, no stylish mumbo-jumbo. Straightforward good film. Where every shot is there because the story needs it & not because it will look cool (& hence get me a bigger gig next time). No “look at my direction” stuff. I remember last week when PFC was filled with Manorama. I never thought I would myself write a post on it. But after sitting in a empty hall to watch such a good indian film I feel its my duty to write what I felt. Do whatever I can to send one more guy to drive to the theater.
When was the last time we saw a film that was completely story based? Not character-based, not location-based. Just story. I can’t remember. I remember thats the first thought that passed my mind as i was walking out of the theater. I could not remember a single film in recent years which was just about the story.
The background score of the film is great. It enhances the film exactly at the right moments. What I remember is that there was never any kind of over-dramatic music used. The songs never interrupt the film. Thank god the dream sequence was chopped at the editing table. I assume it was during the Aquarium sequence? Loved the song Woh Bheege Pal.
The best thing about the film for me was Lighting. The 1st half hour is so dark. You hardly see any faces. You hardly see such kind of lighting. Even in the best film they always light enough to see the faces atleast. Here you see what you would see with naked eyes. I have to say it takes balls & conviction to go with these decisions. And hats off to Navdeep & his DP Arvind Kannabiran. I have to say I’m very very impressed with Arvind. My Brother Nikhil had a similar vibe to it. Just serving the story. In a time when DP’s are going crazy with style, its nice to see some are still working to serve the story & the film, istead of making their showreel at the director’s expense.
The writing was damn good. I don’t remember who but someone was criticizing the writing. Esp. of those 2 goonda characters, that they don’t curse enough. Maybe they would curse more in real life. But I think the writers here have pushed it as much as they could get away with. So hope the writers keep pushing more & more towards the edge with each film they write from now on. The writing was pretty tight throughout the film. Vinay as usual gets the best lines in the film. Deservingly so. Very few actors in Bombay can give Vinay a run for his money.
“Thodi si Savdhani, Zindagi bhar asani“

Acting was pretty solid all around. Vinay & Kulbhushan steal the show everytime they appear. Abhay Deol is not bad. I have not seen him in anything else other than 30 minutes of his debut Socha Na Tha. He is great at parts & ok at parts. But I think he is a directors delight. Raima was ok. Its only her character which slows down things for a bit. Gul is great as always. Can Navdeep write a post about the casting of the film? Since he comes from the ad film world, is that the reason we see Raima & Gul?
The ending was brilliant. Its very very hard to get the ending right. Esp a story with so many complexities. But They got it perfectly right. I was sitting in the hall expecting a bad ending. I thought its not possible it keep it perfect till the end. but Navdeep & Deepika nailed it.
The only thing that bothered me a bit was the symbolism of Big Fish. I think it was shown a bit more than necessary. Esp the shots of the Big Fish during the scene between Rathore & SV.
Now the sad part. The only people in the theater was me & my gf. There was no one else who wanted to see this film. I urge people to spread the word as much as they can. In college I used to force my friends to come with me to watch offbeat films with the assurance of money back if they hate the film. I never had to return anyone’s ticket money. Try it. The film I used this trick for the first time was SATYA
I also sw Johnny Gaddar in the same theater an hour after MANORAMA. So my mind got cluttered after that. I might have forgotten some things about Monarama.
BTW don’t miss Johnny Gaddar. Its fantastic!
Indie Cinema is here to stay.