Ishqiya – My Thoughts

Ihab |

20 | January 30, 2010 at 11:00 am | 222 views | NaachGaana Bol| Share

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Never have I been such massively disappointed after seeing a movie in a theatre. Ishqiya, whose promos looked so promising and great, is a stunning disappointment. Infact, it is clearly a BAD movie IMO.

First thing first, WTF is with the story? The story is real Bad and a complete letdown. Infact, I think Blue’s story (I am serious) was better than this one. This is clearly those type of movies where the Director focuses so much on “setting” of the movie, “realism”, grittyness etc that they forget the main thing – A good and interesting Story.

Where to begin from.. Ok, let me tell a quick synopsis of the movie :- Vidya is wife of a Naxalite who dies in a Bomb Blast right at the beginning of the movie. Naseer and Arshad are two crooks who have 25 Lakhs with them and a Man is behind to get the money and kill them for no apparent reason even after they are willing to give the money. Then somehow these two are able to escape and arrive in Vidya’s village where they take shelter at her place. Both are attracted to her. The man finds out where they are and demands money. Somehow, the money has disappeared. And they are given one months time to pay the may or else “all” of them dies. So they make some kind of a plan and the story goes on.

Seriously, the “twists” and “relevations” are unintentionally funny. For a film which boasts of being so realistic, there are many illogical scenes in the movie. And whats with the humour? Is “swearing” the only kind of humour? Apart from 4-5 jokes/scenes, all the other jokes were plain and simple not funny. And this movie is supposed to be a Dark Comedy thriller.

Coming to performances, I think Arshad Warsi got the best deal in the movie. He was equally as good as Naseer. Both of them were very natural and Both were the saving grace of the movie & made the movie bearable. Vidya was good too. Thats all. Usually, in these “type” of movies, the unknown casts are supposed to be good actors but here, every single one of them were bad. All of them went Over the top and madly overacted.

The Problem with this movie is that it was trying to be too smart. Everyone were acting “too smart” except for Naseer and Arshad. The guy who played Vidya’s husband was the worst actor of all. And the guy who was behind Arshad and Naseer (jija ji) too acted like a maniac. Also, there are hardly any jokes. Arshad gets best lines. And he delivers them great. But this movie relies too much on Swearing in order to be funny. It works in first half but then it falls flat too fast. Let me tell you this movie is only 1 hour and 45 minutes. And the interval comes after 45 mins. The part till the interval is interesting and good but the interval comes out of nowhere and seems awkward. And the second half is a Big bore, letdown, bad and the climax has to be one of the worst one’s even rivaling De Dana Dan’s climax.

I seriously dont know what the critics have been smoking up. I mean, the story is non existent. The setting is fine but the story is lacklustre and the characters are not interesting at all except for the two Male leads. Why the hell is this movie getting such high critical acclaim? Is it because it is Vishal Bharadwaj’s Production?

This movie, along with My Name is Khan and Kartik Calling Kartik, were my most anticipated movies of the first few months. But what a massive letdown it has turned out to be. I was so excited and got even more excited once I read the reviews. But at the end of the movie, me and my friends just looked at each other and were like “WTF?!?”. And the worst thing was I dragged my friends for this movie.. They wanted to watch Rann and I somehow was able to convince them that Ishqiya is better. How I wish I had gone for Rann instead. This is a kind of movie which is going to be very “forgettable”.

Rating :- 2/5 . Dont even want to recommend the movie to anyone. I believe its not even worth a watch.

In brief ,

UP’S:-

Naseer and Arshad. Good performances. Good Chemistry.
First half has funny moments.
“Dil Toh Bachcha hai Ji”

DOWN’s :-

Story
Second half and the worst is Climax
Every other cast apart from leads.
Tries hard to be slick, gritty, smart and “funny”. Only Arshad and Naseer manage to make people Laugh. The other actors are bad and OTT. Manically laughing and swearing isnt funny especially when people have already laughed at those in the first half an hour.

Preview: Ishqiya (2009)

Ishqiya

Thoughts on Kambakkhat Ishq

Ishqiya and Rann reviews and opinions

Lust’s labour lost – Sandy’s review of Ishqiya

There Are 20 Responses So Far. »

Rocky 30 January 2010
12:01:10 pm

Vidya was good too!
That is all ???? LOL !!

good review Ihab !!

Doga 30 January 2010
03:21:21 pm

Good Review Ihab, you should be doing more of these.

Ihab 30 January 2010
09:08:48 pm

Tnks.

But seriously, a real disappointment this movie was.. And I forgot to mention the “kiss” which Arshad and Vidya share.. The long and wild kiss which was supposed to be “important”.. Heck, its just a tactic for attracting Masses.

ăbzee 30 January 2010
09:40:23 pm

I haven’t seen Ishqiya yet, but going by your’s, Sandy’s and Rangan’s reviews, the film doesn’t seem to be up to the general high standards of a Bhardwaj film. As someone who wasn’t a very big fan of Kaminey, which is a great film technically and for its music and perfs but a downer in its wannabe narrative and forced subtext, I wouldn’t like to see one of my favourite contemporary Bollywood directors, the closest who came to an Eastwood experience for me in his unhurried narratives and absolute grasp over the medium, go the showy Tarantino way.

Still, I’ll keep my opinion on this reserved until I see the film. Love the soundtrack though. Gulzar and Bhardwaj create magic everytime they come together.

Ihab 30 January 2010
09:41:30 pm

Doga,

Till now I have posted 5 reviews on this Site – Lagaan’s, Ishqiya’s, Der Untergang (Downfall), Rocket Singh and 3 Idiots. Hardly got any replies for the other reviews.

Ihab 30 January 2010
09:52:47 pm

“” As someone who wasn’t a very big fan of Kaminey, which is a great film technically and for its music and perfs but a downer in its wannabe narrative and forced subtext “”

Very WELL said ABZEE! Honestly, when I saw Kaminey the first time, It seemed good. I had rated it like 3.5 – 4 out of 5. But then I saw the movie once again just last week and it was highly unimpressive. I realized that even Kaminey didnt have a good story though it was interesting. And whats with VB movies climaxes? Even Kaminey had a not-so-great last 20 minutes.

ăbzee 30 January 2010
10:18:21 pm

And whats with VB movies climaxes? Even Kaminey had a not-so-great last 20 minutes.

You might be onto something here. Even Omkara, a film that I otherwise love and rate very highly, goes awry in its final moments. Its biggest blunder is in presenting Emilia not as the naive damsel that Shakespeare intended her to be, but a Goddess Durga reincarnate. This would’ve been fine, but it makes the film and the Emilia (Indu) character and her actions prior to the climax extremely problematic. Maqbool had a terrific climax though. But still, even if I were to take your Ishqiya review at face-value, that makes it 3 rushed climaxes out of the 6 films he’s made. Maybe Bhardwaj does need to fine-tune how he ends his films. He is just a splendid director in all other respects.

utkal 30 January 2010
10:27:58 pm

By the way, Ishquiya has the best critics’ rating after 3 Idiots in the last two years at allbollywood. It clocks 73% as against 75% of 3 Idiots.
And it is likely to emerge as the only commercial success of VB along with Kaminey. So much for the importance of ’story’ in Hindi films. I for one is glad that the Indian audience is growing up, warming up to the language of cinema rather than be stuck up about ghisa-pita stories.

ăbzee 30 January 2010
10:41:14 pm

Utkal- I personally am a believer that cinema shouldn’t be burdened with any ‘roles’ of having to tell a story, give a message, etc. Cinema is primarily an ‘art’ and one is free to interpret and exploit it any which way s/he feels right, so long as one does it well and justifiably. I personally am a big Bhardwaj fan, he’s the best thing to have happened to Bollywood in the last decade. So yes, I wouldn’t want to burden him with any such expectations.

Having said that, my grouse with Kaminey was never about its lack of story. But the film, a first for a Bhardwaj film, had a shaky narrative and a visual grammar that was pretentiously showy. So I am not criticizing the film for what it doesn’t do, but what it does. Most Indian critics err in criticizing films for not doing that which they expect of it. That is the wrong way to go about it. You cannot fault a film for not delivering what you expect out of it. I shall reserve my opinion on Ishqiya until I’ve seen it, though I’d personally like this to be a film that satisfies me. Bhardwaj anyway has a 4 out of 5 score for me (leaving aside the splendid short Blood Brothers).

Ihab 30 January 2010
11:17:54 pm

Utkal, If I am not wrong, Kaminey failed to make a good “total” inspite of getting a good opening. It had made around 26-28 crores in first week (The first week had 3-4 days without Mumbai and Pune). Still the movie managed to make around 44 crores which I believe isnt a good total when you made 19 crores right in the first weekend.
I believe Same will happen with Ishqiya. Ishqiya has opened good and will probably make 10 crores in first weekend. But come monday, I see it having a big drop. Reviews aside, I dont see good WOM for this one. Some strong Movie buffs might say this is good but then aam Junta like me, arent impressed.

utkal 30 January 2010
11:43:06 pm

Considering that it has no stars, and that every trade pundit had said that it is Rann that has the edge, coming this far isa great achievement. And it has been achieved sorely on its merit.

sandy 31 January 2010
05:33:00 am

Thanks Ihab. Good to see you writing!

Doga 31 January 2010
07:59:42 am

Ihab, you didnt get any replies as all those were old movies, you need to do it as early as possible, before the topic becomes stale,

Raju Guide 31 January 2010
09:18:34 am

Thanks for a good review Ihab, without any Hyperboles and pretense!!!

Ihab 31 January 2010
11:33:48 am

@DOGA, Lol, will make sure i post reviews before the movie becomes stale for people. Anyways, I was hoping for some comments or replies for “Der Untergang (Downfall)” review as I really loved the movie and wanted to discuss about it with someone.. Also, I had written the review just one hour after I had seen the movie, so I really poured my heart into it. Will start posting reviews here too.. I usually post most of my reviews on Indian Cinema Forum on imdb.

@RAJU, tnks man… BDW, whats “hyperbole”.

Doga 31 January 2010
11:40:45 am

Hyperbole means taking 1+1 and showing it as 11

Ihab 31 January 2010
11:50:31 am

ABZEE

Yes, I feel there is something wrong about Vishal’s recent movies ending. I didnt like Omkara ending, Kaminey’s ending and now Ishqiya’s ending. Its like he tries to go for an “explosive” climax/ending but it ends up seeming rushed and also leaves audiences highly unsatisfied. Ishqiya’s ending is plain and simple Horrible.

Also, about Cinema being “art”, I believe movies should have a soul no matter how good or bad the story is. Rocket Singh or CDI didnt have a great story. Hell they had a very simple underdog story which was also very predictable. But then the treatment and the way the movie was directed made the movies “special”.. atleast for me. Kaminey is actually a good movie.. But it also leaves you slightly unsatisfied.

Honestly, I really Like Aamir more because of his movies than his acting. Almost all his movies have made me feel damn “Satisfied”.. like “Wow, I just saw a MOVIE!” type. Lagaan, DCH, RDB, TZP, 3 Idiots and even Mangal Pandey & Ghajini (thought i didnt like the latter the second time I saw it).

Ihab 31 January 2010
11:52:03 am

Lol, nice meaning Hyperbole has.

utkal 2 February 2010
01:00:53 am

I ahd said earler that Ishqia is the only mivie that can give some competition to 3 Idiots. And my prediction has come true. It has done 9.5 over the weekend and wil probably do 14.5 over the wek. Which is more than what Veer or Rann will do this week.

Actualy the opening is among the best when compared to the cost of the film.

I am glad the way the Indian audience is growing up, patronizing films like original, fresh efforts 3 Idiots, Paa, Kaminey, Wake Up Sid, Ishqiya, rejecting much hyped unoriginal films like Veer and Kurbaan regardless of the star cast.

utkal 2 February 2010
09:25:40 pm

” Tran on hoiw YOUTH is important in makinga film a hit today:
On the other hand, ISHQIYA found its business increasing with each passing day. Saturday was better than Friday and Sunday was better than Saturday. The youth took to the film and the opening weekend numbers were encouraging. The songs and eye-catching promos have done the trick.

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Ihab

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