MrCool reviews Guzaarish – Watch It

November 20, 2010 | MrCool 3

Review
by MrCool

Guzaarish
Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Shernaz patel, Aditya Roy Kapur
Direction: Sanjay Leela Bhansali

I am amazed how Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who was written off as a director during his Saawariya-time bounces back to deliver a very difficult film set in Goa. Guzaarish is a wonderful film, but it is heavily inspired by The Sea Inside directed by Alejandro Amenábar. I saw Amenábar’s film just a few weeks back, so it is quite fresh in memory. Though I didn’t love that film, it had substance that sticks with viewers. Guzaarish works the same way, and it’s slightly disappointing that some scenes are directly lifted from that movie and modified a little for Indian audience. It’s odd though, even after inevitable comparisons, I prefer Guzaarish over The Sea Inside.

Guzaarish is a visual treat, but that’s Sanjay Leela Bhansali every time. It’s a very cliche thing to say these days because almost all films being made in Bollywood have raised their standards to bring beautiful images on screen. Guzaarish goes beyond that, as the director and his crew clearly paid close attention to how each scene is lit up to setting the mood just right. I am mesmerized by Tera Zikhr, and those grand magical sequences with amazing use of colors that reflects mood of each act beautifully.

This is not Sanjay’s best effort, and I am not over his Khamoshi, which was also set in Goa with physical disability as his topic. Khamoshi is still his most grounded work and real with intensely strong characters.

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