Sarkar and Dus

Of late I have been watching a lot of movies in the theatres and I have not done that for many years. Infact the number of movies that I have watched in the last 6 months is more than what I watched in the last 6 years. I am going to talk of the two most recent ones Sarkar and Dus.

Sarkar

The moment I read the review of Sarkar on rediff something told me I should watch this movie. No, the reviewer didnt praise the movie. He mentioned mostly good things here and there. And he concluded that considering Sarkar has Amitabh and is directed by Ram Gopa Verma much more was expected.

On the face of it there is nothing special about Sarkar and it is a typical underworld humdinger which Ramu churns out like a mill operating under strict SEI CMMI Level 5 processes. Slick editing & great camerawork. But Sarkar is more about individual performances and how Ramu orchestrates that. It seems he just sits back and lets Amitabh, Abhishek, Kay Kay and the main villain (screen name - Rashid) hold their emotions under leash.

If Big B in Black was all histrionics in Sarkar he is completely understated. Kay Kay performs with his eyes. Nothing typifies that more than the scene where he oogles over the upcoming nymphet. Abhishek too holds his own. The movie is packed with tight shots and atleast this is one underworld movie where the actors mostly exercise their occular muscles. Seeing everybody in Sarkar reminded me of Satya where the main protagonist rarely spoke.

Dus

But while Sarkar is all about understatement Dus truly goes overboard. It is all style and no substance. The director's (Anubhav Sinha) technical wizadry is beyond doubt. But the movie is too techno. It looks American, behaves American, speaks Hindi but emotes nothing. The acting is wooden & the dialogues amateurish. Barring Pankaj Kapur's histrionics there is nothing which I take back with me. All I remember is a group of handsome men walking out of cars, jumping from highrises, defusing bombs and shooting from the hip but always impeccably dressed.

When I go to watch a movie I should be so involved that my mind shouldnt veer towards anything else. Sarkar made that happen but in Dus I was often looking at my watch. Directors like Anubhav Sinha tries to ape the west. It is not a bad trend. Atleast it will take us somewhere. Question is why arent people like him aping the storytelling capacity. Remmember One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) .

And a word about those who read reviews and then watch movies. Dont leave decisions about which movies to watch on movie critics. The press wallahs have many other non filmy criteria to pan and applaud movies. To hear them will result in you missing out on some good movies. Trust your instincts.