Ishqiya

There were several reasons that I could list out - why I wanted to watch the movie..the primary being the popular song sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan - Dil to bachcha hai ji...I fell in love with the song the minute I heard it on a video link posted by a friend on Facebook..

One  Sunday morning I & husband were enjoying listening to this song over n over.. we went into discussing how the song would be picturized on Naseeruddin Shah envisioning Vidya Balan..And that piqued my interest to the most..

I was expecting a lot from a movie with such a combination of cast & crew..But my spirits were dampened quite a bit as the movie kept unfolding... I knew that Vishal Bhardwaj hasn't directed but the impression of Omkara lingered on mind anyhow.. I didn't like his Kaminey as well..but that's a different story..  Naseeruddin Shah paired up with Vidya Balan sounded like an enigma which was followed by high expectations..  It will be safe to say - I like Vishal Bhardwaj adorning hats of a music composer & singer much more than a movie maker!

According to the official website of the movie - "Ishqiya explores basic human emotions as influenced by desire, greed and revenge." I must say that the director has crafted the whole movie very nicely around this comprehension! The plot brings out the intense degree of emotions that are frowned upon in our social setting.. The unfolding of the mysterious character of Vidya Balan is the perfect example of how a simple woman residing in the rural part of Northern India can possess the ultimate emotions of love and hate without even showing it off.. And I think that does make sense to an extent.. We being so much socially networked & wired up - have to come out and share our every other emotion with the people around us! Hence the intensity of the darker sides that we possess often reduces to its minimum if at all.. However on the other end when people are restricted to do so because of challenging situations or other dominant factors - their emotions can touch upto a very deep level! And Vidya Balan has done a very good job in displaying those shades..

Her personality on a whole is very suitable for the femme fatale character sketched in the movie.. She has the frame..the looks and the acting skills that were needed to carve out a sensous but potentially dangerous female encompassing dark secrets of her past life! And she has justified her role very nicely! And also Arshad Warsi.. I was annoyed by his character like anything and that probably says he has done a great job with the character written for him! He is this lustful thief whose emotions like sympathy and caring for are dug up somewhere and all he cares about is money and fulfillment of his lust! Was practically disgusting and that's why I think he has given full justice to the role.. What I was disappointed was with Naseeruddin Shah! The way his character has been drawn up for the script and also the intensity he plays most of his characters - I felt he could have done better with this one! He was very very subtle for what he was required to do and that undermined his work to a large extent throughout the movie..

Before I began to watch the movie all I wanted to see was how the romance between Naseeruddin Shah & Vidya Balan comes about.. But with every other portion of the movie it became less & less intriguing.. This one character of Mushtaq - the boss, confused me throughout the movie..I kept wondering ..in spite of being this hot-shot villian - why is he just leaving the thugs ? And the wifey's comment while his first opportunity to kill both was even more confusing.... But I guess that was just another way of dramatizing ..which I felt was totally unncessary.. By the end of the movie - a lot of characters & actions made similar sense and in retrospect one starts thinking - was it really necessary for the plot of the movie to have all those subtle hints?? The answer is Yes for some and No for others.. I just feel the whole story..the way it was put together required a little more than it had.. Of course I could have easily pointed my finger being a film-maker myself!!

An Ok movie over all..I still am not sure what the title means.. Vidya Balan deserves the kudos..and so does the beautiful song sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.. But that's about it... No positive takes ... no good feelings after the end.. and don't recommend the movie - unless one wants to just go see Ms. Balan and feel not-so-good about life !!

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