tabloid! Bollywood film review: Manmarziyaan

Gulf News

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00:00Hi, this is Manjusha Radhakrishnan from Gulf News Tabloid

00:03and I have to say it right out there

00:05that I have fallen in love with Bollywood director Anurag Kashyap's Man Marzia.

00:16It's a love triangle.

00:17Just when you thought you have seen it all

00:19when it comes to love triangles in Hindi film,

00:22director Anurag Kashyap, who's a maverick director

00:25known for his dark, gritty, dysfunctional gangster thrillers

00:29throws us a riveting love story.

00:31It stars Abhishek Bachchan, Vicky Kaushal and Taapsee Pannu

00:35as the central characters in this film.

00:37It's a convoluted love triangle

00:39featuring characters that have a penchant for self-destruction

00:43and are eccentric in their own manner.

00:46What makes it riveting is the powerful performances by actors

00:50Abhishek Bachchan who makes a comeback after a self-imposed two-year sabbatical,

00:55Vicky Kaushal who's easily one of the best talents out in Hindi cinema today,

00:59there's Taapsee Pannu who's a bottle redhead

01:02and her character is equally feisty.

01:04She's impulsive in love and often reckless

01:07and then there's Robby played by Abhishek Bachchan

01:09who is the more calm, assured and restrained, mature one of the trio

01:15and then there's the lovable Vicky Kaushal.

01:18He's a commitment phobe, he's unsure about love,

01:21doesn't want to get married so quickly

01:23but he is insanely in love with Rumi played beautifully by Taapsee Pannu.

01:27Here's what I loved about the film,

01:29the collective performances by the three central characters.

01:33If you look at it, there's not a single note out of tune here.

01:37There's Abhishek Bachchan who puts in a very restrained performance.

01:40He is given a role which requires him to be this perfect husband material.

01:46You can also read it as boring and staid

01:49but full credit to Abhishek Bachchan

01:52for infusing such verve and life into this character.

01:56What was engaging was the way director Anurag Kashyap

02:00explored this love angle between Vicky and Rumi.

02:06They're two lovers who are very spontaneous.

02:09You can see that it's their physical desires

02:11that often make them less pragmatic in life.

02:14They're in love but they're not really sure how to go about it

02:17so they're quite young.

02:18There's Rumi who's got a firebrand personality

02:21but her reality is that she comes from a middle-class family in Amritsar.

02:26So she's a Sikh girl who has to appease her parents at the same time

02:30but is not sure what her heart wants.

02:33She wants to fall in love.

02:35She is in love but she's confused about it too.

02:38So this entire convoluted mix is beautifully brought out by director Anurag Kashyap.

02:44Apart from the performances,

02:45what stood out was the music and the pace of the film.

02:48If you look at the music, it's composed by Amit Trivedi

02:52and it's almost like it's woven into the character's lives

02:56and their predicament beautifully.

02:58You have even these dancers who are twins

03:03and what is interesting is the way an audience might perceive it.

03:07You might look at it as it symbolizes the dichotomy in a person's mind.

03:12You're sure or unsure.

03:14You're fickle.

03:14Do you want this or do you want that?

03:16Perhaps the twins symbolize that but it all depends on how the audiences take it

03:22and I thought that was beautifully relayed in the film.

03:25Regarding the pace of the film,

03:27in this case, director Anurag Kashyap has done a fantastic job

03:30of taking a very unorthodox love story and giving it some novel twists.

03:36Although we know every turn, we know what's going to happen next,

03:40we can't help but just watch it all unfurl.

03:43If I were to nitpick and perhaps talk about the flaws,

03:46although the individuals in this film are flawed,

03:49there's one thing that I thought was,

03:51did Anurag Kashyap, who's known to be a risk taker,

03:55play it a bit safe towards the climax?

03:58Although you know who the girl is going to choose,

04:00who the woman is going to choose at the end between the two men,

04:03did Anurag Kashyap actually play it safe?

04:05It's a question that you have to answer.

04:08In my opinion, I would think that yes,

04:10he did tread towards the orthodox conventional narrative

04:14of parents knowing what's best for their kids

04:17and whether arranged marriages sometimes may work out.

04:21I mean, it's a very romantic way to look at things

04:24and we did not expect that from Anurag Kashyap

04:27but that's not a deal breaker though.

04:28Another thing that I thought was interesting in this film was

04:32how prickly subjects such as marital infidelity,

04:35lust, love, heartbreak is explored with such abandon,

04:40wild abandon.

04:41There's a fierceness to it.

04:43They approach it with a sense of freedom

04:46and that comes across.

04:47That's I think one of the best parts about Manmasya.

04:50It's a no judgment zone.

04:52Nobody is judged.

04:53Everybody is selfish.

04:54Everybody has tones of grace to it.

04:56They also, in a way, they do things that,

04:59you know, cannot be really explained to a layman

05:02but still it all does make sense.

05:04It's impossible to choose favorites in this movie.

05:07I'm in team Robby.

05:08I'm in team Rumi and I'm in team Vicky.

05:11All the three actors did such a fantastic job

05:14of delving into the characters,

05:16bringing out their nuances and doing it with such subtlety.

05:19I mean, normally when you look at a Bollywood film,

05:22such love triangles are often laced with a lot of fights,

05:25chest thumping speeches, passionate speeches.

05:27Here, there's very little melodrama.

05:30I think the only melodrama that really comes

05:32is from Rumi's side

05:34because she's just reckless and impulsive

05:36but the others give very restrained performances.

05:40I think in terms of performances,

05:42everybody has done a great job.

05:44So, if you're looking for a love story with a difference,

05:47then put a ring on Manmasya.

05:49I have given this movie four out of five.

05:52For a full review, go to gulfnews.com.

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