Carnage : by Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski has been one my favourite directors because his body of work is truly versatile. 

Here he is with a black comedy - Carnage

The locale is utterly simplistic yet engaging.

When 2 grade-school boys get into a confrontation in the park that results in one boy hitting the other in the with a stick, their parents meet in a apartment to discuss the issue. 

The parents of the boy wielding the stick, Alan and Nancy Cowan (Waltz and Winslet), 

visit the home of Michael and Penelope Longstreet (Reilly and Foster), who are the parents of the boy who was struck badly.

How interesting!!?  It is an absolute genius of a film.

The couples are in the zone of mind bending wordplay! 

Civility to Verbal Volleys!

Funny , Intelligent , Witty , Repartee , Banter

Writing at its best!

Rating : 4.0/5.0

Kahaani : by Sujoy Ghosh

Vidya is the flavor of the season .. back 2 back releases post The Dirty Picture , she is here in a Durga avatar!

Kahaani , directed by under achieved Sujoy Ghosh (a la' duds like Alladin) , was looking delicious as soon as the promos hit the marquee.

The thriller genre in Indian context have been far and few , but this one really packs a punch.

A pregnant Vidya Bagchi , lands in Kolkatta , ironically a City of Joy party to her sorrow. She is in pursuit of her missing husband  , Arnab.

She lodges a complaint at a local police station. Rana Singh played brilliantly by a Bengali actor Parambrata , a coy policeman who is her support in the quest.

The mystery unfolds at NDC - workplace of Arnab which holds the key and is the heart of  lies & deceit. Vidya and Rana move from one clue to another , with a edge of the seat tenacity.

The introduction of a contract killer , Bob Biswas , in the scheme of things played by Bengali Actor , Saswata , intrigues the audience to the hilt.

The IB official - Khan played like a virtuoso by Nawazuddin Siddiqui is an alter ego of Rana , a stern man of can-do-anything-to-wipe-of-criminals ideals.

The suspense unfolds reel by reel , and I was truly madly deeply immersed into the high octane drama.

Interval is at a god smacking moment in the film and makes me wonder the screenplay is simply superlative.

As it moves along in the second half , the audience is still in a dilema and has no answers to the questions posed by the naarative - Who is Arnab ? Where has he vanished? Who is Milind ? What is the conspiracy at NDC ?

The climax - One of the best yet debatable culminations in Hindi cinema , Mr. Ghosh made me smile once I went out of the dark room , gauging what had just hit me!

The screenplay is extraordinary , the music is apt by Vishal-Shekhar and the cinematography is top draw , Kolkatta never seen before!

Performances - Vidya Balan was always the most versatile we had in business , but she has the power to pull a solo cash jackpot with ease!

Kahaani - Hitchcockeneyed - in your face intoxicating thriller!

Rating : 4.5/5.0