Review - Ek Chalis Ki Last Local
18th May 2007 | posted in Hindi Movies, Reviews, meetu |Alternate Names: Ek Chaalis Ki Last Local
| Rating: | Watch for sure - preferably in theatre |
Am glad someone missed a train
It’s a super-insane plot that is composed of absolutely eccentric sub-plots. However, a good dose of imaginative comedy is blemished by dark comedy that generally does not suit my taste. Overall, though the way the different plots are put together is original and is worthy of appreciation. The makers’ courage deserves extra points.
Don’t let the video of the promotional song put you off. This is a brave directorial debut and most certainly not cheesily picturized. I am willing to take a bet that the said video was made by a completely different set of people - marketing MBAs in all likelihood. People, who for some reason think bright colors and half-naked women is the only thing that can get us to the theater.
Originality executed even reasonably well is so hard to come by, that if you spot one from a mile, it deserves enthusiastic support. The freshness lies in the way the vaguely familiar stories are sewn together. The clever dialogues giving company all along. The way the complex plot unfolds and transitions from one sub-plot to another without once taxing the brains of the viewer is enticing.
Sitting on the edge of the seat gives me a backache, otherwise that is what I would be doing through most of it. And just when you feel, “okay, one more sub-plot might make this whole thing go over-board”, the movie ends. The writer had the balance just right. So, bonus marks just for the guts it takes to do something like this.
Of course, a perfect product is hard to come by too. So there are a few things amiss. The one that strikes the most is the lead pair’s performance. They are not completely off, but don’t have the whole range either - be it expressions, body language, voice modulation. And that nags through to the end. The supporting cast though, barring the shrieking vamp, gives creditworthy support. I also had issues with the unnecessarily tilted camera angle which was over-used to the verge of nausea in the first half.
Throughout the movie though, there were these little things that kept me in splits. Sound effects used to exaggerate the going-ons took the cake. Creative slapstick is welcome, especially if the dosage is really low. Similarly, the background music absolutely complemented the pace of the movie. Particularly, the car chases where Pulp-Fiction-inspired strings play - an apt tribute. In fact, a lot of the “style” looks like it is inspired/derived from Pulp Fiction.
The creativity with which some of the humor was infused in the story was brilliant. Alas, there is a largish measure of dark comedy that neither provoked nor tickled. It existed and thus it was watched. Thus, the comedy that works, works really well but is appalling when it’s crude.
Interestingly, the pace was very much like riding on a Mumbai local train. Takes off slowly, gathers momentum, goes to top speed and stays there till the destination arrives where it slows down for a short while before the credits start rolling. If the symbolism was intentional, I thoroughly enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek humor. But, was it worth the risk - having a thriller start off and land at a sluggish pace? A good 10 minutes out of the first half hour and another 5 minutes of the last 15-20 minutes could have been edited out. If the symbolism is a fabrication of my imagination - oh well, I deserve points for coming up with the analogy!
Click here to read what I scribbled on my notepad while watching this movie (what worked and what didn’t for me). Might contain spoilers!
Click here to see what 14 other reviewers/viewers think. Average rating 3.2 / 5.0: 7 thumbs up, 4 so-so, 3 thumbs down.
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| Rating: | Watch for sure - preferably in theatre |
Detailed Ratings (out of 5):
posted on May 18th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
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posted on July 9th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
posted on August 7th, 2007 at 4:34 pm