Main Meri Patni aur Woh
Director: Chandan Arora Cast: Rajpal Yadav, Rituparna Sengupta,Kay Kay Menon, Naseeruddin Shah (Voice)
6.5/10
The Woh here is not some slimeball ‘other’ who has sneaked into the pati-patni relationship. The Woh is the inches that separate Rajpal and Rituparna, who play unconventional Bollywood leads in this Chandan Arora film, which takes us back to the Hrishikesh Mukherjee/Amol Palekar kind of films that made us smile.
Both Rajpal and Rituparna have done interesting cinema and both have won critical praise and mass accolades, as well. But if for Rajpal it’s the second lead role in a film, for Rituparna it’s her second foray into Hindi films. Rajpal, who till now has been doing comic cameos, showcases the vast possibilities of his emoting skills, though he does fumble in the last scene where he asks Rituparna for forgiveness. Otherwise, he’s an absolute pleasure to watch.
From the awkwardness he shows when he goes to meet Rituparna for the first time to the way his rain-soaked face displays perfect bliss when Rituparna says she will marry him to the way his eyes flicker with envy every time a man looks at or talks to his bride. Just perfect.
The Woh, which is his fear and insecurity, keeps growing larger and finally, with the arrival of Kay Kay, drives him to desperate measures to match Kay Kay’s macho image before his wife. All done in style, and it makes us smile. It’s light-hearted humour. Without pretentiousness.
Deepali Singh
Scary movie that makes you ask for more
Raat barota paanch
Director: Saron Dutta Cast: Tota Roy Choudhury, Aparajita Ghosh Das, Ananya Chatterjee, Santilal Mukherjee, Sagnik, Paran Banerjee, Anjana Basu, Kanchan Mullick
5.5/10
Raat Barota Paanch is in one word ‘engrossing’. Saron Dutta’s debut film is not one of those blood-curling horror movies that’ll make you want to puke. It’s one of those long-lost ghost-story sessions that one enjoys on a rainy night, huddled together in a dim-lit room but will occasionally make you steal a glance over your shoulder. The film has its share of blood and dead men walking, but it also has the masala that makes a movie click nowadays, including an item number, but hardly ever deviates from the horror it wants to spin. The characters become a part of the story soon and along with them makes us as vulnerable.
A haunted house with a gory, murderous past and a evil spirit at large, creates havoc. Mayhem strikes five minutes past midnight. As a ghost story there’s nothing new in it perhaps. But it’s the treatment that makes you sit up. The screenplay, also by Dutta, keeps you hooked as it goes beyond the horror and highlights the tension among the characters, an interesting study in relationships. From a fresh Aparajita, this her first full-length role, to the seasoned Ananya, from the wacky madman Kanchan to the volatile Santilal, from the action man Tota to the frail Paran, everyone plays his/her part to perfection.
The film is, however, not without flaws. Just a minute editing here and a little restraint there was needed. The item number could have been cut shorter, the madman pops up with his war cry only too often, or even the stance that Tota takes every time there is a noise, hinders the pace. But at the end of it all it remains a scary movie that’ll make you look over your shoulder ?for more.
Madhuparna Das
