silsiilay
Director: Khalid Mohamed
Cast: Tabu, Bhoomika Chawla, Rahul Bose, Riya Sen, Kay Kay Menon, Jimmy Shergill, Ashmit Patel, Celina Jaitly, Natassha, Divya Dutta, Priya Badlani, Rakesh Bedi, Karan Panthaky
5.5/10
Given the history of popular cinema’s dubious treatment of ‘women-centric themes,’ one tends to be sceptical when yet another film about ‘women’ surfaces. One never knows what to expect. Because from insidious titillation ? showing rape ‘to reveal how terrible rape is’ (Zakhmi Aurat) to hardcore depiction of unmitigated wretchedness of womanhood (Lajja) ? all sorts of things masquerade as ‘women’s issues’. So basic intentions become suspect. And no matter how sensitively a filmmaker claims to ‘handle’ the subject, often in men-dominated filmmaking parlance, ‘women-oriented’ is a euphemism for ‘male gaze’.
Khalid Mohamed’s Silsiilay also tells women’s stories. But fortunately, with less discrepancy between intent and content. The film depicts more candidly and realistically, lives of three women ? a movie star (Bhoomika), a receptionist (Riya) and a housewife (Tabu). And shows how each loses the man she loves (to another woman!) and ‘finds’ her own identity. Realising that it’s no-love-lost but self-gained!
Familiar? Exactly! Nothing remarkable or original about the idea nor its treatment, which is at best temperate, devoid of high drama or low-key emotional nuance. And it’s a tightly-knit band of characters that holds the film together, preventing it from falling apart and into utter deja vu.
Male players serve as catalysts to female ‘self-realisation’. And boy, are they dead-on, real-life characters! Two-timing lover (Rahul),‘only-sex-on-mind’ philandering boyfriend (Ashmit), waiting-for-his-chance faithful colleague (Jimmy), unfaithful husband (Kay Kay) ? these are guys you see around all the time. Really!
Storytelling is punctuated with sutradhaar Shah Rukh Khan leading us in and out of each episode equipped with quips and sexy pout (talk about female-gaze material).
Nice ploy employed. Because as he smooth-talks you away from rough edges and loose ends of plot, you’re charmed enough to conclude, ‘Okay, Shah Rukh, whatever you say!’
Mandira Mitra
ssukh
Director: Kirti Ahuja
Cast: Govinda, Preeti Jhangiani, Chunky Pandey, Aarti Chhabria, (Jackie Shroff, Prem Chopra)
3/10
Ssukh with a double ‘s’ is ddukh with a double ‘d’ ? dukh and dard ( meaning sardard, of course). For what sukh has Govinda decided to produce, as well as act in a movie all of a sudden now? The whole politics idea, we thought, was because his film career was going nowhere. So now that the chhote miyan has made a No. 1 entry into politics ? pulling off that remarkable victory over the seemingly invincible bade miyan, Ram Naik, and gone straight to the Lok Sabha at his very first attempt, why inflict Ssukh upon us?
To be fair, the movie is tolerable in the first half, although with some forcibly added meaningless songs, so that an obese Govinda can showcase his belly-dancing skills. A comedy of errors revolving around mistaken identities, it does evoke some chuckles and the occasional laugh.But post-interval, it degenerates into a bizarre and insufferable mish-mash of pious moralising, terrible slapstick and some more needless songs.
Sohini Chattopadhyay
99.9 FM
Director: Sanjay Bhatia
Cast: Shahwar Ali, Raima Sen, Dipannita Sharma
2/10
This has to be the mother of all ‘offbeat’ films. There’s a radio jockey and there’s his wife. And, oh yes, there’s also the other woman. But even before the movie is half-way through, everything ? including the barely-there plot and the love triangle ? seems to be going round in huge, big circles.
Director Sanjay Bhatia’s idea of an offbeat thriller is to throw in a murder and have all other incidents randomly distributed around the crime. The audience is led by the nose from one point in the story to another by jarring jump-cuts and grainy closeups.
Model Shahwar Ali does little to justify another chance on the silver screen. However, Raima Sen, with her doe eyes and that little dash of vermilion, puts in a lovely performance as the blameless wife.
And if there’s a saving grace, it’s the wonderful tracks ? everyone from Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Biddu to Bhimsen Joshi and Shaan is used ? that play on as the background score.
Satadru Ojha
bachke rehna re baba
Director: Govind Menon
Cast: Rekha, Mallika Sherawat, Paresh Rawal, Satish Shah, Karan Khanna
3/10
This is a summer film, no doubt about it. Especially recommended for blazing summer days when a few hours of airconditioning could mean pure bliss. The asking price is not much: banish your brains and sit through a few hours of feline fights.
When the cattiest divas turn on the heat, clawing and purring at each other by turns, it’s time for the men to take a backseat. Catwomen Rekha and Mallika play an aunt-niece duo adept at tricking rich men into marriage ? and out of it ? all for huge alimony. The M-bomb is her usual loud self but it’s a garish Rekha, trying hard to look sexy, who disappoints. Reminiscing the veteran seductress’ Umraao Jaan, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar or even Silsila days, one can’t help wonder if it isn’t time for her to draw the rekha.
Paresh Rawal, who tries hard to squeeze out a few laughs, and Satish Shah (in a Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron reprise), provide some relief, but Karan Khanna, pitted against the Sherawat sherni, is little more than her lapdog.
Bachke rehna ? the Celsius is any day hotter than this ‘hot’ show.
Sonali Chakraborty
