Sai and Shujath talk Cinema

One of last year’s favorably reviewed but overlooked films, Awarapan is a really well made “gangster redemption” flick. Nothing new in the theme considering that there are a lot of such films churned out by Hollywood yet this one had enough appeal for me….not because it was a great movie but it does have some great moments which leave an impact for long.

More specifically, I am referring to the extremely clever placement of the songs “Toh Phir Aao” and “Tera Mera Rishta” (Both coming from Pakistani Bands - as is the norm in Mahesh Bhatt’s productions). Watching the shootout sequences set to these beautiful tunes really pumped me up like anything and honestly that’s the main reason why I liked this movie.

I wasn’t impressed by Mohit Suri’s directorial debut Zeher but he’s been consistently improving with every film ever since. The biggest surprise is no doubt Emraan Hashmi. Prior to this one had only seen him saddled in roles where he had other important things to do than act. As a brooding gangster here, he underplays it extremely well as any A-list actor would have. Aushutosh Rana and Purab Kohli complement nicely. The thread between Aushutosh and Emraan resembles a lot like that of Gulshan Grover and Shiney Ahuja in Gangster. The ladies (Shriya and Mrinalini Sharma) have limited screen time but do quite well. Shriya actually is more likeable if you happened to have seen any of her south Indian flicks. Those standard expressions which she used in her earlier films are thankfully missing (probably the effect of acting in films where you actually understand what one is talking).

I consider to be best film to come out from the Bhatt camp after Gangster. What it lacks in content it more than makes it up with style.