Better Late Then Never

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

ISHQYIA – 6.8/10 Director: Abhishek Chaubey Writer: Vishal Bhardwaj,Sabrina Dhawan, Abhishek ChaubeyI call this the Bhradwaj-Kashyap Syndrome (more about this later in a separate article on Kashyap). Both these directors are very well reputed and have enough of an underground fan following to generate revenues with a low-budget film without excessive marketing. Nevertheless, what is this syndrome? It is the belief & obsession these two directors have created, predominantly among the youth, that anything dealing with thugs, ruffians, underworld, druggies or basically the scum of the society, is a good film. Darker subjects are superior to others, and drama means a whole lot of murder, gore, expletives, sex or sexual innuendos. Ishqyia was a much awaited film, especially because of the name backing it – Vishal Bhardwaj; one of my favorite Bollywood director's. Ishqyia was not a run-away box office hit, yet it received a fair degree of critical acclaim and managed to delight the 'alternate' cinema bandwagon. What was it I found so wrong with Ishqyia? This is definitely going to earn me some serious ire.Ishqyia had a severely flawed script, not something rare in India. The film is a partial take from a Spanish film (I am still in process to find the name of the film), other than the fact that it has technical and structural errors. The film starts with two small time bandits, both legendary actors – Arshad Warsi (Babban) & Naseruddin Shah (Khalujaan). They are running from another bandit, to whom they owe money. The chase leads them to the saucy Vidhya Balan (Krishna) who is in search of her husband. So what is the issue with the script? The three plots in the film are – Vidhya Balan trying to find the truth about her missing husband; the two bandits who have to repay their debt, after they realize they cannot run away (established early on in the film); and the conflict building between the two bandits, shown to be trusted companions and relatives, over the woman. The primary plot though is how Vidhya Balan wants to use the two bandits on the run to reach her husband, the truth about whom she knows. So instead of focusing on that, the script – for a better part of the film – spends serious time & effort building conflict between the two lead actors vis-à-vis the damsel in distress. The director and script is leaving no stone unturned to show how the woman is seducing the men for her ulterior motive which is not revealed till the end.The problem though is, if I remove the third plot, which is not primary or secondary in context of the overall story, the story is not affected at all. And this problem is glaring since more than half the film is dealing with the tertiary plot. For that matter, the entire film could have been made with exactly the same details, without having the entire nonsensical chemistry-animosity building between the three characters. The two bandits would have kidnapped and stolen in any case, with or without the lady sucking on their fingers since their lives were on the line; further, since the tertiary plot on which so much of the film is based wasn't really of consequence, the director ends it abruptly with a street fight: the scene where Warsi & Shah fight on the road post which, all of a sudden, the entire tension between the three characters the film spends almost an hour creating, is resolved in a flash without a meaningful or consequential resolution. Further, I'll point out just two cases, you can look for the rest if you think it is worth your time. The biggest goof up is the kidnap: the trio monitor and survey the entire schedule of a notoriously rich man, who they know will surely have connections, only to kidnap him in the least effective way. They know he walks from the temple to the house of his mistress, which is his biggest secret that no one knows about. So they decide to kidnap him not during the isolated walk, not when he is just about to get into the house of his mistress, or get out of the room and is about to get into the car, but instead when he has already taken possession of a vehicle, is on road, can easily run away if needed. I don't call this creative liberty. This is just the director buying time with the audience. Secondly, the last scene is a pure technical blunder. At the end of the scene, the house blows-up, the trio walks away with Salman Shahid (Mushtaq) looking through a gun. But the police simply disappear, the trio is transported to wonderland via the bridge adjacent to the house, Mushtaq drives through a posse of cops (we don't know where they are) with guns and …. what just happened? Over dramatized, preconceived attempt to make the ending grandiose resulted in an unrealistic end; hence it abruptly folds at the convenience of the director.I am not sure what was the point of the film, and I am certain neither do the writers. Which is why there are several minor plots that are of no importance, take too much time to unfold and end abruptly without consequence or purpose, and it is precisely this reason the film had to be given artificial content with the use of verbose scenes with excessive expletives & rural twangs. Good films will always have clearly defined central plots, characters and stories that will be complemented and augmented at all times throughout the film. At no point is the viewer lost. Please note, if the viewer is lost, it is not a sign of intellect on part of the writer & director. So much for Ishqyia.

This is how life ends not in a bang but a whisper….. This is the way I guess s one should describe the movie and despite building up a credible plot ending leaves something to be desired. One good point is that Hindi films are maturing now and apart from straight college boy girl romance other angles are also being pursued and similarly in relationship areas apart from normal father –son, mother –son or friend angle complex relationships like guru- chelas whose object of affection is same girl, two buddies, two business partners, or mistress and wife are being presented in very nuanced way just as they are in real life. Movie's name is very apt because the entire protagonist including the kidnapped businessman or slain dacoit makes seemingly life threatening choices just because they are in love with someone. As they say love follows similar pattern to insanity and this movie exemplifies.Some obvious loopholes – vidya's effort to entice the two gangsters are too much obvious. There should have been some kind of subtlety here. It is inconceivable that police is attacking the house from front and they can easily slip from back. A big businessman with underworld links in lawless areas and without security? . caste war angle is just used to create useful coincidences in film, which could be done otherwise as well.But scenes involving brother in law of naseer is hilarious to core and so is the concept of vidya finally finding solace in company of these two men.It is difficult to say if it is inspired from some movie, Indian or foreign but I remember seeing one Brazilian movie where a woman with some fatal disease has a threesome with two youth who fall in love with her.

First of all, this is not a movie for everyone. Do not watch this movie with kids around, it might also be quite offensive for many elderly adults. The movie is intended for a limited demographic; those who enjoyed Omkara and Kaminey would probably enjoy most of this movie, if not, this one is probably not for you either.Most of the movie is set in very rural setting somewhere in U.P where various sects of local Hindu communities are engaged in guerrilla warfare. Like Babban says, we only have Shias and Sunnis, they have Zamindars, Jadhavs, Pandeys, Dubeys etc. Babban and his Khalu get entangled in this mess, along with Krisna, whose house they are using as a refuge while on the run from a Don they tried to double-cross. They talk in a dialect that is somewhat hard to understand, takes some getting used to. Plus there is a heavy Urdu slant with much of the dialogs when the nephew/uncle pair arrive at Krisna's house. None of the character is noble, they are all complex and somewhat unpredictable. It is not clear why Krisna leads Khalu on if she had the hots for Babban. Did she intend for them to fight amongst themselves? It is impossible to predict what outcome that might have. Were all characters driven by their primitive impulse, with no motives or selfish intentions? It is not clear from what is shown. Seems quite random. All three have done a brilliant job, Vidya Balan is amazing as Krisna. Dil to bachaa hai lyrics by Gulzar is one of the best in quite a while. Worth a watch if you don't find this kind of movie making offensive to your sensibilities.

One of the best Bollywood western/noir films ever made.Vishal Bhardwaj has made a niche for himself by making movies which not only have an excellent storyline but take us into the heart and soul of India which lies in it's villages and small towns and the people who live in them.The story was very good and the performances of all the actors was top notch. I especially liked Nasseruiddin Shah's performance. Nasser brought such depth and insight into his character that you could actually sympathize and empathize with him. First time director, Abhishek Chaubey did a superb job of directing this movie and is a rising star in Bollywood. It was as if you were watching real life and not reel life.The music was average, however the stand out piece in the OST was Dil to Bacha Hai. The song has an olden golden feel to it, similar to the songs Mukesh used to sing in Raj Kapoor movies.I thoroughly enjoyed this film and highly recommend anyone who is not aware of the potential Bollywood has in producing good movies with great story lines.