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Anaarkali Of Aarah

STARRING:

DIRECTOR: or rural. female hero of thesetimes of sexual ambivalence when men in positions of power misuse their strength to subjugate women in workplaces. writer-director nor the actress playing Anaarkali can control her destiny. They, like us, can only move back and gawk in amazement as this astounding female hero takes on the empowered goons copowered by thelouts LaLu Land.

Nothing in this unexpected storm-trooper of a film has prepared you for its highvelocity energy andfervent statement on femalesexuality. Without exaggeration, Anaarkali OfAarah (AOA) is the surprise I of the season.

Lady, you may belong to Aarah or Arizona, there will always be menwho feelthey've the birthright to own your body as and when they wish.

So, here's the simmering provocative scenario. Anaarkali, the smalltown hottie who makes every guy in town horny, is on stage giving robust voice and body to her raunchysongsyes, she does dirty dancing for a living andenjoys her job as much as Swara enjoys acting andI enjoy writing - when the town's prime educational institution's Vice Chancellor (Sanjai Mishra) decides to take the 'Vice' too seriously.

He jumps onstage to molest the dancer,as her performing partner (played with poignant panacheby Pankaj Tripathi) watches in muted horror. All hell breaks loose thereafter. While the lechers of Aarah seethe in anti-climactic rage,Anaarkali gives them a long rope to hang themselves with.

This is a sublimefilm about the dignity oflabour narrated with a raunchy rigour that is often appealing at times exasperating.

Swara Bhaskar hits all the right notes in the shrillest of scenes, bringing out the feisty Bihari woman's inner strength and an extremely appealing moral grounding evenwhen confronted by the demons of her d.isreputable profession. There are scenes where Swara is required to push aside all her inhibitions, even her innate feminine grace, to appear predatory in her aggression. To her credit Swara sidestepssleazinesseven when she is required to sing and shake her booty to lyrics thatwould makeYo Yo Honey Singh blush.

But there is a certain grace and dignity to thedoublemeaning thrown out of the eroticdancer'spelvisthrusts, like fire leaping into the sky. Swara dances to these ribald lyrics withsuch familiarity and trust, you won't notice the sexuality inher thrust. You will see the thirst and dare I say, the innocence, the determination to remain anartiste even when pushed so much against the wall that her body is stiffened and stymied by social orderwheremenhave the right to 'own' women's physicality.

The smell, the feel, thef avour and the emotions of the stiflingly patriarchal small-town is so palpable, you are swept into the vortex of the film's vibrant vista. Full marks to the film's cinematographer Arvind Kannabiran for makingAarah and Anarkali seemweddedto oneanother, and of course Rohit Kumar's authentic folk songs they add so much value to the proceedings! It's hard to imagine the flm without its true-to-life songs and music, and its compelling and credible characterisations thatimpel the gripping plot into areas of exposition where sexual exploitation is turned inside-out, upsidedown.

A dizzying, combative explosive expose of small-town hooliganism and a spunky girl's determination to survive all odds, AnaarkaliOf Aarah has a memorable gallery of actors giving the goings-on a sterling pushand a bracing vigour with their performances.

I have to single out Sanjai Mishra as the sleazeball academic, Vijay Kumar as his murky cop in crime,PankajTripathi as Anaarkali's partner onstage, Mayor More as her callow, infatuatedutterly devoted lover-boy, NitinArora as backalley music baron and last but certainly not the least lshteyak Khan as a smalltown man who knows how to respect a woman.

It is stunning in thought, spellbinding I inplot andutterly gripping in the way her dance of defance and exposure she I is so volatileand so deliciously over-theIt is a shimmering sun-soakedmirror of small-town values whereinevery sneeze or fart is noted and evaluatedacross I top I found myself jumping out of my seat to congratulateSwara.

In onesequence,Swara strides, looking crushed, into the vice-ridden Chancellor's den only to make him look ridiculous at theendof it.And at the end the story of a small-town dancer-singer's adventures in lecher-land unfolds.

AOA is many things at the same time.

No walkover, ourAnaarkalitakes on theacademiclout with such vigour and strength that you will find the communities. Andyet the story of Anaarkali(Swara Bhaskar, spectacular) is also the story of every woman, urban I yourself cheering and clapping for this

In this nimbly-written ode to feminine grace, a cheesy dancer who probably moonlights as prostitute tells the predatory man where to get off. It kicks where it hurts themostand its does so without the fourish of schisms.It is a terrific premise for a post-feminist film. Writer-DirectorAvinash Das doesn't focus on remaining fashionable about women's empowerment.

After a point his heroine's tale has a will of its own.You suspect neither the

These are not just performances. They are classrooms of impeccable characterisations. But above all there is Swara Bhaskar giving what history will record as one of the bravest and most important performances by a female actor in post-modernist Bollywood. Don't even think about seeing any other film. With this towering achievement around the others don't stand a 'ghost' of a chance.

Gimme the spunk queen of Aarah any day rather than the bhoot ofPhillauri.

Subhash K. Jha

Phillauri

STARRING: AnushkaSharma,Suraj Sharma, DiljitDosanjh

DIRECTOR:Anshai Lal

Sad, buttrue.Somefilmsworkbetter onpaperthan onfilm. I canjustimagine howexcitedAnushka Sharma must have beento play a ghost in a film about a restlessspirittryingtofind a culminationto herincomplete lovestory from 98years ago.

It's a clever premise, evoking nostalgia aswell as history in cascades ofpoetry, music and drama. Lamentably thepoetryismorecornythan epic, and

BADRINATH Kl DULHANIA

STARRING: Varun Dhawan,Alia Bhatt, Shweta Basu Prasad, RiturajSingh, SahilVaid,YashSinha,Aakanksha Singh, Gauhar Khan

DIRECTOR:Shashank Khaitan ttl-::-:11 the music, barringthe 'Sahiba' track, isatbest serviceable. Thisisan inexcusable lapse in a filmthat takesusinto the Punjabi heartland on two levels, the present andthepast, both donein contrasting colourpalates, onerusty and ruggedthe otherpeachy andsaturated.

Aquick-fix,from thestablesofDharma Productions, director Shashank Khaitan'sBadrinath Ki Dulhania isa typicallycliched,frothyrom-com,which exploitsthesheercharmofitsstars.

Alothappensand it happens charminglywithsuch quickspiritand wit,thatit'senoughtoputyou offromcomsfora while.Thefilm isnotbad, but with no noveltyfactor.This isjust a case ofthe lawofdiminishingmarginal utility.

Thestory involves Badrinath Bansal (Varun Dhawan), atypicalsmall town dudefromJhansi,who itchestoget marriedsoon. Itis duringhisfriend's weddingin KotathathespotsVaidehi Trivedi (Alia Bhatt), a bright,spiritedand ambitiousgirl and sets hishearton her. Howhewoosherformsthecruxofthe tale.

Alas,the themeof lovefinding a restingplace intwo lifetimesbarely registers. Fora largepart, Phillauri movesthroughthelavish labyrinthofa bigfatweddingin a Punjabi household withthesamemisdirected gusto as VikasBehl's Shaandaar. Exceptfor thefactthatthe charactershereare, in principle, quiteinterestinginthe waythey respondtothe presenceofa friendlyghostintheirbustlinghome.

Thepace doesthe narrativein, bringingwhatseems likenoble ambitionstothegroundwitha thud. I suggestthemakersofthisfilmwatch anothernew release Anaarakli OfAarah toseewhatvigorouspacingcan doto afilm.

Anushka Sharmamakesa pretty ghost. ButShashi is a ghost as interpretedbyAnushkaSharma.She behaves likeAnushka'scharacterin Ae Di/ Hai Muskil in blingyapparitionwith theadded advantageofbeingseen only bySuraj's character.

If onlythenarrativeslid intothepast with moreeconomy and equanimityand lessmisplaced enthusiasm.

Shashi'svillage-bound romancewith theneighbourhood poet(DiljitDosanjh, confidentbutunremarkable)isdrawn withthefaintpaintbrushstrokesof an artistewho has all thetime in theworld.Therelationship between Anushka and Diljit developsthrough a seriesofvignettesplantedintoplot's oscillating memory-chipwith little room forplausibility.

Inthe present, Kanan (Suraj Sharma)'sweddingtotheprettyAnu (newcomer Mehreen Pirzada, adequate) isthreatened bythepresenceofa ghostwhohasbeen released through a bizarreritual.

Suraj'sbewildered responsesto local superstition aresoapt,youwonder iftheyoungactorhasstepped intoa rolewrittenforhim. Unfortunately, he getslittlespiceto chewthemeat of theplotwhichsimmerson slow-burn, sometimessosluggishlypaced,you wonderatthegall ofthe directorto attemptsomethingsounhurried at atimewhen audiences have all the patience ofa sparrowbuildinga nest duringrainfall.

Curiouslythelanguid narrative pacing doesn'tbringin itswakea thehrao inthetheme.Allthroughthefidgety story,the competentactorswaitforthe dialoguestogetlesscheesy,the plot twiststo evolve matureand fructify.

Phillauri isdeplorably deprivedofa smooth narrative.Attimestheepisodes inthestorytellingseem likegatecrashersata wedding, unwanted guests over-stayingtheirwelcome.

Initially,when Kananpressesthe panicbutton aftermeetingtheghost, awhole lotof misdirected laughteris aimed ata little servant boythinking he isbeingseduced bythe bridegroom ata wedding.Thejoke isstretched tobreakingpoint seekingtojustify itspresencewith painful explanatory footnotes. Itallseemslike an edifice constructedto impresswithlittleto supportitsambitionsexcept asassy appetiteforspirit-hunting and a zestfor aself-created melodrama.

Phillauri hasitsredeemingqualities. The homagetohistorythatisbrought intoplayatthe end isso daringin its sweep andsuggestionthatyou admire thefilm'sdebutantdirectorforgoing againstthegrain.Some ofthe period detailing inthe past is interesting. Themomentofthe adventofthe gramophone disciswarmlycaughtin thecharacters' awestruckfaces.Such tenderodestoa timelong-goneshould have added uptomakea filmthat leaves uswith a brightbeam oflight piercingourscepticism.

TragicallyPhillauri isneither humorousenoughtobe deemed a romcom norpropelled byample heftto be called a historical epic. Itisneitherthis northat. It isjustexasperatingforthe possibilitiesitthrows open butfailsto explore.

Subhash K Jha

What keeps you hooked isVarun's buffoonishyet lovable character and with his charismatic and endearing performance,he portraysitwith panache. Heis aptlysupported byAlia,who is effortlessand convincing.

Together, they havethe sortof chemistrythat might make any dialoguework, and itcertainlyworksinthisstory about a typical Indianguywho is bogged down by his overbearingfatherand an ambitiousgirl,tilltheboyfinds courage tofinallycome rightoutand oppose hisfather.Thissortofchemistry is not always inevitable, butitworks well here.

Rituraj is apowerful actorbut as Amarnath Bansal, Badrinath'sfather, he isa misfit. Swanand KirkireasVaidehi's father,Shweta Basu Prasad and Yash Sinha as Badrinath'ssister-in-law and brotherhavetheirmomentsofon screenglory.

Sahil Vaid as Badrinath'sfriend Somdev isdelightfullyimpressive.

GauaharKhan as Police Sargeant Laxmi Shankariswastedin a miniscule role. Oneofthefilm'sproblems is thatthe plot nevergathersenough momentum, emotional ornarrative, to involvethe audience. With several amusingand compellingepisodesthe film seemsforced, predictable and yet entertaining.

Mounted on a grand scale, the songs are peppy and evensoulful. They complementthe narrative, butnot organically.

Overall,thefilm isvisuallyappealing, glossy and vibrant.

TroyRibeiro