REVANCHE (GERMAN) (2008)

Wounds may, well, heal with time. But, what about the ugly scars which remain as some fossilized prints of our past wounds ? While the festering wounds cause physical pain, don't the scars, which could last for even a lifetime, continue to corrode us emotionally ? Aren't they, in some ways, the pincers from a past which stretch out into our present and future to puncture out the winds of mirth from our sails ? How does one live with such scars,  much less make peace with these artifacts of an agonizing past ? Could seeking revenge for the past make cleanse those scars from our very beings ? Does revenge provide any redemption ?

Alex is a ex-con in Vienna acting as a muscleman for a ruthless pimp Konecny. Alex is in love with Tamara, one of the prostitutes working for Konecny. Konecny, too, has an eye on Tamara and is possessive about her. Consequently, Alex and Tamara keep their affair, a secret and plan to escape Konecny to make a fresh beginning. Alex proposes a bank robbery which could fund their escape from their present misery and provide for a new life. Despite the initial apprehensions of Tamara, Alex manages to convince her, albeit after conceding to her demand that she would accompany him and wait for him in the getaway car. While the robbery itself goes without a hitch, in a quirky twist of fate, their getaway is obstructed by a loner cop, Robert, who was patrolling the area. Robert ends up fatally shooting Tamara despite aiming for the tires of their car.

Alex, who is absolutely disillusioned on Tamara's death, abandons the getaway car in the woods and seeks refuge in his grandfather's home in the country. His grandfather, Hausner, is a widower and lives a lonely life in his own terms, declining advice from several quarters to settle down in a home for elders. He is happy to have Alex in his house. He is also visited occasionally by his neighbor Susanne. While his grandfather is happy to see Susanne and even regales her by playing the accordion, Alex remains cold to her warm overtures despite her keenness to connect to him. 

Susanne is the wife of Robert and their life is haunted by the recent loss of her pregnancy as well as by her knowledge that Robert may be incapable of fathering her a child - something she desperately yearns for. She is further distraught when her proposal to adopt a child is categorically turned down by Robert. Meanwhile, Robert is consumed by the guilt of being personally responsible for Tamara's death and is gradually becoming a recluse. The overwhelming pall of sorrow consumes him from within and has a debilitating effect on his career as well as personal life resulting in his suspension from the force. Robert confides in Susanne of Tamara's death and shortly after, Alex gets to know that it was Robert who killed Tamara. Alex's life, which, following Tamara's death,  appeared bereft of all purpose till then, finds a new quest in avenging her death by killing Robert.

Does Alex succeed in his quest of avenging Tamara ? Or, could Susanne's advances kindle any thaw in his cold bearings ? Does Robert find any solace ? What happens to Susanne and Robert ? The rest of the movie focuses on the intriguing intersection where these three characters who wallow in their own personal sense of grief, loss and desperately seek redemption. Does revenge provide such redemption ?

Revanche feels like a breath of fresh air in a genre that has largely subsisted on the momentum of the action and/or the mechanics of the plot. Kudos to the Austrian director Gotz Spielmann for bringing a rare sensitivity to the thriller genre by populating his story with well fleshed out characters whom we could connect to and deeply feel about without in anyway compromising on the essence of a thriller. Credits are also due to the three leads - Johannes Krisch playing Alex, Ursula Strauss playing Susanne and Andreas Lust playing Robert - who are excellent in their roles.

Revanche was much admired and awarded at several Film Festivals including the Berlin International Film Festival, 2008. It was also Austria's official submission for the Academy Awards under Best Foreign Language Film in 2009 and made it to the final shortlist.

A MUST WATCH !!

RATING - 3.5/5

KATHTHI (TAMIL) (2014)

Director A.R. Murugadoss is largely successful in  presenting story with a socially relevant theme weaved into a superstar action blockbuster narrative.

Vijay, in a double role, looks better than ever and has tried to flex some acting muscle too. While Anirudh's background score is rocking in several sequences, the same cannot be said about his songs. 

While movies which are star vehicles generally lack logic and try to mint money by through sheer superhuman characterisation of the star, Murugadoss, despite succumbing to much of those demands, deserves kudos for harnessing the star power to underline important issues like livelihood of farmers and market-driven media within a structure of a masala entertainer. 

The length of the movie is a definite dampener, especially those from a bloated first half (Diwali overeating ??) which could've been culled by Sreekar Prasad. Alas, it seems his hands were tied by supposed "Commercial" constraints.

Overall, if it had been trimmer by at least 30 minutes, this is one Kaththi (knife) which would've been sharper and could've pierced deeper !! Yet, it is better than a mere butter knife, thanks largely to Murugadoss' writing.

A GOOD ONE TIME WATCH !!

RATING - 2.5/5

HAIDER (HINDI) (2014)

Haider is the third offering of Vishal Bharadwaj's  trilogy of Shakespearean tragedies which included Maqbool (Macbeth) and Omkara (Othello). For his final instalment, he adapts what is perhaps the most challenging of the three, viz. Hamlet and sets it amidst an equally challenging setting of the restless paradise of earth, Kashmir, circa, 1995. Its brilliance lies in the successful juxtaposition of various strands of portent conflicts across several planes which belie any solution - those within, inter-personal as well as the smouldering geo-political conflicts - to find common grounds therein.

Haider (Shahid Kapoor), a student and poet studying in Aligarh has to hurry to his home in the valley when he receives the news of an army crackdown that destroys his home and also results in the disappearance of his father, Dr.Hilal Meer (Narendra Jha), who was taken into custody by the army for harbouring militants. However, on returning home, he is distraught to find little remorse of the disappearance in his mother Ghazala (Tabu) who appears to be settling down quite well with Khurram (Kay Kay Menon), Haider's uncle and his fathers only brother. Haider sets out on a mission to find his father and unravel the mystery surrounding his disappearance. He is assisted in his quest by his childhood sweetheart and local journalist, Arshia (Shraddha Kapoor). The gentle canter of the plot finds momentum at the halfway mark with the arrival of the mysterious and almost ghostly Roohdaar (Irrfan) who contacts Haider. When he discovers the fate of his father, Haider is consumed by rage and obsessed with revenge.  

The movie sets a gradual pace through the first half to familiarise the viewers with the simmering situation situation in the valley where the daily living is punctuated by overnight curfews, frequent crackdowns, constant fear of living in the shadow of gunfire, a deep-seated dread of being included in the growing lists of those who have disappeared and a security blanket which choked the life out of this paradise. Vishal Bharadwaj and his co-writer Bhasharat Peer cast an unflinching eye on the valley when the insurgency was active to bring us the images which feel very real. 

Haider gains immensly from its excellent star cast who provide superlative performances in their roles. Shahid Kapoor brings in his best performance till date to capture a very difficult part of Haider (Hamlet) which oscillates across multiple dimensions of love, loneliness, desperation, sorrow, seething rage to seek revenge, subtle hints of Oedipal complex and being on the threshold of lunacy. He has a simmering presence and emotes well in scenes with minimal dialogue even while nailing those where he morphs into an impromptu performer as in the 'Mike Testing....' sequence. Kay Kay Menon aces the role of Khurram (Claudius) who is devious in seeking recognition and power, yet not entirely lacking in warmth. But, Haider's best performance comes from Tabu who plays Ghazala (Gertrude). She plays a complex role which is mired in mystery; a woman whose heart seems tri-sected between the three men in her life - Dr. Hilal Meer, her husband, Khurram, her brother-in-law and Haider, her son. Or, is she just another helpless woman victim in a valley beset with violence, where survival is at a premium and it is only natural that if you survive the bombing of your home, you just jump into the nearest bomb shelter to preserve your self ? There are moments where she appears to drop her guard and lets her vulnerability seep through as in some of her conversations with Haider. Shraddha Kapoor is radiant as Arshia (Ophelia) who is smitten with Haider and tries to assist him in finding his father.

Vishal Bharadwaj also adds memorable minor parts, be it Irffan playing the ghostly Roohdaar who sets the plot into motion or  Narendra Jha who effectively underplays his part of Dr. Hilal Meer or the duo (Sumit Kaul & Rajat Bhagat) who play Salman and Salman bringing some stray comic relief in an otherwise grim tale or even the elderly grave diggers.

Vishal Bharadwaj appears to be an auteur in fine form here as he morphs his world famous source and transplants it to to the troubled landscape of Kashmir to achieve dual goals of narrating a poignant tragedy even as he makes a hard hitting political commentary of a festering wound that continues to consume and singe many a lives without any signs of healing. He and his co-writer Peer capture the insecurities, distrust, anguish and phenomenal sense of loss which permeate the psyche of generations of residents of what was once a paradise on earth as in the scene where Peer himself displays the deep seated scars of a population living in perennial fear. The beautiful, yet desolate images of the snowy landscapes captured by cinematographer Pankaj Kumar combine effectively with the dialogues, haunting background score and Gulzar's lyrics set to Vishal's tunes to present the mutation of this paradise into a morbid hell for its residents. In fact, Tabu's character of Ghazala could as well be seen as a metaphor for the valley itself which is caught between its allegiance between two blood brothers, shrouded in a mysterious veil of apparent self preservation only to let the vulnerabilities show in a few moments when she reaches out to her son affectionately and protectively. While the picture presents a political commentary that need not be entirely neutral, the essence of the commentary tends to abhor violence for any reason. 

This is a tour de force in film making as Vishal Bharadwaj marshals his entire arsenal - a fine adaptation, stellar star cast acing well fleshed out characters, superb writing, bewitching cinematography, soulful score and music and much more -   to make the boldest political movie of our times to stress that revenge merely begets revenge and can never be a path to seek freedom.  

Yes, the movie does have its fair share of flaws - a languid pace, for one - just as its characters do.. Yet, just as its characters shine through their flaws, the movie too soars to hitherto uncharted trails.  

Intense, grim, dense and somber, Haider may not be a movie that would suit everyone's palette, especially those who are faint of heart  and yet, if, "To watch, or, Not to Watch" is your question, "Steel yourself and don't miss this MUST WATCH which would haunt you long after you've watched it" is my most definitive answer.

A MASTERPIECE ! A MUST WATCH !!

RATING - 4/5