D (2005)

I agree in most part with the first review especially when comparing it to other movies from the RGV production house. Unless watched as a prequel to 'Company', it stands a little feebly with a mixture of actors, script, storyline and direction borrowed from it's fantastic predecessors. Otherwise it's an interesting prologue to a more complete and fulfilling story. I think the movie improves in the last third with excellent plot development and gritty twists, and the finale is well-worth waiting for.Having loved 'Satya', 'Company' and 'Ab Tak Chappan', maybe I was expecting too much from the same genre and was a little disappointed. Try again some other time methinks, rather differently perhaps for a fresher approach.

Yesterday, I called my local desi grocer "Raja" and requested him to hold the DVD of the new release film from Ram Gopal Varma's Production, the movie "D". He kept the movie for me and I was the first one to remove the shrink wrap on it. I just couldn't wait and had to see it the same night. The much awaited prequel to the super hit movie, "Company" – the movie, "D".Before I do the postmortem of the movie, let me break all the myths surrounding this movie. Firstly, it's NOT a prequel to "Company"!!! The main character in the movie, Deshu (played by Randeep Hooda) is somewhat like Malik (played by Ajay Devgan from Company). The idea (I think) was to make a film on how Malik became the way he was. Some characters in the movie are similar… like the mob-boss with the back-ache but apart from that this movie doesn't even compare to the likes of "Satya" or "Company" The story line was so bad that the movie did not move at all. Thank god it was only 107 minutes and I was counting each one of them after the first 15. All the actors in the movie were desperately trying to act!! Chunkey Pandey I thought would make a come-back after being re-launched under Varma's banner but, I am sure he will probably go back to where he came from. Goga Kapoor, Shushant Singh and Yashpal Sharma were the only ones who I thought were doing justice to their characters. The cinematography was decent but you'll notice that each scene would start with some dialogs and then eventually be muted with a background score taking over. I don't know what the problem was… did the dialogs lack substance or were they delivered so poorly that they had to be faded out and overlaid by background score? If you use this technique once or twice then it feels like a great directorial touch, but you use it for every scene and it's almost like watching a silent movie!!! The plot (or the lack of it) of the movie is very similar to the plot we have seen in all the gangster movies that came out lately. A guy from the slums (Deshu) gets into a gang and reaches the peaks in a very short period of time. The mob-boss who is Deshu's mentor appreciates his brilliance and hard work and promotes him to the level he deserves. The 2 incompetent sons of the boss get jealous of Deshu's meteoric rise and want him killed. That's about it. No twist, no drama, no substance, no message. Just plain repetitive scenes of gory shoot-outs which were so poorly choreographed that they didn't even look real! I had a lot of expectations from Randeep Hooda after seeing him in "Monsoon Wedding" but he was a big let down with his expressionless face and the monotonously-fake-hoarse-voice. If the idea was to cast Hooda to do the young "Malik from Company" or a similar character like that, let me be the first to tell you that he isn't even one-tenth as effective as Ajay Devgan was. I don't think there will ever be a Bikoo Mhatre (Manoj Bajpai) again or at least for some years to come. I feel that we have just had enough of these Mumbai-Underworld-Gangster flicks and we should take a pause for some time.This was Vishram Sawant's directorial debut. I have no clue what made Varma give him a movie like "D". How does he scout out talent? I didn't see any in this movie for sure. OK folks, let me be clear… I am a great fan of Ram Gopal Varma. I love the movies he directs himself. "Satya" and "Company" are in the same segment with Scorsese's "Goodfellas" and Copolla's "Godfather". Even a horror flick like "Bhoot" could be put right next to William Friedkin's "Exorcist" but movies like "Darna Mana Nai", "Vastu Shaastra" and "D" were mere techniques of cashing out on the previous film's successes.I think RGV has this formula nailed down! If he sees a good script that will get him a big hit, then he directs it. If he sees that the script lacks substance but could be profitable then he just gives it to one of his deputies with the lowest budget possible and all the B-grade actors that he can get for cheap. He promotes these movies like crazy with his name on the banner bigger than the movie itself and cashes out in the first week of its premier. He handles these movies like a business transactions more than the passion he has for making films which is evident in his movies like "Shiva", "Satya" and "Company". Varma called his corporation "RGV Company" initially then he changed it to "The Factory"… with movies like "D" coming out pretty soon he will have to call it "The Assembly Line". I still have some hopes from "Sarkar" though which opens on July 4th here in the USA. Thank God that Varma directs it himself especially when he has The Big B and soon to be the Bigger B in his movie.If you have nothing else to do on a Sunday afternoon and you don't know how to kill time, I would recommend you watch this movie. You could learn a lot on how not to make a movie when you don't have anything to show. No points for guessing what my grade for this movie is!! Yes absolutely!!! It is "D"!!!

Every possible cliché of bollywood is mechanically assembled in a poor manner....all the post 80s movies with underworld theme were scrambled and their randomly picked scenes then haphazardly fitted in an attempt for movie making called "D"...Ramu has become a victim of his own past.....initially, it felt like I am watching a spoof of Satya, but heck!! I was'nt even that lucky...a spoof is always more entertaining....Ramu's factory is stagnating...he should try to become creative for a change...all the characters were so stereotype...the lead Randeep Hooda tried to force himself into the shoes of the silent cold angry young man from the slums with an underworld acumen that was played so brilliantly by chkraverthy in Satya ...although this character can be traced back to Amitabh in films like Mukaddar ka Sikandar, Trishul etc but chakraverthy was its RGV version and so a relevant example to quote here....needless to say, Hooda failed miserably.....he would have done well if he had just played himself......Chunkey Pandey was expecting to redo "tezaab" but those days are long over....his character was damn clichéd just like all others in the movie...this is an era of "Hazaro Khwahishein Aisi" when every thing has to be brilliantly and refreshingly "original".....Ramu should have stopped dabbling with underworld themes immediately after "company" which was his last watchable movie and was good off course...its time he realises that movie-making is an art and you have to "think" and "create" the design every time you make a product, instead of doing it once and then letting the assembly line take care for the rest.....probably his engineering background has to do with it..

Ram Gopal Varma does it again yet another movie which draws you into the reality of Underworld and introduces you to the machinery of Mumbai underworld.D is a story of a young aggressive man Deshu who gets into the Underworld and changes the orthodox ways of its operation.He defies the ongoing practices and with his courage he is in the driving seat just after some time he joins the gang."Randeep Hooda" comes as a surprise this young chap from Haryana delivers a performance which is really amazing. Last time when we saw Randeep Hooda he was in a small appearance in Monsoon Wedding.But this movie shows his potential.He resembles to Chandu of Company but definitely does it better than Vivek Oberoi.Satya and Company were on the same lines of D but definitely SAtya is the best among the three.D-company music wise is not up to the mark but songs are hardly part of the story.performance wise the movie is a full of good performances CHunky Pandey gives a great performance and fits to the role.Then there are artists like Goga Kapoor Sushant Singh who can never go wrong.Isha Kopikar had very little scope but her costumes and body language was perfect for the small time when she was on screen.If you enjoyed Satya and company this movie is a sure go for you.Don't expect any mercy from Varma productions because there is ample of on screen violence and tension like the previous two flicks.8/10