Ishqiya (2010)

Ishqiya directed by Abhishek Chaubey is an amazing watch.What I liked mainly was the style of direction.The style of direction by Chaubey is similar to that of Quentin Tarantino.For a first-timer it needs so much effort to direct a movie in the style of Tarantino and Chaubey does that flawlessly.The story is very good.The screenplay is water-tight.The music is another thing that I liked.Ibn Battuta is foot-tapping,while Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji is melodious.Kudos to Vishal Bharadwaj.The dialogs add spice to the movie.Performances-Each and every cast deserves applause.Naseeruddin Shah is fantastic.Arshad Warsi is simply mind-blowing.Vidya Balan is superb.Salman Shahid is funny.On the whole,Ishqiya is a must watch!

Vidya Balan gave a superb performance and is the show-stealer. The film's setting of a fringe city is quite fascinating as it showcases traditional values and lifestyles clashing with urban concepts and development in India's booming economy. Vidya did a great job playing her complex, multi-dimensional role as a woman who is a devoted and loving wife, who at the same time cannot settle for betrayal and expects the same level of devotion in return. It is interesting to see how she begins appreciating herself, and to an extent becomes selfish, and decides she needs to live for herself and avail of opportunities presented to her. Naseerudin and Arshad are an awesome combination and are hilarious together. A very well-scripted and directed film, Ishqiya is not like any other Bollywood film I have seen. It has an interesting, indie feel to it. Alongside, it also shows the eye-opening issue of caste wars.

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.

Undoubtedly, Ishqiya is a delightful watch.And, why shouldn't it be? After all it has backing of probably the most intelligent people of the contemporary Hindi movie fraternity - Vishal Bharadwaj (arguably the best among contemporary movie makers) as the writer and music director, Gulzar (undoubtedly, the best living poet who writes for movies) as the lyricist, Naseeruddin Shah (one of the finest actors), Vidya Balan(too good, isn't she?) and Arshad Warsi (quite a surprise, to outshine his other two co-stars). Finally, Abhishek Choubey, even if a débutant director, but not new to movies as he was the writer of most of Vishal's great movies. No sooner the movie has been released, people have started comparing, "If Vishal is India's Tarantino, Abhishek Choubey definitely is Robert Rodriguez."The movie is set in a remote UP village where you see it all that you have already been aware of from news or views - the caste war, the black marketeering, the corruption, the kidnapping, the flesh business, the adultery, the illegal immigration, et al. But all these are shown with a tinge of humour - black and grey. All the actors give lively and engaging performances. The love triangle is pretty interesting and one dialogue that summarizes all that, which brings lots of giggle of course, is "Tumhara ishq ishq, humara ishq s*x?"Having said all that, I think the movie is 20 minutes too long. So many twists really don't add nicely towards the end of the movie.I won't call this fresh or different. If not many, you have seen this kind of presentations before. Nevertheless, this is a movie that shouldn't be missed for its raw black humour.(Originally posted @ weirdo-on-movies.blogspot.com)