Movie Reiview: MOHANDAS

MOHANDAS (2009)

MOHANDAS: Truth Hurts

Cast: Sonali Kulkarni, Nakul Vaid, Sushant Singh, Sharbani Mukherjee, Uttam Halder, Aditya Shrivastav, Govind Namdeo

Director: Mazhar Kamran

Duration: 1 Hour 57 Minutes

Rating: 2 out of 5

A dark twisted tale of stolen identity and a corrupt bureaucracy, Mohandas is the fight of one man against the system; grim and real this tale of injustice comes from the heartland of India- Madhya Pradesh. The story of a small town scam of identity theft of a man named Mohandas goads the audience into questioning the reality of India Shining. The film dares to show the real India, and lays bare the system created by us.

Cinematographer of hard hitting film Satya, Mazhar Kamran makes his debut as a Director with the ironical Mohandas, he delves behind the everyday faces and incidents we see in news on our television, and comes up with this drama of Kafkaesque proportions.

A small town man Mohandas (Nakul Vaid) gets caught up in the web of bureaucracy, when he realizes someone has stolen his identity to get a job at Oriental Coal Mines. Fight for his identity results in him getting bashed up. Meghna (Sonali Kulkarni), a reporter working at a news channel in New Delhi, shows the story in media. A district lawyer Harshvardhan (Aditya Srivastava), takes up this case of Mohandas to the court.

Engaging and real this film does not mince its words and speaks the language of the heartland, speaking of social frustrations faced by the real India, this film though sadly might not find many takers commercially, as it fails to mollycoddle the Bollywood fazed audience.

Randeep Hooda swinging between Love and Lust!

He has got every element of what an actor has to have in him- Looks, attitude and oodles of talent make this actor, stand apart. From Deshu in super serious D Company to 18 stupendous roles in Mere Khwabon Mein Jo Aaye, Randeep surely has come a along way, and now is hitting back with a bang with his forthcoming film Love Khichdi. The ex-beau of ever-sensuous Sushmita Sen will be seen surrounded by many girls namely- Riya Sen, Sonali Kulkarni, Divya Dutta, Rituparna SenGupta, Kalpana Pandit and Sada. The film is slated for a August 28 release.

In a candid interview, Randeep Hooda talks about love and lust, on and off-screen!

So many girls surrounded you; they must have really showered you with attention. How did it feel getting wooed by so many women?

Well, it’s not girls who are wooing me, except for Riya’s character. In fact, it’s my character that discovers the true meaning of love. His definition of love is limited to lust, which he has for all the girls, including his bai played by Sonali Kulkarni. He goes through these seven beautiful experiences and comes across the real definition of love. So, the entire female characters; except for Riya, who is in love with me have got equal share of attention and wooing.

Have you ever been wooed by so many girls in real-life?

(Blushes) Without sounding boastful- Yes, I am used to loads of attention from the opposite sex, and I enjoy it.

Is that so… do tell us about any particular incident?

Well, that’s something I would like to keep under wraps. Honestly, I am a little skeptical and scared of whether my building residents will let me enter the building after watching this film.

You were heard of being slapped by Divya Dutta on the sets while shooting for a funny scene…any other incident that tickles your funny bone or brings a smile on your face?

Well, another lady Sada slapped me too. Sada’s character slaps me while shooting on Worli sea-face. My three and half year old nephew was present on the sets, along with my mother. As soon as Sada slapped me my nephew immediately reacted and turned to mother saying, “Nani Nani yeh ladki toh gayi, Mamu isse banduk nikalkar maar denge” (Grandmother, this girl is gone, Uncle will shoot her with a pistol). We had a big laugh on that incident. Another incident was when Kalpana was to join me in the bed in a particular scene. And she ends up bringing a whip along to beat me. I had a hearty laugh at the sight, which was so embarrassing though.

There has been a transition in your acting from some super serious roles to some lovey-dovey kinds. Was it a deliberate effort or just a coincidence?

See, serious genre of films is my forte. However, an actor is an accomplished one if he is versatile, something which gives an actor an edge over others. So, it’s very important to experiment in different genres. I have different shades of traits in my persona, which I experiment with, in reel-life.

Tell us about the other projects in pipeline?

Karma Aur Holi, Kusar Prasad Ka Bhoot, Once Upon a Time in Mumbai, Rang Rasiya- Colors of Passion are some films which are lined up for this years release.

Coming back to Love Khichdi, what do you think is the USP of the film?

Reality driven script, and most important- loads of talking with the camera; it’s a very interactive film, where audience would be involved throughout.

‘Shadow’ - blind hero Nasser proves many a point

Film: “Shadow”

Director: Rohit Nayyar; Cast: Nasser Khan, Sonali Kulkarni, Milind Soman, Hrishita Bhatt, Sachin Khedekar, Sameer Aftab, Vishwajeet Pradhan, Soniya Mehra

You know for sure it’s B-Grade cinema you are venturing into. Especially with as many as three item numbers, one Bond-esque title track sequence and a 90s style ‘rabba mere rabba’ love song waiting to unfold. Still, you want to see what exactly did actor Nasser Khan mean when he hissed in the promos — ‘Mission To Poora Hoga’?

In this context, the mission indeed got accomplished, at least for Nasser, since he proved to the world with this film that nothing is actually impossible. Despite being blind, he comes up with a full-fledged hero’s part where he kills, dances, indulges in comedy, gives instructions as ‘the boss’, performs stunts, gets sentimental about his ‘zameer’ and challenges cops.

Does he perform well? No. Does he deliver? Yes. And this is where the difference lies. He knows his limitations and hence doesn’t allow many expectations to be built around him. So whatever minimal he delivers for the camera, it only appears to be an added incentive.

So much so that he kills builders in Mumbai, gets good media coverage, charges as high as Rs.2 crore for a killing, works as a car mechanic in a cover-up job, wears countless disguises, operates through the outskirts of Bangkok and camouflages it as ‘aamchi Mumbai’. Not just that, he also makes the woman cop (Sonali Kulkarni) go weak in her knees as she announces in front of her entire department that she is in love with him.

Having said that, “Shadow” moves at a rapid pace. But there isn’t anything terrific about the plot or its treatment by director Rohit Nayyar. However, since “Shadow” doesn’t come with any expectations, even those routine moments seem good in the context of the film.

Things do slip in the last 30 minutes though. Ideally, the film should have wrapped up soon after Nasser is caught by the cops. However, an entirely new chapter opens soon after as the motive behind him turning contract killer and the flashback sequence is beamed all over TV channels and radio stations.

And there an item song picturised on Sonali Kulkarni that seems completely out of place.

From the performance standpoint though, Sonali tries to be as earnest as possible in the given set-up though she is visibly uncomfortable in her song and dance sequence. Milind Soman does carry a charm with him. Sachin Khedekar plays the quintessential corrupt politician well.

As for Nasser, his act and dialogue delivery would make amateurs confident enough to try their luck in Bollywood. And yet, there is something about him that makes you curious enough to check what “Shadow” is all about.