tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post7135035949225450548..comments2024-03-27T14:57:37.031+05:30Comments on Jabberwock: On Anurag Kashyap’s Ugly - power struggles, mindgames and innocence sidelinedJabberwockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-79599473797887855292015-04-25T21:14:24.196+05:302015-04-25T21:14:24.196+05:30If you watch closely, you'll notice that the &...If you watch closely, you'll notice that the "cell" is the same place where Chaitanya was stripped and interrogated and later where Rahul confronts a naked, handcuffed Chaitanya about the knowledge that Kali was in his car. It is a makeshift torture chamber, ineffectively soundproofed with egg trays, inside of a small apartment in a ramshackle building that serves as residential quarters for the families of constables of Mumbai police. The knowledge that there is a kid living in the same apartment, within earshot of the screams emanating from within, probably creeps the doctor first, and then Rahul, as he escapes. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-22627849993751108472015-04-21T01:31:02.495+05:302015-04-21T01:31:02.495+05:30Hi Dev, I think the song you are asking about is R...Hi Dev, I think the song you are asking about is Reckoning song/one day by Asaf Avidan. There are many versions of that song but i think they used the wankelmut remix version, but i am not sure.Check it out.Shivamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-34201146478490531062015-01-22T19:09:49.324+05:302015-01-22T19:09:49.324+05:30Hello Jai,
What did you make of the suspense arou...Hello Jai,<br /><br />What did you make of the suspense around what is eventually revealed to be a child, in the cell where the doctor arrives to check Rahul? It seemed to point towards some sinister significance of the child being there which was lost upon me. Could you make something of it?Raving Raconteurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03045918032479957578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-61990084805752554342015-01-10T15:19:23.505+05:302015-01-10T15:19:23.505+05:30What is the title of English song played in movie,...What is the title of English song played in movie, when Chaitanya had sex with Shalini and returned to Rahul...Devhttp://devnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-79395376861501349092015-01-02T23:48:21.340+05:302015-01-02T23:48:21.340+05:30Sorry. I didn't mean it as a slight on you. Po...Sorry. I didn't mean it as a slight on you. Poor choice of words on my part. I guess this movie just isn't for me. Nidhinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-69316176470789442672014-12-31T10:19:48.063+05:302014-12-31T10:19:48.063+05:30I loved 'Ugly'. Of all movies he has made,...I loved 'Ugly'. Of all movies he has made, Kashyap went the least over board here. And yet he made the point so well. I also feel it could have been a lot uglier. For instance, Shalini's parents give her Rs 65 lakhs. It could be a film in itself as to why should parents bail her out. Besides, for all the so-called dark things done by characters, there is enough logic behind their actions. If one is living in a hell of a flat in Bombay, can not work, has a kid, and a husband who wants to be an actor and hasn't found any work, it is very believable that one will behave like Shalini. What could have been uglier is people behaving in the worst manner just for the sheer heck of it. Pessimist Foolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06057153008708242962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-4532160273838468892014-12-30T20:19:06.535+05:302014-12-30T20:19:06.535+05:30Akshay: yes, this is a complicated subject, and I ...Akshay: yes, this is a complicated subject, and I think the thing to do is to take each individual case/scene on its own terms (while of course acknowledging the general point that AK enjoys mixing darkness with humour). In the case of GoW, I'm still conflicted because I didn't really think the film was expecting us to be emotionally invested in any of the characters (at least the characters from the Manoj Bajpai generation onwards) - it was more about being hip and clever, using cinematic references constantly. (Ramadhir - who doesn't care for cinema at all - was the only one in the second film who seemed to me like a real person with a possible inner life. Which may or may not have been part of the point.)<br /><br />With the police-station scene in Ugly, or the chase scene in Black Friday, and possibly the "Murabba" scene, I think the intended effect was different. Here I feel the little flashes of dark comedy actually strengthen the overall emotional impact of the situation, when we are jerked back into the "drama" and are reminded of the things that are at stake.<br /><br />And I need to see <i>Gulaal</i> properly - saw around the first two-thirds on a DVD that kept skipping/freezing before giving up the ghost altogether. Was enjoying it, but also realised I needed to see it with full concentration. Soon.<br />Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-37493479419005636222014-12-30T17:22:57.694+05:302014-12-30T17:22:57.694+05:30Jai,
I agree with all that you have written abou...Jai, <br /><br />I agree with all that you have written about Ugly. If a film's primary motive is to engage with its audience, then I found this film engaging down to the very last second. It is one of Kashyap's best written films and also one of his best edited films.<br /><br />On a related note, the scene involving Rahul and Chaitanya where they visit the police station the very first time and the subsequent humour that follows with Inspector Jadhav, immediately brought to mind some of the scenes from Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur and his film in Bombay Talkies - Murabba - where the very same Vineet Kumar Singh (Chaitanya in Ugly) when told about his father's deteriorating health rushes to be by his side, but also finds it necessary to make a wisecrack about someone he sees urinating on a wall. To my mind, this has become something of a style with Kashyap (I think you wrote also about GoW that such moments left you ambivalent whether to laugh or be drawn in by the seriousness of the situation) where he looks to balance/break the seriousness of the moment with wit/humour. I think he takes this same thing to an altogether different level with Gulaal (a much earlier film), where Piyush Mishra's character is often mocking the seriousness of Kay Kay Menon's ambitions of creating a separate state. Perhaps, this is all in my head, but I would like to know your thoughts on this.<br /><br />AkshayAkshay Manwanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01398797459260418292noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-19325939524192049672014-12-29T15:55:17.658+05:302014-12-29T15:55:17.658+05:30Yes, They did show those bits about child traffick...Yes, They did show those bits about child trafficking about 8 children who were saved while investigating the case.<br /><br />But somehow I am still not able to get my head around how these adults one of them the father and the other an honest and upright officer when it comes to his job could get so misguided by their personal baggage and shared history, which is the crux of the film as you have pointed out<br /><br />“Remember what all this was originally about? It didn’t really matter all that much to the characters in the story – they were too caught up in themselves and in their adult games'<br /><br /><br /><br />.<br /><br />Thespian Accountanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00224608506340197528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-24594589576439753932014-12-29T15:32:12.977+05:302014-12-29T15:32:12.977+05:30Meet: points taken, but if the film had gone down ...Meet: points taken, but if the film had gone down the child-trafficking route (most other things remaining the same), I don't think that would have worked for me. It would have made it too much about a specific subject. And anyway, I think they did manage to show glimpses of that anyway, in the mentions of the kidnapped children who were incidentally found as a result of the Kali search, the scene on the bus, etc.Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-86230018841716438862014-12-29T14:48:01.986+05:302014-12-29T14:48:01.986+05:30The last line of the movie when one of shoumik'...The last line of the movie when one of shoumik's colleagues states 'We could have saved her' (Had they not got misguided because of their inter personal baggage) something along those lines. That for me sums up what I felt about the movie. AK could have saved the film had he not got too indulgent in trying to show that all of us have an ugly side and we are capable of extreme things and may be overdid that. He could have may be weaved in the larger issue of child trafficking running in parallel with what was happening at a micro level.<br />I am okay with unhappy endings but sometimes one gets a feeling AK is trying too hard to be a rebel against the main stream where everything falls into place in the end.<br /><br />On one hand we have Hirani who will pick up a grave issue but ensures that we leave the theatre smiling and there is Anurag who ensures that we go out with heavy cynicism.<br />Being able to capture Gray is the toughest thing.<br /><br />I enjoyed watching the film despite my issues , Girish Kulkarni and Vineet singh were excellent.<br /><br />PS: Ironically in Dev D he chose to have a happy ending showing the Dev start afresh in life unlike the novel. <br /><br />Thespian Accountanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00224608506340197528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-82543489715059787882014-12-28T19:37:51.681+05:302014-12-28T19:37:51.681+05:30I think I may have outgrown cynicism for cynicism&...<i>I think I may have outgrown cynicism for cynicism's sake. </i><br /><br />Oh, congrats then! If and when I "grow" into that exalted state of being, I will of course change my mind about <i>Ugly</i>.Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-84849191885392554142014-12-28T19:01:55.405+05:302014-12-28T19:01:55.405+05:30Can't think of any of his influences who have ...Can't think of any of his influences who have insights that are so obvious and heavy-handed, re: UGLY at least. So, the style seems particularly excessive. I think I may have outgrown cynicism for cynicism's sake. Nidhinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-44778423704831746252014-12-28T16:13:57.936+05:302014-12-28T16:13:57.936+05:30It's a little ambiguous (and honestly, by that...It's a little ambiguous (and honestly, by that point I wasn't paying close attention to every detail of what the characters were thinking or imagining - was content to get an abstract sense of the paranoia that everyone was experiencing), but the way I interpreted it was: Rahul bought into the idea Chaitanya sold him earlier, that Shoumik is behind Kali's disappearance (as a way of getting back at/dominating Rahul) and that she isn't really in danger. When he speaks to Shoumik at the end and realises this wasn't the case, a dormant fatherly emotion (or at least the need to express such an emotion in a macho way) resurfaces, and he goes berserk.Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-41876508254707398372014-12-28T14:45:47.014+05:302014-12-28T14:45:47.014+05:30*** SPOILER ALERT ****
What is the reason Rahul k...*** SPOILER ALERT ****<br /><br />What is the reason Rahul kills Chaitanya at the end ? Some of the dialogue in that part was just not clear.Surajnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-30926185476326211692014-12-28T10:53:37.223+05:302014-12-28T10:53:37.223+05:30Oh no. I'd say "understatement of the cen...Oh no. I'd say "understatement of the century" in this context is pretty close to being the "overstatement of the week" at least! I don't think AK is more "excessive" than many of the filmmakers he has been influenced by, or the great stylists of the past 30-40 years.Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-58711734613177470792014-12-28T10:45:06.526+05:302014-12-28T10:45:06.526+05:30"Kashyap often deals in excesses, and often o..."Kashyap often deals in excesses, and often overreaches.."<br /><br />Understatement of the century.. :DNidhinoreply@blogger.com