[QOUTE]Bothers for Life (Kai Po Che):
Berlin Review
9:40 AM PST 2/15/2013 by
Deborah Young
A standard Bollywood tale of
friendship erupts into dramatic
violence.
A rollicking male bonding
picture about three buddies who
open a cricket academy in
India's exotic Gujarat, Brothers
for Life turns extremely dark and
violent in the last half hour,
becoming a far more significant
film holding strong crossover
potential as well as festival
interest.
Actor turned director
Abhishek Kapoor (his 2006 Aryan
was a boxing drama) puts
muscle and passion into the
game, but comes into his
own in depicting the horrors of
the ferocious Hindu-Muslim
clashes that shook Ahmedabad
in 2002. The Walt Disney
subsidiary UTV, which also
produced, is releasing world-
wide on Feb. 22 in the U.S. and
U.K. following its Berlin Panorama
premiere.
It's the year 2000 and India is
riding a wave of hope and
prosperity. In the ancient city of
Ahmedabad, three determined
youths beg their relatives to
finance their dream: a sports
shop and school which will train
tomorrow's cricket stars.
The check is already in the
pocket of sensible, accountant-
minded Govind ( Rajkumar
Yadav, who had a role in Gangs
of Wasseypur) when the moody
Ishaan (dancer and popular TV
actor Sushat Singh Rajput)
loses his temper over his sister's
suitor and bashes in a brand
new car. Uncle naturally thinks
twice about bankrolling the
enterprise.
Luckily their serious pal Omi (TV
actor Amit Sadh) has an uncle,
too, one who is running for
political office and has plenty of
cash on hand. They set up shop
inside a Hindu temple complex
and are soon rolling along. But
Govind has set his sights on a
bigger place in a new shopping
mall going up across the
highway. While he makes
business plans, Ishaan finds
personal satisfaction in coaching
Ali, a pint-sized talent from a
Muslim neighborhood. At
Ishaan's house, Govind tutors his
pretty but unscholastic sister
Vidya
( Amrita Puri of Aisha) in math.
Her head is full of other ideas,
however, and she uses her
feminine savvy to make him fall
for her. Naturally, they keep
Ishaan in the dark, even when
they spend the night together
after a colorful dance festival.
The scene of the three boys
going to a fortress on the beach
to celebrate their first paycheck
is choreographed to the sound
of Amit Trivedi's joyful score.
Their bare-chested horsing
around shows they know how
to flex muscles in front of a
camera, and ends with all three
making daredevil leaps into the
sea. Had the film continued in
this vein, it wouldn't stand out
from
the many Bollywood stories
revved up by catchy songs and
gym-trained young actors with
toothy white smiles. Instead,
Kapoor boldly plunges into two
major historical events: the
2001 earthquake that killed
18,000 people and which sends
Govind's dreams crashing down,
and the controversial
Ayodhya temple dispute.
Few viewers who are unfamiliar
with scriptwriter Chetan
Bhagat's novel The 3 Mistakes of
My Life, on which the film is
based, will be expecting these
happy-go-lucky characters to get
involved in the violent Hindu-
Muslim clashes of 2002.
At least 58 people died, many
burned alive, on a train carrying
Hindu activists wanting to build
a temple in Ayodhya on the site
of a 16th century mosque. In the
wave of rioting and violence that
followed, thousands more were
killed in Gujarat.
Kapoor stages a single,
terrifyingly vivid attack of Hindus
against the population living in
the Muslim quarter, who are
barricaded in fear behind strong
doors, torn down by the fury of
the mob. The involvement of all
the young characters in the
massacre turns the final scenes
into very powerful drama. The
film ends on a well-handled note
of reconciliation that allows
audiences to leave the theater
with a tear in the eye.
Though all three main actors are
well cast, Ishaan is the true hero
of the tale and the handsome,
impulsive Sushant Singh Rajput
embodies him as a mesmerizing
presence.Cinematography by Anay
Goswamy works hand in hand
with Sonal Sawant's
production design to bring the
labyrinths of the ancient city to
life and give them an integral role
in the modern story.
Venue: Berlin Film Festival
(Panorama Special), Feb. 13,
2013.
Production company: UTV
Motion Pictures
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput,
Rajkumar Yadav, Amit Sadh,
Amrita Puri
Director: Abhishek Kapoor
Screenwriters: Pubali Chaudhuri,
Supratik Sen, Abhishek Kapoor,
Chetan Bhagat based on
Bhagat's novel
Producers: Ronnie Screwvala,
Siddharth Roy Kapur
Executive producer: Ajay G. Rai
Director of photography: Anay
Goswamy
Production designer: Sonal
Sawant
Costumes: Niharika Khan
Editor: Deepa Bhatia
Music: Amit Trivedi
Sales Agent: UTV Motion
Pictures
127 minutes.[/QOUTE]
Ashu
for sharing this amazing review
Loved the last para
happy to see that they appreciate sushant.
bonnefille
Sushant_Salman_
