 | Movie Yeh Saali Zindagi |
| Director Sudhir Mishra |
| Cast Irrfan Khan, Chitrangadha Singh, Arunoday Singh, Aditi Rao Hydari |
First things first. Yeh Saali Zindagi is not half as smart or audacious as the title. Having cleared that out, the movie’s not half-bad either.
Yeh Saali Zindagi follows a non-linear pattern. A few minutes into the film, you’re introduced to a caption on the screen, `The day it all started...’. These over-explanatory captions keep appearing throughout the film, some simply spelling out the location. These captions are in stark contrast to the no spoon-feeding stance of the film.
Indeed you’ll be left in a daze through the first half of the film, as writer-director Sudhir Mishra throws multiple characters and story tracks at once. You’ll catch a few, and leave the others to explain themselves. Upon breaking for intermission, a voice-over informs that the story will actually begin now.
Set in Delhi, the film trails the life of Arun (Irrfan Khan), a white-collared wheeler dealer working for a shady businessman. He crashes into love the minute he sets his eyes on singer-dancer Priti (Chitrangda Singh), who is involved with a Mr. Moneybags’s son. This boyfriend of hers is engaged to be married to a minister’s daughter.
Meanwhile, we are introduced to ex-convict Kuldeep’s (Arunoday Singh) track who kidnaps Moneybag’s son and mistakenly Priti as well.
Throughout the grim proceedings, dark humour is added, which works in parts. Delightful when it works, the humour falters when the joke is trying too hard. Background score is super-fun. Cinematography takes in the city’s essence beautifully. The dialogue, replete with the choicest Hindi abuses, relies way too much on artificial dialogue-baazi.
What elevates the film are the performances. Irrfan Khan is remarkable adding a touch of humour to his obsession with Priti. Chitrangda’s character isn’t rounded off, but the actress makes a mark with her massive screen presence. Arunoday Singh is the hidden surprise rendering Kuldeep with utmost earnestness and heart. Aditi Rao Hydari is perfect as Kuldeep’s wife who can’t make up her mind whether to love or hate her husband.
Sudhir Mishra’s films have usually centred around a city’s underbelly. But in this crime story, the Sudhir Mishra stamp of exploring the characters in depth is missing. Here, it almost appears that Mishra is trying to adopt a style that doesn’t come naturally to him.
Yeh Saali Zindagi pretends to be intelligent, but it’s just another `it’s cool to be bad’ crime caper. Just because it’s convoluted, doesn’t mean it’s clever. And at a length of over two-and-a-half hours, the film is also indulgent. Watchable only for the superb performances and the dashes of wry humour.
Verdict Two and a half stars
Source:Sify
