Tag: Satish Kaushik

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Emergency review: A competent political drama about the consequences of unchecked power

Setting aside the controversies, ‘Emergency’ offers a fairly balanced portrayal of the life and times of Indira Gandhi.

Emergency (Hindi), 17-01-2025, Historical drama , 2 hours 27 minutes, U/A, Theatre
  • Main Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, and Mahima Chaudhry
  • Director: Kangana Ranaut
  • Producer: Kangana Ranaut
  • Music Director: GV Prakash Kumar
  • Cinematography: Tetsuo Nagatas
  • Rating: 3/5

The recent political movies from Bollywood have often bordered on being both tacky and amateurish. They often end up glorifying the current ruling party while showcasing the Opposition Congress as either fools or extreme villains.

With Kangana being a BJP MP, her political ideology is well-known. Emergency directed and written by Kangana has had a long battle before its eventual release.

The censor board had asked for numerous cuts. Recently even the Sikh organizations wanted a ban on it.

Synopsis

Setting aside the controversies, Emergency offers a fairly balanced portrayal of the life and times of Indira Gandhi.

Kangana Ranaut presents the controversial prime minister sometimes as a villain who got blinded by her son’s love doing terrible things. At the same time, the movie showcases the emotional turmoil that Indira went through, we see her getting haunted by her image in Shakespearean style.

Emergency begins with glimpses of Indira’s childhood; the story spans her tumultuous journey till the end highlighting the various trials and tribulations like her complex relationships with her father and the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, as well as her husband Feroze Gandhi.

Portrayal of Emergency

On the sets of Emergency
On the sets of ‘Emergency’. (Supplied)

The best part of the Kangana directorial is undoubtedly the portrayal of events leading up to the extremely harrowing period of emergency.

Kangana showcases the very dangerous consequences of unchecked power. Political leaders are locked up and all the dissenters of Indira Gandhi are simply labelled as “anti-national”.

The media, especially the newspapers, supposed to represent the voice of the common man also suffered badly due to Indira Gandhi’s dictatorial ways. The discerning audience can definitely draw a parallel to today’s environment.

In the present times, anyone who raises their voice against Hindutva and BJP is labelled as anti-national and often put in prison for expressing their opinions.

Of course, Kangana wouldn’t have designed these portions keeping this aspect in mind, still, for those who can look beyond the obvious the parallels are very apparent.

Best moments

The dynamics between Indira and Sanjay also give the movie some of its best moments. Indira has a very soft corner for her son often overlooking his bratish ways. This unabashed love for the son makes her blind towards his deviousness.

Kangana Ranaut in Emergency
Kangana Ranaut in ‘Emergency’. (X)

The movie portrays Sanjay Gandhi as the major force behind the excessive brutality of the emergency. He was always confident about having his mother’s support. However, this changes when Indira develops a conscience deciding to take things under her control.

There is a hugely poignant moment after the death of Sanjay Gandhi. Many common people are seen celebrating the death of this spoilt brat linking him to a Raavan. Indira has a major breakdown in the car repenting about the way she has brought up her son.

A major problem with Emergency is its docu-drama feel. At certain points, the movie feels like a rushed narration of the major events in Indira Gandhi’s life.

Indira Gandhi’s return to power and the entire Blue Star operation leading to her being gunned down suffer on the account of an episodic feel.

These parts needed better layering for the viewers to develop a more emotional connection with the protagonist.

Kangana as Indira Gandhi

A poster of the film Emergency
A poster of the film ‘Emergency’. (X)

Kangana Ranaut as Indira Gandhi takes a while to get used to. Her initial speeches in the parliament suffer on account of her squeaky voice however as the movie progresses Kangana Ranaut also becomes better.

The actress particularly shines in the sequences showcasing Indira Gandhi’s emotional turmoil, the scenes where she is haunted by her fate and later expresses remorse have been well portrayed by the actor.

For some, the redemption arc may come across as being calculative to avoid further backlash, still the way these portions have been written and performed is wonderful to watch.

Talking about other actors, Vishak Nair as Sanjay Gandhi is also terrific perfectly portraying the reckless nature of Sanjay. He imbibes Sanjay’s ruthlessness wonderfully making the viewers detest him.

Seniors Anupam Kher and the late Satish Kaushik make their presence amply felt too, as a moral counterpoint to Indira Gandhi. They play Jayaprakash Narayan and Jagjvan Ram respectively.

The dashing Milind Sonam as the famous field Marshal Sam Manekshaw also gives a good account of Manekshaw. Lastly, Shreyas Talpade as Advani also brings a certain authenticity.

Technical aspects

The cinematography of Tuesto Nagata also deserves a special mention. His work particularly in the disturbing emergency is outstanding. Through his lens, Tuesto Nagata does a very fine job of capturing the immense turmoil that the nation had gone through.

The songs come across as more of unwanted guests. The political leaders lip-syncing songs come across as unnecessary; still, “Ae Meri Jaan” sung by the legendary Hariharan makes for a soothing listen and a good watch.

Final take

Keeping aside the rushed storytelling and its docu-drama feel, Emergency makes for a good watch provided you are into political dramas.

(Views expressed here are personal, edited by Sumavarsha)

https://thesouthfirst.com/entertainment/emergency-movie-review/

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Guns & Gulaabs: A Blend Of ‘Gangs Of Wasseypur’ And ‘Mirzapur’

Another story on drugs but worth a watch for the ensemble cast and the eccentric characters created by the director duo — Raj & DK.

Not as brilliant as Raj & DK’s previous ventures.
Guns & Gulaabs (Hindi)
  • Cast: Dulquer Salmaan, Rajkummar Rao, Adarsh Gourav, and Gulshan Devaiah
  • Director: Raj & DK
  • Producer: Raj & DK
  • Music: Aman Pant
  • No. of episodes: 7
  • OTT platform: Netflix

Raj & DK carved a niche for themselves in the web series zone with the two seasons of The Family Man (2019, 2021) and Farzi (2023).

In both the web shows, the director duo took up global issues and portrayed them through a humanistic lens.

But with their latest outing — Guns & Gulaabs, they seem to have entered more into the space of Gangs of Wasseypur (2012) and Mirzapur (2018, 2020). However, what remains the same is their trademark humour.

Synopsis

The story of Guns & Gulaabs is set in the fictional town of Gulaabgunj during the 1990s.

Ganchi (late Satish Kaushik) is a drug dealer who signs a big deal with a Kolkata-based businessman named Sukanto Chatterjee (Rajatava Datta). As per the deal, Ganchi needs to deliver a big quantity of opium to this businessman in just a month.

Paana Tipu (Rajkummar Rao) is the son of the late Bablu Tiger (Arijit Dutta), a key member of the Ganchi Gang. Tipu is a mechanic with zero interest in entering his father’s profession. He is head over heels in love with a school teacher named Chandralekha (T J Bhanu).

However, Tipu’s life takes an unexpected turn when he kills two people, in a fit of rage, who work for a contract killer named “Chaar Cut” Atmaram (Gulshan Devaiah). This gang is responsible for the death of his father Bablu Tiger.

Jugnu (Adarsh Gourav) is the son of Ganchi who is both effeminate and also savage. He is desperate to win the approval of his father. He gets an opportunity to fulfil his dreams when Ganchi meets with an unexpected accident.

Arjun (Dulqer Salmaan) is the seemingly honest cop and the perfect family man. He was a deputy commissioner of police in Delhi during the time of the Bofors scam. Now, he is transferred to Gulaabgunj with a simple brief of cleaning up the place.

Running parallel to these characters are a bunch of schoolchildren. Among the kids, the most important one is Tanishq Chaudhary playing the troublemaker Gangaram.

Raj & DK smartly integrate this track into the main plot of gang violence and the opium trade.

Eccentric characters

What also makes Guns & Gulaabs worth a watch are the eccentric characters that Raj & DK created. Most of them come in shades of both black and white.

For example, Rajkummar Rao starts as a reluctant son whose only aim is to become a famous mechanic and marry the school teacher Chandralekha. His scenes with TJ Bhanu bring a smile to the viewer’s face.

The actor also leaves you in splits with his fantastic comic timing. There is certain likeability to Tipu even after he becomes a part of the Ganchi’s Gang.

Rajkummar Rao portrays all these shades with his usual finesse.

The combination of scenes between Rajkummar and Dulqer, though few in number, is still good to watch.

Through the character of Jugnu, Raj & DK explore the journey of a young man who is stuck between effeminateness and living up to his father’s expectations. There is a chilling scene at the end where Jugnu pours out his frustration to his dad.

It gives goosebumps to viewers, thanks to the performance of Adarsh Gaurav.

Tipu and Jugnu have a striking commonality — both are burdened by the legacy of their respective fathers.

As mentioned in the beginning Dulqer Salmaan’s Arjun is initially presented as the perfect cop and the ideal family man. But as the show progresses past skeletons keep coming out.

One of these includes a past affair with Yamini (Shreya Dhanwanthary). The duality of Arjun is portrayed well. Dulqer delivers the cuss words with conviction.

The track of the school children is effectively used to address how students are usually slotted under a particular category and the consequences it has on their personalities.

An important track that needs to be mentioned here is the student’s (Gangaram) infatuation with Chandralekha.

Flaws

Nevertheless, one big problem with Guns & Gulaabs is the tying up of the various subplots.

The last few episodes feel cluttered. You get the feeling that Raj & DK were in a hurry to wrap up the web series. The last episode, in particular, even with an interval in between feels much laboured.

The female characters, except TJ Bhanu, don’t make any impression.

Shreya Dhanwanthary, in particular, is criminally underused. This is sad because the women in both The Family Man and Farzi — be it Samantha, Priyamani, or Rashi Khanna — were featured in full-length roles as strong and powerful ladies.

Technical crafts

One of the things that stand out in Guns & Gulaabs is the technical department.

Pankaj Kumar does a beautiful job of taking back the audiences to those times with his lens.

In this, he is aided by a solid art direction department.

Aman Pant’s background score complements the period perfectly. It has the right retro feel. Both the background score and the cinematography enhance the show in a significant way.

Verdict

In all, Guns & Gulaabs do not entirely match up to the brilliance of the director duo’s previous works. But still, it is worth watching, particularly if you like crime thrillers.

(Views expressed here are personal.)

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Thar: Watch It For The Atmospherics And Anil Kapoor

Raj Singh Chowdary’s Thar is a well staged thriller which had the potential of being more. Much like Koratala Siva’s Acharya here too you have the real life father and son duo playing important roles. Thar is technically sound and also benefits immensely from Anil Kapoor’s screen presence but unfortunately the same cannot be said about son Harshvardhan Kapoor.

The story of Thar takes place in the eighties. A series of violent killings are happening in a remote desert town in Rajasthan. Anil Kapoor plays the local cop Surekha Singh. Surekha Singh is given the responsibility of nabbing the killers. Satish Kaushik plays a subordinate cum friend. His character comes from the lower caste.

At this juncture a stranger called Siddarth (Harshvardhan Kapoor) enters the town. He has a certain stoic presence with an aura of mystery around him. He gets involved with a married woman played by Fatima Sana Sheikh. Nothing more can be said about the plot since this is a thriller.

Director Raj Singh Chowdary wastes no time in setting up the plot. The scenes between Anil Kapoor and Satish Kaushik in particular are good to watch. The actors bring in their real life camaraderie to the table.

Anurag Kshyap is the dialogue writer of this one and the stamp of Anurag can be seen at several junctures, particularly the ones related to caste.

Another department that deserves a mention here is the production design and the cinematography. Both Wasiq Khan and Shreya Dev Dube are successful in capturing the rugged terrain of the place. There is a lived in feel with no sense of artificiality.

Not surprisingly Anil Kapoor towers over many of the cast members. It is a combination of Anil’s acting caliber and also the way the other characters have been written. He commands your attention from the word go. Satish Kaushik is the only other actor in the cast who makes an impression.

The one major drawback of Thar is how the character of Harshvardhan Kapoor has been written. In an attempt to create an aura of mystery the director forgets giving some emotional heft. The inadequacies also show up in Harshdvardhan’s performance.  There is no denying that Harshvardhan has been making some brave choices like Vikramaditya Motwane’s Bhavesh Joshi. But he had to realize just making interesting choices isn’t enough.

Another issue with Thar is the forced romantic sub plot between Harshvardhan and Fatima Sana Sheikh. It adds nothing to the story. In fact it slows down the pace of the film considerably which is anyway moving at a sluggish space.

Lastly, the elements of dacoits, drug trafficking etc haven’t been properly explored by the director.

In a nutshell Raj Singh Chowdary shows promise, what he needs is a more fleshed out script.

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Sharmaji Namkeen: The Perfect Swan Song To Rishi Kapoor

Sharmaji Namkeen is a special movie primarily for two reasons. It is of course the last time that we will see Rishi Kapoor on screen, but it also the first time in the history of cinema that two actors have played the same role. Paresh Rawal had stepped in to complete the film after the death of the actor. It is very generous of Paresh Rawal to do it, the reason being the film would be remembered for Rishi Kapoor and not Paresh Rawal.

Sharmaji Namkeen tells the story of a retired manager Brij Gopal Sharma (Rishi Kapoor and Paresh Rawal). Brij Gopal is someone who cannot sit idle at home. The retired life is frustrating him. He contemplates taking up Zumba classes and becoming a property agent among other jobs. His son Rinku (Suhail Nayyar) tells him to enjoy his post-retirement life and not to do unnecessary things. Sharma ji’s biggest hobby is cooking.

He takes his passion for cooking to another level. He is tricked by his friend Chadda (Satish Kaushik) into cooking at a ladies kitty party, and soon it becomes a regular affair. In this process he meets Veena (Juhi Chawla). She becomes his friend and confidante. But things take a turn when Sharmaji’s sons come to know about his secret job. This is all about the plot in brief.

Hitesh Bhatia’s story takes a little time to get into the groove. The initial portions are a bit hazy but he soon finds his groove. The experiment of two actors playing the same role is well managed by the director.

The story has certain similarities to Amitabh Bachchan’s Baghban. In that film too you have got a retired father but there is a sea difference between the treatment of both the films.

In this one, Sharmaji starts his second innings independently without any approval from his sons. There is a scene in the film where the character insists that he should not be dependent on his sons and look after himself.

There are several comic punches that bring a smile to your face. The best ones of course are those featuring late Rishi Kapoor. There is a certain warmth that Rishi Kapoor brings to the role.

My favorite scenes in the film are those featuring Juhi Chawla and Rishi Kapoor.  There is lot of charm in the scenes featuring the two. There is an undercurrent of romance between them; this is well explored by Hitesh Bhatia. You look forward to seeing their scenes. Juhi Chawla is a delight to watch as Veena.

The film also takes certain digs at the patriarchal ways of our society. The director openly talks about how a woman still needs to take permission from their male counterparts before following her passion.

Coming to Paresh Rawal the actor does a pretty good job in maintaining the continuity, however there are times when you feel that he doesn’t fit the character as well as Rishi Kapoor. The warmth that Rishi Kapoor exudes is missing in Paresh Rawal.

Another factor is that both of them come from different schools of acting. Rishi Kapoor is someone who has always been a natural actor. There is a spontaneity that he brings to the table. Paresh Rawal on the other hand is a method actor. The role of Sharmaji fits Rishi Kapoor’s acting style more than Paresh Rawal’s.

Satish Kaushik as Chadda does a fairly fine job. The rest also contribute in making the film enjoyable.

In a nutshell, watch Sharmaji Namkeen to witness the magic of Rishi Kapoor one last time.

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Sach Kahoon Toh: An Insightful Account Of Neena Gupta’s Life

Released on 14th June 2021

Neena Gupta’s Sach Kahoon Toh is an autobiography which makes for an interesting read at many levels. Most of all it is a book which is filled with honesty. This honesty is visible from the foreword itself. The foreword begins with her saying that “I know many readers are waiting to get the juicy bits of my life. Don’t lie. I know there’s a part of you that only picked up the book to read about my relationships and controversies that have been part of my media image for decades now.” Through the book Neena Gupta challenges the assumptions that people have about her.

Sach Kahoon Toh is divided into five parts. The five parts are her growing years in Delhi, life in Bombay, giving birth to Masaba, the downside of her career and the eventual resurgence starting with the superhit Badhaai Ho which was a major turning point in her career. In the last section she writes about her family members and these include mother, father, brother, daughter and her husband Vivek. There is also the chapter on Vivian Richards and her affair with him which resulted in the birth of Masaba, however the details are kept to a bare minimum. But that chapter has also got interesting anecdotes as she gives the background of how their paths met in Jaipur.

For any autobiography to work it is important that you bare your soul out which includes talking about your flaws and Neena does that for most part. There are times in the book where she comes across as someone who lacked faith in herself and her talent apart from being easy to manipulate at times. This comes out particularly when she talks about her early boyfriend who cheats her multiple times but she still gives him chances. Candid confessions like these make the book an interesting read.

Her friendships with Soni Razdan and Satish Kaushik comes across vividly and these portions are very heart-warming. An interesting detail has to be mentioned here regarding Satish Kaushik. He once told Neena to tell people that he is the father of Masaba if people ask who the father is. The reason being the color of Masaba and Satish matches. It is a small incident but it tells you a lot about the friendship between him and Neena Gupta.

Neena Gupta, daughter Masaba

Another good thing about the book is Neena Gupta doesn’t go overboard with details about Vivian Richards. She treats that phase of her life with respect and never sensationalizes it. You also get a peep into the personality of Vivian Richards.

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Kaagaz: A Solid Story Wasted

Satish Kaushik’s Kaagaz has its heart in the right place but never comes together as a whole due to its dated treatment. The only redeeming factor for this one is the ever dependable Pankaj Tripati who gets to play the leading man for the first time in his career. His sincere performance is the only thing which makes you sit through this one.

Based on a real life story, Pankaj Tripati plays a bandmaster called Bharat Lal in a village in Uttar Pradesh. He is content with his tiny shop and his small family until a well wisher advises him to get a loan for expanding his business. When Bharat Lal tries to get the ownership papers of his land to keep as a mortgage for the loan, he realizes that his extended family has declared him dead in order to usurp the land. Rest of the story is about how Bharat Lal struggles to prove that he is still alive. In doing so sometimes he takes extreme steps which make him look like a buffoon for the villagers. But this doesn’t stop him from wanting to prove himself alive. Satish Kaushik, the director, also plays the lawyer character who initially takes up the case of Bharat Lal just for the sake of it but later he turns out to be a big support. What follows is a social comedy which doesn’t fully exploit its potential.

The first thing which strikes you about the film is the treatment which reminds you of 70’s. Agree that the film is set in the 70’s but as a filmmaker Satish Kaushik should have realized that he is making a film for the 2021 audience. You can clearly see the datedness of the film from its first frame. To make matters worse there is also a pointless item number early on in the film. The song looks completely out of place and you feel like fast forwarding.

Another bothersome aspect of the film is that it plays out more as a comedy. There is an attempt to dilute the seriousness of the topic which shouldn’t have happened. The best example of this is the reaction of the wife to the scenario. She responds to his predicament by saying that she also has doubts whether he is a ghost or an actual person.

In reality 20,000 people have been declared dead in Uttar Pradesh for various nefarious reasons while they were very much alive. The director failed to portray the gravity of the situation by taking a light hearted approach. Bharat Lal was so frustrated to prove himself alive that he stands in an election to get his name into the official record. Likewise he goes to the extent of kidnapping his brother’s son so that his name will appear in the police records.

Kaagaz has also some similarities with Aamir Khan’s production Peepli Live. That was also a social comedy but unlike that this one is a missed opportunity.