SHIVAAY
BY AJAY DEVGAN
Shivaay…
one of the most awaited movies, thanks to its mesmerizing and tantalizing trailers
plus word of mouth publicity; and a movie that has got some, shall we say, not-upto-the-mark
reviews in some publications that I perused; reviews that, in my humble
opinion, don’t really do justice to the movie. Hence, I have made, in my own
small way, an attempt to place the other side of the movie, through this
review; a review that is unabashedly
gushing in praise, for the
reasons outlined below…
THE
NEGATIVES
But
first, let me state the negative, or attempt to analyse where it might have
miffed some people. It is a movie that is a victim of its own publicity which
might just have built up the expectations to a level which the movie fails to
reach; or, to be more specific, it raised expectations along a path that the
movie does not fully touch upon or justify. The name – Shivaay, or the repeated
references to verses of the Lord in the trailer, or the song “Jaa Jaa Kailaash Jaa Kar Vinaash”; or
the overlaid dialogue in the trailer.
There
is, in my opinion, only one plot weakness; if you ignore that – this is one of
the most spine-chilling, or rather, to be more accurate, fast paced thrillers
to come out of India in a very long time indeed. That is the development of the
central character, Shivaay; either there should have been some proper
justification for the references in the paragraph above, or some clear linkage –
which is absent.
The
character development in slightly weak only of the central character; the
difficulty is that, this movie actually has only two characters : Shivaay, and
Gaura. There is no one else of note in terms of relevance. A word here for the Child artist portraying
Gaura – she won my admiration for her performance, in a movie dominated in
Salmanesue fashion by one single character played by Ajay Devgan…
THE
PLUSES
Notwithstanding
the negatives that I have fairly pointed out above, this movie is, from the
first frame to the last, a production of sheer class. I could not find even one
irrelevant scene in the entire movie; the plot is well defined, the character
development, one negative apart, splendid with clearly etched characters, the
story is tightly woven and completely logical from start to finish – right till
the last frame when the titles begin to play on the screen.
The
narrative is taut, and does not deviate from the plot at all; not only that,
there is no attempt at any sideplay, sub-plots etc of any kind. Every scene
carries the story forward, and is relevant to the movement of the plot in some
way; including the songs. That took some doing in a film of this genre. There
is not one single wasted scene whatsoever; had anything been deleted, the movie
and its story would seem jerky, with no clear connect.
One scene
effortlessly blends into the next in an uninterrupted sequence, including the
much-criticised scenes, which are in
reality, central to the forward story! Shivaay could not have reached his
destination without the Girish Karnad scene, for example; neither would an
embassy staffers support to Shivaay seem logical otherwise.
The
story proceeds at an unbelievably frenetic pace; so much so, that in order to
keep track of the incredibly rapid progression of events, one is forced to
remain glued to the seat, not even being able to leave for a loo break – and that
is one incredible achievement, any which way you look at it. Saying more would
give away too many details of the plot, so let me leave it at that. The pace
has nothing to do with the action sequences – the speed of the story has been
achieved by a combination of mind-boggling action sequences {which could have
been slightly better choreographed, to be perfectly honest} – and rapid
progression of the core plot in between, leaving one gasping for breath almost.
The
music ably supports the story and the plot, as well as the overall movie;
haunting tunes and melodies, well choreographed song sequences and a decent enjoyable
score: given that you don’t feel the need or the freedom to leave the seat even
during the songs – there is undoubtedly a pulling factor in the songs, which
are ably complemented by some riveting photography and beautiful location
shoots that draw your breath away; this is ably supported in the entire movie
with the tremendous special effects throughout
All in
all, this is a fantastic and enjoyable movie, a thriller set at an unbelievably
frenetic and break-neck speed, with decent music, great photography, a taut
narrative and a decent plot. What more could you ask for in a movie? Given that
nearly all movies in Hindi and English {not so far in Marathi, luckily},
require some level of suspension of logic, the negatives are bearable. The negatives
mean that the movie will not score ten on ten, but a more realistic 8 on a
ten-point scale. But that does nothing to negate the overall movie’s positives,
neither does it mean the movie isn’t enjoyable; it is a fantastic and
captivating watch! Don’t miss it this Diwali is my considered opinion…
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