Johnny mera naam

One of the joys of watching a less-hyped movie is the experience of being pleasantly surprised. If the movie fails to deliver, well you didn’t expect much anyway, but if it is good, then you can bask in the serendipitous glory of having discovered a good watch. So that’s what happened when I saw Johnny Gaddaar(that too on DVD!) this weekend.

Busy as I am(smirk), I never knew when this movie was released and went and briefly registered itself in my memory. Only when my brother literally ‘forced’ me to watch it this Saturday night. “It is excellent, you will be glued to your seat,” he said. Since I somewhat trust his opinion in Hindi movies, I decided to give it a go right then and there. I watched it with ‘lowered expectations’ as I had no clue whatsoever except that it stars the very good-looking grandson of legendary singer Mukesh. Ah! The joy of seeing a gripping, nail-biting thriller when all you had in mind was a typical pot-boiler.

Hats-off to the director for not resorting to a Hollywood storyline – which is the preferred and easier thing to do these days. Johnny Gaddaar excels in most departments of film-making, but I can’t get over the simple but original storyline that could have been a James Hadley Chase novel but is not! The plot is the hero of the film and the execution of the story is close to perfect. I won’t do a critique of the excellent cinematography, background score, flawless acting and kick-ass narration, as there are people better-placed than me to do that. I am no expert. But I have a sort of twisted pride in my own judgement. I consider my taste in movies very sophisticated and invincible. I won’t like something rubbish just because it gets good reviews and vice versa. I don’t even read the popular reviews anymore because the critics mostly support the clan they belong to (still haven’t gotten over the four star or was it four-and-a-half for Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gam). I simply rely on the better judgement of friends who have good phillum-sense.

In a nutshell, it is brilliant; a very good finished example of ‘how to tell a story’. A film-noir tribute to the 70s. All those references to Parwana, Vijay Anand’s movies, James Hadley Chase, Scarface, establish it clearly that here’s a director who loves movies a bit too much. What’s more, the suspense is revealed at the beginning of the film. And to then keep the what-next element alive, requires directorial panache. So bonus marks for that. I would write about the superb acting here but then the post will run into several pages. May I just say that Neil Nitin Mukesh is a true find. He totally rocks and sure has guts. It requires courage to debut in a ‘negative role’. Especially when you have chocolate faced good looks - the stuff that Bollywood launch-pad romantic flicks are made of.

What then irks me is that NNM doesn’t get half the media-hype that a Ranbir Kapoor gets(forget awards since they clearly follow a different kind of lobbying). I haven’t seen Saawariya, so no comments whatsoever on Ranbir Kapoor’s calibre(or possible lack thereof). But maybe I shouldn’t be complaining. At least NNM got half an IIFA, if that counts. (Fresh Face of the Year award, it seems!. All these award functions should get an award for coining newer categories every year to fit in everyone and please one-and-all. And the most innovative new award for creating new awards goes to..... )

Finally, thank you Neil for dragging me to watch it at gun-point. (I mean my brother not the actor!)

Disclaimer: This is not a film review. Just relentless gushing over an entertaining film from a cinema-buff who doesn’t watch so many films anymore. Kisi ko bura lage to ghar jaa ke do roti jyaada kha lena ;-)