REVIEW: Yeh Saali Zindagi

THIS LIFE SUCKS

It doesn't matter how many times 'newcomer' Arunoday Singh (this just happens to be his third release) kisses his screen wife (Aditi Rao Hydari) or the innumerable cuss words various gangsters and lowly scum use in Sudhir Mishra's Yeh Saali Zindagi. There's nothing provocative, spicy or spirited about the film. It's a limp attempt at an edgy comic caper of the Tarantino-Ritchie variety which evokes hardly any laughs and definitely not enough twists to keep you tangled up. The busy camera work and editing is irritating rather than engaging and the narrative, which tries to cram in too many characters and plots, simply ends up losing its way into blunder-land.

Point is, nobody cares for even a moment about any of these people running around in circles in the chaotic streets of old Delhi or the power circles of the new city. For that matter, if hustler Irrfan Khan hanging by a rope outside his balcony in the film's first scene is meant to grab your attention, it only has the opposite effect, because the conversation he has in his rather unusual state with his business partner Mehta (Saurabh Shukla), about some contract, is bland and pointless, neither slapstick nor serious. 

Nor does the revelation of Irrfan's obsession with Chitrangadha Singh (of terrible make-up and costume choices and strangely lacklustre acting), a singer with a penchant for mixing up with the wrong men, pep things up. There's a rare funny moment when, at Chitrangadha's friend's funeral, Irrfan asks her to get the dead man's thumb print on a power-of-attorney. She hesitates and he asks her why. "Where's the stamp pad?" she asks unexpectedly puncturing your expectations of indignation.

Nobody has any moral scruples in this mad world. And no grudges about that. But when Mishra spends an inordinately long time establishing the scenario and introducing characters (this process continues almost till the film's halfway mark!) and boring voice-overs propel the screenplay forward, it's really difficult to stay tuned in. Especially when there are a record-breaking number of ugly men spewing filthy words at a breakneck speed (Ramgopal Varma please take note; you've got competition).

Arunoday is sidekick to a gangster called Bade (Yashpal Sharma) and both are serving time in Tihar Jail. The gangster's younger brother Chhote (Prashant Narayanan, in a character that's the worst kind of gay stereotype) is apparently operating out of Georgia and plotting to kill his brother. There's a kidnapping that involves all the principals and a second half that simply spirals out of control.

If merely the choice of locations could rescue a film, then there's hope for Yeh Saali Zindagi. But can that compensate for a jarring background score, uneven acting and a plot that can't satisfactorily settle into any genre?

Unless, of course, you're a die-hard Irrfan Khan fan.

Comments

[Deepa Deosthalee]

Thanks Mahesh. :)

[Mahesh]

Hey I second Nitin on that. I have faith in your integrity and so save myself a lot of time and money!

[Deepa Deosthalee]

Thanks Nitin. Appreciate the compliment.

Deepa

[Nitin G]

Truly believe your reviews....you are the best. An unbiased person who does not bother to appreciate a movie only if the world does it....you do it only if you like it...love your attitude. Keep doing the good job...oops great job.