Sehar : epitome of brilliance. Review on Sehar

Since Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, I was wondering if Bollywood would come up with yet another stunner of a movie. Well, the answer came in the form of ''Sehar'', the new film by Kabeer Kaushik. There is no dearth of filmmakers out there who can speak for hours at length about how they have been influenced by Copolla or Martin Scorcese or Ray and the likes, but very few have the callibre of making a movie that has the substance to make these great directors proud. Kabeer Kaushik is one such director and his work clearly shows how much he has learnt from the great movies of the past and how well he can use that learning to create something delightfully original.

I have had the good fortune of seeing many great movies, Indian, Hollywood and foreign and I would not be going too far if I say that Sehar measures up in every way. When I came out of the theatre, I was in a spellbound state, a state you find yourself in if you are an intense movie buff and you have just witnessed something great.

The story is incredibly good. A taut, intelligent thriller based on real life incidents. The ironic twists in the story will leave the discerning viewer immensely satisfied.

Each frame in the movie has been carefully and thoughtfully composed.

On the surface its about the police force (in particular the Special task Force) and how they break the organized crime in UP through organized team work. There is no larger than life hero in the film, but the heroes can be called REAL HEROES.

No sentimental crap, no melodrama, no unnecessary song and dance and very carefully placed subtle comic relief. The only song in the movie is great and very beautifully picturized (reminds me of the good old days of Basu Chatterjee and Hrishikesh Mukherjee). The performances are superb. Except for Sushant Singh (who could have done better) everyone is top notch. Arshad Warsi and Pankaj Kapoor stand out as the best performers and strongly compete with each other in that category.

Some online reviewers have commented that the movie deals with a beaten to death theme and offers nothing new. Well, I completely disagree with that and urge the movie goers to watch the movie and find out for themselves the novelty and freshness hidden behind the otherwise previously tried theme. Furthermore, comparisons with RGV brand of films would be extremely unfair, in my honest opinion. The film should be appreciated on the basis of its own merits. The film is above all a very engrossing thriller and shows how exciting movie can be made from real life situations. The movie has a nail biting finish and a terrific climax, and the movie is different in as many ways it can be.

Kabeer kaushik, Bravo. Please do not be discouraged if box office outcome of your movie is not flattering. There are reviewers out there like our famous T.A who review movies only on the basis of their box office potential and have no regard for the quality of filmmaking. They will not even hesitate to give thumbs down to films like Raging Bull or God Father if they feel that these movies cannot fetch money for the industry.

Kabeer, it looks like you make films for yourself and thats the way all great filmmakers are. I hope you do not sell out like Mahesh Bhatt or Ketan Mehta or a few others of their stature did. and please, do not stick to just one genre. You are far too talented to repeat themes.

And as for us, film buffs, it is our duty and moral responsibilty to promote this movie through reviews and word of mouth. This is the only way we can encourage budding and promising filmmakers like Kabeer to make more films of this standard.

We owe this much to movies.

thanks

subhajit