Jun 28, 2008 02:10 PM
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Via Darjeeling is an out and out experimental film. Never before have I seen such a story on the Hindi Motion Picture front.
The premise is simple. 5 friends are chatting in a living room on a rainy night. A cop Robin Datt(Vinay Pathak), a filmmaker Kaushik(Prashant Narayanan), an actress Mallika (Sandhya Mridul), an avid reader Preeti (Simone Singh) and a journalist (Rajat Kapoor). Robin narrates a case he’d handled years ago of a certain couple Ankur(Kay Kay Menon) and Rimli(Sonali Kulkarni).
On their honeymoon, Ankur disappeared and the case remains unsolved till date. Each one of the remaining 4 friends, then tells his/her version of how the story must’ve continued from where Robin left it unsolved. Characters change, motives change and what ensues is a collection of very imaginative tales told by every member in the room.
On the face of it, the story doesn’t appeal much but things take a U-turn once Ankur disappears. The story told by Rajat Kapoor stands out to be the most intriguing and attention grabbing. Simone Singh’s version looks too short and rather cryptic. Prashant Narayanan’s version has a very interesting take on the whole situation though he changes the entire story. His story is then taken forward partially by Vinay Pathak and given a proper shape by Sandhya Mridul.
On the performance front Kay Kay Menon excels and how. He’s got an author backed role and he delivers with utmost conviction(this guy never goes wrong in any damn performance). Its amazing to see him playing caring hubby, a con-man after money, a chauvinistic drunk etc. Truly hats off. He’s done multiple roles in one film. How many actors today can do that? Sonali Kulkarni is competent though she yells a little too much at times. Frankly i’ve never liked her performances but here she has good roles written and does justice to it. She too is playing multiple characters but not with as much conviction as Kay Kay. Parvin Dabas is alright. Not much of a role. Though he is important to the story, his character is largely in the background. Vinay Pathak is excellent as the cop. He provides comic relief in a mystery/thriller and yet it doesn’t look out of place. The 4 friends sitting in the living room(Rajat, Simone, Prashant and Sandhya) barely have roles. They simply narrate their version of the story and thats that.
Songs and Cinematography are passe. No special focus/attention on them. This is a writer’s film all the way.
I thought the whole Simone Singh-Sandhya Mridul backbiting situation was unnecessary. It was just getting in the way of the story telling session. They should rather have given more time and a better script to Simone Singh’s version of the story. I really think her version needs a hell of a lot of polishing.
On the whole ‘Via Darjeeling’ can be watched for multiple reasons. A good basic plot, imaginative story telling, good characters and above all Kay Kay Menon, an actor who never fails to impress.
