Ek Doctor Ki Maut | The Critique

Have you seen an actor performing, in a movie? If you haven’t seen Pankaj Kapur, in one of the best NFDC productions, “Ek Doctor Ki Maut”, then I bet you haven’t seen one. It’s a story about the struggle of a doctor and his close ones, all struggling in different ways, though around the same cause. The struggle to prove a doctor’s research correct, not just scientifically but ethically as well, was the spirit of the script.

Pankaj Kapur, in his very own master style, has played the character of Dr. Roy so beautifully and in such a subtle manner, that not just once but almost every time he comes on screen you would just say - “Wow”. He makes you feel the feeling of a scientist, he makes you live his dreams, he makes you feel the pain he is bearing and he makes you feel his inner screams. Pankaj Kapur has superbly underplayed his usual self to portray, in the right amount, Dr. Roy’s dedication, his sudden burst of anger, his struggle with the society in the light of reality, his negligence towards his family for the sake of his research, his strengths and his weaknesses. You can see him smiling, crying, shouting, being sympathetic, feeling pity over the actual sick patients and at times over the sick ones of our society. The character is indeed a beautiful one to perform, for any actor. It brings out the stability, control and passion of an actor by challenging him to dive in the ocean of feelings to bring out the right pearls to be shown to the world.

This movie also has some other very fine actors, of the likes of, Shabana Azmi, Irfan Khan, Deepa Sahi and Vijayendra Ghadge, with Shabana Azmi truly demanding a special mention for a brilliant performance. She, as the wife of this struggling, sympathetic, short-tempered, negligent yet brilliant scientist husband, has done an amazing job to complement Pankaj Kapur’s show. All this and much more, makes this three National Award, one Film Fare and two State Award winning movie, a must watch.

Written By: Gaurav Karmakar

EK Ruka Hua Faisla-The Critique

I happened to watch ‘Ek Ruka Hua Faisla’ about an year back, with high expectations. After all, it is known for being Indian take on Sydney Lumet’s Fantastic directorial debut movie, 12 Angry Men. Also to ERHF’s advantage, i haven’t seen the original, which does not cloud my judgement and lets me assess the movie to its own merit.

As i just mentioned, previous experiences cloud our judgement. This forms the main theme of the movie. Does a person from lower class deserve to be given a benefit of doubt? Does a liar always lie or maybe in some situation a liar might also tell the truth?

Movie starts with judge, instructing 12 jurors to unanimously decide the fate of a slum dwelling boy accused of killing his father. All evidences point towards the boy. It seems like an open and shut case to the all of the jury. All but one juror. Juror 8 is not convinced, either of boy’s guilt or his innocence. You see, its matter of life and death, and there is no harm over going through evidence again.What follows is the discussion over boy’s guilt, and examining of all evidences.

Beauty of the film lies in the fact that on closer looks evidences are not fool proof, and jurors are not unbiased or specially interested in dispensing justice. How the judgement changes from unanimous guilt to unanimous doubt is fascinating to watch. Before this happens jurors must be confronted, and made to reason. Jurors must confront their own prejudices. Prejudices come in form of class prejudice, younger generation prejudice and plain non-chalance for a human life.

To flesh out the conflict, ERHF boasts of impressive performances from likes of Pankaj Kapoor, Annu Kapoor, KK Raina, in that order. Basu Chatterjee, controls his cast and performances with great skill. With most of the film shot in a room, Basu cleverly places his camera as to transport viewers into the same room. He makes us the thirteenth juror.

Ek Ruka Hua Faisla is undoubtedly a fine jury/courtroom drama made in India. It has made me curious about the original, which i think is one of the biggest compliment a remake can get.

Written By Ali Naqvi.

Mausam | A Receding Mirage | The Critique

Watch any movie just after 2001: A Space Odyssey and its highly unlikely that you will find it slow paced. Though a little short of three hours, I didn't found Mausam as slow as its made out to be. However, Mausam is definitely lengthy which is pretty understandable because the canvas selected was too big. Mausam worked for me to some extent as I wanted it to be a soft slow love story which can its own leisure time to grow on me. Having said all this, the overall experience was a little disappointing. Two and a nothing from my side.

Plot is very simple. Boy falls in love with girl. Girl feels the same way. However dramatic circumstances lead to separation. They re-unite and confess just to be separated. And finally they unite once for all. This linear story was drawn upon backdrop of three major events: Babri Mosque demolition, Kargil War and Gujrat riots. Sounds good and in pieces came out really well. The problem comes in when people overdo the drama. The focus on love story is lost after a point and more of it becomes a frustrated search of beloved. Here the cinematic value falls after impressive buildup.

Script definitely needed a re-draft. They worked on fine details like having Indo-British Memento in rack and left out big loopholes in story like no matter how early someone has to leave, there is always some time for a phone call... and why the Ferries Wheel? It ruined the climax. At one moment you are impressed by scriptwriter's grey matter, the other moment you start doubting your own judgment. Direction was decent. You can see what Pankaj Kapur tried to do, though he failed. Editing was sloppy. Acting... Frankly speaking, I found this one as one of the best by Shahid. He has grown a lot as an actor. His dialogue delivery was little damp, though. Sonam was average. Supriya Pathak was brilliant. She along with Manoj Pahwa filled the story with life it desperately needed. Others were just okay.

Mausam is one of those movies which failed to deliver what it promised though it had everything needed... or maybe a little more. This more was the problem.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh 

Dharm | Redefining Religion | The Critique

When I saw Eklavya, I literally puked. I closed my ears when I heard that for Oscar's entry, it was chosen oven a certain Pankaj Kapoor movie 'Dharm'. I sensed a scam when I saw Dharm. What kind of weed were the 'so-called' committee members were smoking when they chose a silly and over-the-top Eklavya over an intriguing Dharm? It’s like comparing sour grapes with fine strawberries.

Dream debut is one thing and having a debut with a movie like Dharm is another. Such a movie is once in a decade thing, if not more. Dharm is about religion, as the word literally mean in English, and explores religion in a new way. We have seen many movies where orthodoxy is slammed but Dharm justifies it beautifully and slowly transcends into a secular mode which, again, is affirmed by Dharm only. Religious faith is not seen with disregard but with respect. Rituals are not panned. They are redefined. Its story of a priest known for his values. He is a bit rigid with what he follows. In times of communal riots, his world is toppled when he comes to know that the kid he adopted is Muslim. He wants to repent and what follows has definitely no parallel in whatever cinema I had witnessed till today.

Pankaj Kapoor as Pandit Chaturvedi and Supriya Pathak as obedient wife raised their bar of acting to a new level. As son Shahid will be proud if he can give even 5 minutes of performance that can match his father. Every actor, from the errant son of temple's owner to the business minded pundit, has given fine performances. At times words and metaphors have been used and at times expressions were enough. The backdrop of communal violence added more gravity to the entire plot. If one scene has to be picked, I would pick the scene where Pankaj Kapoor decides to take Chandrayan Vrata.

Editing is brilliant. It’s crisp and very expressive. There is not even one unwanted moment. Background score is impressive. Cinematography left me spell bound. But the winner is definitely the script and direction ably complemented by fine performances. Bhawna Talwar has done a brilliant job as a director. Even for seasoned directors making a movie of this quality is such a feat to achieve. Respect is the word. Comparing it with a sham like Eklavya is an insult.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

Pankaj Kapoor Part - 2 |Television Career | Statesman

Pankaj Kapoor has had a better luck with Television as compared to films. Two distinct names that come to memory are Karamchand and Office Office. Karamchand was a lighter take on a carrot-eating-detective who helps solve murders for the local police with his assistant Kitty. Memorably, much to Kitty surprise each time Detective Karamchand would solve the crime.



More recently he acted in Office Office, which was an excellent satire on corruption in the government agencies in India. He played Musaddilal representing the common man, who time and again is taken for a ride by some government agencies. It was remarkable how every few months the program used to win some or the other new award. By the time Office Office stopped airing it had won over 25 awards. His subtle portrayal of the harried common man is equally enjoyable and makes one think about the current state of affairs.



Back in 90's he also starred in Philips Top 10 along with Satish Kaushik as elder of detective brother duo. It was not a great piece of work but nevertheless was wildly popular. In last 2-3 years both Karamchand and Office Office were made into new series but only Naya Office Office had little success, Karamchand sank without a trace.



Lets see if he can deliver more serials in years to come or rather will the television producers be able to utilize his potential?



Written by Ali Naqvi

Pankaj Kapoor | Movie Career |Statesman

Pankaj Kapoor, one of the finest actors amongst the present lot of character actors. He can easily be put in the list right up there with Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri. Alas, he never got the same fame as the other two. Pankaj Kapoor is a qualified engineer, but his passion for films lead him to join National School of Drama.


6 years later, in 1982 he acted in his first movie 'Arohan'. In 1983 came 'Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro' which is the first movie that had him in a prominent role. Thereafter he starred in another comedy 'Chameli ki Shaadi' co-starring Anil Kapoor. Both films were critically acclaimed but Pankaj Kapoor had only minor roles in them.

In one of his lesser known works is 'Ek Ruka Hua Faisla'(1986) displays the caliber of his acting skills. It was adaptation of hollywood classic '12 Angry Men' with Pankaj Kapoor in a vital role.

Early 90's saw him starring in two important films 'Ek Doctor ki Maut' and 'Roja'. 'Ek Doctor ki Maut' was very highly acclaimed by critics and he won National Award for Best Actor. In 'Roja' he played Kashmiri Terrorist where he got to work with Mani Ratnam.

In 2003, just when most people had started to think that his career was over came 'Maqbool' with him reprising the role of Abbaji. Abbaji was modern take on Shekespeare's Macbeth. He played his role somewhat similar to Marlon Brando's role in Godfather. His performance is easily one of the best by any Indian actor in last 10 years.
Recently an interviewer asked him about his works in progress to which he replied "I am out of work". How such a great actor is out of work is beyond comprehension. This has been tragedy with him all through his career. His talent is under utilized. Hopefully he will keep giving us gems like Abbaji in coming future.
PS- He is directing his son Shahid Kapoor in upcoming film Mausam. Hope both father and son deliver a hit big time!!

Written By Ali Naqvi

Raakh Movie Review | Critique

(shooting of Raakh)

Pankaj Kapoor, Aamir Khan and Santosh Sivan are icons today. The first one is a brilliant actor who can simply eat co-actors on screen like he chews carrot. The second one is one of the outstanding actors of our times who has established himself as a superstar. And the last name is of one of the finest cinematographers of this country. In 1989 they were just names.

In 1989, after stupendous success of Qyamat Se Qyamat Tak, Raakh was released. This was Aamir's second venture that flopped badly. However, like wine, it gained popularity over years and today is widely studied by students of cinema. Directed by Aditya Bhattacharya, son of Basu Bhattacharya, Raakh is an interesting movie and a must watch for cine-lovers.

Aamir (Aamir Khan) is a rich boy who loves a much mature girl, Neeta (Supriya Pathak). One night, a local goon rapes her. He witnesses that but is not able to do anything. He seeks help from a sub-inspector (Pankaj Kapoor) who has taken a stand against the goon in past. However, he is suspended. Now, what can he do? What will Aamir do? Will Neeta's wrongdoers meet their fate? Raakh symbolizes all the answers.

Raakh is not regular cinema. Its hard-hitting and deserves a standing applause. That time, in 1989, this movie might have failed to catch the imagination of masses. But, I guess this happens to every movie that tends to think beyond time. Doesn't it?

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh