Cast – Priyanka Chopra, Prakash Jha, Manav Kaul, Kiran Karmarkar
Director/Screenplay by – Prakash Jha
Had this movie not been named after Gangaajal, it would only have been a little fair to the movie itself and the expectations that audience had from it.
Not that it’s not entertaining, but it’s no way near Gangaajal, only a bleak shadow if it.
Similar plots, similar characters can’t help but make you reminisce the original and the superb piece of work that it was… actors, script, scenes et al.
Well… this one… was only just an average fare I would have to say… in terms of script or screenplay considering that there was nothing new to add. The rustic feel, so characteristic of Prakash Jha genre is evident but not as bright as his earlier works.
Performance wise… the hero… Prakash Jha (if u keep in account the screen space) was the surprise factor and a pleasant one at that. He seemed fairly at ease for a debut of this length and prominence. His character and its demeanour was pretty impressive.
The heroine… Priyanka… unfortunately… as I feared… left too much to ask for. I honestly couldn’t see the hard cop thing in her. The body language, the makeup… just didn’t impress… the swagger that should have been was more of sashaying.
Where was the hard work in developing the body language, the right looks and brilliance as of Shivani Shivaji Roy of Mardaani? Sorry, but Rani’s benchmark was too high for Priyanka. For that matter Tabu was good too in Drishyam.
Ninad Kamath and Manav Kaul in negative were good but Manav Kaul was highly underutilized.
The songs could have seemed good had they not been jarring at high volumes as a background scores in most unlikeliest of the scenes. They seemed to interrupt in the build-up rather than add.
On the whole, the film is entertaining and good but expectations and comparisons would take a lot away from it. But as an audience, we can’t help it. Can we?
I would rate it 7 on 10.