Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi

One of my many thousand desires was to catch Hazaaron Kwaishein Aisi; I accomplished it recently. Though it wasn't a big hit even in the multiplexes, this movie was talked about, especially for the performances of its lead actors.

Kay Kay is fairly established, seen in other movies like Sarkar, Mein Meri Patni Aur Woh and Black Friday. Industry folks raved about Chitrangada Singh, while she went out of bounds. Shiny (Roshan?) Ahuja is more known for his appearance in Sins.

Firstly, don't get misled by the poster above. As is the norm, it's just meant to look cool. The story is about three people over many years -- no-cliche triangular love with the backdrop of Emergency. The protagonists also represent three different outlooks of people at that time. The support characters complete the other kinds of people in that environment. All characters are perfectly grey.

The story is solid and original. Never mind the disclaimer that it isn't based on real people and events; we know what it really means. The screenplay isn't bad too. But I felt there was a compromise on the editing table to cut down the length of the movie. Scenes rush past quickly before you can absorb them fully.

Songs are mostly used in the background and complement the narration well. The limit of the budget is evident in the technical aspects of the movie; but that creates no problems. The English used in the movie seems a lot out of place in many instances.

Shiny Ahuja walks away with top acting honours, almost at the end. Chitrangada makes an impressive debut.

Sudhir Mishra didn't create much impact with Chameli, which I guess was burdened with Kareena's non-commercial attempt. Here, he makes you take notice of him quite well.

Overall, this is one of the Indian movies that is worth watching in the past few years.

Check out the movie's Web-site while it lasts.