Ishqiya-Movie Review

Ishqiya is a compelling watch!

"Ishqiya" starring Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi and Vidya Balan, a gripping tale of love, lust, greed and deceit, is written and directed by debutante Abhishek Chaubey. Vishal Bharadwaj the man who gave us Kaminey, Omkara, Maqbool, Makdee, The Blue Umbrella, et al has co-written and produced this flick, apart from composing the songs.

The movie revolves around the three principal characters Khalujaan, Babban and Krishna (played by the aforementioned respectively), Khalu and Babban (Uncle & nephew) being petty theives and on the run after double-crossing their boss. They end up in Gorakhpur at a friends place only to find his widow Krishna. If Khalujaan's flirting with Krishna is old fashioned, Babban's advances and wooing is more bindaas.

The script, the screenplay and dialogues are crisp and to the point, which means it doesn't test your patience at any point during its just about two hour running time.

Casting is bang-on and each and every character is well etched, to the extent that even the girl in the bus who appears only in a couple of shots in a song sequence ends up making an impression. The old lady outside Krishna's home and Nandu (who has a couple of brilliant one-liners) are enough instances for the same.

It is an understatement to say Naseeruddin Shah is brilliant. He is simply adorable, more so in the brilliantly composed and rendered (by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan) song "Dil to bachcha hai ji".

Its no easy task to match up to the master. But Arshad Warsi stands up and delivers a powerful performance. His comic timing needs no introduction and it comes to the fore yet again in some brilliant one-liners. Infact, the chemistry between these two is something one should look out for.

If you thought she looked good and performed well as Auro's mom in Paa, Vidya Balan has taken it to the next level here, delivering a brilliant performance complete with many shades from lust to deception, apart from looking quite delicious too ;).

Mohana Krishna's cinematography and Vishal's songs are major assets to this movie.

Director Abhishek Chaubey acquaints himself quite well with this thoroughly enjoyable and engaging fare. I will be waiting for your next one Abhishek!

Go for Ishqiya. It is a well made and very interesting movie, unlike anything you have seen in recent times!!