No maafi for this one
Review of 7 Khoon Maaf by Yashodeep Sengupta
Generally Vishal Bharadwaj’s brand of movies always garners a lot of expectations. 7 Khoon Maaf, too, was not spared of the hype. Promotions, Priyanka Chopra and Darrrllling – all elements were ensured to be driven home to the audience before the release. So did it live up to the humongous expectations? Umm, not quite. A riveting performance by Priyanka Chopra is marred by unconvincing tracks, a fresh aspect to the story is dented by poor direction, fine acting by some is butchered by shoddy editing, and a pacy first impression is damaged by the immense length of the movie. It’s also sad to notice flaws in Vishal’s work, especially after giving us powerful films like Maqbool and Omkara and endearing ones as Ishqiya and The Blue Umbrella. A friend of mine joked Vishal should have taken a tripping in order to match up to his earlier calibre. He, basically, fails with 7 Khoon Maaf.
Primarily set in Goa, 7 Khoon Maaf is a tale of Susanna’s journey and her search for eternal love, which eludes her every time. And the solution? Not a divorce, neither an extra marital affair, nor an elopement. Susanna has only one answer for cheaters, wife-beaters, MCP husbands – Khoon or Murder. So husbands, one after another, get sacrificed at the altar of her riddance and a hope to find someone better the next time. While Major Rodrigues (Neil Nitin Mukesh) is made to be devoured by a man-eating panther, Mushroom da (Naseeruddin Shah) is made victim of a gun-duelling ‘game’. The suave Nicholas Vronsky (new actor) is made to be bit by poisonous snakes, Wasillulah Khan (Irrfan Khan) is buried alive in snow. The grotesque nature of the murders also extend to other scenes in the movie, like the one where Rodrigues mock-caresses Susanna’s face with his half-amputated leg, or when wounds of a dead body for medical examination are shown in too minute details. But sadly, the theme is discontinuous and thus, does not register much.
What registers are fresh concepts and motifs, used craftily in the film. So, be it the whip-fight between Major Rodrigues and a 4 feet midget, a kinky John Abraham in nightgown and drug overdose, Wasillulah Khan romping on Susanna (or Sultana) at nights, a Russian double-agent, Keemat Lal’s (Annu Kapoor) sex-scene with Susanna (or Madame) thanks to Viagra, or the death knell scenes, 7 Khoon Maaf would be watched in posterity more for these elements rather than anything else.
Priyanka Chopra as the cerebral, attractive and desperate Susanna is just about okay. Her roles in Kaminey, Fashion and Aitraaz were better. Having said that, Priyanka is not too loud and despite her botoxed lips and caked face and (later) no make-up look, manages to look good, even as the 60-year old. Noteworthy performances are done by Irrfan Khan, Naseeruddin Shah and Vivaan Shah (Naseer’s son and the narrator of the movie). But it’s Annu Kapoor, who steals the show with his excellent portrayal of the cop in love. Neil Nitin Mukesh, too – despite his obnoxious pronunciations- impresses with his twitch of an eye and smirk on his face. The ‘Aadamkhor Major’ certainly looks his part. John Abraham is beefy and just about okay. The roles of Maggie (Usha Uthup), Khan and Goonga (the midget) are important.
Music is average. Tracks such as ‘Darling’ and ‘Bekaraar’ stand out. I have talked about direction and editing earlier, which are poor. Cinematography is good and the locales of Kashmir and Goa come alive with it. Background score could have been better but lighting has been brilliantly used in the film (a big relief from the dark frames used in Kaminey)
But what causes maximum damage is the inane ending. That bit spoils whatever redeeming features the movie was peppered with. And needless to say, the sheer length of the movie (close to 3 hours). Horrid memories of LOC Kargil came flashing before my eyes.
I would not recommend people to watch the movie in theatres, but maybe at home on a DVD. It’s a one-time watch, slightly disturbing, slightly eerie, but mostly disengaging, awfully long and with (reiterating) an apology of an ending. Thumbs down for that. What was attempted to be conveyed as surreal, turns out to be funny and stupid.
Rating: **/5
Review of 7 Khoon Maaf by Yashodeep Sengupta
Generally Vishal Bharadwaj’s brand of movies always garners a lot of expectations. 7 Khoon Maaf, too, was not spared of the hype. Promotions, Priyanka Chopra and Darrrllling – all elements were ensured to be driven home to the audience before the release. So did it live up to the humongous expectations? Umm, not quite. A riveting performance by Priyanka Chopra is marred by unconvincing tracks, a fresh aspect to the story is dented by poor direction, fine acting by some is butchered by shoddy editing, and a pacy first impression is damaged by the immense length of the movie. It’s also sad to notice flaws in Vishal’s work, especially after giving us powerful films like Maqbool and Omkara and endearing ones as Ishqiya and The Blue Umbrella. A friend of mine joked Vishal should have taken a tripping in order to match up to his earlier calibre. He, basically, fails with 7 Khoon Maaf.
Primarily set in Goa, 7 Khoon Maaf is a tale of Susanna’s journey and her search for eternal love, which eludes her every time. And the solution? Not a divorce, neither an extra marital affair, nor an elopement. Susanna has only one answer for cheaters, wife-beaters, MCP husbands – Khoon or Murder. So husbands, one after another, get sacrificed at the altar of her riddance and a hope to find someone better the next time. While Major Rodrigues (Neil Nitin Mukesh) is made to be devoured by a man-eating panther, Mushroom da (Naseeruddin Shah) is made victim of a gun-duelling ‘game’. The suave Nicholas Vronsky (new actor) is made to be bit by poisonous snakes, Wasillulah Khan (Irrfan Khan) is buried alive in snow. The grotesque nature of the murders also extend to other scenes in the movie, like the one where Rodrigues mock-caresses Susanna’s face with his half-amputated leg, or when wounds of a dead body for medical examination are shown in too minute details. But sadly, the theme is discontinuous and thus, does not register much.
What registers are fresh concepts and motifs, used craftily in the film. So, be it the whip-fight between Major Rodrigues and a 4 feet midget, a kinky John Abraham in nightgown and drug overdose, Wasillulah Khan romping on Susanna (or Sultana) at nights, a Russian double-agent, Keemat Lal’s (Annu Kapoor) sex-scene with Susanna (or Madame) thanks to Viagra, or the death knell scenes, 7 Khoon Maaf would be watched in posterity more for these elements rather than anything else.
Priyanka Chopra as the cerebral, attractive and desperate Susanna is just about okay. Her roles in Kaminey, Fashion and Aitraaz were better. Having said that, Priyanka is not too loud and despite her botoxed lips and caked face and (later) no make-up look, manages to look good, even as the 60-year old. Noteworthy performances are done by Irrfan Khan, Naseeruddin Shah and Vivaan Shah (Naseer’s son and the narrator of the movie). But it’s Annu Kapoor, who steals the show with his excellent portrayal of the cop in love. Neil Nitin Mukesh, too – despite his obnoxious pronunciations- impresses with his twitch of an eye and smirk on his face. The ‘Aadamkhor Major’ certainly looks his part. John Abraham is beefy and just about okay. The roles of Maggie (Usha Uthup), Khan and Goonga (the midget) are important.
Music is average. Tracks such as ‘Darling’ and ‘Bekaraar’ stand out. I have talked about direction and editing earlier, which are poor. Cinematography is good and the locales of Kashmir and Goa come alive with it. Background score could have been better but lighting has been brilliantly used in the film (a big relief from the dark frames used in Kaminey)
But what causes maximum damage is the inane ending. That bit spoils whatever redeeming features the movie was peppered with. And needless to say, the sheer length of the movie (close to 3 hours). Horrid memories of LOC Kargil came flashing before my eyes.
I would not recommend people to watch the movie in theatres, but maybe at home on a DVD. It’s a one-time watch, slightly disturbing, slightly eerie, but mostly disengaging, awfully long and with (reiterating) an apology of an ending. Thumbs down for that. What was attempted to be conveyed as surreal, turns out to be funny and stupid.
Rating: **/5
