So why do I even bother to write a review?! Here's why: I write movie reviews to capture the swelling emotions within me that arise in the immediate aftermath of a genuinely touching moment, that I can relive at a later date. I wrote reviews for movies I didn't like too. Those movies touched a nerve, obviously.
Anyway, after I came out exhilarated from the movie theater and kept raving about 'Love, Sex aur Dhoka' with my friends, I suddenly had this visual of Karan Johar throwing his best (KANK, anyone?) at LSD. And the two movies from the opposite extremes of modern Indian moviemaking spectrum lunge into the air towards each other in slow motion, as psychedelic colours light up the back ground. When they eventually collide (after seven repeat shots in various angles in Balaji Films style) a blinding light appears in the sky (obviously blinding all of us but for only a moment) and Lo, Behold! The glorious visual of KANK and LSD annihilating each other!!
Rejoice earthlings, ANTIMATTER IS BORN!
This time there aren't any Dan-Brown-style-Papal-sky-drops that follow. This is for real folks! LSD is on a different plane altogether when it comes to movie-making. The use of camera is the last in the good things about the movie. The best is characterisation. I couldn't think of any character in the film - ANY CHARACTER, mind you - that isn't real.
Three different types of cameras follow characters in three stories with random inter-linking. And the links are such that the most crucial part of each story ends up as an insignificant part of another story. There is one thing common, however - Love, Sex and Dhoka (Betrayal).
While a wannabe director who is a self-professed dilwala tries to rise above the social quota allotted to him, a shop girl seeks love in a surveillance camera's lust. Yet another worshipper of glamour stoops to give away everything she has to get it all back on her own terms.
The beauty of each story lies in the stark reality of each emotion portrayed. The reality of a crazed khandani type methodically hacking each part of his own sister's body curdles your blood. You will loathe at the jealous love of a frustrated youth betraying trust. The corrupt marriage of information and entertainment is taken head-on by simple idealogy only to see it all being made a mockery of in a music video. There is nothing filmy in this film.
Dibakar Banerjee extracted the best out of each actor. Even the punjabi pop-star doesn't seem overboard inspite of his larger than life character. The culmination of the brilliance is when the pop star makes mockery of his criminal act by producing a music video about it, starring the same girl whose honour was attempted to be saved.
I was taken aback by this movie, something that hasn't happened in a long long time with Indian movies. Ofcourse, that won't be the same with every other viewer in this country because various people like various things and forcing Karan Johar on all of them wasn't that fair. With Dibakar Banerjee, the balance is set right and I'm really very happy about it, that's all. The middle aged gentleman next to me was sufficiently embarrassed throughout the movie for having fallen victim to the rating game in newspapers. I hope the next time he sees Four Stars for a movie he won't automatically assume it has Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol running towards each other in slow motion.
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