Inkaar

Inkaar is a drama about sexual harassment. What constitutes sexual harassment? When does flirtation become harassment? Does calling someone in off... read more

Inkaar is a drama about sexual harassment. What constitutes sexual harassment? When does flirtation become harassment? Does calling someone in office 'sexy' mean that you are coming on to her?

The movie explores all these questions pretty intelligently. But at the bottom of all the drama it is a story about love, hurt, anger and betrayal. And that to me was a bit of a dampener. I would have rather preferred it to be about workplace politics and the way men and women use the weapons at hand, such as sex, to achieve their ambitions or thwart someone else's.

Mala is Rahul's prot\xe9g\xe9 in an ad agency and she quickly rises to the top under his tutelage. The long work hours and work trips lead to them falling in love, at least Mala does and when Rahul goes on to the next catch she is hurt. She gets transferred to Delhi and then movies on to New York where she is a huge success. The Company makes her a member of the Board and she doesn't tell Rahul who is the CEO, preferring it to come from her bosses. Does this make him angry or hurt? Is that why he becomes nasty? Is she insinuating that he is harassing her so that he is forced to leave and she can become the CEO?

A Board of enquiry led by a social worker starts peeling the onion to find out the real truth. And then the story shifts to the emotional side and loses steam on this count. However, the emotional drama is still very strong and gripping and leaves you pretty much exhausted at the end.

Arjun Rampal is first rate as Rahul. First, he is dishy and then he looks bugged and upset. Hard to not fall for that. Chitrangada looks gorgeous and puts in a great performance too. It's hard to carry off the body language of a younger person but she does that with ease in the flashbacks. The supporting cast is very good too. I loved seeing Deepti Naval again.

I recommend Inkaar. It's a thought provoking movie on a contentious issue at one level and at the same time proves to us that we beneath all our bravado and ambition, all we need is love.

view less

When things go wrong between two people they take some radical decisions. Maya ( Chitrangadha Singh)takes one such decision. Her decision is that... read more

When things go wrong between two people they take some radical decisions. Maya ( Chitrangadha Singh)takes one such decision. Her decision is that she accuses Rahul ( Arjun Rampal) of sexual harassment.

A social worker ( Dipti Naval) is brought in to listen to both sides of the story along with different point of views of people working in the office. But the truth always lies hidden between those two people and when over 3 days they scratch beyond the surface the real truth emerges.

Sudhir Mishra handles the sensitive subject of sexual harassment without taking sides and succeeds in exploring the emotion of love hidden behind the iron curtains of anger, power and words that fail to reach out and say what is intended.

The screenplay follows a repetitive structure of going back and forth into the past and the present which at times bogs down your mind. The constant repetition of party scenes, drinking session, office meetings bores you after a point.

I never thought Arjun Rampal could hold a solo film so intense but he surprised me with his performance. Chitragandha Singh walks shoulder to shoulder with him but her performance doesn't convey the different emotions the character is going through .

Word of mouth - Beyond the anger, rage and hurt lies love. Inkaar is about human being's refusal to see it.

Rating - *** ( Above Average)

Ticket Meter - worth 150 bucks

view less

Sudhir Mishra's portrayal of contemporary issues which are usually delivered in a manner that reflect a conflict/understanding between certain soc... read more

Sudhir Mishra's portrayal of contemporary issues which are usually delivered in a manner that reflect a conflict/understanding between certain societal classes (Think Hazaron Khwahishein Aisi, Chameli) is by and large done with a skillful sensitivity that exhibits genuine concern.

The man has a portfolio of enviable titles that are strongly rooted with contemporary themes which among other things, also make for a great reflection of our times. He makes cinema that is challenging to critique, in terms of the ideology it represents.

So one is rudely under-whelmed when Mishra employs an Asghar Farhadi-excelled tactic while borrowing an Aaron Sorkin-pioneered set-up.

In Farhadi's A Separation, a splitting couple is forced to confront moralistic nightmares that demonstrate the almost indistinguishable subjectivity of truth. In Aaron Sorkin-written The Social Network, the narrative intercuts between three timelines, two of which are legal interrogations against the guy who revolutionized the way we would communicate.

Mishra, if not flawlessly, but effectively makes use of both these ploys, but flatters when it comes to providing a satisfying resolution to a complex issue that he so boldly talks about. Work-place harassment in the prevailing corporate culture is a thriving reality, and also something that is immensely challenging to address.

In Mishra's Inkaar, a woman has an affair with the company's top-brass and promptly climbs the success ladder, raising questions about her character and the means she used to reach the coveted chair.

Instead of steadily focusing on the core problem - that of a certain prejudice attached when a woman is flourishing in her career and the subsequent abuse that in turn may prevent her from pursuing her ambitions, Mishra distracts you with an annoyingly stylized cinematography which is unexplainably sepia-toned. In a failed attempt to be non-judgmental about the central concern, Mishra doesn't address it at all, providing laughably ridiculous conclusions which would entirely turn-off a dynamic woman about to enter her professional life.

His reading of gender-roles is often misguided, or quite stereotypical. He makes his leading lady fall in love with the man she sleeps with the first time they are out on an outdoor assignment. When the man shows an oh-it-was-only-a-fling kind of an attitude, Mishra quite literally makes the girl fall on her knees, making her trip over and over again, while weeping miserably all that time.

When she has moved beyond that zone, and doing particularly well in the same advertising firm, the man in Rampal is baffled and at one instance, collapses. It suggests that how we still live in the times when the growing success of a woman becomes highly unbearable to the man she has had a relationship with, and so much that he gets a stroke.

In these staunchly restrictive roles, it helps that Rampal and Chitrangada share a genuinely strong equation which makes us worry about both of them. Despite its sexism, Inkaar for a greater part leaves enough ambiguity for you to actually believe that Rampal may not be the sleaze after all. The rampant politics at work is sharply executed, but some of the lines are excruciatingly bad, and at times, unintentionally funny.

Nonetheless, the film has got enough saucy content to keep you consistently engaged. Had it not been for the uninspired use of technique, Inkaar could have been elevated to a better standard. At least better than classifying it in the same bracket as a Bhandarkar soup.

The camera movements are jarring, and oddly reminiscent of a scene from any of Ram Gopal Verma's nightmarish products, while the dialogue and the sexual puns are a result of typical Bhandarkar cases.

In terms of performances, Arjun Rampal looks like he's saved his life from a zombie-house, but hasn't got entirely free from the after-effects. His expression remains unchanged most of the times. When he feels bored, he scowls with his eyebrows, or creates a forced air of seriousness. On the other hand, Singh, isn't flawlessly competent, but sustains the anxiety and frustration, the anguish and the helplessness with an identifiable persona.

Inkaar could be lauded for raising a very grave concern - that of sexual harassment in an environment where the woman should be least worried about it, but it lacks the courage or the intelligence to take a thorough stand, and provides ridiculous solutions - one that doesn't solve the problem, but only neglects it.

Trust the world Mr. Mishra, if running away was the answer, we'd all be tumbling over each other by now.

view less

What everyone reveres in a Sudhir Mishra film is its ingrained ability to exceed expectations. So they are all excited about the portrayal of unsee... read more

What everyone reveres in a Sudhir Mishra film is its ingrained ability to exceed expectations. So they are all excited about the portrayal of unseen side of Advertising industry in his new film Inkaar. The film, written by Manoj Tyagi, is the story of a woman who gets exalted quickly in the ad world; all thanks to her acumen and sudden-rush-of-blood creativity laced with loads of opportunism. Thus the film moves away from reality as the industry is not infested with epicurean lunatics and there are other methods to consolidate your career in advertising. This one-sided, women-centric approach marred an otherwise engaging tale. If Mishra wanted to make a film and showcase the guts, glory and gumption of his central characters then he should have picked a different fork. Read the full review here http://insidethecelluloid.blogspot.in/2013/01/movie-review-inkaar-hindi-where.html view less

This is the next movie of Sudhir Mishra I watched after “Yeh Saali Zindagi” *ing Irfaan, Arunoday Singh, Aditi Rao and Chitrangada. Inkaar has... read more

This is the next movie of Sudhir Mishra I watched after “Yeh Saali Zindagi” *ing Irfaan, Arunoday Singh, Aditi Rao and Chitrangada. Inkaar has Chitrangada and Arjun Rampal in the lead role and as promoted, by the film maker, we all know it is a movie revolving around Office Politics and Sexual Harassment.

The movie is all about two attractive and ambitious persons, Rahul Verma (Arjun Rampal) and Maya Luthra (Chitrangada Singh) working in an ad agency. Series of flirtatious behavior from Rahul which is also enjoyed by Maya initially but all of a sudden she files charges of sexual harassment on Rahul. The complete movie is shot in three days with the investigating officer (Deepti Naval) trying to understand both sides of the story to finally come up with her decision.

Vinu Gyaan: This topic of sexual harassment has been already seen by the audience in Disclosure *ing Demi Moore and its Indian Avtaar Aitraaz *ing Akshay Kumar & Priyanka Chopra. The movie is stretched at some places. And Chitrangada looks great in this movie. Its not something which would be loved by all. I shall give it 2.5 stars.

view less