The Last Act

I have always mentioned in earlier reviews about how Anurag Kashyap is the torchbearer of new-age cinema in India & one of the few who does it in style. Regardless of how the film ended up, a collaborative effort of a dozen filmmakers telling their own stories woven at the heart with a single track is a brilliant idea.

Coming to the film, a murder takes place & plunges you into a vortex of clues, deceit, investigation & a tour over India where each city has a different story to tell. Cops bring in a theater group owner, Saurabh Shukla, believing that one of his team is the man murdered. Taking various clues off his body, they explore them all in quick snippets to give us a full length feature by stringing various shorts.

Though each filmmaker has his own baby to showcase, they are all held together by Anurag's own story which is complex, interesting but a bit stretched.

From the various segments, I really like the feel of the Kolkata & Pune tracks, Delhi - not so much. The music is apt & visuals are inconsistent, keeping in sync with each director.

The runtime stretches the film a bit & with a few stories lesser, it could have been a really good package.

I'd just say that the film makes you think, gives you a not-good-not-bad fnale & leaves you coming out thinking, While the film overall is a one-time-watch, I suggest you go in with a coffee in hand to keep you alert so that the sluggish parts dont get to you. Looking at how Hobbit has also released today, I would assume it would be a far better choice. (Though not seen it yet).

Ideally a perfect Sunday TV watch!

In today's times Give a person a digital camera and he can become a filmmaker. In India there are so many short films floating around on the internet that it would take an exhausting curative exercise to select the best from the lot.

Amongst all this Anurag Kashyap, Sudhir Mishra and Chakri Toleti embark on an adventure of discovering new filmmakers through this experimental film called The Last Act.

Though it claims to be India's first collaborative feature I think last year's Project 11 was the first one to attempt something like this.

The film takes off from a plot written by Anurag Kashyap which is about a mutilated dead body found with 12 clues on it. 12 directors from across India were chosen to make 12 short films that would connect the dots and make sense of it as a full length feature film.

Starting off with Mumbai the film travels to Ghazibad,Kolkata, Delhi, Kalyan, Pune, Chandigarh, Bengaluru, Hisar, Lucknow,Chennai and Gwalior.

Out of the 12 short stories the ones set in Ghaziabad, Kolkata, Kalyan and Pune are quirky and interesting. The Pune and Kolkata act stands out amongst them and the actor in the Pune act leaves a strong impact. The Pune act also has the best humour in the film.

The film derails in the 2nd half. The Chandigarh act is the worst amongst the entire lot in the 2nd half. It felt that either the director is highly inspired or was giving his personal tribute to Anurag's No Smoking. Post that every act starts crumbling under the impressive acts put up in the 1st half.

By the end the film became loaded with too much information and stories to handle and retain. With 4 acts less it could have been a tighter and better film.

Even though it doesn't work as a whole there is a lot going for it in parts.

Most of the directors show talent within the limited means but I would like to see more of the ones who directed the Kolkata and Pune act.

Word of mouth - The Last Act is an interesting experiment that needs to be seen. It should be aired on T.V. as a miniseries

Rating - *** (above average)

Ticket Meter - worth 150 bucks

The Last Act is an experimental movie concept that Anurag Kashyap has tried out with . The story starts with the discovery of a brutally mutilated body and then 12 Directors in 12 different cities were given one clue each to flesh out and narrate their story. Each segment is about 15minutes long. The new Directors apparently were not even introduced to each other till the editing part.

As a concept it was intriguing to me. Thankfully, as a movie it works in most parts. The story jumps from city to city as each clue is followed by the police in each city. The common motif that links each story to each other is the ubiquitous chai that every policeman drinks while on the case.

Most of the Directors have stuck to the knitting and concentrated on moving the story forward. A few of them, particularly, the ones set in Pune and Chandigarh fall prey to their avant grade instincts to do something arty and different.

This is ok if the short film is your alone and you can explore your kinky side. But in a team effort, especially a remote team effort with it may have been a better to keep the focus on the story.

Some of the stories reveal fantastic sub stories that totally add to the suspense and intrigue. My favourite was the one set in Kolkata. Gentle and nuanced, I look forward to seeing more from this director.

The movie drags a wee but inthe second half but very briefly.The ending when the mystery is solved is pretty well done though a bit of a let down. There is a beautiful Kabir Doha in the end credits as a bonus.

I think this movie is worth a watch. One, to judge for yourself the merits of such an experiment and two, as a pretty ok suspense move. Go for it.

The Last Act is a film brimming with conceptual originality but it is way too over-wrought in its elaborate execution, to be fully enjoyed as a feature. Helmed by the messiah of indie cinema, Anurag Kashyap, the film teams up an army of 12 directors from 12 Indian cities, each of whom have made a short film that constructs one dynamic feature length film clocking over 2 hours.

We haven't seen this experiment before and just for pushing that barrier, Kashyap and his ilk of filmmakers deserve credit. But the problems with The Last Act are far too many for it to become a memorable film. The only way it will be remembered for could be the novelty of its narrative, not the contents.

A heavily mutilated body is found near the outskirts of a town by the cops who discover 12 clues leading them to 12 different cities and all sorts of creeps. A theatre group, a couple of seemingly amateur (and VERY pseudo-intellectual) detectives, cops, some more cops, an English tutor in a small town, practitioner of dark arts ... it is a long twisted lists.

This is my problem.

Almost everyone in The Last Act is wacked out, loose in the head or let's say it this way - does obvious acts of being abnormal. As if there is no duplicity that can be found in normal people and people who do murders are creeps, a band of serious misfits in an urgent need of immediate medical attention.

There are so many characters introduced, you eventually lose track and after a point do not care about anybody's existence or death. And it is all very dark and gloomy - especially the camera treatment and the background score. Somewhere it is evident that too much effort is put, and not to jaw-droppingly great effect.

Clues after clues are uncovered; many seemingly inconsequential : some text on an advertising pamphlet, a watch here; a screw there. A pair of glasses, stains of vada-pao deliberately added. I'm all for convoluted plot points, but there should be great joy in placing them together. Here, I found it exhausting to watch and too much information to take in. Its a flawed exercise in excess.

Although some performances are very good, The Last Act is not as immersive as it starts out to be, for it loses steam till it reaches, well, the last act.