Ashdoc's movie review---Bandook

The rural hinterland of Uttar Pradesh---heartland of the planet's largest democracy.....

But does democracy really work here ?? No....What works is the power of BANDOOK---the gun.....

The gun decides who enjoys the fruits of power in elections or
not.....and it is the gun which gives a man respect and standing in
society......

.......For the gun gives power......and in a brutalized and illiterate society a man without power in nothing......

......And not only a man without power is nothing , but he can be crushed and humiliated in a thousand ways.....

Bhola Kewat learns this the hard way......

For he is tied like Jesus Christ onto a cross and physically mutiliated in revenge for a minor misdemeanour.....

But a police inspector waves gun and the crowd which was baying for his blood submits Bhola to him.....

And just as the inspector is about to rape him in the police station (
yeah the inspector is a homo ) Bhola is saved by another man with a
gun.....

And when Bhola returns home to beat his father to pulp for not having
tried to save him , he is told that he is not his son really---he is the
son of an upper caste landlord who slept with his mother to produce him
, a crime for which the father beat the mother mercilessly to no
avail.....

......This is the baptism by fire for Bhola......

And uptil now we have already heard and consumed a mountainload of gaali
galoch that sets the tone for rest the movie.....for this was just the
beginning......

Yeah , dont bring a woman anywhere near this theater for seeing this
movie unless she is used to being verbally abused on a daily basis and
does not mind......

......For the censors have given a real leeway as far as the language in the movie is concerned.....

But all the language and suffering is worth it for Bhola Kewat.....

For having learnt the lesson of the gun hard , he joins a gang and sets
about ruthlessly establishing his awe with the help of the gun......

And he shows that he has the brains as well as the brawn to aim a gun ,
shoot to kill and also to rise in hierarchy of the gang by earning the
respect of his seniors.....

Of course , he has to shamelessly eliminate quite a few rivals , but that's part of the game---the deadly game of death.....

......For the rivals are planning to eliminate him......

But he is gentleman at heart really , if anybody can be at all in his situation and place.....

For when he sees a beautiful woman who has been raped , he saves her from further humiliation.....

And lo !! the beautiful woman falls in love with him---springing the
most unbelievable romance in the unlikeliest of situations.....

An oasis of peace and tenderness in an ocean of war and cruelty......

And Bhola begins to care for her deeply---his love increased by the
fact that she is a deaf mute and cannot tell even her name ( she remains
nameless throughout the film )......

But outside the oasis of peace is the strifetorn world.....a world which
says that the deaf mute woman has broken all rules of caste by living
with bhola.....

And dangerous enemies and even more dangerous friends are plotting and planning to rid the earth of Bhola's burden.....

Its a real jungle out there.....and Bhola knows that there is at least
one gun and one bullet out there that is marked for him.....the rule is
to live for the moment.....not to worry what is in the future....

So does Bhola get to survive ?? And does he manage to save the woman he loves from the clutches of society ??

Go and watch this movie for the answers......

Part ruthlessly actionpacked and part tragic , the movie is garunteed to make an impression on your heart.....

The performances by all are riveting and the atmosphere of rural UP well created.....

.......And even though it has not been flamboyantly publicised like '
Gangs of Wasseypur ' , it ranks no less than that movie in my
opinion.....

Verdict---solid .