Ashdoc's movie review---Chakravyuh

While newspapers and television blare out visions of ' India shining ' and people like me go to watch movies like Chakravyuh in posh multiplexes eating chicken sandwiches along with cappuccino coffee , there's a rebellion smoldering in the heart of rustic India....Its the cry of the havenots who are demanding their share of the pie which has been unjustly taken over by haves like me....

....And director Prakash Jha is the person fittingly capable of giving voice to this cry---for he among all the film makers of Bollywood is the one who knows the rustic heart of India too well , having filmed it brilliantly in films like Gangajal and Apaharan and many others....

.....And as the Naxalite rebels run amok in central India under their leader Rajan ( played by Manoj Bajpai ),police officer Adil Khan ( played by Arjun Rampal ) is posted in their area to try to curb the problem.... The reason for this---big industrialists have one more plan to loot the mineral resources of the rebels' region in the name of development ; but they cant do it unless the rebellion is crushed....

Arjun's maverick friend ( played by Abhay Deol ) has a brainwave that is all too familiar to Hindi cinema viewers who have watched the film Namakharam---he volunteers to become a Trojan horse among the rebels who will bring the Naxalite leader played by Manoj Bajpai into police custody.

But predictably ( especially to those who have watched Namakharam ) he develops a sympathy for the Naxalite cause when he sees the terrible conditions under which the people whom the Naxalites protect are living and the way they are being exploited by the rich....and he thinks he has begun to find love for a woman among them....

But he does not change sides until a terrible incident involving the woman he likes forces him to....

So does Arjun Rampal's plan to catch Manoj Bajpai succeed ?? And how will Abhay's decision to change sides affect their friendship ?? Go and watch the movie for that....

To those who have a yen for romance---Prakash Jha is at his best when he is showing the understated and never-to-be-fulfilled romance between Abhay and his love interest ( played by Anjali Patil ). Its a romance that springs up while playing with death together and is shown in subtle undercurrents rather than moments of passion or expression . And newcomer Anjali Patil puts up an authentic performance as the girl who joins the Naxalite rebellion to escape the lustfilled clutches of landlords---but only to tragically suffer the same fate that she wanted to escape....

And to those who have a tilt towards action---the action scenes are well executed too , with hordes of Naxalites and policemen attacking each other with a hailstorm of automatic rifle gunfire in several well crafted sequences....INSAS rifles , Kalashnikovs and self loading rifles fire in tandem with latest guns having laser dot markers....

But why does Arjun's wife Esha Gupta hang about half naked in sexy clothes in the middle of Naxalite country in a couple of scenes?? Does she think its a metropolis like Mumbai or Delhi ?? And do even Naxalite leaders have time to watch Item numbers by hotties like Sameera Reddy ?? In reality these was no need to bring such aspects of commercialism in the film .

Manoj Bajpai's role is not that big and he is his usual self but it is not his film really....The film belongs to Arjun Rampal and Abhay Deol but their acting cannot be called fantastic...Om Puri is just about okay....

These glitches should not take away from the commendable performance of the director who seems to have recovered from the debacle of his earlier film---Aarakshan .

Verdict---I would give it a thumbs up...

ashdoc wrote:While newspapers and television blare out visions of ' India shining ' and people like me go to watch movies like Chakravyuh in posh multiplexes eating chicken sandwiches along with cappuccino coffee , there's a rebellion smoldering in the heart of rustic India....Its the cry of the havenots who are demanding their share of the pie which has been unjustly taken over by haves like me....

Wow doc, I'm honored to be exchanging words (mostly one-sided though) with a have like you. I'm a have-not myself and everyone I know is also a have-not. So now that we have identified the 1%, I demand that you give me my share of the pie. For starters, pass me the chicken sandwich and cappucino.

you can have the cappucino. the have needs the "chicken" sandwich to harness strength to fight your rebellion.

Mr Have won't need the capuccino anyway. Fears of our glorious revolution will itself keep him up all night. And how can he eat a chicken sandwich knowing as he does, how millions of his countrymen don't get a basic meal a day, leave alone chickin??

Merlot Daruwala wrote: how millions of his countrymen don't get a basic meal a day, leave alone chickin??

duh! they are poor and hungry because they don't eat chicken. i can't understand how simple things are so difficult for you to grasp. DO YOU EAT CHICKEN?

Merlot Daruwala wrote:

Wow doc, I'm honored to be exchanging words (mostly one-sided though) with a have like you. I'm a have-not myself and everyone I know is also a have-not. So now that we have identified the 1%, I demand that you give me my share of the pie. For starters, pass me the chicken sandwich and cappucino.

you will have to pick up the gun and go into rebellion against the state to get that chicken sandwich and cappucino

for haves like me are not going to give up their privileges to havenots like you without a fight