99 - A Guy Ritchie film served on a desi platter
May 16, 2009 5:28:28 PM IST
Joginder Tuteja, Bollywood Trade News Network
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As suspected all this while ever since the first promo came on air, 99 is indeed set in the same mode as a Guy Ritchie cinema. A movie that has effective one liners in dozens, after watching the film one can clearly state that 99 is a homage to Guy Ritchie genre of cinema (remember SNATCH, LOCK STOCK and TWO SMOKING BARRELS?) with a dash of Quentin Tarantino thrown in (RESERVOIR DOGS, PULP FICTION).
But before one starts wondering if watching 99 is akin to watching a 'videshi' story in the garb of a 'desi' film, let the fact be stated that the film is as attached to the Indian roots as it gets. This is where Guy Ritchie's narration comes in handy and while the director duo of Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K. use story telling to their advantage, they hold themselves back when it comes to technique. They keep it simple while keeping Indian audience in mind rather than getting carried away in an attempt to come up with some cool frames.
CHECK OUT: What's common to Nagesh, Anubhav Sinha & 99 directors!
In fact even New York Times has called the movie as 'a refreshing sign that commercial Indian cinema has room in its big tent for more than one kind of storytelling'.
Something that really holds good for the co-directors as they bring in a unique casting combination to make 99 work. And thank goodness for that because if at all 99 was one of those regular Bollywood affairs, we may well have had Paresh Rawal and Rajpal Yadav filling in for Boman Irani and Amit Mistry respectively. Well, the duo has been brilliant in majority of it's outing so far but then they have become far too predictable in such roles due to which the 'guessing game' would have been pretty minimal. However, with Boman and Amit coming into the picture, it only adds that touch of unpredictability that adds on to the spice.
It is this fine detailing that makes 99 an engrossing watch as emphasis is given to story telling rather than gimmicks, hence saving the movie from being much too obvious or on-your-face!
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