Aamir - The Leader

The moment I heard that Anurag Kashyap is associated with Aamir, I had made up my mind that I have to see it (being a big fan of 'Black Friday' and a bit disappointed with 'No Smoking'). Even as the initial reviews declared the movie spectacular and unconventional, I had my doubts when I walked into that literally empty cinema hall to see it for myself. To be honest, I would have regretted if I had missed Aamir in the big screen. So what makes the movie so special?

There are umpteen number of write ups about Aamir in the internet and I have no intention of repeating the movies' plot here. The story can be explained in one line or two. The plot is nothing entirely new but a bit unconventional (and vaguely similar to a Filipino movie Cavite which I haven't seen yet).

What caught my attention first was its background score. The visuals were so synchronized with every little beat in the songs/tracks that you would wonder whether the visuals were made first or the score! Once this catches your attention, its like a genius unfolding his skills right in front of your eyes. For a Hindi movie, it is a tremendous feat to have the main theme score humming in your lips during the movies' intermission (mind you, an instrumental and not a song), just like we do for Indiana Jones or Superman.

The absence of familiar faces anywhere in the cast was a major plus. This took away the predictability part from the movie. To give one sample, Suppose you see Kay Kay Menon in Sarkar. You know that he is an actor and he is going to have a meaty role. The only question that would remain is whether he is the good guy or the bad guy. Now take Aamir. Except for the guy over the phone (Gajraj Rao) and Aamir (Rajeev Khandelwaal), we never know who are important and who are not. Just because everyone else are never-seen-before faces.

The cinematography and editing both are top notch. The movie neither tries to be stylish like Guy Ritchie's nor does it employ weird camera angles which is a familiar sight in RGV movies. The shots maintain its normalcy but still the hand-held effect adds a realism to the proceedings. Editing is crisp without any unnecessary stunts.

Finally, if you are careful, you would notice its budget or lack of it. It doesnt take away ANYTHING from the movie and the budget is best explained by the only explosion scene in the movie. Glass-cracking, Bus tire getting punctured and an exploding sound makes up a bomb explosion in Aamir unlike usual Bollywood stuff where either CGI or unused-cars-buses-lorries propelled-into thin-air-as-if-they-hit-an-air-cushion are used for the effect. Aamir is what it is becuase of this shoe string budget and full credit to the crew for pulling this off. (I personally feel they could have saved some money by avoiding the 1 minute scene in London but then its upto the director to decide :-) )

Rajeev looks promising and does justice to Aamir here. But As far as his acting capability is concerned, I would wait till his next movie is out before being judgemental!!

Wait and get hold of the 'Aamir' DVD if you missed it in the big screen. It should be out soon.

PS: The title display in the movie was a very nice touch. Heard a few rounds of applause from about the 15 people present in the theatre. The movie was taken of the theatre after 3 days.