Saturday, October 11, 2008

MANORAMA SIX FEET UNDER

I read so much about it that it was on my must see list. it is a low budget movie with good story and crisp editing. This is the story of a down and out writer (Abhey Deol) who is working as PWD engineer. He wants to be a big writer and writes a novel Manorama but name and fame eludes him and he is living a mundane life with a wife(Gul Panag) and a child.One day a lady(Sarika) comes to him saying that she is the wife of the local MLA..Rathore(KUlbhushan Kharbanda) and she wants him to do some detective work as the hero of his novel does. The reason beig...in this small town she cant get any detective, and he is to spy upon her husband and take photographs to prove his adultery.She pays him handsomely. He agrees and finds himself trapped into a world of power,politics,deceit, greed and crime. How he comes out forms the story.
Now I will tell u what I liked in the movie...
acting..all the actors have done very well, specially Abhey deol,Vinay pathak as rustic cop, and Raima sen looks really good. But Sarika is looking very old and haggard.
Suspense is very good, till the end i cudnt predict much:) inspite of my bollywood trained brain:).
A semblance of reality is maintained through out the movie.
But i wud have preferred...
Abhey deol looking handsome.....small town people need not to be looking ugly and ordinary,I always liked Farukh shaikh and Amol palekar in those middle class roles.
Gul panag was looking very aged and dowdily dressed, even ordinary sarees and SK may look good if worn properly,why show her so unbecoming.
But all in all a very good movie with a taut screen play......only 2 songs are there...nothing else taking u away from the main story.It engrosses u completely without any beautiful locales, designer dresses and melodious music and big stars....isnt it a magic?

26 comments:

Sukku said...

Glad you enjoyed the movie...sounds more like an art movie..

Anonymous said...

i havent seen the film but it did reasonably well..u bang on target! no opulent locales, no larger than life characters, no Khans, no item nos but yet v engrossing :)

but now audiences r waking up to low-budget,realistic films, socially relevant issues etc..

I fell in love with Abhay Deol in SOCHA NA THA..wht a cute, amateurish performance followed by HTPL..he acted so well..

Anonymous said...

This movie has been in my long 'to see' list. Thanks for reminding me.. ill see it asap. Hindi movies are getting better, quite a no. of tthem in my list.... i see movies only after i see the review from a fellow blogger. This one, some how i am reading the first review here. So, thanks.

Destination Infinity.

Anonymous said...

Sounds good !

Actually i hadnt heard the name of the movie , but now i have .. thanks to u !! .. I can write something abt the movie only after i hav seen it .. which i plan to shortly .. and abt the actors .. u cant really blame sarika .. she has gone thru so much in life .. it does leave its mark on a person .. and Farukh shaikh ,Amol palekar hav given such wonderful movies .. cant really forget Golmal (old one) .. was watching it yest .. such simple n entertaining ones ..

oh , u do hav a bollywood trained brain ?? : ) .. but then it isnt difficult to train a brain on bollywood stories .. is it not .. hehe

Parimi said...

Nice review.

Parimi

www.timmiri.com

Anonymous said...

A box-office hit movies is one which keeps our concentration on-screen for 2 hours.

I scribble here said...

even i wanted to watch this movie, heard a lot of good review, such as this one. but it hasnt realeased in dubai.
@bollywood trained brain- :D ya, it MUST be quite a suspense then

Renu said...

Suku ; It was good movie and not an art one, though I dont know why this art tag has become synonymous with slow and boring movies:) beacause i have seen all the movies by Benegal and they are very interesting, most of them ,except that they have a rural background.

SWATS: ya, Abhay deol lookslike a chubby cutie:) but here with a big mole and unshavenb face, he is not that pleasing to the eye:) I like him in Socha Na tha and Ek chaalis ki Local though:) and yes in Honeymoon travels also:)
This movie would have done much better usiness, but I dont kno why it wasnt publicised at all.

Destination Infinity: It was in my list for a long time:) and I wud certainly recommend it..a totally different fare dealt in a realistic nd interesting way.

Raghu: u will enjoy it. have u seen Chhoti si Baat and Rajnigandha, they are both Amol Palekar movies and cchoti si baat is specially a very good comedy.
U see only a bollywood trained mind can predict.....
if there is a happy family,singing and enjoying, they re going to be separated:)
If the hero loves his sister too much...poor sister is going to suffer:)
I can tell u many more like this..haha.

vamsi Parimmi: Thanks:)

Hobo;Not all hits are liked by everybody,like OSO was a hit but not many liked it:)

ISH: Yeah; otherwise most of the time one guesses everything by the interval:), I saw one more movie earlier...KHAAMOSH...here u cant guess till the last scene:)

Monika said...

I have seen this movie and liked it too

Reflections said...

havent watched the movie but just wanted to say...I like abhay deol. he is so ordinary sweet & touches u somewhere...doesnt he???

Renu said...

Monika: so one more affirmation for the4 movie:)I think I am advertising the movie so much, they must pay me::))

Reflections: yeah, Abhay deol connects with the audience, even in that ad where he is advertising Airtel-Nokia with Raima, and I like that song--babra man--fron HAZAARO KHWAAHISHEY AISI. he isa good replacement for Amol palekar, i just felt that whenevr we watch something..its nice to see well groomed and good faces, unless the character demands otherwise, here he was a middle class man, there was no requirement to make him look bad:)

Mana said...

I haven't seen it yet... Is it Sarika-Kamal Hasan's wife??

Nice review :)

Renu said...

Manasa...yeah, Sarika is Kamal's ex-no.2. I feel really bad for her as her daughters have also deserted her,cant believe it though.

Mana said...

Heard Sarika's daughters are in Mumbai trying to get into film industry...

Renu said...

mansa; I read in a filmy magazine that they have left her and gone to Kamal, yes Shruti is already doing a Hindi movie. I feel very sad for the daughters who support the other woman in their father's life, whatever may be the reason for split, but ur own children going on the other side.....biggest blow

Cяystal said...

Heard of it,bt never saw it :(
Seems good..
!

Renu said...

CRYSTAL: yeah, it is a good movie,must have suffered also due to lack of publicity.

starry said...

Thanks for the preview sounds like a good movie, have to wait for it to come on DVD.

Ekta said...

hey yes,
i have seen this movie...but long back and liked it too...

Renu said...

No, its not a preview,as itis not a new movies, so DVD is already there in the market:). I have seent it here at Landmark

Salil said...

Thank you Renu for sharing about this movie. Will have a dekho.
Cheers,

Renu said...

Salil, seems to me that I am doing a good job, giving publicity to good movies:)

Sandhya said...

I have seen this movie too and was upset seeing the last 10-15 mts. (the child being abused). A well made movie.

I too wonder why Sarika's daughters never talk about her in any interview. They adore and praise their father so much. I have heard Sarika as a good person. Kamal is a good actor, intelligent but not a good person. The pain is visible in Sarika's face. She did well in 'Parzania' too.

Renu said...

On TV they didnt show any scenes, just insinuated.

I feel so sad when children also become partial due to personal gains,Kamal is a big shot and mother is trying again to get a foothold.
I respect Rajnikant more than kamal. I just detest the children who side with the other woman in their father's life, may be one can accept her, but siding with her at the cost of their own mother, its preposterous to me, I ont respect any such indiaviduals, may be I am old fashioned.

PARRY said...

I too have liked the movie. yes its a short budget film. but so was the movie 'dor' which had gul panag and 'bheja fry ' where vinay pathak did an excellent job.

Renu said...

Parry: I saw Dor, and Bheja fry also, and liked them, I am more of small budget movie fan:)
Thanks for coming here, hope to see u often:)

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