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After Classic Westerns and Curry Westerns, the likes of Vishal Bharadwaj seem to have designed a desi sub-genre where the bucolic Bihar backdrops are credibly carried off by the rural realms of Maharashtra’s Wai village. Call it ‘Wai-stern’ or whatever, but from Omkara to Ishqiya this rough-and-tough sub-genre has often been an antidote to candyfloss cinema, while still having a heart and in the right place.
Seeking its spirit from the 1969 Hollywood classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and having a soul of its own, Ishqiya is the story of two rouges Khalujaan (Naseeruddin Shah) and Babban (Arshad Warsi) who are evading their boss Mushtaq (Salman Shahid). Nowhere to go, they seek refuge in a friend’s house and instead meet his widow Krishna (Vidya Balan).
Slowly and steadily both Babban and Khalujaan are attracted towards Krishna who uses her feminine charm to seduce them singly and slyly. Together the trio plan to kidnap an industrialist (Rajesh Sharma) for ransom but there’s more to the conspiracy theory.
Ishqiya excels in narrating a saucy story and, unlike Kaminey , doesn’t gets complicated or convoluted in its storytelling. Director Abhishek Chaubey has a fresh, flirty and frivolous approach to filmmaking. The spellbinding screenplay written by Abhishek Chaubey, Vishal Bhardwaj and Sabrina Dhawan, despite being multidimensional, touches the subplots only peripherally and doesn’t delve into the past beyond the needful. So there are no elaborate background accounts for any of the three leads and you don’t wish to learn more about them either. Their past opens partially as the story progresses and only to the extent that can contribute to the central plot.
Regardless of the rugged-and-rustic ‘ City of God ’ kinda setting, the flavour of the film is predominantly light-hearted, as instinctive comedy oozes out from almost every sequence. The director’s hold on humour is remarkable as he makes good use of some dingy desi dialogues and some exceptional expressions by the lead male duo to hilarious outcome. The chemistry and comic timing between Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi is absolutely flawless.
The crude countryside cusswords and rustic Hindi-Urdu dialect add as much entertainment to the film as much as they add authenticity to the milieu. The chemistry between Vidya Balan and Arshad Warsi is sensuously sauntered through sexual symbolism as well as physical intimacy. In contrast, the affinity between Vidya Balan and Naseeruddin Shah is more delicately developed amidst the old world charm of classic songs of Hemant Kumar and S.D.Burman. Contrarily R.D.Burman’s sharp-and-seductive number ‘ Dhanno ki aankho mein ’ is employed to signify the lust in Arshad Warsi’s character.
The good part of the narrative is that it doesn’t get pretentious with make-believe romance tracks. Rather from the very start, it comes clean in communicating that Vidya Balan is conning both the males. And despite that the plot doesn’t get predictable and holds you through an intriguing climax.
The most impressive scenes from the film include the opening credits sequence and the confrontation scene between Arshad and Naseeruddin Shah towards the climax, which is unusually friendly and hostile at the same time. Just prior to that sequence, Naseeruddin emotes extraordinarily where he feels betrayed by love and cheated by friend. He plays a real young at heart in the song ‘ Dil To Bachcha Hai Ji ’. The bigamy plot of the businessman (Rajesh Sharma) is uproariously incorporated in the story. However the absurd and open ending could have been clearly avoided.
The film has been competently shot by Mohana Krishna and crisply edited by Namrata Rao. Music essentially has to be a highpoint in Vishal Bharadwaj’s films and with Gulzar he composes sheer magic. Gulzar’s poetic pen and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s poignant voice give us one of the most mesmerizing numbers in recent times – ‘ Dil To Bachcha Hai Ji’ . Payal Saluja gives a new meaning to sex-appeal making Vidya Balan look absolutely stunning and desirable in her village woman garb, draped in ordinary cotton saris.
Ishqiya is highly performance oriented and each actor from the cast is superlative. To see Naseeruddin Shah deliver in a meaty role is a delight. Arshad Warsi is in his elements and this is his career-best performance. Undoubtedly this is amongst Vidya Balan’s best works too. Salman Shahid (last seen in Kabul Express ) is an interesting character and Adil Hussain makes for a strong negative lead.
Ishqiya certainly is a film you will fall in love with.
Seeking its spirit from the 1969 Hollywood classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and having a soul of its own, Ishqiya is the story of two rouges Khalujaan (Naseeruddin Shah) and Babban (Arshad Warsi) who are evading their boss Mushtaq (Salman Shahid). Nowhere to go, they seek refuge in a friend’s house and instead meet his widow Krishna (Vidya Balan).
Slowly and steadily both Babban and Khalujaan are attracted towards Krishna who uses her feminine charm to seduce them singly and slyly. Together the trio plan to kidnap an industrialist (Rajesh Sharma) for ransom but there’s more to the conspiracy theory.
Ishqiya excels in narrating a saucy story and, unlike Kaminey , doesn’t gets complicated or convoluted in its storytelling. Director Abhishek Chaubey has a fresh, flirty and frivolous approach to filmmaking. The spellbinding screenplay written by Abhishek Chaubey, Vishal Bhardwaj and Sabrina Dhawan, despite being multidimensional, touches the subplots only peripherally and doesn’t delve into the past beyond the needful. So there are no elaborate background accounts for any of the three leads and you don’t wish to learn more about them either. Their past opens partially as the story progresses and only to the extent that can contribute to the central plot.
Regardless of the rugged-and-rustic ‘ City of God ’ kinda setting, the flavour of the film is predominantly light-hearted, as instinctive comedy oozes out from almost every sequence. The director’s hold on humour is remarkable as he makes good use of some dingy desi dialogues and some exceptional expressions by the lead male duo to hilarious outcome. The chemistry and comic timing between Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi is absolutely flawless.
The crude countryside cusswords and rustic Hindi-Urdu dialect add as much entertainment to the film as much as they add authenticity to the milieu. The chemistry between Vidya Balan and Arshad Warsi is sensuously sauntered through sexual symbolism as well as physical intimacy. In contrast, the affinity between Vidya Balan and Naseeruddin Shah is more delicately developed amidst the old world charm of classic songs of Hemant Kumar and S.D.Burman. Contrarily R.D.Burman’s sharp-and-seductive number ‘ Dhanno ki aankho mein ’ is employed to signify the lust in Arshad Warsi’s character.
The good part of the narrative is that it doesn’t get pretentious with make-believe romance tracks. Rather from the very start, it comes clean in communicating that Vidya Balan is conning both the males. And despite that the plot doesn’t get predictable and holds you through an intriguing climax.
The most impressive scenes from the film include the opening credits sequence and the confrontation scene between Arshad and Naseeruddin Shah towards the climax, which is unusually friendly and hostile at the same time. Just prior to that sequence, Naseeruddin emotes extraordinarily where he feels betrayed by love and cheated by friend. He plays a real young at heart in the song ‘ Dil To Bachcha Hai Ji ’. The bigamy plot of the businessman (Rajesh Sharma) is uproariously incorporated in the story. However the absurd and open ending could have been clearly avoided.
The film has been competently shot by Mohana Krishna and crisply edited by Namrata Rao. Music essentially has to be a highpoint in Vishal Bharadwaj’s films and with Gulzar he composes sheer magic. Gulzar’s poetic pen and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s poignant voice give us one of the most mesmerizing numbers in recent times – ‘ Dil To Bachcha Hai Ji’ . Payal Saluja gives a new meaning to sex-appeal making Vidya Balan look absolutely stunning and desirable in her village woman garb, draped in ordinary cotton saris.
Ishqiya is highly performance oriented and each actor from the cast is superlative. To see Naseeruddin Shah deliver in a meaty role is a delight. Arshad Warsi is in his elements and this is his career-best performance. Undoubtedly this is amongst Vidya Balan’s best works too. Salman Shahid (last seen in Kabul Express ) is an interesting character and Adil Hussain makes for a strong negative lead.
Ishqiya certainly is a film you will fall in love with.
