Review: Contract / Kismat Konnection
SLAY RIDE
A wronged man goes on a killing spree in a fairly gripping quasi-vigilante thriller. Plus, a rom-com with little rom, little com.
JULY 20, 2008 – AS HIS NAME SUGGESTS, Aman (Adhvik Mahajan) wants nothing but peace – even on television. During the course of an otherwise unremarkable evening, his wife Divya (Amrita Khanvilkar) stumbles on a news report of terrorist blasts in Delhi, and like any concerned citizen she begins to make the right noises, saying she cannot understand what’s going on or how such things could happen. Aman simply tells her to watch something else. “Channel badlo aur MTV dekho.” If we hadn’t seen those early shots of him being cuffed and carted away to prison, we’d never guess there’s more to the man – that he’s undergone commando training, or that he’s won several medals for bravery while in the army. Now, he’s just a guy who wants to pick out nice jewellery for his wife and build sandcastles with his young daughter. He just wants the tranquil existence of what he likes to call an aam aadmi: a common man.
But brooding men with lethal skills aren’t likely to be left alone to pursue their dreams of idle domesticity – especially in the movies – and soon enough, a Special Cell cop named Ahmed (Prasad Purandhare, in a wonderfully understated portrayal of a person in power) walks into Aman’s home (and, gradually, into Aman’s life). Ahmed wants Aman to infiltrate the underworld, and track down and kill Sultan (Zakir Hussain), the terrorist responsible for those Delhi blasts. As these men discuss these matters in private, Ram Gopal Varma takes care to include Divya and her daughter in the frame, as if to inform us that there’s always the larger picture, that what Ahmed and Aman are talking about doesn’t concern them alone, that the ripples of their decisions will ricochet through the people around. And sure enough, Aman – who politely declines Ahmed’s offer – subsequently loses his family in a terrorist attack.
He barges into the police station in a blind rage, demanding a meeting with Ahmed – the very Ahmed whom he turned away earlier, and who’s wearing a chilly smile now, saying he feels no sympathy whatsoever for Aman’s plight. After all, what makes his loss so special? His wife and child are just like those people who died earlier in Delhi, anonymous martyrs to a terrorist cause, the information about whose deaths would now likely be causing some other apathetic husband in some other household to suggest changing the TV channel. They’re merely the latest statistic supporting the ominous line that opened the film: “You may ignore terrorism, but terrorism won’t ignore you.” And so it does seem, for a while, that Contract is going to shape up into the underworld-meets-terrorism saga that Varma kept hinting at in his promotional interviews.
But those lofty ambitions fall quickly by the wayside and it soon becomes clear that Contract is nothing more than a macho B-movie in the vein of James. (I was one of the five people in the country who actually enjoyed that explosion of testosterone, so I’m guessing this review is essentially for those four other people.) There’s nothing in Contract to indicate that it’s a part of Varma’s continuing exploration of the Mumbai underworld, and if you had to box three of these films into a loose trilogy, D would be a better candidate to round out the themes that began with Satya and continued through Company. What we have here is some sort of vigilante movie – a fairly gripping one – that just happens to be set against the backdrop of the underworld, as Aman takes up Ahmed’s offer and avenges himself. Contract is Drohkaal refashioned as personal vendetta; where that film offered a hero who was fighting for the greater good of the nation, Aman here (at least till an ill-advised coda that suggests otherwise) is simply out to get the man who made sure that he would never again build sandcastles with his daughter.
And true to the tropes of the macho B-movie, we have the following: Aman finding increasingly glamorous ways to dispatch various bad guys standing between him and Sultan; the cheerful idiocy of an Oriental henchman displaying a variety of chopsocky moves, only to be informed that this isn’t the age of Bruce Lee but of Osama; the going into the lion’s den, the villain’s sister falling for the hero, the orgy of drunken revelry that ends in a shootout; the “comedy track” with a gangster who lives at sea so that no one can get near him without his knowledge (plus, he has a wife who chimes in with abhangs as he takes a shower and simultaneously participates in a discussion about wiping out a rival gangster).
Of course, with Varma behind the scenes, there’s more texture and detail than in the olden-day khoon-pee-jaaoonga guilty pleasures. There’s, for instance, the offhand question Ahmed asks Aman about his religious beliefs, when Aman replies that he hasn’t given it much thought. This adds nothing to the story; it’s just there, a dangling glimmer of insight into a man who’s not going to reach out and open himself up for our understanding. And for those who care for such things as faces unadorned by attitude and artifice, there’s a gallery of great supporting actors. Just how does Varma alone manage to find these people to populate his films with? Sumeet Nijhawan, Upendra Limaye, Kishore Kadam and Amruta Subhash steal their scenes with such flourish, they almost make you overlook Adhvik Mahajan’s sullen study in monochrome.
The actor has a single scene where he shows a bit of what Aman is made of, when he’s given a bear hug and he can’t bring himself to reciprocate; he just stands there stiffly, arms hanging awkwardly by his side. Otherwise, he’s mostly a gruff blank slate in the manner of Mohit Ahlawat in James. But Sakshi Gulati pitches in an unexpectedly decent performance as Iya, the bad girl who falls for Aman and who, in the film’s most surreal touch, brings back a song that was heard earlier, after the demise of Aman’s family. It’s Twinkle twinkle little star, set to a funeral rhythm and sung by a child, and the effect is that of Aman’s daughter singing to him from the afterlife. (The additional lyrics are along the lines of, “Ek bomb lagaana maangta hai, bhai.”) If there is something to Iya’s inexplicable association with this number, I’m afraid it escaped me – but trust Varma to distort a beloved nursery rhyme into an eerie echo of doom.
IF THE PREFERRED TONE OF A ROMANTIC COMEDY is light and breezy, Aziz Mirza’s Kismat Konnection makes you feel you’re under a ten-ton block of concrete, trapped in a joyless world where boring things keep happening to boring people. Raj (Shahid Kapur, in an unbearably fussy performance when all he needed to do was be, like in Jab We Met) is an underachiever who thinks Priya (Vidya Balan, who’s not bad) is his good luck charm. His attempts to use her to further his career bring to mind the innocent wheedling of Shah Rukh Khan in Mirza’s earlier Yes Boss, which was infinitely more charming than this miscalculated mix of sophomoric comedy, dreary battle-of-the-sexes banter and a dreadful climax featuring a deus ex machina that would be booed out of elementary screenwriting class. Setting up the element of chance that runs through the film, we’re told at the beginning, “Life is like a game of cards.” Yeah, and sometimes, the audiences end up jokers.
Copyright ©2008 The New Sunday Express. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without
Any review of The Dark Knight?
That was like, your shortest review ever! Seems like Vidya is the only decent thing in the film, which is good (or in this case, ‘not bad’) because I am skulking around the net collecting good reviews of her performance like those Native Americans used to collect scalps. *looks around shiftily at being called obsessive*
Your review of Contract reeked of rare beauty…such a treat to read. I immensely enjoyed mining it for some serious gems:
“..for those who care for such things as faces unadorned by attitude and artifice…”
“..steal their scenes with such flourish, they almost make you overlook Adhvik Mahajan’s sullen study in monochrome.”
And ah, the closing line! This week’s high point is clearly your kick-ass closing lines — all four pieces are buttoned up so beautifully.
Long reviews for intelligent directors, 5 liners for the dumb-asses. Whoopie, cracked the BR code.
To be fair BR, not everyone has an IQ to match the exam cracking -BITS Pilani stud that you are. Judging by the queues I saw outside the Kismet Konnection shows, something seems to have worked here (even if it is just the pre-movie hype!).
I also saw the sheer indignation in your Dasavatharam “interview/review”. Now I know what you mean when you say “conceit”! Kamal did offend your carefully cultivated senses/expectations.
Of course all this is to not say that KK was a good movie or even watchable, the trailers pretty much sealed my decision, guess you don’t have such luxuries.
Well then go on with your 5 line dismissals as the dumb-asses of the world increase reservations, dole out free power and loan waivers and of course direct movies.
You are the “capitalist critic” then I guess. Rock on BR and kill em all.
PS: Go watch the Dark Knight, a visceral break dance of a movie if there ever was one.
So is the big twist in Contract something like “Ahmad & the govt rigged the blast that killed Aman’s family coz that would give them Aman”?
No review of The dark knight ?
Anyways could you please give me links to the reviews of Yun hota toh kya hota? and Salaam-e-Ishq please ?
Anonymous/Pradyumna: Not doing an instant review, but will talk about it in a future column. Didn’t get to review Yun hota… but SeI I’ll dig up.
Sal: Round these parts, there’s no such thing as being too obsessive about film
Anon.: Thanks.
Vivek: Not really. It’s just that whenever there are two films, there’s space only for one big review, and I choose to talk about the film that gives me more to talk about. And dude, I’m hardly the intellectual sort when it comes to films. I do enjoy well-made fluff. This one was just bad on so many levels. And yeah – waiting to catch Dark Knight.
Amrita: Tch tch – such contempt
And, for the record, NO!
Honestly, I didn’t think Kismat Konnection was THAT bad. I mean, come on, you wrote a slightly longer review for Haal E Dil! KK wasn’t earth shattering in any way, but it wasn’t terrible. Just one of those “not bad, but not great” kind of films. I felt really sorry for Juhi Chawla, though.
“Kismat Konnection makes you feel you’re under a ten-ton block of concrete, trapped in a joyless world where boring things keep happening to boring people.”
Off topic, but that sentence sums up exactly how I felt about Unnale Unnale.
oh My god!!!
did we watch the same movie or did u watch a different ‘Contract’!!!!
“Channel badlo aur MTV dekho.” ke aage peeche bahut bakwaas hota hai!! no mention of that rangan saaab?
Hey there, I hv been a long time silent reader of your reviews – at various points I have been amused, enlightened and time-pass too
I have been trying to find the review on Manorama Six feet under for sometime now, but cannot seem to find out. I know its a bit off the topic, but would really appreciate if you could share the link or mail me/broadcast your thoughts on that film
thanks
Leave this movies, Rangan. Review Wall-E and The Dark Knight.
Is it just me who found Juhi’s performance deliciously kooky? It just cracked me up (and freaked me out a little)!
Yeah, Shahid’s performance was terribly self-conscious an rather showy, but as usual Vidya put in an adorable unpretentious turn, but she’s kinda making a career out of playing these idealistic modern Inian women who at the ned of the day are essentially supporting players to the Hero, isn’t she? The screenplay WAS very join-the-dots-ish. Usually Aziz Mirza’s films endear because beneath the unpolishedness of the writing and the unadorned execution ticks a genuine moddle-class heart, but this time around, it was all rather vacuous. Shame, considering he had a promising lead pair to work with and around.
ps – pardon my ignorance, but where in India is Toronto? It seems to have moved a few miles from Canada, judging by KK!
Dark Knight!! Dark Knight!! Dark Knight!!
Juhi’s performance was quite OTT, I thought – initially I wondered if it wouldn’t have been better to have had her less like a caricature of the gypsy wanting her palm crossed with silver, but later I figured she was the only one who made me smile in the movie. She is gifted with comic timing. Shahid – fussy is a good word. Vidya was effectively reprising her Lage raho role of oldie-sitting, old-age home protecting, trusting men with feet of clay. She really could do with a better dress designer, unless her clothes *were* cunningly intended to cast her as “simple” and perfect marriage material. Why is Om Puri taking such roles and then bitching about how low Indian comedy is?
Contract : I thought whats-his-name hero was very Jeeves like – what with the mild flutter of 3 hairs on his eyebrow to convey emotion – then I thought – maybe that was also cunningly intended to show how emotionally dead he has become. What’s with all this Twinkle song symbolism – a seriously scarring childhood memory is Sivaji in Thanga Padakam intoning stentoriously Twinggle Twinnggle Liddle Star, Hooow I wunddderrr what you are.
” “Life is like a game of cards.” Yeah, and sometimes, the audiences end up jokers.”- Much unlike some otherfilms where the audience wants to be The Joker.
Elizabeth: What can I say? It just didn’t work for me at all.
DPac: Guess you’re not one of those four other people
Silent Reader: Thanks. Didn’t do a review, but I remember writing something about it. Will dig it up. Very good film, btw.
Tejas: All in good time… though Wall-E hasn’t made it to these parts.
Sal: “she’s kinda making a career out of playing these idealistic modern Inian women who at the ned of the day are essentially supporting players to the Hero” er, you know of many great heroine roles being written?
Vivek: Soon. Soon. Soon.
Radhika: “maybe that was also cunningly intended to show how emotionally dead he has become” Or maybe he just wasn’t that good an actor
Deepauk M: Seen the film, have we? It’s gotten such a response, I’m almost scared to watch it now…
“Ram Gopal Varma takes care to include Divya and her daughter in the frame, as if to inform us that there’s always the larger picture, that what Ahmed and Aman are talking about doesn’t concern them alone, that the ripples of their decisions will ricochet through the people around.” There were also little tykes floating in the background whenever the cops talked about terrorism and mayhem – both Ahmed Hussain’s son and that of his boss-lady. I thought that was interesting – showing both how the lives were not comparmentalized, how the violence was very much part of the home life.
Well, I’m sure you won’t hate me for pushing you to review those two movies…
I, too, support Silent Reader, and I am sure it’s director Navdeep Singh cajoling you with a different name this time. Remember he was almost begging you to review Manorama.
Of course, I’ve seen the film – viral marketing indeed. I would say that the movie topped every single one of my expectations – so dont be too scared. And I just realised the smiley in my earlier comment just took on added meaning in context.
we’re told at the beginning, “Life is like a game of cards.” Yeah, and sometimes, the audiences end up jokers
Nicely summing up the movie..But there is one Joker who would not disappoint you..The Dark Knight didn’t disappoint me..Heath Ledger has got his legend well and truly established.
I think Deepauk too conveyed the same in one of his posts here
Good review for contract br, I also liked it alot, it was a thrilling action film with some really well shot scenes. Not surprisingly, I was one of the other 4 who liked james : )
Bhargs: “Heath Ledger has got his legend well and truly established.” At least for that, it’s going to be weird watching this movie.
Patekar: Ah, now we just have to track down the remaining three losers
BR, I know it is kinda weird but I also liked James, (though I just saw it on Television)
you can inlude me as the 6th person who liked JAMES and going by the number of people in theatre for CONTRACT ,i dont think number will cross 10 this time also
(i saw it in adlabs hyderabad with not more than 10 ppl)
Many years ago, when I visited California on work, I watched the Woody Allen film “Small Time Crooks” absolutely alone in the theatre!! The interesting thing was they actually screened it even though I was the only person inside!!
Another digression…I haven’t seen “Aamir” yet but have listened to the songs and liked them. I know that many people have responded favorably to that soundtrack.
Since the day I heard the songs and knew that the composer was a guy named Amit Trivedi…something kept nagging me…it didn’t strike a bell, until now!!
Amit was a member of the band “Om”, the one I kept raving about in an earlier post.
A friend of mine had this weird thought : Heath Ledger is alive. Nolan brothers have pulled off the greatest publicity stunt of all time in order to further the myth of the Joker . They will publicly announce his whereabouts soon!!.
The idea would have been really interesting had it been for real.
brangan: Your response#22 to Bhargs reminded me of what W.H. Auden once said: “No hero is mortal till he dies.” And how eerily and ironically so, now…too sad.
I hope I’m not spoiling anything for you by recounting this phrase used to describe Ledger’s “hero” in the NYT review, “He isn’t a terrorist, just terrifying.” It instantly transported me to my childhood…of curling up on the couch with Batman comicbooks, feeling flabbergasted by the leery lump of pure, painted evil that The Joker was.
Oh to now make that character come alive, right off those tattered, time-worn pages…an immortal demon into whose shadows the mortal self seems to have forever faded…sad, sad, all too sad! (Sorry, had to get that out. And to think this is from merely “reading” about Ledger’s Joker…I might very well weep if I watched him perform…soon, soon, pretty soon.)
May be its time for a “being ram gopal varma” article…what say?
Apologies for the digression….Rangan, Kuseland is on the cusp now — Should we expect anything ??? At least for the Thalaivar !!
ah! no, pushpa – varma is not a megalomaniac. His ego is well under check. He doesnt need to change. Nor the ‘King’ and ‘not so much of a king’ Khans and Bachchans whose ego will lead them to childishly poke school-boy remarks against each other on blogs. Only Kamal in the whole indian cinema world is a megalomaniac. he needs course correction.
raj/rahul: wow. more hands raised. could it be that the entire james fan club has converged here?
Shankar: That happened to me too, in Houston, when I saw Kenneth Branagh’s four-hour Hamlet — rthere wasn’t a single other soul in the theatre, but the show, as they say, went on.
Ramesh: “in order to further the myth of the Joker” – I think the performance alone is enough to further that myth.
push-pa: Are you going to pay me for it? In that case, maybe yes. I *would* like to talk about how increasingly idiosyncatic he’s gotten of late, to the point of audience alienation (which is why his films, whether they work or not, always have something interesting)
karthik: Kuselan? I dunno man… I’m still recovering from the bashing for my views on Dasa. Maybe I’ll write an all-out rah-rah piece for Kuselan and save everyone the trouble
kuselan? I reckon if anyone attempted to shorten its name, it will be apt for a Vasu-Rajni creation. P Vasu must be the director with most apt initials!
Name your price BR… I would love to see your take on his cinematic-diarrhea offlate. I envision it to be a cross of your write up on Maniratnam ( losing touch with the audience) and Kamal Hassan (Lack of filters)…!
Although I must say that contract was entirely his undoing by setting wrong expectations. Most critics/ audience went in expecting a follow up to Satya and company when in reality it was more like a “you messed with the wrong guy” kind of movie. “Aman ka badla” “would have been a more apt title.
Kuselan…unfortunately it will be a big hit and P.Vasu will continue his charmed life!!
I was listening to the songs and it struck me that only one song seemed intended for Pasupathy…all the rest were Superstar songs!! The way the movie has been marketed as a super star film…the more apt name would have been “Kadha Mattri Parayumbol”!!
Err. You haven’t found Salaam-E-Ishq review yet ?
Btw,Does anyone know who the choreographers were for Jaane tu ya jaane na ? I don’t think it appeared in the credits..
Baddy : About Aamir and Cavite :
http://passionforcinema.com/aamir-is-not-a-copy-of-cavite/
Am not sure whether it’s the truth or lies or somewhere in between..
Contract as you said is B-movie to the core and RGV is not exploiting the B movie construct to produce anything good here(as Quentin Tarantino tries to do). Contract is nothing but a B movie!! With all due granted about everyone has heir own tastes, I just couldn’t relate to this review at any level. And god, is he deaf to his BGM or he nevers takes bothers to get involved in the dubbing, BGM sessions.
And a review on Dark Knight please..Feels so odd to not find anything great in DK when the whole world is awe about it. I need some reality check:)
Raj: Not so fast, P.Vasu did at the very least extract some incredible numbers from Raja and son (more recently). So I give him a reprieve for that sake.
With regard to “Kuselan” – Krishnar only has to save. “Katha Parayumbol” relied heavily on the supporting cast and Sreenivasan’s writing for the first hour and 40 minutes before Mammootty “Michael Bevaned” the movie home. Outside of Vadivel I see no one who has the combined comedic chops of Innocent, Mukesh, Jagadish, Salim Kumar, Augustine and Suraaj from the original. Also missing I expect will be the small town politicking that Sreenivasan exploited so well in the original.
The original had some good cinematography by P.Sukumaran (some shots like the one with Sreenvasan crossing the bridge with his children, still linger in my memory). I hope Vasu provides Arvind Krishna an opportunity to do similar work.
deepak, there’s that ofcourse. He did start off with Panner Pushpangal, didnt he?
Kuselan will be a flop because the film would spend only 1 hr 40 mins on Rajni and 20 minutes will be waster on pasupathy, which the fans cannot tolerate.
BR, I’m waiting to see what your take is on The Dark Knight. I feel like an outcast for not getting it’s supposed brilliance.
It’s got some brilliant performances. Heath Ledger has understandably got the most attention and he’s definitely very good, but Aaron Eckhart is surprisingly good as well. I understand the hype over the performances, but not the hype over the movie as a whole.
It’s not that I think it’s a bad movie. Not in the least. I just don’t see how it’s any better than some of the other really great superhero/comic book flicks, including it’s predecessor Batman Begins. I’ve seen so many reviews labelling TDK “Best Superhero Movie Evah!!”, but I just don’t see it. I thought Spiderman 2 was much more wonderful (though 3 was a disaster).
Now I’m just waiting for your review to se if I’m completely insane for not going gaga over TDK.
Baddy, I’d also like to hear your take on “X-Files”…the reviews here have been lukewarm. But what to do? I do want to believe…
Raj: Yup Panneer pushpangal wonly it was. I thinkined they peaked with the first album. If I had to pick an album Raja made for P.Vasu it has to be Panneer Pushpangal (even though Chinna thambi might get the popular vote). I mean, “Aanadha Raagam” and “Poonthalir aada” in the same album – no contest! I must admit I prefer the “Saarah yeh Aalam” version from Shiva, bcoz Shreya Goshal’s rendition is slightly better. Here is a nice breakdown: http://musicmavericks.blogspot.com/2007/06/de-composing-ir-discoveries-through.html
push-pa: “Name your price B” Please, please start a publication, if this is to be your motto
And yeah, as you say, I think people went in expecting the third part of the trilogy. Contract is, in no sense a good movie, but it’s a decent engagement if you see where it’s headed.
Pradyumna: Sorry about that. Here goes.
saraks: “With all due granted about everyone has heir own tastes” – phew! (wipes off sweat)
Deepauk M: “P.Vasu did at the very least extract some incredible numbers from Raja” Um, did he actually do the extracting, or did he just standing by, rubbing his eyes in utter disbelief at the windfall that hit him repeatedly?
Elizabeth/saraks: I too found TDK simply good, not great. Just finished writing my piece. Will put it up next weekend. (Damned thing about writing for a weekly supplement).
Shankar: That’s one show I just never got into — for the simple reason that I was never around whenever it aired. So I doubt I’ll have a “proper” reaction to the film.
No Mamma Mia Review? Or is it not making an appearance at Inian theatres?
Sal: At least, not yet…
BR, I believe P Vasu is, infact, one of the directors who has the temerity to demand alternate tunes from Raja, rather than accepting whatever is given.
Awsome movie man…shahid rocks….very gud movie….
By ‘James’ if you people mean the movie that was made by one of the assistants of Ram Gopal Varma, it was a hit in Telugu. I don’t know whether it was a Telugu original or a dubbed one, but I liked it.
Kuselan had become a flop, because the scenes P. Vasu included to boost Rajnikant have neither connections nor contribution to the storyline – i.e. the value of friendship.
Rajasundararajan