A Wednesday...fakr hai!!

"usne mujhe apna naam bataya par main wo naam kisiko nahi bata sakta,insaan naam mein mazhab dhoondh leta hai"this is just one of the many brilliant dialogues in a really brilliant movie.A Wednesday is already somewhere among the highest rated ones in my favourites list,its too close to me,in fact its a part of me.

"I want to do something like this" is what one of my friends said when I asked for a comment on this movie.It was a special moment for me.Soon three of us were discussing about the ways we can serve the country,the needs,the possibilities and above all, the dreams and the aspirations...At a time when placements are slowly becoming the talk of the town,we discussed,at length,about trying for IAS/IPS instead,money matters,but service to the country
comes first(as the motto of my school goes"service before self").Watching the youth of my nation discuss these issues,and formulate these ideas,was already a matter of joy,and being a participant in it made me feel even more proud.This was the result of believing in the power of "one common man who has the guts".This was the effect of a phenomenon called "A Wednesday'... :)

A Wednesday,in its title sounds like just another routine bollywood stuff,and then if you hear about the concept,terrorism,police,bombs etc etc, sounds even more monotonous...where and how does this movie aquire this special status,which some people like me are so hell bent on giving it.A basic question...what makes it a special one??

Presenting a systematic analysis in an attempt to explore for an answer to the above question...one point to be noted is that this isnt the work of some film critic,its just the feelings of someone who could feel the movie...and felt like sharing them...and once again its the strong points that I mostly noticed during the 95 minutes,and am hereby discussing them...

MESSAGE: "the morale of the story is" a phrase which all of us have heard on numerous occasions,just like the stories with strongest impacts are often the ones with this morale aspect as their strong point,similarly for movies its the message front which has a similar status in terms of importance(not talking abt the megatalented johars and farah khans)..the impact of the movie is,to a large extent reflected in this message factor...."one common man had the guts"this is for us to realise,each one of us is "a" common man,and any of us can become "that" common man.its not about going around killing the terrorists,in fact,taking another quote from the same movie "aaj main tareeke ke baare mein nahi nateeje ke baare mein soch raha hoon",we may have our own different ways,with different effects,the belief in the idea of a common man making the difference is what is crucial.Simple,yet intensely strong,ever inspiring idea,full marks to the message the movie conveys.

PERFORMANCES:This is something which personally impressed me a lot.Naseeruddin Shah(my favourite actor) and Anupam Kher are two of the world's' best actors,and their performances in the movie can serve as acting lessons,you need to see it to believe it.Actually one also needs to have some understanding of finer naunces of acting to realise
how technically brilliant the two stalwarts are in the movie.The 10 minute long conversation towards the end stands out,Naseer Sir at his very best(this is easily a filmfare winning performance)...other actors provide able support,Jimmy Shergil being the surprise package,and he really impresses.One of my friends compared this performance to Nana Patekar ones.Full marks again.

STORY,SCRIPT AND DIRECTION:Story,script and direction by Neeraj Pandey.The name is new for me but am already a huge fan of him.All the three aspects are awesome,my preference list would read story,script and direction in descending order.The fact that I rate this as one of the best directed movies in last decade sums up how much I admired all these three efforts.The
story has just a few twists(watch race instead to see an insanely twisted storyline) but they are apt and beautifully thought of.To my knowledge,this is an original storyline(in fact Hollywood would be proud to copy such stuff)which has agin been scripted with an equal elegance and expertise.Imaginativ,as well as technically correct direction,gives that added dimension to this movie.
Some of the scenes will remain etched in my memory for a long time.The long conversation towards the end(10 mins!!) no doubt,stands out,but some of the short conversations that Commisioner rathod has with Arif and Jai are also not far behind.Brilliant dialogues are like a necessity to a brilliant movie,and we are not least dissapointed at this front.There are certain minute things which need a little after thought,a slight analysis to get the real taste of
it.The potrayals of Arjun Khanna,CM and his secretary,the media(this could have been better though) and even the police in general(being projected,for a change,as a responsible hardworking unit,though not always equipped enough to counter the situation)are well chalked out and beautifully presented.Its easy for the CM to say things in rallies,also easy to give orders and express worries,difficulty always lies in the actual implementation level.The 'minority group'
comment by Arjun Khanna and the words of Commisioner"ye bacha kaun hai" are among the favourites of a couple of my friends.Also the way Anupam Kher pleads helplessness,and thus makes CM order the encounter of the last terrorist,when he was very sure that the person had not planted any bomb(reflected in the last conversation he has with Naseeruddin)....isnt it all brilliant? :)

Naseeruddin Shah's role is something which actually turns this movie from very good to brilliant.It makes it so much more special,at least for me,when I can watch him at the peak of his charisma,for the good screen space that he gets.The abuse by Naseer Sir,frankly speaking,is another very special moment(I totally support it) for me,just shows how intense the anger is.Indeed its the time for the common man to act...and I do hope that such "wednesdays' are released every friday.