Dysfunctional characters at the movies this week

Mumbai, Sep 28 (IANS) The mood at the movies this week is distinctly experimental and largely encouraging, with dysfunctional protagonists leading the bright pack.

In Ashwin Chowdhary's "Siskiyan", Neha Dhupia thinks a visitor in their house raped her during the Guajarat riots.

In award-winning Assamese director Jahnu Baruah's intriguing "Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara", Anupam Kher goes through life thinking he was responsible for Mahatma Gandhi's death.

It's the role of a lifetime for Kher, perhaps his biggest opportunity to prove himself as an actor since his debut in "Saraansh". The fact that he has his close friend Yash Chopra to back the project gives a delicious theme to the dream.

With their sharp marketing acumen Yashraj Films will make Anupam's dream accessible in places where a film of this nature wouldn't have any reach, including multiple award-winning director Baruah's home state Assam.

Baruah incidentally is the eighth new director in Bollywood in two weeks, after Aaditya Datt ("Aashiq Banaya Aapne"), Sanjay Dayma ("Ramji Londonwale"), Kannika Verma ("Dansh"), Siddharth Raj Anand ("Salaam Namaste"), Ruchi Narain ("Kal") Bappaditya Roy ("Sau Jhooth Ek Sach") and Romesh Sharma ("Dil Jo Bhi Kahey").

He has made a huge name for himself in Assamese cinema. His debut in Hindi could be the beginning of a new phase for any reputed filmmaker from the eastern region.

"Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara" isn't a typical Bollywood film. What's bound to give it a mellow and movie edge is the father-daughter relationship, with Urmila Matondkar pitching in as Kher's screen-daughter.

Father-daughter films are rare in our cinema. We had Anubhav Sinha's "Aapko Pehle Bhi Kahin Dekha Hai" and Vikram Bhatt's "Aetbaar" doing the needful - with limited success.

Ashwini Chowdhary's "Siskiyan" isn't your average time-pass entertainer. Set against the backdrop of the Gujarat communal riots, Chowdhary, whose earlier film "Dhoop", went into the theme of war and deliverance, has this time sought to adapt Roman Polanski's film "Death And The Maiden" into a contemporary Indian communal setting. The same plot line was seen two weeks ago in Kannika Verma's "Dansh".

Considering the rather hostile attitude to most films on the communal divide (barring Anil Sharma's "Gadar: Ek Prem Kahani") one wonders if "Siskiyan" would be able to do what "Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara" attempts to do in a far more gentle way: probe the polarisation of individuals and communities on various levels in post-Independent India.

The third release this week, "Kasak", features Pakistani actress Meera with Lucky Ali.

While Meera's tall claims about her star stature translated into zilch at the box-office in "Nazar", Lucky proved anything but lucky in his desperate attempts to face the camera in "Sur" and "Kaante".

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Siskiyaan