Film: 'Ugly'
Cast: Rahul Bhat, Ronit Roy, Tejaswini Kolhapure, Girish Kulkarni, Surveen Chawla
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Rating: 4/5
New Delhi: Right in the beginning of 'Ugly', there is a scene where Rahul Bhatt and Vineet Singh go to file a case of a missing child. The inspector on duty, played by a brilliant Marathi actor Girish Kulkarni, is more intrigued about how a picture appears on the phone when someone calls. Bhatt and Singh patiently make him understand how one needs to click a picture and set it to the contact. Then the inspector asks him to take a picture of him and show it him how its done. The two helpless men look at him and indulge him by clicking his picture, just to make him hear about their missing child.
The scene almost makes the viewer impatient. And that's a quality only filmmaker Anurag Kashyap - to highlight irrelevance in a relevant scene and build it up to such an extent that the viewer starts feeling impatient along with the characters in the scene. Kashyap has done this in his previous films like 'Gangs Of Wasseypur'- when during a crucial scene the three characters discuss how to cook jackfruit while following a target to kill him point blank.
Kashyap's latest, 'Ugly' has such moments galore, where the characters divert from the main plot of finding a missing girl and get involved in a game of upmanship. Especially between the girl's biological father, a struggling actor and her step father, a senior cop. No character is completely balck or white- each has a shade a gray- where a mother is alchoholic and depressed and wants her daughter back but also wants to fend for herself first, where a desperate young lad blackmails his sister to give him money, or where a starlet deceits her lover and friend to start a new life with fresh cash in hand.
Kashyap's 'Ugly' is shot in real time which make the film very relatable. It also has moments which will make you cringe and yet force you to keep your eyes glued to the screen. The film's main plot is that of a 10 year old girl gone missing from a parked and while her near and dear ones are out looking for her they are also fighting their personal battles.
The film's grim mood is set in right from the beginning of the film with most of the story narrated in dimly lit rooms, dark alleys and shady restaurants. While some of the scenes in the film are a tad bit stretched, the narrative keeps you hooked throught out thanks to the innumerable twists in the story.
In fact, not a single moment in the film can be termed nas 'predictable'. At first, It appears to be a simple story about a missing child, but as the story unfolds, you realize there is more than what meets the eye.
Much like his earlier film, 'Black Friday', Kashyap's 'Ugly' makes you uncomfortable. It makes you think of things you would rather not think about. It leaves a bitter taste in mouth but yet stays with you for a long time after the film's over.
The brilliant screenplay is ably executed by the gamut of actors that Kashyap has essembled. From Rahul Bhatt, who plays the hapless father in search of his daughter, to Tejaswini Kolhapure, who plays the depressed, alcoholic mother stuck in a bad marriage to even debutant Siddhanth Kapoor who just wants to earn a few extra bucks, each of them do justice to their roles. But the stars of the film is Marathi actor Girish Kulkarni who plays Inspector Jhadav to perfection and Ronit Roy the senior cop whose step daughter is kidnapped. Roy, who had a below average start in the movies back in the 90s, shifted to television to become the superstar of small screen but later stunned one and all with his portrayal of a strict father in Vikramaditya Motwane's 'Udaan' (produced by Kashyap).
Roy has slowly become one of the most bankable actors of Bollywood and in 'Ugly', with a meaty role, Roy shines. There is a level of mystery around Shomit Bose, the character that he plays and he is tough nut to crack and Ronit Roy executes the role with absolute perfection.
Anurag Kashyap's 'Ugly' with make you laugh at some of the irrelevance, it will make you cringe at the blood and gore, it will leave you disturbed even but more importantly it will make you think. And that's why you should watch it.
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