After hearing rather mixed reviews for this film, I expected the unexpected walking into the theater. Good thing too. I'm sure a lot of you thought that the whole "black money" gig was a bit absurd, but as pathetic as it sounds, something like that has actually happened in Delhi as I watched on the Indian news channels. If you're planning on seeing the movie, let me warn you that this so-called "black monkey" terrorizing the city of Delhi is pretty much what the majority of the film deals with. That would be fine, however, the film has 2-3 different tracks and suddenly goes from one to the other without any common point or smooth transition.
The first track I'm talking about is Abhishek's experience of an Indian-American visiting India for the first time. The second obviously is the "black monkey." Then there is the love story between Abhishek and Sonam Kapoor. The screenplay has these three tracks mashed into this film with the writer seeming confused about which to focus on as none of three have absolutely anything in common.
Abhishek-Sonam's love story kind of pops up out of nowhere and has no significance. I understand why they choose Abhishek to be an NRI visiting for the first time. He has double identities--an American and an Indian, a Hindu and a Muslim. The madman's mirror served as a very interesting symbol as Abhishek was forced to confront himself and ask himself who he is. By having this double identity, he is able to identify the hatred within the dueling religious groups of Chandani Chowk.
The "black monkey" serves as a symbol for the Devil that lies within each one of us. The riots that occur in the movie are all due to stories, incidents, theories, self-interest, fear, fanaticism, and imaginations running wild about a black monkey. Our passion for something may be so strong that when we lose it, we let out the black monkey on a rampage. The attacks on Abhishek dressed up as the monkey is just a product of the entire community's hatred, fears, and lies for political and economic interests--not due to any external force. This symbol is really beautifully projected, and the climax is extremely powerful.
While the ideas in this movie are really nice, what I do not like is that throughout the movie India is shown as inferior to the U.S.--that the black monkey only exists in India and Abhishek does not have to deal with it in the U.S. True, such an occurrence would never happen in the States, but Americans are not a bunch of angels by any stretch of imagination. Each one of us has a black monkey in us.
Even though it is a bit disjointed and has a slight "Slumdog attitude" towards India, all in all, it's a good movie with a really nice theme. Sonam Kapoor is absolutely great--much better than Saawariya. It's surprising that someone could extract a better performance from an actor than Bhansali. Abhishek also suits the role well and does a great job. Music is disappointing except for Mashakali.
The first track I'm talking about is Abhishek's experience of an Indian-American visiting India for the first time. The second obviously is the "black monkey." Then there is the love story between Abhishek and Sonam Kapoor. The screenplay has these three tracks mashed into this film with the writer seeming confused about which to focus on as none of three have absolutely anything in common.
Abhishek-Sonam's love story kind of pops up out of nowhere and has no significance. I understand why they choose Abhishek to be an NRI visiting for the first time. He has double identities--an American and an Indian, a Hindu and a Muslim. The madman's mirror served as a very interesting symbol as Abhishek was forced to confront himself and ask himself who he is. By having this double identity, he is able to identify the hatred within the dueling religious groups of Chandani Chowk.
The "black monkey" serves as a symbol for the Devil that lies within each one of us. The riots that occur in the movie are all due to stories, incidents, theories, self-interest, fear, fanaticism, and imaginations running wild about a black monkey. Our passion for something may be so strong that when we lose it, we let out the black monkey on a rampage. The attacks on Abhishek dressed up as the monkey is just a product of the entire community's hatred, fears, and lies for political and economic interests--not due to any external force. This symbol is really beautifully projected, and the climax is extremely powerful.
While the ideas in this movie are really nice, what I do not like is that throughout the movie India is shown as inferior to the U.S.--that the black monkey only exists in India and Abhishek does not have to deal with it in the U.S. True, such an occurrence would never happen in the States, but Americans are not a bunch of angels by any stretch of imagination. Each one of us has a black monkey in us.
Even though it is a bit disjointed and has a slight "Slumdog attitude" towards India, all in all, it's a good movie with a really nice theme. Sonam Kapoor is absolutely great--much better than Saawariya. It's surprising that someone could extract a better performance from an actor than Bhansali. Abhishek also suits the role well and does a great job. Music is disappointing except for Mashakali.