Bhram: An Illusion (2008) User Reviews

A movie for Television and DVD

[mankindin · 5/10 · 13 June 2008]

This movie if released in theaters would surely flop because this movie has nothing that would drag you to the theaters except the lead actors Dino Morea and Milind Soman. This movie is for DVD and television.

The script is bad. But the director Pavan Kaul has made a bad script look like a good one. He has executed the scenes well with the help of good good performances and good cinematography. Some unwanted scenes and dialogs have made it look like an adult movie and it was promoted like that too. Maybe the producers wanted to pull audience who want sex. But the movie is for the family audience as it is about relationships. The emotions touch you too especially in the ending.

Dino has acted well. Read the reviews of most of his movies and you will see that he has been praised. But still he is underrated. Milind is a great actor and he too is underrated. Sheetal Menon is good. But needs more films as this movie might not help her. Simone Singh looks cute and has acted well. Chetan Hansraj has also done his part well. But other actors have no scope and have no importance even if they are famous television artists(Roshni Chopra, Karan, etc).

Conclusion: Bad script, good performances, some shocking dialogs and not a bad movie. Won't regret buying the DVD.

And my favorite dialog in this movie is "How do yo like your eggs ? Fried or... fertilized ?"

A Bundle of Surprises

[uncle_g1234 · 7/10 · 12 June 2008]

I have to admit that I had geared my expectations low because of the three main roles being cast with ex-models. But I just had to see Sheetal Menon do her debut role.

Bottom line is that I came away with a higher opinion of the movie than I thought I would have. I think Sheetal, though not the same type of personality as Kangana Ranaut, still has her own natural style. I never felt she was struggling to find her expression. The critical juncture is when she recognizes Inder. If she was going to break the spell, it would have been there. But it didn't happen.

I liked the locations. Like Jab We Met, Bhram was partly shot in Kangana's native state, Himachal Pradesh. And the results were equally good.

I liked the screenplay which really created a fog of mystery for the characters to feel their way through.

I liked the musical score. Both songs and background fit the mood of the movie.

I really also liked the actress who played Dev's wife. I don't know her experience level, but there was a moment when I just suddenly had the thought "I like this actress".

Milind was better than Dino. His part was well-written, and he can handle a well-written part. Dino is harder for me to swallow. He often seems miscast to me. But he was good enough to blend into the team and not drag it down.

So, after Gangster, I couldn't wait for Kangana's next. And I'm equally curious about Sheetal.

Bhram - An engrossing fare

[vinayb111 · 21 May 2008]

Bhram came as a complete surprise..very pleasant one. It is an extremely well made film not much into exaggerated dramatics, yet very poignant new and fresh. It was like seeing a Hindi film but made by a westerner, since treatment and approach was not hackneyed.Quite a first from Bollywood.

Beautiful visuals, evolved sentiments, real characters and technically finely honed effort. The best part is it can be a repeat watch since its not a thriller of a whodunit kind where once you know the end, the plot is revealed.It is more a drama of relationships and the twists and turns of fate. So on a repeat watch lots that one misses out while following the story the first time can be now focused on..like the shot takings,use of tones, subtleties etc.Mature is the one word that comes to mind on seeing it.No age old traditional scenes. Innovative.Wish there were more films like this from India.

Jaane Kyun by Sonu Nigam was sensuously picturised but what I liked best was the story being told in the song. A girl who hated men now decides to give herself willingly to her man, and make the first move. It was so subtle..without dialogues or any underlining. Just her flashback in the song. Good job.

And the climax was simply awesomely shot with a great suaveness.Liked the songs as they fitted well in the mood. Not a single song was in lip sync.All background scores.I noticed this on second viewing.

Minus points..although the cast performed great, but had Dino been replaced by an Arjun rampal or even Akshaye Khanna the film would have been taken more seriously.Cinematography could have been better.

Milind was fantastic, also Dino and so was new girl Sheetal menon and Simone Singh.

Over all a good film which somehow makes a deep dent and stays with you. Once the dust settles, Bhram I think will be counted as one of the best of 2008 and among the best in the dark genre along with 'Being Cyrus'.

Could have been brilliant

[daniel-schut · 1 June 2008]

The story of Brahm is fantastic. Also, Part of the execution is well done, by having a story about a web of illusions which is slowly unravelling, and telling that story mostly via flashbacks. In the beginning, the movies gives you almost a David-Lynch kind of feeling, with seemingly off-plot scenes - but after a while you begin to understand: those seemingly loose ends were not actually means to the end of interrupting the narrative you were attempting to construct - they actually are loose ends. The confusing scenes which throw you off-balance are not actually meant to alienate you from the story in the eerie-David-Lynch way - they are just displays of the massive and random incapability of the screenwriters team.

It's actually quite amazing to see just how many mistakes they made. From incredibly stupid dialogs ("is that Greek?" - "maybe I am a geek"), to even more incredibly stupid characterization-devices ("boy", says Shan to supermodel Antara, who must be an air-head because she is a model, right? "you read so many books?" Could it be she has a brain after all?), from just random-out-of-the-blue plot twists (suddenly, after a relative stranger Antara accuses Devendra of rape and murder, both his wife and his own brother believe unconditionally that Devendra is a rapist and a murderer, even while we've just seen them a few minutes before declaring their undying love and trust in the Great Man) to an ending which is as predictable as it is pathetic, the screenwriters' unique talent for making mistakes is just unending.

But even with all these mistakes, it's still a movie which is "mweh, not so bad" - not a complete excruciating bore. The reason is the actors.

First the two leads: Dino Morea and Sheetal Menon. Dino is just about alright as the cheeky but romantic here who accidentally walked into a film noir. Sheetal Menon is sizzlingly hot. And please understand: I too am against the (recent) trend of young "actresses" bearing all without reason in Bollywood-movies - you know who I am talking about, those starlets who mistake showing skin and pouting lips for "talent". But Sheetal's role here is different. Not only does her role here require her to be sexy, but she achieves this not by showing gratuitous skin, but by her presence (and well, yes, also showing some skin - but not even that much when compared to let's say, a Mallika Sherawat). A good performance for a débutante - the moments where she becomes unbelievable (when she "recognizes" Dev as the rapist and murderer of her sister, to name one example) mainly have to do because of the bad screenplay the writers have given her.

Them the other pair: older brother Devendra played by Milind and his wife, played by Simone Singh. Especially the latter gives a stellar performance, first as the funny, sweet and loving housewife, then as the disappointed and heartbroken woman. But Milind also has some strong scenes, especially at the end, where we get to see what happened according to Devendra, had some really good scenes from him.

Ohyes, and also there is just human curiosity to help you sit through the film. You just want to know what happened.

So all in all, the story is good, but the writers ruined it. One wishes David Lynch would actually take up this idea and make his first Bollywood-movie called "Bhram: The way it should have been done". That would have been a brilliant film for sure!