FILM > REVIEWS
Hulla | 2008-09-19
Noises muffled in a multiplex.
Director: Jaideep Varma
Cast: Sushant Singh, Rajat Kapoor, Kartika Rane
The Bitch‘s Verdict: Not making the right noises.
Jaideep Verma was a novelist before he took to film-making. Poor financers backed his directorial project ‘Hulla‘ because what he wrote on paper...the idea of a whole film dedicated to the noise of a whistle blow which can drive any man to paranoia does sound like an existential trip to noir cinema.
But then Jaideep said, "Wait guys, it can‘t be all that gloomy, I‘m going to make a comedy out of it."
Rich financiers lined up. Bollywood and comedy make the best bedfellows.
Hulla‘s woes could have been sorted even before everyone plunged into making it had someone had the common sense to make the room soundproof if that could solve all the noise pollution the film explores.
Raj (Sushant Singh) and his wife shift to a new housing society where he is disturbed by the whistling of the security guard‘s night patrol. He complains to the society secretary (Rajat Kapoor) and tries to convince his neighbours to put a stop to the disturbance. None of them pay attention to him and he finds himself getting increasingly irritable at work, home, in society. Of course there is the happy-ending in the film where he makes peace and finds his quiet corner in the noise.
The Bitch lives in a society too, and I know for sure, the ceetees don‘t blow before midnight. And for any working class family man who is home, fed and tucked into bed by 11pm, he should be long gone into his money making dreams to be disturbed by any night patrol whistling.
It‘s not like they are blowing bugles in the night time to annoy folks. No one suggested this drawback to the writer-film maker.
The Bitch can break the film into two rounds of a boxing match in a rink where the opponents face each other with verbal kid gloves. The first half is the build up so some really witty punch lines are exchanged. When everyone‘s character and quirks are established, the actors lose some of their initial steam and beat hollow in the second half where they get tired of repeating the same shtick. This is when you wish the referee stepped in and called for a truce since none of them can take it to the next level.
The Bitch was waiting for these guys to blow their top, some real fisticuffs like in a regular sized masala film. But ‘Hulla‘ is a pipsqueak of annoyance. Maybe that‘s what the director wanted. The film, like its central character, slowly evolves into a menace so irritating that one is bewildered. Is the film bad or these guys are just trying to piss me off?
Sushant Singh‘s helpless character is the angry young man on a comedy film set and he does well in his role because he has the seriousness on his face of an actor who thinks it‘s not ‘funny‘ the mess he is mired in. We agree. Rajat Kapoor is no stranger to comedies. Kartika Rane as Sushant Singh‘s wife balances the cruel wit with some general banter to keep her husband sane.
The possibility of this film‘s first audience echoing the right noises about it is slim. This one will die a quiet and mute one-show-a-day multiplex death.
Noises muffled in a multiplex.
Director: Jaideep Varma
Cast: Sushant Singh, Rajat Kapoor, Kartika Rane
The Bitch‘s Verdict: Not making the right noises.
Jaideep Verma was a novelist before he took to film-making. Poor financers backed his directorial project ‘Hulla‘ because what he wrote on paper...the idea of a whole film dedicated to the noise of a whistle blow which can drive any man to paranoia does sound like an existential trip to noir cinema.
But then Jaideep said, "Wait guys, it can‘t be all that gloomy, I‘m going to make a comedy out of it."
Rich financiers lined up. Bollywood and comedy make the best bedfellows.
Hulla‘s woes could have been sorted even before everyone plunged into making it had someone had the common sense to make the room soundproof if that could solve all the noise pollution the film explores.
Raj (Sushant Singh) and his wife shift to a new housing society where he is disturbed by the whistling of the security guard‘s night patrol. He complains to the society secretary (Rajat Kapoor) and tries to convince his neighbours to put a stop to the disturbance. None of them pay attention to him and he finds himself getting increasingly irritable at work, home, in society. Of course there is the happy-ending in the film where he makes peace and finds his quiet corner in the noise.
The Bitch lives in a society too, and I know for sure, the ceetees don‘t blow before midnight. And for any working class family man who is home, fed and tucked into bed by 11pm, he should be long gone into his money making dreams to be disturbed by any night patrol whistling.
It‘s not like they are blowing bugles in the night time to annoy folks. No one suggested this drawback to the writer-film maker.
The Bitch can break the film into two rounds of a boxing match in a rink where the opponents face each other with verbal kid gloves. The first half is the build up so some really witty punch lines are exchanged. When everyone‘s character and quirks are established, the actors lose some of their initial steam and beat hollow in the second half where they get tired of repeating the same shtick. This is when you wish the referee stepped in and called for a truce since none of them can take it to the next level.
The Bitch was waiting for these guys to blow their top, some real fisticuffs like in a regular sized masala film. But ‘Hulla‘ is a pipsqueak of annoyance. Maybe that‘s what the director wanted. The film, like its central character, slowly evolves into a menace so irritating that one is bewildered. Is the film bad or these guys are just trying to piss me off?
Sushant Singh‘s helpless character is the angry young man on a comedy film set and he does well in his role because he has the seriousness on his face of an actor who thinks it‘s not ‘funny‘ the mess he is mired in. We agree. Rajat Kapoor is no stranger to comedies. Kartika Rane as Sushant Singh‘s wife balances the cruel wit with some general banter to keep her husband sane.
The possibility of this film‘s first audience echoing the right noises about it is slim. This one will die a quiet and mute one-show-a-day multiplex death.
