FILM REVIEW: BLACK FRIDAY (2005)

Director: Anurag Kashyap
Producer: Midday
Cast: Kay Kay, Vijay Maurya, Pawan Malhotra and Aditya Shrivastav

Rdio Sargam Rating: 8/10

BACKGROUND:
Black is the colour of the season in Bollywood! ‘Black’ (starring Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee) and ‘Blackmail’ (starring Ajay Devgan and Priyanka Chopra) are both ready for release. However first we have this ‘Black Friday’ directed by Anurag Kashyap. The film is based on a book written by S. Hussain Zaidi, a crime reporter for Mumbai’s tabloid Mid Day. The story focuses on a series of bomb blasts in the city on 2nd March 1993, which killed twelve people.

SYNOPSIS:
Following the 1993 Bombay bomb blasts, top policeman Rakesh Maria (Kay Kay Menon) is assigned the job of catching the culprits. Various places are raided and vehicles ridden with explosives are discovered. It’s soon revealed that Tiger Memon, a businessman from the Muslim dominated area of Mahim, had taken funds from the underworld in Dubai (such as Dawood Ibrahim) and hired people for the job. The men are now shuttling from one area to another, although the police are hot on their trail.

CRITIQUE:
Black Friday is a great chronology of events aided by flashbacks. Director Anurag Kashyap successfully takes the audience through the events, from before and during the blasts as well as their aftermath, even adding a little comedy along the way. However he fails to venture into the territory of people directly affect by the blasts – nothing about the death, sorrow and grief. Instead it’s a tale of intrigue, mind games and revenge.

The performances are brilliant. Vijay Maurya looks very much like Dawood Ibrahim and his introductory scene is flabbergasting. Everyone present for the screening thought that it was indeed a shot of Dawood from the cricket matches in Dubai where he used to be spotted long ago. But of course, it’s not! Maurya plays the role with élan, even though he has just four minutes in the 2 hour 20 minute film. Kay Kay Menon also scores in the lead role of Rakesh Maria. Aditya Shrivastav does well too as Badshah Khan.

Nataraja Subramanian’s cinematography is also worth talking about in many scenes of this small budget flick. Kashyap’s wife and the editor of the film Aarti Bajaj too has done a wonderful job in cutting many sequences including this one.

CONCLUSION:
This movie successfully offers something a little different. Hopefully those who enjoy offbeat films will have a blast watching Black Friday!

Reviewed by: Tony


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