Set at cafe in Bangladesh, Faraaz is a true-life hostage story with a bunch of talented young actors doing what Hansal very cheekily describes as a dark Archies.
That is the ideal description. Faraaz is a dark film. But it is not overbearingly gloomy or pessimistic. Hansal has shot the film as a gripping thriller that is over in less than two hours. The audience hardly gets the chance to breathe, let alone get bored.
Faraaz could be the dark horse of the year: with a more raw and authentic side of global terrorism, the flamboyant version of which we witnessed in Pathaan.
Anurag Kashyap’s latest film Almost Pyaar With DJ Mohabbat has a dreadful, self-destructive title. Who on Earth would want to see a film, no matter how meritorious (and Almost Pyaar is a work of many virtues) with a title as fuzzy and doped as this?
This brings us to films that suffer for their title. Remember Raj Kapoor’s Mera Naam Joker? It would have been a box office hit if it were named something more epic, elegant and in-tune with the theme. In fact, the irrepressible IS Johar featured in a film called Mera Naam Johar two years prior to Mera Naam Joker further robbing the latter of dignity.
The recent Kuttey was rejected on the title level with audiences confusing it with a Lassie / Teri Meherbaniyan kind of canine saga.
Let’s hope Almost Pyaar With DJ Mohabbat gets an audience. It deserves one. Beautifully mounted and with stand-out performances by Alaya F and debutant Karan Mehra (who looks like a younger Ranveer Singh) this is Anurag Kashyap’s best work in years. We forgive you for Dobaara.
