A movie’s luck can be decided in two manners, either it gets the box office in a whirl wind or gets the critics get sleepless nights over it, in either way, it can be termed a success but some movies get nothing, absolutely no praise or financial success. The reason being, some movies are not really good picks for our Bollywood directors. Bhram is one such movie that even with a good plot misses out on many things. It is only human to have illusions but director Pawan Kaul definitely should have no illusion about the luck of this movie. Does his name ring a bell, for those it doesn’t, he has also directed the long-forgotten movie ‘Shhhhh’. I swear, I was one of the people who are not aware of this movie but that is hardly an issue, the fate of hundreds of movies that come out every year is similar to Shhhh, people forget them, those who go to the theatre to watch it and even those who don’t. Pawan Kaul has known Shah Rukh Khan from the days of the later’s struggling period, where as one struggled off the period and the other one is still waiting for that shower of lady luck. Or is it just a Bhram?
Rating: 2/5
So, what is Milind Soman doing in the movie, that too after such a long time? He has not definitely lost the Greek god looks that would make any woman go ga ga over him, remember the stripped images of the man and the serpent, the ad for Tough shoes. How can any one forget it? Then came the second avatar of the guy in movies like Rules and 16 December, nothing showed him as a promising actor. And then he vanished to appear in Bhram. But it hardly works for him. Not all great models turn great actors and Milind should come out of the Bhram to make it big at the box office. But honestly, rather than trying his hands at such movies, why doesn’t he get himself some roles in sci-fi movies, he would look damn adorable in those space suits.
Bhram comes as a romantic thriller, the big setback is, it deals with neither in the movie. How many cheap thrillers come out every year with pretty hot scenes in them? One can easily loose track of it. Sexy ladies, muscular men, and puffy plots, if this can sell a movie then Bhram can be an unambiguous success, but unfortunately, the audience is smart enough than this.
The plot of Bhram is good though not really singular. The movie deals with the childhood trauma of a successful model. The development of the trauma and the execution of the sorting out part make up for the two and half hour long movie. As in Race, we have two highly successful brothers, Shantanu (Dino Morea) and Devendra (Milind Soman) who have made a name for themselves in the world of business. So you get to see a lot of good and impressive settings that are the only positive points of the movie. It takes you for a sneak peak at the world of glamour. Shaan short for Shantanu finds himself fall for the long-legged beautiful model Antra (Sheetal Menon). Antra, while apparently riding high on success, has been running around sleeping with big shots to recover from a childhood shock; it hardly works this way. As a child, Antra has seen the rape and murder of her elder sister, which leaves her in a trauma that makes her unstable and vulnerable to psychological issues. When Shaan is romancing her and everything seems to be going smooth as champagne, the hitch comes in the form of big brother Devendra. Our damsel now gives into shrill cries of agony calling him the rapist who was responsible for her elder sister’s death. Unable to digest this, Shaan travels of to the cliffy and lush green valleys of Manali to unravel the mystery of the skeleton. On his pursuit of knowing the truth of a particular night, he comes across many strange characters. While people either do not speak out or speak in a much puzzled manner for him to come to the conclusion on what happened with Antra’s sister. In the mean while, a photographer is found dead and the mystery is far from sorting out.
The first half of the movie has a very elaborative yet restrained approached that makes the audience shuffle between the blacked out past and the glamorous present. When you hardly make out what is happening and the Bhram seemingly prolonged, the second half comes in as a relief but that soon turns out to be what you see is not what the reality is. So the title Bhram is accurately maintained through out the movie with the exception of the climax which doesn’t come as a surprise. Bhram could have been a much better film save the fact that we didn’t have too experienced a hand to secure the subtlety between transcribing between present and past. The smoothness is missing and you get hick-ups more often than necessary.
Acting wise, Sheetal Menon has done well and Dino doesn’t miss out the chances to exploit his scopes of a good performance. Milind Soman is so-so and Simone Singh as the estranged girlfriend is definitely good. Others like Chetan Hansraj, Sheetal Shah and Deepshikha are far from deserving any praise. The cinematography Hiroo Keshwani is definitely worth all the praise, and he deserves a pat of acknowledgment no matter how the movie fares. K. Rajgopal’s editing is nothing impressive and could have been better to streamline many scenes. The music by Pritam and Siddharth-Suhas is nothing amazing to fall in love with it.
The movie is a good watch if telecasted free in some channel and you come across it by chance with nothing else capturing your attention at that particular moment. The crisp pop-corn would also get tasteless when you sit through the movie in the theater.
Rating: 2/5
— Mahua Ray for Hamara Photos
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Good review.. but you seem to be liberal on the ratings. This movie is not even worth 1/5. Crappy acting and lousy language like fuck, shag, suck. Sheetal is crappy. Lets see if she is gonna show more skin in future to cover up her acting skills. Dino is tolerable.. Milind sucks big time. Simone is good. Deepshika hardly has any matter. Overall a pathetic movie!!
It’s not about being liberal but considerate, after all, they did try their best. I didnt expect anything more from the bunch!
Plz don be considrate.. give us a frank and open review!
I was being frank and open to put forward my opinion of the movie…:-)
Is this a review? Certainly didnt seem so. Its just a few thoughts strung together hapahazardly, without any sense or logic.
It wasnt a party you were reviewing, nor an event. It was a film and the yardstick of professionalism was not even attempted .
But one cannot blame you, its always about ones personal caliber. Kaagaz ke phool flopped for the same reason. The average viewer with his undergrown sense of aesthetics could not grasp it language. Anyways..you did your best..so good.
next time around please attend some classes on film criticism or film making.It may lend your reviews some credibility.
And btw.. I have seen the film. It wasnt perfect..no film is..But it was one of the better films from Indian Directors..It had class and maturity, also a unique language all its own.
I would give it 3.5/5
The comment by our man Sanghvi above only proves my point about assessing films. All he commented on was the actors, his personal likes and dislikes, and that was it…judgement reached!!
Why is that that ‘language’..the worst ever, in Omkara made it a hit..only beacuse it was Saif mouthing it? And in Bhram a few fcuks makes all cross eyed!! Strange..I didnt even seem to notice it..it just went with the flow.
well, I think, a review is a reviewer’s stand point on a film, we may however agree or disagree with it. There is no point judging each other’s calibers. No two fingers are the same so neither can be two view points. The point about attending classes on flim criticism, one can have topped a university on film sutides but still you find issues. Lastly, the thoughts I put in were my own and the ratings that was provided again solely belongs to the author. Whether you appreciate or not is a different issue altogether. I did my best and I stand by it.
Hey Nimish, why don’t you review a movie.. lets read a review from an expert on film criticism.
Anytime buddy PP..tell when 🙂 And i promise u wont be disappointed. Want me to give one on Bhram?
For starters it should be viewed as a film and not a genre. Categorising doesnt a film reviewer make. And if then one is yet interested in assuaging ones mind before viewing with a sense of genre, Bhram would certainly be a dark film, the best in recent times after Being Cyrus, dealing with relationships in a backdrop of crime. The sense of surprise and suspense was woven in i would think to elucidate on the mind sets of the characters.
I think the stars or cast not being A listers has come in the way of less serious cinema viewers not taking the film seriously enough moreso since language used is authentic and bold. Hypocrisy often makes us point fingers at films which attempt to be realistic..and make us uncomfortable. Yet when the choicest profanities are used by saif in Omkara, ..it seems fine.
The hiccups as the reviewer put and continuity jumps were one has read on the net a result of sloppy slashing out of 20 minutes of the film..Which is apparent. becoz if a Director can shoot the film so consistently it is obvious he can shoot the whole. A trained mind would immediately recognise that the film has been messed around with and go on to review the strengths which were glaring in magnitude. Why are we always so keen to blow up miniscule issues and ignore the important ones?
I can go on..if you like. Succinctly I would say that Bhram has tries to go on a path less trodden..if not absolutely unpaved, untrodden. I thoroughly enjoyed the mix of solemn with jocular, ebullience with sombre and the technical finesse it presented. Its film we ought to be proud of having produced in India in a meagre budget. surely better than Tashan, race, one two three and such crap.
Elsewhere on the net the more ‘well versed with films and criteria of evaluation audiences’ have liked the film immensely and so have I. hence I totally disagree with this review..most humbly. And once again reviewers ought to ethically have basic knowledge of film making..As an example..How can a plumber immersed in his craft and no sense of a paint brush evaluate MF Hussain ? If he does ..what will be the outcome ?
Cheers!!
It was nice to read this, I wish it was little more informative as well.
Mahua..loved your spirit..So you do agree that your review was a tad unfinished and not probing enough for a film like Bhram..loved your spirit.
You say more informative..here goes…
The concept of color tones…metaphorical. If you notice it was a washed out sepia for the times that Dino is looking for the truth in manali to imply as if the overshadowed grey clouds of anguish in their lives. The cut back to past was always a colorful, fresh ..especially the scene when he proposes to her..with those hazaar flowers. IMO never have i seen a romantic scene so creatively done. the whole development of their love story was through dialogues..from hate to love to passion..no natak, no filmi scenes..just plain..transformation..slowly..Lovely!
And then the creme de resitance was when in the song ‘jaane kyun’..used as a flashback she remembers their love making..it was touche!! here was a woman who was paranoid about sex and men and almost hated them.. yet she made the first move to love making! Do you recognise the subtleties at play?? It was meant to imply acceptance at her soul level..so subtle and yet so bold. For those who cannot recognise the essence it is only a love making scene. .as on you tube these days this song has over 70,000 views..all they see is sex!! That is what is wrong with us indians..we dont think beyond it.
Many such scenes.. i can go on… i think the director didnt shout from the rooftops about his newness so people barely recognised what he was trying to say. They are so used to loud mouthed braggarts going hoarse about their film and its finer points. here it was we the audience who had to discover what the shades were..which is to mu mind the anatomy of a master technician!!
I read somewhere that the Director has had to face a lot of hardship in the making and finally 20 minutes or so were chopped off…if you see it again, you will notice the story, sound, background score jumps…the film was massacred..therefore seemed disjointed.
The climax was awesome!! The performancees great!! To get models to act whew!!! and so well.. Dino Milind, Sheetall.all were as if made to breathe their roles..
See the reason i was so disappointed with your review was you missed out on what the film was about. A serious viewing as a passionate reviewer was missing or there was no way you may have missed what i had seen..after all the maker is no chacha of mine that i am so floored. Its just that..the effort was so inspiring. Give me a Bhram any time over the shit we see in Bollywood. it will remain my favourite dark film along with being Cyrus..another great film.
As a reviewer you have to look for creativity and once you see the presence dont ignore it. SSShhh..was a SUPERBLY technically made film…you have to understand logistics of film making to know what goes on to taking shots..
There was not a single shot taking in Bhram that i have seen in Bollywood..the angles the breakdowns..and all in a budget whih must have been around 3 Cr..Do you know what that means? It is the cost of one song of Devdas!! Can you imagine what a big budget may have transformed Bhram into?
I suggest you see the film again with these guidelines..you maay see a new bhram..and let me know what you think.
Regards
Nimish
I just read you review again..must add that your equating it with less seriously made thrillers is doing a great disservice to the film, its maker and to you as a critic. A rectification is in place..if so inclined. Dont discourage makers single handedly braving storms..its unfair and cruel. If I meet Pavan kaul i will shake his hand and say ‘Sir.. Well done.. thoroughly enjoyed Bhram..Keep it up!!
I saw the film with an editor who couldnt stop saying ‘ man what a shot’ every two minutes..We then saw it a few days later on a pirated dvd for 50 bucks and hated the difference in color and sound but yet loved the film.You see, that is why i say basic information on film making is a must Mahua.
Would do, however, why don’t you read my other reviews, I might need some more instructions (comments)! That would be again welcome…after all the process of learning never ceases!
Sure will read and instruct/guide 🙂 but shouldnt there initially be some proof of atonement in the above review? Or it will seem as if I am merely being tolerated not adhered.
Would do it but waiting for another chance to watch it! Though after reading your review I think it will be a futile effort on my part to redo it!
Watch it again Mahua..this time with seriousness in an unbiased, un prejudiced mind. If you tell yourself ” I am going to watch the work of a master,” you will suddenly find yourself absorbing details you might have completely missed in the first viewing.
We have to admit we are but creatures of ‘influence’..getting swayed often towards the negative. It is a challenge that if this film was European and the work of say Polanski..half the world would have been singing praises. But a Dino Morea film with NEVER heard before bold dialogues,( passed by Indian censors ..Bravo) kind of whitewashed the assimilation of technical canvas it showcased.
And No..nothing is ever futile. You will after a re watch,automatically read your review and feel strongly like re- wording, deleting, adding and thus creating a correct assessment of the film.. A tale of crime woven into a love story..less a thriller..not a whodunnit but a drama of relationships.So lets see the damsel at work 🙂