Ishqiya - Movie Review
Published: February 22, 2011
Starring Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi
The Wild-West world of Ishqiya is a man's world—dusty, dangerous, full of grimy outlaws—an absurd place out of time, where only the strong survive and the unscrupulous thrive. But at the center of it is a woman—a sly, formidable woman with a secret agenda—who calls the shots and lets the men think otherwise. Debutant director Abhishek Chaubey reinvigorates the curry Western with this inventive comic caper wrapped around a mysterious tragedy.
Khalu (Naseeruddin Shah) and his nephew Babban (Arshad Warsi) are bumbling, two-bit thieves on the run from their nitwit boss, who wants to bury them alive because they ripped him off. Khalu and Babban dig their own graves, literally, more than once, but they manage to slip out of his clutches. They flee to the home of their friend Verma, a local mob boss, to hide. But Verma has been killed in an accidental gas explosion in his home, and there they find only his scarred but lovely widow, Krishna (Vidya Balan), who lets them stay with her until they can figure out how to leave the country.
Krishna immediately deduces what makes them tick—for the sentimental Khalu, it's love; for the sleazy Babban, it's sex—and in no time, she's got Khalu dreaming of happily-ever-after and Babban panting like a dog. To help them get the money they need to pay off their boss, she hatches a plan to kidnap and ransom a rich industrialist—which doesn't go according to plan. But like the hapless Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of Hamlet that the two men could have been modeled after, Khalu and Babban don't realize they're merely playing a part in someone else's melodrama—Krishna's—and they're being used to achieve ends other than their own.
The story is as much of a tease as Krishna is, but the complicated machinations are revealed in due time. The engaging characters and their crackling dialogue are enviable opportunities for the actors, particularly for Balan, since intriguing roles like hers are rare for women. While Balan's dignified portrayal of the wily Krishna dominates the film, Shah, a venerable actor, and Warsi, who's been underrated in the past, have just as much impact.
Ishqiya is rated Must See.
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