Ghanchakkar (2013)

Very Cool!!!

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Gupta's first feature, 'Aamir', obtained its 'inspiration' from the Filipino cult-classic' 'Cavite', and as such, I thought he should not have been so blatantly obvious about it, notwithstanding it's excellent soundtrack (something his next feature also had in spades). I did enjoy his next, 'No one killed Jessica', which was culled various newspaper reports on the case, and made for an engaging drama (less a thriller, more a drama, IMHO), and was lookin' fwd to this, in spite of thinking' that the plot was probably being lifted from Danny Boyle's 'Trance', and wishing he wasn't so blatant about his inspirations though. (I have since changed my opinion about this one and 'Trance', having seen both)Poised, I hope to be cult classic. Must've confused the hell outa the marketing team, who've managed to (wrongly, and to the movie's detriment) pitch this as a comedy. There sure are dark comedic overtones, but make no mistake, this is a drama first, thriller next, with little doses of uneven dark humor sprinkled across. In retrospect, it tells a very simple story. Memory loss (yes, think 'Trance' again), heist, is-he-lying, or is-she kinda setups. Boasts one of the best performances from Balan (who almost tops her own turn in 'Kahaani'), while giving everyone something to do. Hashmi has proved he can be a force in the acting department, given the right director (Banerjee's Shanghai saw him at his best), and he's fantastic here, since the movie hinges on his selling us his character's predicament. And here, we come to the crux of the matter: Hashmi's so good, that I was able to downplay the bad writing/direction that have gone into removing any semblance of consistency from the central conceit, all in favor of making it a whodunnit-kinda farce. While this is refreshing from the POV of not knowing what might happen next, it falls flat on reflection, and that 'falling flat' happens within the movie's duration itself, unfortunately. Excellent camera-work and background score complement Gupta's ambition, but to me, this will be his also-ran-but-try-harder-next-time effort from his end. This one has one of the best endings I've ever seen committed to celluloid, but that still wasn't enough from me still thinking of what could've been, and writing thus. No need to for me to state this explicitly, but this is definitely much superior to the run-of-the-mill product playing even in multiplexes, so I do hope the people encourage these Indies by watching them at a cinema close by. Definitely a keeper, even in terms of DVD/Blu.

the movie didn't make at the box office because most indians are used to junk movies like dabangg,rowdy rathore,chennai express etc. (overacting,poor story,illogical action,unnecessary songs,dance,and yeah happy ending of course this are the common things that people nowadays want to see in movies) since these things were missing in the movie therefore it didn't make at the box officeon the other hand Ghanchakkar has a different kind of comedy not usually seen in other movies and requires little maturity to understand the movie had a good suspense not a very great movie but yeah it is a good movie

This movie is not as bad as its reviews are. In fact, it very refreshing comedy/thriller. I think audience and critics didn't take it in its spirit or its ahead of its time. Any person can enjoy it at any time.Story is very well written. There are no big loopholes in it. Director has done a great job. Though plot was very small but they spread it very well over 2 hours. Acting wise, Emraan has done a great job. I am and never was a great fan of his acting skills but he proved in this movie that he is great actor and you will love watching him. Vidya is miss-cast in my view. Though she is great actor but I think makers of this movie picked her because of her success streak. Otherwise a pure Punjabi actress would do much better job and brought more reality, particular culture and ascent in this role. Even Juhi Chawal despite her age was better choice than Vidya.All in all, its a must watch. Its little bit experimental film but its very easy to digest. One thing I'll must say that it will glue you to your seat till the end though you might feel little boring at some instances. But you'll not regret watching it.

This one is definitely comparable to the 2007 Anurag Kashyap cult classic 'No-Smoking' If u love cult classics (like I do) you'd definitely enjoy this one. Emraan Haashmi and Vidya Balan have rendered tremendous performances as a couple trapped right in the center of a web of uncertainties and misunderstandings. Their overall condition as well as their relationship as husband and wife is rendered even more suffocating and is stretched to extreme limits because of the constant watchfulness of the two gangsters played very convincingly by Rajesh Sharma and Nandit Das. Nothing can be taken for granted in this film which starts testing your IQ and personality from the first shot till the very last frame...9 stars from this fan..Peace..