Nayak: The Real Hero (2001)

Admirable film.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

What you call a film like NAYAK?It has a message, it has a good topic but it's handling is a mishmashIt sometimes is like a social drama and sometimes veers into a surreal modeIt's like a south film, not surprising directed by Shankar a south Indian directorThe film starts rather painfully with a bad joke by Johny and Razzak Khan and they are many of such incidentsThe turn of events like the riot is ruined by melodramatic and exxegarrated picturisationThe interview too is too contrived to take seriously, also Anil made an interviewer from a cameraman is also sillyBut the things Anil does to change the state of affairs is well handled though it's too contrived to believe that it can be done in 1 day Also the film has too many stupid scenes like Anil getting into disguises and fighting with a goon over a truck Paresh's outburst forcing Anil to join politics again is well handled and also the finale Direction by Shankar is good in parts Music is okayAnil Kapoor looks his best here and he dons the role perfectly his formal clothes, his natural acting and his common man type look suits the role Rani annoys as his girlfriend doing all the nonsense she mostly does in most films Amongst rest Pooja Bhatra is okay, Johny Lever hams it up as usual and irritates Amrish Puri is good in his part though a bit too much Saurabh Shukla is funny Paresh is a highlight, he is a natural hope to watch him in such roles now. His outburst is perfect Amongst rest Shivaji Satham is okay Vikram Gokhale has done dubbing for Anil's father while Neena Kulkarni is as usual

Firstly don't grumble over the credibility in the storyline or else different cinema would not come in our way. Moreover director Shankar has much conviction in his direction to make the overall product fairly digestible.So we have a journalist Mr. Shivaji Rao (Anil Kapoor) who in an interview with the CM (Amrish Puri), is challenged to work as a CM for 24 hours. Accepting the challenge he does everything in those 24 hours from clearing JHOPDI'S to suspending corrupt KHOPDI'S. In the second half, by public demand he is elected as the permanent CM , but ironically in this half he spends more time romancing with a village girl (Rani Mukherjee).A well written script and a fast pace screenplay, successfully grab's the audiences attention. Rehman's music is not much hot this time but the song picturizations do have an artistic visual appeal. Lacks of bucks spent on those huge sunflowers , tall bhuttas, fat pumpkins and a thousand matkas ( though do not make much sense, but) are surely different than those usual running around trees or dancing in foreign locations.Some scenes have been very well presented, like the conflict between the bus driver and the students, the interview with the CM and the assassination of the CM at the end. But the MUDDY MATRIX oriented fight sequence was overdone and could have been avoided. In terms of performance, Anil Kapoor is extremely convincing and adds life to the portrayal of his character. Rani is charming. Amrish returns to a sensible negative role. Paresh Rawal lends excellent support.Finally if you think hundreds of movies have been made on corrupt system theme, then this one is no new but a good example of old wine in the latest bottle.

What impressed me most about the movie is the tightness of the script. Events unfold one after the other. Neither too fast, nor too slow. Keeps you gripped. The events are coherent. Something you rarely see in Indian movies is people referring to events that have happened in the beginning of the movie. More often than not, the scripts are improvised on the sets and to maintain continuity the dialogues are abstract in nature so that the different parts gel in. To make a movie with cross references to subtle events needs you to have a script very firmly in place.Second good thing about the movie was the experimentation with Visuals. Though at some points I felt that they have just indulged into special effects without the need for it (they should use effects only where needed), but honestly I was very impressed by the efforts taken to meet quality standards.What has put off many people about the movie is the songs and dance and the unrealistic fights and some silly extremisms. Well the songs really don't have much bearing on the movie. And they have experimented with a very rustic style of entertainment which won't get wasted on everyone. As far as the fights and 'silly extremisms' go, I feel they tried to retain the HERO flavour which would really appeal to a large aspect of the masses.The movie has very innovative ideas and also dares to be different - thougt most of that part should be attributed to its South Indian Counterpart.I would say please go and see the movie. Its a nice experience. Appreciate it for its professionalism and technical expertise. Appreciate it for amazing dialogues and great performances by Paresh Rawal and Anil Kapoor both. It is a thought provoking film - something I feel the movie really set out to be. So its purpose is served.

This is a remake of Shankar's own south film Madhalvan in Hindi. The south Whizz kid director has made an awesome spectacle of a film with Nayak.It is a definite must see. Rahman's music is superb, 'shaka laka baby!' to say the least. This film contains superior special effects and CGI for it's time, unlike others who have no sense of using CGI effectively and non garishly, Shankar has created beautiful sequences for the songs. The cinematography is breathtaking, a joy to the eye. The South influence is very imminent, that is what makes this film so good along with a bravura performance from Anil Kapoor and the sensuous Rani Mukerjee although underused only adds to the films beauty.