Sehar (2005)

Touches You

Sorry, this movie sucks

How sad is this?

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

'Sehar' is pretty much just another cops vs bad guys movie. It isn't a bad movie per se but the film hardly has anything new to offer except that here they track the bad guys by tracing their mobile phone calls. The execution lacks style. The cinematography is flat and the score is unnoticeable. The pacing is rather slow at times. However, the final sequence, with the flashback sequences, camera-work and editing is exceptionally done and remains effective. If only the entire film was filmed this way. Arshad Warsi gives a sincere performance as a dedicated officer who's passionate about his job and determined to catch the criminals. Pankaj Kapur is remarkable in a rather simplistic role. Sushant Singh is wooden most of the time and caricatured. Suhasini Mulay leaves a mark with a small role. Mahima Chaudhry doesn't get much scope but she makes the best with what she's given. Overall, 'Sehar' is a pretty ordinary cop movie with a very good final sequence. It's not worth more than a one-time watch.

This movie shows what lack of publicity and promotion can do to a good movie.. A gem of a movie which somehow missed everyone's notice.. This movie gave a new look to the usual underworld saga by placing it in the UP hinterlands..It also had a very interesting star cast of rather talented but under-rated actors.. It was a pleasure seeing Arshad Warsi in a serious, single hero role.. Pankaj Kapur was marvelous as usual..Sushant singh was highly effective.. as usual..Suhasini Mulay did a good job...Had this movie been a little more promoted, it'd ve got the recognition it deserves. But now, it remains a good trivia movie...

One of the fundamental problems with a lot of Bollywood movies is that they try to convey more than one story at a time. This movie steers clear of that trap (though there are some distractions) and delivers a clear and crisp story. I don't think the story is exceptional (though being from the law enforcement perspective is unique) but the delivery is what makes it engaging.The actors are believable and the casting is quite well done. I think going for Pankaj Kapoor in his role was very sharp. Other picks were excellent too.I hope there are more movies from Kabeer Kaushik in the near future.

Another remarkable cop drama in the line of -Ardha satya/ Shool/ Sarfarosh and Ab Tak Chhappan. Though hard-hitting and realistic, it is definitely different in the sense that here more than protagonist waging a war against system or dealing with the rampant corruption or getting into a jingoistic, heavy dialog baazi he rather gets into the nitty-gritty of nabbing an underworld Don of UP. Also it exposes the nexus between politicians, administrators, businessmen, mafia and the police quite effortlessly. To don both the caps of writer and director is nonetheless a rare feat for a débutant and ad filmmaker turned film director Kabir Kaushik comes out with flying colors. The cinematography (R.A.Krishnaa), editing (Amitabh Shukla), art direction (Narendra Rahurikar), locales, the dialogs, sound design (Biswadeep Chatterji), stunt sequences (Parveiz Fazal Khan), music (Daniel B. George) all deserve a special mention in giving film a required rawness and creating a tense environment. The film manages to strike a fine balance between realistic cinema and mainstream cinema, which is an uphill task, and come across as an intelligent film. Though it has some flaws too like the overall tone of the film is far too serious than is required and tempo drops at places. It is sad to see honest cops dying one by one. Even the end is depressing. Among performances, Arshad Warsi is fabulous in his underplayed mannerisms (his best till date). Portrayal of Villain (Sushant Singh) as a cool headed guy who does not loose his temper in worst of situations, matches rightly up to him. Others are equally competent though Mahima Chaudhary's styling needs to be toned down a bit. Thankfully there are no forced songs in the way of narration. This film adds to the list of new cinema emerged in past few months which is a welcome relief from the tried and tested path and will definitely be remembered as one of the best films released this year.