Dil Kabaddi

In one sentence - this is a totally hilarious and awesome movie.

I had almost completely lost my unconditional faith in Rahul Bose's movies after the debacle called Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam. Dil Kabaddi isn't actually Rahul's film, it is more of Irfan Khan's movie, but Rahul does have a significant part to play here. I love his character in this movie. It's so completely amusing, the way, each time his wife asks him a question, he completely sidelines his answer, and has a counter question ready. The portrayal of their first meeting was full of such questions and was so completely adorable.

I liked the way the movie talks about serious issues like infidelity and divorce, and yet, handles them all in such a light-hearted way. You realize that one of the characters is cheating on his wife (or her husband), but you are amused by the way things are presented, instead of being bothered by the grim state of affairs. I liked the way things were put forth in such a realistic way. Being in a committed relationship doesn't mean you cannot have romantic feelings for anyone else. It's only human to feel such feelings, and it's not necessarily wrong or immoral. And having such feelings does not necessarily mean that you are with the wrong person. They may make you stray a little and eventually realize that you are with the right person. On the other hand, you may have spent a number of years with the wrong person without realizing it, and these feelings may lead you to that realization.

Although nothing beats Irfan Khan's scene on the ghodi in Life In A Metro, he has done some credible work here. He looks terrific, whether he wears a business suit or an absurd outfit with absurd eye wear and a pink coloured cap that is styled like a Christmas cap with a little teddy bear hanging from its tip.

It's a little difficult to accept Soha Ali Khan in the role of an ageing woman. Ditto for Konkona. But both of them play their parts convincingly and don't look out of place.

Rahul Bose's outrageous flirting and overpowering infatuation with one of his female students had everyone in splits. And the way Konkona introduced Soha to Rahul Khanna, in spite of the fact that she liked him herself, but was basically denying it because she was married, was something I could, strangely enough, completely relate to.

All in all, brilliant script, direction, performances, and sets. Only the soundtrack leaves something to be asked for. In this department, even Rahat Fateh Ali Khan leaves me disappointed. But there was this totally comical song that played as the end credits rolled. Now that track was quite something.