I have been wanting to see the movie “Kahaani” starring Vidya Balan. The story is about how a pregnant woman comes to Kolkata from London in search of her missing husband, an IT expert on Firewall security on a contract to NDC (National Data Centre). It’s a kind of a mystery/detective story with a high emotional quotient of pregnant women struggling to get justice.
Coming back from Singapore to Chennai on an Air India night flight, I got a chance to see the movie. Much has been said about Vidya Balan’s brilliant performance in the movie, just like a mother carrying a child she carries the entire movie literally in her womb. A child owes its life to its mother and the movie owes its life on screen for the most part to the talented actor. Next to Vidya Balan, credits are due to Bengal actor Parambrata Chatterjee who comes as a young police constable “Rana” in fine form. I know little about the life and culture of Bengal and Kolkata, so I enjoyed the references to the same in the movie, especially the pronunciation of “B” for “V” as Bidya for Vidya. Apart from Vidya and Parambrata, the streets and lanes of Kolkata are an important element of the movie used brilliantly by director Sujoy Ghosh.
Sometime after the midpoint in the movie, you start suspecting on Vidya’s motives. But the Director keeps moving the plot fast enough for you not to stop and start second guessing. I liked the story, though the movie is around the broken system it doesn’t focus solely on complaining & criticizing it. A must-watch Bollywood movie for this season.
P.S.: It is interesting to know from Wikipedia that the movie has collected more than 10 times its making costs (Rs.8 Crore) and the roaring business that has been coming to the guest house (Monalisa Guest House) shown in the movie.
Kahaani (2012)