1 Line Review-
The story and pace of narration kills the movie. Avoid this flick.
Detailed Review-
Though the trailers looked impressive I didnt have plans to watch Ishqiya before as I suspected the story wont be too good. But then I was intrigued by statements from the director, cast etc that Vidya Balan's character is "Raw". She portrays the completely different side of Indian women!
So I decided to give it a chance. The movie surely belongs to a different genre and is an offbeat movie with crude dialogues and powerful performances from the cast. But even that doesnt help as the story is slowly paced and never amuses or intrigues you.
Set in Western Uttar Pradesh, the movie is a tale of romance between individuals caught in a web of crime, suspense, passion and deceit. Two thieves, Khalujan (Naseeruddin Shah) and Babban (Arshad Warsi), are on the run from their boss, Mushtaq (Salman Shahid).They seek refuge with an old friend but instead meet his widow, Krishna (Vidya Balan). As they plan their escape, their time spent together draws the duo to her, Khalujan with his vision of old-fashioned love and Babban with his lascivious heart.
The movie never really picks up pace. The story is narrated more like an essay and even the twists are told in such a plain manner that they doesnt surprise you or build your interest in the movie. The story could have been very good had it been executed properly. If you think about the story and the twists later you would feel that they could have been very interesting but are integrated so ordinarily in the movie that it fails to interest you.
The dialogues, scenes from interior parts of India and offbeat nature of the movie would attract many and infact may hide the principal flaws! I feel that a very poorly executed story is presented wrapped in good dialogues, music and raw characters with power packed performances.
Rating-
5/10