Expectations –
Actress Swara Bhaskar started her career by doing some character driver roles in films like ‘Tanu Weds Manu’, ‘Aurangzeb’ and ‘Raanjhanaa’. Her performance was highly appreciated in many of these films due to which she manages to create her own identity of a good actor. Last year, she surprised everyone by displaying one of her finest performances in the movie ‘Nil Battey Sannata’. The movie also manages to fare well at the box office due to which Swara’s next solo film ‘Anaarkali of Aarah’ has managed to grab some eyeballs. The expectations are moderate and only due to Swara’s presence as the publicity and marketing of the movie is pretty low.
Story –
‘Anaarkali of Arrah’ is a story about a small town dancer Anaarkali (Swara Bhaskar), who is the most famous and loved dancer of that part of the country. A local politician V.C (Sanjay Mishra) is Anaarkali’s biggest fan and tries to attend almost every performance of hers. One day in a public event V.C gets drunk and starts to sexually harass Anaarkali in front of the entire crowd. In order to set herself free, Anaarkali slaps V.C in front of the full crowd. After this incident V.C wants to humiliate Anaarkali in every possible manner and Anaarkali wants to expose the real side of V.C to everyone. Things do not work in favour of any of them leading to something unexpected.
The ‘Glitz’ Factor –
There is a lot of detailing related to the character of Swara Bhaskar, which works in the favour of the film. Right from the opening scene, you know that the movie has a lot more to offer. Every scene involving Swara Bhaskar and Sanjay Mishra are remarkable. The finale dance by Swara with total rage and full energy is one of the key scenes of the film. These scenes keep you glued to the silver screen, despite of overdose of songs in the initial part of the film. The cinematography is of top notch and goes well with the flow of the film. The finale track is full of energy and goes well with the flow of the film. It’s good to hear Sonu Nigam in this movie after a long time. Also, after a long time we witness to hear songs with Classical Music in our Hindi cinema. Director Avinash Das comes up with a film which has basic shades matching with ‘Pink’, but at the same time ends up delivering a power packed film set in the heart land of India. The hardship behind the detailing of the characters is clearly visible. Swara Bhaskar is totally in her character and does cent per cent justice to the theme of the film. Chittaranjan Tripathy is sweet in his part.
The ‘Non-Glitz’ Factor –
The story is on the lines of ‘Pink’ and still has its own distinctive points. Also, the treatment is slow and repetitive after a while and drags a lot in the second half of the film. The second half could have been up to the mark, if only the story and the screenplay in that part would had been more detailed and connecting. There are many songs in this movie, especially in the start of the film. These songs lack the connectivity, but at the same time are essential enough to establish the character of Swara Bhaskar. Sanjay Mishra does a decent job as a comical villain, but ends up being a victim of half-baked script. Pankaj Triparthy is cute, but wasted.
Final ‘Glitz’ –
‘Anaarkali of Arrah’ is a girl power tale with hard hitting performance by Swara Bhaskar. The movie has its flaws, but the merits are high enough to make it a decent one time watch for sure.
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