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| CITY
OF GOLD MOVIE REVIEW |
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| Review
by : Harish |
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Starring:
Vineet Kumar, Sameer Dharmadhikari, Kashmira
Shah, Satish Kaushik.
Direction:
Mahesh Manjrekar
Music:
Ajit Parab
Production:
Dar Motion Pictures |
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Mahesh
Manjrekar started off as a director but
is still well known only because of his
acting skills and the promising start
he made with Vaastav is still part of
history. But whatever it is, you can never
hate a Mahesh Manjrekar movie (excluding
'Padmashree Laloo Prasad Yadav', of course)
and City of Gold is not an exception.
'City of Gold' does have a feather touch
of 'City of God' and a little bit of Vaastav
in it. In the continuing confusion of
making an art or commercial movie, the
director has ended up mixing both, but
unfortunately the latter getting a major
share of the movie's content.
City of Gold is about the plight of the
mill workers in Mumbai in the 80s and
the chain reaction that drives their family.
People committing suicide is still part
of it but what makes this movie special
is about the good-hearted people who have
a heart of gold and help one another in
times of need by
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making huge sacrifices, some ready to indulge in body
trade and some even sell his kidney. The plot is multidimensional
and thankfully it stays that way throughout. Instead
of delving more on the mill worker's plight they have
chosen to show the aftermath of it. There are several
deft touches which many might end up missing, but
expecting to make the audience feel sorry for the
workers, they use cliché scenes and over melodramatise
it. The climax is idiotic, yet we do get a cheap thrill
of happiness as justice finally prevails, but art
fans would have wanted it to end at least 15 minutes
prior. The movie has too much of blood usage and I
presume almost half the budget for this low budget
film would have gone for only buying red blood-like
liquid. This movie is especially not for the faint
hearted. Seema Biswas and Karan Patel's death was
taken poetically except for the 'Kaa Kaa' act.
The realistic acting prowess of all the actors, including
the spectacular performance by voluptuous Kashmira
Shah, is only deterred by the over-acting and constant
camera gazing by Karan Patel's sidekick kids. Karan
Patel himself has given a spectacular performance
and it will come second only to an out of the world
performance by Veena Jamkar as Manju, a dreamy lower
middle class girl. Anousha Dandekar and Ankush Choudhary
act artificially for most parts.
Technically, the movie does stand strong with a brilliant
camera work by Ajit Reddy, which eases through the
small gullies of Mumbai to capture life as it was
back in the 80s. Editing was patchy but not a bad
attempt. Art by Prashant Rane was good. Music direction
by Ajit was ok but not great but the background score
was well below expectations.
Overall, a movie which had in it to make an impact
but the over inclusion of commercial elements not
only made a negative impact but was a catalyst in
missing the heart.
Verdict:
Art(ificial)istic fare all set to confuse you
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| Tags
: City of Gold, Mahesh
Manjrekar, Vineet Kumar,
Dar Motion Pictures,
Ajit Parab |
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