Taxi 9 2 11, my review.

Bollywood, off late, has gotten into this habit of making cinema that is both entertaining and experimental. When I say experimental, I mean, breaking the standard mould. Take Taxi 9 2 11 for instance. This movie is not your run-of-the-mill varieties.

We have seen enough boy-meets-girl movies where they fall in love, sing 2 songs and then one villian or family member breaks them apart, 2 more songs follow and then finally a lot of dishum dishum in the end and all is well that ends well. Endless relations, endless costumes, exotic foreign locations... et cetera. One item number and one comedian dishing out below the belt stuff complete the movie. Bah!

And then there were movies like Black, Parineeta (which except for the last 15 mins where Saif Ali Khan breaks the wall in true cinema style and goes over to the other compound), Paheli (well, it was a diffirent type regardless of how ridiculous it sounded) and many other that can be rather classified parallel cinema.

Taxi 9 2 11 is a bold cinema that makes a statement of its own. It has its hilarious comedy moments, introspective moments, silent moments, sentimental moments etc. Comedy has been dealt with in a discerned manner. Not too much of it, just enough to tickle the audience. The story by itself is quite short. But the way it has been taken makes it for an interesting fare. And now, for the actors...

Nana Patekar. Oh Man! One really feels for his character. The wrong man in wrong situations. You just want him to do one thing right. Never hogs the screen completely. But never makes you forget his presence in the movie. One amazing actor, one helluva amazing performance. His frustrated character - sometimes sober, sometimes over, sometimes sane and insane at other - has been very well potrayed. The travails of a poor taxi driver comes out very nicely. It is tough not to empathise with him in this movie. Though it sounds like his standard potrayal of pysho characters, this one is not really that much of a psycho role though it has its shades. This role is far more normal and underplayed.

John Abraham. He's turning into a fine actor. Not quite in the league of Nana. But he has his own space. His prowess is not unleashed until near the end when John returns to his apartment to see his legal papers in tatters (and his wealth going up in thin air!). And then after some earth shattering moments, John loses his best friend and girl friend. Then John and Nana meet. They end up having a drink at John's place. Both have seemingly just lost everything that they had so clung to for life. And what happens after that drink is just winding up of the movie. John does it well in these parts.

Sameera Reddy. Wasted. Plays a bimbette who is behind John's wealth (as being directed by her mother). She does provide the mental strength and support to John in his moments of loss and grief. Obviously, if the movies ends with an all is well that ends well note, she loses out. But it is how she loses out on John is nice to watch. Predictable, yet nice.

Sonali Kulkarni. One word. Simmers. In whatever she has been given, the itsy bitsy little piece... she simmers. You can really feel the immensity of her persona. She's the one to watch out for. And she doles out enough philosophical advice, that can help anybody and everybody.

Priyanka Chopra. Doing what knows best. Flirting. For all of 5 mins, at the very end of the yarn. I rather not have these 5 mins in the movie. Cant do anything about it. The movie is tightly held till that point and in those last 5 mins, it seems to slip away...

Some scenes have been done very well. I liked the place where John chases Nana in his Toyota Innova and pushes Nana in his taxi onto the railway tracks when a train is coming it the taxi's direction. The entire sequence has been very well shot. Also, with the high speed taxi driving in the beginning, ending up in an accident at a signal. And ofcourse, Nana chasing Sameera and John setting the record right by chasing him back. Another scene where your heart goes out to Nana is when Nana goes to his son's school, searches for him and has an emotional showdown.

All in all, a good movie. Definitely watchable once. If you ask me, who is the hero of the movie, I have to give it to Nana Patekar. See it to believe what I just said.

PS:
a) Read this hilarious movie review in the form of a dialogue exchange in rediff.
b) Interview with the filmmaker, Milan Luthria, on rediff.