In my customary style of using a direct connection to the movie title, to write my review title I was originally considering to title this one as Ugly..doesn't paint a ?pretty? picture. Story and plot wise, it would certainly portray the reality. However, purely from a film making perspective, that would be far from the truth.
In the world of Anurag Kashyap, people are hopeless ? they have already condemned themselves to hell and are living that hell each day. While most film makers try to uplift their audience even when they tell a story with grey characters by providing the protagonist with some hope, courage and opportunity to rise against the odds, Kashyap indulges in his fantasy nightmare that simply gets darker with every passing sequence till finally, you can?t see ? its all black and the darkest shade of it at at that. He gleefully smothers out the last spark of hope that might have been ignited had anyone shown the slightest bit of respite, compassion or even consideration.
Despite not taking a step wrong in the actual movie making - complete with a long conversation between a police in-charge and one of the central characters that displays a grim reality with dark humor, barely present songs that progress, not hinder the narrative and the usual Anurag Kashyap touches with random psychedelic music intact, this particular narrative becomes so soul sucking by the end of it all, that it doesn?t leave a nice feeling. This is especially on display in one hellish scene ? which could as easily have been implied than shown in its truly ?ugly? form
Performances wise, there is hardly a glittering star cast with Ronit Roy being the most recognizable actor of the lot, but true to the Anurag Kashyap brigade of the past, they all come to the party with solid performances. Vineet Singh and Girish Kulkarni do a brilliant job (I wish Girish?s character?s dialogues had subtitles since a lot of them were in Marathi). Rahul Bhat also does justice to his role though his performance is a little wooden in comparison. Tejaswini Kohlapuri and Surveen Chawla both look dull and worn out but then that?s what the script demanded. Ronit Roy shows a restraint that he earlier showcased only in Udaan though struggles in scenes of high strung emotion.
While it baffled when it was first revealed ? Ugly is a near-perfect title for this movie. The world doesn?t get uglier and murkier than the one that Kashyap showcases, with each character blacker than the other and a situation and progression that is not just unsettling but downright choking and unrelenting ? If that?s not ugly enough, I shudder to think what is. Think before you watch this one, its certainly not for everyone
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