movie reviews ... and more
Manorama Six Feet Under - Notepad
Manorama Six Feet Under
This page has additional observations, other than the ones noted in the main review.
Warning: this section has some details that could distort your experience while watching the movie. I strongly recommend reading this only after you have seen the movie or if you have decided not to see it.
Plot Summary
Satyaveer Randhawa is a junior engineer in the Water department and also the writer (under a pen name) of a thriller novel called Manorama, which manages to sell only two hundred copies. This failure compels him to write for pulp magazines instead. Frustrated and dissatisfied with his existence and the burden of failure, he tries to redeem himself by taking up a mysterious assignment for the wife of a local politician, who wants him to spy on her husband. But then everything is not what it seems and things go haywire, as future events manifest.
What Worked
- The pacing of the film is beautifully measured; it creates a mood where the film takes us into the mind and character of Satyaveer Randhawa and the world that he inhabits. The use of the voice over to air Satyaveer’s thoughts in a laconic dry monotone adds to it.
- The scene where he is assaulted by two goons on the work site is just marvelous. It is an inspired reworking of a similar scene from Chinatown where two goons, one played by director Roman Polanski himself, assault the detective played by Jack Nicholson and cut his nose. Here the same scene is modified to an assault on Satyaveer by two goons who look really threatening and end up breaking his little finger: the senior partner eats peanuts and is asthmatic, the younger one is a real road romeo who is squeamish when it comes to breaking bones. They reappear throughout the film in various scenes, including the one at the end. The director then shows us the original scene from Chinatown later in the movie, in a moment where Satyaveer enters his house, and the scene from Chinatown is shown playing on his television.
What did not
- The music is completely unnoticeable throughout, it really does not add to the mood of the film or enhance it.
- The script puts all the plot lines together in the end through the voice over of Satyaveer. This was done, I felt, only for the benefit of the audience who might have been confused. But this detracts from the fine pacing and the subtleties of the script that were on display earlier. The director should have left it to the audience to reflect on and decipher the various plot lines, instead of giving a modified “bhashan” (lecture) at the end. That really took away the feel of the film.
Manorama Six Feet Under - Movie Details
- Official Sites: Website
- Director: Navdeep Singh
- Lead Cast: Abhay Deol
![[Has twitter account]](/site_media/images/icons/twitter_small.png)
, Raima Sen, Sarika, Vinay Pathak, Gul Panag, Kulbhushan Kharbanda - Story: Navdeep Singh, Devika Bhagat, Devika Bhagat
- Screenplay: Navdeep Singh
- Dialogues: Abhinav Kashyap, Manoj Tapadia
- Music Director: Raiomond Mirza, Jayesh Gandhi
- Lyrics: Manoj Tapadia, Rowdy, Surendra Mishra, Irfan Siddique
- Running time: 135 minutes
- Reviewer: Anand S
- Categories: Hindi Movies
- Genres: Crime, Noir, Politics, Suspense, Thriller
Manorama Six Feet Under - Trailer
Manorama Six Feet Under - All reviews summary
External Reviews
21 reviewers have given Manorama Six Feet Under an average rating of 3.2/5.0. 12 yays, 6 nays, 3 so-so. See all external reviews »
Comments (17)
So many people have spoken about this film that I can't wait to watch it now.
Sorry to nitpick though, but noir literally means black in French. (Nuit, is night)
!!! Major movie spoiler in this comment !!!
Cinema always depicts life and to a certain extent tells the truth. Abuse of the girl child has been woven as a key element that surrounds mystery. Though it gives a negative view of social work, the topic of abuse of the girl child is very relevant.
The film confirms that child abuse is a manifestation of patriarchal power structure in which the girl child is seen as vulnerable, voiceless and agent less object. A 2006 small sample study reported that nearly one out of six boys and one in four girls in India are victim of sexual abuse. Almost 80% of the sufferers are children below 17 years of age, 20% below eight and almost 50 % of them are below 12.
[...] thinks Manorama Six Feet Under is possibly the finest noir film in an Indian language. Unlike traditional noir films, the camera work does not frame scenes in stark contrasts of light [...]
Thanks Rohan,I stand corrected. Hope you enjoyed the film
[...] about at Review - Manorama Six Feet Under - without giving the movie away..., - Last Updated - 2 minutes ago Follow This Story Change Your [...]
Hi Anand,
I just saw this film, and then read ur review. I was very impressed that our newer directors and writers are making these sorts of films in India.
Such complex and realistic characters with their own drives and motivations and such a dark plot and awesome pacing really made this a delicious film to watch. I hope we have more of this noirish films made.
Deol's performance along with the other actors in the film was fantastic; and I am glad there were no songs or hero whooping villain ass anywhere.
Your review was on the dot.
rightly said. the difference, as you spotted is a morally corrupted hero ( an absolute no-no for bollywood) and a vague ending that indicate at the idea of fate, destiny, consequences of karma. nice mention of the desert and it's relevance. Is this navdeep Singh's first movie?
@Tej, sorry for the late reply. Yes, let us hope more such films get made, though personally I am not too optimistic for various reasons!
@lash, it is his first movie, but he has worked on the Chinatown script and made it his own. The script of Chinatown is probably the best script ever in Hollywood, by Robert Towne, if I remember correctly.
It is de rigeur to analyse it all the script writing classes.
Well, at last we could say a country which boasts making more than 1000 movies, is movie that could reflect a story as in itself, unlike the remaining ones which are the same old run of the mill types.
Though personally i don't classify this belonging to a parallel movie genre, yes these are the ones that make sense without any unnecessary twists, characters and nautanki (la item numbers) etc.
Hats off to Mr. Singh for making this a cut above the remaining ones of time because most of the so called commercial movies depict a character around a story but not a character in a story. Well these are the movies which reflect the true life's incidences and some hero dancing around in Alps or some expensive suite that doesn't make any sense. (i'm sure in real life our stars don't like to do meaningless dances and embarrass themselves in public, so why show them in movies and waste the screen time).
Well i give this 4 out of 5 stars ad hope newer generation of directors deliver more of them.
@Ram Yes, let us hope so! But our heroes do all these things, because they need to make money, and ultimately it is an industry.
If you are a director with good films and are talented, but you do not make a "hit" film then you have no chance in maistream bollywood, that is the state of affairs.
@ Ram, there is a HUGE section of the audience who thoroughly enjoys this dance and song on pure white and lush green topography. Only when the size of this section of the audience starts reducing are we going to see more films like Manorama out in the open. And the beauty is, it's happening. Slowly but surely...
gr8 review meetu...for a wonderful movie...the movie was so indulging ,,even after seeing it 1 year hav passed ..but i cud not resist writing about it today...abhay deol, raima sen,the 2 showed wat is natural acting...direction was just perfect..story..thinking how one can think so....and music was also nice..regarding the strongest point of the movie now..it,s cinematography...i think this movie is exceptionally shot...4/5 ..(my rating)....keep up gud work meetu
Well, prashant, this review is by Anand, I'll pass on your compliments to him.
Hi, Prashant, the point is that the movie is good and not necessarily my review!
one of the best movies
one thing i likd about it was that way satyaveer character was shaped up, and abhay simply played it so well.......
his expressions were marvellous throughout the movie.....
i likd raima in this one but i think gul panag wasted.......
For me, this is one of the best movies Bollywood has churned out in the last 5 years or so. Somehow I enjoyed it more than Chinatown. One of the few movies that I could watch again and again.
Leave a new comment