Yeh Faasley - Review

Yeh Faasley's first hour is one of those in which you'd want to walk out of the theater. Like that of a badly made B-grade film. The excessively grainy texture doesn't add any fun either. It is way too distracting. But then, the actual plot starts unfolding and man is it a thrilling ride! It's not just the surprises; the psychological element that the story carries is one mind-bending process.

In fact, it is one example of how even a straightforward, linear narrative can take a fair share of your brainpower. After leaving the theater, you go back and forth between why Dev (Anupam Kher) behaved the way he did. It also adds some insight into why Arunima (Tena Desae) who thinks her father killed her mother would still want to bond with her dad. Like anyone in love, she wants to hold on to the last thread of hope, which will keep her from hating her father she once loved.

"Why did he kill her? Is he the man she thinks he is? Was there no love at all between them? Did he kill her at all?" These are the questions Arunima pulls you into, when you were half-ready to leave the theater. You didn't only because of your respect for Anupam Kher. And while he doesn't let you down, we know he could have done so much more with the scene in which he breaks down. Instead, there is a plain voiceover narrating the emotions. Such a shame.

These are decisions for which the director has to take complete blame. Also, the courtroom drama ...actually can't be called drama because it is rather blah considering how smartly and subtly the psychological part of the plot is played out. The screenplay also doesn't support the story in terms of consistent pace. The set-up is boring and takes too much screen-time. The actual action starts much later and has very little time to play itself out.

Yeh Faasley's story at its core is beyond awesome. I'd have loved to see what a different director and another screenplay writer would have done with it. Oh well, at least they didn't mess the way it turns out in the end. The psychological nuances and motivations explain everything.

Off late, with any movie that I've started to like at any point, I dread the climax - it invariably is butchered by awful writing for the climax or commercial needs. Yeh Faasley is the other way round. The climax is just perfect!