Waqt poster

Waqt

wogma rating: Switch channels if it's on cable (?)

Director: Vipul Shah
Running time: 150 minutes
More Movie Info

Either I am super-dumb and don’t understand how things work in life, or the moviemakers have no concept of how real people behave. For obvious reasons, I am leaning towards the latter interpretation.

There are way too many questions that crop up and remain unanswered. Why does Ishwar (Amtiabh Bachchan) behave a certain way for 27 years and then make a 180 degree turnaround in behavior at the most inappropriate juncture in his son's life? Why is Aadi (Akshay Kumar) such a nondescript loser despite being portrayed as smart and educated? Why are we being asked to feel sorry for this loser? While I am at it, why is Akshay Kumar made out to be a 27 year old?

If a movie is about relationships, shouldn't it, at the very least, have consistent characters involved in those relationships? And this one should have been easier, right? It is about just one relationship, so only two characters need to be well-defined.

Why anyone should try and excel at the art of making Amitabh Bachchan overact, is beyond me. I weep silently when I see the 'master of comic timing' run around trying to hit someone in an attempt to make me laugh. Director's actor and all is fine, but didn't he feel one-bit silly while saying the lamest lines ever? What did I do to deserve this? Oh sorry, this isn't about me, is it? Okay, time to snap out of "questions" mode.

Boman Irani and Rajpal Yadav as comic relief serve their purpose. They relieve you from the drudgery of bad-scripting that forms the main plot. But, the same type of joke is repeated once too often and you want relief from the jokes then. The overall plot is not a bad premise for a movie at all. But the way the details in the script have been handled is outright shabby. E.g., it is amazing that no one on the crew has ever seen how a pregnant woman is treated or behaves. No, pregnant women are not patients. They should live an active lifestyle. But, it's silly when you dance and sway around in air at one point and are not allowed to do a single household chore in the next.

The redeeming factor is that you feel like slapping Aadi into reality, which means Akshay Kumar has done his job well. Of course, the assumption being that his character is meant to irritate you. And tears jerked every once in a while for a sensitively handled scene here and there.

Nonetheless, in a futile attempt to please crowds, a decent story has been slaughtered with soap opera-ish situations, ridiculously placed songs, and jokes played out in skit format. And such imprudence shall not be forgiven.

Alrighty then, I am off for a week-long holiday. Yep! Vacationing meetu = no review this Friday. Until next week then, hasta-la-vista...

- meeta, a part of the audience

6 reviewers(?) - 3 yays 2 so-so 1 nays

Warning: clicking on "full review" will take you to an external website that could contain spoilers.

Thumbs up, by Taran Adarsh, IndiaFM : ...has a series of deftly executed sequences that look straight out of life.... full review

Thumbs up, by Shruti Bhasin, Planet Bollywood : ...Vipul Shah’s direction gets his message across about parents giving more responsibility to their children... full review

Thumbs up, by Tony, Radio Sargam : ...However at the end, Amitabh and Akshay ham a lot... full review

So-So, by Aparajita Ghosh, Apun Ka Choice : ...a Taandav dance sequence by Akshay ...lacks the requisite impact and only evokes mirth.... full review

So-So, by Subhash K Jha, Glamsham.com : ...In pursuit of a high-voltage climax the narrative wheezes its way through gallons of hiccuping speeches and confessions... full review

Thumbs down, by Gaurav Malani, J.A.M : ...There’s a Johar kinda shaadi song, a Chopra kinda Holi song, a father son disco dandia song, a dream song and a dream come true song, each inducing yawns in the viewer.... full review

Twitter reviews for this movie are not available.

No readers have rated this movie yet.

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

Ishwar (Amitabh Bachchan) dotes on his son Aadi (Akshay Kumar) and does everything in his capacity to turn him into a spoilt brat. He realizes his folly and does everything in his capacity to set things right.

What Worked

  • Ishwar and Sumitra are having an argument while Ishwar is putting a teeka and gajra. The scene is adorable.
  • Ishwar and Aadi exchange places as father and son. Though the scene could have been done a lot better, the concept was lovely.

What did not

Note: This section simply lists the things that I did not like in this movie. This is not the overall impression about this movie. Please read the full review here

  • How come Ishwar (in the opening scene) was talking about playing with his grandchildren when his son was not even married and Ishwar knew he was to die within the year?
  • The set of the first song was hilarious when it was supposed to be romantic. They didn't even use the premise of a dream sequence to make it acceptable.
  • Ishwar showed no signs of illness till the last half hour of the movie.
  • Nattu (Boman Irani) had no reaction to his daughter and son-in-law being thrown out of their house?
  • What was happening in the hospital with Amitabh Bachchan? Was it okay for that to be left mid-way?
  • The amount of command that the characters had over nature! Everyone wants Ishwar to live till his daughter-in-law delivers his grandson (either they knew it was a baby boy or the movie makers were blatantly politically incorrect!). And lo and behold, the lady goes into labor immediately! Coincidence, yeah right!?
  • The climax as a whole!

Nitty-Gritty

This section lists things that I think are not important to the overall impact of the movie. In most cases, it could be explained away by something like, "we noticed the glitch after the scene was shot and there were schedule/budget issues and thus we could not re-shoot it". I like giving the makers the benefit of doubt, but I am amused nevertheless. Hopefully, they will tickle you too.

  • What was the party for the huge gang of children for? Both at the beginning and the end of the movie?
  • Did Ishwar hire a professional cameraman to shoot his personal video of him and his son? It hardly looked like a home video.

Waqt - Cast, crew, links

Official Sites:
Director:
Screenplay:
Dialogues:
Cinematography:
Background Score:
Choreography:
Music Director:
Art Direction:
Running time:
150 minutes
Reviewer:
Language:
Country:

Comments (1)

Click here for new comment

hey i sent u a mail again.... hope it didnt go in yor spam. do reply back.

Leave a Comment