Friday 16 January 2015

Ugly (2014)

[***1/2 stars / *****] 

Ugly reeks of familiar Anurag Kashyap elements, from suicidal tendencies, alcohol, cigarette smoke, enclosed rooms to mentally-ravaged characters. But like his best films, the combustive combination is startlingly real.

The daughter of an estranged, aspiring actor disappears from his parked car in one of Mumbai's crowd-infested streets. A prime suspect is killed in the heat of a chase (chase scenes, another Kashyap authority). 


The actor's ex-wife has a police officer for a second husband. Old wounds, vengeance and greed rises up like a writhing snake. There is a grim persistent stench to the proceedings. The culmination punches in like an old parable.    

Purposely devoid of style, buoyant in its stark performances (Girish Kulkarni steals the show), Ugly is a credible watch for cinema lovers.    

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