MUMBAI: You could define Ishqiya as a cross between the rustic feel of Omkara and the edgy dialogues and filming of Kaminey. Yes, this too is a Vishal Bhardwaj product only that this time Bhardwaj is the producer and a deeply-influenced Abhishek Chaube is the debutante director.

The film is about two thieves Khalujaan and Babban played by Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi who seek refuge at widow Krishna’s house… An interesting love triangle ensues. Vidya Balan as Krishna is the surprise package of the film, convincingly playing the seductress she is meant to be.

The chemistry between the three actors is instantly riveting too. The story of Ishqiya starts on a promising note but soon starts veering into strange directions with plots after sub-plots popping out of the blue.

While the direction is average, Abhishek Chaube has done himself good keeping the movie a taut two hour-long only. Ishqiya does not live up to the hype it generated but is a watch simply because of the great music and excellent performances by Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi.

We give the film 3 stars....

On to Ram Gopal Varma's reality-inspired Rann. It has many flaws but perhaps the most unreal is that there no greys in Varma's world. You are either the upright, ethical media baron, a sensationlist channel editor or a corrupt politician. The film itself explores the media-politics-industry nexus in a world where TRPs and ad revenues matter most.

The next unforgivable error of Rann is the under-utilisation of Amitabh Bachchan. The audience is left to guess why his character is touted to be the most respected journalist of the industry. You wonder why a man of this stature has no force of opinion and merely nods his head when it comes to important editorial decisions.

Bachchan's absence in the first half is made up by a long speech that is the climax of the film. Bachchan delivers but Varma fails again dragging on the only riveting moments of his tale, diluting their impact.

Rann suffers from RGV's experiments with an annoying background score, distracting camera angles and over-dramatisation of regular news moments. Besides Bachchan, Riteish Deshmukh as a rookie upright journalist, Monish Behl as the masala news propagator and Kannada actor Sudeep as the faltering son of the righteous media baron are worth a mention.

We give Rann 2 stars....

HarishChandrachi Factory is everything that RGV's Rann is not. It's SIMPLE AND POSITIVE. Simple because of the story, and its treatment and delivery have minimum frills. And positive because the film doesn't adopt a tone of distress or struggle to tell Dada Saheb Phalke's eventful journey in coming up with India's first feature film.

The film is refreshing in its ability to communicate Dada Saheb's passion for an idea without being dramatic. Writer-director Prakash Mokashi banks on humour to tell his tale. And he succeeds with ease. The dynamics within Dada Saheb's family have been beautifully explored, and you are warmed by the very pregnant wife who doesn't mind sending her husband to London to chase an almost impossible dream.

Watch Harishchandrachi Factory for a refreshing take on the passion for cinema.

We give the film 3 stars....