Chandni Bar

A riveting, extremely well-acted movie. Also, one of the most depressing I've ever seen. If you're looking for upbeat Bollywood fare, go elsewhere. This is an excellent film, but the main character is put through the ringer time and again, and the story takes you with her.

What worked:

• an inner view of the life of the bar girl in Mumbai; some of the plots seemed stereotypical but indeed true to the fact
• strong screenplay and lead actors

What did not work:

• maybe the ending was necessary the way it was, but we could hope for some alternative endings with something optimistic. However, the ending is still as powerful as it should have been

Final verdict: Recommended.

Although I rented this movie on Video, I am still very moved by it. It was quite an experience. Hats off to the director and all the actors especially Tabu & Atul Kulkarni are very effective. The director has done a lot of non-routine stuff like the narration, the lights, the bar songs and background music etc. Hopefully the people get the right message the director wants to convey.

After you have seen Chandni Bar, your perception of any prostitutes around the world will change drastically. Instead of looking at a prostitute as a sexually satisfying object, you will look deeper into her and realize "why she ever became a prostitute in the first place". It is too easy to say that "there is no excuse for being a prostitute, and one can choose his/her own career in life", but after you have seen Chandni Bar, your view point will change completely and you will want to help many women who are helpless/poor/prostitutes around the globe.

Chandni Bar starts by introducing the main character's traumatic beginnings that locks her into doing things she willingly doesn't want to. Throughout the film, the "change room door" in the bar signifies the actual life of helplessly trapped women on one side of the door, and the "pretentious women" on the other side of the door who make a living by selling themselves.

In conclusion the film has been very well put together, and has an excellent direction (worthy of film awards).

I have had tears rolling down my cheeks over ten times when I watched this film, and I suggest you view it with someone who has very little respect for women or views them as sex object. This is a very hard hitting film that will touch you deep within.

My Score: 10 / 10 (for all the ten tears I had)

Watch, listen and understand !

NEIL BHATIA

This is one of the movies that allows to peek at the life of the people who have suffered and haven't seen the light at the end of the tunnel. The movie is very effective for it takes us into the life of a beer bar dancing girl (Mumtaz) in the city of Bombay, and shows us the rut that she is in and any attempts made by her to rise are in vain. The movie is both dark in content and in the lighting which is symbolic of the hopelessness and is very effective. Tabu's performance is noteworthy as she depicts the life of Mumtaz with absolute sincerity. Details, such as, her twirling the cord of the phone when she is in a state of hopelessness shows she has really immersed herself into the character. With her performance you never feel that she is putting on a show. The movie neither glamourizes nor demeans the profession of these girls and the director deserves praise for that. The lack of songs is highly appropriate for this movie as this is not a "feel good" movie. As a warning to the faint of heart, this movie is highly disturbing and should be avoided when depressed.