JOHNNY FANTASTIC!!!

I can't believe I almost didnt see this movie. I didnt really like the promos and Niel Nitin Mukesh didnt really catch my attention and I had a feeling this was going to turn into one of those crappy debut features star kids usually start off with.

How wrong I was......

"Johnny Gaddaar" is frankly one of the best thrillers to come out of Hindi movies for many years. And unlike the so called thrillers/action movies that we generally get to see from Bollywood, this movie doesnt go for obscenely big(read fake) car explosions, guys doing sommersaults on bikes wearing Ray-Bans etc...Instead, it builds it's suspense using a truly original, layered plot that keeps the viewers guessing on what is going to happen next.

Neil Nitin Mukesh stars as Vikram, one of five partners in a Mumbai club/Gambling Joint who is a little too smart for his own good. He is having an affair with the wife (Rimi Sen) of one of his partners, Shardul (Zakir Hussain). He dreams of making enough cash to be able to run away with his lady love, leaving the murky world of gambling clubs behind. This leads him to getting a little too ambitious when a five way deal comes the way of his partners. He accidently ends up killing one of them and then the film spirals into a web of murder, betrayal, chance and deceit.

I have to say the cast of this movie is simply superb. Neil Mukesh play his role with just the right amount of mystery and detachedness that the it demands, never letting the viewer know too much of what is going on. Dharmendra is just brilliant in his special appearance as Sheshadri, the father figure of the gang. He effortlessly infuses his character with life and warmth, delivering a top class performance that only enhances the truth that he gets way too less respect as an actor than what he deserves. Two others actors who stood out are Zakir Hussain and the always superb, Govind Namdeo. The best part about the acting in this movie is that no actor ever deviated from his character, each playing his part perfectly, mixing a degree of depth and mystery in their performances, and raising the standard of what was already a great script.

Technically, the movie comes out with a thumbs up. I loved the way the titles played out a homage to the great thrillers of the yesteryears. The background music (Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy)was beautifully orchestrated throughout the movie, raising the tempo when needed and quielty slipping into the background the other times. C.K. Muraleedharan's cinematography was excellent, shooting the film in a simple but strangely unsettling(in a good way) manner, always keeping the moviegoer expecting something to happen any second.

But undoubtedly the star of the show is Sriram Raghavan who not only directed this beauty but also wrote it. The ambience of the whole movie is clearly noir but Raghavan never allows it to fall into the cliche that these types of movies sometimes become. The whole movie is so brilliantly shot and executed, that at no point does the viewer's interest wane and at no point can anybody guess what is about to happen next. The violence in the movie is real and sudden but never gory enough to distract from the plot. The action is executed in a authentic way but shot and edited very imaginatively, at times reminding me of Matthew Vaughan's fabulous 'Layer Cake'. Raghavan is sure to go places and I cant help but wait for him to reunite with his 'Ek Hasin Thi' actor Saif Ali Khan in the upcoming 'Agent Vinod'.

All things said, I would really recommend this to all....definitely a must see for all..it will make you realise what a crap fest Dhoom 2 was...