BEING CYRUS

7 / 10

I don't have anything against English movies made in India. But its an edgy trick that can result in a wonderful movie like 'Rockford' or something ridiculous like 'Morning Raga'. The reason for 'Rockford's success was its naturalness. On the other hand, all the English gibberish was very unnatural in 'Morning Raga' and inspite of Shabana Azmi , it fell flat on its face.

The language in 'Being Cyrus' falls somewhere in between because its pretty natural to hear Parsis converse in English. So I won't hold much against it. In fact the language becomes a moot point with the progress of the movie as it prepares to take-off past half-time.

This movie is about a guy called Cyrus ( Saif Ali Khan ) who's been orphaned at a very early age and grew up in foster homes. Not much has been told about his childhood , but he lands up at the doorstep of a renowned sculptor , Dinshaw ( Naseeruddin Shah). He is accepted in the house by the artist and his wife ( Dimple Kapadia )and stays on for more than a year. He gets involved with the wife , and then with the affairs of the extended family which has Dinshaw's old father , his elder brother played by Boman Irani with wife ( Simone Singh) . For quite some time , the movie provides a touching look at the plight of an old man and the apathy shown by his sons towards him . Suddenly the movie takes a violent turn and enters the genre of a thriller. And the plot is VERY GOOD. While the first half just about holds your interest , the second half grips you firmly till the end. I really don't know the source of the story ,but it is too good to be first originally used in a contemporary Bollywood movie.

The makers of the movie chose the cast really well. They chose Saif Ali Khan for the lead , obviously for the big name he brings to the movie. Then , they have gone for some real actors for the supporting cast who really pull the movie through.

Its really difficult to rate this movie as its far better and very different from the regular Bollywood movies , where even 'Rang De Basanti' has been hailed as a landmark movie. Hence, 'Being Cyrus' should get more than a prefect 10. But, you really cannot watch it with the lighthearted mindset needed for Boolywood flicks. It has to be compared to international movies , and unfortunately it would be a below average movie because Saif is just not upto the mark . Also , its here that the movie's language can be used against it. While Spain and France make movies in Spanish and French respectively, the people world over would really wonder what the heck are Indians doing in a language of the people who ruled them 60 years ago.

However , if we ignore a few things , this movie is a really enjoyable one. Congrats to the excellent debut for director Homi Adajania , who also has given an excellent screenplay.