Urvi, The movie goes in starting with veteran thespian Harish Mishra (Bachchan), he is gravely ill. The punishments of a film shoot have left the old man in a coma. His co-star, Shabnam (Preity Zinta), is wracked with worry, but their director, Siddharth (Arjun Rampal), keeps strangely distant and refuses to visit his ailing star. In flashbacks, their story emerges.
Siddharth first had to woo Harish from the comforts of his retirement, and the interaction between the two yields some of the film's most delightful scenes. The impatient young auteur attempts to win the trust and collaboration of the aged performer, who sits raging against the modern world from the sanctuary of his study. Sporting a silver mane, Bachchan is irresistible here - vain, forceful and impetuous. He trumpets the superiority of Shakespeare over anything cinema can create. And yet, the movies hold out a new challenge.
I haven't sent much of Rituparno Ghosh's work but I have labeled him as a talented filmmaker but after seeing The Last Lear, I believe first I have to applaud him and then label him as one of the best directors in the country at the moment.
It was simply exceptional. I would never had thought that such a movie would ever be made after the days of Satyajit Ray. I was literally in awe of the performances and also the story. I have a taste for movies of every genre and I can separate quality from crap but when it comes to making of a movie as The Last Lear and watching Dr. Amitabh Bachchan give a performance of a lifetime, I just didn't know how to separate quality from quality. Priety and Arjun have given the performance too well to be avoided
Answered by
Jateen Gutta
, an ibibo Master,
at
10:15 PM on September 25, 2008
