Manorama: Six Feet Under

Manorama: Six Feet Under

"Manorama Six Feet Under" is a film inspired by "Chinatown". Indian movies that are inspired by foreign films, or outright copies, are pretty common. When the story begins, Satyaveer has been suspended from his job as a policeman. Apparently, his recent bribe was noticed by the powers that be...though according to this and MANY Indian movies I've seen, policemen taking bribes is pretty much the norm. While awaiting his review and possible return to the force, a woman comes to him...asking him to do some detecting work. Apparently, she thinks her husband, the Irrigation Minister, is cheating on her. He sneaks into the man's compound and snaps a few photos of the man with a young woman....and he then gives him to the wife. However, he soon learns she's NOT the man's wife! And, there's obviously something serious going on here, as a couple goons soon beat the stuffing out of Satyaveer AND the fake wife turns up dead...and it's declared a suicide. But he knows it cannot be, and so Satyaveer continues investigating the case. In the meantime, Satyaveer's bitter wife has left him. She's sick of him working on this case as well as his suspension. Based on what we see of her, Satyaveer is now a lucky man! What's next? And what sort of conspiracy is afoot? And what does the new canal project have to do with all this? Like "Chinatown", this film is a bit violent and, at times, hard to watch--especially when the goons break Satyaveer's fingers. At least they didn't slice his nose apart as they did in the American film! There also is a bit of a body count through the course of the story. I am mentioning these in case you dislike violent films...the film certainly is, but not gratuitously so. I am no expert on Indian films, though I have seen a couple hundred more or less. I did notice, though, that unlike most Indian films we get here in the States, there are none of the usual musical numbers. Even in gangster films, I've seen song and dance numbers....and I think the lack of these scenes helps "Manorama Six Feet Under" to be more tense and realistic. Overall, a very fascinating film...albeit a tad slow. It has a very complicated plot that very slowly unfolds as well as a few surprised here and there...the sorts of things that make a thriller like this one work well. Well worth seeing and stylistically, a film that non-Bollywood fans might find more familiar and approachable. I did, however, deduct a point in my rating simply because the story wasn't exactly an original...though fortunately it was different enough from "Chinatown" that it's still very worth watching.

When will my country (India) produce something really real? Why does every director is trying to pay homage to some great director from the past? I am sure there are many great stories in India.... why they are not coming on the screen? No matter how good the film is, we must remember that it's copy. And copy means the screenplay writer saved a great deal of efforts to build the characters. Writing the screenplay of Chinatown must have been really magical journey, considering the complex characters it involved, now compare it with the screenwriters of Manorama Six feet under. They just took the same structure, same characters and put them into different setup, their job is so easy. How can they do it? And why should we Indian feel proud of it? And how can it be called a good film?

For actual review, skip to the third paragraph. You will find many written pieces on internet about this movie. They call it a gem, underrated masterpiece, best thriller etc. Honestly, while watching it, I did not feel for a single moment that it's going to be half as they good as I have heard. What people are appreciating is the storyline(of Manorama), and not the film itself. Only a few people can notice important aspects of a film while watching it, but almost everyone on internet is a self proclaimed expert on films. That's why below average films are often rated highly on apps like IMDb. The first and biggest problems with the film is that it has too many unnecessary scenes. Most conversations between Abhay deol and Gunal panag are about random things. The actual story is missing, so much time is wasted on scenes which are not even needed there. All scenes are slow moving. Dialogues should have been crisp. The dialogues don't suit the mood of the film. There's a big flaw in the story. The lady while dying said to Abhsh deol, "My name is... and I am thirty two years old". Rather than telling the actual thing, she gave him a riddle which he might not be able to solve in his lifetime. This is not smart film-making. There are a few positives as well, no bigger than Abhay deol's performance. Vinay pathak is also good in his short role. The film has a good ending, atleast better than usual Bollywood thrillers. The last 40 minutes of the film are the busiest, the paciest and the best. However, all these things are secondary, the most necessary things for a film are it's screenplay and editing, and Manorama fails in both departments.

FIRSTLY,I would like to sound a warning to those who see a movie just purely for the fun aspect or those who like fast paced fare. This is a movie to be seen in solitude preferably, as a bunch of guys would have different things to say about this movie and it may spoil the movie for you.This would be enjoyable, if you are willing to be engrossed in a movie and get in its mood. SECONDLY, I would like to commend all the actor's performances as they are all top notch.Rare to see a gem where each character is etched out perfectly.Even the two goons who torture Abhay Deol stay in your mind after the movie. THIRDLY, the director for making such multi-layered characters and selecting small town in Rajasthan for filming.eg Abhay is not your completely straight forward govt employee.his wife Gul Panag says its a pain running around and bringing up a child(screen maas rarely say such things in bollywood).The real winner is Raima Sen who looks completely gorgeous and performs the role of a dangerous beauty with ease. The movie works more better as a socio political drama rather than a suspense thriller. All in all a leisurely paced hard hitting movie definitely worth a watch. 8/10

Manorama Six Feet Under is an intriguing, complex and offbeat thriller set in a sleepy small town of Rajasthan. The movie is a promising debut by director Navdeep Singh. People who are used to the escapist Bollywood fare may find the movie too slow or confusing. The fact is that 'Manorama' leaves many threads of the story open-ended. Even as it pays homage to noir genre, the movie stays close to reality. And there is a strong sense of impending doom throughout the film's narrative. The plot of 'Manorama Six Feet Under' takes a winding path instead of going linear. Beginning on a cogent note, the movie veers onto a somewhat tangled route, as the focus flits from one subplot to another. Verbally sparse, intelligent, and visually striking, the movie holds your interest despite its languid pace. And complementing the director's and cinematographer's commendable job are performances by the actors. Abhay Deol's natural and underplayed portrayal of SV lends a lot of credibility to the character. More than acting, Abhay believes in spontaneous performance. And it comes through on the screen. Gul Panag stands in equal stead, playing his bickering, nagging wife. Raima Sen , as the other woman in SV's life, is good. Vinay Pathak , playing a cop, doesn't have ample footage but he gets to mouth some well-written lines. Sarika has a very small role. Kulbhushan Kharbanda is impressive. Inspired from Roman Polanski's movie 'Chinatown', 'Manorama Six Feet Under' is a film for those who like unconventional cinema. At times bizarre, at times fascinating, the movie is arguably the first of its kind in offbeat Hindi cinema. Recommended for those who like offbeat films.

Manorama Six Feet Under is akin to reading a novel. Viewers who are not fond of reading might judge the pace of the movie to be slow. It takes a while to build the atmosphere, characters gets established, suspense builds up and races ahead to a grand finale. Screenplay and cinematography is commendable, you can almost feel the heat of the desert and sand on your face. A few places you can see the shades of Tarantino style of movie-making. MSFU is the story of Satyaveer who stumbles upon a mystery and the (failed!) writer in him itches to seek the truth – redemption or quest? Abhay Deol apparently is focusing on building his competency in the "new-age cinema" genre (there is too much competition in the mainstream anyway). As Satyaveer he puts on a convincing get-up coupled with a restrained performance. Gul Panag uses the usual sarcastic house-wife lines to portrays a convincing character. Vinay Pathak goes to shows that he is good at everything and not just comedy. Minor hitch here: why does he carry a strong accent while her sister doesn't? Convent studies maybe? Raima Sen character staunchly believes "Men and coffee are good rich" and the tension which prevails between Abhay and Raima over the game of snake and ladders is truly amazing, especially the come-hither passes. Sarika has a small but effective role. Its goes to show that acting is akin to ride a bicycle. Khulbhushan Kharbanda is as usual dependable. The two henchmen have portrayed their parts well (apologies for not knowing their names). Finally I must add that gone are the days where Bollywood used to paint the perfect world. Its emotionally gratifying to see just like true-to-life, the movie also depicts shades of grey.

Manorama SFU is all about a somewhat corrupt junior engineer Satyaveer (Abhay Deol) who moonlights as a writer of detective fiction and lives in a small town in Rajasthan. His only published work is MANORAMA. He is 'happily' married to Nimmi (Gul Panag) and has a kid. One day he is asked by a woman called Manorama (Sarika) to investigate her husband PP Rathore, the minister of public works (KulBhushan Khrabanda). Satyaveer manges to take some photos of the minister and hand them over to Manorama. Strange events follow where she tells him she is being stalked and may be killed, tells him her age, and then dies. He is stalked and attacked by hoodlums but persists in trying to unravel the mystery with the help of Manorama's room mate Sheetal (Raima Sen). But nothing is as it seems, there is a doctor, a mysterious woman who wants to marry the doctor, the novel Manorama; the minister is connected to all this and to a proposed canal scheme. The plot twists and turns in a very ingenious and real way and keeps one wanting to know more and more. This mystery may have been inspired by Chinatown but it is very much its own film, intelligent, well paced and interesting. The cast gives commendable performances, Abhay Deol is wonderful, Gul and Raima are real and believable. Then there is Sarika - how does she look so good at her age? Vinay Pathak is great as Nimmi's brother and small town cop. The snooping neighbors, the hoodlums in the desert, the old Taxi Walla - the film does not miss a beat. The negatives? My version of the Shemaroo DVD had the most absurd subtitling that turned this excellent film into a farcical affair if you cared to follow the subtitles. But even with that glaring flaw Manorama is one wonderful film.

I saw this movie after johny gaddar and before seeing i liked johny gaddar but Manorama exceeded my expectations.. it was superb suspense movie with very normal background and yet it showed powerful message in the film.. till half way of the film I lost patience and interest but then again it started and I am glad that I did not left the movie at half way.. nowadays movies have big stars and beautiful backgrounds and splendid film sets.. this movie proves that big sets and good makeups are really not needed nowadays..(But the mass don't understand this) Good film needs good direction, good script and finally good execution.. Manorama deserves 10 out of 10.. but still can not give that as perfection is dangerous for ambition..!!

The film is really slow moving and complicated.... complete waste of time...i am not sure what the director was thinking while developing the plot... the reference to 32 was insanely idiotic....The director must see Johnny Gaddar to see how a mystery thriller can be set even with a simple idea.... the biggest problem of the film is the pace... its slower than tragic shabhana azmi films...lord save the bollywood industry... I would definitely suggest not to waste any time on this