Ironically, her conversion follows Arjun’s own realization-after the horrific episode on the bridge and his own unexpectedly heroic response to it-that love isn’t the only show in town. Though I jest, this frothy interlude-itself a kind of homage to a Hindi cinematic chestnut-is not without its charm, exemplified by the lovesong Anjaana anjaani (“two strangers”) Oberoi is suitably wastrel and hunky, and Kareena Kapoor is beguiling as a smart young lady who likes to have fun but (wisely) takes a long time to be convinced that Arjun is the Real Thing. But a chance disco encounter with the vivacious Meera-a similarly elite girl whose self-confidence permits risqué flirtation even though she has already agreed to a semi-arranged match with a solid manufacturer from Kanpur-leads to True Love, which (as Hindi audiences well know) has the power to transform a man from a hyperactive, chattering, and grinning imbecile into….a hyperactive, chattering, and grinning imbecile with heart, and with Determination! to win the elusive damsel. This leads to Arjun’s own flashback narrative, of a comfortably upper-middle-class Presidency student entirely without political consciousness (much to the dismay of his IAS officer father, played by Anant Nag), devoted to a Don Juan career of conquests (forty-two and counting), and in plotting his escape to the Promised Land of America. However, after its fourth rehearsal of this incident, the film returns to a linear mode to follow events that ensue from the (as it turns out) unsuccessful murder attempt. The film opens with this incident that momentarily unites three apparent strangers, and then backtracks to tell the stories that propelled each man to this moment, which is serially re-presented from the perspective of each, with additional information being provided to viewers on each replay.
Calcutta’s) recently-built Hooghly Bridge. ChandranĮvidently inspired by the acclaimed Mexican art film Amores Perros (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, 2000)-from which it borrows the device of a traumatic narrative told from three different perspectives as well as a focus on the dystopian modern metropole of the global South (with Kolkata here substituting for Mexico City)-and using a narrative technique also seen in the American Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994) and the German Run Lola Run (Tom Tykwer, 1999), Ratnam’s film uses multiple flashbacks to weave together three life stories that come together in a single horrific moment: an apparent murder committed amidst speeding traffic on Kolkata’s (a.k.a. Rahman Art direction: Sabu Cyril Choreography: Brinda Editing: Sreekar Prasad Cinematography: Ravi K. Screenplay: Mani Ratnam Dialogues: Anurag Kashyap Lyrics: Mehboob Music: A.