Raincoat

Just came back from seeing "Raincoat" by Rituparono Ghosh.
The movie is essentially Ghosh's Indianisation of an old O' Henry Favourite called "Gifts".
The movie kicks off with a fantastic melody "mathura nagarpati kaahe tu gokul jaaye" by the accomplished Shubha Mudgal, which repeats in the movie, almost knitting it together.
The movie has a slow pace and for people who aren't used to reading for hours at a stretch or used to quick movies, it may be a little trying.
Hopeless romantics, please watch this one. And it is barely 2 hrs long.
Annu Kapoor brings in a nice cameo role.

For the first time I liked Ash in the role. Essays the role of the female lead really well.
Ajay Devgan excels in the role of the angst ridden unemployed man. He is carrying off where he left off in "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam." Ash is fantastic as a housewife in Calcutta and wears the same saree for the entire movie (except for the flashback).
The interplay of emotions between the two is neat. Obviously there is some chemistry at work.

In fact the movie centers mostly around the visit of Devgan to Ash's house.

Another actress who plays the role of Devgan's friend's wife, also turns in a believable performance. For once the characters don't wear spandex, don't speak silly, out of place English or dance around beige coloured houses and white furniture. And neither do they wear designer pink and purple clothes with some steel jewellery.

And there are some rather "country" jokes if one may call them so, for want of a better term. But they are identifiable with for anyone who's travelled in India on trains or planes especially when some co-passengers were 1st timers!

In RECT terms, it would be a movie nangshu would watch and exclaim! Simple and excellent.
Slick Flick.
Go watch it.
love,
Dhammo