Highly Overrated But Still Good

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Blistering performances.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

At the time of watching this, I wasn't bothering with many films at all. The reason being, it seemed most films were dramatic for the sake of drama, and in the process, they sacrifice the purity of the message. That didn't happen here. The film has a subheading of 'A Mystical Love Story'.. And thats exactly what you get. When I weigh everything up, other comments posted here, my own experience, then I come to this conclusion: I'd say This film achieves what it set out to achieve & The story doesn't falter in its culmination. I felt quite satisfied at the end, and not just tantalized by some over-dramatic cheap thrill with no lasting message.

Has all ingredients of an all-time great movie! Powerful storyline - Love, Romance, status & clash of social values, joy/sorrow, desire/surrender, success/failure,covetousness, suspense of the who-dun- it, control interference and the fight for freedom, purity/sin, justice retribution/understanding, the dilemma of science (physics) vs metaphysics(spiritual/religious thought), the deep hunger/urge in man for meaning & Verities/"Truth" and ideas of Eternal/Ephemeral existence - in short a cameo of LIFE itself."Banaras" even has "action", murder/violence/death which is idiomatically alluded to for each viewer to visualize - or is simply depicted with quiet finality - as in life! I cannot say when I last enjoyed such a totally absorbing masterpiece. I has always wondered if someone would attempt to make a movie that would address all these issues in 2/3 hours. I finally found one that fits the bill! The portrayal of culture, locale is excellent and authentic. The superb music and lyrics - which run completely true to storyline - mood and message as well as events - both timely and timeless. Banaras presents even very deep "fantastic" spiritual concepts: such as 1. the expansion/mergence of the human consciousness with super/cosmic consciousness and 2. Love as the bedrock of all existence 3. The guru-disciple relationship which fords life, death and Infinity seamlessly 4. Principles of spiritual crisis and healing 5. The karma - the cause and effect principle (where we sows the result if our actions - and create/destroy our joy/life by our actions), 6. Forgiveness - cessation of "blame" by absolute love/understanding/surrender (despite awareness of the "sinful" actions) 7. Intuitive transmission/reception of thought/ideas in an excellent manner - with seemingly effortless natural ease - which is again as it should be because "Truth is simple". I saw this once and then had to go back to see it again - because I felt I needed to be a true critic more balanced in my opinion and so must find fault if there is some. I could not fault even the cinematography. The perception of the untouchable - was expressed through the sweeping, the rising of the dust, and the dropping of the broom, all too effectively - the effect was almost viscerally tangible!The authenticity of portrayal of "supernatural" events with real spiritual experience is also astounding!A big thank you to the team! Kudos to each performer - for perfect portrayal of each role and to Pankaj and the editors for a very slick presentation. If Oscars were mine to give - Banaras would surely have had them! May it be the first of many more in its genre - to come from my beloved India!

This movie really captures the city of Banaras and all the spirituality associated with it. The songs are also so uplifting and upbeat. My Kathak dance class is even doing a dance to one of the songs, Om Namah Shivaya. Of all songs, it is the most spiritual, which is why my teacher chose it. But back to the actual movie. The movie as a whole is so enlightening and floods the viewer with positive energy through its religious significance. Also, the movie was very well directed, with its setting, acting, and song choice. It has the power to suck you in whether or not you are the religious, spiritual type. I may be a little biased toward the movie moreso than not having parents from Banaras. However, it is still one of the best Hindi films.

As i was invited by my friend for this movie.I went and watched.Really its excellent as i am also a devotee of Shiva and i felt that lord Shiva has called me to see this movie.A wonderful experience for me.The movie not only gives insight of the true love and passion but the truth of life and self realization.Its amazing and wonderful.It was a good experience while watching the movie.Really i cant forget the movie and scenes.Songs,Locations,Emotions are really worth seeing...Thats why its been rated for Oscar also.I would like to recommend all the youngsters to see this movie....Kavitha