It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.
View MoreIf you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.
View MoreIt's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
View MoreActress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.
View MoreThis movie is a frame to frame copy of Lawrence Kasden's classic 'Body Heat' from 1981. At this time the theme of adultery and extra marital affairs was a new for Bollywood. So this was an experiment. This movie also marked the beginning for Pooja Bhatt's directorial career. As a director she was impressive. She proved that she has learnt direction from her father's movies. Unfortunately this was a disappointing attempt to remake a classic. But this was bound to happen when a subject or theme which is more suited to western tastes is indianised. The movie failed to recreate the superiorism and charisma of the original. The elements at base level were taken in to consideration but the detailed and complex portions were ignored. The interesting segments of the movie were supposed to be the events and investigations scenario after the murder. However this was covered at a basic level.Too much time focuses on the intimate and sexually natured scenes in the first half. The movie also seemed rushed towards the end. Even the climax was changed which left a bitter taste in my mouth.The movie is not bad as one could imagine. The direction and cinematography are the highlights of the movie. The setting of Pondicherry gives the movie the right atmosphere and glamorous look. Bipasha Basu has sex appeal no doubt, but it was too early in her career to attempt such a complex role. Some of her facial expressions were weak. However she did look very good in her different variety of dresses. John Abraham made his acting debut. He makes a honest and sincere effort. Maybe it would have made a better impact if he had dubbed his own voice. Vinay Pathak and Ranvir Shorey presences makes the movie interesting to watch at regular intervals. They bring life in the movie at certain points.
View MoreThe German DVD of Jism advertises it as "Bollywood noir". Is that so? Or is it rather a "Ken & Barbie in lust and death" piece? Some commenters claimed Jism to be a remake of Double Indemnity, which certainly is considered a classic noir. Looking at a popular set of criteria: "We'd be oversimplifying things in calling film noir oneiric, strange, erotic, ambivalent, and cruel...." (Oneiric is dreamlike). Erotic it certainly is - not by exposing private parts, but just in the ways people talk and act. Strange? Ambivalent? Cruel? All to some degree. I failed to find "oneiric" elements, but the above list is not meant to be all-required.Other frequent associations with film noir include the roles of femme fatale (check - very fatal, for him and herself), the lone, miserable, maverick male (anti-)hero (check); strong darkness/light contrasts (Jism has some, but not over-strong), and an unhappy ending (check - though it could have used a surprising twist there...) So yes, I'd support the classification as a neo-noir movie, especially when set in contrast to other Bollies. In any case, it's an entertaining sexy thriller. I give it a 7 and will watch it again.
View MoreChannel 4 in the UK has been showing a late night season of Bollywood movies . I have to be brutally honest and say this holds little interest for me since I can't be bothered with watching a three hour movie padded out with song and dance numbers but JISM pricked my interest somewhat since it had caused some controversy . It was marketed as a steamy erotic Bollywood remake of Lawrence Kasdan's BODY HEAT and Bollywood movies are very puritanical where sex is concerned so I watched mainly to see how erotic it could be The truth is that there seems to be no Hindi word for " erotic " , every time the two protagonists Kabir and Sonia get it on the action cuts to the bedroom after they've had sex . If you're going to watch JISM for purely the wrong reason ( And let me reiterate I was just watching out of curiosity ) then you're going to be bitterly disappointed . That said the film still works because the leads John Abraham and Bipasha Basu really do burn up the screen with their sexual chemistry
View MoreJism is a psychological thriller. NOT your average film where the point of the movie is totally obvious from the start.This movie reminded me a little bit of a film with Richard Gere and Kim Basinger" Double Indemnity" that had the "Married women/ Lawyer" plot line. But that was the only similarity. I think the subtlety in the sex scenes are a lot hotter than your regular "take it all off" scene's. What's so hot about that? As for a lack of sexual chemistry, between the central character's alluded to by a previous comment, I beg to differ with that. The chemistry was most obvious in the song sequence "Jadoo Hain Nasha Hain" which is my personal favourite. The music in that song was excellent and I understand the singer won an award for that song. Well deserved. This song captures the female character's state of mind, while the song "Avarapan, Banjarpan" captures the psychological state of Kabir Lal.(John Abraham).This story is about a journey. About choices that take you down paths that you can't re-trace. There was a melancholy feel to this film that gives you the impression that this movie is not about making a "cheap sexual thriller", but it's about exploring the minds of the protagonists. Sex in my opinion is another character in this film, that keeps walking a line between lust and love, and keeps colliding with each other throughout the story. Especially Kabir Lal, who we know feels that the path he has taken is wrong, but keeps going down it anyway, irrevocably drawn down it by the power of lust and love. "Jism" is not about showing "Jism", but about the alluding to it. If you sat down to watch this movie hoping it was a movie about a "down and dirty sexual fling" then too bad, you chose the wrong movie. This was a lot better than that. Bips was a sizzler, and John was quite good actually. Unlike in many other Indian movies, the two central character's carry most of the burden of the film. Without their acting being effective this movie would not have worked. But the supporting cast was very good too. Though their roles where small they where effective. Especially the role of Sonia Khanna's alcoholic sister in law Priyanka who puts a spanner in the works. Kudos to the makers of "Jism" for daring to try something different.
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