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Dec 15, 2012 at 10:26am IST

'The Last Act' Review: Anurag Kashyap takes you on a unique journey

New Delhi: A mutilated corpse and twelve clues that trace to twelve different cities and their stories form the basis of Anurag Kashyap's latest offering 'The Last Act'. The film, which began with a novel idea of collaborating with twelve filmmakers from across the country to come out with twelve different stories, is not only interesting in its theme but is gripping enough to keep the audiences on tenterhooks for 120 minutes.

The film which begins with the search of an unidentified man takes you through twelve different cities. Each clue has its own story to tell. Beginning in the bylanes of Ghaziabad, the clues take you through a journey across the country in search of the true identity of the dead man.

From a poem written on the back of an ATM slip to a broken wristwatch to a blood-stained city map, the different clues take you into the lives of unknown people and their connection with the true identity of the corpse.

'The Last Act' Review: Experiments work in the film

Anurag Kashyap deserves a thumbs-up for his unique concept and the twist towards the end of the story.

While project director Asmit Pathare tries his best to seamlessly weave the different stories together, he fails to make the connection between a few of them. Where a few stories keep you on tenterhooks with intense drama, others bring out the understated humour through its characters.

But, on the other hand, a few filmmakers disappoint you as they fail to impress with their style of storytelling, thereby confusing the audience altogether.

With the plot being the actual hero of the film, 'The Last Act' rides high on the shoulders of the new faces. Convincing in their roles, the actors maintain the tempo of the film without digressing from the main plot.

Saurabh Shukla fits the bill of being a theatre director and his presence in the initial part of the film makes it easy for the audiences to adapt to the film.

Anurag Kashyap, who is known for his experimental cinema, yet again nails it with his unique concept. By penning down the main plot and asking the twelve filmmakers to give their own stories to each of the clue, Kashyap's unusual concept of de-construction works in favour of the film. Though, the concept of incorporating short stories in the film is not new to Indian cinema, but what makes 'The Last Act' different from the other films is that the fact that each story in the film forms a part of the larger story. The director beautifully deconstructs each clue to piece together the murder mystery.


Rating: 3 out of 5.


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