The Last Act

Trust Anurag Kashyap to come up with an idea that can be best described as superb!!! One story that spans 12 cities. So what does Kashyap do? He decides to make the movie with 12 up and coming directors. One for each city. Now how cool is that for an idea?

So at around 3 in the morning… or it could be 2… or was it 4 am? Well, whatever the time was – a bunch of cops on their regular beat route find a dead body of a person who is quite smashed up. In the literal sense of the word. His face is smashed up beyond any recognition. Like someone has actually done a Raman Raghav on him – if you know what I mean.

With little there could have been done – the cops pick up the body and put it in the back side of their van along with some pieces of evidence. Their fear is that the public will start coming in (so I guess it was 4 am) and cannot handle such a gruesome sight.

Full points on that count but how in the blazes can you pick up a body from the middle of the road without any preliminary police work being done on site? And could you have made the body look a bit more realistic!!! This body looked like a large stuffed toy. Nevertheless, putting that basic error (that will eliminate The Last Act from the running for the Oscars) behind us, lets look at what the cops find along with the body.

A pamphlet of an English speaking course from Ghaziabad, A bank pay in slip from Kolkata, A mobile phone with a Delhi number, A pair of spectacles from Kalyan (close to Mumbai), An obituary about a surgeon and a godman, something written in Chinese on a pamphlet of a hotel from Chandigarh, An id card from an organization in Bangalore, A photograph of a weighing bridge in Hisar (Haryana), A watch with a sticker from a Lucknow dealer, A ticket from Bangalore to Chennai & a Coat from a tailor in Gwalior – Phew!!!

The next 2 hours covers how these things are all inter linked in some way to reach the eventual climax – The Last Act.

While there maybe several errors and some silly cost cutting measures, the story and the performances more than make up for it. The ensemble cast is simply superb. The only story I didn’t get was the one in Chandigarh – a bit too esoteric for my taste. The tempo is built up beautifully and while 12 directors leave their own stamp, the end product is seamless. Watch it because it is a different concept and well executed. 7 on 10. Definitely in my top 10 for the year. May squeeze into Top 5.

Watch the trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTBKbxbNrWU