Last Train to Mahakali (Video 1999) Poster

(1999 Video)

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9/10
Full-fledged thriller.
manendra-lodhi17 September 2012
The short film shot by Anurag Kashyap is a fine piece of thriller. Much has to be attributed to the dark type of cinematography and little haunting visits of the lead character to strange places at unusual times. The soundtrack too is good to spice up the taste. The story revolves around a scientist who is very much obsessed on creating a medicine. He goes through all measures to prove his hypothesis. The story evolves with some more supporting characters and you are definitely in for a treat in the end. Kay Kay Menon performs a satisfactory job as an obsessed scientist. The acting by the supporting cast was OK.

PROS:

Even though it is a short film, it manages to haunt you in some of the scenes and especially in the end. You will be glued to it till the end. The film is a good example to aspiring filmmakers about getting ideas for their features.

Message: "Sense and maturity is necessary."

Verdict: "A Recommended watch."
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Another riveting masterpiece from Kashyap
Dreviews161 December 2018
I believe this project was a part of the Star-bestseller series on Star Plus, in the late 90s. Back in the day I had been able to catch glimpses of the episode, but it was only later that I watched the entire episode.

In my opinion, this episode can be considered to be a part of the golden era of Indian television when some of the best talent was available, along with some laxity on the end of what content could flow on television. This allowed for creators to come up with many creative endeavors and push for content which might not flow with Bollywood or mainstream actors/directors of the time. (Basically what webseries do now, though a lot has changed in terms of audience opinions and what kind of content they like) The story deals with a serial killer on a death row, being interviewed by a journalist. When she tries to dig deep, he professes innocence stating that all these so-called murders were part of his experiment to free man of disease. (Specifically uses the term 'Virus' perhaps a reference to Aids, which was all the taboo and was rarely referenced even in those days) The story then takes a form of a number of flashbacks narrating what went wrong. The story is simplistic in its tone, yet draws in the viewer till the very end, when the surprise hits them. The acting is great, as is expected from veterans like Kay Kay and Nivedita Bhattacharya. Kay Kay portrays the role of an man obsessed with his work, while Nivedita acts as the ears and eyes of the audience. The direction is brilliant, the smaller sequences setting up for bigger things. An example of the same can be the opening sequence of this feature, wherein Kay Kay is with a bunch of articles in his prison wall and a portrait of a woman sketched on to his wall. This is a brilliant exposition for the events to follow, developing the nature of his character and also creating interest in the minds of audience as to the identity of the mystery woman.

To add to the same there is the haunting setting and the uncanny music, which adds to the overall experience. Personally, it was a pleasure to watch Kay Kay and Kashyap together again, also Kay Kay portraying the role of an incarcerated serial killer was interesting. I still remember there was a show in the 90s named 'Darrrr' wherein Kay Kay was a cop hunting a serial killer and Irrfan Khan playing the latter, never got to watch that brilliant feature though.

Don't miss this one if you are a fan of Kashyap, Kay Kay or have watched TV in the 90s.
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