Mod

An almost milder version of a hybrid of Sadma and Kyun Ki with 'Kukunoor' trademark, that's what Mod is. It's surely a different love kind of love story altogether and was nice to see it the kukunoor way. Setup in a hilly lush green Ganga (somewhere near Ooty in actual), it has some breathtaking sceneries and houses with backgrounds so beautiful which makes your movie watching experience quite pleasant. 

There's not much suspense regarding the storyline as it unfolds right at the start but is still able to hold you till the end. The screenplay though a bit sluggish was ok. The movie begins and ends with some unexplained events like the abscence of Ayesha Takia's mother and his father waiting for her every morning to get down from the toy train running through the tranquil part of their world space. Nevertheless, the performances from all the supporting actors was appreciable. The focus, obviously was on Ayesha and Ranvijay and they didn't let down at any moment. Abhay/Andy surely was a tough character to play for anyone and considering the fact that this was the first movie by Ranvijay as the lead actor, his effort was commendable. The part of Abhay was so fluent that it was looking as if he is playing his normal self, although when he plays Andy it looks slightly forceful at times. Overall he did justice to his character and it needs to be seen as the emergence of a possibly new competitor to the young brigade of Bollywood male leads. Ayesha as Aranya was sweet, touching and worth applauding. She surely has matured as an actress post "Dor" and was nice to see her back to work after so long. The emotions portrayed in the movie aren't the same as Dor but you could feel the same effect here which she created back then.

The camerawork was great though it was more the result of what was in front of the camera than who was behind it as the sceneries were just magnificient. Background score was average. Music was quite normal with almost no hummable song good enough to have lasting impression. Also placement of songs was quite forceful and a big reason for the increased length of the movie, thus making the movie seem to be moving at a snail speed at times.

Kukunoor's direction is simple and neat as always. He knows when, where and in what amount to regulate the flow of emotions to make it look as natural as it can be and not turning it into a dramatic or melodramatic scene. Though he could have made sure that a semi-interesting plot is not hampered by a bit lethargic screenplay. Editing could have been slightly better too. One of the small errors was in a scene where the Kishore Kumar bhakt band is playing at a wedding and the Flautist suddenly has a mouth organ instead of a flute in one of the three frames that pass by within few seconds. There were some more of such glitches which could have been taken care of.

Basically "Mod" is all about the emotion called Love and it's power to overcome the toughest of situations, it's true and pure essence which can instill colors and the will to live into a dull and empty soul. It's not as strong and dramatic that it will make you cry and feel for the characters even after leaving the theatres but will surely bring a small smile at times, a slight amount of pain when the character feels so and a sense of relief and happiness when all winds up well in the end. Not the best but still one of the movies for which Nagesh Kukunoor will be remembered always.

My Verdict: 6/10