Having said that, Anurag Kashyap does manage to make a movie that is up there with Hollywood standards. In its two-hours-thirty-minutes runtime, it manages more than a handful of memorable moments. The romantic formula might’ve let it down, but the real story of this film is how well it’s conceived and presented. A certified visual delight.

It takes the most ordinary situations from daily life and churns out the kind of drama that’s missing from modern mainstream cinema. There’s a deftness to its emotions. There’s a purpose to every point in the film. Even though this isn’t toilet humour, you have grown adults constantly talking about feces and digestive ailments. It could all put you off. Instead, it draws you in. That’s the hallmark of great cinema. It effortlessly speaks to its audience. It creates magical moments with the most unlikely situations. This one’s definitely to be watched with your family, especially your parents.

In this story’s fifth rendition, filming gimmicks and juvenile humour upstage logical writing and character development. The end result is a lackluster and utterly pointless film trying too hard to impress.

Questionable casting aside, the production values on this movie are near abysmal. Most of the film is shot in Delhi. But the choice of locations is poor. The camerawork is no better than rookie documentaries. And the songs are neither pleasant on the ear nor needed in the film. Yet, they’re thrust into the most absurd situations. It’s a very lackluster attempt at making a commercial film.

…is reasonably shot, well-edited and generally put together nicely. But its screenplay hasn’t been too well thought out. Smaller films often have this tendency to do a little more. The idea is to give your audience as much value in storytelling and film gimmick as you can. After all you don’t have the frills, thrills or spills of big-budget star vehicles. But that’s also the easiest way of over-doing drama. The climax and general build up with the border scenes in this film are too middle-of-the-road. The intentions are noble. But the idea of bhaichara and peace on the border is as defunct as some of the laws and amendments in our constitution. More of the same old is never too much fun.

Films are just another form of art. They benefit from the inspirations and enthusiasm of their creator. Like any other form of art, they can suffer if the vision is skewered or contrived. In his ambitious Hollywood foray, Vidhu Vinod Chopra wanted to prove that Indian filmmakers are better than just song and dance junkies. That we can match Hollywood’s game in their playing field. And therein lies the biggest flaw. Imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery. But end of the day, flattery is also described as pleasing self-deception.

Watching Detective Byomkesh Bakshy is an exhilirating and engaging experience. With its enriched visuals and edgy music, this film really serves up great thrills. Yes, the ride is a bit bumpy and the average film aficionado might not take kindly to the sudden influx of violence, but those are variables in a larger game. This film is bubbling with nervous energy and it has all the trappings to entertain. Miss it at your own risk. Movies this well-made are hard to come by.

The camera work is complementing of its voyeuristic setting. This is one very well conceived movie. If you’re sweating at the idea of a sexually charged movie that could offend you with its content, be rest assured that the visuals aren’t as graphic, the movie never gets vulgar. In fact, this movie subliminally depicts it’s provocative themes in the most tasteful manner. This is a must watch.

Performances by Neil Bhoopalam, Darshan Kumar and Deepti Naval are credible. None of them falter, not even a bit in convincing you about their characters. As for the film itself, it does not offer the same conviction. It has the trappings to sway the average Hindi movie buff, some might even see a ggreat leveller in it. But to the Hollywood regular this one’s just another release.

… there’s just one feature of this film that allows the viewer to sit through its agonizing two hours – Nana Patekar. The veteran actor pulls out all stops in action, dialogue delivery and even scenes of sparse comedy. But how long can even the most industrious captain sail a sinking ship? Ab Tak Chappan 2 goes down without a trace. Even Ram Gopal Varma’s worst film has more cinematic nuance than this rookie mistake.