B.A. Pass Review

What is it all about

Oh.. yeah.. Bollywood throws its melodramatic petticoats for a bold, dark, thrilling, raw erotic notes..

Can you manage to be bold, dark, edgy, raw and erotic without breaking a sweat..

First timer Ajay Bahl does that with B.A. Pass..

The movie glitters in this cloud of need, greed, love, lust, trust, lost, pain, gain, betrayal in this trial of a man's journey into prostitution which is unashamed of its sexuality as it schemes into the by lanes of Delhi for a peep into the moralities of this so called civilized society who share the popular soap opera story with their gigolos during their bed time glories and while our hormones are feeling the heat it gradually builds to dramatic, unexpected climax. Bravo. Well done.

The Story

Mohan Sikka's `The Railway Aunty' gets adapted for the screen by Ritesh Shah who gives a rare noir effect to the screenplay.. after the death of his father a young small town boy Mukesh (Shadab) moves to Delhi to stay with his aunt and finish his college. His aunt gives him a second hand treatment.. one day he meets this mysterious married woman Sarika (Shilpa Shukla) who seduces him for a gateway into the world of male prostitution.. Mukesh who was earlier confined to playing chess with his friend Jhonny (Dibyendu) who makes graves finds some solace in these paid carnal connections. One day his dreams and belief get shattered by betrayal, lust and greed.

What to look out for

Ajay Bahl makes a thumping impact with his debut. The execution of B.A. Pass is bang on. Moving like a song Ajay's execution establishes Mukesh's adolescent energy and Sarika's seductive oomphy charm when they meet for the first time with ease.

Successfully exploiting the ethos of need and greed of the privileged and the underprivileged in India's capital city. B.A. Pass in no matter wants to seduce you with those brilliantly executed sex scenes and never fails to tweak the undercurrents of our modern day society's pseudo ideologies to an extent. ..

The second half is more intense, dark and progressively moves beyond pleasing the sexual hormones.

Such genre needs rapid action every now and then to keep the unpredictability intact and Ajay does this flattery of emotions on screen with flying colours.

Spontaneous as it lead where Shilpa Shukla charms in a big way with her acting smarts. She plays the sex huntress remarkably well. She is lucky to bag this role which is certainly a dream for any actress who loves to act. Brilliant.

Shadab is as natural as it can be and does a great job. Dibyendu lives a mark.

Technically fine and up to mark.

What not

Yes its bold, dark and sexy.. its sensational.. its more disturbing and less probing. It travels from your mind, to the stomach but misses the heart... it successfully shocks you but doesn,t overwhelms and fails to remain with you after leaving the theatre... it gets further marred by some illogical sequences where Mukesh gives all his money to Sarika by giving a reason that no bank is ready to accept.. from noir goesto general mode with the highway episode.

Conclusion: Certainly sensational but not exceptional.. B.A. Pass is still `worth' for its bravo, raw, dark and erotic appeal powered by some acting smarts and well executed love making scenes.

Rating ***and 1/2