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DVD Review |
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By Joginder Tuteja, August 15, 2008 - 14:18 IST
MOVIE DETAILS
Cast: Sikandar Kher, Gul Panag, Arjan Bajwa, Uvika Chaudhary, Alekh Sangal and Ashutosh Rana
Director: Suhail Tatari
Producer: Atul Pandey
Music: Gourov Dasgupta
Lyrics: Ujjaini, Vibha Singh, Gourov Dasgupta
THE FILM
5 minutes into the film and you are hooked. The adage of 'living by the edge' is pretty much depicted on screen with the 3 young men (Sikandar, Arjan, Alekh) enjoying their round of dope while seated in a jeep which is literally hanging on a cliff.
15 minutes into the film and you sit up and start noticing the effort. Friendship between the 3 boys and 2 girls (Gul, Uvika) is brought out well and you know that the film is talking the new age lingo.
45 minutes into the film and you end up exclaiming for the first time - 'Not bad at all yaar, it's a pity why the film didn't work? Actually, it's a pity that director Suhail Tatari's effort went unnoticed mainly due to uninspiring promotion.'
90 minutes into the film and you know that Summer 2007 is not a frivolous piece of cinema. The way characters react to the serious situation (as medical students they are posted into a far off village where farmers are committing suicides due to non-payment of loans) makes it all absolutely realistic. 'We don't care a damn' attitude is completely believable even though you can sense a bomb ticking somewhere in a corner.
120 minutes into the film and you get the message. You know that the doctor (Ashutosh Rana) posted in the village is trying to improve things, a couple of youngsters also offer help while others too are expected to fall in line soon. You know that 'zamindar' out there belongs to the 'khoon-choos' variety. You know that the youngsters can't do much in a hopeless situation like this and soon it would be time for curtains to be down.
140 minutes into the film and the end is still not in sight. Dead bodies start falling like nine-pins, women get raped, naxalites emerge out of nowhere, a lady cop suddenly changes color - overall it turns out to be an utterly hopeless situation out there.
160 minutes into the film and finally end credits start rolling. By this time you indeed have a heavy heart. And it is due to a mixed range of emotions. Yes, you have seen some exasperation building up due to an all around depressing end (nothing wrong with that, even Yuva, Rang De Basanti or Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi had a lot of similar elements and succeeded either critically or commercially). However, in case of Summer 2007, a heavy heart is also due to absolute lack of respite that Suhail Tatari offers in the concluding reels.
Ok, so there wasn't any chance for a bunch of cool dudes to suddenly turn into local Robin hoods and turns things around. Also, at the plot level, one can't think of any other ending than this. All of this only makes one wonder if the presentation of the concluding reels could have been a little different. If only that was the case, Summer 2007 may have been remembered for some more summers to come.
PACKAGING
The DVD comes in a basic plastic and paper packaging
DURATION
The film comes in a single DVD pack with the film's duration being 160 minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES
The DVD doesn't come with any special features
TECHNICAL DETAILS
- 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation
- Subtitles in English
- Dolby Digital 5.1 and Stereo
PRICE
Rs. 299/=
CONCLUSION
Summer 2007 is not a bad film at all. However, it has a way too depressing ending which takes the sheen away from an excellent first one hour. While this is the portion of the film which is absolutely likeable, the remainder of the film can also be given a watch for its honesty and some consistently good performances by each of the five youngsters.
  
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