silvan-desouza Sometimes promotions play a key role in a success of the film, Haasil's promos gave a wrong impression, the promos mostly focused on the songs and romance and people though it will be yet another romantic film of Jimmy Shergill who till then hadn't yet done meaningful roles and after Mohabbatein became yet another Srk wannabe and tried doing romantic films but hardly they succeeded. The film however is a complete departure as it focuses more on college politics, rivalry between 2 gangs, one handled by Ashutosh Rana and the other by Irrfan Khan and the handling by Tigmanshu Dhulia(who debuted with this film) is simply superb, the romance is in short doses and thankfully we don't have the filmy romance though at times the songs do disturb the flow of the film. The film has several twists and turns, though it does get predictable at many places, yet the director and writers should be praised for handling it superbly. Being from UP himself, Tigmanshu Dhulia shows the politics with perfect nuances, though towards the end the film does get filmy but yet the storytelling is simply superb. The film not only revived the career of Jimmy Shergill but also gave a new lease to Irrfan Khan who till then was doing short roles, though he had got praise in Gunaah, this film made him popular Tigmanshu Dhulia went on making great films though first success was shortlived yet he got critical acclaim, now he is a big name. Music by Jatin Lalit is good Dialogues are superbJimmy Shergill does a superb job, portraying the emotions perfectly, his transformation from a lover boy to a fugitive is convincing, after this film his career got a new rise. Hrishita Bhatt does her role perfectly though it doesn't need much to do Irrfan Khan is simply awesome, though now he is become typecast but he breathes fire in the role only he could perform, his eyes, expressions, dialogue delivery is topnotch. He won the award for best villain that year. Amongst rest Ashutosh Rana is perfect in a short role, Sharat Saxena, Tinnu Anand are superb as always, Rajpal Yadav is amazing in a short role, Raj Jhutsi overacts, Sudhir Pandey is superb, rest are okayThe film does have some flaws, like Irrfan Khan's obsessive love could be more better explained, Also some plot holes but overall the film is superb

Niraj Verma This is only kind of such movie made in Indian cinema. This movie truly replicates and speaks about mind and mindset of students in northern part of India (not in metros). The efforts put by director/writer Tigmanshu Dhulia can't be measured by just few awards. A lot of research (or say no research was required because every scene looks so natural) has been done behind each and every scene in the movie. Most of the actors in the movie are stage performers and they have given their best shots in the movie. No doubt this is the best movie of the best (?) actor in India after Kamal Hasan. Performance given by Jimmy Shergil and even Hrishita Bhatt is par above than so called superstars of Indian Hindi cinema. I recommend everyone to watch this movie at least once.

anshul2001anshul This is one of my all time favorite and I have been watching it every year since my last year in college and every time I find it refreshing, more so because environ around us in big colleges and metro is so out of place or cut off from real India. What I like : 1.Opening sequence how the vice chancellor is helpless 2. conversation of minister and student leader signify how the link between college politics and real politics run. Many of top Indian politicians were once active student leaders. 3. Heroine's and Heroe's father play their part well and in real life people are like that 4. Movie plays on Bengali stereotype of being coward( hero's friend can't protect his mother) 5. More importantly movie builds on Indian idea of politics being a means of granting favors : politicians to budding leaders (!) , politicians to their sidekicks 6. Indian middle class , father -son tension , husband dominating over wife and a desire to remain away from politics and goons. 7. Love between jimmy and hrishita is so real and this is how things used to be once in small towns quite different from metro before arrival of mall, café and multiplex culture . 8. problem of successful transition in political families and how well meaning people get caught in politics 9. cinematography is fabulous which makes full use of environ :university , Allahabad & Ganges ,middle class home. In fact i would suggest to someone who wants to study small town India watch this movie instead of reading tons of books.

Prateek Dham Firstly,I'd like to know more about this director Tigmanshu Dhulia.And why hasn't any producer taken notice of his talent till now.The lad has made such a fine movie that from what I see,this has put the Oscar winners to shame!And no freaking major recognitions for this movie in the country in which it was made and also which it has depicted so perfectly in its lens.Such movies are hard to make,and probably even tougher to get recognised.Isn't it?Irfan Khan has broken all the acting fronts through his debut performance as Ranvijay Singh,a wannabe politician,who takes up against the reigning student leader in his university,the character being portrayed so flawlessly by Ashutosh Rana.Irfan Khan has immortalised the character and the movie itself,at least in the hearts and brains of the ones who've seen this flick.Despite hailing from the state of Rajasthan,he's played the part of a UP guy and perfected the accent so easily,it makes you stand up,take notice and applaud the efforts.Jimmy Sheirgill is good as the lead,but Hrishita Bhatt leaves a lot to be asked.She was arguably the weakest link in the movie,which was dominated by the great performances and the dialogues of its characters.When I saw this movie,I became Irfan Khan's fan,and I can assure the same fate for any other cinema lover!This movie is as realistic as it can get and I simply love that for Indian cinema.