Dedh Ishqiya movie review: Brilliant, but won't set records like Dhoom 3

It's a beautiful watch with top notch performances to amuse you. Finally it could be said that with Dedh Ishqiya, Bollywood gets its first hit of the year.Ratings-***1/2Cast:Madhuri Dixit, Arshad Warsi, Naseeruddin Shah, Huma Qureshi, Vijay Raaz Director: Abhishek Chaubey The old world charm, which had the tint of nawabs and their poetry, is beyond the words of admiration and staging it through a drama would require delicacy. Abhishek Chaubey is so cautious over the presentation of the royal culture that he removes all the redundant elements from the classic drama.He presents it through Dedh Ishqiya, a poetic journey which is being forgone by every passing day. Though, not everyone's cup of tea to enjoy the slow portrayal of such theme but it has the temperament to tempt you finally.Take the shayari festival organised by the mesmerizing Para (Madhuri Dixit) who can bring men on their knees, the poetry recited gracefully by Khalu Jaan (Naseeruddin Shah) or the solemnity tenderness of short-tempered local MLA Jaan Mohammad (Vijay Raaz), the ‘one and half' Ishqiya has varied emotions which blend beautifully in this classic.Not one of those of masala entertainers that set Rs100 and 200 cr mark for judging the success graph but an intelligent cinema, which a major audience may struggle to comprehend with. There is no need to associate this version with its prequel (which will be there in your wits until you take a seat in theatres), since there is a whole new creation of love triangle, bromance with comedy going parallel and action just being a spectator. In a scene, Babban (Arshad Warsi) and Khalujaan are bashed up by Jaan and his men but the two have their guns too and both point them towards Jaan. Neither Jaan's gang nor Babban-Khalujaan agree to give up. The night passes and the next morning they are affixed to their positions, yawning and shivering with cold. Such is the humour and action in Abhishek Chaubey's that flows predominantly in this two hour thirty minutes runtime. The story is sharply written and the message is highlighted in the climax.Khalu Jaan has screwed Babban after robbing a jewellery store and he is on a beautiful mission to woo Begum Para in a poetry festival in Mahmudabad organised by her for fulfilling the last wish of her late husband that her new life partner should be a poet. Renowned poets from all corners have submerged there to win her over. But Jaan Mohammad is also eyeing over Begum and will do whatever it takes to claim her, even Khalu and Babban's life. Baaban on the other hand arrives here to settle old scores with Khalu but is smitten by Begum's maid or say companion Muniya (Huma Qureshi) who has some clever plans to ruin her.As aforesaid, there are dialects, which if taken artfully would give bunch of moments to cherish and even if you give up over them, there are hell lot of other tactics to achieve the extreme limit of delight. Abhishek Chaubay's screenplay, Bhardwaj's story and dialogues take the first spot in the likes of this bromance. Dr. Bashir Badr poetries are given a perfect platform to be applauded. The shayari gets more expressive when given the vocal and style of the talented artist like Shah Saheb and others.Abhishek Chaubey brings out the showy finesse of the widow and people who have still not given up even after the desire to live the life has vanished. The crisp editing settles the theme frame by frame with varied textures and colours so pleasantly that you can't stop admiring the skillful work seen rarely in Bollywood flicks. Credit has to be given to the cast who fills the emotion quite sensitively in premise. Warsi and Shah who have lost people's faith in them would regain once again after their dramatic performance, which no one could better implement over. While the chemistry between Shah and Madhuri, Arshad and Huma is beautiful, the ‘jugalbandi' of male duo once again takes the special attention in the flick.The female duo of Madhuri Dixit and Huma Qureshi do wonders in this flick. You can't let your eyes off from Madhuri who is exceptional in her act. Huma, too gives a splendid performance and matches the footsteps with the Bollywood diva.But Vijay Raaz takes the lead in the flick, where even a side actor is equally efficient in giving a first-class performance. He might be sidelined but is really a hard nut to crack.Music by Vishal Bhardwaj is good. However, one would wonder why Ishqiya title track wasn't composed in the earlier installment, but is a treat for your ears. The background score should have been more emphasised over.I'll go with three and a half star for Dedh Ishqiya. It's a beautiful watch with top notch performances to amuse you. Finally it could be said that with Dedh Ishqiya, Bollywood gets its first hit of the year.