One By Two - Movie Review: Nothing Less Than A Torture!

Devika Bhagat's One By Two is like an Anaconda, a special Anaconda which is very long that nobody can figure out where its tail ends. This long boring tale (If the definition of 'tale' can be relaxed) is a new breed of torture that is packaged in the name of cinema. The so called plot of this film is like a ghost. Some believe that it exists and most others don't believe them. Sometimes you feel the presence of the ghost and when you are trying to look at it, it's gone.

Tailor-made for metro audience, One By Two is a gruesome exercise in vanity. In a theatre auditorium that looks just like a scene from an 'apocalypse movie', I'm the lone man left to watch this movie - 'I am Legend!' Every character in the movie specially designed for intellectually challenged, is either dumb or dumbest with a pretension of being smart.

There is one scene specially dedicated for a fart joke. Some writers (Who? Okay, yeah) think that they can make people laugh with these brain dead tricks! If Abhay Deol has a lot of money, he should seriously think about charity instead of delivering stale food with green fungus in the name of cinema!

There is a line in this movie, which is told by Abhay's friend character, "You know? You make us feel superior". Yes, but this movie makes Tuglak feel superior! And these guys who always are seen running through their office and disturbing others' works (Devika says it is a software company - Kill Me Now!) are so smart and bright - in director's vision.

There is a scene in which Abhay and these two friends writing software program in night. Oh, boy - There is this guy who is playing Tabla on the keyboard while telling some random PJs to others. Even when he talks, he never stops typing the code! Writer-Director should seriously do a research before putting her characters in a software company to know how an IT company operates.

You don't write codes this fast and especially not like this! In a shot, the smart friend of Abhay is playing Tabla on the keyboard and even codes are not even getting typed in the screen and he is still punching the keyword and acting 'cool'! Oh my goodness.

It seems the director's only reference point for IT people was 'The Social Network'. If that is right, I should tell that it was Mark Zuckerberg writing a PHP code, not any Tom, Dick and Harry playing Tabla. Even, the portrayal of Mark was an exaggeration in the film. Poor composer even gave a background score for that scene, which is almost lifted from the same scene in The Social Network. Before composing a scene, it's better to understand the scene and the scene's purpose! In the Social Network, composer used that score because it was a scene of innovation; a stroke of genius and the music was like climbing steps, progressing towards producing a program/project that is the ultimatum of intelligence. Here, in this film, the scene is not even about the program, but they are talking some random stupid things as they always use to. Director made these characters punch the keyboard just to convince audience that they are 'really' software engineers. The BGM doesn't fit in it at all.

There is nothing remarkable about the performances. Abhay Deol looks stone faced as his character doesn't demand anything from him. Preeti Desai makes Arnold Schwarzenegger looks like Marlon Brando. The only actor who did a good job in this film is Darshan Jariwala who plays Abhay's uncle, obviously a blink and miss role, but he is the only actor who is very natural in this movie.

Movie is cinematographed well and there are a few good, beautiful shots in the movie. One being Samara's (Preeti Desai) apartment that just opens to a Mughal Structure. The street shots and some of the interior shots are photographed remarkably. But this glossy design can't save such a blunder of a film. In music department, there is one song that is a little impressive- 'I'm Just Pakaoed' sung by Siddharth Mahadevan, in which Abhay does an 'I want To Break Free' act!

I was deeply moved by many films made in India and abroad, but Devika Bhagat's One By Two made me cry! I developed an existential crisis after watching this!