Strangers does adapt Strangers on a Train

Hi film buffs,

We're back with yet another hindi film this time. This time it is Aanand Rai's Strangers. Though the director claims that his film is not an adaptation of Strangers on a train (1950), the film does seem to be, though not entirely ripped off, borrowed in parts from the classic film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. But Rai has managed to pull off some really interesting twists and bends to the original story. Aanand Rai's Strangers treads the trodden path of Bollywood filmmaking's cliche while adapting foreign films -- that is, of opening the film with an extremely dramatic event that is in actuality only an incident, such as one of the protagonists of the film being arrested for a murder of another of the protagonists. But the screenplay is so cleverly designed such that it is impossible for you to trace the sources from which they are borrowed ! Jimmy Shergill does a neat job in pulling off some of the best one liners and also some chilling moments. The last 30 minutes of the film steals the show. The permutations can be anything out of a possible 16 options. Watch Strangers to relish the independent update on a revered classic. I've been maintaining the idea of how a film school specialising in Second Half Of The Film should be set-up for the larger good of Indian mainstream cinema. Aanand Rai's Strangers surprises by achieving the rare feat of an Indian film's second half bettering, and even improving over the first half. This film does work, and must already be tasting success with the urban audience. Films of this kind must be appreciated so that we get to see many more such films in the future.