User reviews

ANEk rides on the Ayushmann Khurrana platform of socially aware films but starts and ends with the mic passed on to the actor whose story is being told. This is a step in the right direction. It corrects what Aysuhmann's last film left to be desired. However, Anek isn't just about the North East region of India. Anek is ambitious. Almost too ambitious for its own good. It's less film and more an idea. The idea of moving towards participatory democracy. The idea of India transitioning into the United States of India.

Anubhav Sinha is a fantastic questioner. You can see that he hates leaving any question unasked and that habit is at the forefront in this film. His questions are often challenging and occasionally even existential. The hope is that his insatiable urge of asking questions will rub off on the moviegoers and will make them imbibe critical thinking that our education system has largely kept at bay.

The movie stays on brand with this theme and even ends with a question. Reasoning is simple. The film wants the public to come up with answers to those questions instead of being didactic about its point. And the film does its job of giving every side enough footage to appear unbiased - the government, the disillusioned government officer, the politicised rebel group, the militant group who represents the voice of the people, the group whose entire struggle is nudging mainland India to recognise them for real and not just on paper. Unlike other political thrillers, this film is extremely nuanced. So much so that I've seen people thinking it's muddled because of it. It's a fair concern because the film is noticeably marred by what I call as the Batman vs Superman syndrome.

The editor has done the entire crew dirty. Their job is so choppy that it does terrible injustice towards everyone else from the actors to writers to cinematographers all of whom have done a near-perfect job. There are scenes where you can actually tell that they were cut to shorten the film and thus end up being pointless. There are also a few plotholes (why is Joshua having a change of heart 3 years into his stay in the unnamed state of the NE) which demand a level of suspension of disbelief that you don't expect from a film this rooted in reality. Add to that the production value of the film is cheap probably because of its tight budget.

Ayushmann Khurrana, however, does his level best to carry this film despite all its shortcomings. His performance lifts the film and keeps you engaged even when the editing zones you out. His shades of gray are more impressive than his transition into the empathetic man - the latter he has done often throughout his career. Watch out for his scene right after the viral North-South language scene. It's a career-high, award-worthy performance that involves a nihilistic question that is bound to make literally everyone uncomfortable and ends with a statement that would rile up a large chunk of his audience. It's a shame though that the film doesn't give him enough action sequences because the man was bulked up enough to pull it off. Andrea does a phenomenal job for a debutante. She is consistent throughout the film. Seasoned actors Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa and Loitongbam Dorendra live up to their names specially the latter two who get ample footage in the film.

Despite all the issues that plague this film, its highs are so thoroughly engaging and leave such a slow burner impact on you with its very relevant questions that they almost make up for the lows. Hopefully, we will get the director's cut of this film someday which would do justice to it.

First, people need to understand the situation in the NE before watching this film . Only then will they understand.

Second, this is not for masses. It is for the audience of the highest class. So please, if you come across reviews saying "slow", "boring" etc, prolly they are masala film fans. You are watching a film that requires your utmost attention otherwise everything will go over head and this is where the highest class audience excel at, that is, paying attention.

Now coming to the main film, the makers have tried to include literally 3-4 plots into a 2hr 30 mins film, an operation to keep peace, a sports angle, the Tiger Sangha angle etc. Had they focused on only the rebels story, this film would have been terrific but sadly juggling between one plot to another, you really cannot digest everything, even the best audience can't. They come to watch a film with a proper one plot and at the max 2 plot film but this one has too many to digest, this is where Anek falters big time.

Setting of this film is great. Gives off proper NE vibes . The action sequences are few but are well choreographed despite limited budget. The one where the Johnson rebels get cornered in a small jungle, that part is really well made. The sequence following that made me emotional.

The 1st half requires your utmost attention while the 2nd half is quite interesting.

Ayushmann khurana has finally ventured into a different kind of social message film. A first timer as an agent , he does a commendable job. Rest everyone have also done a terrific job, especially that little boy who joins the Johnson army.

Another negative is it gets too preachy often and they disrupt the flow of the film.

Overall, a good one time watch only if you are ready to watch patiently about an important topic.

The movie touches a great subject and looks into the violence in NE with a human perspective. The screenplay, is very bad though and scenes and sequences are inconsistent.

Good movie to watch for especially the movie is about northeast people and their relationships with India ayushaman khuranna rocks in the movie this movie explores different subject.

ANEK - 8.2 1st half, 6.5 2nd half. Overall 7.5/10 (more weightage to first half these days as if that isn't fancy, nobody will go till the end)

It opens a new door to Indian cinema which talks about geo-politics of the most complicated democracy in the world with 22 official languages with no national language and national sport as such. Why? Well, it isn't democratic yet to decide on one, the very oneness we miss as a country. This film lays bare the very dirty and polluted politics of India and its policies to deal with separatists. We Indians are at one side and the separatists toil to scramble the ladder of recognition but they are pulled back with two choices, either die or chant Jai Hind and be with us. Quite not fair, right? Well, for the majority of us, it is fair. The India is politics and not its people.

Ayushman's best work so far with no flaw as such. The North-east crew was quite brilliant. I loved the way they hid the state name and all jeeps had NE on their name plates. Great direction. Punchy dialogues. A bit lenghty and boring in the second half as the prologue of the movie in the first half was covered fantastically and it was all about executing that in the 2nd half with a bitter and gory war at 3 fronts. Won't give spoilers. Do not just join the bandwagon of that population which doesn't even watch and start criticizing just by seeing the names. A great movie buff decides all by himself. A must watch to know this side as well.

Film 'Anek' is the truth of this time. If you are living with the truth, then this film is a nightmare for you. It's a decent watch. If political thrillers fascinate you, it might as well be your weekend pick. However, if you were to go keeping the same expectation as Article 15, then you might return disappointed. But we would like you to keep the two films distinct and enjoy both as two separate dishes. Who knows, Anek might actually be the conversation starter yet again in the era of political thrillers.

While Sinha has become a master with his combination of presenting a social issue while making it engaging and entertaining, that becomes a hit-and-miss here with Anek to an unfortunately large extent. It is still a brave attempt overall and most importantly, does spark dialogue as it intended to.

In short: What's good: The shots, the cinematography, the locations, the cast, certain chase sequences, dialogue(s) in the climax.

What's not: Writing - the story is more of a rotten documentary sympathizing with the North East Indians in general. The dialogues are too over dramatic especially the one between Ayshman & Chakravarthy about North India & South India. That dialogue didn't make any difference to the scene, movie, character(s) or story. The music is poor.

People in general give films with north east/ army/ true stories a 10/10. These people do not know what giving 10/10 means. It means this film is perfect, not near perfect but 100% perfect. The moment someone picks an idea that hasn't been explored a lot people go gaga over it. They don't rate the film for it's creativity & technicalities but they rate the idea & thus give it a 10/10. They don't rate the film's writing, they rate the true story/ the real life character it is inspired from etc. This film is way overrated & is a 2hours 26 minutes of waste.

Anubhav Sinha's Anek is a gripping-layered narrative about efforts to negotiate a peace treaty in the North-East India with a separatist group, a process that has gone on for decades without a conclusion. A covert operative, Aman (Ayushmann Khurrana), who goes by the alias Joshua, is tasked with creating a situation that brings Tiger Sangha (Loitongbam Dorendra), the top rebel leader of the region, to the negotiation table. Along the way, Aman finds that everything isn't as black and white as he had initially thought and finds himself conflicted, emotionally and professionally.

With conversational dialogues interspersed throughout the narrative, Anek brings you face to face with the undercurrents of discrimination and alienation from 'mainland' India that exist in different pockets of the northeast. At times uncomfortably so, but then that is the intent of the narration. Anubhav Sinha doesn't use heavy-duty, seetimaar lines or overt jingoism. What works here is subtlety in the dialogues and performances, and some nuanced writing that brings out the essence of the grey that Anubhav Sinha set out to depict through the film.

Anek, through its runtime, draws subtle parallels between the northeast and other parts of the country, in particular Jammu and Kashmir. For instance, Manoj Pahwa's character, Abrar Butt, Aman's superior and a Kashmiri himself, looks out of an airplane's window while on a flight to the northeast. Taking in the breathtaking view, he says, "Agar Firdaus bar Roo-e Zameen Ast, Hameen Ast-o Aameen ast-o Hameen Ast" - Khusro's well-known line that describes the picturesque beauty of Kashmir. Through the window of that plane, the director offers you a glimpse of the outer beauty and inner turmoil of both regions.

The film is engaging, but it could have done with a tighter screen time by trimming 5-10 minutes . It's a tad slow pre-interval and comparatively fast-paced post that, and unpacks a lot in that timespan.

With some powerful performances by Ayushmann Khurrana, Manoj Pahwa, Andrea Kevichüsa, Kumud Mishra, Loitongbam Dorendra, and JD Chakraverti, the film leaves the audience with plenty of unsettling questions - primarily, what makes you an Indian. The use of silences, regional dialect, folk songs and the background score, the production design, the visual tone, cinematography and action pieces, lend themselves well to the narrative.

Anubhav Sinha continues his run as a conscience-keeper of sorts, making one film after another - Mulk, Article 15, Thappad - that force you to think about equality and justice in the context of religion, caste, gender, and now region.

It is often said that movies should not give you closure, instead it should leave you with questions and make you think; Anek is one such movie. A dialogue in the movie, which was also there in the trailer, says that if you remove the names of all the states from the map of North-East India, very few people would be able to pin point the state and it's location; well frankly speaking, that would be too much of an ask, because most people won't be able to even name the states of North East India. If you try to name all the states of India, there is a high probability that the ones not in your memory are the states of North East India; what do you think is the reason for that? The simple answer is that we barely talk about them; the media doesn't talk about them and the politicians don't talk about them because they are not really considered a strong vote bank. But a simple answer is not sufficient to explain everything, all that it does is raise some more questions and a lot of intrigue; this movie aims to give you some simple answers so that it triggers the curiosity in our minds to know the complete truth.

There are so many problems associated with the north eastern states of India that it's impossible for one film to address everything, but at least with 'Anek' there has been a start; the foundation has been laid, and now a bridge has to be created that will connect us with the North Eastern states of India. I would really hope for more mainstream filmmakers to come forward and create movies and web shows depicting the history of the north eastern states of India and the issues currently faced by the people living there.

It was great to see actors and actresses who are actually from North-East being cast as characters in this film, because it's rare to see something like that in Hindi movies. One could get a sense of the tragic state of affairs from the fact that Priyanka Chopra was selected to play the main role in the Mary Kom biopic. The creators of the film could not find anyone from North East to play the champion boxer from Manipur. So I was quite happy to see people from Assam, Nagaland and Meghalaya portraying the various characters in the film. It won't be fair to judge their acting credentials because not much is known about the state of cinema in the North-East, we barely get any films from that region and there is almost no representation in Hindi cinema as well; but most of them did very well in their respective roles.

The role of Aido, played by debutant actress Carol Andrea Kevichusa, was surprisingly not developed properly at all. Carol Andrea, who looked extremely gorgeous in every single frame, has done a decent job considering the limited scope she was offered. Manoj Pahwa was in top form as always; it's quite amazing to see him play these serious roles with so much conviction, after having watched him do comedy for so many years. Aido's father, played by Mipham Otsal, was another fascinating performance of the film. Ayushmann Khurrana is an extremely watchable actor and he was very good in Anek as well. Ayushmann's role of Aman was similar to the one that he did in Article 15, but it's good that he is doing these kind of films because it's a welcome break from the kind of films he is known for.

The song played during Aido's training montage felt completely off and just didn't work for me, but the other songs were very good. Music of a film should be rooted in the culture of the place and the people living there, and that is why songs like "Oh Ku Takam" and "Oh Mama" worked so well. Mahesh Dhakde's background score and Ewan Mulligan's camerawork is truly praiseworthy.

Anubhav Sinha has made an attempt to create another 'Article 15' with this film, but unfortunately could not succeed in doing so, primarily because it's not quite possible to summarize the North-East issue in just one movie, given the complex nature of the problems associated with the region. Also, generalization of the problems being faced by the people of Assam, Sikkim, Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh was not quite right. But, it needs to be said that it takes courage to take a path that the others have refrained from; Anubhav Sinha could have easily made a goosebumps inducing action film or a masala film, but instead he chose to put the spotlight on an issue that deserved our attention, and for that he has my respect.

Agenda-driven Senseless Non-Existential Scenarios are presented without any base to it. It is blatant mockery of northeast people and their issues. No addressal of real issue and cultural richness of North-east. Even its contribution in nation's achievement is not acknowledged. Movie runs without any base or reason for the events in the story and it feels like childish and immature attempt with some personal grudges that is conveyed through movie by the director. Movie gives you a headache as you come out of theatre numb as story is neither intellectually mature nor engaging and makes you hate it after seeing such a fake and certain ideology-driven potrayal of North-East issues.

I would say every Indian must watch this movie a completely different plot.

Nowadays no one is making such content when we say INDIA or INDIAN what does it actually mean. INDIA is majorly identified as Mumbai and Delhi but it's actually all the small northern states also part of same country. We make fun of them look like Chinese but they are also Indian. In almost every Hindi cinema every character and story revolves around big cities no one tries to represent them as Indian.

Finally watched Ayushman Khurana's much-discussed film ANEk on Netflix!! North-East is an integral part of India, with its share of beauty, individuality and also its share of conflicts. Though there have been attempts to show this in Hindi cinema for decades, the topic has not been tapped fully. I guess Dev Anand's Jewel Thief was the first biggie to be shot in Northeast. In the 1970s another Dev Anand film Yeh Gulistan Hamara was probably the first film to focus on the Northeast with conflicts and innocence but it was a lousy film and best forgotten. After that, films like Mani Rathnam's Dil Se tried to show the region and conflict but couldn't do much justice.

Anubhav Sinha teams up with Ayushman Khurana after the brilliant Article 15 -attempting to finally bell the cat with ANEk! ANEk by far is the most serious film in showing the region with conflict. It tries to show the conflict between the Indian army and separatist groups of seven sister states and also tries to touch on multiple issues. The film takes in multiple separatist groups' issues, a Mary Kom character trying to prove herself, the intelligence network and so on. While the intent is really good, the film gets a bit dragged due to bad editing. The performances by Ayushman, Kumud, Manoj and others are good and the cinematography is fabulous. I wish the screenplay was tighter as the film gets too convoluted and as an audience, I felt disconnected at times. Overall a great theme and watchable film, which could have been much better!

Did they talk about Britisher Dr. Elwin who was made the in charge of North east affairs after Independence? Did they talk about Nehru-elwin policies? Does the movie talk about his Isolation policy of North east? Any mention of Only missionaries being allowed into North east but not sadhus or sanths of other religions during that period?

Does the movie talk about Inner Line Permit where you as an Indian need permission to enter into the 4 of 7 north eastern states currently (it was more than 4 before)?

If your answer is NO, then this film is just made to justify separatism and mislead people in the name of racism.

Racism and lack of development can't be ignored. But things are changing now. Just Blaming general public for the problem without giving the historical context of separatism and terrorism is not justifiable.

Anek.... Just watched this movie on Netflix.

A Film from Anubhav Sinha maker of classics Thappad, Mulk, Article 15, Intelligently and well written theme based on crucial issue of Northeast... but loose script.

Anubhav's narrative is well researched, very clear, unbiased and courageous..that all Voices need to be heard must on the issue of Northeast.

Powerful dialogues..Toh Hindi decide karti hai ki kaun north se hai aur kaun south se .. One's peace is another's chaos..It's easier to maintain a war than the peace..

Brilliant and authentic performance by versatile actor Manoj Pahwa. Other actor Kumud Mishra, Sushil Pandey and Andrea Kavichusa are simply great. Well done by Casting Director Mukesh Chaabra by choosing maximum other artists from Northeast.

Composition of shots and scenes captures the life in North East with its beauty its uniqueness and it's tragedy with brilliant Camera work by Ewan Mulligan.

I have seen Saurav Dwivedi on Lallantop interviewing Anubhav, Aushmaan and Andrea ..where he rightly said that Anubhav makes Film for Students too.

Background scoring with folk songs is superb.

There may be so many loopholes..despite that.. Worth must watch film.

Don't take side and view this with a neutral instance.

This movie is not concluding anything. It's just trying to portray perspective of different people.

6.5/10

Anek dived into North Eastern politics and conflicts, which I wasn't aware of much and thus made for an interesting watch from the start to the end in that sense.

But keeping that point aside, Anubhav Sinha presented a very uninteresting central lead along with voiceovers that felt out of place for some reason.

He also severely underwrote Aito making it hard for her character or her goals to create a genuine impact on me.

Like Khurrana's presence was seen and felt throughout but his character felt very much invisible to me and while Keivichüsa's character sparked a bit of interest she was mainly present at the two very end sides of the movie while being ghosted out for most parts.

The rest of the NE artists did what they could in a good way with the its and bits most of them got.

The dialogues were another thing that felt underexpressive and way too straight forward and the movie was with many a scenes that were both setup and executed in a poor manner but at the same time there were some brilliant shots and likeable sequences here and there.

The runtime and pacing were something that didn't bother me much.

Anyways even with the loads of problems that came with the movie, I still thought of it as a very atmospheric movie with A piece of heart if not whole and with a subject(no matter if it was explored in a surface lever manner or not) that i personally found interesting and these maybe the reasons that made me like this movie.

Things have changed now, the movie can ignite a fire between people. Don't know what anubhav Sinha was trying to do. No need of this type of hype.

Movie has shown 7 sister states are hated by rest of india, which is absolutely wrong.

Politicians don't like peace. Masses love it. Beautiful movie. How to identify we are Indians? If Hyderabad people start calling Pune people North Indian... If every state has a different theme or anthem... What about India as an identity?

How to identify different straits or identities? We still consider east side people as Chinese. We as Indians think only what is been shown till date.

KGF2 dialogue of Nepotism has not been gobbled and digested by Bollywood, who infact have swept Dadasaheb Falke family.

Satyajit Ray, and there are innumerable south Indian stars who contributed to Indian cinemas.

But Anek movie calls you to watch it full screen and understand what an Indian is all about!

It is unexpected from someone who directed movies like 'Mulk' and 'Article 15' to deliver such a poorly and awfully directed movie. The movie missed the basic essence of Northeast India and focussed on a fictitious fact that all of villagers in the village are separatists. The movie also tried to draw parallels between the Kashmir issue and issues of Northeast India. Emotionally, the pain (of the common people) is relatable but there can be no relation in the political and administrative situation. The writers and creators blatantly portray the villagers as some ignorant hill dwellers who live in a constant state of anarchy and chaos. The movie neither addresses the insurgency problem properly nor does it make any effort to show the beautiful culture of the region. It is totally based on what a person outside of the Northeast thinks about the Northeast. It is the same bias. Before making a movie the makers must understand the story and the background of it. The makers here failed to just that.

Its not a movie worth for entertainment.... It's certainly not made for that.. The picture would make you aware of the circumstances which are probably faced by the living citizens of North East... And its not probably about North East, about majority of the Indian states are eventually disregarded or are made discriminated with the United power of India by some racial remarks, to be honest... The picture just brings out the mentioned issue infront of all... The plot has been exaggerated a little so the ratings have been cut upon that, but i won't say that the gist is wrong... In the end, the choice is all yours if you would wanna watch it or not... But pls kindly dont expect it to be a entertaining one cause the issues are not...

Watched this because Ayushman nailed the role. Average movie with some great action scenes Anubhav sinha did justice with his direction Currently Anurag Kashyup Vishal Bhardwaj and Anubhav Sinha are my favourite from Bollywood others should work in bhojpuri cinema . Some should join polotics its time for them to join any Political party in India.

A movie justifying terrorism. Why did Ayushmann Khurrana sign this movie? This movie comes in the category of haider shikara tango Charlie raazi etc. Story screenplay and dialogues are very bad.

Film review: Anek streaming on Netflix #sanjuzzreviews #anek #anekmoviereview #anekmovie #AyushmannKhurrana #netflixindia Managed to catch this one only after its OTT release and boy I had hoped to prove the critics wrong ( like Tashkent files, an excellent film panned by the so called critics!!). But alas this was not to be!!

Starts off real well with an undercover agent , Ayushmann Khurana posted in the North East, being tasked with getting one of the biggest rebel parties on the negotiation table for signing a peace accord. But the real question is, does anyone actually want peace or is ongoing war easier to maintain, especially for the benefit of people with vested political interests. Does the voice of the people actually hold any value ?

Conceptually the film looks good with a great ensemble cast who have really given it their heart and soul. However they are let down big time by a weak script. Viewers are left twiddling their thumbs primarily due to the disjointed narrative which causes interest to wane. The only silver lining on the horizon comes from the story of a gritty female boxer from the NE, Aido who is struggling to prove her identity as an Indian. This track runs in parallel and is heartening to watch.

This film had the potential to become another Kashmir files for people in the North East by showcasing their angst and suffering. An opportunity lost big time by the makers!!

2/5 for this one .. adios 🙂!!

Ayushman, an actor with some real guts, instead of making fantasy and money making movies like RRR, he has guts to portray the society with its hypocrisy. Go watch this movie to reform yourselves, to be a better citizen, respect each ethnicity, watch for serene beauty of North east.