To understand Yeh Saali Zindagi, one has to first do a quick read of Moebius Strip. Especially the part that this mathematical 'object' is non-orientable.

Without planning to argue for or, against the "romantic thriller" tag of the movie, the folks who, after the first 10 minutes think that this is going to start off where Is Raat Ki Subaah Nahin left off, you'd be in for a disappointment. Sure, it has the same (contrived ?) sense of compressed urgency, of characters who are dealing with machinations somewhat unpredictable and beyond their immediate scope of control, of families and, bonds of emotion, of somewhat rustic conversations. And, in a similar way, actors who play their parts, because they have played similar roles effectively and sometimes wonderfully in other movies and other stories. So, the story goes back and forth, tries to set the context and sometimes the content and mostly the reasons the characters are the way they are. And, yet, it actually fails to involve you in any form. It is as if you are on the sidelines, watching a competently directed drama unfold and all you have to do is laugh or, smirk at the appropriate times.

Irrfan Khan does his laid back, somewhat irrational character as only he can - fairly methodically and well. Saurabh Shukla has done these character roles so often that he could probably do it in his sleep and the audience won't figure out that he's doing it badly or, by rote. Arunoday Singh, in whatever screen time he gets, tries his best to insert an element of tension in his character and does it reasonably well - he probably needs roles written for him keeping his screen presence in mind. Aditi Rao Hydari is good. As are Sushant Singh and, Yashpal Sharma. Chitrangada Singh, I feel, is the muse of the director who hasn't yet been brave to admit that she isn't worth that amount of attention. An actor, who when doing a scene where she's supposed to have dozed off, has stiff finger and hand muscles instead of being slack, is an actor who is let a lot of rope by the director (watch for the scene where Irrfan Khan leaves her a note about taking care while he's off for a month). And, then watch her reactions, when she bashes the head of one of Kuldeep's gang (ie. Arunoday Singh's gang) and then realizes the aftermath. The camera does its best to hide what's bad in the scene.

The problem with movies of these genre (and, there have been plenty similar in Hollywood too) is that due to the day-in-the-life situation, it requires backstories and profiles. And, the movie makers do not take the trouble to release such notes and narratives via the media to the audience who are genuinely interested in them, For example, what was the backstory of Saurabh Shukla's character - how does he get connected to that level of power so that he literally has to run underground when Irrfan Khan's zany plans wreck havoc on his investment business.

It is a good movie. For a 0900 morning show at INOX, which does seem prepared to handle early morning shows. Especially since this time around the audience wasn't enough in numbers to be a bother.