Chillar Party: The Premiere, The Evening, and The Movie Review

July 7, 2011 2 Comments

Thanks to @narendodi, Missej and I landed at the premiere of Chillar Party today. That, I guess, was about the only right thing about the evening. Missej had been fighting multiple fires at work. I had an important call right in the middle of the screening of the movie. Missej’s office was reminding her of the favour they had done to her by letting her watch the movie.

Now then. This is the first time I was attending a movie premiere. So, bear with me my ignorance of how it all works. There were multiple shows of Chillar Party running sequentially, with different types and layers of guests being invited for them. The big one was later in the night where all the big celebs would have come. The show before us had a special screening for kids from various NGOs. The show we were attending had a lot of B-listers – the friends, wives, girlfriends, inspectors, et al from movies. So, we spotted Rajeshwari (Sachdeva), the chick who played Rajeev Khandelwal’s wife in Shaitaan, the bribe taking cop of Shaitan, the other girlfriend of Jaane tu ya jaane na (Manjari?), lots of small time villans (the londry villain of Delhi Belly, etc.). Of course, we saw Sohail Khan welcoming most of the important guests personally, and the kiddie star cast of Chillar Party who did their ho-ho at the beginning of the movie. The drinks and snacks were on the house (meaning you could have the chicken burger or popcorn served at PVR for free). And so, we cribbed about our respective lives and went in, picked comfortably placed seats closer to the isle, considering we were sure about not watching the whole movie.

I will come to the movie in a bit. But here is what happened to us. At 8:25, intermission happened. We walked out of the theatre. I dialled onto the conference call I was supposed to attend at 8:30 (yes, one of those where you dial a toll-free number and no, not one of those where you just dial in, put yourself on mute, and act as if you are doing something important). I promptly punched the passcode, put the phone on mute while I continued walking out of the theatre, and put the Bluetooth dongle in my ear. I could not hear anything. Not even the usual music that you hear while the host hasn’t opened the conference. I looked at the phone. I couldn’t see anything. And I realized. Shit! Phone’s battery had run of juice. (Someday, I will write a post about how many important occasions the smart-phones cannot smartly save juice for). I turn to missej. She seems stressed. I ask her – where’s your phone? She replies – I have given my office fellas your number to call in case my phone dies. I look at her incredulously. She continues – why do you ask? My expression changes to helplessness. I still take her phone. Mumble something incoherently. And see that her battery is down to zero as well, though not dead. And she is solving CEO level shit. I pray to the heavens. I send an SMS to a trusted lieutenant asking him to carry on with the charge and message me on missej’s number should something go wrong. And by then, we are outside the theatre. Missej, amidst all the fireworks going on in her corporate life, decides to shop for clothes at Shopper Stop. We do that. She notices a lot of clothes while trying to resolve some high level fiascos, on the phone. I notice more and more modernly dressed rich/ pretending to be rich uber cool people go to the theatre for that all important celeb release. We leave through the front door. Get to the valet parking. See an orange convertible Audi with a UP number plate. See bunch of BMWs and Mercs and LandRovers and what nots. And with all the big cars, there is a mini-traffic jam outside. One ways have become reverse one ways. Etc. Etc. We drive back home. We both put our phones on charge immediately after reaching home. Furiously reply to a few emails that we think are super important. Attend calls. Take stock of world. Lie down on our back. Think we are very important. And get ready for the next round.

Chillar Party : The Movie Review

It won’t be fair for me to review it in totality since I only saw the movie till the intermission. But the summary is that I liked what I saw. Disclaimer – it’s an out and out kid movie. So, if you’re a grown up who does not enjoy those movies, then stay away. With me, you know how it is. My mental age is on a reverse cycle already, while my body shows all signs of wear and tear.

The bunch of kids in the movie – Phatka, Janghya, Akram, Encyclopedia, Silencer, Panauti, Aflatoon, etc. have all acted very well. Bunch of very likeable kids who do things the way kids would. Do not go on long preachy missions. And are easy to soften and quick to gang up. The story has its intentions right. Middle income colony with kids in a certain age group getting attached to a car cleaner boy and his dog, and some twists here and there. There are funny moments. Some of the dialogues are quippy in a childish way. And the movie goes along nicely. Even the oldies’ support cast does not destroy the movie. Hardly any songs to notice in the first half. Merged well in the background.

But for the situational errors, I’d have watched the movie. I believe it has great potential to be a successful TV movie – one that you will find frequent re-runs of on different channels. It might end up being a My friend Ganesha equivalent.

Would I have gone to the theatre to watch the movie? Unlikely. Am I asking you to? Maybe. You could. It’s not a waste of time like several other movies (I am reminded of Bheja Fry2 and Double Dhamal and Tees Maar Khan). But it’s not a movie that my peer demographic would probably relate to. It’s definitely a movie that tier 2 cities should relate to a lot more. But if you have done your rounds of the movies you wanted to see, and are still looking for something more to watch – its not a bad bet. It’s a 3 on 5 movie for me.

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Movie Review: Shaitaan is a very well shot film. Go, watch it.

June 11, 2011 Leave a comment

The name of the Director is Bejoy Nambiar. But, the movie is stamped with Anurag Kashyap all over. Not just the narration and the screenplay, but the visual treatment of the movie as well. Some extremely creative use of background score, rapidly zagging camera work, dark shots, shots in slow-motion, and some insane music. It almost feels like Anurag Kashyap is continuing with his ode to Tarantino, having taken a pause after Dev D.

I loved the movie. The premise is simple, but not so frequently touched in bollywood. Spoilt brats high on life and high on dope making a mistake which comes back at them in a multi-fanged manner, and some of them (the more spoilts ones) keep adding mistakes over mistakes, and in the end its an unresolvable mess (almost). Somewhere in the canvas is a righteous cop having a tough time adapting to the system, and another one who uses the system to his advantage. A commissioner who cannot but depend on the volatile righteous suspended cop for getting him out of the mess, and a cop friend who is right in just about the right balance. Since I am not here to tell you the story, I would leave it at this.

What makes the movie stand out is the visual narrative. Right from the initial sequences, and the pace at which a social misfit finds her group of homies, the baap ka paisa gang and their antics, rave parties, etc., to one of the most well shot sequences running a brilliant remix of yesteryear’s Khoya Khoya Chand in the background, and two parallel narratives on the screen running on slo-mo. I can almost feel like I have seen such a scene in an English movie before. But then, that does not take the execution credit away from Bejoy and Anurag. It’s a scene that will be run on loop many times by many people.

The ending leaves you with a bit of a cheated feeling. You wanted it to be a little more crisp than it was, but saying any more will risk revealing too much. Go and watch the movie and let me know what you think.

The acting department delivers. Rajeev Khandelwal as the estranged cop is brilliant. So, is Neil Bhoopalam as video gaming trying to fit in the group rich boy. Neil is becoming one of my favourite theatre-to-cinema actors these days (have you see Hamlet The Clown Prince? All in one? No One Killed Jessica?). Shiv Pandit and Gulshan Devaiya are well cast. Gulshan (KC) comes across as a spoilt brat with no regards for anything, but only till nothing goes wrong. Shiv as Dash is a revelation, playing a very restrained act. Kalki is fine. Not great, but not bad either. She needs to work on her hindi diction rather quickly though, if she wants to play a long bollywood inning. She might end up a Kangna Ranaut otherwise. In fact, the little girl playing Kalki’s childhood version deserves a mention, and so does the lady who plays Kalki’s dead mother. I have seen her in several plays (including Vagina Monologues), and she continues to impress me. In fact, Neil, Kalki’s Mother in the movie, Rajit Kapoor, and the guy plays Inspector Mawalankar are all good theatre actors, and its good to see AK giving them a chance. Rajat Barmecha (of Udaan) gets a little cameo as well.

Music is worth highlighting. Right from the excellent remix of Khoya Khoya Chand, to Pintya, Josh, Zindagi and several other background tracks (instrumental ones) used across the movie. Ranjit Barot, and Prashant Pillai should walk away with the best background score for this movie.

Movie has some quippy dialogues as well – kuch dost aise hotein jinhe aap raaat ke do baje bhi phone kar sakte hain, aur kuch dost aise jinhe aap sirf raat ke do baje hi phone kar sakte hain.

I will go with a 8 on 10 for this movie. Very well shot and executed, great music and background score, and some good acting. The only let down is the editing, which could have stripped about 15 minutes from the movie. Go watch it.

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Movie Review: Dhobi Ghat

January 22, 2011 Leave a comment

Nope. I won’t even attempt to sound intellectual and say that the movie is great in parts, and the blah blah. Dhobi Ghat did not work for me on Friday night. Dhobi ghat may work for me on Sunday afternoon 3 weeks from now, when I have no emotions attached to a Friday Aamir Khan release. Not when I have just been sitting on meetings all evening, and it is my only way to avoid slowing down my life. And Dhobi Ghat slows down the world around you. Come to think of it, that’s so against the natural spirit of the city that I know as Mumbai.

DUMB ALERT: I would likely look back at the movie five days from now, and I may say that the movie is a good watch. But I was quite bored while I was watching it. For some reason, I could not understand why some people were clapping at the end of the movie. It did not even seem like sarcasm. Maybe, I am not intellectual, after all. What is an investment banking consultant by the way?

What worked:

  • Prateik. Adorable, in the character (for most part) and the saving grace of the movie. Does not seem like a contrived character, not someone you’d want to glorify OR pity, not someone who’s character is clouded in fake conversations.
  • Monika Dogra is reasonably good. But I don’t see how she will move on from that character to any other mainstream character. She can be the next low budget ABCD movie star though.
  • Special mention: background score. For most part of the movie, the movie does not depend on any background score. It uses (apparently), the natural sounds and the stillness of the city. However, wherever there is, it’s poetic.
  • Some of the pictures (still) and the final painting of Yasmeen are beautiful.
  • Some of the camerawork is good, but not as breathtaking as Satya was. To me, Satya still brings out some of the best Mumbai moments on screen (apart from Rimjhim Gire Sawan from Manzil). What’s your favorite?
  • I like the screenplay for about 70% of the movie

What did not work

  • Pace: Extremely slow and uneven. There are times when you almost feel like screaming that you get it, you get it, and we can move forward. But I guess Kiran Rao made this movie as a self-indulgent Sunday siesta movie where pace is not the most important thing for storytelling. The feel and the texture is.
  • Editing: Some of the jumps are extremely jerky. It takes a few reels to get used to the four narratives, and
  • Dubbing: without realizing, I ended up at the Hindi version of the movie. And the dubbing is horrendous. Dubbing is where Monika’s character goes terribly wrong, and Aamir’s character comes out a little better than what it s.
  • Characterization: Aamir’s. Not thought through is an understatement. Seems like this time, Aamir did not get it right. Surprising, for someone who managed to look reasonably convincing as a 19 year old in 3 idiots. Even otherwise, Monika’s character Shai seems lost. I really don’t know why Munna (Prateik) and Shai did not run the final lap. I am not sure why the other random lady in the building keeps calling Munna to her bedroom while Shai (that’s the name, right?) cannot. And who was that random friend of Shai buyind dope? And what was the point of Arun’s (Aamir) family equation? And the casual relationship between Vatsala (Kittu Gidwani) and Arun? And Salim and Munna? To me, the part that worked were Yasmeen and Munna. Surprisingly, Kiran seems more comfortable handling the characters from lower echelons of society (which have anyways been beaten to death by avant garde cinema), but fails to handle the India shining generation. The obsessions and independence of this class are not even semi fuelled.

I can rant about the movie for a few hours. But the net conclusion is – For the want of a better word, its a Bangaali Intellectual movie :). You can IM about it for long, but its dull and its not a movie I’d recommend you watch in theater. But it’s a reasonable one time watch for a Sunday afternoon.

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Of Prince of Persia and a few others

June 4, 2010 14 Comments

I watched Prince of Persia – The Sands of Time on last Friday itself, and loved it immensely. But am getting down to express my opinion only now (no, I did not update my status on FB, post something on twitter or write a blog or call someone to tell them). For a change, I haven’t read any of the critics’ opinion on the movie yet as well. It’s hard for me to reflect back on the movie and identify that one thing that worked for me. The movie was as movies should be. An idea well executed. Fast paced, full of excitement, on many occasions larger than life, and on a few, just as narrow as living itself. The stars of the movie did not do anything great (Ben Kingsley included). But they did not do something wrong either. And that’s why I liked the movie I think. For the ~2hours, I did not think about anything else. Not even the movie. It was, for some reason, about being in the moment on the screen. So, in short, the movie worked for me. It’s the kind of movie that I would easily give a 9 on 10 to. Maybe a 10. Except that the purists would find too many flaws with the dialogues and cheesiness of a lot of scenes 😉

On an alternative note, I watched 12 movies on a recent US trip (inflight entertainment stuff). The movies I watched were – Invictus, Leap Year, Valentine’s Day, What Happened In Rome, Did You Hear About The Morgans, The Hurt Locker, Shutter Island, Dr. No, Golden Eye, Deewana Mastana, Fung Wan II, and The Blind Side. They ranged from “Yea Right” to “Oh Yeah” to “Hell Yeah!”.

Yea Right

Leap Year – lame chick flick about a dame who wants to follow the hypothetical Irish tradition of proposing on 29th Feb to his boyfriend, and falls in love with another dude in the Irish countryside while everything else around her is going wrong. Amy Adams and Matthew Goode are fine in a movie which has nothing to offer really.

Did You Hear About the Morgans – another lame movie, generally speaking. Especially if you are tired of the Hugh Grant movies where he just keeps mumbling. By the end of the movie, I was so strongly reminded of that separated at birth picture of Sarah Jessica Parker and a horse. The cowboy dude living in Ray, Wyoming was a pretty cool dude though.

Valentine’s Day – Lots of chick flick studs in this movie, like Ashton Kutcher, Anne Hathaway et al. And a lot of other big names too – Julia Roberts, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, etc. But the movie, an extreme Hollywood stereotype. Multiple threads running in parallel, and converging in the end in that final mushy mushy scene. There isn’t much to write about, except that it explores hundreds of different relationships in the valentine context.

When  in Rome – OK OK! I don’t quite enjoy most of the chick flicks, but I watch them nevertheless. Its an addiction since Notting Hill. WHIR is another lame one about a girl picking coins from a fountain, and the guys who had earlier made a wish on those coins falling for her, etc etc. You get the drift, right? No? Then you’re on the wrong blog. You should be downloading the movie right now.

Oh Yeah

Dr. No – Have seen it many times. Saw it again. There is something about the “Bond” style, and then there is the famed Ursula Andress scene. Overall, the movie is the kind of 60-70s flick that I absolutely louuve watching. Random gadgets, wicked villains who would not kill the hero when they get the chance, but would rather explain their entire world domination plan to him, a sexy heroine who doesn’t mind kicking a few butts in the climax scene, a friend, water, boats, cars, etc. Good fun.

Golden Eye – Need I say more?

The Hurt Locker – I know the movie won an Oscar, and a lot of people would put it in the Hell Yeah category. Maybe I was sleepy, maybe I am not that enlightened, or maybe I don’t care about Iraq war anyway. But net result, I liked the movie, but I did not louuuve the movie. Honestly, I think I was sleepy. I still don’t know what is the meaning of Hurt Locker. But the actors were all good, and the editing, screenplay and direction – pretty damn good.

Deewana Mastana – baby steps, baby steps. Loved the movie several years back. Love it still. Absurd, ridiculous, but great paisa vasool. And imagine, I was watching it for free, free, free. Govinda does what only he can do, that is, be ridiculously funny. And Juhi is so pretty, and so funny. Isn’t she?

Shutter Island – did not work, did not work, did not work for me. Its not a badly made movie. But its not a movie that left me with a nice feeling. Way too much. Of what? I don’t know. I guess everything. I am ok with putting it here, simply because its pretty well made.

Hell Yeah

Fung Wan II (The Storm Warriors) – Man, we need more martial arts movies. What a ridiculous movie!! What a lovely movie to watch!!! Style, action, and martial arts. From the word go. And a sad ending to top it up. What more do I need in life?

The Blind Side – Agree. It’s a movie that was made to get Sandra Bullock on the Oscar’s list. But I loved the movie. I generally have a soft corner for sports movies. But this one was a rocking one. The dude who played Big Mike was awesomer than Sandra Bullock. And the little brother was phenomenal. Everyone else did quite well. But the manipulative story that it is, it was just newyork cheesecake kinda smooth and gooey and sweet and feel good.

Invictus- Something about Morgan Freeman, isn’t it? Again, a movie made for the Oscars or so. But I liked Matt Damon’s restrained performance, as well as the overall narrative style. Not the usual movie where the president might have had resorted to some crazy things (like picking the ball and giving a long speech). Overall, very composed and very interesting movie to watch. And it touches on some of the apartheid issues, without blowing them out of proportion.

So, what have you been watching? How do you spend your flight time? Sleeping?

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Movie Roundup

May 11, 2010 Leave a comment

Haven’t been writing a lot lately, so thought I would summarize my views of some of the movies I have watched in the last 3-4 months. How’ve y’all been?

How To Train Your Dragon

Excellent movie! Extremely adorably, excellent screenplay, great characters and some wonderful animation. Not the usual kids acting beyond their shoes lamentation in any part, no pity when something sad happens, and no masochism when something big is done. Everything that happens, happens smoothly. And that’s the beauty of the movie. The Night Fury dragon’s character, just as much as Hiccups, the kids and the Vikings in general, was a delight. I can keep gushing about how much fun it was to watch the movie, but I would let you go and enjoy the movie yourself. And by the way, watch it in good quality 3D if you have an option.

Badmaash Company

Decent, but suffers from the usual Indian problem. No closure. We drag everything to infinity and beyond, but not the way Buzz Lightyear does. Many of our movies are known to have a great start (like Sehwag) but seem to falter somewhere in the middle (like Ravindra Jadeja). I liked the first 40-odd minutes of the movie reasonably fine, which was just about the time the director decided to put the same print in spools. The pace of getting through the cons was a drag, and so was the high pitched melodrama. Surprisingly, Chang  (of Indian Idol fame) was not too bad, though most of the jokes on him were about his chinese face/origins. Anushka seemed to be in a hurry to change her image. Her entire first half presence is dedicated to wearing dresses that break the Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi mould, and the smooch sequence is the final frontier in Bollywood these days. Vir Das is ok. Anupam Kher and Pawan Malhotra are wasted largely. So is Kiran Juneja (the Ganga of B.R. Chopra’s Mahabharat). Worst though is Shahid Kapoor. He needs to have a middle name starting with R, so that he can also start calling himself SRK. Hamming like a rooster, his acting skills seem smaller than the size of a pimple on the butt of a mosquito (that’s a phrase borrowed from one of my bosses). Anyways, its not so bad that its not watchable on DVD/ cable TV, but should be avoided in theatres, unless you are watching it with the comfort of a large recliner sofa.

Ironman-2

Not sure why some of the fanboys seemed to have loved the movie. The movie is far too patchy for my taste. And as Anand said after we walked outta the theater, there is no epic crisis in the movie, which is essential for a superhero movie. You don’t want to watch a total of 3 minute conflict/exchange between the superhero and the epic villain who is almost about threatening to unleash 50 Ironmen on the mumbling (Robert Downey) Jr. Ironman. More so, when it ends with a lame dialogue like – “you lose”. Someone like me can still manage to enjoy bits of the movie, and not feel completely cheated, but I do not see how most people would like it. It has a bad screenplay, some fairly average editing, some great action sequences, and a lot of patchy technological brilliance thrown in here and there. Watch it if you are a comics lover.

Housefull

Arrgh! Why do I agree to watch such movies? Why didn’t I learn from Hey Babyyyy (did I get the number of ‘y’s correct)? Anyways, the long story short is that I took the plunge because 7-8 of us from the office were going together, and the idea seemed fine. For such mindlessness, you need the comfort of numbers. However, not good enough. Housefull is full of such inanities and ridiculous sequences that even mayhem would feel threatened sitting in the theater. The jokes are not funny, and actors far too many and wasted, the usual gags of gay-ism and mistaken identities, make your life miserable. But what Sajid does in the last 15 minutes of the movie is a housefull of idiocy. Why would you make a stump-faced Arjun Rampal try and act under the influence of laughing gas. That good looking goofball cannot act normal scenes. Knowing the limitation of your team doesn’t seem like a skill that directors have these days. Anyways, Sajid Khan has an extremely long and idiotic 15 minute sequence which is an attack on the not-so-discerning senses of people like me. Yet, I know, and know it really well, that the movie would do great business. As Dodi and I were discussing yesterday, we no longer represent the average audience in our tastes, especially when it comes to identifying hits and misses. Though, to my credit, I knew “Wanted” was going to be a rage the moment I saw its first trailer.

A couple of other movies of note –

Wanted! Please watch it if you haven’t. But watch it with a sense of detachment that you can’t have when you are watching a Karan Johar movie. And you’ll love it. I would have loved to see it in theater, but I missed it. Loved it on TV as well. I wonder why Ayesha Takia did not become more successful. She seems quite decent, especially when I look at the competition we have to suffer.

Karthick Calling Karthick – quite a decent one time watch, though the pace of the way is way too erratic. And again, this is a movie which could have been 20 minute shorter with good editing.

Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge – I liked it. Light, Hrishikesh Mukherjee kinds. Some of the gags are old, but some of them are quite refreshing. Paresh Rawal is brilliant, and Ajay Devgn and Konkona Sen Sharma don’t disappoint either. Definitely, a decent DVD/TV watch.

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What I liked about Ishqiya: Not as much a movie review

February 3, 2010 Leave a comment

I watched Ishqiya last night, comfortable sprawled in the king sofa sets of Maxus, Sakinaka. I loved the movie immensely.
We (most movie bloggers) often like the movie first, and intellectualize our emotions later. Many a times, in the process of intellectualizing the emotion, we kill the real emotion. Mind over heart, as they say. That being said, there are a lot of things that clicked with me for this movie, and hence I will talk only about the most important things (for me). Acting, Music, and Dialogues are the more obvious positives. Characters and their portrayal is the less obvious one. The fact that I do not credit the story as much is the other less obvious thing.
Characters / Portrayal- The reason I am separating it from acting is because it’s a director/story-teller’s vision, that the actors convincingly or unconvincingly portrays on the screen, and that’s where debutant director Abhishek scores a maiden ton. Extremely human in their thinking and mannerisms, Arshad Warsi (Babban), Vidya Balan (Krishna) and Naseeruddin Shah (Iftikhar/Khalu jaan) are exceptional in the movie. And for once, I think Arshad and Vidya come across a notch better than Naseer, which by itself should be to the director’s credit.
Khalu’s body language when he is trying to steal a car, or during the song “dil to bachcha hai”, or when he is acting coy with Krishna telling her about Jayadev being the music director of the song she is singing, are all of the same man, and the same small time thief who is on his toes that he will get caught any minute. His anger at seeing Babban and Krishna together, completely over-ruling the thought that he himself had the same desires, given a chance, and subsequently hurting his best friend with the most heart wrenching comments in that anger – these are all extremely human scenarios, enacted perfectly by Naseer. But by now, I expect that from Naseer.
Babban, on the other hand, is the standard roadside goon that we all must have seen so many of in real life. Especially those who have spent some time in the central belt of India. The mannerisms, open shirt button, unshaved stubbled look, the walk with a forced air of rudeness, the “rolling over words” language are all so typical. Babban’s language is far more bhopali, and he has pulled it off with consummate ease. “Tumhara pyaar pyaar, aur humara pyaar sex” might be a dialogue that many people will quote in their respective gali mohallas. Almost every scene where Arshad is present, he takes the center stage.
The pick of the lot for me is Krishna’s character. Extremely manipulative, flirtatious with her husband, refined with Khalu, and in your face with Babban, her transition from one league to another is seamless. What is extremely impressive is that in that one intimate moment with Babban, Krishna comes across as someone who wants to keep the “sulphate” at bay, but her carnal desires being unmet for ages, she gives in to the emotion. And in that one moment, her carnal desires take over her plan of keeping both the men at bay. It comes across as a moment that she was not planning for, and my reading is that it was exactly that, more than a mere manipulation. Also, the scene where she realizes that beyond manipulations, the two men actually do love here, there is an expression on her face that should not be missed. It’s a beautiful transition, the way a cloud passes over your expressions every once in a while, when you hear an uncomfortable truth. I have believed Vidya Balan to be a good actress, but never realized she has come so far. Especially after Hey Babyy, my confidence had gone low. After Paa and Ishqiya, however, I think she should groom herself to be the next Smita Patil/Shabana Azmi cadre actress.

The other aspect that really stood out for me was the music, and by that I don’t mean just the 4 key songs from Vishal and Gulzar. Even the occasional picks in the movie like “kuch dil ne kaha… kuch bhi nahi” are amazingly well placed. The music arrangement for Ab mujhe koi intezaar nahi and Badi dheere jali are exquisite. Put them on your iPod and close your eyes, you are sure to transcend to another world of yearning. Even though Dil to bachcha hai and Ibn-e-batuta are the running favorites, my loyalty is shifting to “badi dheere jali raina, dhuan dhuan naina”.

Unlike pure blooded critics, I will not want to quote flaws “as well”, because overall, the movie worked for me. Those 2 hours were a breeze, and I came out satisfied.

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Movie Review: Ajab p…ppp…fff..frame ki ggga…ga…gg..jab Kahani

November 8, 2009 13 Comments

Beat this – you are walking down the street with your girlfriend, and someone stops you and asks you if you are interested in a trip to Hawaii. All for 50 bucks. You say yes, very eagerly so. The dude then points you to the latest brand of Hawaii chappal. All for 50 bucks. That’s what Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahani Is.

It’s  A-JAB to break your FRAME.  APKGK is A movie that Santoshi made PK .

I had walked into the theater with high hopes, expecting to see a movie which was going to be different (these guys have also come up with APKGK comics as well, hum-tum style). The theater was housefull. India had just lost a match despite a thunderous innings from Sachin while chasing 351. The mood was somber, and a good light hearted comedy could have just been the right solution. But alas – Indian film-makers are rapists. They try to get you in a corner and rape you.  Of your sensibilities, money, and worst of all, your sense of humor.

The movie starts with a random Lord Hastings’ (or some Lord from Brit Era) mannequin harassing a dumb reporter looking for an “Ajab” story in this unnamed place, where nobody is to be seen. I knew that it’s likely going all downhill from here. But I had paid 300 bucks, and I had liked some of the songs. And I knew that Katrina Kaif was yet to come. At least there will be some visual delight in the movie.  That’s what I meant by cornering the unsuspecting audience like me.

After introducing an extremely over the top Ranbir Kapoor who has no idea why the bloody character of Prem was created in the first place, they introduce a “talking” Katz. C’mon, give me a break. Who pays money to hear Katz talk. She is supposed to walk in, look good, wear good dresses, smile a little, mumble some innocuous things, and dance, and make merry and leave. I would like to believe that Biwi is also usually happy to see Katz, for she might get some good dress, pumps and boot ideas.  But Santoshi does the unthinkable. She wants Katz to act. So here she is, stammering when she is upset, trying to act out of her skin. Totally justifying the salary she might be getting, she gets emotional, defends a set of mean foster parents, goes around town with Frame (that’s what it sounds like when Jenny calls out for Prem), and in the whole process, disappoints us beyond redemption. Sometimes, I wonder if the stammer-when-I-am-upset track was introduced simply to cover for Katz’s exquisity dialogue delivery.

Prem hangs out perennially with his friends, helping other people elope with their lovers. Not doing anything worthwhile, he runs happy club, which has no members, apparently. People come to play carrom, TT, etc. to happy club. And Prem is the smartest cookie in town, who is 9th fail, and he also stammers when upset. The character is so over the top that in one scene he actually falls from the top of a cliff, bicycle and thief asunder. The same thief vows revenge, and later becomes Don bhai, but the director forgets to remind him of his earlier reason of anger with Frame.  And so, they indulge in Priyadarshan style mindless fight scene where everyone is hitting everyone.

To be honest, I don’t have anything against Ranbir. I liked him in the bad movie Bachna Ae Haseeno, as well as the good movie “wake up sid”. I think the dood has potential if he can get over his doped look. But he is like Yuvraj Singh right now. Got sweet timing does not mean you can hit every ball outta the park. The characterization of frame is all over the place. In one shot, he is good for nothing. In another, he makes more than 5k per month just working as a halwai shop assistant. He walks to the halwai shop in a tie and shirt. Indian halwais sure are sure going places.

The worst though is reserved for a so-called special appearance from “Upen Patel”. Remember the UK return patel duuuude, who has acted in several movies as the sidekick now (like 36 China Town, Namastey London, etc.). His accent in the movie is thicker than waddi glass of lassi from Punjab, and surely thicker than Katz’s accent. He is a dude who is ready to settle down in Frankfurt and buy a Ferrai for Katz (Jenny). Frankfurt-Ferrari-Ferrari-Frankfurt.. you know.. the works… yeah yeah.. And buys a 1.5 Crore necklace for Jenny. And Jenny leaves him still. It’s got to be his extremely amazing histrionic skills that embarrassed Katz. How can I be seen with someone who looks like a patchwork and acts worse than Sunil Shetty in Balwan!!!

There are some saving graces – the best scenes of the movie are reserved for baap-beta interactions between Ranbir and Darshan Zariwala. Even though an extremely loud and hamming performance, Darshan still manages to deliver a few really funny ones.  Smita Jaykar as the mother is absolutely wonderful, especially in the scene where she is trying to stop Darshan from going to the bathroom because Katz is already in there. There is one scene where Ranbir comes with Jenny to a dance party. Slightly OTT, but Ranbir is fabulous in that scene.

The songs are good. But usually misplaced. In one song (kaise batayein), you almost get a feeling that it’s a Diamond ad. Not my company Diamond, but like a real Diamond. The kinds where actresses are wearing blank long dresses, and the brightness is artificially low, so that the glitter of the diamond is for everyone to see. Remember? Yeah, that kinds.  In another song, the whole city dances singing “Prem ki naiya hai ram ke bharose”. Yep. And it seems Allah Meherbaan to Gadha Pehelwaan. Nikhat Kazmi finds the movie to be worth four bloody stars. And I am sure there are others in his (or her?) ilk, who will find the movie adorable because Ranbir and Katz just look gorgeous on the screen.  Or, something like that.

In Masand style – I will go in with 1 star for this one, since it’s a bad movie, with a bad story, with bad characterizations, supported by bad acting and bad direction and  bad editing. The one star is for good songs, Smita Jaykar, and the Turkey shots in Kaise Batayein (given my recent trip to Turkey, I have an attachment to the place).

 

p.s. Turkey shots? ahem ahem… i am trying to imagine what it would be like to take turkey shots!! quite disturbing i guess!

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Movie Review: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

July 10, 2009 1 Comment

Have you, during Diwali times, ever put a can on those tiny little bombs only to watch it explode into smithereens or get flung away to unimaginable corners? Did you clap your hands in joy as it hit the nearby car or give yourself a high-five as you the shards of that erstwhile can fall to the ground? Then I believe you will love Transformers part deux too!

There are a lot of explosions, a lot of autobots and a lot of decepticons. There are the twins. There are the female autobots transforming into bikes (wiki search reveals three of them having a common consciousness, phew!) that got owned without too much of a fight, and there is the amazing devastator which seems like drawing upon its body parts by assembling a collection of automotives. There is Sam and Mikaela, with Sam doing the witwicky do and Mikaela holding her looks together. The useless parents for being comic and creating problems during the action sequence. There is Leo and Agent Simmons that add some more comic stuff (and I actually think they did add a few comic moments). But primarily, there are the large cool transforming machines that they call Transformers. The revival of an old decepticon “Jetfire” who walks around with a walking stick, and has chosen to switch sides and be with the autobots is quite funny in fact.  This is the quintessential Michael Bay with larger than life action, airplanes and tanks and people and machines exploding in your face, and the protagonist surviving all odds without having to explain why (or rather because he or she is the chosen one). Bayesian action gets contained by the dollars he can put aside, it seems. But it’s all good. It’s all fun. It’s all crazy. And that’s where the heart of the movie is (at least for me). I don’t want to watch a TROTF for its loopy/ retro/ kickass storyline, nor for the amazing acting skills of the team put together. All that is just frills or as we call it in my world, animation on the PowerPoint slides. The real stuff is the seriously “exploding” action. And there is plenty of it.

I and the others I watched with (Biwi, Sumant, Dodi & Divya) felt that this time round, it was far more difficult to differentiate between the good guys and the bad guys during the fight sequences. In many of the scenes, the action seemed muddled up and not very clear on who’s getting thulped. There was a time when Mr. Prime was getting thulped and I thought he was winning, and just when I thought he was getting thulped, he power charged his blades to crap the opposition.

Unsurprisingly, the movie gets bollywoodesque at times, with the hero almost dying before coming back to life, an Optimus Prime dying and getting revived and usual heroics from Galloway, Simmons et al.

Overall, I liked the movie a lot. For me, its 2 hours+ of engaging intense action sequences, and because Bay does not waste a time with pleasantries, I did not feel bad about him not developing the characters or explaining a few things here and there (like the leftover shard of the cube absorbed by Jetfire and never mentioned thereafter or the fact that if Devastator could have been taken out with a single strike, why not the other ones). My only grudge – Unlike Megatron from the first movie, “Fallen” looks like a pathetic and incompetent villain for such enormous action.

Watch it if you love explosive action. That’s what Transformers is all about. I will go in with a 4 on 5! It’s my kind of movie! J

BTW – my PJ from my Twit feed – what if instead of NEST/Autobots, Optimus Prime was chosen as the leader of a coalition government in India? He would be SUB-Optimus Prime-Minister

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The Show Must Go On..

December 1, 2008 2 Comments

I must not forget, in my recent state of mind, that much of what I crap on this blog is about bollywood.. And as an act of defiance, I shall continue being the buff that I am, who is not going to step into the theatres or enjoy life. YSo, here is a lowdown on all that I have seen recently.

1. Oye Lucky Lucky Oye – Good movie. Great comic timing. Some awesomely likable performances, 

a script laden with subtle nuances for those who understand Delhi, serious comedy (and I mean it in a serious way, not a comic way), lots of puns, great attention to detail. But, a tad too slow at times. And a bit repetitive on the stealing track. Plus, assumes the viewer to be intelligent. Should do roaringly well in Delhi and around. May not do well south of Jaipur, I would think. But if you’ve been to Delhi, loved/hated some of the idiosyncracies about Delhi and Delhiites – must watch. 7.5 on 10 (I have spent 10 years in Delhi!). “Oye lucky, commissioner saab tera in-tero-diction khood kirayenge.” “Sirji, posh kaloney ka kutta hai.. angreji mein bulao.. come come bol ke”

2. Sorry Bhai – Simply awesome. Chitrangada is hot. Sharman and Shabana have acted at a different level. 

Boman, after a while, has not been wasted, and has great comic timing. Sanjay Suri.. well, he need not have been there. But to be fair to the dude, has not spoilt the movie either. And yeah, Chitrangada, but for a couple of places, has acted beautifully well. The script is a whiff of fresh air. Its light, comical, flawed but pleasant kinds. The kinds that Hugh Grant has popularized. Awkward situations, simple stuff. And the use of Mauritian locales is quite nice. Actually made me wonder if I should plan a trip there soon. Downer – the music is quite average.  OVERALL – MUST MUST WATCH. 9 on 10

 

3. Yuvvraaj – Run while you still have some energy left. Much as I have avoided all of Subhash Ghai movies recently, here is a movie that I thought 

would put the SG of Karma and Hero era back. But I was overestimating him. I think he has lost it. The movie, Sallu dear in the movie, the script, dialogues, etc etc are downright pathetic. The only couple of things good about the movie – I do like the music somewhat, Katrina still looks beautiful, and the Prague and other locales used are beautifully shot. Rating – 0. Because I couldnt survive the movie. It would be unfair to even rate this movie and say that I was read to evaluate it. 

 

4. Quantum of Solace – Watch it if you like good action movies. 

qos-wallpaper-1-md

Don’t watch it based on the hyperbolic expectations set by Casino Royale (which to me, seems like one of the best bond movies ever). The movie has a lot of good things. But, its not a bond movie. Its very different. This bond is more angry than suave. The country-skips are far too frequent. The gadgetry is largely missing. This movie is not a stand-alone bond adventure, and it seems like the next one is gonne be one either. This movie requires you to remember what happened in Casino Royale, and the whole Vesper Lynd plot. Not that I mind recalling how beautiful Vesper was! The plot is not as thick and intriguing and most of the villains are buffoons. The ladies, not as interesting. And Bond’s escapades, not so glorious. Judi Dench is still endearing though. And quite interestingly, the establishment is fallible. Quite fallible. But, its a movie in the Bourne genre of films, and should be an interesting watch nevertheless. Rating – 7 on 10.

5. Dasvidaaniya – Awesome. Quite awesome. I think you can call Vinay Pathak the Om Puri/Amol Palekar kinds of this era. He just makes it so believable. And has great variety. With the basic premise borrowed from “The bucket list”, I found the treatment to be totally new, especially considering that the protagonist dies in the end. But the movie is not about death. Its about life. its about simplicity. There is an irrelevant and idiotic track in the movie where Vinay falls in love with a Russian. Barring that, the movie seemed quite perfect to me. It made me smile, sombre, quiet, emotional. But never did it depress me. The movie does not take away hope, even for a moment. And the support cast, like Sarita Joshi, Rajat Kapoor, Ranvir shorey, et al are so unobtrusive and relevant. I loved Saurabh Shukla as Pathak’s boss, and Sarita Joshi as his Mom. Now that I look back at the movie in the light of Mumbai terror attacks and how fleeting a moment your entire life can be, I love the movie a lot more. Must Watch – Rating – 9 on 10. 

6. Dostana – Decent. Good fun. Has it fair share of comic moments. Has its marked in bold, dark outrageous colors, stamp of Karan Johar all over the movie. Priyanka is dressed exquisitely well, and Abhishek actually looks gay, the way he’s dressed up (or rather, the gay stereotype that so many movies have created). Boman was over the top. Bobby Deol was clueless and ok in equal measures. John Abraham, for a change, hasnt acted badly. He has managed to carry his own. But the sparkling performance of the movie is Abhishek. Priyanka is good as well. The hilarious moment of the movie belongs to Kiron Kher, when she welcomes John as the bahu/damaad of the family. Music catches on and is hummable. Whats with the recent flurry of punjabi tracks. Is no other state in India capable of producing catchy dance numbers? Anyway, K-Jo has an ace here. This movie will do great business in the  metro centers and abroad. It might already have done so. K-jo was blogging about his success here.  But the downers for me are K-JOness of the movie, a fair bit of stereotyping, loud, slow at many points (thum rule – if a movie gives you a chance to look at your blackberry and see if there is a new mail, thats a downer), unrealistic glossiness, and some of the fall-flat kinda humor.  Rating – 6.5  on 10.  Do watch it for some light hearted fun.

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Movie Review: A Wednesday

September 8, 2008 14 Comments

I saw “A Wednesday” yesterday. And here is what I think – its a superb muvee. And if better not wait till a wednesday to watch this movie. Watch it TODAY!

Its a movie driven by 2 big factors-  and I am counting some great acting by Naseer, Kher, Shergill and Bashir as just one of them. The other is some very tight editing. All of about 100 minutes, the movie keeps you with the motions all through. And there are these minor subtleties, attention to detail that you should/can not miss.

Coming to a detailed download of what I really liked –

Lead actors-  Nobody doubts their skills anyway. But Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher are talents that have been wasted more often than they have been utilized by mainstream bollywood. Some of their finest performances are relegated to the perjoratively called parallel cinema. But here comes a movie, where Naseer crafts yet another mindblowing performance. And needless to say, he does not need to Ham, speak too many dialogues, get into mindless histrionics, and break into a song and dance routine to do this. From the first shot, his body language is that of a frustrated common man trying to game the system. There is nothing about him that makes him stand out from the crowd. Anupam Kher, on the other hand, is the second in command here. A more routine role of a Police Commissioner does not stop him from acting his heart out though. You can see an officer worn with age and different frustrations, and who has started getting amused by the trivialities of a police job (such as an actor running for security at the first possible threat, or using the minority card for no reason or the innumerable times he might have been forced to submit under political pressure). I read somewhere that the only scene where these actors come together, Anupam wanted it re-shot simply because he felt that he did not play his part as well as Naseer played his. When you see the scene, you realize that there is nothing that either of the two could have done better in that shot.

Lest I forget mentioning Jimmy Shergill and Amir Bashir – these two have done a great job. Its good to see Jimmy Shergill stick to what he is good at. A restrained and angry role. With a bare minimum set of dialogues, you still see his screen presence. Amir Bashir is equally good as the dependable cop. The bus scene where the extremists are trying to instigate the two and bothe Jimmy and Amir are not speaking, their face expressions are wonderful.

Others are ok, and have carried the movie through. Because of these four, they largely becamme unnoticeable. Especially, Deepal Shaw.

Story – Refreshing, to say the least. The best thing – they never reveal the name of the commoner out to game the system lest it be construed as a religion sentiment. Because the movie, in my head, belongs to the genre of thrillers, and not as much to the genre of “serious cinema”. There are a lot of implicitly answered questions which a lot of movies spend too much time answering. Commissioner having clear ideas about an encounter, or him realizing that there are no bombs and yet ordering the final acquiescence. The entire room changing their personal stand on the situation without altering their professional stand.

Simplicity – the story is not about using too many gizmos and gadgets to befuddle the system. It uses basic information that probably is available on the internet to blow the daylights out of an outdated system. At some point, a young college dropout says as much to the commissioner of police. It treats the story like a common man’s set of questions – whats stopping the terrorists to bomb this particular local railway station? Where is the security? These fat hawaldars? What if I just leave a bag somewhere here? Can I hack someone’s cell? etc.

Editing/Direction – its all of 100 minutes long. And does not lose you at any point in the movie. Keeps moving. At quick pace. Its moving at such a pace that even Naseer looking at his watch looks like an aberration! 🙂 Neeraj Pandey – You rock!  Sorry – Pandey ji!! You rock!

Overall – please please watch it. It is shameful that we keep saying that bolllywood does not come up with good cinema, and let these occasional wonderful movies not become the commercial successes that they deserve to be!

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Movie Review: Singh is Kinng

August 8, 2008 5 Comments

I will try to be honest.. about what comes to my mind now when I see this picture


Humpe ye kisne.. hara rang daala
maar daala… allah.. maar daala….

So.. I watched one of the kinngs of bollywood (SRK is one, AB is another, Aamir K is a third.. and Akki is the fourth) take the screen in a pre-premier show at PVR Goregaon. (I like the sound of the ringing NNNNNNs in Kinng… reminds me of Bheja Fry – It is ringing)…

And here are my two conflicting thoughts about the movie –

1. The movie is going to be a hit. One of the bigger hits of the year.
2. The movie is trash! Barring the occasional comic moments, the movie is a mindless creeper that takes 140 minutes to get over!

Ek Color Ke Terah Patte, Lekin Sab Mein Hai Ik King….
Read that as – there are several trashy movies like this, but there is a kind even amongst them! And most likely, Akki has another hit up his someplace yet again!

I went through a lot of emotions as I watched the movie. Some of it were related to my views on the movie. Some of it were related to my constant urge to check my mails in a hope that my colleagues in US would have something more sensible than Anees Bazmee’s crapshoot. In the end, the emotions had a similar flavor – Disappointment.

Akshay Kumar as Happy Singh manages to board a flight to Egypt while going for Australia. With no cash in his pocket, manages to go around Egypt with a hot chick. And Singh Sings and is Happy. Lands in Australia and meets the biggest underworld kinng (Sonu Sood) within an hour of landing (with no money and address of course!). Becomes an underworld kinng in the next 20 mins. Is Happy. Has a roadside lady pose as a rich woman at his mafia world’s expense – because the lady’s daughter does not know that her family is not rich anymore (sigh!) – while the henchmen play Yes Boss! More Sing-hing (its a different matter that Hing (asfoetida) is a pungent smelling thing added to some Indian dishes). And a whole lot of Priyadarshan Movie Climax scenes where humor is dependent on how clumsy people can be, and how outrageous the scene is. All this in 140 minutes (Yeah.. you do keep counting minutes!). Paisa Vasool.

Its a movie full of cliches, hamming, and average performances. In my book, it would be a below average movie. And being the bollywood buff I am, who can watch any trash, and being one who has no issues with leaving his mind outside the theater, I think I have a right to be unhappy (the pun on the name intended). The movie does not live up to the hype it created.

Now you may ask me – If everything is so bad, why is the movie going to be a hit. WELL .. I did not like Om Shanti Om that much.. and it became a rage. I hated Race. And from what I understand, its one of the biggest grossers of the year. And this movie belongs to the OSO genre of mindlessness. But beyond all this, there are some extremely funny moments and dialogues in the movie. Javed Jafferi in a loud role manages to create some cool moments. Yashpal Sharma manages to pull off another good comic performance. Katrina Kaif looks gorgeous as ever… and whether Sallu likes it or not, there is chemistry between KK and AK. Music is quite a rage already. Title track is going to be an anthem!

Anees Bazmee amazes me – Based on his IMDB record as a director, he cannot give two consecutive good ones. No Entry and Welcome had Sandwich and Benaam sandwiched in the middle. And before that, Deewangee came after Pyaar to Hona Hi Tha, which followed hulchul! Such variety!

I should have been careful!

At a certain point, a dialogue is – Ye aadmi to itna buddha hai ki sarkari naukri mein hota to ab tak teen baar retire kar chuka hota…. well…

Btw.. one really good thing about the show I watched – Trailers of 1. Kidnap, 2. The Last Lear, 3. Heroes and 4. Victory. Most of these movies – I did not have much idea about. Of these, Kidnap has Imran Khan (of Jane Tu Ya Jane Na) in an angry young man role taking Sanjay Dutt on. Last Lear is something I am looking forward to – Amitabh Bachan, Preity Zinta, Rituparno Ghosh, “Arindam Chaudhuri”, etc etc..

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Movie Review: Sarkar Raj

June 9, 2008 8 Comments

[Caution – some spoilers ahead!]

So, I watched Sarkar Raj over the weekend. What do I think? I think its a good watch. And I have my reasons for it.

Amitabh Bachchan is out there to prove why he is better than 5-10 great actors put together. The versatility of this man is mind boggling. From being the father who has passed the throne on to his son, to the hapless father mourning over his dead elder son, to the father trying to give that last smile to his dying other son, and to the man who is Sarkar. The way his spine straightens, sleeves fold and the voice resembles the sign of authority that would have defined a Sarkar in the last 15 minutes of the movie is stuff that legendary actors are made of.

I think Abhishek has, after Guru, finally managed to deliver the goods. Its a movie that belongs to him for the first 3 quarters, and he does not disappoint.

Phenomenal Camerawork. I would like to request all readers to watch out for camerawork nuances. My favorites – the poignant discussion scenes between AB and AB Jr., and the shot where Ash and AB Jr are talking about the most difficult decision of his life. The way camera apes a swing with the subtlety of emotions in a doldrum is poetically beautiful. Use of lights, sepia tint, panoramic views (when Somji is delivering his speech)… the movie is littered with classic camerawork. There should be at least 50-odd stills from this movie worth turning into posters.

Good editing. Proof – The movie is just about 2 hours long. Songs are in the background; there isnt much time wasted on digressing romantic stuff and unnecessary politics. The movie maintains a good mix of extremely fast paced events and adds a deliberate touch to them. Its like a painter trying to give a body to city chaos without using loud colors.

The movie has some amazing one-liners- kisi ko maarna jurm hai, magar sahi waqt par maarna.. Rajneeti! Or, paas ke nuksaan ke liye door ka faayda nahi bhoolna chahiye.. Or, Log log hote hain, sambhaal loonga

And this movie looks as good, or even better than Sarkar. Sarkar was good, but was longer, meandering and multiple sub-plots.

Bad thing – Ash. And the fact that RGV picks Ash to be the next heir apparent of Sarkar, before Cheeku comes in.

All in all, I think its a good thriller to watch. And not to miss out on the suspense angle. Its one of the better disguised suspense angles that I have seen in the recent times.

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Movie Review: Winning the RACE hands down

March 31, 2008 1 Comment

In the last one year, bollywood has dished out some amazing crap. There have been movies like Goal, Strangers, Sunday, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Ta Ra Rum Pum, etc etc. But RACE beats them all hands down. It’s downright pathetic.

First thought after the movie ended – After every 15 minutes, Abbas Mastan realized that they have already done a lot of (in)justice to the current plot and so, they need a twist. Net result- a movie where everything has a twisted touch. Ouch for me! I don’t have that twisted a sense of humor.

More analysis – It’s a movie which combines bad story, torturous dialogues, pretty bad performances, lousy characterizations, pathetic direction, some absolutely horrible editing and sheer mindlessness.

Last thoughts – The movie could have been cut down by at least 2 hours. The remaining 34 minutes of the movie would probably be the song and dance routine, sold as a music album with some (potentially) cool videos.

Real Lows – The dialogues. I think the dialogues did it for me. Extremely cheesy, LS, 1960istic, and I am running out of politically correct expletives.

Disappointments – Saif (who according to me has improved gazillions since his tu hai mera lucky number, tera number hai 12, main hoon Aashiq Awara days), Akshaye Khanna (I have always thought that the dude can act! More so after movies like Gandhi, My Father).

High Point – Katrina Kaif. She delivers. She has mastered this drill of walking into the movie in a tunic kinda dress, singing and dancing to a few songs, mouthing a few dialogues here and there in her twisted hindi accent with absolutely no emotion, looking pretty, and playing the role of the perfect bimbette. (Come to think of it, I think someone can turn this into a movie – The Perfect Bimbo!). However, as I said, she fulfills the promise she has made throughout her career.

Ugh characters – Anil Kapoor and Sameer Reddy. Its no surprise to me that Mallika Sherawat refused to play that character. IMHO, Mallika has “some” brain compared to most of the B/C grade actresses in the industry.

And last nitpicking thing – The audibly good songs of the movie have been completely wasted through some below average choreography. None of the star-cast can really dance to music. Neither do they have Shahrukh’s energy to live up to a choreographer’s design.

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Taare Zameen Par: Must Watch!

December 27, 2007 1 Comment

There are several movies that I have seen in the recent
times, but haven’t felt the urge to write about. Movies that were good –
Ratatouille, average – Michael Clayton, bad – I Am Legend, Strangers, etc.

But I saw Taare Zameen Par on X-mas. And believe you me, it’s
a great movie! I am full of words, emotions, reactions about the movie. But I
wont speak that much.

I think Darsheel Safari as Ishaan is the pick of this year’s
movies. As good as or better than Vinay Pathak in Bheja Fry. TZP is better than
the other few movies I would have picked (Chak De India, Bheja Fry and Gandhi-
My Father). Aamir Khan, the director outshines Aamir Khan the actor (who should
be given a special prize for having these movies – Dil Chahta Hai, Lagaan, Rang
De Basanti and now, TZP).

Tisca Chopra as Ishaan’s mother has pulled off a performance
that she could not in her primer (remember, a forgotten movie called “Platform”
starring Ajay Devgan?). And despite its fair share of flaws, melodrama and
stereotypes (Ishaan’s father, some of his teachers, for instance), the movie is
nothing short of a perfect 3 hour movie for me!

 

But kudos to Aamir Khan for having thought about a movie
like this, getting a kid to act something that kids naturally are(no cute scenes,
no big gyaan coming from them, no extreme circumstances expecting them to turn
into heroes, no turnarounds around the intermissions), and being so sensitive
while handling a topic which could have so easily become preachy.

And last thing – I think some of the songs of the movie are
exceptional – especially “tujhe sab hai pata, hai na maa”!

Watch it if you  were
to watch just one movie for the next 6 months! It is! That good!

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Movie Review: Khoya Khoya Chand

December 9, 2007 6 Comments

I watched Khoya Khoya Chand on Friday. Its a different matter that I am writing the review now.

 To me, its a brilliant movie that would fail to make its mark. Reasons – to be honest, I dont want to dissect the this and that of the movie and kill a dream in the process. I see KKC as Sudhir Mishra’s tribute to his time in the Hindi Film Industry (pardon me for not referring to it as Bollywood yet). And I can tell you what I liked about the movie. Its brilliant in its canvas, cinematography, characterization. The music is quite awesome.the thought behind the movie is quite profound. The imagination vivid. The use of cinema within cinema is a novel way of showing the reality that cinema is supposed to present. And for that, I would like to give full marks to Mishra.

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The place where the movie fails is its editing. Its too slow and too disjoint at times. Everything makes sense, everything fits, and yet, you are fidgety in your seat at times. At times you wonder, for how long has this thing being going on? And then, the twist happens. The twist in the personality, emotions bring you back to whats happening on the screen. Its a wait and bait game that the movie plays with you. If you fish for fun, waiting can be too boring. If its your bread and butter, you know that for a bigger catch, you may have to wait longer. The movie will not appeal to people who prefer spending 150 bucks on an Om Shanti Om, where every minute of the movie is supposed to be explicit, entertaining, and exciting. The movie will appeal to theatre enthusiasts who like the use of sets, dialogues, imagery, limited words, multiple interpretations, the play between characters, the way the story buildds for 10 minutes to give you an ephemeral kick. None of the characters is a “hero”. None of them is a villain either. They are all playing their part in the gray zone. The shot where Zafar (Shiney) is mad at Nikhat (Soha) for not having tried her best in getting his way with a producer is an exquisite display of the real side of people. We all lose it at times, say things that we dont mean in general, but we do mean them in the spur of the moment. The shot where Prem Kumar (Rajat Kapoor) asks Zafar and Shyamul (Vinay Pathak) “sirf main hi itna haraamzaada hoon? ya sab aise hote hain?” is again a reality check. In another shot, zafar asks Nikhat – “hum to yahin hain. aap kahan hain? aap kahan they?’  and in another zafar tells shyamul – ise chod ke jeena bhi to mumkin nahi hai! The movie is a gem. Its a gem that some people will appreaciate on DVDs. But its bound to bomb at the box office. It may get an award somewhere, but most likely, it wont get any financial rewards. I live with a hope to be proven wrong on this.

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Shiney, Soha, Rajat, Sonya,  Vinay, et al shine. And you can see the effort. At times, shiney does go slightly overboard, but only slightly. Soha is a find. There are shots where she looks exquisitely beautiful, and there are shots where she looks like an ordinary girl. Isnt that what cinema is? A make believe world.

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And thats why you should see it. Its abotu all the things that make Cinema what it is. Glamorous, yet painful! Inviting, yet indifferent!!

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