Last night, I went with a friend to watch 3 Idiots. First of all ours was the third row from the screen, the show timing was 9.45 and we reached at 9.30 and the movie started at 10.12…some strange co-incidences they were. All indicating to number 3 and I know my friend ace numerologist Sanjay B Jumaani will be mighty pleased because for past couple of months he has been telling me about the influence of number 3 in life and in India though honestly, I don’t believe in all this. In continuation with the trend, I was seated on a number 6 seat. So much for numerology.
Just give you a brief dope on the film. Me, my boss Nirupam and our CEO Tarun had gone to meet Vidhu Vinod Chopra for a possible tie-up of this film. That was the first time I met Vidhu in person. I don’t care about what people have to say about Vidhu, I took an instant liking for him. He was forthright, he was brutally honest and he was in love…3 qualities that can make a man or break him. He was in love with his movie. Amidst some choicest abuses that garnish the way he talks, and juggling a couple of roles at the same time, Vidhu finally made us hear the first track “All izz well”. I liked it but I wasn’t impressed but the enthusiasm Vidhu has, is infectious. He was over-excited like a child. He even claimed that this is his new “Jaadu ki jhappi” or “Gandhigiri” but is better than those two “larger than life” metaphors that he has helped create because this is a term about “believe in the self”. I could guess, see and finally feel the soul of hurt, bitter and deceived man who has managed to reach where he is only by his sheer determination, crazy ideas and being a true marketer.
Over next few weeks, I was interacting with his team, heard Zoobi Doobi next and loved it, and then after a lot of discussions, we were promoting the film left, right and center. I hadn’t met Raju or anybody else from the team all this while but Vidhu’s team from his production company. Finally, the one day, Raju, Shantanu and Swanand came to our studios and we did a 6 hour marathon session with them, connecting them to our studios and listeners in other cities and the works. I still wasn’t impressed with anything. In the mean time, they had organized a special screening of the film for BIG FM team, and as luck would have it, I was travelling and I missed it. The day I came back, the entire team was hysterical as all of them had seen it and I could sense the struggle to find the right words to describe the film.
Finally, the movie started and like all other movies that I watch, I was engrossed in no time. After the movie finished, I realized why my team had nothing to say, or were finding it difficult to express what they felt after watching the film. The reasons cannot be described, the reasons have no definition, the reasons are butt naked yet you can’t drape them in words. So, my hate for this movie grew threefold.
3 Reasons for everyone to hate 3 Idiots
Vidhu Vinod Chopra – 3 Reasons to hate this idiot
1. He has the balls of steel, they clank when he walks. He is an idiot to make films. For those who have seen his diploma film can swear by him that even in the fatichar FTII days of zilch budget diploma films, Vidhu could make a grand looking, ahead of time, visually intelligent film which would be any director and writer’s delight.
2. He wears his heart on his sleeve, feet on the ground, and head is high in the sky. In an FICCI session, he said that there are two kinds of film makers, one those who make the film and then think why they made it and the other, who think why they want to make the film and then make it. No guesses for the category in which Vidhu reigns supreme.
3. Vidhu is brutally honest creative marketer and that’s why they hate him all the same yet they come to his premieres. Rumors are that Vidhu cannot tolerate nonsense or advice from anybody else on the sets, except for himself. I am glad that he does that. From Parinda to 3 Idiots, Vidhu is a man of his own conviction.
PS : I also adore him because he was the last film maker, RD Burman worked with. When Vidhu had no money to record music for Parinda, RD recorded songs with his own money and the music of Parinda is a collector’s delight and so is the film. Much later in 1942 A Love Story, Vidhu paid his due back to RD but not before telling RD to create music instead of churning trash. Honesty paid in the music for RD despite of having Kumar Sanu as the lead singer.
Rajkumar Hirani – 3 Reasons to hate this idiot
1. One look at him and you remember his idiotic appearance in the Fevicol commercial which he did saying “Lagao lagao…zor lagao…yeh Fevicol ka majboot jod hai…tootega nahin”. He and Vidhu share the same bond. He makes movies, Vidhu does rest of the stuff and not because he is the most creative director but because he is the most honest, grounded and simple guy.
2. You can cry and laugh at the same time in his films, a feat that no other director has ever been able to achieve. Need I dwell more upon this. Nobody hates any of his characters throughout the film, even the villains are so affable that you want to hug the fellow and tell him ‘Dude, take a chill pill”…take it from Raju, he carries those jagged little pills with him everywhere.
3. He makes films based on script and story and then serve it with the right set of actors. In all 3 films that he has made, the script has made the actors and not the vice versa. Give me one character who was out of sync in any of the films, including the patients/ ward boys/ matron in Munna Bhai or Saurabh Shukla/ Abhishek Bachchan/ Golden oldies in Lage Raho.
Madhavan – 3 reasons to hate this idiot
1. Without worrying about his paunch and over-weight frame, this talented teacher or oratory skills, has traversed millions of miles from Zee TV to IMAX Wadala Premiers. He is as popular as SRK down south, but every time Maddy does a Hindi film, he amazes you with his effortless ease. Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein to Guru and now 3 Idiots.
2. Madhavan makes you believe in the middle class, the Indian middle class. He symbolizes them and hence, you can only love Maddy even in his Villain avatar.
3. When Madhavan cries, openly or silently you heart goes out to him and you want to hold him, cry with him and yet not feel guilty about it. He has such brotherly, boy next door charm that the only thing that you want to say to him is “All izz well”.
Sharman – 3 reasons to hate to this idiot
1. With a supremely talented theatre artist mother and a once popular TV actress sister and a heart-throb of millions bother in law, you cannot go wrong. Sharman proves that he can stand tall in any film, single hero, double her, triple hero, multiple hero film.
2. All of us have had one goofy friend in school or college and we don’t mind cracking jokes at his expense because we know he won’t mind it. How many of us can take a joke on ourselves. His impeccable timings and the fluid face can make you laugh hysterically. He is Charlie Chaplin.
3. Sharman, in this film, is a true hero. He is what we call “Failure”. When he jumps off the window, your heart leaps to your throat choking you. You don’t empathize with him like you would for a Madhavan but still he is the cause your lachrymal glands work over time in that one scene.
Kareena – 3 reasons to hate this idiot
1. She is hotter than Mumbai summer. Even in those weird oversized glasses that she sports in the film, she looks edible. Even with that Rs. 200, some stone age HMT watch, a glimpse of wrist can give men enough reasons to be uncomfortable in their seats.
2. Her lip-lock in the climax is the most honest and intense kiss of all times.
3. When she rides the scooter in the end, all you ever want to do is to dream the same dream of her draped in a wedding dress, riding a scooter and instead of saree pallu from head, her taking the helmet off. The perfect Runaway Bride.
Shantanu Moitra – 3 reasons to hate this idiot
1. None of his scores have ever over powered any scene of the film. Any film so far.
2. He is truly one of the most learned and most talented yet under –utilized music directors. His scores are grammar wise so perfect that you can’t find even a single chord in the entire composition which you won’t find a reason for.
3. Jaane Nahin Denge Tujhe – Sonu’s best song till date. Behti Hawa Sa Tha Woh – Shaan’s best song till date.
Swanand Kirkire – 3 reasons to hate this idiots
1. Naache pagal stupid mann
2. Uth ja saale yhun satata hai kyun
And last but not the least
3. Baadal Awaara Tha woh….take a bow Swanand. Last time I heard someone using Baadal Awaara was Rajender Kishan Sahab in Chhaya (1961) when Talat Sahab sang “Itna tu mujhse na pyaar badha ki main ek baadal awaara”
Besides these idiots, there were Boman Irani (you can’t write anything about him, though his character had shades of J.Asthana, Dean of Medical College. Though his lisp was an amazingly accurate and his ambidextrous writing skills were a treat to watch), Mona Singh, Jaaved Jaafri and the guy who played Chatur (have no clue what his name is) who had some noteworthy performances.
The film is for sure going to be the biggest film ever for everybody associated with this film and more over for the Hindi film industry which desperately needs a hit. This movie is a Christmas present, just like when I reached I home after the movie I read that India beats Sri Lanka by 7 wickets in Kolkata ODI to clinch series while chasing a score of 317 runs…whoa!!! Double whammy!!!
I am sure that even if I say that don’t watch this movie, everyone will watch this movie. After all, we all will prove to the world that we are idiots.
Oh boy, did I forget to mention Aamir. I must be an idiot to do so…but watch him in action. I am short of words for him. Idiots have poor vocabulary you see.
Watch it if you are an idiot!!!
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Paisa Kurbaan Hua
I think I have lost it or maybe I have become too cynical about everything. I don’t see anything good in any creation or may be what I was feeling was just so right. Its 2.30 and I have just come back from the paid preview of “Kurbaan” from Cinemax and I am still under a strange shock. I have some questions swimming in my cerebro-spinal fluid. The most prominent one is one of the eternal ones. Why?
Dostana was a blatant copy of “I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry” yet it was funny and was frothy light hearted fun. Karan’s long time assistant Tarun Mansukhani made a fundamentally funny film and adorned it with some gay overtones and Priyanka’s golden swim suit and hot pants made a kill at the box office.
Wake Up Sid was a regular affair but a sweet coming of age film with the innocence portrayed by effervescent yet lazy Ranbir Kapoor and maturity played by Konkana. Ayan Mukherjee made quite an impression with a semi-honest thought.
And then came Kurbaan, one from the Johar stable which hardly had anything Joharesque in it. Neither it was a light hearted fun film nor it was that slice of life which people have tasted at some Juncture of their life. Kurbaan made me think – Why?
Rensil D’Silva was touted as a hot shot story teller after he wrote Rang De Basanti but he is not Rakeysh Mehra. Rensil is a copy guy and unfortunately it did not show in his strangely verbose film.
Kurban is a single line story. A Muslim boy woos a Green Card holder girl to get entry to the US of A, wherein he meets his gang of terrorists which is planning a mission to bomb the subway stations, but with his Green card holder wife and yet to be born baby in toe, he has a change of heart so he sacrifices his life saving them and humanity. Yawn! I know. I felt the same.
Very few people who have seen Rang De Basasnti know that the original plot and story of the film was written by Veteran Kamlesh Pandey (he wrote the most acidic film till date “Tezaab”) and then Rensil with Rakeysh developed the screenplay and dialogues. I was one of the fortunate ones who had read it in its second draft and after reading I had said that if they can make what the script is, this will become a film which will change the language of Indian cinema. Mind you, Aamir wasn’t signed till that time.
For some reason, Karan had this faith in Rensil who wrote the screenplay of Karan’s story and directed Kurbaan. Unfortunately, the story teller had no story to tell and hence there is no “Hero’s journey” or “normal people in extra-ordinary circumstances” to save the film.
Anurag Kashyap and Nirajan Iyengar, a strange combo has written the dialogues of the film, which are genuinely forgettable. Anurag bhai, we are all your fans, what happened to you?
Saif was looking distracted in the movie, I don’t know why? He did some scenes brilliantly but the screenplay did not allow the character to evolve at all. In the beginning of the film when he starts to flirt with kareena and is sincerely wooing her, you feel delight from within and hope for a chemistry which is rarity. The screenplay weakness comes to play and all of a sudden, he turns in to a cold blooded terrorist and within a few moments also develops a dilemma. Knowing the heightened emotions in each scene is Karan’s style, this underplay failed me totally. Saif’s catharsis is funny because it is neither subtle nor over the top but it is hanging in between not being able to evoke any sympathy or hatred.
Kareena looks edible and is gorgeous to the core. Her lip locks really gives everyone goose bumps and she looks hot when she bares her back and makes love to Saif. The intimate scene was shot beautifully and erotically at the same time. Apart from that, I don’t know what she was doing in the film. Her role could have been played by any other actor and it would have made no difference. Vivek Oberoi was not required in the film. They could have made the film with any other actor and he would have delivered a better performance. He did show occasional sparks of brilliance but were not enough to sharpen his character.
Then you also have Om Puri, Kirron Kher, Nauheed Cyrusi and a lot of desi-videsi crew which had no idea of what was going on in the script. A few good things about the film are : music is outstanding though none of the songs make any impression visually so a wasted album. Cinematography was top class but had a strangely scripted film to shoot, hence even a dope head also can’t do anything about it.
I did not like the film because : Very weak story, equally weak screen play and dialogues were barely survivable. First half hour was totally wasted in establishing facts which were no use in the film ahead. Story had continuity issues and they defy logic for otherwise touted as a fairly logical film. Kareena goes back to NY to pursue her job but once they land up in NY, Kareena has never set foot on any campus to teach. The revelation that there are staunch Muslims living nearby is handled deftly but unfortunately Nauheed breaks in to this strange monologue at a crucial juncture not letting the tension build up. The amount of faith she puts in Kareena after just one dinner is an amazingly inaccurate portrayal. Even in the later half when the action heats up, Vivek Oberoi who poses as a Staunch Muslim in one or two scenes decides to take part in terrorist activities to do an expose but the transformation is handled so amateurishly that the none of the moments show the edgy side of a normal man turning terrorists. If anyone remembers Raakh done by Aamir where he decides to take revenge on his girlfriend’s rapists and how, from being a simple man to someone who wants to become a gun totting fellow. That transformation was genuinely amazing. Vivek doesn’t rise to that level because the scene was not handled cleverly.
Kurbaan is flawed. On story level, on screen play level and on narrative level too. Acting was just about ok despite of having stalwarts like Om Puri and Kirron Kher playing important roles. Music is really good and Salim Sulaiman come out with some real soulful melodies. Shukran Allah is already on the charts, the other two tracks Ali Maula and Dua are well placed in the film, yet do not evoke any emotions.
I would rate the film at 2 out of 5. Watch it once for the erotic song Rasiya, half a dozen lip locks, Kareena’s bare back and the love making scenes, for the rest you can Kurbaan your money….
Dostana was a blatant copy of “I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry” yet it was funny and was frothy light hearted fun. Karan’s long time assistant Tarun Mansukhani made a fundamentally funny film and adorned it with some gay overtones and Priyanka’s golden swim suit and hot pants made a kill at the box office.
Wake Up Sid was a regular affair but a sweet coming of age film with the innocence portrayed by effervescent yet lazy Ranbir Kapoor and maturity played by Konkana. Ayan Mukherjee made quite an impression with a semi-honest thought.
And then came Kurbaan, one from the Johar stable which hardly had anything Joharesque in it. Neither it was a light hearted fun film nor it was that slice of life which people have tasted at some Juncture of their life. Kurbaan made me think – Why?
Rensil D’Silva was touted as a hot shot story teller after he wrote Rang De Basanti but he is not Rakeysh Mehra. Rensil is a copy guy and unfortunately it did not show in his strangely verbose film.
Kurban is a single line story. A Muslim boy woos a Green Card holder girl to get entry to the US of A, wherein he meets his gang of terrorists which is planning a mission to bomb the subway stations, but with his Green card holder wife and yet to be born baby in toe, he has a change of heart so he sacrifices his life saving them and humanity. Yawn! I know. I felt the same.
Very few people who have seen Rang De Basasnti know that the original plot and story of the film was written by Veteran Kamlesh Pandey (he wrote the most acidic film till date “Tezaab”) and then Rensil with Rakeysh developed the screenplay and dialogues. I was one of the fortunate ones who had read it in its second draft and after reading I had said that if they can make what the script is, this will become a film which will change the language of Indian cinema. Mind you, Aamir wasn’t signed till that time.
For some reason, Karan had this faith in Rensil who wrote the screenplay of Karan’s story and directed Kurbaan. Unfortunately, the story teller had no story to tell and hence there is no “Hero’s journey” or “normal people in extra-ordinary circumstances” to save the film.
Anurag Kashyap and Nirajan Iyengar, a strange combo has written the dialogues of the film, which are genuinely forgettable. Anurag bhai, we are all your fans, what happened to you?
Saif was looking distracted in the movie, I don’t know why? He did some scenes brilliantly but the screenplay did not allow the character to evolve at all. In the beginning of the film when he starts to flirt with kareena and is sincerely wooing her, you feel delight from within and hope for a chemistry which is rarity. The screenplay weakness comes to play and all of a sudden, he turns in to a cold blooded terrorist and within a few moments also develops a dilemma. Knowing the heightened emotions in each scene is Karan’s style, this underplay failed me totally. Saif’s catharsis is funny because it is neither subtle nor over the top but it is hanging in between not being able to evoke any sympathy or hatred.
Kareena looks edible and is gorgeous to the core. Her lip locks really gives everyone goose bumps and she looks hot when she bares her back and makes love to Saif. The intimate scene was shot beautifully and erotically at the same time. Apart from that, I don’t know what she was doing in the film. Her role could have been played by any other actor and it would have made no difference. Vivek Oberoi was not required in the film. They could have made the film with any other actor and he would have delivered a better performance. He did show occasional sparks of brilliance but were not enough to sharpen his character.
Then you also have Om Puri, Kirron Kher, Nauheed Cyrusi and a lot of desi-videsi crew which had no idea of what was going on in the script. A few good things about the film are : music is outstanding though none of the songs make any impression visually so a wasted album. Cinematography was top class but had a strangely scripted film to shoot, hence even a dope head also can’t do anything about it.
I did not like the film because : Very weak story, equally weak screen play and dialogues were barely survivable. First half hour was totally wasted in establishing facts which were no use in the film ahead. Story had continuity issues and they defy logic for otherwise touted as a fairly logical film. Kareena goes back to NY to pursue her job but once they land up in NY, Kareena has never set foot on any campus to teach. The revelation that there are staunch Muslims living nearby is handled deftly but unfortunately Nauheed breaks in to this strange monologue at a crucial juncture not letting the tension build up. The amount of faith she puts in Kareena after just one dinner is an amazingly inaccurate portrayal. Even in the later half when the action heats up, Vivek Oberoi who poses as a Staunch Muslim in one or two scenes decides to take part in terrorist activities to do an expose but the transformation is handled so amateurishly that the none of the moments show the edgy side of a normal man turning terrorists. If anyone remembers Raakh done by Aamir where he decides to take revenge on his girlfriend’s rapists and how, from being a simple man to someone who wants to become a gun totting fellow. That transformation was genuinely amazing. Vivek doesn’t rise to that level because the scene was not handled cleverly.
Kurbaan is flawed. On story level, on screen play level and on narrative level too. Acting was just about ok despite of having stalwarts like Om Puri and Kirron Kher playing important roles. Music is really good and Salim Sulaiman come out with some real soulful melodies. Shukran Allah is already on the charts, the other two tracks Ali Maula and Dua are well placed in the film, yet do not evoke any emotions.
I would rate the film at 2 out of 5. Watch it once for the erotic song Rasiya, half a dozen lip locks, Kareena’s bare back and the love making scenes, for the rest you can Kurbaan your money….
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Wow...Now
Some of the best tweetworld people consist of biggies like Vir Sanghvi, Rajdeep Sardesai, Barkha Dutt, Pritish Nandy, Rajeev Masand and some of the younger stars like Priyanka Chopra, Sonam Kapoor etc. I don’t want to accuse them for using twitter for promoting their work, one man who had always intrigued a zillion people all the time is a butt naked fellow in this over dressed world is Mahesh Bhatt. I have not this man one on one barring one occasion when he had come to office to talk to us. He is not a good looking person but a person who has some strange air about him. I don’t know what his sun-sign is but he displays qualities of a Sagittarian. I don’t have attitude, you have a perception problem. He is weird, some loose, over sized cotton shirt, ill fit jeans and trademark chappals. Munching something, stopping to scratch himself and his motor mouth delivers words of wisdom. I don’t know if they are his or he made them up or that’s his style where he procrastinates a lot just to form the right words but he is an entertainer and a damn good one.
A few days back he tweeted “You are lost only when you are searching something”. This man summed up one of the most complex philosophies of life in these many simple words. I realized that the world is a simple place, full of simple people, with simple thoughts, simple ambitions, simple needs and a simple way of living. Simplicity is the only way one can avoid complexities. And I saw an English film which is a simple film – The Boat That Rocked.
My knowledge of actors working in international films is genuinely low. Sometimes I struggle to remember the name of the actor whose film I had seen a couple of hours back. Ya, but if you ask me about Hindi films, I may surprise you with some really stupid idiotic trivia which has been missed by many. So I saw a film The Boat That Rocked. I saw the promo of the film which one of my colleagues Mateen had showed. It looked like a fun film and yesterday Muthu gave me the DVD, it was like a pleasant surprise. I had thought of watching the film with a friend but she had other plans so I put the plans off for Sunday morning.
The Boat That Rocked is a film in which there was not one single person whom I knew, though some faces were vaguely familiar. One of the many short-comings I have.. The fellow who directed this film has directed a couple of other comedies, light hearted films. I had seen Notting Hill and Love Actually from the list of films that he has directed. With very little expectations, I switched the DVD on, but not before getting my tumbler full of tea and a few pillows for a comfortable watch.
The film is one of the simplest linear stories I have ever seen. The story is set in 1966 when pop music and Rock N Roll were on a roll and people were going berserk over them. However, some so called purist politicians had an aversion towards it and hence broadcast of such music on radio was under scrutiny. British purists, I say. While the aam junta was dancing to those tunes, a bunch of quirky DJs joined hands to work in a radio station. Not an ordinary radio station because it was a pirate radio station, broadcasting without any legal license, that too from an ancient ship which was anchored in the middle of North Sea. The whole film is about one minister trying to shut the radio station down and on the other hand this whole bunch of DJs and other team mates trying to save the ship.
So what’s the big deal? I mean, honestly, what’s the big deal in this story? Some hazaar stories have been written where the mighty ones are trying to squeeze the poor ones and the tide of events take such a turn that the poor ones win with people supporting them and all that…blah blah blah. What is amazing about this film is that this is actually a sly “coming of age” film set in the late 60’s with music and radio station as a motif, and background.
One teenager whose mother sends him to the ship “Radio Rock” where this pirate radio station is housed to be with his Godfather so that he can learn to respect life and not waste it smoking and doing drugs. He meets us with strange DJs. One who calls himself count and does countdown. One eternal romantic breakfast host who believes in love and never goes for their fortnightly fornication sessions when the girls are brought over to the ship. Eventually he gets married to a hottie who basically uses him as a scape-goat or rather a means to an end, because she wants to move in with another hot DJ who is also on the ship. Another one is a muttonball with a body that won’t fit on a dozen barstools who is using his DJ status to bed as many women as possible and he is such a slimeball that he manages to bed the teenager’s latest crush thrice in a night and mind you it’s same night when the teenager has been hit by cupid’s arrow. The irony of the situation is that the teenager goes to the same muttonball DJ to borrow a condom just in the hope of getting lucky that night.
The characters are woven intricately and so well that none of them look out of place. A boring newsman, one afro-amercian rookie who helps in every show play crucial roles. There is one late night RJ who says probably 6 words maximum in a link on his show but has more women eating out of his hands than there are dolphins in the North Sea. Being a radio person, I could do nothing but admire the smartest link any RJ/ DJ/ VJ has ever done in his life. While the song playing is fading out, this almost mute DJ says “Wow” and the song fades out and in comes the intro of the next song where is utters the second word of his link “Now”. Boy, if only DJs across the world learn this art, radio will kill the video star and the internet star too.
When the ban is imposed on the station, Radio Rock has to off air but the owner comes up with a strategy. The last day of broadcast where the Count says good bye to everyone, there is dead air of about 10-15 seconds in which the minister starts to celebrate this ban by clinking the glasses of wine with his wife and his right hand man. But Radio Rock isn’t done and the Count comes back saying that they were joking and the whole of Britain suddenly comes alive. They decide to go against the law and continue the broadcast illegally by taking the ship in to the deeper sea.
The noose is tightened but the pirates continue to broadcast the best of rock n roll and pop hits, chartbuster after chartbuster and the nation grooves to the medium wave frequency where Radio Rock DJs are live, all through the day and night. However, the ship reaches the deeper sea and has not strength to withhold the currents of water. The ship gives up but the Radio Rock team continues to broadcast till the ship is totally submerged…just when you think that this is another Titanic moment, your heart has already started grieving and mourning the death of Radio Rock team, their listeners who have heard the coordinates of their location on radio, come to their rescue in their boats…and in the end the count comes out after the last broadcast….the movie ends with all pirate radio members saved…
It is such a simple story but told in the most unusual way. I was blown. I watched a story on radio station. For years, I have been struggling to come up with a story around radio station but firstly, Rakeysh Mehra used it in Rang De Basanti sending the nation in to frenzy, and now Richard Curtis in The Boat That Rocked has taken radio to a level which is beyond my reach. This is a salutation to the makers of the film and some really amazing actors who made my Sunday…
I might have ended up using some clichés while writing this and with my limited linguistic skills that’s all I could manage…but this film has managed more than anything…gave me a new way of looking at my movie dream…though I am too old to realize it…never the less…everything is worth is.
A few days back he tweeted “You are lost only when you are searching something”. This man summed up one of the most complex philosophies of life in these many simple words. I realized that the world is a simple place, full of simple people, with simple thoughts, simple ambitions, simple needs and a simple way of living. Simplicity is the only way one can avoid complexities. And I saw an English film which is a simple film – The Boat That Rocked.
My knowledge of actors working in international films is genuinely low. Sometimes I struggle to remember the name of the actor whose film I had seen a couple of hours back. Ya, but if you ask me about Hindi films, I may surprise you with some really stupid idiotic trivia which has been missed by many. So I saw a film The Boat That Rocked. I saw the promo of the film which one of my colleagues Mateen had showed. It looked like a fun film and yesterday Muthu gave me the DVD, it was like a pleasant surprise. I had thought of watching the film with a friend but she had other plans so I put the plans off for Sunday morning.
The Boat That Rocked is a film in which there was not one single person whom I knew, though some faces were vaguely familiar. One of the many short-comings I have.. The fellow who directed this film has directed a couple of other comedies, light hearted films. I had seen Notting Hill and Love Actually from the list of films that he has directed. With very little expectations, I switched the DVD on, but not before getting my tumbler full of tea and a few pillows for a comfortable watch.
The film is one of the simplest linear stories I have ever seen. The story is set in 1966 when pop music and Rock N Roll were on a roll and people were going berserk over them. However, some so called purist politicians had an aversion towards it and hence broadcast of such music on radio was under scrutiny. British purists, I say. While the aam junta was dancing to those tunes, a bunch of quirky DJs joined hands to work in a radio station. Not an ordinary radio station because it was a pirate radio station, broadcasting without any legal license, that too from an ancient ship which was anchored in the middle of North Sea. The whole film is about one minister trying to shut the radio station down and on the other hand this whole bunch of DJs and other team mates trying to save the ship.
So what’s the big deal? I mean, honestly, what’s the big deal in this story? Some hazaar stories have been written where the mighty ones are trying to squeeze the poor ones and the tide of events take such a turn that the poor ones win with people supporting them and all that…blah blah blah. What is amazing about this film is that this is actually a sly “coming of age” film set in the late 60’s with music and radio station as a motif, and background.
One teenager whose mother sends him to the ship “Radio Rock” where this pirate radio station is housed to be with his Godfather so that he can learn to respect life and not waste it smoking and doing drugs. He meets us with strange DJs. One who calls himself count and does countdown. One eternal romantic breakfast host who believes in love and never goes for their fortnightly fornication sessions when the girls are brought over to the ship. Eventually he gets married to a hottie who basically uses him as a scape-goat or rather a means to an end, because she wants to move in with another hot DJ who is also on the ship. Another one is a muttonball with a body that won’t fit on a dozen barstools who is using his DJ status to bed as many women as possible and he is such a slimeball that he manages to bed the teenager’s latest crush thrice in a night and mind you it’s same night when the teenager has been hit by cupid’s arrow. The irony of the situation is that the teenager goes to the same muttonball DJ to borrow a condom just in the hope of getting lucky that night.
The characters are woven intricately and so well that none of them look out of place. A boring newsman, one afro-amercian rookie who helps in every show play crucial roles. There is one late night RJ who says probably 6 words maximum in a link on his show but has more women eating out of his hands than there are dolphins in the North Sea. Being a radio person, I could do nothing but admire the smartest link any RJ/ DJ/ VJ has ever done in his life. While the song playing is fading out, this almost mute DJ says “Wow” and the song fades out and in comes the intro of the next song where is utters the second word of his link “Now”. Boy, if only DJs across the world learn this art, radio will kill the video star and the internet star too.
When the ban is imposed on the station, Radio Rock has to off air but the owner comes up with a strategy. The last day of broadcast where the Count says good bye to everyone, there is dead air of about 10-15 seconds in which the minister starts to celebrate this ban by clinking the glasses of wine with his wife and his right hand man. But Radio Rock isn’t done and the Count comes back saying that they were joking and the whole of Britain suddenly comes alive. They decide to go against the law and continue the broadcast illegally by taking the ship in to the deeper sea.
The noose is tightened but the pirates continue to broadcast the best of rock n roll and pop hits, chartbuster after chartbuster and the nation grooves to the medium wave frequency where Radio Rock DJs are live, all through the day and night. However, the ship reaches the deeper sea and has not strength to withhold the currents of water. The ship gives up but the Radio Rock team continues to broadcast till the ship is totally submerged…just when you think that this is another Titanic moment, your heart has already started grieving and mourning the death of Radio Rock team, their listeners who have heard the coordinates of their location on radio, come to their rescue in their boats…and in the end the count comes out after the last broadcast….the movie ends with all pirate radio members saved…
It is such a simple story but told in the most unusual way. I was blown. I watched a story on radio station. For years, I have been struggling to come up with a story around radio station but firstly, Rakeysh Mehra used it in Rang De Basanti sending the nation in to frenzy, and now Richard Curtis in The Boat That Rocked has taken radio to a level which is beyond my reach. This is a salutation to the makers of the film and some really amazing actors who made my Sunday…
I might have ended up using some clichés while writing this and with my limited linguistic skills that’s all I could manage…but this film has managed more than anything…gave me a new way of looking at my movie dream…though I am too old to realize it…never the less…everything is worth is.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Aage Se Right : Only Dialogues Are Right
Hail Ronnie Screwalla!!!
That’s all you can think of when you see Aage Se Right. Over the years UTV has not only produced some really big films but has also backed up smart, intelligent directors and with the marketing brains that UTV has, has been able to turn those low key projects in to really worth watching indi-films.
Aage Se Right is one more from Ronnie’s stable and despite of a weak storyline and not so great direction, the film is able to hold your attention in most parts. The film opens on a very lame and weak note and is truly trying hard but once Vijay Mourya and Kay kay menon enter the scene, the film takes a U turn and goes Aage se Right.
Aage Se Right has a simple story line. Shreyas Talpade is forced to become a cop by his “angry without a cause” and loud mother (played by Bharati Achrekar, doing a really bad over the top job). To add to the misery of viewers, the director has saved money by putting Shreyas’s picture in big handlebar mustaches to pose as his father. Shreyas has a bullet which works when it wants or director forgets.
Enter Kay Kay Menon with some godforsaken name and a heavy duty Urdu vocab straight from Ghalib era to the city where his Indian host, the South Indian Don whose name is Raghav Shetty (played by Vijay Mourya) but speaks with a Malayali accent. What follows after that is a stupid search of the gun which takes us to strange places and introduces us to some stranger people.
The story is nothing to write about but some of the dialogues and moments captured in the film are worth mentioning. While the edit of the film is just about average…the scenes have been placed well, but there is no fluidity in transition.
On a performance level, Vijay Mourya is the only right one shining. Kay Kay is classic and his funny bone has started poking now. Every time he came up with the bizarre urdu and Mumbai poetry, the entire theatre was in splits.
One noteworthy thing about the film is the dialiogues. Adding Bumbro in the boat scene, the bizarre poetry, the Bihari film maker doing a makad manav and Shehnaz Tresurywalla’s Learn Urdu touches and of course Raghav Shetty’s crazy one liners…the dialogue is the hero of this otherwise weak film.
Shreyas, I felt, was wasted in the film. An actor with so much potential could have done so much better. They rarely make movies for actors of Kay kay and Vijay Mourya’s caliber. Shehnaz was looking pretty and did a decent job. Don’t know why Shiv Pandit and Shruti Seth agreed to do this film? It was very clear that their parts were chopped off mercilessly. After a successful stint in TV, Shiv should be careful in choosing the roles. Rakesh Bedi and Bharati Achrekar were genuine case of over the top acting, poor editing and above all character development.
Music was average, none of the songs were ever shown in the TV promos and hence have no reason to become popular. Rest of the film is strictly Ok.
Watch this film when you are 3 vodkas down, and want to do some stupid, idiotic stuff and laugh yourself silly….Aage Se Right…a bad debut for the director…kudos to Abhijeet Deshpande (the dialogue writer), Kay Kay and now my favorite actor Vijay Mourya….
The best dialogue of the film
Raghav : Michael, what….are you waiting for Christmas?
Michaek : yes sir.
PS : The review is fairly weird just as the film. Wrote at 4 am...today.
That’s all you can think of when you see Aage Se Right. Over the years UTV has not only produced some really big films but has also backed up smart, intelligent directors and with the marketing brains that UTV has, has been able to turn those low key projects in to really worth watching indi-films.
Aage Se Right is one more from Ronnie’s stable and despite of a weak storyline and not so great direction, the film is able to hold your attention in most parts. The film opens on a very lame and weak note and is truly trying hard but once Vijay Mourya and Kay kay menon enter the scene, the film takes a U turn and goes Aage se Right.
Aage Se Right has a simple story line. Shreyas Talpade is forced to become a cop by his “angry without a cause” and loud mother (played by Bharati Achrekar, doing a really bad over the top job). To add to the misery of viewers, the director has saved money by putting Shreyas’s picture in big handlebar mustaches to pose as his father. Shreyas has a bullet which works when it wants or director forgets.
Enter Kay Kay Menon with some godforsaken name and a heavy duty Urdu vocab straight from Ghalib era to the city where his Indian host, the South Indian Don whose name is Raghav Shetty (played by Vijay Mourya) but speaks with a Malayali accent. What follows after that is a stupid search of the gun which takes us to strange places and introduces us to some stranger people.
The story is nothing to write about but some of the dialogues and moments captured in the film are worth mentioning. While the edit of the film is just about average…the scenes have been placed well, but there is no fluidity in transition.
On a performance level, Vijay Mourya is the only right one shining. Kay Kay is classic and his funny bone has started poking now. Every time he came up with the bizarre urdu and Mumbai poetry, the entire theatre was in splits.
One noteworthy thing about the film is the dialiogues. Adding Bumbro in the boat scene, the bizarre poetry, the Bihari film maker doing a makad manav and Shehnaz Tresurywalla’s Learn Urdu touches and of course Raghav Shetty’s crazy one liners…the dialogue is the hero of this otherwise weak film.
Shreyas, I felt, was wasted in the film. An actor with so much potential could have done so much better. They rarely make movies for actors of Kay kay and Vijay Mourya’s caliber. Shehnaz was looking pretty and did a decent job. Don’t know why Shiv Pandit and Shruti Seth agreed to do this film? It was very clear that their parts were chopped off mercilessly. After a successful stint in TV, Shiv should be careful in choosing the roles. Rakesh Bedi and Bharati Achrekar were genuine case of over the top acting, poor editing and above all character development.
Music was average, none of the songs were ever shown in the TV promos and hence have no reason to become popular. Rest of the film is strictly Ok.
Watch this film when you are 3 vodkas down, and want to do some stupid, idiotic stuff and laugh yourself silly….Aage Se Right…a bad debut for the director…kudos to Abhijeet Deshpande (the dialogue writer), Kay Kay and now my favorite actor Vijay Mourya….
The best dialogue of the film
Raghav : Michael, what….are you waiting for Christmas?
Michaek : yes sir.
PS : The review is fairly weird just as the film. Wrote at 4 am...today.
Monday, August 17, 2009
It may not be a Fooper Film or outftanding film but never the leff, a good watch!!
That’s what happens when you loose touch with the Bard. You become a Tarantino and then you produce Pulp Fiction with traces of Bard thrown in for good measure, as an act of saving grace but then you are not Bard yourself Vishaj, are you? When I was swamped under the barrage of SMS forwards about wine, whine and finally swine flu…Mumbai multiplexes were forced to lie down on a ventilator again for the first weekend of Kaminey. Now I wonder who the swine was who did not want to UTV to make any money on Kaminey.
Monday seems to be fairly unusual day for movie release but its one of the most awaited movie of the year and you are gonna attend a stampede if it comes to that to get your seats in time. After a wait worth 1 plate stale samosa, one half finished ice less luke warm Pepsi and some cold popcorns, the movie started. Kaminey let me down from frame 1. It is not a tribute to anybody but an act of self indulgence which caused Sanjay Leela Bhansali to make the blue film Sawariya.
Well there are so many characters in the plot that the pivot is lost. Till the time I got used to this bratty boob shaking Priyanka and was almost going to start ogling her, she lost the show to Shahid who in turn surrendered to the bloke to played Mikhail who bowed down to the lord Amol. Rest of the cast was accidental and not incidental. The hype about the movie is just too much and it started coming out of ears. What I missed in the film was a story line which had some meat in it.
Vishal made Maqbool and Omkara where he didn’t need a story but only an interpretation. He made children’s film Makdee and Blue Umbrella where in he used imagination. Kaminey is has no Vishalesque sequence or acting in it. Now, we can beat the chest and say that this is a tribute to Tarantino and a deliberate attempt to move away from the kind of cinema you make but the bitter truth is that this claim holds no water. Kaminey has a weak storyline.
Another miss was the music. As I am told that Dhantane is a sound that Vishal has used in one of the children’s songs that he had composed long back and he just brought it back to life and boy, this resurrection is amazing. The song is just amazing and incredibly beautiful. The psychedelic styling, Vishal Dadlani and Sukhvinder crooning and Vishal Bhardwaj’s own original composition…but the song ends almost abruptly. Fatak and Raat ke dhai baje were forced down the viewer’s throat in the movie, the other songs inconsequential. The title track had given me some hope but it was an almost waste.
There are far too many names thrown on the screen. Guddu alias Sanjay Kumar Sharma from Barabankwi, Charlie, Sweety, Bhope Bhau, Tope, Mikhail, Tashi, Lele, Lobo and some oher Johnys who came and went. Who played a better part? It was difficult to comprehend. Shahid has come of age and looks off Kareena Kapoor. The boy has grown in to a man but still lacks the finesse the role where he stammers. Interrogation scene was the best one that he did. As a person with a lisp, his vocab is going to stay till Thursday with a lot of people. Priyanka is hot, sexy, sweet and yes worth it. She lived her part. Was it the role or love? Amol Gupte, makes a come back after doing some obscure movies and forgettable roles in some of the NFDC funded ones. He also worked with Aamir in Holi and since then they remained friends till Aamir took over. Rest of the characters were so average that it is difficult to remember their names only a couple of hours after the movie.
What also works with the film is the camera work by Tasaduq Hussain. Camera loved every frame and vice versa. From tight close ups to mid shots…everything was in sync. Shahid And Mikhail dancing in the rain was just so perfect. Vishal lost the plot in the second half when justification of each artist begins to unveil. I had a problem with Shahid Kapoor’s catharsis. It was funny, nostalgic and has no reason. Some of the characters, who had a role to play, disappear. Some new ones are added and then they disappear too. Since none of the character artist got anything worth celebrating, I don’t want to write about them.
Over all, it’s not a bad film but it is not an outstanding film, and it doesn’t look like a film that can be called as A tribute to Tarantino. It is ok, just about a product which is different than the usual run of the mill that we are in the habit of producing.
Monday seems to be fairly unusual day for movie release but its one of the most awaited movie of the year and you are gonna attend a stampede if it comes to that to get your seats in time. After a wait worth 1 plate stale samosa, one half finished ice less luke warm Pepsi and some cold popcorns, the movie started. Kaminey let me down from frame 1. It is not a tribute to anybody but an act of self indulgence which caused Sanjay Leela Bhansali to make the blue film Sawariya.
Well there are so many characters in the plot that the pivot is lost. Till the time I got used to this bratty boob shaking Priyanka and was almost going to start ogling her, she lost the show to Shahid who in turn surrendered to the bloke to played Mikhail who bowed down to the lord Amol. Rest of the cast was accidental and not incidental. The hype about the movie is just too much and it started coming out of ears. What I missed in the film was a story line which had some meat in it.
Vishal made Maqbool and Omkara where he didn’t need a story but only an interpretation. He made children’s film Makdee and Blue Umbrella where in he used imagination. Kaminey is has no Vishalesque sequence or acting in it. Now, we can beat the chest and say that this is a tribute to Tarantino and a deliberate attempt to move away from the kind of cinema you make but the bitter truth is that this claim holds no water. Kaminey has a weak storyline.
Another miss was the music. As I am told that Dhantane is a sound that Vishal has used in one of the children’s songs that he had composed long back and he just brought it back to life and boy, this resurrection is amazing. The song is just amazing and incredibly beautiful. The psychedelic styling, Vishal Dadlani and Sukhvinder crooning and Vishal Bhardwaj’s own original composition…but the song ends almost abruptly. Fatak and Raat ke dhai baje were forced down the viewer’s throat in the movie, the other songs inconsequential. The title track had given me some hope but it was an almost waste.
There are far too many names thrown on the screen. Guddu alias Sanjay Kumar Sharma from Barabankwi, Charlie, Sweety, Bhope Bhau, Tope, Mikhail, Tashi, Lele, Lobo and some oher Johnys who came and went. Who played a better part? It was difficult to comprehend. Shahid has come of age and looks off Kareena Kapoor. The boy has grown in to a man but still lacks the finesse the role where he stammers. Interrogation scene was the best one that he did. As a person with a lisp, his vocab is going to stay till Thursday with a lot of people. Priyanka is hot, sexy, sweet and yes worth it. She lived her part. Was it the role or love? Amol Gupte, makes a come back after doing some obscure movies and forgettable roles in some of the NFDC funded ones. He also worked with Aamir in Holi and since then they remained friends till Aamir took over. Rest of the characters were so average that it is difficult to remember their names only a couple of hours after the movie.
What also works with the film is the camera work by Tasaduq Hussain. Camera loved every frame and vice versa. From tight close ups to mid shots…everything was in sync. Shahid And Mikhail dancing in the rain was just so perfect. Vishal lost the plot in the second half when justification of each artist begins to unveil. I had a problem with Shahid Kapoor’s catharsis. It was funny, nostalgic and has no reason. Some of the characters, who had a role to play, disappear. Some new ones are added and then they disappear too. Since none of the character artist got anything worth celebrating, I don’t want to write about them.
Over all, it’s not a bad film but it is not an outstanding film, and it doesn’t look like a film that can be called as A tribute to Tarantino. It is ok, just about a product which is different than the usual run of the mill that we are in the habit of producing.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Walls of Empty Dead Silence
How much money do we need to lead a life?
Such a pertinent question haunted me after I saw Dombivali Fast. One of the most prolific film-makers I had the chance to meet Anurag Kashyap always feels after watching such films “Why didn’t I think of this” and I couldn’t help but agree with him. A film that every one dreams of but never has to screenplay to write is a film called Dombivali Fast.
Wake up early morning to have tea, go to water tanker to fetch water, have bath, get ready and in the mean time your wife cooks lunch for you which you carry to your work place, your children are getting up and ready in their sleepy state. Your son gets up late and lazy because he spent a good amount of night watching television, your daughter who is yet to attend the school is the cynosure of your eyes and hence gets a peck on her cheeks before you leave. You rush to the railway station, wait for your bogey to come, you push yourself in and get the “Fourth” seat on the Dombivali Fast local which goes to Church Gate. You spend a good 90 minutes in the train, reading newspaper, watching other people, trying to avoid the sweat and stench from the gutters. The DNA of your mind has been exposed to so many reasons in your life that it has mutated to the state of “Adjustment”. You loose the angst, you loose the power to react, you loose the power to reason, and you loose the power to ask for your rights, you just loose yourself totally.
Mumbai, apparently, does this to a lot of people. Travelers in the local trains develop a strange apathy towards life and anyone who commits suicide by trying to embrace the running train is treated with so much of disgust and disrespect that even after death, he realizes that not only his life received flake for existing, but his death…well less said is better.
You wake up to walls of empty dead silence. Your getting ready always meets the walls of empty dead silence. How much money do you require to lead a life, a cop asks his wife and he meets an empty dead silence. While watching Sandeep Kulkarni, the lead actor, doing a Greek tragedy soliloquy on the streets of Mumbai, near Flora fountain, and it still meets with an empty deal silence. How do your survive these walls of empty dead silence which keep closing on you, slowly killing the echoes of your voice, and strangulating them, leaving you with the corpse of your own voices. One man rises to the occasion and wants to make the deaf people in the city hear his voices against injustice, corruption, and all the wrong doings of the his life. The revolver with no bullet is aimed at the cop and in turn the cop shoots you right below your pocket and the blood oozes from your chest, and all you can think of is moving yourself to the window seat one last time before you die…and watch the world go by, this time closer than your regular fourth seat.
Playing the role of the wife of the protagonist Shilpa Tulaskar was outstanding. Her husband throws himself in to the fire of self-righteousness and wants to change the society. She is ashamed of the comment, the insult she hurled at him post which, her husband becomes a law himself. He thrashes cold drink shops for over charging, breaks a wrongly parked bike, stabs a leader, burns shanties selling drugs and threatens to shoot the doctor at a point blank range when he refuses to admit patients. After achieving all this and more in two days, he calls his wife to tell her that he is coming back and her inability to even speak a yes or a no, her open jaw, her running eyes, her choked voice…was a piece of brilliance.
Dombivali fast is no cinematic excellence nor it is in the league of something extra-ordinary but it surely is a film that establishes Nishikant Kamat as a master of simplistic story telling. It impressed me the way his Hindi debut Mumbai Meri Jaan did. It is a simple story, it has simple actors, it has simple direction and it has simple scenes and it has the simplistic question – How much money do you require to lead a life?
Marathi Films have always come up with surprises that Hindi films usually fail to throw. Though Marathi films are known for its farcical comedies and idiotic movies, they have always been rooted in their approach. The lead actor usually works with LIC, a bank or is a college professor. They don’t live in mansions; they all have houses in distant suburbs of Mumbai which usually are 1 BHK apartments in chawl or buildings with common toilet sharing. They don’t wear chiffon sarees of never-ending palloos but they have simple cotton gowns which shrink after two washes and you can see the petticoat peeking out at the feet. They don’t go to straight-out-of Riverdale colleges; they are the product of Marathi medium Municipal schools. They don’t study fancy subjects like French and German, it always Math and Science. They are middle-class. They are what we call India. Their DNA is like that. Their DNA undergoes mutation from the day they are born and that DNA keeps them alive in all situations, all circumstance, and all seasons.
That one Marathi man who revolted against the system also gets the teaching of his life from an old fragile Marathi man. You may get immediate solutions to your problem with this approach but you will never find a permanent solution. Instilling fear is not the key to find a solution.
My friend Karthik tells me that it’s a much toned down version of Falling Down where Michael Douglas plays the protagonist and Dombivali Fast is layered with Indian approach. Karthik has always raised this point that if you are getting inspired from another work of art, give due credit to it. That’s his DNA, that’s his cynicism, that’s his way of approach. Here is to the small little impact that you hope to make…here’s to www.itwofs.com.
Such a pertinent question haunted me after I saw Dombivali Fast. One of the most prolific film-makers I had the chance to meet Anurag Kashyap always feels after watching such films “Why didn’t I think of this” and I couldn’t help but agree with him. A film that every one dreams of but never has to screenplay to write is a film called Dombivali Fast.
Wake up early morning to have tea, go to water tanker to fetch water, have bath, get ready and in the mean time your wife cooks lunch for you which you carry to your work place, your children are getting up and ready in their sleepy state. Your son gets up late and lazy because he spent a good amount of night watching television, your daughter who is yet to attend the school is the cynosure of your eyes and hence gets a peck on her cheeks before you leave. You rush to the railway station, wait for your bogey to come, you push yourself in and get the “Fourth” seat on the Dombivali Fast local which goes to Church Gate. You spend a good 90 minutes in the train, reading newspaper, watching other people, trying to avoid the sweat and stench from the gutters. The DNA of your mind has been exposed to so many reasons in your life that it has mutated to the state of “Adjustment”. You loose the angst, you loose the power to react, you loose the power to reason, and you loose the power to ask for your rights, you just loose yourself totally.
Mumbai, apparently, does this to a lot of people. Travelers in the local trains develop a strange apathy towards life and anyone who commits suicide by trying to embrace the running train is treated with so much of disgust and disrespect that even after death, he realizes that not only his life received flake for existing, but his death…well less said is better.
You wake up to walls of empty dead silence. Your getting ready always meets the walls of empty dead silence. How much money do you require to lead a life, a cop asks his wife and he meets an empty dead silence. While watching Sandeep Kulkarni, the lead actor, doing a Greek tragedy soliloquy on the streets of Mumbai, near Flora fountain, and it still meets with an empty deal silence. How do your survive these walls of empty dead silence which keep closing on you, slowly killing the echoes of your voice, and strangulating them, leaving you with the corpse of your own voices. One man rises to the occasion and wants to make the deaf people in the city hear his voices against injustice, corruption, and all the wrong doings of the his life. The revolver with no bullet is aimed at the cop and in turn the cop shoots you right below your pocket and the blood oozes from your chest, and all you can think of is moving yourself to the window seat one last time before you die…and watch the world go by, this time closer than your regular fourth seat.
Playing the role of the wife of the protagonist Shilpa Tulaskar was outstanding. Her husband throws himself in to the fire of self-righteousness and wants to change the society. She is ashamed of the comment, the insult she hurled at him post which, her husband becomes a law himself. He thrashes cold drink shops for over charging, breaks a wrongly parked bike, stabs a leader, burns shanties selling drugs and threatens to shoot the doctor at a point blank range when he refuses to admit patients. After achieving all this and more in two days, he calls his wife to tell her that he is coming back and her inability to even speak a yes or a no, her open jaw, her running eyes, her choked voice…was a piece of brilliance.
Dombivali fast is no cinematic excellence nor it is in the league of something extra-ordinary but it surely is a film that establishes Nishikant Kamat as a master of simplistic story telling. It impressed me the way his Hindi debut Mumbai Meri Jaan did. It is a simple story, it has simple actors, it has simple direction and it has simple scenes and it has the simplistic question – How much money do you require to lead a life?
Marathi Films have always come up with surprises that Hindi films usually fail to throw. Though Marathi films are known for its farcical comedies and idiotic movies, they have always been rooted in their approach. The lead actor usually works with LIC, a bank or is a college professor. They don’t live in mansions; they all have houses in distant suburbs of Mumbai which usually are 1 BHK apartments in chawl or buildings with common toilet sharing. They don’t wear chiffon sarees of never-ending palloos but they have simple cotton gowns which shrink after two washes and you can see the petticoat peeking out at the feet. They don’t go to straight-out-of Riverdale colleges; they are the product of Marathi medium Municipal schools. They don’t study fancy subjects like French and German, it always Math and Science. They are middle-class. They are what we call India. Their DNA is like that. Their DNA undergoes mutation from the day they are born and that DNA keeps them alive in all situations, all circumstance, and all seasons.
That one Marathi man who revolted against the system also gets the teaching of his life from an old fragile Marathi man. You may get immediate solutions to your problem with this approach but you will never find a permanent solution. Instilling fear is not the key to find a solution.
My friend Karthik tells me that it’s a much toned down version of Falling Down where Michael Douglas plays the protagonist and Dombivali Fast is layered with Indian approach. Karthik has always raised this point that if you are getting inspired from another work of art, give due credit to it. That’s his DNA, that’s his cynicism, that’s his way of approach. Here is to the small little impact that you hope to make…here’s to www.itwofs.com.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Kal Kisne Dekha
Film critics have something against Punjab hence whenever anybody other than Yash Chopra chooses Punjabi backdrop, they start to lambast the movie.
After a drought of over 2 months, I went to watch the first big film released on Friday - Kal kisne dekha and boy, was I floored with the effortless ease of Archana Pooran Singh?
KKD, sorry for the fixation with abbreviations but producer pappa Vashu made a film for his sonny boy Jackie who in all earnestly and truthfulness hasn't let his pops down at all.
From a fatty of 130 Kgs with typical rich Sindhi written all over him, Jackie has transformed in to a really trim, good looking and smart dashing youngster. A perfect for college going kid roles along with Imran khan and Ranbeer Kapoor.
The music of the film, a surprise by Sajid Wajid, has already made the presence of the film felt. Remember the promos hit the TV and then went off air, thanks to multiplexes.
Vashu has been a favorite producer for a lot of actors because he indulges and pampers so well that they have a blast and he spots the talent early. I don't think that he will go wrong with own son whom he have launched surviving every single day of struggle for last 3 months trying to find a release date. Bravely he wanted to release it in single screen but better sense prevailed and he waited saving KKD from becoming another Aa Dekhen Zara.
Hollywood has had some success with the films based on clairvoyance but none of the Hindi films ever made a mark. Knowing that we wake up early to catch our Bhavishyavani or tarot reading done by some ghastly looking women and men on tube, KKD captures the essence of clairvoyance and yet doesn't over do it. Akshay's 8 X 10 Tasveer was an example of cinematic excellence and Nagesh surely impressed me with this film which can give any Hollywood film a run for its money. But, Tasveer didnt print itself clearly because of lack of publicity of its music which a suspense whodunnit thriller in India warrants. KKD makes no such mistake. Tere Bina sung by Wajid or Alam bahakne ko by Sonu are surefire hit and are doing well on our station.
Vaishali or whatever the lass is known as is not the most appropriate fit and that's where we encounter the first flaw in the film. She seriously needs acting lessons, wish someone could just tell her that voice modulation is different than screaming. She is a pretty sight no doubt but she doesn't remotely resemble a college student and her acting abilities are limited to wearing fancy designer clothes, wear strange make up to college and trying to be sexy and sultry.
Jackie dances well and has a cute face to go with and hence I don't see any reason for him to not come of age soon and emerge as the next star. Remo's choreography suits him well. The song Soniye Billori despite of being in a cliched situation has some really good moves. Oh by the way Jackky boy's fight moves and other action sequences are away from perfection. The mixture of rustic earthy moves and slo-mo modern fights was strictly ok.
Outstanding performance by Rishi Kapoor is another highlight of the film. He effortlessly slips in to two different personalities that I thought he suffers from MPD but then give it to the sweater kapoor and my favorite Rishi Kapoor has done classy roles in off beat films too and recently in Delhi 6 too, he stole the show from Abhishek in the Billiard room scene.
Rest of the support cast are fillers and do the needful kind of roles and some of them are fit for the job. Cameos by Vashu's old actors Sanjay Dutt, Juhi Chawla and Rajpal Yadav could have been avoided.
Surprise package of desi don Riteish is a crazy laugh riot. He is just outstanding and his comic timing needs no endorsement.
Director of the film Vivek Sharma is honing his skills film by film and with Johny Lal's excellent camera work adds to the beauty of the film.
Over all, its a must watch for the following reasons
1. Jackky
2. Music
3. Sweet storyline without complication and yes last but not the least, after a long gap if I don't get to see a classic Hindi film in its conventional presentation, I would really be doing injustice to Vashu and Hindi films.
Must watch for the fact that Jakky is not Uday Chopra or Tushar Kapoor, this boy has potential.
After a drought of over 2 months, I went to watch the first big film released on Friday - Kal kisne dekha and boy, was I floored with the effortless ease of Archana Pooran Singh?
KKD, sorry for the fixation with abbreviations but producer pappa Vashu made a film for his sonny boy Jackie who in all earnestly and truthfulness hasn't let his pops down at all.
From a fatty of 130 Kgs with typical rich Sindhi written all over him, Jackie has transformed in to a really trim, good looking and smart dashing youngster. A perfect for college going kid roles along with Imran khan and Ranbeer Kapoor.
The music of the film, a surprise by Sajid Wajid, has already made the presence of the film felt. Remember the promos hit the TV and then went off air, thanks to multiplexes.
Vashu has been a favorite producer for a lot of actors because he indulges and pampers so well that they have a blast and he spots the talent early. I don't think that he will go wrong with own son whom he have launched surviving every single day of struggle for last 3 months trying to find a release date. Bravely he wanted to release it in single screen but better sense prevailed and he waited saving KKD from becoming another Aa Dekhen Zara.
Hollywood has had some success with the films based on clairvoyance but none of the Hindi films ever made a mark. Knowing that we wake up early to catch our Bhavishyavani or tarot reading done by some ghastly looking women and men on tube, KKD captures the essence of clairvoyance and yet doesn't over do it. Akshay's 8 X 10 Tasveer was an example of cinematic excellence and Nagesh surely impressed me with this film which can give any Hollywood film a run for its money. But, Tasveer didnt print itself clearly because of lack of publicity of its music which a suspense whodunnit thriller in India warrants. KKD makes no such mistake. Tere Bina sung by Wajid or Alam bahakne ko by Sonu are surefire hit and are doing well on our station.
Vaishali or whatever the lass is known as is not the most appropriate fit and that's where we encounter the first flaw in the film. She seriously needs acting lessons, wish someone could just tell her that voice modulation is different than screaming. She is a pretty sight no doubt but she doesn't remotely resemble a college student and her acting abilities are limited to wearing fancy designer clothes, wear strange make up to college and trying to be sexy and sultry.
Jackie dances well and has a cute face to go with and hence I don't see any reason for him to not come of age soon and emerge as the next star. Remo's choreography suits him well. The song Soniye Billori despite of being in a cliched situation has some really good moves. Oh by the way Jackky boy's fight moves and other action sequences are away from perfection. The mixture of rustic earthy moves and slo-mo modern fights was strictly ok.
Outstanding performance by Rishi Kapoor is another highlight of the film. He effortlessly slips in to two different personalities that I thought he suffers from MPD but then give it to the sweater kapoor and my favorite Rishi Kapoor has done classy roles in off beat films too and recently in Delhi 6 too, he stole the show from Abhishek in the Billiard room scene.
Rest of the support cast are fillers and do the needful kind of roles and some of them are fit for the job. Cameos by Vashu's old actors Sanjay Dutt, Juhi Chawla and Rajpal Yadav could have been avoided.
Surprise package of desi don Riteish is a crazy laugh riot. He is just outstanding and his comic timing needs no endorsement.
Director of the film Vivek Sharma is honing his skills film by film and with Johny Lal's excellent camera work adds to the beauty of the film.
Over all, its a must watch for the following reasons
1. Jackky
2. Music
3. Sweet storyline without complication and yes last but not the least, after a long gap if I don't get to see a classic Hindi film in its conventional presentation, I would really be doing injustice to Vashu and Hindi films.
Must watch for the fact that Jakky is not Uday Chopra or Tushar Kapoor, this boy has potential.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
Absence makes the heart grow fonder and boy did we miss Adi Chopra! And with the hope to experience the magic that DDLJ is still creating at Maratha Mandir since 15th December 1995 we rushed to watch his latest on its first day.
Let's be honest, we had huge expectations from RNBDJ. After all Adi n SRK together in their third film together, a fresh face, almost becoming popular music and a closely guarded (?) story, this film was the talk of the town. Also, Mumbai still clearing the debris of the terrorist attack had its hopes high on this film to make up for the sombre mood in the city for last 2 weeks.
So what's the verdict? The verdict is its not DDLJ, its not Mohabbatein but its RNBDJ. A good movie in its own right. Misses the honesty and the coming of age yuppie generation of DDLJ, nor does it have the scale and grandeur of Mohabbatein but this film definitely has its moments.
A few watch worthy and mention worthy points. SRK is superb if not outstanding. Anushka, what a debut! She is just mindblowing. Fresh as a flower and confident as a tigress, here is a talent which needs the next platform. She almost breathes life in every frame. The chemistry between the two is great especially when SRK dons the Jatt hat. The crude and flambuoyant Raj (naam to suna hoga) romancing the once bubbly effervescent and now docile with no life damsel Tani., they bring smiles to the faces of the audience. Rest of cast n crew play negligible roles and are practically wasted.
A strange resemblance to Golmaal (the Amol Palekar, Utpal Dutt, Hrishikesh Mukherjee masterpiece) gives this film a little more credibility but SRK and Adi fail to capitalise on the confusion and play it safe by spacing the appearance of both the avtaars at different times.
Haule Haule the song is very YRF style but rest of the music is a total let down. Chance pe dance and 2-3 other songs fail to impress. One item number which doesn't leave any memory or impression with Rani, Biapsha, Preity and Lara is totally wasted with a bad composition and an equally poor picturisation.
in a nutshell, the film is a definitely a yes and a must watch before the strange looking ushers and booking clerks at the theatre start promoting Ghajini in their ghastly and ghostly hairstyle.
Let's be honest, we had huge expectations from RNBDJ. After all Adi n SRK together in their third film together, a fresh face, almost becoming popular music and a closely guarded (?) story, this film was the talk of the town. Also, Mumbai still clearing the debris of the terrorist attack had its hopes high on this film to make up for the sombre mood in the city for last 2 weeks.
So what's the verdict? The verdict is its not DDLJ, its not Mohabbatein but its RNBDJ. A good movie in its own right. Misses the honesty and the coming of age yuppie generation of DDLJ, nor does it have the scale and grandeur of Mohabbatein but this film definitely has its moments.
A few watch worthy and mention worthy points. SRK is superb if not outstanding. Anushka, what a debut! She is just mindblowing. Fresh as a flower and confident as a tigress, here is a talent which needs the next platform. She almost breathes life in every frame. The chemistry between the two is great especially when SRK dons the Jatt hat. The crude and flambuoyant Raj (naam to suna hoga) romancing the once bubbly effervescent and now docile with no life damsel Tani., they bring smiles to the faces of the audience. Rest of cast n crew play negligible roles and are practically wasted.
A strange resemblance to Golmaal (the Amol Palekar, Utpal Dutt, Hrishikesh Mukherjee masterpiece) gives this film a little more credibility but SRK and Adi fail to capitalise on the confusion and play it safe by spacing the appearance of both the avtaars at different times.
Haule Haule the song is very YRF style but rest of the music is a total let down. Chance pe dance and 2-3 other songs fail to impress. One item number which doesn't leave any memory or impression with Rani, Biapsha, Preity and Lara is totally wasted with a bad composition and an equally poor picturisation.
in a nutshell, the film is a definitely a yes and a must watch before the strange looking ushers and booking clerks at the theatre start promoting Ghajini in their ghastly and ghostly hairstyle.
Ghajini : Film Review
Aamir endorsed Pepsi first and then Coke, one of the rare feet any actor has ever achieved across the globe. But Ghajini deserves a Thumbs Up. Pradon the bad pun but only Aamir can pull it off. Like after Taare Zameen Pe, he does a commercial masala film like Ghajini. He gives me the same feeling through out the movie which I had for Surya while watching the Tamil original (did I say original).
Ghajini definitely bears resemblance to Christopher Nolan's Memento. 15 minute memory of the protagonist, his using tattoos and polaroid shots with description. But what the critics forget is that even Memento doesn't reflect the fact that this anteretrogade Amnesia patient always remembers to tattoo n click polariod shots and is able to connect them to his revenge plan especially when he can not form a new memory. No explanation offered, none taken. So why target Ghajini?
While Memento is non-linear and dollies between the flashback and inter cuts to present and yet leaving the viewer confused about the lead guy killing more than one people and being a puppet in a lady's hand for a drug deal, Ghajini is linear and like any other Hindi film is a classic tale of revenge. Makes it easier or we are used to Films for Dummies, eh?
Performance wise Asin takes the cake. Gorgeous and effortless, against Aamir she stood as tall or better as she was against Surya. Long way to go is our prediction. Vidya Balan should take a cue and keep her weight in control.
Jiah exceeds the expectations we have from this otherwise nubile nymphet. Small yet significant role and she does pass off as a psychology student unlike her overage counterpart (whatever her name was) in the Tamil version. She is subdued and has no trace of being the young seductress and in the little role that she had, she did justice to that barring the accent that she has.
Pradeep Rawat, the villain is an old hand and a close friend of Aamir. Remember the Sikh pace bowler in Lagaan who bowls with breakneck speed to clean all 3 stumps of Aamir while they are still forming the team. He has done the job fairly well.
AR Rahman is not in his elements it seems. Guzarish takes the cake but Beheka has no repeat value even with half a dozen funky hairstyles that Aamir sports. The best song of the film is Kaise mujhe but it is so deliberatly slow that story instead of moving with it goes slow matching the pace of the song. Never the less, a classic gem from ARR. Prasoon Joshi is a rare breed of poets in the world of lyricists. His poetry is put to good use and the lyrics are a class apart except for Aye Bachchu and another song picturised on Jiyah khan with incomprehensible lyrics which are so mediocre that it feels bad to waste even a few words on that.
Cinematogrpaher Ravi K Chandran plays with the tight close ups and lights so beautifully that you hate to take your eyes off the screen. Editor Anthony does a decent job and apparently rest of the job was done by Censor board.
The last few minutes of the film are different from the Tamil version. While the original had villain in double role (well, havent we seen it before) and Surya taking them on both in the college hostel and that fight sequence was really a treat. Surya's fixing his dislocated shoulder was a shot that is itched in my memory but Aamir is far more sensible here and opts for a reasonable and believable climax. In the final moments since his memory disk crashes again after 15 minutes. He belived the villain to be his friend and that sequence Aamir took the whole show. Encore for that.
Ghajini belongs to a few 'A's. Producer Allu Arvind, director AR Murugadoss, Asin, AR Rahman, editor Anthony and finally Aamir. So many A's already present in the film, who has the memory to rate any Aamir film B.
One more addition to the list of A's is the brilliant job of marketing done by Ashoo Naik. Right from the multiplex ushers with Ghajini haircut on the day of Rab Ne release...Aamir's hair cutting saloon, his statue in the multiplexes, sexy website (cutting edge, must watch). I dont think any other film was able to generate that kind of a buzz. Superb stuff Ashoo...and sorry that I didnt mention your name...though it is a brilliant example of film marketing...hope you will forgive...waiting for your next film now.
The producers kept the date, 25th December. Distributor Indian Films and their CEO Sandeep Bhargava must be relieved with the release coz they bought the rights for 90 crore. Looks like, they will recover it within 2 weeks.
Must watch. Those who have seen Memento or Tamil Ghajini, they should watch it for sure...I can spend 3 more hours for Ghajini.
Ghajini definitely bears resemblance to Christopher Nolan's Memento. 15 minute memory of the protagonist, his using tattoos and polaroid shots with description. But what the critics forget is that even Memento doesn't reflect the fact that this anteretrogade Amnesia patient always remembers to tattoo n click polariod shots and is able to connect them to his revenge plan especially when he can not form a new memory. No explanation offered, none taken. So why target Ghajini?
While Memento is non-linear and dollies between the flashback and inter cuts to present and yet leaving the viewer confused about the lead guy killing more than one people and being a puppet in a lady's hand for a drug deal, Ghajini is linear and like any other Hindi film is a classic tale of revenge. Makes it easier or we are used to Films for Dummies, eh?
Performance wise Asin takes the cake. Gorgeous and effortless, against Aamir she stood as tall or better as she was against Surya. Long way to go is our prediction. Vidya Balan should take a cue and keep her weight in control.
Jiah exceeds the expectations we have from this otherwise nubile nymphet. Small yet significant role and she does pass off as a psychology student unlike her overage counterpart (whatever her name was) in the Tamil version. She is subdued and has no trace of being the young seductress and in the little role that she had, she did justice to that barring the accent that she has.
Pradeep Rawat, the villain is an old hand and a close friend of Aamir. Remember the Sikh pace bowler in Lagaan who bowls with breakneck speed to clean all 3 stumps of Aamir while they are still forming the team. He has done the job fairly well.
AR Rahman is not in his elements it seems. Guzarish takes the cake but Beheka has no repeat value even with half a dozen funky hairstyles that Aamir sports. The best song of the film is Kaise mujhe but it is so deliberatly slow that story instead of moving with it goes slow matching the pace of the song. Never the less, a classic gem from ARR. Prasoon Joshi is a rare breed of poets in the world of lyricists. His poetry is put to good use and the lyrics are a class apart except for Aye Bachchu and another song picturised on Jiyah khan with incomprehensible lyrics which are so mediocre that it feels bad to waste even a few words on that.
Cinematogrpaher Ravi K Chandran plays with the tight close ups and lights so beautifully that you hate to take your eyes off the screen. Editor Anthony does a decent job and apparently rest of the job was done by Censor board.
The last few minutes of the film are different from the Tamil version. While the original had villain in double role (well, havent we seen it before) and Surya taking them on both in the college hostel and that fight sequence was really a treat. Surya's fixing his dislocated shoulder was a shot that is itched in my memory but Aamir is far more sensible here and opts for a reasonable and believable climax. In the final moments since his memory disk crashes again after 15 minutes. He belived the villain to be his friend and that sequence Aamir took the whole show. Encore for that.
Ghajini belongs to a few 'A's. Producer Allu Arvind, director AR Murugadoss, Asin, AR Rahman, editor Anthony and finally Aamir. So many A's already present in the film, who has the memory to rate any Aamir film B.
One more addition to the list of A's is the brilliant job of marketing done by Ashoo Naik. Right from the multiplex ushers with Ghajini haircut on the day of Rab Ne release...Aamir's hair cutting saloon, his statue in the multiplexes, sexy website (cutting edge, must watch). I dont think any other film was able to generate that kind of a buzz. Superb stuff Ashoo...and sorry that I didnt mention your name...though it is a brilliant example of film marketing...hope you will forgive...waiting for your next film now.
The producers kept the date, 25th December. Distributor Indian Films and their CEO Sandeep Bhargava must be relieved with the release coz they bought the rights for 90 crore. Looks like, they will recover it within 2 weeks.
Must watch. Those who have seen Memento or Tamil Ghajini, they should watch it for sure...I can spend 3 more hours for Ghajini.
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