Monday, March 8, 2010

Atithi...tum kab Jaoge?... Its different

This time, I got a chance to read other reviews before I wrote this blog… Interestingly, not many critics have liked the movie…
I believe in today’s times, its difficult to digest a movie which doesn’t have any crude language, no abusive words, no remix nos, no foreign locales or jazzy colorful sets, where the script doesn’t demand any item numbers or kissing scenes, where the actress doesn’t walk in exposing clothes or a bikini line just for the heck of it, where the humor is not forced into the dialogues by including some bad PJs or sick jokes or getting some third party "so-called" comedians into the movie.

Yes, "Atithi tum kab jaoge" is a movie which doesn’t have any of these. The movie is therefore, a bit dull, a bit boring, and also feels a bit lengthy. But still, in my opinion, the makers deserve credit for creating a cinema which was last attempted in 80s (or was it even earlier) when the likes of Farooq Sheikh, Amol Palekar, Deepti Naval, Utpal Dutt and so on existed.

Ok, to once again correct myself, the movie is no where compared to those masterpieces, be it the subtleties, the acting or the humor but still this movie is a worthy attempt that should not go unnoticed.

The movie is as simple as it can be… A couple (Ajay Devgn and Konkona) is living a fast difficult life in the ever congested (and I am not just talking of roads and traffic) Mumbai. An unsolicited guest (Paresh Rawal) arrives and disrupts their normal routine. He leaves behind a tale of chaos, confusion, and disruption, but also a bit of love, emotions, long-forgotten family values and traditions.

This simple story has somehow been extended into a 2+ hrs drama (with no twists and turns unless of course you consider the end which is definitely worth staying till then) and thats where the film fails to capture the attention of today's multiplex audiences.

The acting is good with 3 established actors. There is never a doubt on any of them. One special point to mention here is Ajay Devgn who has started keeping himself underexposed. He has learnt the art of restraining his act by giving more space to other characters in the movie. I noticed this first in his home production “All the best” where he allows Sanjay Dutt to steal the show. In this movie, he lets Paresh Rawal run the movie and aptly so.

There is not much to write about the music as there are hardly any songs.
Overall, the movie can be watched with your extended family for one of the lazy Sunday outings.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Karthik calling Karthik - A decent watch

I am not sure if this is also a copy of some English movie. But if its not, then it’s a decent attempt by a debutant director Vijay Lalwani. The movie has a good pace and doesn’t waste too much time on unnecessary romantic angles, personal stories, or for that matter any teary emotional dramas.

The movie might not be at its best, would also seem unrealistic, sometimes even bore you but I still consider this as a one-time watch. Why is that?

At the top is the acting department. Farhan is one of those versatile personalities who has already proved himself in every department so far be it direction, anchoring and acting. His performance in this movie will actually establish him as an actor to reckon with. He depicts his multiple facets in his character really well. He makes you sympathize with him in his initial version of shy introvert and almost a loser personaility. At the same time, you admire and enjoy his transformed character of a suave, confident and “ready to conquer the world” image. Though I must add the transformation is too quick and almost unbelievable.

Deepika doesn’t have a big role and almost disappears in the second half. But she looks absolutely gorgeous in every frame of her presence (reminds you of her Love Aajkal role). All her power scenes are in the first half which she has acted quite well. You certainly miss her in the second half. The dialogue sequences between Farhan and Deepika in the 1st half are the best part of the movie. Their romantic one-liners are enjoyable and first-rate. The trailers have already given some samples and believe me unlike most of other movies, they are actually just a sample of many to come in the movie. The two hit off quite well in the movie. Ram Kapoor has also played his part well. Shefali doesn’t have a role and as the credits say is slightly more than a guest appearance.

The direction is good considering that this is Vijay Lalwani’s first movie. The first half is light and the 2nd half thriller is very well directed keeping the audiences on the edge. Apart from acting, it’s the music that forms the soul be it the song tracks or the background score. Each song is good and hummable.

Some of the things that could have been better is both the facets of Farhan have been shown to the extreme. As I wrote earlier the transformation is too sudden and is hardly believable. Though there is a suspense element, but sometime into the 2nd half, it becomes a bit predictable. Will not detail this section as I risk divulging too much and spoiling the experience.

Nevertheless the movie is a good watch and should do more than average business.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

If “Tiger Woods” happened in India


Just some thoughts if something like “Tiger Woods” or “John Terry” or “Silvio Berlusconi” happened in India. Some of the probable reactions are as below not necessarily in the same order:

  1. Effigies will be burnt in almost every major city.
  2. BEST buses will be broken and Trains will be stopped.
  3. Opposition parties will call for a Nation wide Bandh
  4. Protest marches will be held which will culminate at the residence
  5. News channel like IBN7, Aaj Tak, Samay, Star News etc will run 24*7 live coverage of the movements of the “concerned person” and “victims”. People on the roads will be stopped and asked for their opinions. The wife will be asked questions like “How are you feeling?”Do you feel cheated?” “Were you aware” blah blah. If there is a 1-min footage, it will be shown non-stop for next 3-4 days.
  6. Debates will be held on every national news channel on the increasing Western influence on our sacred traditions, culture, heritage. Some of the prominent debators will be Mahesh Bhatt and Shobha De on one side and “Spiritual Gurus” , political leaders on other side
  7. Parties like Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena, MNS will target all western stores / pubs / discs etc and forcibly close them. Some new parties will be formed to tackle such issues in public life.
  8. Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha Speakers will be asked questions during Question Hours. Sessions in both houses will be adjourned.
  9. If he is a political personality, Opposition parties will be blamed.
  10. If he is from minority, ISI and Pakistan will be blamed for disrupting our national heritage and peace.
  11. After 2 weeks, there will be denial from all sources. This will include the person, his wife and even the satellite people. Some of the girls will disappear and will no longer be seen or available for any comments. If at all they come back, they will mention that they were misquoted and they were just “good friends”. The wife will stand by his husband and offer full support for the mental and may be “physical” trauma he went through.
  12. All news channels will find another story to run and that will be the end of the controversy.
  13. Ram Gopal Verma and Mahesh Bhatt will announce a movie on the real life incident and most likely Emran Hashmi might be the hero.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Ishqiya - Review

Ishqiya has all the trademarks of a “Vishal Bhardwaj” movie, yet it’s a big disappointment. Vishal Bhardwaj has built his own genre. Just like his last few movies Kaminey and Omkara, this one too is very raw. Shot in the rural backdrops of Gorakhpur, a Eastern UP town famous for gang wars and mafia, the movie captures the lingo and feel accurately. Like all his previous movies, this one too starts with a bang, moves at a swift pace and builds the tempo and expectations quite high. But where it fails is the end. It ends with a whimper. The entire pace fizzles out in the ending. It appears as if after shooting the movie for 1.5 hrs, the director suddenly forgets the core plot and decides to end it abruptly. It loses the sheen to such an extent that you really feel sorry for a good product turn bad.

The biggest plus going for the movie is the performance of its 3 central characters (Naseer, Arshad and Vidya Balan). There has never been a doubt of Naseer’s performance. He looks apt in both the con part as well as the aged person falling in love with the tantalizing Vidya. Vidya too carries out her role with ease. Though the storyline for her character definitely needed improvement. Through out the movie, she has been shown as some mysterious woman with dark secrets which in the end just doesn’t match up. The best one-liners and witty remarks have been kept in Arshad’s accounts. They are clever, sharp and keep the audience hoping for more. Even some of the other characters like Naseer’s Brother-in-law and the kiddo Nandu engages you.

The dialogues are raw and crude and sometimes border on the edge but that’s something that you now expect out of Vishal’s movie.

The music has been good and has been on the charts for quite some time especially “Ibn e batuta” and “dil to bachcha hai ji”. Apart from the movie songs, the old songs have also been woven very well with the chemistry between the characters.

While the movie has the darkness of Omkara and wittiness of Kaminey, it lacks the punch and edginees that most of Vishal’s movies are famous of. The movie can still be a one-time watch with low expectations.

By the way, I believe this movie might have broken the “longest kissing scene” in Bollywood. It definitely seems longer than the one in ‘Raja Hindustani’ between Aamir and Karishma.

Monday, January 4, 2010

3 idiots and the FPS controversy

When you watch a movie late, you face two problems. There is so much already written about the movie that you end up watching the movie with a certain bias and expectations. Secondly there are already so many reviews that it doesn’t make sense to add another one.

So instead of cluttering your minds / web areana with one more review, I thought its better I blog on the peripheral item surrounding this movie - The so called controversy on due credits not being given to Chetan Bhagat.

Since last 1 year, we have been hearing that Five Point Someone is getting adapted into the movie “3 idiots”. So does it really make any difference, if the credit line is at the end or the beginning? Doesn’t everyone already know about it? Still there is a big argument going on with both sides giving media the much needed fodder. The tussle now is down to mathematics (to be precise “%”). The “3 idiots” team says its 3-5% based on the story while the author says its 50-70% based. I really never understood how such %ages work in a qualitative angle. But if it really pleases the statisticians, let me also put a figure. The movie is 33.23456% adapted from the novel (now don’t ask me how I got his number… just pressed some random keys at the top of my laptop). For the rest, let me put the facts straight. The plot is definitely adapted from the novel. It has almost all the characters which were there in FPS. The 3 central characters, dean, his daughter, etc are all there. The movie also has most of the incidents whether its Kareena’s brother committing suicide or Aamir stealing the exam papers. But the movie adds some of its own details which except for the characters of “cm-mm” and “Chatur” (played very well by a newcomer “Omni”) doesn’t appeal.

One good thing about the book was it doesn’t make fun of the professors and projects the characters like any other average students in an institute. In fact the book focuses on the education system and its flaws - how the students today are evaluated and ranked (the relative grading system). All this was written on a lighter note and hence the book becomes a fast and entertaining read. This is where I feel the movie fails. Unfortunately, the movie like a typical bollywood flick converts the hero into a super-hero (who is capable of achieving almost anything), adds dramatic unnecessary events like having a baby delivered on a TT table… well to be honest, I neither found that scene humorous nor emotional. It turns the dean into a comical character and the core issue of “education” system gets lost somewhere post interval.

Nevertheless, 3 idiots is a good movie … one of the better ones we saw in 2009 but certainly not the best. Also it’s the not the best from Raju Hirani-Vinod Chopra duo. Give me the Munnabhai series any day.

Enjoy the movie. Don’t take my “critical” blog very seriously as I watched the movie after hearing some really rave reviews. The movie has been running houseful for 2 consecutive weeks (not a small feat to achieve these days). So it’s certainly worth a watch.

As far as the scripting issue goes, I won’t be surprised if this is another of those “scripted” controversies to keep the sales registers ticking. It works perfectly for both sides. As Chetan hints in his blog “Go watch the movie and then read the novel. Then decide”.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Indian system - what are we showcasing to the world?

Year 2009 is coming to a close and for we Indians its closing with a BANG (quite literally). No I am not talking about the stock movements or the GDP growths or Industrial output figures etc etc.

I am talking of some shameful and disgraceful cases that have come to limelight at the fag end of this year. All these cases should force us to sit back and take notice of how things have been working in India. What is the kind of image we would like to project to the world?

The first one is Mr. Ajmal Kasab. This guy was caught on television, witnessed by many traumatized people killing so many innocents. It has been more than a year since this incident happened. The trial has lasted for so many months costing we tax payers more than Rs 30 Crores. He admitted his guilt in court in front of the judges. But no, we are a “democratic” law abiding nation that treats our prisoners really very well. Getting frustrated of the never ending case, this guy starts behaving mischievously. He first retracts his admission. Then he mentioned he is an Indian citizen caught by the police at least 20 days prior to the incident. He had come to Mumbai to become an actor and he resembles the terrorist in the pictures. Way to go buddy. You have now found out how Indian legal system can be played with. At this rate, the case can go on and on and on. And we tax payers will continue to foot your free accommodation and lunches as a privileged guest in our Incredible India.

Moving on is Mr N D Tiwari. We all had heard of stories of politicians and celebrities caught in compromising positions across the globe. But this is first instance that came to light in Indian politics (though I am very sure others are just as well hidden). That ways, Mr Tiwari, you should get the pole position. An 86 years old so-called freedom fighter is caught on camera. But still he has the guts to say that it’s not him. He has done nothing wrong and his entire life has been dedicated to the service of nation. Yes sir, you have been servicing the nation very well and I am again sure that it’s just a matter of days when this story will die like many other stories in the past and you might well be re-instated as the governor of some other state to continue your dedicated service.

Last and to top both of above is the case of Ruchika Girotra and the accused SPS Rathore (a high-ranking police officer having been given some of the highest honors in police service). I don’t even have to write any details on this topic because it’s getting sufficient media coverage already.
But just look at the way our legal system works. After 19 years of incident, 16 years post death of victim, the accused gets convicted for a 6 months sentence only to be released on bail the very next day at a bail of Rs 1000. (yes you hear it right… that’s Rs 1000 which is not even considered a respectable bribe these days). He comes out smiling and says that he will appeal back.

All these cases might not be remembered while I write my blog at the end of next year. Most of the people shouting, screaming and protesting at these cases including me will very soon forget everything. Well, we have very short memories not to mention that we have umpteen fresh cases coming up every month to keep us engaged. So who is bothered?

Way to go 2009!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Rocket Singh....

This might not be the best of this year’s movies. Certain parts get boring and dull, they get unreal sometimes but inspite of all this, it is still worth a watch. The simple reason being it’s different.
So far I have not come across a movie being made on this subject. OK… I might be a bit biased. A salesperson myself, the movie does tend to engage me more than may be some other professionals. But the same reason makes the movie unreal to me as well.


So having given the verdict first, what is that I liked and disliked in the movie?
First is the subject. I don’t recollect movies been made on a salesperson in a tough hardware environment. Without going in too much about the business and profession, the movie is still able to capture the subtle nuances and challenges very well.

Second is the acting department. I suppose Ranbir has had a great year in 2009. After Wake up Sid and Ajab Prem, he once again comes across as a natural actor. All these movies have been aptly written keeping him in mind. His freshness, sometimes dumbness gives a nice feel to the movie. Though he doesn’t look like a typical Sardar. That ways, his grandpa played by Prem Chopra takes full marks.

All other actors are new but they still deliver excellent performance for their roles. Gauhar Khan (another model turned actor) is promising in her debut. Shahzahn (currently her fame is Alyqusee Padamsee and Sharon Prabhakar’s daughter) looks pretty and her miniscule role only expects that from her. I am not aware of names of other actors but as I said earlier they all fit into their respective roles.

Shimit Amin (who had earlier shot to fame with his directorial debut Chak De… ) once again proves that a good movie doesn’t need known faces to make it run. It’s created at a meager budget of Rs 5 Crores but still doesn’t look like the movie has made any compromises.

Interesting aspect of the movie is its Music. While the movie had possibilities of songs of every kind (drama, romance, revenge etc etc..), can you believe the movie doesn’t have a single song and yet you don’t miss them. The background number is just sufficient to keep the rhythms and notes alive.

Now what went wrong…As I started, the movie gets a bit unreal sometimes…Its hard to imagine that a person runs an independent company right under the nose of another company which is small and tightly managed. The movie also exaggerates certain aspects in the beginning which I will not like to disclose as I run the risk of disclosing the storyline.

So overall, you can go for the movie. Anyways there are not too many good movies in theaters these days… Enjoy!

By the way, after Ajab Prem, I did see a couple of movies but none were worthy enough to write a review. To top that list will be Kurbaan which was an ultimate disappointment and a waste of money. Guess, Karan should stick to his larger than life family and dreamy dramas.