Showing posts with label Cinema. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cinema. Show all posts

Lucia

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , | Posted on Monday, September 23, 2013

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Dir: Pawan Kumar
Cast: Neenasam Satish, Shruti Hariharan, Achyut Rao

The movie begins with a voice reciting 'nee maayeyoLago, ninnoLu maayeyo (are you part of the illusion or is illusion a part of you)?' - a famous devotional song by Kanakadasa. The protagonist is Nikki, who calls himself just another sheep out of 90 lakh people in Bangalore (he says he is from Chikkanaayakana doDDi... Got the pun?). Nikki does the odd job of a torch shiner in a debt struck talkies - it's a thankless job where everyone is led to their respective seats in the darkness but the torchman remains faceless and anonymous. Life is pretty much smooth going for Nikki except that he suffers from insomnia. A chance encounter with a 'jadi booti vaid' gets him Lucia - the pills which not only gets him sufficient sleep but also makes him hallucinate and live his wishful life in dreams. The first night of taking Lucia, in Nikki's dreams, he has become a reputed movie star. His coveted life in dreams is shown in B&W but his struggling reality in color (with a purpose to be revealed at the end). To Nikki's amazement, the characters in his dreams are the manifestations of the people around him in reality. His theater owner Shankranna is his manager in dreams, the police who played a prank in real life is actually a much obedient cop who protects him in his dreams, his love interest - the pizza shop girl of real life is a wanna be heroine in his dreams, a dangerous money lender is an extortion caller in his dreams. Night after night and pills after pills, the movie progresses with his dreams and real life in parallel. There is professional jealousy, arrogance, detachment and alienation in dreams but a struggle, contentment and innocence in his real life.



It's time when it's time! His dreams and reality crash into each other and the audience are brought down with a thud. How real were his dreams or how dreamy was his reality? Or was it magical realism? (I thought 10 times before using this word. The word reminds me of a famous Japanese writer whose stories I never understood but bothered me for weeks after reading them). Was it insomnia? Or was it a fair dose of philosophy? Why were his dreams B&W, why was his real life colorful? Finally who is real? Nikki the torchshiner or Nikki the actor?  With a fair amount of topics like Euthanasia, the police investigation and the science behind hallucination thrown in, the director holds together a magnificently creative concept till the end (the effective background score in the climax which raised my heartbeats exponentially is worth mentioning).

One of the very few complaints I had was, wish it was shorter by 10-15 mins. It could have been crisper. The other complaint being, the heroine’s role could have been etched out better.


Hail Pawan!! His first movie Life-u IshTene was much loved, Lucia is a movie to remember for many years to come in Kannada! Don’t be surprised if a movie buff tags Lucia along with The Machinist, The Butterfly Effect and The Inception! When I say that, I am not comparing the grandeur of the making but the creative quotient of the script!! Go, watch it... Its with English subtitles too.

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , , | Posted on Saturday, July 20, 2013

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For me, the movie was a well laid argument of Wings vs Roots, though with a convenient solution to it. Kabir (Ranbir) is a dreamer who dreams to visit thousands of beautiful cities across the globe. Maintains a scrapbook with each page dedicated to the destinations he plans to visit. He is ready to live a life of a nomad with no attachment and commitment to his family. The movie is his journey to places and how he struggles to stay grounded. Aditi (Kalki), though a boisterous lass in Kabir's gang - is the first one in their gang who understands the needs to adapt to the conformities of the world. Avi (Aditya Roy Kapur), a carefree boy who pretty much remains glued to his addictions to liquor and gambling till the end. Naina (Deepika), who falls for Kabir in their Manali trek very early in the movie, is a nerdy medical student (yes, Deepika could look nerdy :-p) who is little possessed by the idea of being the best in everything she does from studies to reaching the summit in their trekking to her dance in the sangeet party. She is the one who keeps Kabir rooted too, well.. Almost.

At the end of the Manali trek of these four, Avi gets to know that Kabir is all set to take off to foreign shores for his studies. Though Avi and Aditi feel little betrayed that their friend hid the news from them, Kabir tells them that he wanted to surprise them on the last day of the trek. Avi and Aditi come to terms that they had to part ways at any point soon due to their career options and stuff, Naina returns heartbroken from the trek. 

Years pass on and we are shown Kabir with cameras in exotic cities around the globe as part of some travel show, living his dream. With not much whereabouts of the exact locations he is in, I loved the brief disconnect I had with Kabir during this time in the movie. I believe that was an intentional one by the director to make us feel what his friends and family feel for him.

Eight years later, when Aditi decides to marry a rich but a nice man (Kunal Roy Kapur), it is the time for reunion of the four. Avi's addiction to liquor and gambling has grown, Naina is still in love with Kabir (thank God she is not married to one of Rahul Khannas or Abhishek Bachchans or such cameos), Aditi is pretty much sure of her decision to lead her life with her husband, having covered many of the places in his wish list - at the cost of missing his dad's funeral and missing his freinds - Kabir is still in love with the nomadic life. In the fun and frolic of the grand wedding, Naina makes Kabir understand how important it is to slow down and enjoy the present moment than to rush towards meaningless goals. She also confesses to Kabir that she always loved him. Guilt struck for not seeing his dad for the last ever time and realizing what he had missed in life, the man who always craved for the speed and rush ironically yearns to stay in Naina's embrace for few seconds. Kabir realizes pretty much that, he has been the man who was everywhere but ended up being nowhere. 

When we feel Kabir is going to 'settle down' finally, his visit to his home where his widowed step-mother lives, turns things upside down. Kabir confesses how guilty he is for his deeds but, his step mother gives a nod for his dream quest, saying that’s what made his father proud of him always. That gives a boost to Kabir's wander lust again and now he plans for his future in remaining destinations on his scrapbook but, this time with his lady Deepika beside him. Had it been his real mother, would she have been so forgiving when her own son did not turn up for his father’s funeral? I believe the answer is NO. That must be the reason to have the character of a step-mom for Kabir. Moreover, would Kabir have continued his wanderlust after marriage with Naina? What if Naina was a career oriented girl? These are the reasons, I said the argument ends with an easy and impractical solution.


I have been a big fan of Ranbir, he plays these roles with superb ease. I liked Farookh Sheikh in the role of Kabir’s father too. It feels so good to see these yesteryear actors in pivotal roles. If you are ready to bear the heroines and some bimbettes in designer clothes in Manali trek, and a gracious but unwanted cameo by Madhuri and few minute necessary evils of a commercial cinema – it’s a nice watch…

It's not funny

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , | Posted on Saturday, June 29, 2013

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When TOI had this ad of Chennai Express on the front page some time back, with SRK and Deepika in 'South Indian costume' and dark, fat lungi clad goons in the background, I said to myself  'oh no, not again'. Does the cultural stereotypes in films/ads/reality shows/daily soaps bother me? Yes, it bothers me, but as equally as any other stereotypes.

Talking about the cultural stereotypes - it equally bothers me when Hindi films have actors talking with 'that' accent when they are playing the roles of south Indians as much as a Nepali is shown as goorkha as much as a Punjabi is shown as loud and always ready-to-dance-for-a-bhangra beat or as much as a stingy Gujarati or as much as a Rasagulla and Mishti Doi craving Bengali. If these are inter-state portrayals, coming to Kannada movie, why does an old Coorgie gentleman always have to be a rifle wielding ex-army personnel with handle bar moustache and a Mangalorean has to start every sentence with 'enta maraya, manDe bechcha aagide' (an idiom in coastal Karnataka to say one is tensed) and a Uttara Karnataka guy always has to spout cuss words.

Though I never consider Rohit Shetty a 'thinking film maker', but these stereotypes irk a little when you see too much of them all around. Agree, comedy sprouts from exaggeration and the intention of many of these gags is to be funny, but these gags misfire when the exaggeration is remotely authentic and characters become mere caricatures. I know jokes are subjective, but for me it stops getting funny when the undertone is 'you are like this only' and becomes utterly funny when the undertone is 'we are like this only'. I hope that distinction summarizes what I find funny and what I find offensive. Now is the tricky question of who are 'we' and who are 'they' rather more precisely, when do 'they' become 'we' and ‘they’ fail to become ‘we’. The simplest answer I would like to give is - it's 'we' when we embrace all idiosyncrasies of all the languages and cultures across the length and breadth of India and make fun of 'our own' ethos. A good friend of mine – forget any effort to learn Kannada – he cannot even distinguish between Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam even after staying in many southern states for more than 10 years. Mind you, there is a clear distinction between ignorance and reluctance. This guy is plain reluctant. Isn't that a complete failure to understand Indianness and a missed opportunity to become 'we'? 

Enough of defining the offensive cultural gags. Let me also mention few nice playful characters where the director knew the nuances of the cultural barriers and successfully treads the tight rope walk.

1. The cultural clash of the Punjabi family and the Bong family in Vicky Donor. I found it funnier when a Punjabi friend of mine explained me some of the intricacies of the dialogues and the gestures.

2. The role of protagonist’s father ably played by Sundar Raj in the Kannada movie Pancharangi. Sundar Raj was the perfect middle class English loving Brahmin uncle, whose use of Kanglish and mannerisms are just too funny. We friends laugh our hearts out how many ever times we see that movie.


These are the ways to be funny without offending any one’s sentiments. I wish all the film makers were this sensible…

PS: Oh! by the way, read this post by one of my favorite film critic Bharadwaj Rangan which inspired me to scribble some of my thoughts on this topic.

Aashiqui poster and the sharing of an ice cream!

Posted by Anantha | Posted in | Posted on Friday, April 19, 2013

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The promos of Ashiqui-2 (found the song ‘Tum hi ho’ quite nice) on music channels – particularly the kissing scene under the leather jacket – reminds me of Aashiqui. I think I was in 2nd or 3rd standard when it was released. The songs were a rage then. For few more years after the movie release, the letter J was reserved for ‘Jaane jigar jaane man’ and M was for ‘Main duniya bhula doonga/doongi’ every time we played antakshari J We used to go to an aunt’s house which was 5-6 kms away from our home, to watch the movie on Doordarshan every Sunday evening. Those were the days (aah... the nostalgia) when families used to visit relative’s homes to watch tv, as not everyone owned a tv those days. OK, I will keep the nostalgic TV watching episodes for some other post and some other time. My aunt’s college going children used to borrow video cassettes and play some new movies on their VCR. One Sunday evening when the movie on DD was not so great (or whatever was the reason), my cousins decided to play Aashiqui video cassette. Curious about the way VCR used to gulp a video cassette, I always used to stand close to my cousins who used to operate the VCR with great pride. My cousin gave me the video cassette cover to hold while he was inserting the cassette into the VCR. Seeing the picture on the cover, I asked him “What are they doing under the jacket? Are they sharing an ice cream and hiding under the jacket so that their moms do not catch them?” My cousins and the people who were waiting for the movie to start were in splits listening to my question. Controlling his laughter, my cousin had said, “Yes, they are sharing an ice cream”. Aashiqui-2 reminded me of my innocent question J I remember we all loved Aashiqui then. Deadpan acting of Rahul Roy and Anu Agarwal bothered us the least, everyone loved the music and hence the movie. Though I have faint memories of the plot of Aashiqui, one other thing I remember is the song ‘Too meri zindagi hain...’ A small girl used to dance to the song sung by her father (I suppose)   showing her midriff on a stranded street on a cold night under the balcony of Rahul Roy’s house. I used to feel really bad for that girl. 
Silly 90s movies and how funny we find it now. Though I don’t have any expectations from Aashiqui-2, but nice it reminded me of my childhood and my innocent question.

Of styles and mannerisms...

Posted by Anantha | Posted in | Posted on Saturday, July 21, 2012

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Of all the news articles I have read about Rajesh Khanna recently, Avijit Ghosh's article in TOI seemed very candid. Talking about Rajesh Khanna's post glory days - Avijit says, "Rajesh Khanna's acting was defined by style. But in his later years, the style degenerated into a bundle of mannerisms. Like Dev Anand, Rajesh Khanna too became his own parody".

I feel that is true with most the actors who were once crowned as superstars in Indian Cinema. Uff... the perils of stardom. In an effort to create their own niche, they create their own style. Their fans crave more of it. Then these styles and mannerisms sneak awkwardly into every character and every scene they play. While watching some old movies I have always sat back and said - 'Hey, wait.... there is too much of Rajesh Khanna/Dev Anand/Dilip Kumar/Shammi Kapoor in this character.. where is Gopal or Shyam or Raju in this!!'. 

With multitude of stories being told and diverse characters etched out, I am glad many of current actors are not getting repetitive. I am glad that presently in Hindi Cinema, there is no scope for an actor to become a superstar! Thanks to the new breed of screen writers and directors for that. Kudos to the courage of the actors too.

An interesting categorization

Posted by Anantha | Posted in | Posted on Monday, October 04, 2010

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While watching a special report on the South Indian cinema in CNN IBN recently, an interesting quote by former underworld don, currently an editor and a film maker Agni Shridhar caught my attention. When the talk was about the type of movies and it’s categorization, instead of the stale terms like art, commercial, parallel etc, Agni Shridhar says, "For me, there are only two types of cinema. One which makes you remember things and the other which makes you forget things"

Now, that’s a very very interesting and profound saying. I leave that to you for your understanding...

Alex and Emma - Another enjoyable romantic comedy

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , , | Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010

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Whether it is after a hard day's work or on a lazy Sunday afternoon or when I am feeling low, good romantic comedies always work for me. I know no better way to pep myself up. A light plot, an apt cast, cutesy scenes and dialogues sprinkled with humor that does not fail to bring a smile on your lips. And when you are walking alone down the road, sitting alone at home doing nothing or when you are walking up the stairs of your office, you remember those scenes, think how silly yet cute were they and bring a smile on your lips again unmindful of the world around you.

I saw one such movie few days back. Was bored to hit the sack and started surfing TV. Sony Pix was airing Alex and Emma, starring Luke Wilson and Kate Hudson. The movie is directed by Rob Reiner, of When Harry Met Sally..., A Few Good Men and The Bucket List fame. The movie is about an author Alex, played by Luke Wilson who is in need to churn out a novel to repay his debt to Cuban mafia within 30 days. Having got his laptop destroyed, he hires a stenographer Emma, played by Kate Hudson. Alex with a perfect author's mindset and Emma with a mind of a not so keen literary enthusiast, give us the viewers some real funny moments through out the movie.

The movie also shows us a parallel narration of the fictitious plot set in some unmentioned era on some imaginary island, where Luke Wilson himself plays the role of the protagonist and Kate Hudson plays the role of a nanny. It is fun to see the nanny changing from Swedish, to English, to Spanish, and finally as Anna, an American - all played by Kate Hudson herself, as Alex changes the nationality of the nanny in his novel as per the needs of the story. Predictably, Alex and Emma fall in love during this transcription process towards the end of the movie. A hitch is introduced to the storyline with characters in Alex's novel being inspired from his past experiences that make Emma doubt Alex's love for her. But in the end, the differences vanish and movie ends with Alex and Emma locking their lips..

A perfect movie for a boring Sunday afternoon..

Best and worst Hindi movies of 2009

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Posted on Friday, January 15, 2010

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In 2009, I have watched 20 movies in theater (to be precise 13 Hindi, 4 Kannada and 3 English). That's more than 1.5 movie per month on an average. That is really a huge amount of time and money I have spent for movies in theater compared to any other year in the past. Though I usually post the reco/review of a movie I have watched, I could not do it for all the good/bad/worse movies I watched in 2009. As the year 2009 has ended, here is my pick of some best and worst movies of the year. I have rated them purely on the basis of how much I liked or hated sitting through those movies, not bothering about their Box Office collections.

Best 5 Hindi movies
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5. Luck by Chance
Dir: Zoya Akthar
* cast: Farhaan Akthar, Konkana Sen Sharma, Rishi Kapoor and a whole bunch of cameos
A classic cover drive to the fence off the first ball by Zoya!
This is a story very very well told about a struggling actor becoming successful in his career. His talent combined with his street-smartness and also luck playing a major role in his success, but in the bargain he loses his girlfriend who had supported him in his tough times. The movie seriously makes us ponder over some of the important questions like, 'what is success?', 'Is is OK to compromise on some values to achieve it?', 'What role does luck play in our lives?', 'Does always a street smart opportunistic guy outsmarts the hardworking guys in the race of life?' etc etc. All this with a mockery of the stereotypes in Bollywood to make you LOL, the movie is a great watch. Though Farhan Akthar gets pretty much predictable with his expressions, but suits best for the role of Vikram (This role landed in Farhan's kitty after most of the Bollywood biggies declined it). Konkana Sen Sharma is just brilliant and I have no second thoughts to say she is the best actress we have in Bollywood today.

Scene to watch out for:
Check out the scene where Isha Shervani tries to seduce Farhan in his hotel room. I call this a sheer act of brilliance by Zoya to think of such a scene where Isha had to be shown with a childish charm but at the same time she had to be portrayed that she is not as dumb as she looks.


4. Dev-D
Dir: Anurag Kashyap
* cast: Abhay Deol, Mahi Gill, Kalki Koechlin
What initially was a storyline proposed by Abhay Deol to Anurag Kashyap about a boy falling in love with a stripper in LA was later groomed into a totally different and very bold version of Devdas, compared to all the other adaptations of Saratchandra Chattopadhyay's novel. Shifting the locale of a Bengali Brahmin, Devdas Mukherjee of 1900s to a spoilt Punjabi brat, Devender Singh Dhillon of the modern times is really commendable. Comprehending to the complex relationship Dev shares with Parminder and Chanda, movie is quite dark and layered and also abstract in many places.

Song to check out:
No... not emosanal atyaachaar, Im tired of it. Listen to 'Payaliya..' sung by one named Shruthi Pathak. I liked her husky voice as much as the song.


3. Kaminey
Dir: Vishal Bharadwaj
* cast: Shahid, Priyanka
I am not really sure if Vishal Bharadwaj has consciously adapated Guy Ritchie or Torantino's style of movie making in Kaminey. But what I am really sure about is, Vishal Bharadwaj is one of the best directors in the industry today.
The story is about twin brothers Guddu, a stutterer and Charlie, a lisp, who would be living their own happy lives in Mumbai with former working in an NGO which fights against AIDS and latter working as a horse race bookie until one day when fate decides to intertwine their lives with a regionalist politician, two police cops, two African drug peddlers, an Indian drug lord and 3 Bengali brothers! Shahid, for me was good in playing both the roles, but was not excellent. Priyanka Chopra was superb as Sweetie. Tenzing Nima as Tashi and Amol Gupte as Bhope Bhau are surprisingly brilliant. The movie has a great music score composed by Vishal Bharadwaj himself.

Dance step to check out for:
In the song Raat ke dhaayi baje, check out Priyanka in typical Maratha bridal green saree doing 'that particular step'. U know what I mean.. :)


2. Wake Up Sid
Dir: Ayan Mukerji
* cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Konkana Sen Sharma
Another promising director forays into Bollywood! The story of a slacker was never told so well before. Yes, we had Lakshya, but I felt Wake Up Sid is way better. A perfect casting of Ranbir as a slacker, Konkana as a strong headed career oriented girl living with her own petty insecurities, Supriya Pathak as a doting mother who tries hard to bond with her son by speaking in faulty English, Anupam Kher as a caring but concerned father - the casting could not have been better. With many of the nuances of human behaviour and relationships well depicted, I liked this movie a lot. A last word on Ranbir, I was surprised to see him slipping into the skin of Sid so well and with such an ease.

Song to check out for:
No doubt 'Iktara..' sung by Kavita Seth is brilliant, but the Punjabi male version of the same song sung by Tochi Raina is utterly soulful.


1. 3 Idiots
Dir: Rajkumar Hirani
* cast: Aamir Khan, Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Boman Irani
I rate this movie the best of 2009 not because movie is flawless, not because there are no unquestionable scenes but for entertaining me and indulging me into the movie for every minute of it. I think Raju Hirani has mastered the art of preparing a heady concoction for any screenplay - with great concept and a message to convey, with enough twists, some great lump in throat moments, superb humour, some special 'Hirani Tadka' and last but not the least, a consistent 'flow' of the story. 40+ year old Aamir has adapted some mannerisms to slip into the body of an engineering student, but according to me Boman Irani beats Aamir in this area. Boman was exceptional as Dr Asthana in Munnabhai and he matches that performance here as Viru Sahastrabuddhe!

Accent to check out for:
Every word Chatur Ramalingam utters in his Uganda born, Pondicherry brought up accent is hilarious.

The movies that deserve a special mention are: Paa, Gulaal, Love Aaj Kal
The movie that I missed watching: Rocket Singh


After the best, now comes the turn of the worst. Wherein the above movies were the best of 2009, the below are the worst among the 13 Hindi movies I saw. There were many other worst movies that were made to torture the audience, but these are the tortures I went through.

Worst 3 Hindi movies
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3. All The Best
Dir: Rohit Shetty
* cast: Ajay Devgan, Sanjay Dutt, Fardeen Khan
First of all stop calling Rohit Shetty a new master of comedy. Only Golmal was his best (that too was a remake of a Malayalam movie), Golmal Returns was miserable and then All the best is a classic torture. Making a comedy movie is the most difficult thing, watch this movie to see how director and actors fail to make you laugh.


2. Wanted
Dir: Prabhudeva
* cast: Salman Khan and Ayesha Takia
I have said enough about this movie here.


1. London Dreams
Dir: Vipul Shah
* cast: Ajay Devgan, Salman Khan, Asin
Why the hell this movie is so silly!?! Not a single sequence made any sense to me. The so called friendship between Salman and Ajay looks so synthetic, the so called ego clash between them looks funny!, Ajay introducing Salman to drugs and Salman coming out of the habit is hilarious!!, the gem of all this is Asin as a 'dancer' in a Rockband!!!

Wanted - No! this was never wanted and will never be!!

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , , | Posted on Tuesday, September 22, 2009

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Friends,

If you have read any of the movie reviews in my blog previously, there is one thing in common with all of them - all the movie reviews are my movie reco's to you guys. I've never wasted my time and energy in writing a review for a movie which is bad/worse according to me. But this is going to be an exception! I am writing this, because I felt there is no better way to vent my anger out!!

Was forced to watch this movie last evening. As every one knows, Prabhudeva forays into directing Hindi movie this time with a remake of smash hit movie Pokiri(Telugu) originally directed by Puri Jagannath.

  • When Murugadoss remade Ghajini in Hindi, though the plot of the movie was very ordinary, hero seeking revenge for his GF's death, but the 'gimmick' of anterograde amnesia + the greatly talented Aamir Khan carrying the weight of the whole movie on his newly built bod turned the movie into a run away success. But what is Wanted offering us..?
  • Let me say, I have not watched both Telugu and Tamil Pokiri's, even after many of my friends insisted. So I do not know how good/bad they were (after all, a hit movie need not be a good movie and vice versa) and I can not even comment whether it was a bad 'transliteration' that made Wanted look so bad.
  • Wanted's plot would have been apt in the 1970s era. It is so overused, lackluster thing now.
  • Salman yet again proves he is a bad actor. The very few expressions on Salman's face have never failed to confuse me. I always think, what does this expression mean..? Is he worried about some thing? Or is he just making faces? Or is he thinking how to emote this one? Or is he trying to smile while dealing with some problem in his stomach?
  • There is always so much of Salman Khan the star, his attitude, his so called style in all his characters that whether it is Radhe or Prem or Suraj or Aman or what ever, he looks the same.
  • There are so many scenes in the movie that look so 'south', I can not digest them in a Hindi movie.
  • I agree Prabhudeva is a good dancer, but he is that bad a choreographer.
  • There is a repetitive dream sequence in the first half of the movie - whenever Salman sees Ayesha, he becomes Salim and Ayesha becomes Anarkali and 'Jab pyaar kiya tho darna kya' runs in the background. In all these sequences, Salman gives a priceless expression of not-knowing-what-to-do. I probably had the same expression on my face in all those scenes and many other so called comedy scenes.
  • Why are there so many songs in the movie? Why Sajid-Wajid again..??
  • I congratulate Prakash Raj on winning the Best Actor award, but I humbly ask him, why did he do this role of Ghani Bhai? I've seen Prakash Rai doing this weird villain role in so many Tamil and Telugu films; I can not stand him doing the same thing again.

The Hindi movie scripts are much more intelligent and complex these days catering to the equally demanding audience, Prabhudeva should get updated before he even thinks of his next Hindi movie.

Love Aaj Kal - not a great work of Imtiaz Ali

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , , , , , , | Posted on Thursday, September 10, 2009

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As evident from the title of the movie, it is an attempt to juxtapose the 'love of yesteryears'(of 60s to be precise) with today's 'modern love'. This is a comparison of the love as an emotion and as an expression and how it has changed during the course of time. There are two story lines of the couples, Veer and Herleen (Saif and debutant Brazilian model Giselli Monteiro) and Jai and Mira (Saif again and Deepika). The love story of Veer and Harleen is simple, cute and innocent and touches the heart. They hardly talk to each other throughout the movie but convey a lot through their silence. Where as in the story of Jai and Mira, they are the perfect representatives of today's Gen-Y (or Z or what ever) world. They love by mind and not by heart (according to Rishi Kapoor who plays the older Veer so adorably), who choose career over love, who throw a party to their friends on their break-up, who are spoilt by choices, who are more 'practical' than their previous generations. Now that's quite a lot of things to tell in the story of just over 2 hours. Though Imtiaz was successful in narrating the story of Veer and Harleen (quite a simple and easy job though), he seems to have lost grip in telling the story of Jai and Mira. The love story of a pair which is torn between the decisions made by head over heart has not come so endearing. The attempt to show the characters of Jai and Mira as confused pair, yet they themselves thinking that they are very firm about their decisions taken in life is not successful.
That does not mean the movie is not good, it is certainly a good movie, but not to the standards set by the same director in his earlier movies like Jab We Met and Socha Na Tha. Love Aaj Kal has it's moments, is funny in parts, is touching in few scenes. As a matter of fact, my favourite scene in the movie is the one in which Harleen brings a cuppa chai hiding behind her dupaTTa to Veer who would have travelled all the way from Delhi to Calcutta just to have a glimpse of her. The other one being Jai just making it to the airport to bid farewell to Mira.
I liked Saif more as Veer than as Jai. Saif seems to have done some homework in bringing across the body language and gesticulations of a Punjabi munda of 60s and it has worked very well. He has done pretty decent job as Jai too. Deepika looks stunning in few scenes. Not sure if I am the only one who is having problems her dialogue delivery. I feel it is some what not perfect, not right. But if we have lived with two left feet of Saif all these years of his acting career, who seems to have no interest in improving his dancing skills, then Deepika is pardonable. Just check Saif struggling to shake his hip in the song 'Twist.. twist'. The credit of managing Giselli Monteiro as Harleen by giving her hardly any dialogues should go to Imtiaz. Rishi Kapoor as older Veer is simply superb. Of all the songs by Pritam, I liked 'Chor Baazaari' sung by Neeraj Sridhar, Sunidhi and 'Aj din..' sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.
Overall, the movie is good, but not great. Love Aaj Kal looks like the best work of any debutant director from Yashraj Banner, the movie seriously lacks the spark of Imtiaz Ali.

Husbands and Wives play Dil Kabaddi

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , , , , , , , | Posted on Thursday, April 23, 2009

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Saw Dil KabaDDi few days back; thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought it was the best 'Romantic Adult Comedy' I have seen in Hindi. I found the screenplay fresh, neat narration, excellent pool of talented actors and hilarious dialogues, only to realize later when Saravanan pointed out that Dil KabaDDi is blatantly ripped off from Woody Allen’s Husbands and Wives. I watched Husbands and Wives the very next day. I was shocked. Dil KabaDDi is almost a Hindi translation of HAW. Dialogue writer of DK has shown his credibility in English to Hindi translation. Or did he just get the Hindi subtitles of HAW and provided a printout of the same to the actors while acting/rehearsing? One could notice the finger count of differences between the two movies.

Having said that I would also like to say it is a very rare thing to happen for a ripped-off movie to come out more enjoyable than the original! DK is one such movie!!

Husbands and Wives
Dir: Woody Allen
Cast: Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Sydney Pollack and Judy Davis

This is the first Woody Allen movie I have seen. After reading/hearing a lot about him, I witnessed his style of film making in HAW. In the beginning of the movie, many of the scenes are long shots, actors speaking to each other for long without breaking, cinematographer moving along with the characters; My eyes usually take time to get adjusted to the camera, when it is moving between the characters, dodging the shoulders and heads of actors (if they are also moving along the camera), maneuvering not to hit the static objects in the scene. But at the same time it gives an impression to the audience as if they are dropped right in between the characters, which is very nice.

It revolves around 2 couples, Gabe, Judie and Jack, Sally. The story revolves around infidelity, adultery and about their unsure decisions they take in life, letting them split, re-unite, live apart, find another companion etc. Though it is being categorized as a comedy movie, I hardly smiled at any of the (if any) jokes in the movie. May be I am not of the types who laughs for Woody Allen type of jokes.

I also felt, all the lead actors were too old to deal with these marital problems; well that’s purely my personal opinion.


Dil Kabaddi
Dir: Anil Senior
Cast: Irrfan Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma and Rahul Bose

Dil Kabaddi opens with one of my favorite scenes in the movie. Irrfan starts with a monologue on love. Speaking about to what extent people go crazy for love, he continues, "boss, bees saal tak ek hi building ko banwaana koi mazaak kaam nahin hain, woh bhi ek hi color main.. banaane ke liye patience chaahiye. Shah Jahan bawra nahin ho gaya tha buddy.. marble pe marble kharch kar daala, kaay ke liye..? true love, sachcha pyaar.. ruh se ruh ka milan... wahh.. but then... times changed... ". Irrfan’s voice gets sidelined in the noise of ringing phones.. sound of horn, vehicular movement, traffic chaos.

Samit played by Irrfan is an on-the-edge-eccentric kind of guy, who thinks it is style to wear sun glasses while driving the car in the night. Who wears silver grayish tie for a bright pink+blue striped formal shirts, has a penchant for kinky sex, also thinks his body-brain balance is screwed up because he is sex starved. Check out another gem of a dialogue by Samit, "bed room ke under kya hota hain usse romance ka kya lena dena... woh bhi husband and wife ke beech main….. husbands and wives are beyond romance”. Well, that's Samit for you :) Add to this, the unique dialogue delivery style, his mumbles, deliberate repetition of words, that makes Irrfan Khan THE BEST guy to play the role of Samit.

Soha Ali Khan is surprisingly refreshing in the role of Mita (Irrfan’s wife). Though Irrfan and Soha look very odd as a pair, but that is the exact requirement of the script to have a couple who are not so alike, who make an odd pair. The other couple, played by Konkona and Rahul Bose suit the role of Rishi and Simi at their best. Payal Rohatgi has overplayed the role as a dumb bimbette. Though Rahul Khanna has nothing much to do, has done justice to the role.

Even after copying scene to scene from HAW, the director of DK, Anil Senior deserves a mention for the portrayal of subtle man-woman relationships (in the very few original scenes of the movie). In both the movies, a narrator guy keeps questioning / prodding the characters to speak out to the camera. No better way to spill out the insecurities, idiosyncrasies and confusions about the relationships of the characters than this. I enjoyed it.

Though portraying all the men as creatures who think between their legs is questionable, I would recommend this movie to all the people who love laughing on this vice of men.

Movie mania

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Posted on Friday, February 20, 2009

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Im on a movie watching spree like never before. To be precise I have watched 13 movies in last 1 month!! I know there are movie maniacs out there who watch a movie every day, but 13 in 30 days is still a whopping number for me. I am impatient to write a review/comment on each one of them in separate posts, though some of them deserve at least a post on them.

So I here I write few lines about those movies.

Slumdog Millionaire
Dir: Danny Boyle
Cast: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto
Much has been written and discussed about this movie. Keeping aside the flaws; it is a very good entertainer. Kudos to Simon Beaufoy for an excellent adaptation of the novel by Vikas Swarup. I read the book, Q and A too which is not as good as the movie.
The disgusting cesspit scene of the movie tops my list of 'Most disgusting scenes ever in cinema'. Guess the 2nd and 3rd in the list, they are from the movie, Trainspotting again by Danny Boyle!! 2nd best being a stupored lead actor defecating on the bed in his GF's house, 3rd being Ewan McGregor diving in to the commode of the filthiest toilet of Scotland. But, however disgusting the scenes might be, I still love Danny Boyle's movies! :)

Lake House
Dir: Alejandro Agresti
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Keanu Reeves
Watched it after Ethapay reco'd this to me. A nice romantic story with a mysterious time difference of 2 years that separates the lead actors. Liked it in parts. Watchable for the very idea of the screenplay.

Raaz – The mystery continues
Dir: Mohit Suri
Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Kangana Ranaut, Adhyayan Suman
I watched this in theatre. Quite gripping and scary too in places.

Salaam Bombay!
Dir: Mira Nair
I had not commented when people said Salaam Bombay is the best portrayal of Indian slums and a better movie than Slumdog. Watched it just for the sake of it. Believe me, I could not tolerate the movie for more than 45 minutes from its beginning. I know the lead actors are kids from slums, but I simply could not feel empathy for the characters who just can not emote a single scene well. It just does not bother me when a character in the movie is dying in boiling oil in hell with an eternal wooden expression on their face. No special accolades for then not so established actors like Nana Patekar, Irfan Khan and Raghvir Yadav too.

It might be considered a good documentary in my opinion. IMHO, Slumdog is a way better movie, technically, screenplay wise, direction wise, cast wise and background score wise. I do not wanna praise Salaam Bombay just because Mira Nair is Indian.

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Before the rains
Dir: Santosh Sivan
Cast: Linus Roache, Rahul Bose, Nandita Das
This is an Indo-British collaboration. I am not sure whether this movie got released in India or not. Picked this one up only because of Santhosh Sivan and the movie did not disappoint me at all. The movie is 'painted' on the canvas of Kerala by Sivan. Neat performances by all the lead actors and an awesome handling of the subject by Sivan. Watch it. 

Wrestler
Dir: Darren Aronofsky
Cast: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei
This is one of the best movies I have seen in recent times. Thanks to Ashwin for giving me the DVD. I dint know who Mickey Rourke was until I saw this movie and now he is there right on top of my favourite actors list. I simply loved his performance in this movie. I hope he wins Best Actor award in this year's Oscars (Sean Penn for Milk will be a strong contender too).

The story of Wrestler is about Randy 'The Ram' Robinson, a wrestler in the descent of his glorious years in the ring. He is old now, his ageing body will no more bear steroids and sustain on pain killers, he has a daughter who lives apart and hates him immensely and he does not know any thing but wrestling for his livelihood. He often visits a strip club and shares his thoughts and emotionally connects to a middle aged stripper named Casidy (Marisa Tomei). Casidy is no more a young and voluptuous stripper in the club, her skin is sagging, and teenage boys humiliate her when she offers a lapdance. Once, after a brutal fight in the ring, Randy collapses in the locker room of heavy heart attack. Undergoes a bye pass surgery and is advised by doctor not to continue wrestling at the stake of his life.

The portrayal of these miserable souls, the emotions they undergo and the choices they make in their lives make the movie immensely adorable. Don't miss this one.

Luck by Chance
Dir: Zoya Akhtar
Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Konkona Sen Sharma and a whole lot of cameos by Bollywood biggies
A satirical take on clichéd Bollywood, protagonists' struggle to stardom and a believable role the luck plays in shaping the protagonist's future. The self clowning acts by many cameos are surprisingly wonderful. A must-add DVD to the personal collection.

Dev.D
Dir: Anurag Kashyap
Cast: Abhay Deol, Kalki Koechlin, Mahi Gill
A bold and modern take on Devdas in quintessential Anurag Kashyap style.

I bet this is going to be the only movie that stands apart from rest of all the Devdas versions in various languages. An excellent act by Abhay Deol and new comer Mahi Gill. Though Kalki Koechlin suits well for the role of Chanda, a better rendition could have been possible by any other capable actor. Thank God Anurag Kashyap did not make it as cryptic as No Smoking, still Dev.D is abstract enough in places. I wanna watch it again to connect the dots that are left over in my mind.

Curious case of Benjamin button
Sorry to say I was not impressed. Movie was not engaging for me.

7 pounds
Dir: Gabriele Muccino
Great performance by Will Smith, a well made movie. But, not as good as The pursuit of..

9 ½ weeks
Dir: Adrian Lyne
Cast: Mickey Rourke, Kim Bassinger
The movie is based on the erotic escapades of Mickey Rourke and Kim Bassinger in a duration of 9 ½ weeks. Watch it to see a charming and young Mickey Rourke (unlike in Wrestler) and hawwttt Kim Bassinger.

Elegy
Dir: Isabel Coixet
Cast: Ben Kingsley, Penelope Cruze
I picked this to see 'more of' my favorite actress Penelope Cruze. Ben Kingsley is charismatic as ever. This movie would not have been so special without these two actors.

Old Boy
Dir: Park Chan-wook
Cast: Choi Min-sik, Yu Ji-tae
Thanks to Ashwin again for giving me the DVD. This is a South Korean movie released in 2003.
I finished watching this movie at 2:15 AM last night. Could not bate my eye lids till 3 AM! This movie leaves you stirred, shocked and amazed! This is the 2nd of the Vengeance Trilogy by the director Park Chan-wook. Im dying to watch the 1st and the 3rd part too, search for the DVDs in on.

Oh btw, Zinda starring Sanjay Dutt and John Abraham is based on this movie. Seeing the violence, brutal revenge plot of the original I am convinced Zinda would be a much softer version of Old Boy to fit in the frame of Bollywood, but I wanna watch it for the mere comparison's sake.

Slumdog Millionaire and the brouhaha

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , , , , , , | Posted on Friday, January 30, 2009

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There has been plethora of debates, interviews, blog posts by celebs, comments and counter comments about the way Indian underbelly is depicted in the movie Slumdog Millionaire.

Before jumping into the debate, let me give you a fictitious analogy. Assume an acquaintance of yours drops into your home unexpectedly. The moment he enters the house, he observes nook and corner of your house with sheer curiosity of a newly arrived guest. He notices a huge cobweb in the corner of walls underneath your attic. Then in few other corners of your house too. Not only he notices, but also utters a word about untidiness of the house. What would be your reaction?
  • A. “It is my house; I can keep however dirty I wish it to be. If you have a problem with it, GET LOST! ”
  • B. “Oh come on! You visitors always point out such things in the house. Do u ever see beautiful antique furniture, the exotic vase with fresh flowers on the teapoy etc..?”
  • C. “Aah.. I cud not clean it as I can not reach there”
  • D. “You are saying it as if cobwebs do not get formed in your house!”
I hope you got the relevance of the analogy (quite lame though). Our reactions to Slumdog Millionaire or to any foreign filmmaker making a movie on the hard realities of India (that we are not so proud of) would fall into at least one of options A, B, C or D, mentioned above. Certainly there is an element of embarrassment when an ‘outsider’ points at the filth in our house.

Would our reactions be different if the movie had been directed by our own desi filmmaker?
Would our reactions be different if the movie had not hogged the limelight as it has done now with winning 4 Golden globes and earning 10 Oscar nominations?
Are we expressing the anger only because we are worried about the projection of India to the so called First World?
Why don’t we talk about Smile Pinky or The Final Inch [which are Oscar nominations for this year’s best short documentary films], which deal with similar themes?

In my opinion, after all Slumdog Millionaire is a fiction movie which deals with the hard realities of India. The movie might have exaggerated the slums and poverty in few places, but we can not deny the fact that Dharavi is the 2nd biggest slum in Asia (after Orangi Town in Karachi, Pakistan) and close to 1 million poor people of India live there in Dharavi. There have been movies in the past by Indian film makers which have dealt with similar subjects. Why should we treat Danny Boyle differently from Madhur Bhandarkar, Govind Nihalani and Mira Nair? 

If our concern is projection of India and the notions First World derives out of this, I say it is also India but not India in its entirety. Also how just it is to set our notions about a country watching the movies made on it? Or does any one ever refer to the movies or television series of a country to study the geography or history or politics or progress of that country for that matter? If yes, then it is as fair as presuming US as a land of teenage pregnancies after watching Juno, calling it a land of troubled families and pervert fathers after seeing American Beauty, To presume China as a land only about Martial Arts after watching innumerable famous Chinese movies, to presume Iran as the country where children wear torn shoes after watching Children of Heaven, to presume Brazil as the land of drug dealers after watching City of God and at last UK as land of racists after watching Big Brother! When firangs called India is a country of snake charmers, I laughed at their ignorance. My reaction would be no different if they now think Dharavi is India. 

You can only capture or understand a zilch of India in a fiction movie or a documentary. India is not only culturally and demographically diverse but also economically diverse. 
Forbes lists 4 Indians in the roster of top 10 richest men on earth, at the same time 300 million people leave below poverty line in India.
India can design PSLVs to reach Moon indigenously, but in rural areas there is no adequate transportation for kids to go to their schools.
Indian Pharmaceutical industry is one of the biggest exporters in the world with US$ 7.2 Billion (in 2007-08) but India is also known as Diabetes capital of World, It has close to 2.5 million HIV infected people, a source says the estimate of new cancer cases every year is 8 millions in India, which is one of the highest in the world.
IITs and IIMs are one of the best educational institutes in the world but the same country has innumerous Govt schools with no teachers and no proper facilities for children.
India is estimated to surpass China in population in 2030, but also India accounts for more than 20% of the global maternal and child deaths.
India has a varied caste system from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and boasts of unity in diversity but also accounts to thousands of barbaric deaths in the caste riots every year.

These are just few examples depicting poles-apart facts coexisting in this glorious country. There are things to be really proud of, there are also things that make us Indians cringe. So when there is an honest attempt of making a movie on hard to chew facts of India, do not banish the director or the movie. But when First World thinks India is a nation of slums and poverty, just laugh at their ignorance.

TOI columnist Santhosh Desai says very rightly in his last column of ‘Citi Citi Bang Bang’, “It was perhaps more understandable why we were touchy about the representation of Indian poverty 20 years ago. At that time, we feared that to be our unchanging reality and it made us deeply ashamed. Today, when we believe that India is on its way up, why do we still respond negatively?” These lines quite sum up my thoughts too.

Slumdog Millionaire and its rich music

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , , , , , | Posted on Saturday, December 20, 2008

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The dictionary definition of the word ‘chug’ reads as, ‘To move or travel while making dull explosive sounds’.
I no more agree with this definition after I listen to the song ‘O sayaa..’ from Slumdog Millionaire, music scored by The God of music A R Rahman himself.

The movie is quite in news before its release in India because of the Oscar and Golden Globe nominations in four categories. I believe even the audio is not released in India, but thanks to piracy I got to lay my hand on the music of Slumdog Millionaire. BTW, I did not know who Danny Boyle was until I Wiki’d for his bio. After reading which I had to laugh at my own ignorance. It’s the same guy who has directed Trainspotting and The Beach. That adds Slumdog to my must-watch list.

Coming back to the definition of ‘chug’, the other day while I was traveling in train back to home, had a discussion with a friend about the sound of chugging of the train wheels. We were discussing the rhythmic noise it produces. I am amazed to see how ARR has used the same rhythms in ‘O sayaa’ of Slumdog. I think Shivmani and ARR when combined can extract fine quality of music from any noise in the world. ‘O sayaa’ must be picturised on some train sequence in the movie. The song begins with a pacy techno beats and magical voice of ARR complementing it. Then begins the chugging of train wheels. The beats transform to crescendo further. Now chugging of train wheels is accompanied by other orchestration and gets transcended to classy music. By this time I bet you would have started swaying involuntarily. To describe the transition of sound from chugging of train wheels to rhythmic beats, I am falling short of adjectives. So I would settle for the phrase ‘Its so Rahman!!’ Listen to it to experience the sheer genius of ARR.

Not only this, I found many other tracks of Slumdog great. As in one of the interviews Danny Boyle says that he wanted ARR to score ‘something very pulse-y’ for this movie. ARR took 2 months to conceptualize the music and just took 2 weeks to deliver this incredible product. There are also many other pulse-y numbers and classy background scores. I loved ‘Jai ho’ sung by Sukhvinder – the resonant voice of Sukhvinder makes the song even more splendid, ‘Ringa ringa ringa’ sung by Ila Arun and Alka Yagnik – brings back the memories of controversial ‘Choli ke piche’, ‘Gangsta blues’ rapped by Blaaze makes me consider him as a special talent, ‘Paper planes’ by MIA – an original song of MIA herself is used by ARR, also sounds good. ‘Lathika’s theme’, ‘Mausam & Escape’, ‘Riots’, ‘Liquid dance’, ‘Millionaire’ proves the eminence of ARR in the modern era of music. There is also a surprise track in this album, ‘Aaj ki raat’ of Don with some top-up beats by ARR. No wonder ARR won Golden Globe for this album.

Though I have downloaded the music, I am a chor with some usool you see :) So I am planning to buy the Audio CD of this album. Guys, don’t miss to listen to this audio.
I consider Slumdog Millionaire as one of the best works of ARR till date. I hope ARR wins Oscar also for this.

Of late….

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , , , , , , , | Posted on Friday, November 07, 2008

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Its more than a month since I posted any thing in my blog. Not that the life was uneventful, I just did not slip into the groove of writing some thing, that’s it.

The month of October was quite happening. I was on the gap between projects, lemme get it straight, yes I was on bench nearly for 20 days :)

In those on-the-bench-days I was reporting to my office in Koramangala. I had all the free time in the world, I frequently visited Landmark in Forum. I used to sit and skim through some of my favorite and latest releases. I read few pages of ‘Go kiss the world’. I remember, I started admiring Subroto Bagchi from the days his columns use to appear in TOI [I think his column used to feature fortnightly on the business page]. I think I should buy this book. Picked up ‘Three mistakes pf my life ‘, but some how it did not inspire me to finish it. I loved Chetan Bhagath in ‘Five point some one’, loved him less in ‘One night..’ now I have become very skeptical about loving him in ‘3 mistakes..’. BTW, currently Im reading ‘PS: I love you’ by Cecelia Ahen. Again my instincts told me to pick this book. But after reading it for 300 pages, Im finding it boring. The theme of the book is fresh and inspiring, but the events that happen with the characters in novel look very repetitive. Lemme see if I can complete it or not. There is book festival starting in Palace grounds, Im planning to go there this weekend.

In the 1st week of Oct during Dasara, there was a music concert by Shaan, sponsored by a private builder in Palace Grounds. I had been to the concert with a huge gang of buddies. It turned out to be amazing fun. There was also this Mandira Bedi and Samir Soni’s play ‘Any thing but love’ being staged as part of Times festival, but I came to know about it on the same day and did not get passes for it.

Of late, did not get to watch any good movies. I watched Ru-ba-ru for the sake of Shahana Goswami [she is my recent celeb crush ;)]. The idea of the movie was fresh, but ultimately seemed like a failed attempt.

Felt bad to hear Kumble hanging up his boots. He is one of the most committed cricketer I have seen. And a great gentleman too. Dada also retiring after this last Test in Nagpur. I loved Dada for his aggressive histrionics as a captain and as a player too. Who can forget the gentle strokes on off side and his straight sixes over the head of the bowler. The BCCI buffoons seem to be targeting another favorite player of mine, Dravid. Its disheartening to see Dravid failing continuously in this Test series. BTW, check this splendid article by Dravid about VVS on latter’s 100 Tests feat. Both these great players seem to share a nice camaraderie, which is evident from the article. If these great guys are bidding adieu to cricket in the next 1-2 years (forced exit or wishful exit), there will certainly be a void created in what is considered to be the strongest batting line up in world cricket.

Now having been allotted to a project in the last month, I have landed into a whole new milieu, a whole new project with whole new faces. Now the most interesting part is I have been traveling by train to my office!!!! No Im not posted in Mumbai, Im very much in our own namma Bengalooru. Till I start to avail the company provided transport, I am going on my own. I traveled by BMTC for first few days, but every time I got stuck in traffic jams or did not get a seat to rest my ass or every time a manner-less co-passenger stamped my foot, my blood used to boil. And some one suggested the idea of train from/to KR Puram from/to Majestic. I have the luxury of choosing this option, as my current office is close to KR Puram. I have been saving nearly one and a half hour of travel time since then. Even you guys can try out train if your office is in Whitefield / KR Puram or any where near these places. Im not saying this option is better than company provided transport, this has its own woes, but still a lot better than traveling by BMTC.

Ummm.. what else..? that’s all I could think of @ this hour in the night… bye… chau..

Rock On!!: the ‘Magik’ of friendship

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , , , , | Posted on Saturday, September 06, 2008

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Few years back when Sid had slapped Aakash for a nasty joke of the latter, I had cringed on my seat. But in the end when Aakash says, “aaj.. abhi….. just turn around” and Sid hugs Aakash in that hospital, I had felt those were the most memorable moments in the Indian cinema I have ever experienced. Who can forget DCH?

And now it was a deja vu. The difference here is Joe gives a proper mukka to Aaditya and when they reunite for the sake of re-creating 'Magik' on stage, they both hug each other. And the warmth in the friendship is rejuvenated. Silence is the best orator in such moments. And this time I said Waaaawwww!! The subtleties of friendship indeed were captured at the best again.

Before I go ga-ga over this movie, lemme tell you that from the day I came to know Farhan Akhtar is making his acting debut in Rock On, I was dying to watch this movie. I am a great fan of Farhan and I believe he is one of the best directors in the contemporary Bollywood. I also was curious about the plot and his role in the movie. And when I listened to the music of the movie, I just got restless to see the movie on big screen.


I watched the movie yesterday and I had already read innumerable reviews of the movie [many were plot spoilers] and I was actually left with no element in the movie unknown. Then I stopped reading reviews as the curiosity had killed the cat already. Now having watched the movie I felt no review had actually captured the essence of the movie [neither am I making an effort to do that… Im just writing a nice experience I lived for 2+ hrs]. Some reviews said Rock On is just another version of DCH in the backdrop of a rock band. I disagree My Lord! This time it is just not about ego clashes amongst friends, it is also about following your dream, it is also about compromising in life at the stake of our dreams, it is also about the price people pay to re-live the dream, it is also an attempt to say it is never too late to re-live your dreams.

I had read it somewhere that friendship is fighting for each other and fighting with each other! It is so true. I have hated almost all those movies in which the second hero comes in the way of a bullet shot by villain to save his jigari dost, the hero and that was all the epitome of friendship depicted in Bollywood. Bollywood have churned up zillions of movies based on friends fighting for each other, but there would be few movies based on friends fighting with each other. Even if there are many of these kinds, I bet any succeeding in narrating it effectively [DCH and Rock On are bench marks in this].

If you feel that was enough of ga-ga over the movie, lemme start with the actual review :) I assume that you readers have either watched the movie already or would know everything about the plot of the movie from the other sources. So I am not even going to mention about the plot here. I will just say thumbs up to Abhishek Kapoor for giving us the gem of a movie. Hats off too to the guy, who has done the casting for the movie.

Farhan Akhtar is superb and lives the role. Arjun Rampal’s not so expressive face actually works on his favour to portray the role of Joe. I liked his looks especially, the bandana, the long hair and his moustache. Purab Kohli as Killer Drummer is apt. Luke Kenny is just fine as Rob. Prachi Desai is so so so sweet as wife of Farhan. I would love to watch more of Shahana Goswami in future. Every one fits the role so perfectly.

Saving the best for the last, about the music of the movie.. I liked all the songs. Rock on – the title track, Socha hain and Tum ho to being my favorite. Zehreeley zehreeley is my super favorite :) [any idea who is this Suraj Jaggan who has sung this…?]. Undoubtedly Rock On is another remarkable entry in the CV of Shankar Ehsaan Loy. Farhan Akhtar seems exposed in many songs, but that goes well with the heavy rock music. At first I could not believe that Javed Akhtar has penned the lyrics. I couldn’t digest Javed Akhtar writing a song like Meri laundry ka ek bill, ek aadhi paDhi novel.. etc etc. Its not so easy for a great lyricist to come up with such free flowing and ordinary yet lovable lyrics.

Wait wait wait its not over yet. As the movie was not the only best thing that happened for the crowd in Fun Cinemas yesterday!! Guess what… Yesss 4 guys of Magik did appear on the dais after the movie. All 4, Farhan, Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli and Luke Kenny had come down for the promotion of the movie. The atmosphere was just electric. We were all shouting at the top of our voices. Farhan sang few lines for us. They distributed [read frisbie’d] few audio CDs to the crowd. I cudnt catch any, neither cud I get autograph :(

Guys, all in all it’s the best movie I have seen in recent times. Go watch it if you have not caught up, watch it again if you have seen it only once !!

Lost in translation

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , , , , | Posted on Tuesday, July 29, 2008

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The other day, got to see this marvel which won Oscar for the best original screenplay, 2003. I donno how could I miss such a nice movie all these days.

"For everyone, there are those moments when you have great days with someone you wouldn't expect to. Then you have to go back to your real lives, but it makes an impression on you. It's what makes it (life) so great and enjoyable".

- Sofia Coppola, in one of her interviews


If the above statement struck a chord in your heart, there is no reason why you would not like the movie Lost in translation.


Most parts of the movie is shot in Tokyo's Park Hyatt hotel. Bob Harris [played by Bill Murray] is famous actor who has been staying in Tokyo to endorse a Japanese' whiskey brand. He has a wife, to whom he whispers the three magical words mechanically before he hangs up the phone every time she calls him, but doesn’t actually mean it. He has kids, who miss their dad, but 'they are OK with it' [as he says]. He is a man who is undergoing mid life crisis. And the female lead, Charlotte [Scarlett Johansson] is a young female married to a fashion photographer, who actually wants to be a writer or a photographer but she knows she is not good at either. Basically she is bored by the monotony in her married life.


The movie beautifully depicts how once strangers, share a great camaraderie after spending few memorable moments with each other. And if you expect them to start liking each other and sleep together, no you are wrong! They share an intimate relationship which is more beautiful than just what you expect. The movie ends with an amazingly beautiful climax, making you feel you have just been released from an incredible experience that you will cherish for a long time.


The director justifies the lead actors’ relationship in the movie as, "I liked this relationship. I've had friends like that where you have a flirtation but you're just friends. I wanted it to be more innocent. If they slept together, that would bring in reality".


That says it all, Im not going to elaborate more.


Watch it for the sake of brilliant acting by Bill Murray and Scarlett Johanson
Watch it to experience how nice a movie can be made..
Watch it for the ethereal bond two strangers share during their ephemeral encounter...
Watch it for the portrayal of a nice camaraderie between the opposite genders..

Mussanje maatu; an average entertainer

Posted by Anantha | Posted in , , , , , , , | Posted on Monday, June 09, 2008

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Dir: Mahesh
Cast: Sudeep, Ramya
Music: V Sridhar

First of all, the reasons why I wanted to see this movie – The posters of the movie seemed interesting, The director was a debutant, Sudeep was donning an interesting look, Music was superb and last but not the least – my intuition said its gonna be an interesting movie. Hence I went to see Mussanje Maatu.

Pradeep played by Sudeep is an RJ, a happy go lucky person, meets depressed Tanu [Ramya] in a train from HubLi to Bangalore. Pradeep hesitantly inquires the reason for her depression, but does not get an answer from Tanu. And predictably by the time Pradeep alights in his destination, Tanu would have left. Pradeep keeps searching for the interesting girl he had met in train. Along side, the screen play gives an elaborate introduction of Pradeep’s job profile. He consoles, suggests solutions and fills hope in the lives of depressed callers in his show Mussanje maatu. Thus he is quite an integral part of many lives of radio listeners in the city. As the viewer was given a glimpse of Tanu’s depression, she also gets to dial in to the show hosted by Pradeep. Then they get to meet up, talk, shop together, roam together and what else… Pradeep falls in love with Tanu. If you are a regular watcher of commercial movies of South Indian languages and is used to the little predictable twists here and there and a happy ending, you can never go wrong in guessing the rest of the story.


Talking about the different technical departments of the movie, debutant director seems to have chosen a safe script and is heavily influenced by the usual masala in the movies. His talent needs to be assessed when he comes up with a more creative attempt. Sudeep is refreshing with his hip new look suiting his profession, looks ultra slim too. Sudeep impresses with his mannerisms and dialogue delivery, but his-both-hands-always-in-pocket-style looks repetitive. About Ramya, she has gone past the mark of chubby and looks plump; she has to think seriously about reducing. I did not find her acting special in the movie. Rest of the cast has nothing much to do. I seriously don’t understand why Anu Prabhakar accepted the role of Ramy’s friend, she has no special role to play in the story.


What disappointed me was so-so cinematography, less effective dialogues and below average art direction. Not to blame the cinematographer [Sundernath Suvarna] completely for his work, may be viewers' expectation has increased seeing other cinematographer's works post release of Mungaru Male, GaalipaTa etc. Though the scenic beauty had nothing to play special in the movie, but it is sad to say there was not a single scene in the movie which made me say the camera work was ‘waaaww’. Oh did I forget to mention there are lot of scenes in the movie shot in and around Sankey park..


Any love story keeps open the gates for plausibly effective dialogues, but this movie had no such dialogues. About the art direction, it disappointed me in the very first scene. Viewers needed no extra effort to notice the yellow cloth (!!) bearing the name HubLi, which was pasted poorly on the actual name board of which ever town they shot that very first train station scene in.


Now what impressed me most is the music of the movie. ‘ninna noDalentho’, sung by Sonu and Shreya is another gem of a romantic number, ‘kaddaLu mansanna’, sung by Kunal Ganjawala is simply superb and rest of the songs are also very pleasant. Thumbs up to new music dir, V Sridhar for his commendable debut.


All in all, an average movie..

PS: pic courtesy oneindia.in

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