Tuesday, 28 December 2010
How Do You Know
'How Do You Know' is the first movie I watched in a San Francisco movie hall.How did I know that's a cool seven and a half bucks I would be losing in the next 2 hours! I was totally flabbergasted by the movie and it's stars. Awesome actors all of them though they well let down by a weak and boring script. It neither engages the actors nor thrills the audience. By the way, what was Jack Nicholson doing in that movie?
Monday, 27 December 2010
The Tourist
The Tourist was one of the most anticipated movies of the year 2010 considering the fact that the picture had Oscars winners and nominees associated with it. Well, it turned out to be a damp and dumb film after all. And no surprises in that.
When 'Sexiest Man Alive' and 'Wanted' 'Lethal Killer' starred for a thriller, the least expected is a charming chemistry.But here, charm repelled charm reminding me of the basic magnetic property.
Johnny was in 'depp' sleep and Jolie was 'brad'ly bored. And I was exhausted by a mere 90 min 'comedy'.
Too bad, Golden Globe thinks otherwise.
When 'Sexiest Man Alive' and 'Wanted' 'Lethal Killer' starred for a thriller, the least expected is a charming chemistry.But here, charm repelled charm reminding me of the basic magnetic property.
Johnny was in 'depp' sleep and Jolie was 'brad'ly bored. And I was exhausted by a mere 90 min 'comedy'.
Too bad, Golden Globe thinks otherwise.
Sunday, 26 December 2010
Tees Maar Khan
Akshay Kumar was absolutely right. For the first time, I completely agree with an actor about what he opined about his movie during its promotion.Tees Maar Khan aka TMK is one difficult movie to watch.
Right from the first reel till infinity, the movie takes you on one hell of a ride that's not only terrible but frustratingly annoying. Lifted from a 1960's flop, shamelessly discrediting the original writer and later buying the copy wrights, TMK's movie making history is as worse as the end product.
Akshay Kumar is Tabrez Mirza Khan aka TMK, an international con-artist with a reputation of opening any kind of lock on God darn Earth. Katrina Kaif is Anya Khan, a wannabe movie-artist in the making who at the drop of a single wink is ready for a filmy act (or over-act if you like).
TMK is entrusted, with an armed robbery of a moving train loaded with Rs.500 crore worth of antique goods, by the Johri Brothers (Raghu and Rajiv twins of MTV Roadies fame in their regrettable roles). Along with his 3 dumbos, he dupes Aatish Kapoor (Akshaye Khanna), an Oscar hungry 'poor-Indian' superstar, to act in a period drama along with an unsuspecting village mob so that the goods could be robbed off in broad daylight under 'full police protection'.
What should have followed next is pure fun. What follows after is pure torture.
Not that the movie doesn't have its pluses. It's just that they either don't last long or are few to even notice them. For example, Sheila and her infamous jawaani. Why the hell couldn't she have come post intermission? Atleast that would have stopped some from vacating the movie hall. Too bad.
Not one major character is worth mentioning in the so called 'acting' category. Only one was passable. Sudhir Mishra as Bunty to Akshaye' Aatish's PA. TMK had everything going for it, contrived plot, lifted story idea, big money,floral shirts, hamming actors and Sheila. A little bit of good old fashioned basic-to-story-telling writing would have worked wonders. One more thing, did I forget to mention about Salman Khan? Blimey, I think, I need a double espresso.
Watchable? Your money, you decide.
Rating? huh? come again?!
Right from the first reel till infinity, the movie takes you on one hell of a ride that's not only terrible but frustratingly annoying. Lifted from a 1960's flop, shamelessly discrediting the original writer and later buying the copy wrights, TMK's movie making history is as worse as the end product.
Akshay Kumar is Tabrez Mirza Khan aka TMK, an international con-artist with a reputation of opening any kind of lock on God darn Earth. Katrina Kaif is Anya Khan, a wannabe movie-artist in the making who at the drop of a single wink is ready for a filmy act (or over-act if you like).
TMK is entrusted, with an armed robbery of a moving train loaded with Rs.500 crore worth of antique goods, by the Johri Brothers (Raghu and Rajiv twins of MTV Roadies fame in their regrettable roles). Along with his 3 dumbos, he dupes Aatish Kapoor (Akshaye Khanna), an Oscar hungry 'poor-Indian' superstar, to act in a period drama along with an unsuspecting village mob so that the goods could be robbed off in broad daylight under 'full police protection'.
What should have followed next is pure fun. What follows after is pure torture.
Not that the movie doesn't have its pluses. It's just that they either don't last long or are few to even notice them. For example, Sheila and her infamous jawaani. Why the hell couldn't she have come post intermission? Atleast that would have stopped some from vacating the movie hall. Too bad.
Not one major character is worth mentioning in the so called 'acting' category. Only one was passable. Sudhir Mishra as Bunty to Akshaye' Aatish's PA. TMK had everything going for it, contrived plot, lifted story idea, big money,floral shirts, hamming actors and Sheila. A little bit of good old fashioned basic-to-story-telling writing would have worked wonders. One more thing, did I forget to mention about Salman Khan? Blimey, I think, I need a double espresso.
Watchable? Your money, you decide.
Rating? huh? come again?!
Wednesday, 17 November 2010
The Social Network
In the final scene of the film, we see Mark,sitting alone, sending a friend request to his ex-girlfriend who's the actual influence behind the idea of Facebook. And that's a befitting climax to this fantastic film.
There's a rather sarcastic yet funny saying which goes like this - a doctor's son would be a patient, a lawyer's son, a criminal, a politician's son, a corrupt, a police's son, a thief, etc. If I apply the same logic here, Mark created the Facebook,a social networking site and as per the film, there is nothing social about him!
It is said that if Facebook were to be a country, with its 500 million active users - friends in fact, then it would be the third largest country in the world after China and India! And Mark would be loneliest person in the Facebook Country! That's the story of Mark Zuckerberg.
The movie opens with a heated conversation between Mark and Erica. Mark's apparent disregard complemented by his arrogance invokes Erica to dump him and on top of that, what irks her the most is that there's not a single sign of sadness on his face. Instead, he runs to his dorm and out of anger and few drinks later, blogs about her and subsequently, develops a new rating site www.FaceMash.com for college girls based on who's hot and who's not! Pretty wicked I must say! :)
Unlike David Fincher's previous venture, 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button', a big budget, make-up marvel sci-fi drama, this has a thriller-genre feel to it.The dialogues are fast, crisp and sharp - all at the same time! That means, you need to concentrate better or come by again.
There's nothing different or off-beat about the story. It is just that the screenplay is more engaging and more lively. The other technicalities like, razor-sharp editing, awesome background score just make the movie's good points feel like the tip of an iceberg.
The over all cast of the movie is terrific where you remember even the tiniest of the characters.
I didn't know Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker (dead Napster's founder) could act. He was just natural.
Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin - Facebook's co-founder is the bleeding heart of the film and he was really good.
Jesse Eisenberg IS Mark Zuckerberg! I haven't seen Mark Zuckerberg talking or behaving like one. Now, I have a reference. Such is his performance. Superlative with a capital S.The last time I saw such a performance was by Russel Crowe as Prof. John Nash in 'A Beautiful Mind'.
Undoubtedly, one of the best films of 2010, I would definitely watch it again.
Rating : Are you kidding me?!!!!
There's a rather sarcastic yet funny saying which goes like this - a doctor's son would be a patient, a lawyer's son, a criminal, a politician's son, a corrupt, a police's son, a thief, etc. If I apply the same logic here, Mark created the Facebook,a social networking site and as per the film, there is nothing social about him!
It is said that if Facebook were to be a country, with its 500 million active users - friends in fact, then it would be the third largest country in the world after China and India! And Mark would be loneliest person in the Facebook Country! That's the story of Mark Zuckerberg.
The movie opens with a heated conversation between Mark and Erica. Mark's apparent disregard complemented by his arrogance invokes Erica to dump him and on top of that, what irks her the most is that there's not a single sign of sadness on his face. Instead, he runs to his dorm and out of anger and few drinks later, blogs about her and subsequently, develops a new rating site www.FaceMash.com for college girls based on who's hot and who's not! Pretty wicked I must say! :)
Unlike David Fincher's previous venture, 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button', a big budget, make-up marvel sci-fi drama, this has a thriller-genre feel to it.The dialogues are fast, crisp and sharp - all at the same time! That means, you need to concentrate better or come by again.
There's nothing different or off-beat about the story. It is just that the screenplay is more engaging and more lively. The other technicalities like, razor-sharp editing, awesome background score just make the movie's good points feel like the tip of an iceberg.
I didn't know Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker (dead Napster's founder) could act. He was just natural.
Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin - Facebook's co-founder is the bleeding heart of the film and he was really good.
Jesse Eisenberg IS Mark Zuckerberg! I haven't seen Mark Zuckerberg talking or behaving like one. Now, I have a reference. Such is his performance. Superlative with a capital S.The last time I saw such a performance was by Russel Crowe as Prof. John Nash in 'A Beautiful Mind'.
Undoubtedly, one of the best films of 2010, I would definitely watch it again.
Rating : Are you kidding me?!!!!
Monday, 6 September 2010
Pancharangi
Pancharangi (the one comprising of 5 colors) is the latest offering from the hottest in-demand Kannada director, Yograj Bhat. His earlier movies, Mungaaru Male, Gaalipata and Manasaare boast of great technical expertise and excellent direction. Pancharangi is no different.
The flick tells the story of a happy-go-lucky Bharat (Diganth) who's not only lazy but also pain-in-the-behind to his parents and everybody around him for his attitude towards everything but in a sarcastic way. In fact, sarcasm is the theme of this enterprise.
Bharat's family decides to marry off his dollar-earning (and parent's favourite) elder brother Lucky to the far away Mangalore lass Latha whose cousin happens to be Ambika (Nidhi Subbaiah), a tomboy studying engineering. Match made by the marriage broker, Panchakshari (Raju Taalikote). What follows is the situational comedy of all the characters involved.
The whole movie takes place in a span of 2 days and the pace actually picks up upon Bharat's family's arrival to the Bride's place. The movie feels like one big picnic with the kind of characters thrown in including a dog named, Ramu! The movie tackles serious and often insipid topics like education, career, love, marriage and religion (hence the name, Pancharangi) in thankfully, non-preachy but yes, sarcastic way.
Diganth, as a postgraduate in Kannada literature Bharat provides ample dose of lectures on all the above serious issues which for most of the part are ignored by the all the characters except for, obviously, Nidhi. The problem, i think, with Diganth's Bharath is that, he lacks depth in character and at the end feels like a caricature. However, it's the writer's fault. But he has given an awesome performance and provides enough entertainment which, may be termed, his finest!
Nidhi, in her finest role till date, gets to emote a wide range of emotions and acts quite well. In terms, of character sketch, her role is better than Diganth's.
Raju Taalikote and his, blind companion, Mylari are really awesome.
Anant Nag is Diganth's Bharath's mirror image but after 20 years as have the same view on life. He comes for exactly 2 scenes (one at interval and another at climax) plus the 'Life Istene' song. He is adequate.
The other supporting characters are good and engaging but the ones making impression are the house maid and her lover, Diganth's bus driver. Slightly reminiscent of Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding's housemaid and marriage broker characters.
The music by Mano Murthy is excellent along with an effective background score. Cinematography by Thyagaraju is very good. Screenplay, by Bhat, is shoddy as the movie lacks meat. Dialogues are amazingly humorous and cleverly witty often with hidden meaning on the serious issues.
Bhat, on his part, has extracted great acting from the ensemble along with all the above mentioned good points. However, he has to accept the fact, with a pinch of salt, that, 'that-something' is missing!
Watchable? Go Now!
Rating: 3.5
The flick tells the story of a happy-go-lucky Bharat (Diganth) who's not only lazy but also pain-in-the-behind to his parents and everybody around him for his attitude towards everything but in a sarcastic way. In fact, sarcasm is the theme of this enterprise.
Bharat's family decides to marry off his dollar-earning (and parent's favourite) elder brother Lucky to the far away Mangalore lass Latha whose cousin happens to be Ambika (Nidhi Subbaiah), a tomboy studying engineering. Match made by the marriage broker, Panchakshari (Raju Taalikote). What follows is the situational comedy of all the characters involved.
The whole movie takes place in a span of 2 days and the pace actually picks up upon Bharat's family's arrival to the Bride's place. The movie feels like one big picnic with the kind of characters thrown in including a dog named, Ramu! The movie tackles serious and often insipid topics like education, career, love, marriage and religion (hence the name, Pancharangi) in thankfully, non-preachy but yes, sarcastic way.
Diganth, as a postgraduate in Kannada literature Bharat provides ample dose of lectures on all the above serious issues which for most of the part are ignored by the all the characters except for, obviously, Nidhi. The problem, i think, with Diganth's Bharath is that, he lacks depth in character and at the end feels like a caricature. However, it's the writer's fault. But he has given an awesome performance and provides enough entertainment which, may be termed, his finest!
Nidhi, in her finest role till date, gets to emote a wide range of emotions and acts quite well. In terms, of character sketch, her role is better than Diganth's.
Raju Taalikote and his, blind companion, Mylari are really awesome.
Anant Nag is Diganth's Bharath's mirror image but after 20 years as have the same view on life. He comes for exactly 2 scenes (one at interval and another at climax) plus the 'Life Istene' song. He is adequate.
The other supporting characters are good and engaging but the ones making impression are the house maid and her lover, Diganth's bus driver. Slightly reminiscent of Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding's housemaid and marriage broker characters.
The music by Mano Murthy is excellent along with an effective background score. Cinematography by Thyagaraju is very good. Screenplay, by Bhat, is shoddy as the movie lacks meat. Dialogues are amazingly humorous and cleverly witty often with hidden meaning on the serious issues.
Bhat, on his part, has extracted great acting from the ensemble along with all the above mentioned good points. However, he has to accept the fact, with a pinch of salt, that, 'that-something' is missing!
Watchable? Go Now!
Rating: 3.5
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Movies - Assorted
S.A.L.T
Angelina Jolie's Salt is fast paced thriller and highly engaging. Reminiscent of Tom Cruise' Mission Impossible Series. The movie is high on action and less on CGI graphics thankfully unlike Tom Cruise' recent disaster 'Knight and Day'. Best part being movie's length - 90 mins.
Toy Story 3
Awesome culmination to one of the highly successful and critically acclaimed trilogy franchises ever from Pixar. Even though the movie was made after a good gap of 10 years, the movie never loses the freshness of its cast and more importantly, adds new ones and raises the bar high.
The Ghost Writer
Roman Polonski's latest may not be his best, but is a good political-drama-thriller nonetheless. Even though the characters and their dialogues are not so dramatic, the underlaying danger is evident and keeps engaging till the end. The acting is almost real and edgy and story has a high resemblance to former UK PM Tony Blair. Very Good.
Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai
Milan Luthria's best work till date. Poetic dialogues, nice music and good acting by the star cast especially Ajay Devgan.
Angelina Jolie's Salt is fast paced thriller and highly engaging. Reminiscent of Tom Cruise' Mission Impossible Series. The movie is high on action and less on CGI graphics thankfully unlike Tom Cruise' recent disaster 'Knight and Day'. Best part being movie's length - 90 mins.
Toy Story 3
Awesome culmination to one of the highly successful and critically acclaimed trilogy franchises ever from Pixar. Even though the movie was made after a good gap of 10 years, the movie never loses the freshness of its cast and more importantly, adds new ones and raises the bar high.
The Ghost Writer
Roman Polonski's latest may not be his best, but is a good political-drama-thriller nonetheless. Even though the characters and their dialogues are not so dramatic, the underlaying danger is evident and keeps engaging till the end. The acting is almost real and edgy and story has a high resemblance to former UK PM Tony Blair. Very Good.
Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai
Milan Luthria's best work till date. Poetic dialogues, nice music and good acting by the star cast especially Ajay Devgan.
Tuesday, 20 July 2010
Inception
For me, Inception is the most original film of the decade. The film requires a hell lot of concentration to understand the theme of the movie, i.e The Lucid Dream Concept. Lucid Dreams are such that the person who is dreaming knows that he is dreaming and is able to influence it. Christopher Nolan takes this concept, improvises it to make the dreams to be shared among multiple people dreaming nearby on multiple levels (meaning dreams within dreams within dreams and so on...) whilst applying it to a heist story.
Leonardo De Caprio,the Extractor, is a master thief in stealing people's ideas while they are dreaming. He is superbly supported by Joseph Gordon-Levitt who supervises the theft while Leo is at work with the help of a Chemist who provides sedatives to remain 'active' at the subconscious level. As usual, while working on a billionaire businessman,Saito (Ken Watanabe), Leo is over-powered by him and strikes a deal to 'incept' one idea, this time unlike extraction, into the rival multi-billionaire, Cillian Murphy's mind. In return, Saito would make exactly one fone call and clear him of all charges against him so that he could go to his children in US.
Leo accepts the challenge and along with Joseph, assembles a best possible team in Tom Hardy, the forger, who could morph into any personality in dream state, in Dileep Rao, the Chemist to assist in sedatives for multiple dream levels, in Ellen Page, the architect, who could design paradoxes and mazes in the multi-layed round trips. One important thing which helps them in differenciating the dream from reality is a Totem (for Leo, it's the metal top).
The stage is set, the venue (airline) is booked and the target is hooked. Except for one aspect. Leo is unstable emotionally.Courtesy, his wife, Mal (Marion Cottilard), the Shade. Every time, Leo is working inside the shared dream of his client, Mal malfunctions the whole mission. He is not able to get rid of her coz she is in his deepest memories and to top it, she is DEAD. The movie needs to be watched to reason out her death.
Nolan follows a fairly linear and structural storyline so that viewer is not confused with the already twisted and esoteric concept. It really takes a great deal of imagination to implement the multi layed dream sequences (here, to give out the spoiler, 4 levels are attempted) adding a good dose of action sequences and Nolan succeeds in leaps and bounds.
Never boring, the movie keeps us engaged right from the first frame. Acting is first rate. I especially liked, Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Awesome background score, superb cinematography , clean cut editing, mind-bending (also, neck-bending, if you must) action pieces and cool special effects . However, the most important stand out factor is the writing by Nolan. The man deserves all the praises and accolades coming his way for realising such a concept in a fairly simple way!
However, in the end, when Leo finally meets his children (who appear constantly throughout the movie in his dreams without showing faces), in real world, they appear to be wearing same clothes as in his many dream escapades and his Totem (metal top, his 'kick' to real world, kind of an alarm) doesn't wobble (wobbling means reality, constant spinning means in dream state) , which I am not sure if it is still a dream or reality. Need to watch again!
Best Dialogue: Who's subconscious are we in now?!
Rating: 5 stars
P.S: On a seriously lighter note, Bollywood has already attempted such a concept in the last decade itself. Ever heard of the 'Mere Khwaaboan Main Jo Aaye' song from DDLJ?!!! Shah Rukh Khan must be a happy man! hehehe...
Leonardo De Caprio,the Extractor, is a master thief in stealing people's ideas while they are dreaming. He is superbly supported by Joseph Gordon-Levitt who supervises the theft while Leo is at work with the help of a Chemist who provides sedatives to remain 'active' at the subconscious level. As usual, while working on a billionaire businessman,Saito (Ken Watanabe), Leo is over-powered by him and strikes a deal to 'incept' one idea, this time unlike extraction, into the rival multi-billionaire, Cillian Murphy's mind. In return, Saito would make exactly one fone call and clear him of all charges against him so that he could go to his children in US.
Leo accepts the challenge and along with Joseph, assembles a best possible team in Tom Hardy, the forger, who could morph into any personality in dream state, in Dileep Rao, the Chemist to assist in sedatives for multiple dream levels, in Ellen Page, the architect, who could design paradoxes and mazes in the multi-layed round trips. One important thing which helps them in differenciating the dream from reality is a Totem (for Leo, it's the metal top).
The stage is set, the venue (airline) is booked and the target is hooked. Except for one aspect. Leo is unstable emotionally.Courtesy, his wife, Mal (Marion Cottilard), the Shade. Every time, Leo is working inside the shared dream of his client, Mal malfunctions the whole mission. He is not able to get rid of her coz she is in his deepest memories and to top it, she is DEAD. The movie needs to be watched to reason out her death.
Nolan follows a fairly linear and structural storyline so that viewer is not confused with the already twisted and esoteric concept. It really takes a great deal of imagination to implement the multi layed dream sequences (here, to give out the spoiler, 4 levels are attempted) adding a good dose of action sequences and Nolan succeeds in leaps and bounds.
Never boring, the movie keeps us engaged right from the first frame. Acting is first rate. I especially liked, Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Awesome background score, superb cinematography , clean cut editing, mind-bending (also, neck-bending, if you must) action pieces and cool special effects . However, the most important stand out factor is the writing by Nolan. The man deserves all the praises and accolades coming his way for realising such a concept in a fairly simple way!
However, in the end, when Leo finally meets his children (who appear constantly throughout the movie in his dreams without showing faces), in real world, they appear to be wearing same clothes as in his many dream escapades and his Totem (metal top, his 'kick' to real world, kind of an alarm) doesn't wobble (wobbling means reality, constant spinning means in dream state) , which I am not sure if it is still a dream or reality. Need to watch again!
Best Dialogue: Who's subconscious are we in now?!
Rating: 5 stars
P.S: On a seriously lighter note, Bollywood has already attempted such a concept in the last decade itself. Ever heard of the 'Mere Khwaaboan Main Jo Aaye' song from DDLJ?!!! Shah Rukh Khan must be a happy man! hehehe...
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
Bee(Raa)van
Another epic.Another adaptation.This time with a twist.Mani Ratnam's tryst with epics
lands him, this time (earlier being Karna's story from Mahabharata for Dalapati), in the world of Ravana, the antogonist of Ramayana. The fun part of the movie is that the story is from Ravan's perspective which in theory is definitely exciting and enticing.
Before writing any further on the movie, let me be clear that the post mortem report of the movie is hightly negative to say the least. This is actually a good sign as it eases the burden of expectations on the audience and can,therefore, enjoy the movie. And Enjoy i sure did!.
The film opens with the burning of the police van, police men and the most heinous being the abduction of Ragini, local SP Dev Pratap Sharma's Bharatnatyam dancer-cum-beautiful wife. Dev, with the help of Sanjeevini Kumar, the forest guard who also happens to be a softy for Beera's ideals, begins the search.
Clearly from the first reel, one thing we notice is that Raavan is not a leave-your-brains-behind movie. Though the epic is fairly linear in narration, the adaptation is entirely non-linear. Most of the actions carried out in the first half are justified post interval. One such example being the wound on Abhi's neck. So, it takes a bit of time to understand the events.
The best part of this whole enterprise is that Mani has followed two types of story telling. The first half is mainly visual and second half is mostly verbose although the cinematography of whole movie is just pure magic.
Symbolic references to Ramayana are spread across the movie; many are easy to notice and some requires a hard look like the tattoo of Lord Shiva's trishul on Beera's left hand (referring his devotion to the Lord). Honestly teasers like these make the viewing interesting where it is left to the viewer to join the bit and pieces of the puzzle and see the whole picture in a new perspective.
Again i must add that the movie is undoubtedly an epic painting by Santosh Sivan and Manikandan. A R Rahman's pulsating background score accentuates the scenes further. Samir Chanda lites up the set pieces brilliantly according to the film's mood. But the movie has insipid and dull dialogues throughout which lacks a punch. Technically the overall movie is simply terrific
The film boasts of great star cast but the ones with impact are as below.
Govinda as Hanuman is really good.
Ravi Kishan as Kumbakarna performs well.
Nikhil Dwivedi as Laxman is okay.
Priyamani as Soorpanakha, get to reprise her 'Paruthi Veeran' role in a different language.
Vikram as Ram is effective though his Ray-Ban gets more scope and focus.
Aishwarya, the damsel-in-distress, is Sita-personified. She has never looked this beautiful earlier, ever!.
Abhishek's Beera, in an attempt to portray Raavan's ten heads and their thinking,all at the same time, is most of the times confusing and ineffective. And there in lies Raavan's biggest flaw.
Ultimately, it is Mani Ratnam's vision and interpretation of the epic which makes the movie watchable. Unlike history, which is always the triumphant's version, it is dauntingly challenging re-tell the age old story from the loser's perspective. And that's where, Ratnam and Raavan score.
Watchable? Go...Now!!.
Rating : 4.5 stars
lands him, this time (earlier being Karna's story from Mahabharata for Dalapati), in the world of Ravana, the antogonist of Ramayana. The fun part of the movie is that the story is from Ravan's perspective which in theory is definitely exciting and enticing.
Before writing any further on the movie, let me be clear that the post mortem report of the movie is hightly negative to say the least. This is actually a good sign as it eases the burden of expectations on the audience and can,therefore, enjoy the movie. And Enjoy i sure did!.
The film opens with the burning of the police van, police men and the most heinous being the abduction of Ragini, local SP Dev Pratap Sharma's Bharatnatyam dancer-cum-beautiful wife. Dev, with the help of Sanjeevini Kumar, the forest guard who also happens to be a softy for Beera's ideals, begins the search.
Clearly from the first reel, one thing we notice is that Raavan is not a leave-your-brains-behind movie. Though the epic is fairly linear in narration, the adaptation is entirely non-linear. Most of the actions carried out in the first half are justified post interval. One such example being the wound on Abhi's neck. So, it takes a bit of time to understand the events.
The best part of this whole enterprise is that Mani has followed two types of story telling. The first half is mainly visual and second half is mostly verbose although the cinematography of whole movie is just pure magic.
Symbolic references to Ramayana are spread across the movie; many are easy to notice and some requires a hard look like the tattoo of Lord Shiva's trishul on Beera's left hand (referring his devotion to the Lord). Honestly teasers like these make the viewing interesting where it is left to the viewer to join the bit and pieces of the puzzle and see the whole picture in a new perspective.
Again i must add that the movie is undoubtedly an epic painting by Santosh Sivan and Manikandan. A R Rahman's pulsating background score accentuates the scenes further. Samir Chanda lites up the set pieces brilliantly according to the film's mood. But the movie has insipid and dull dialogues throughout which lacks a punch. Technically the overall movie is simply terrific
The film boasts of great star cast but the ones with impact are as below.
Govinda as Hanuman is really good.
Ravi Kishan as Kumbakarna performs well.
Nikhil Dwivedi as Laxman is okay.
Priyamani as Soorpanakha, get to reprise her 'Paruthi Veeran' role in a different language.
Vikram as Ram is effective though his Ray-Ban gets more scope and focus.
Aishwarya, the damsel-in-distress, is Sita-personified. She has never looked this beautiful earlier, ever!.
Abhishek's Beera, in an attempt to portray Raavan's ten heads and their thinking,all at the same time, is most of the times confusing and ineffective. And there in lies Raavan's biggest flaw.
Ultimately, it is Mani Ratnam's vision and interpretation of the epic which makes the movie watchable. Unlike history, which is always the triumphant's version, it is dauntingly challenging re-tell the age old story from the loser's perspective. And that's where, Ratnam and Raavan score.
Watchable? Go...Now!!.
Rating : 4.5 stars
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
The Politics of Raajneeti
Prakash Jha's Raajneeti based on World's longest and most complex Indian epic, Mahabharata, tells the story of a rather one big family and their internal politics, most often ruthless, to attain maximum power come what may. The movie is as much based on epic as it does make mild references to mother of all power-centric movies, The GodFather.
The Prataps are a very influential political family in a fictitious state of India. When the eldest of the Prataps, who also happens to be the CM and state party president, falls for paralytic stroke, fate favours his younger brother and his sons (Arjun Rampal and Ranbir Kapoor) insanely irritating his own son (Manoj Bajpai). Now begins the story.
Soon, Manoj is joined by Ajay Devgn as Dalit Leader in family feud for power along with other minor but interesting characters played by Shruti Seth, Katrina Kaif,etc.
Amidst all these chess pawns, is one more central but often behind-the-scenes character played by Nana Patekar who happens to know all the tricks and tips of the power trade.
Please don't expect any story here as I honestly found none. All the events in the movie occurring either as part of revenge or to get upper hand against the rival group are most of the times interesting and glues us into the psyche of the movie which is really a good thing as movies these days are either bore-to-the-core or utterly insipid.
Katrina comes into prominence only in the second half and justifies her Indu character. Unlike the promos, her role is just supportive or rather a pawn in the big game.
With so many stars and characters along with their ego clashes, Prakash Jha has really done a great job in providing enough screen spaces to everybody as per their character needs.
Here are the ones who have maximum impact although the entire cast is deliciously terrific.
Arjun (as both Sonny Carleone and Yudhistir into one) plays his hot headed impulsive character Prithvi rather well but could have been better.
Ajay (Karna) as Dalit leader, Sooraj is okay. Great character but toothless role.
Shruti Seth as some manipulative women group leader is pure lust and juicy.
Naseeruddin Shah in a guest role in the beginning in the film is good who also indirectly happens to turn the events in the movie for good or for worse.
Sarah Thomson as Ranbir's Samar's girlfriend is the only positive character. Her outburst whilst Shruti's kidnapping incident and later on Samar is effective as is her death scene!
Katrina (Draupadi) as Indu is adequate with her chaste and difficult (to her) Hindi lines.
Ranbir (as Arjun) is one conniving but shrewd Samar who is the actual plotter to all the happenings in the movie. His is the most underrated acting in this Raajneeti enterprise.
Nana Patekar (as Krishna) is the main force behind Ranbir's Samar plots and handles all the other characters with absolute finesse. But i feel, Nana as an actor is utterly wasted. The role had great potential but no meat in his characterisation. Blame the director for this.
Finally, Manoj Bajpai(as Duryodhan) or the main antogonist, Veerendra of this huge canvas is, atleast for me, is the hero of the film. With Telugu star, Chiranjeevi's 90's moustache looks, he gets to showcase all kinds of negative emotions in an excellent way. He gets maximum 'productive'screen space, stylish costumes with cool sun glasses and best of chast Hindi uttered in a very powerful manner. Coz, may be, on his side, only Ajay and him are the main leads but on other side, there's Arjun, Ranbir and Nana fighting for screen time.
Last but not the least, the director, Prakash Jha, suffering from Bollywood's most common disease, 'Injustifiable and Improper Ending' syndrome, is fairly efficient. Adapting a mammoth epic with so many varied characters and limiting them to screen is not an easy job although GodFather references are hard to ignore in important scenes. One important character from the epic which i missed is Shakuni. But i think, he is present in all the other portrayed characters in one way or another with most visibility in Ranbir's Samar. One major minus point of the film is that most of the characters are, in the end, are plain caricatures.
Hidden Story? It has resemblances the current Indian politics especially the you-know-who family! :)
My pick? Manoj and Shruti.
Watchable? Definitely.
Rating: 3.5 stars
The Prataps are a very influential political family in a fictitious state of India. When the eldest of the Prataps, who also happens to be the CM and state party president, falls for paralytic stroke, fate favours his younger brother and his sons (Arjun Rampal and Ranbir Kapoor) insanely irritating his own son (Manoj Bajpai). Now begins the story.
Soon, Manoj is joined by Ajay Devgn as Dalit Leader in family feud for power along with other minor but interesting characters played by Shruti Seth, Katrina Kaif,etc.
Amidst all these chess pawns, is one more central but often behind-the-scenes character played by Nana Patekar who happens to know all the tricks and tips of the power trade.
Please don't expect any story here as I honestly found none. All the events in the movie occurring either as part of revenge or to get upper hand against the rival group are most of the times interesting and glues us into the psyche of the movie which is really a good thing as movies these days are either bore-to-the-core or utterly insipid.
Katrina comes into prominence only in the second half and justifies her Indu character. Unlike the promos, her role is just supportive or rather a pawn in the big game.
With so many stars and characters along with their ego clashes, Prakash Jha has really done a great job in providing enough screen spaces to everybody as per their character needs.
Here are the ones who have maximum impact although the entire cast is deliciously terrific.
Arjun (as both Sonny Carleone and Yudhistir into one) plays his hot headed impulsive character Prithvi rather well but could have been better.
Ajay (Karna) as Dalit leader, Sooraj is okay. Great character but toothless role.
Shruti Seth as some manipulative women group leader is pure lust and juicy.
Naseeruddin Shah in a guest role in the beginning in the film is good who also indirectly happens to turn the events in the movie for good or for worse.
Sarah Thomson as Ranbir's Samar's girlfriend is the only positive character. Her outburst whilst Shruti's kidnapping incident and later on Samar is effective as is her death scene!
Katrina (Draupadi) as Indu is adequate with her chaste and difficult (to her) Hindi lines.
Ranbir (as Arjun) is one conniving but shrewd Samar who is the actual plotter to all the happenings in the movie. His is the most underrated acting in this Raajneeti enterprise.
Nana Patekar (as Krishna) is the main force behind Ranbir's Samar plots and handles all the other characters with absolute finesse. But i feel, Nana as an actor is utterly wasted. The role had great potential but no meat in his characterisation. Blame the director for this.
Finally, Manoj Bajpai(as Duryodhan) or the main antogonist, Veerendra of this huge canvas is, atleast for me, is the hero of the film. With Telugu star, Chiranjeevi's 90's moustache looks, he gets to showcase all kinds of negative emotions in an excellent way. He gets maximum 'productive'screen space, stylish costumes with cool sun glasses and best of chast Hindi uttered in a very powerful manner. Coz, may be, on his side, only Ajay and him are the main leads but on other side, there's Arjun, Ranbir and Nana fighting for screen time.
Last but not the least, the director, Prakash Jha, suffering from Bollywood's most common disease, 'Injustifiable and Improper Ending' syndrome, is fairly efficient. Adapting a mammoth epic with so many varied characters and limiting them to screen is not an easy job although GodFather references are hard to ignore in important scenes. One important character from the epic which i missed is Shakuni. But i think, he is present in all the other portrayed characters in one way or another with most visibility in Ranbir's Samar. One major minus point of the film is that most of the characters are, in the end, are plain caricatures.
Hidden Story? It has resemblances the current Indian politics especially the you-know-who family! :)
My pick? Manoj and Shruti.
Watchable? Definitely.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
My Name is Khan
SRK's latest flick My Name is Khan makes a very piognant point. That all Muslims are not terrorists. That all Asians who wear turban on their heads don't necessarily carry hate in their hearts.
The film begins in a flashback mode with a voice-over by Asperger's Syndrome inflicted Rizwan Khan (you-know-who) in his much mellowed voice. Good that Mr. Johar doesn't drift much in terms of the plot. This time, his 4th attempt, is straight to the point, rather curved if i must add.
Mr.Khan, as he is redundantly referred to (w.r.t film's tite), is by birth autistic with able and stable support from his mom (of course) and so-so brother, Zakir Khan (who grows up to be always-angry Jimmy Shergill). Autism, here, just happens to be a condition rather than one of the main plots, which by the way, is a good thing, by Bollywood standards.
Khan learns from him mother (Zarina Wahab) that only two types of people exist, the Good and the Bad and the rest if there are any, are not in this movie! :).
Khan emigrats to US of A after his mom's death to stay with his little brother and his beautiful wife and college professor, Hasina (Soniya Jehan). Meets hair stylist and single mom, Mandira (Kajol) whilst on his salesman's job to his bro's herbal business.
The film chronicles the topsy-turvy journey of Khan thru his childhood, cycle-peddling teenage, marriage with its turbulences and finally his rendevous with First African American President! Quite literally... :)
Khan in his new 'look' and attitude does well while his Mandira is a bit shrill both in her kushis and gums (meaning joys and sorrows!).
The BGS and OST by S-E-L is good while cinematography is a bit cheesy..meaning didn't observe much experimentation.
Sponsorers have been accomodated cleverly with Reebok and Samsonite appearing very vividly...
The biggest flaw is its length...though is 2 and half hours feels never-ending...and a bit more senti-very-mental.
Rating: Same as film's length!
The film begins in a flashback mode with a voice-over by Asperger's Syndrome inflicted Rizwan Khan (you-know-who) in his much mellowed voice. Good that Mr. Johar doesn't drift much in terms of the plot. This time, his 4th attempt, is straight to the point, rather curved if i must add.
Mr.Khan, as he is redundantly referred to (w.r.t film's tite), is by birth autistic with able and stable support from his mom (of course) and so-so brother, Zakir Khan (who grows up to be always-angry Jimmy Shergill). Autism, here, just happens to be a condition rather than one of the main plots, which by the way, is a good thing, by Bollywood standards.
Khan learns from him mother (Zarina Wahab) that only two types of people exist, the Good and the Bad and the rest if there are any, are not in this movie! :).
Khan emigrats to US of A after his mom's death to stay with his little brother and his beautiful wife and college professor, Hasina (Soniya Jehan). Meets hair stylist and single mom, Mandira (Kajol) whilst on his salesman's job to his bro's herbal business.
The film chronicles the topsy-turvy journey of Khan thru his childhood, cycle-peddling teenage, marriage with its turbulences and finally his rendevous with First African American President! Quite literally... :)
Khan in his new 'look' and attitude does well while his Mandira is a bit shrill both in her kushis and gums (meaning joys and sorrows!).
The BGS and OST by S-E-L is good while cinematography is a bit cheesy..meaning didn't observe much experimentation.
Sponsorers have been accomodated cleverly with Reebok and Samsonite appearing very vividly...
The biggest flaw is its length...though is 2 and half hours feels never-ending...and a bit more senti-very-mental.
Rating: Same as film's length!
Monday, 4 January 2010
Aal Izz Well
Saw 3 Idiots couple of hours ago and absolutely loved it. This is one of the few Indian movies which has been successfully and properly adapted to Big Screen from an already successful novel, 'Five Point Someone' written by Chetan Bhagat.
The movie has some improbable and impractical scenes which, by the way, don't insult our intelligence (like baby delivery scene with a vacuum cleaner! ) and easily 'gels' with the movie.
The cast is just perfect in Aamir, Sharman, Madhavan, Kareena, Boman and especially Omi (in that order and in pic in James Bond style).
The movie has some improbable and impractical scenes which, by the way, don't insult our intelligence (like baby delivery scene with a vacuum cleaner! ) and easily 'gels' with the movie.
The cast is just perfect in Aamir, Sharman, Madhavan, Kareena, Boman and especially Omi (in that order and in pic in James Bond style).
The background score and the songs are good though u don't remember any of them once you are outside the theatre other than the impressively catchy 'All Izz Well'!
All i want to tell is that it is a must watch movie and Most Importantly, 'All Izz Well' with this one and hopefully with us as well!.
By the way, 'Happy New Year'.
P.S: The tug of war between actual story creator Chetan Bhagat and movie makers is really a shame. No matter whatever the reason is, Mr. Bhagat should have been properly credited in movie's opening titles. It is like robbing Thomas Alva Edison off his of electric bulb invention by someone with LEDs, tubes and flash lights. If we want to be a global industry, we should first grow and own up for what we stand for!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)