DELI-BERATELY SPOILED

MOVIE: Delhi 6

DIRECTOR: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra

CAST: Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor and others

The Raam Leela is one of the grandest celebrations in India, especially in the Hindi heartland. The deep purpose behind enacting the Raam Leela is that the Tulsidas version of the Ramayana has great social messages and is good for the constructing of an ideal society. Sadly, in most parts of the Hindi heartland, the Raam Leela is just an event of social gathering and of highlighting social Tashan rather than actually learning something from the epic drama. This point has been captured in Delhi 6, and the story tries to run parallel to the Raam Leela comparing the evils then and evils now, the incidents then and the incidents now, but fails to continue it after a point.

The movie lacked conviction of thoughts. Anyone who watches the movie can understand the makers intention but cannot see it happening on screen. That is where Delhi 6 fails miserably. Abhishek Bachchan is a half hindu-half muslim who returns from America to Delhi along with his grandmom. The depiction of his character’s whereabouts is vague like most of the other characters in the movie. He has just come to drop his grandmom home and would go back to USA until he finds his roots here.

Sonam Kapoor is the typical Delhi girl. High dreams, high thinking, but supressed under old thoughts of elders. She does not have much to do in the movie other than falling in love with the protagonist and then attempting an elope to Mumbai. And the love story is another aspect which is mysteriously unexplained.

Mehra moves from topic to topic, character to character, trying too hard to prove something and sadly he ended up proving nothing. In this long pursuit to prove something he picks up issues like corrupt police, caste system, Hindu Muslim Rivalry, fighting brothers, superstition, lack of knowledge of common people, media menace and the list goes on…..but he deals with neither of them with conviction. And all these events become a discrete and random arrangement of scenes rather than a movie.

The first half is more like a music video compilation of Rehman’s good enough songs which do not contribute much to the basic plot. In the second half you realise there is no basic plot. As I told earlier, Mehra has tried too hard to prove a point and in that pursuit he has used many characters and none of them got their due respect(screen time) in this movie. Waheeda Rehman plays Abhishek's grandmom, Rishi Kapoor plays an uncle, Prem Chopra a moneylender jeweller, Divya Dutta plays a lower caste kachrewaali, Atul Kulkarni just roams around doing nothing, Om Puri and Pawan Malhotra play the fighting brothers, Supriya Pathak plays Om Puri’s wife, Vijay Raaz plays a corrupt cop, Cyrus Sahukar plays an immoral photographer, and so on…..

After the Raam Leela analogy got exhausted, Mehra shifts his tale to the Monkeyman menace which you might have heard of on TV. The common people call it a Kaala Bandar and end up thinking that Abhishek is the Kaala Bandar. The movie tries to be many things, but ends up being trash and a completely haphazard arrangement of sensitive tales.

I had gone to a relatively cheap single screen theatre, Plaza. The crowd there was not very great either. After the movie got over, a bunch of desi dudes started teasing each other saying, “Aila, kaala bandar, tu kaala bandar…” Sad it is, but truly speaking, this is what Mehra and his Delhi 6 deserve…

HERE'S A MAN

MOVIE: Iron Man (2008)
CAST: Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Faran Tahir
DIRECTOR: John Favreu
RATING:



Downey plays a genius of robotic engineering who also is a genius at coming up with pick up lines which tickle any female onto his bed. He is Tony Stark, the genius who with his amazing engineering skills has revolutionized weapon making and his incorporation, Stark Industries does it for the good of mankind and the good of America. Amidst all the girls who have one night stands with him, stands firmly his secretary, Pepper Pots(Paltrow), who shares a rather special relationship with Stark. The dynamics of the portrayal of this relationship is the high point of the movie.

Downey goes to Afghanistan to demonstrate a new missile he has invented to the US troops out there. As always, the writer has been too pro-American in the writing and the story has been politically very correct with respect to America, which often means that it is a deviation from the realities. It is something like the Golden Globe sensation, Slumdog Millionaire; no Indian can isprove that such things don't happen, but no American can prove that such things happen either!!

That apart, Stark is abducted by an Afghan terrorist group where he is asked to make the same missile for them. The movie goes on to reveal that the second incommand to Stark, Obadiah Stane is a traitor and supplies Stark Industries weapons to these terrorists. It is unclear as to why the terrorists chose to abduct Stark instead of using Stane to supply them the missile they wanted.

Stark in the pretext of making them the missile, makes a computer operated iron suite which he uses to fight out the terrorists and makes an escape. Later on he develops this suite to become , Iron Man.

The special effects in this movie are superior to The Dark Knight and are without a doubt one of the all time bests. Apart from the screenplay and the direction, its more of Downey's cheesy acting which keeps an audience gripped. The background score is appropriately good and keeps up the momentum of the movie.

I always have believed that the scope in making a superhero movie is tremendous. It just requires a good imaginative writer and a rich producer who has faith in the writer's imagination. Iron Man seems to have both. This movie was more of the Birth of Iron Man, and the sequel has been announced for 2010. All I can say is, Robert Downey, we are waiting for the Iron packed experience.....

BILLU WAS BHAYANKAR

FILM: Billu
DIRECTOR: Priyadarshan
CAST: Irrfan Khan, Lara Dutta, Shahrukh Khan
RATING:



Self obsession has been a term much associated with SRK and this movie is a true example of this associated trait. I am pretty sure that the person who will enjoy this movie the most in the world is SRK himself. And that is because he has so far, in his numerous roles, played what the public loves him to transform into. But here in Billu he plays what he likes himself to be; a super-superstar with loads of attention, power and fan following along with modesty, humility and morality. His self obsession, as I said, is clearly reflected in this movie and the fact that he is the producer himself, he has left no stone unturned to promote and celebrate himself. Sadly, the whole movie is more like a self celebration rather than a movie itself. The song Ae Aa O, though a treat for SRK lovers as it takes you through a journey of his lustrous career, is a proof of this self celebration.

The story is based in a fictional village called Budbuda. Billu is a barber(should I use the word?) in this village and is not a very successful one at that. Lot of controversy was created about the fact that the word "barber" must be removed from the movie and stuff, but the true fact is that his being a barber had nothing much to do with the plot at all. It had no real relevance if he was not a barber but a doodhwaala. SRK plays Saahir Khan who choses Budbuda to shoot the climax of his latest movie. It is not clear why. Anyways, with the entry of Saahir in the village, the village lightens up and its like a festival all over Budbuda. These moments of the public excitement have been well captured by the director and can be considered as the high point of the movie.

Now a village rumour spreads like fire that Billu and Saahir are long time friends. This rumour and its spreading has a huge effect on Billu's life and causes him lots of problems. A frugal money lender wants Billu to arrange a lunch with him and Saahir. A flop kavi wants him to bring Saahir to read his poems. Billu's children want him to take them to Saahir and the school principal wants Saahir to come to their school for their Annual Day.

Most of the shooting which was shown in the village were things which could have been much more easily shot in a city studio or a set. And if you want little trees and open land and a village scene you can always shoot in Karjat rather than travel all the way to the Hindi heartland. These basic flaws question the plot of the movie heavily. The non stop appearance of music videos makes the movie loud and noisy and that too unnecessarily.

Also amidst the self celebration of SRK, Irrfan's strong portrayal of Billu gets faded. With a weak second half, there is no beauty left in the climax also. If you follow Priyan's work you would find that all his movies have a strong initial plot and along with that he has an end in his mind. To bring that initial plot to the climax, he twists the tale to all possible means and spoils the show in the end. Flicks like Chupke Chupke and Malaamal Weekly are great examples of this. Unfortunately, Billu will also be known as such a movie. SRK's shoulder has to get operated on the 16th and the success of Billu would have been the best pain killer for him. While I cannot assure that it would be the case, I also pray that he gets well soon and starts making litte more meaningful cinema.

A ROCKING EMOSANAL ATYACHAAR!!!

FILM: Dev.D
DIRECTOR: Anurag Kashyap
CAST: Abhay Deol, Mahie Gill, Kalki Koechlin
RATING:



"A characterless loser" describes the character of Devdas best in Sarat Chandra's 1917 novel. Yet he has been played by the best Indian actors numerous times in big budget films. Most of the films did not really tamper the essence of the ethnic backdrop in the original story, but yes, they did change a little of the story to accomodate it as a commercial cinema. The best example of this being Paro and Chandramukhi dancing together for Dola Re in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's version...

This movie is not based in 1917. This is a new age sexed up version of the Devdas. The story is very similar to the original though but the elements have been inspired by flicks like Requiem Of A Dream and Trainspotting. Anurag Kashyap's No Smoking was a pain in the head for most because at the end of two hours, no one knew what was going on. But No Smoking is a brilliant movie and so is Kashyap's latest, Dev.D

Mahie plays Paro. She likes Dev(Abhay Deol) from childhood. Dev is now in London and is in touch with Paro through internet chats. One day Dev asks Paro to upload a naked picture of hers. She does it. Dev reacts to this sight by instantly hitting out a vodka shot and tells her on phone, "Paro, I am coming!!"

Kalki plays Leni. Leni is a school girl whose MMS scandal ruins her life and in pursuit of little space in life, she comes down to A-grade prostitution in Delhi. During the sequencing of these two stories of Paro and Leni (who becomes Chandramukhi in her trade), the story line touches many realities which exist in today's world. It seems little unreal when the people on the screen have only sex on their mind. But the truth is, for some people, it is true...

Kashyap's screenplay and direction comes as a charm and makes the movie intriguing. What makes it further intriguing is Rajeev Ravi's cinematography filled with expressive and appropriate shades making each still a photographic wonder. And finally, what makes it the most intriguing is Amit Trivedi's music and background score. There are 18 songs in this movie and all belong to a genre, not ventured much by any Indian music director.

The best and defiining track still remains Emosanal Atyachaar and the movie is really an emotional opression the way it has been crafted. I have always said that a movie is successful if it can make you feel you are a part of it. Nolan's Memento is one great example of this feat. And yes, Dev.D is another. The screenplay, direction, cinematography and the background score and not to forget the brilliant acting by mostly new faces and artistes from stage, takes you to the world of Dev. After a long time, may be as long since I saw Godfather, I have been left with no scope to cut a mark. This flick, if taken in the correct "spirit" is one of the best Indian cinema ever. No wonder Nikhat gave it a 5/5!

What I am prompted to do after this movie, is make a documentary titled The Evolution of Deol Little. From Manorama Six Feet Under to Oye Lucky Lucky Oye to Dev.D, Abhay has proved that he is the best Deol and smartest as well. He knew he would fail if he followed his father's or his brothers' footsteps. He has made his own way, his own fan following and yes, I am his fan too!! And I am a bigger fan after knowing that he is the man behind this weird concept of the film.

In one of the scenes Dev asks Leni, "How old are you?" She replies,"Old enough to be in bed with you." Sex surely is a cocktail; very attractive and very intoxicating as well. This film wins because, though sexed up, it has got heart in it. It has got lust, but somewhere you can find love and truth in here. One best example of heart is when Paro after married to someone else tells Dev, " You are incapable of loving someone else. You are so much into you that you love only yourself. I suggest you marry this mirror over here. Even the bathroom's mirror would do!"