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!"

OYE!! ITS GREAT!!

MOVIE: Luck By Chance (2009)
DIRECTOR: Zoya Akhtar
CAST: Farhan Akhtar, Konkona Sen Sharma, Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Isha Sharvani
RATING:



Theres nothing like a January blockbuster. Mostly in Bollywood it is seen that after a star studded Diwali followed by a even more star studded and packed theatres December, January is termed by producers as thanda and a time when people chose to get back to work rather than chew popcorns in front of Bolly dramas. This trend seems to have changed since last year. Jodha Akbar was a great film and a super hit having run over 100 days and had released on 15 January in a period when the superhit Taare Zameen Par was about to get Tax Free. This year people were expecting Akshay Kumar's Chandni Chowk to China to continue the dream run after his senseless tales like Welcome and Singh is Kinng accumulated lot of wealth for his distributors.
But we all know what has happened to CC2C (no one wants to C).

Luck By Chance released on 30th and has had a poor opening according to my sources in Cinemax Sion and Imax Wadala. But after great reviews in the morning newspapers, including a rare four star from Mayank Shekhar, the bookings have picked up. Still to conclude if its a hit, the distributors need time. I dont know if LBC would give solace to the distributors but to movie lovers it will. After no brainer entertainers have grossed 235 crores internationally, this seems to be the first this year which has got some brain element in it.

Coming to the film now, LBC is a creative delight, an artistic wonder and paradise for the viewers. The movie fades in beautifully with a light track Yeh Zindagi Bhi and the video deals with the sidelines of the glamour world. And then as the story proceeds you feel its Sona Mishra's (Konkana Sen Sharma) story. But as soon as the husky voiced, quick humoured, smart and dashing Vikram Jaisingh (Farhan Akhtar) makes an appearance the story shifts into being his. Both Sona and Vikram are struggling actors and its "by chance" that they get to meet. They fall in love but nothing great happens to their carrer.

Rishi Kapoor plays(excellently) Romi Rolly an eccentric producer and Juhi Chawla plays his wife. Juhi did not have a big role but she did well. Rolly is making a film Dil Ki Aag which is directed by his brother played by Sanjay Kapoor. Zaffar Khan (Hrithik Roshan) is the lead along with heroine Niki Walia(Isha Sharvani, sweet and sexy) who is the daughter of yesteryear superstar Neena Walia played marvellously by one of my favourites; Dimple Kapadia. I often say to myself looking at the mirror, "I have got two dimples!"

LBC takes you through a journey of struggle, success, selfishness, ungratefulness, compulsions, friendship and enemity which exists in every layer of Bollywood; be it strugglers like Vikram or be it the producers like Rolly. It tells us that every piece of cake is made of the same cream, its just that the higher you are, the more known you and your layer is. I wouldn't divulge much of the story nor would I tell you about the guest appearances in the story, these are things which you should yourself find out and enjoy.

With amazing performances, especially by Farhan and Konkona, this movie is surely the best one I have seen from a long time. It is slow paced but not long, it has got the necessary entertainment and it has got energy and comedy, but all that is just the cherry over the beautiful cake of performances. It does resemble Fashion or may be Om Shanti Om to some extent, but Zoya Akhtar's matured direction gives LBC a place, quite high, in the shelf of Bollywood classics! Go for this one!

A SURE WINNER, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

MOVIE: Slumdog Millionaire
DIRECTOR: Danny Boyle
CAST: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Ayush Khedekar
RATING:



Irrfan Khan gave a statement some days back, "This film will surely win the Oscars. There is a formula required to win the Oscars and this one has it." I promptly wondered what this formula is. Movies like Titanic and Lord of The Rings which were real sensations at the Oscars in the past got there because of a strong and innovative story line, backed by brilliant performances and excellent cinematography. But when it comes to India, though India has produced some gems in the past five years, Oscar has been a rare arena. Rang De Basanti a true winner on any front, failed to even qualify for the award . May be it was because no one wants to see the affluent, young and dynamic India create revolution or a historical backdrop which does not praise Gandhi. Many say that the west wants to see an India of poverty, a third world India and human emotions attached with their struggle to rise up from the third world conditions. That is I suppose the reason why Gowariker's Lagaan and not Swades was a winner. They thought that a Bollywood superstar wearing torn clothes and struggling for his pre-independence village playing cricket was more of an Oscar material rather than a dynamic Indian working in "their" NASA chosing to live in and for India was. I have many foreigner friends and whenever I ask them about what they know about India, they promptly talk about the Taj Mahal and then about the Indian slums. No wonder, having both these elements plus a white director, Slumdog Millionaire is a winner! Thats the formula Irrfan was talking about.

But saying all this does not take the credit away from this amazing cinema. The story line is unique and is guided by amazing performances and beautiful direction. But I am unsure of who did the majority of the direction. The locations of the movie are such that only an Indian, i.e, Loveleen Tandon (Asst Director) could manage the momentum of the movie efficiently. A westerner would have "boiled" in the summer heat of Mumbai. Let the controversies go their way, but I appreciate Tandon for her amazing casting.

So our protagonist, Jamal Malik, is one question away from winning 20 million rupees in Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? Anil Kapoor is the host of the show and is a grey character and his grey shades are unexplained. But he gives an amazing performance, especially with his expressions in the Jack Hobbs question. So how does Jamal Malik, a slumdog, a chaiwallah at a call centre get to participate in a show of this magnitude. And then after participating, how does he go on to win millions. Apart from these two questions, the movie has dealt with an amazing third question and that is, why does he come to the show? Thats something related to his love interest, Latika best portrayed by Freida Pinto. The character of Jamal, though excellently played by Dev Patel, Ayush Khedekar who plays the youngest Jamal leaves a permanent mark in the viewer's heart with a strong performance at such a young age.

If Jai Ho would have been a track from Ghajini or Yuvraj, it would be a two week temptation in the Indian radio. For a composer who has given greats like Roja, Dil Se, Taal, Lagaan, Jodha Akbar and numerous other albums, Jai Ho is a nothing track. If Jai Ho gets a Golden Globe even Shano Shano or Chhaiyan Chhaiyan should get one!! But the background score is really appropriate and peppy. Tracks like Paper Planes and Liquid Dance are really innovative and serve as an excellent background score. Ringa Ringa sounds more like Choli ke Peeche Kya Hai, but it is appropriate given the "Aye Saab" backdrop.

The movie claims to deal with the reality of the Indian dark lanes. It successfully does so. But what does not get digested in an Indian stomach is the fact that slum dwellers speak fluent British English and still work as prostitutes, call centre chaiwallahs, etc. The reason that this movie is made in English spoils the reality in a major section. This I accept was a compulsion to Boyle but it does damage the premise to a good extent. What keeps you at the edge of your seats is the screenplay by Simon Beaufoy and beautiful camera work and cinematography.


As Shah Rukh Khan said in his speech at the Golden Globes, "It is much more than a rags to riches tale." Its true. Slumdog Millionaire is much beyond the arguments of showing India in poor light or a guy chasing his love and ending up as a millionaire. The whole drama could have been based somewhere else, but the lustre of emotions and drama, that was successfully built, could be achieved only in the slums of Mumbai. This is because the slums of Mumbai are not only slums but a portrayal of a compact life, a symbol of cooperation and happiness amidst poverty, unhappiness and a corrupt system. Slumdog, though deals with a different topic, beautifully touches these delicate aspects, without hurting the Indian sentiments, as many are saying, may be because a Gowariker or Karan Johar did not make a Slumdog Millionaire.....

ENTER THE THEATRE IN HALF TIME

MOVIE: Chandni Chowk to China (2009)
DIRECTOR: Nikhil Advani
CAST: Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Ranvir Shourie, Mithun Chakraborty
RATING:



A channel which was in the morning showing the making of CC2C and talking of the superpower of Akshay Kumar, ran its evening edition bashing the movie's no brainer script and toilet humor. Well that sums up the condition of today's world of marketing. Chandni Chowk to China is not all that unbearable and bad a movie but it certainly is not good either.

The first half is full of impossible events, randomly colliding with each other and making you realise that the writers haven't done a job here. The events are not really funny and are kind of maddening. Whenever the dialogue writer realised that little more humour was to be induced in a certain situation, he made Akshay Kumar get hit and scream hard that he got hit on his lemons. Well a movie with a U rating should seriously not have such humour. But as soon as the first half gets over, you first rush out of the theatre to take a break and then come back(Well many did not come back).

Akshay Kumar plays Sidhu, a guy who lives in the Parathe Waali Gali in Chandni Chowk, Delhi 6. He is a "apshaguni" to people around him and spoils their luck by being around. He is an orphan who had been taken care of by his bhojpuri Dada played with relative excellence by Mithun. Ranvir Shourie plays a Guruji. Meanwhile in China, there is menance created by a villain called Hojo.

Prophecy says that to destroy Hojo would reborn Liu Shang, a mighty hero who fought for his motherland on the Great Wall of China. Liu would reborn in India, the land where Buddha was born. Circumstances make them believe that Sidhu was the reincarnation of the warrior. From there starts the journey of Sidhu to go on a mission against Hojo.

The second half proceeds with a rather good pace and you feel yes there is a story here. Deepika Padukone plays a double role here, the same old lost sisters in different countries. The movie is not all that bad I tell you. It certainly isn't a classic and it certainly isn't a must watch but its not that you disrespect the makers by leaving in half time.


The high point about the movie I believe was the title track sequence. I am smitten by the music video of the song as it covers the three generations of Chinese culture with relatively good coreography and great music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy.

I also add that the scope of the project was tremendous. This could have gone on to be a classic as the concept of bringing in a union or clash of two great civilizations was unique. Indian cinema hardly gets a unique script and the irony is that even after we have something unique and also we have producers like Warner Bros and Ramesh Sippy, we still couldn't create meaningful cinema. Keep Trying Nikhil, dont think Kal Ho Na Ho, kal zaroor hoga!!

GRUDGE NAHI,BUT MEMORABLE BHI NAHI

MOVIE: Ghajini
CAST: Aamir Khan, Asin, Jiah Khan
DIRECTOR: AR Murugadoss



Shah Rukh Khan recently told in a press conference that he felt special every time someone used him as a brand to get publicity. He also added that it was unfortunate that he could not use anyone else for this as there was no brand bigger than him. Well we all know that someone is Aamir Khan. In one of the scenes in Ghajini he makes fun of Shah Rukh by making fun of the Ruk Ruk Khan of Kya Aap Panchvi Fail Champu Hain fame. Truly, Aamir knows to use the biggest brand in India greatly to his favour. The business his adaptation of Memento has made in few days is much more overwhelming than what Aditya Chopra's return has!

After the Oscar nomination of Lagaan. Aamir Khan has neglected mainstream Bollywood cinema. He has rather brought good, art film type scripts into mainstream cinema and has been away from the typical dance hero villain drama. The pathetic YRF Fanaa was an exception though. Ghajini is more than three hours of pure masala. Aamir Khan returns to the mainstream with this flick.

The title Singhania is somehow synonymous to very rich and powerful as far as Bollywood is concerned. Countless flicks name the rich guy as some Singhania. Ghajini carries this trend and names Aamir as a Sanjay Singhania. He has lost his wife Kalpana, played by Asin. Asin is no doubt awesome. Her screen presence was of unmatched charm and she has overplayed the others pretty easily in this movie. No wonder why Murugaddos cut short Jiah Khan's only song Lattoo.

Circumstances lead to a condition when Sanjay is hit by an iron rod when he comes to save Kalpana from a goon called Ghajini played by the Ashwatthama of the Mahabharata(Pradeep Rawat). He goes into a mental state when he cannot make new memories. Forgets things in say fifteen minutes. This movie is not Memento though. It has got a much wider canvas and story line. Only the mechanism of remembering things is like Memento(infact better). Aamir Khan has done a moderate job as an actor while depicting the patient. He has overacted at times(reminded me of Himesh in Aapka Suroor) and at times has been very comic with his serious look. His lip sync was not correct most of the times too, so important to get it right in Bollywood musicals.

The unwanted close ups, the fast forward action and the very poor background score made the action scenes of this action based movie truly pathetic. It was highly highly tamilised . I am an ardent fan of Tamil movies but I do not aproove to the Rajnikanth ways of action. This movie was not like Rajni's style, it was relatively real, but not really believable and not really nouvelle.

Jiah Khan is not a good actress. She was the low point of the movie. Though she did not have a great role but she did not give a great performance either. So thumbs down to her. Asin on the other hand as I mentioned had a great charming quotient. She was fabulous with her acting too. Truly speaking I enjoyed only those parts in which she was there, that is to say the love story part. Neither did I like the action sequences nor did I enjoy Aamir Khan's eight pack and his animalistic behaviour supported by his moderate acting. The love story was very sweet. That is something for which Ghajini is watchable to be frank.

The movie can be best described as a good Tamil movie made in Hindi. The directional approach is very much south Indian. That is difficult to digest for a Bollywood buff like me. Though I enjoy watching Tamil and Telegu movies, but I would not like my Bolly masala movies to lose their style of narration. Unwanted song sequences, over dramatic acting and direction and not really catchy dialogues(unlike Memento where the dialogues are the reason of its greatness). The movie has a runtime of more than three hours and for the look of Asin you can skip some evening agenda and have a taste of this masala and shout aloud in the theatre, "What a scene, Asin!"

CAN YOU CHANGE DESTINY?

MOVIE: If Only
DIRECTOR:Gil Junger
CAST: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Paul Nicholls



In Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, better known as a Bollywood disaster, half of the movie is spent out showing what the lead actors were bluffing about. Talking about scenarios and people who never existed and talking about such things which did not have anything much to do with what followed. In Junger's If Only half of the movie is spent in a dream sequence. But this is the very basis and foundation of the movie. Ian Wyndham, played by Nicholls, wakes up in the morning with his girlfriend Samantha Andrews played by Hewitt. He goes through a day where he is not an ideal lover. He does not know what his girlfriend likes. May be he is caring and really loves her but does not actually know her.

He does not know whether she has a red sweater, he does not know the importance of the graduation concert she has this evening(infact he doesnt know if she has a concert). He does not realise the love that a small student of her has for her. But he loves her and cannot lose her. But he does. And with that he realises it was a dream.

The day which we were talking about has actually begun now. He spots an uncanny similarity between the two days and observes that things which happened in the dream are recurring in his actual day. The sequence and the style and the outcomes are slightly different but they do happen. He is now afraid as he knows the outcome of the day. He is going to lose her. With that fear that its his last day with her, Junger shows a massive change in the man. He loved her more than what he ever did on that day.

This movie may be a sweet one time watch but it raises a question deep inside us. A question regarding destiny. Can we really know what will happen? Can we really change what is to happen? Can we exactly know what is going to happen or can we just reach upto certain possibilities which are probable to happen. These are not only questions of philosophy but also nowadays of Metaphysics. Though an action masala movie like Krrish is just considered a time pass watch, it too raises such a question about time. Will tell that in detail some other time.

This though is not exactly what the story stresses upon. The story stresses about the change which was brought about in the life of the guy. Ian knows he will lose Samantha if he behaved the same way he did in his dream. So he behaves in a much more caring and nice way than his dream to undo what happens in his dream. He not only remembers her concert but makes it special for her. That is undoubtedly the best scene of the movie. Also the bracelet scene is something very romantic and something to die for.

Ian wanted to change the outcome of the day. So he changed himself. By changing his behaviour, he changes everything, everything indeed.

This one is dedicated to my best friend Malay. He loves this movie. I love it too.

DONT FORGET THIS ONE

FILM: Memento
CAST: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano
DIRECTOR: Christopher Nolan
WRITER: Jonathan Nolan



While the whole of India right now is more than geared up for the Christmas release of the Aamir Khan's Ghajini, I would like to introduce you to Memento, the original version of Ghajini. I went through the newspapers today that the film may not release on Christmas due to problems of copyright with reference to its Tamil predecessor. My reaction to it was, what the hell! Both are bloody lifted stuff from Nolan's masterpiece(I mention both Christopher and Jonathan here). What are they fighting over? May be they are fighting over who is a more original duplicate!!

Cristopher Nolan has got a very different narrative style in any of his movies barring the The Dark Knight and Batman Begins which followed linear narration. Otherwise he follows a very non linear pattern of narration. For example he puts a scene from the end in the beginning and jumbles it up by narrating past and present together. This was I think best done in The Prestige.
Here in Memento he follows a pattern not ventured much into; Reverse Chronology. It means that the movie starts from the end of the story and ends at the beginning!

Leonard played by Pearce is the male lead here. His wife was raped and murdered by some John G. And during that incident he hit his head badly and damaged his brain to step into a very strange mental disease. He did not forget everything. He just could not make new memories. A similar case was shown in the Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler starrer 50 First Dates.

Leonard, also called Lenny had vengeance in him. He wanted to find whosoever John G was. He being previously an investigator started investigating himself again with this condition. For this he created a very disciplined and bizzare mechanism. He tattooed vital information about the killer on his body (He does not have an eight pack, thats more realistic). He always had a Polaroid camera with him which would instantly give him the picture of the person he just met. He would write down vital information about the person then and there and refer to it again when he lost his memory again.

Natalie played by Moss, is a bartender who gets involved in this case too, somehow. She has an interesting dialogue to Leonard. Is that what your little note says? It must be hard living your life off a couple of scraps of paper. You mix your laundry list with your grocery list you'll end up eating your underwear for breakfast.

Also a vital character in the movie is played by Pantoliano. I think he has done the finest job in the movie. He plays the killer. He is John G, disguising himself as Teddy, the cop. He tries to deviate Lenny from his investigation. Lenny having realised that long back had scribbled in his notes: Dont Believe his Lies.

Considered as one of the best movies of all time(ranked 27 currently in IMDB's top 250), Memento surely is a great one to watch. But there are some vital flaws in the movie. For example if he remembers only till he was hit on his head, how can he know that he doesnt remember anything and that he has a condition which is not amnesia. Simply speaking, how can he know that he doesnt know anything. On similar lines, how does he remember his photograph mechanism. Everytime he cannot remember, how does he know that he has to look for the photographs? I believe these are big enough flaws as it questions the basis of the whole drama.

Performances cannot be questioned though. Nolan chooses the best in the business. The dialogues are something which are the best aspect of the movie: keeps you intriguing and blends, rather enhances the whole drama beautifully. The best dialogue for me was when Lenny tells Natalie that wounds heal when you have time with you, how could his wounds heal when he doesnt feel time at all!

Many might say that the Reverse Chronology pattern was made to create something interesting in a rather predictable plot. True. But there is more to it I believe. The normal human brain is trained to see things from A to Z. But when you are moving from Z to A, you still would anticipate a Q after P. But if you are shown an O after P, you are confused and you actually forget something which happened around. This master idea of psychology was exploited by Nolan to give the audience an experience of memory loss as well while watching the movie based on short term memory! This fact makes this movie one of the bests in the world.

The last dialogue of the movie is when Lenny comes to a tattoo shop for the first time(remember the movie is going reverse), he says, "I have to believe in a world outside my own mind. I have to believe that my actions still have meaning, even if I can't remember them. I have to believe that when my eyes are closed, the world's still there. Do I believe the world's still there? Is it still out there?... Yeah. We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I'm no different."