Monday 18 November 2013

Goliyon Ki Rasleela – Ram-Leela



 

Deepika, Deepika, Deepika……God there is no way to stop her now…..!!! I will be damned if she does not get all the awards this year..!!!

Experience Bhansali’s way of living a story – larger than life canvas, strong women, vulnerably in love men, grandeur sets, very stout side characters and ostentation just pouring out off everything!!!

Bhansali never leaves any stone unturned in satisfying his own artistic self and he always does that. Once I read somewhere that during the filming of Black, Ram Gopal Verma gave him idea of taking the background of Jhuggies but Bhansali outright rejected it and allegedly said that he wants the incapability also to be projected in a grand manner so that people just not pity it but could appreciate the pride and attitude of protagonist. Similarly he made Ethan’s life also impressive  even though he was totally out of money and full of pity but audience always felt a sense of pride in the character. Man he does the same with his Ram & Leela !!! He goes one step ahead in making them even bolder than his previous characters. Though he has never been shy in portraying sexuality as one of the vital facet of life but this time he uses the sexual attraction to build the love.

The story is set in one imaginary town of Gujraat where alcohol, bullet, guns, weed, smuggling, porn…nothing is prohibited. Only thing admonished in the town is rendezvous of two prominent families of the town. Ram (Ranveer Singh) is a flamboyant Casanova who wants to resolve all the issues with love or Sex or his hairless bare chest while Leela (Deepika Padukone) is an extraordinarily audacious and vivacious girl wearing her attitude on the sleeves of her back-less, deep-neck blouses. Both fall for each other’s courage and sexuality. Since the story is ostensibly inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Communication Gap, assumptions and confusion play the significant part. The protagonists come together but separated by their own friends and family members and the distance creates animosity between them. As usual there is a villain who wants to take advantage of the situation for authority and the leads not being rational enough falls prey to the circumstances.

Deepika and Ranveer are exceptionally worthy of the characters. Deepika has given the right amount of grace, poise, boldness, cheerfulness, sensuality, pride, attitude, gloominess and vulnerability. Her eyes say it all. Similarly Ranveer has also worked hard not only on his physical appearance but also on his acting skills. He is remarkably good in one of the scene when he is drunk and is talking to his friends about Leela. The portrayal of drunkenness looks highly acceptable and not over the top like usual Hindi cinema. Special mention of Supriya Pathak, She has portrayed a very strong God motherly character with such an ease. Richa Chaddha looks extremely beautiful but she could have done much better.

The treatment of the movie is typical Bhansali Style which is bizarre. Production Design, Cinematography, costume, make up take center stage and an immaculately detailed work is being carried out by all these departments. No doubt when it comes to Bhansali he does not leave anything blindly onto anyone else and ensures his signature in every nook and corner. That is why he started wearing most of the hats by himself e.g. Music is taken care by Bhansali but no kudos to him on this. There is no variety in the music. Dialogues are earthy and catchy but screenplay seriously fumbles in the second half and director’s grip looks loose. Actors try to carry the movie on their shoulders but second half looks very cluttered and  waiting for obvious. Movie could have been a masterpiece but slight misses makes it another just Good movie. The grandeur alone could not make it memorable craft.
 

Wednesday 2 October 2013

The Lunchbox

 




Totally flummoxed by the housefuls of such an offbeat festival movie…

Not sure whether the audience taste has come of age or the “Oscar Hopeful” marketing strategy is creating buzz or the movie is really entertaining!!! I remember Dhobi Ghat being utterly scrapped and Ship of Theseus catching the attention of only a specific segment of society. Then what is the stark difference between Lunchbox and other two? I am absolutely clueless in understanding the choice of Janta and finding it very challenging to ascertain the common factor among the number producing movies. Nevertheless, the movie is grossing like any other commercial, star-studded extravaganza. Looks like Karan Johar (one of the producer) has mastered the number cracking formula. 

The movie is a piece of life of three commoners, struggling with their own incompleteness. They cross each other’s paths and try to fill the emptiness of their own life via serving other. Illa (Nimrat Kaur) is housewife trying to re-establish the charm in her troubled married life by winning the heart of her husband through stomach. Sajan Fernandez (Irfaan Khan) is a typical bureaucratic babu in some government office who is taking an early retirement to settle in a small town to catch up with his life after his wife’s demise. He has been an impeccable worker for past 35 years but at the time of leaving the job he is finding it painful to part away with his valuable knowledge with the new entrant Shaikh (Nawazuddin Siddiqui).  Shaikh is an orphan trying to settle in India to consummate his Live In relationship with his eloped Girlfriend by marrying her. These three try to fill the void of each others lives by being lover, guardian, Guru, friend, partner etc.

But interestingly there are couple of side characters who are also facing emptiness in their life and the director “Ritesh Batra” tries to establish parallel between the stories to influence the protagonists. E.g. the upstairs Aunty’s chirpiness and positive attitude towards life in spite of dealing with the coma of her husband encourages Illa to relish her life by having an analogous relationship with Sajan through letters. She gets small bursts of pleasure through the letters even though she is being reminded of her guilt by the constant staring eyes of her daughter. 

Ritesh Batra is exceptionally fantastic in illustrating the nuances of brutality of life and contentment of love. The actors are out of the world, undoubtedly. Irfaan has comeback after a pathetic portrayal of Raja Bhaiya in Saheb Biwi aur Gansgter returns. Nimrat is impeccable in capturing the emotions of a housewife who is going through a failed marriage and stuck between the feelings of love, hatred, anger, compassion, guilt and sense of responsibility. Nawaz is awesome but looks repetitive. He must come out of these forlorn – powerless type of characters. I found sheikh as an extension of Purandar of Bombay Talkies. 

Story and screenplay is stunning, perfectly narrated by the director. More than dialogues which are mostly letters, emotions through acting are given preference and the lenses captures every bit of it perfectly. Movie is absolutely a delight to watch. 

As usual when you come out of theater and everyone is giving their enlightened comment on the movie, I overheard some people saying, “Ending was unpredictable but it is ok, movie was good.” And I observed that people have made peace with such weird endings and then I remembered the day when I was coming out of “Dil Se” and people just bashed up a flawlessly sensible ending.

Sunday 8 September 2013

Shuddh Desi Romance



Sushant Singh Rajput is the Star in making……

Is it a reflection of the society or society is going to take lessons from this? Either way, its good for guys. With all the new Anti Men laws being passed by a blind – decision less- media driven government, its safe to be in a Live In Relationship than getting married. That’s exactly this movie is projecting or preaching…..

Raghu (Sushant) is getting married to Tara (Vaani) when he meets Gayatri (Parineeti), being paid to play his fake sister (I never knew about such a business, existing in India or to be precise in Rajasthan!!!). He gets attracted towards chirpy, bold and straight forward, Gayatri and ends up running away from his own marriage (Runaway BrideGroom). Raghu charms Gayatri and shifts in her rustic  – terrace apartment, playing her fake Brother to the society. Eventually he comes to know that he is not the first fake brother!!! He starts having doubts but the attraction is at such a peak that they decide to get married. At the wedding he again attains cold feet and planning to run (Runaway BrideGroom) but this time he is left stranded by the Bride!!! And as predicted he falls back to the first one – Tara. The similar chemistry is tried to be portrayed again but then enters Gayatri to make things more confusing and complicated. The confusion of these three people with commitment issues is tried to be sorted out with the old fashioned methods by Goyal Saab (Rishi Kapoor) but stays unresolved……..

The essence of the movie is summed up in one of Rishi Kaporr’s Dialouge, “kabhi tu use chhod ke bhagta hai, kabhi tu uske peechhe bhagta hai, kabhi vo tujhse bhagti hai, kabhi tum log ek dusre ke peechhe bhagte ho aur kabhi ek dusre se bhagte ho, O bhai jo, bahot bhagte ho tum log!!!”

Truly, Manish has tried really hard to showcase confusing and non-committal behavior of a set of youth. Parineeti’s character has had more than 4 failed relationships and still not ready to make decision, of course each character had backgrounds but that is not clearly portrayed. The first half of the movie is very vibrant and entertaining but excessive repetition of dialogues and plots have made the second half a bit bulky and tiresome. The idea is very clear and unique, the director has done his best but screenplay falters. The treatment of first half looks fresh and astounding but second half fails to take the story ahead and looks stuck and trying very hard to persuade the perplexity of the characters to reach a vague ending. Even the ending dialogues are not very convincing. I am not saying that I am against the idea, its just that it tried so hard to convince that I was left totally skeptical. 

Sushant scores really high. This guy has all the qualities to be a star but still very committed to acting!!! Simply Amazing!!! Parineeti is outstanding; in fact she made the first half lively though she still fumbles in the emotional scenes. Clearly it was not her best performance. Vaani looks stunning but to compete with Parineeti in Bindaas attitude, she stays a notch below though she adds the glamour and sensuous factor. Dialogues are the backbone of the movie though they become repetitive after a certain point. The camera and the production design have done wonders. I was counting the sets and I could see that maximum part of the movie is shot in two small sets from the real locations. But the city of Jaipur and Jodhpur are beautifully captured by the lenses.  Costume design is impeccable. Not even once I could see the characters out of their roots. Sushant’s funny colored – local design inspired shirts, Parineeti’s Chudidaars, Vaani’s Saaris or Rishi Kappor’s Jaipuri Pagris and colored jackets, all the clothes are very detailed and gives the movie totally Rajasthaani Look. Same is the music. Sachin – Jigar have given incredible music which suits the theme of the movie. Editing department probably slept over couple of reels.

But all in all, it’s a good effort to scan the reality of not only small town youth but that of metro cities also. Today’s youth with deep pockets is the consumer king and switching relationships as if switching jobs. Thanks to open economy and globalization, youth always has options, making them highly non-committal and the same attitude is used (or abused) in relationships…….!!!

Monday 12 August 2013

Chennai Express



Krish 3 Theatrical was really awesome which came before the movie…

I don’t usually write the reviews of Tamil Movies, but I am making this exception only for Deepika Padukone here. She is fascinating in the movie, the perfect beauty for the movie, great poise and outstanding acting. Though it was a trial of Shahrukh to Comedy but she superseded him in Comedy and proved yet again that she can do any type of role. Long way to go gal….

Since Salman Khan has already started stealing the formula of south movies and making them a big hit with masses in Bollywood 3 years back, Shahrukh went one step ahead and stole their language also to increase the mass audience size and yes, he got the numbers right; He is going laughing to the Bank. 

A mithaiwala starts his journey for Goa but for no reason falls prey to the high tamil accent girl’s dusky beauty and reached one of the south Indian village. And a very old story of Girl lying to her father to avoid an arrange marriage and make the stranger act like her husband, starts. The plot is encrusted with all the sweetness of romance to suit Shahrukh’s image and not to broil his faithful audience. In the course of this fool -the -father game, the girl falls for the guy and eventually the guy falls for the girl and he fights with all the odds in the climax and comes out as a hero. Tried and tested formula with all the ingredients of typical masala movie. No surprise that it is making all the collections.

The movie is marketed as comic thriller, but I could not find comedy in the movie except for an awesome Deepika’s scene and on the name of action, it has below average “Matka tod” and roadside stall tussling fighting sequence shot at a small set of Ramoji, not even the trademark Car sequence of Rohit Shetty movie. Looks like, Rohit saved on the movie budget to allocate more money to marketing.

The direction is totally average and highly mechanical. Shahrukh’s trial on comedy was an absolute faliure. Music is totally average except for Titli Song. Only department with some good work is cinematography, capturing the beautiful landscapes of Munnar and other parts of Kerela. 

It’s the success of such movies which disheartens me and feels pity for that young lot of talented people who are working day in day out to make really good movies without much of a commercial success. Never mind!! these movies can be commercial success due to high budget of marketing but they succumb to a fast death and create way for new actually good movies which do wonders without much of Brand or marketing.

Monday 5 August 2013

Bhag Milkha Bhag


Farhan - the Winner

Anything with India Vs Pakistan sells…!!!

This autobiographical film on Milkha Singh is a Magnus saga of almost three and a half hour, detailing all his races. The movie showcases his reasons to become a sprinter and his journey to achieve it and finally how & what he accomplished. In short if you see, out of 3.5 hours, Farhan Akhtar is running in almost 3 hour of the movie.  No wonder Farhan concentrated so much in making his body looks like a sprinter. It seems while working on Farhan’s preparation, Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra forgot to prepare for the job he has taken up. The movie is overloaded with the running – bhag – bhag -bhag. The essence of the movie is lost. To make it more thrilling and climax more exhilarating Rakeysh overloaded it with India – Pakistan sentiments.

I appreciate Indian Directors for taking up autobiographical jobs but somehow I am not very convinced by their efforts. First, Pan Singh Tomar and now, this one, do not seem to create a mark and be at par with the Hollywood counterparts in same genre. One of the reason I can think of is - here in India, we are trying to portray almost the entire life of such person even though in Hollywood, they would rather take up an incident and create a craft out of it. 

The story starts from the childhood days of Milkha in Pakistan. The families had to leave their homes during the partition. He goes through a lot of emotional turmoil during that time and finally settles with his sister. He falls in love with a village girl – Sonam. Since he is just a small hooligan and does not have any job per se, he is not suitable for her. He joins Army and discovers his hidden talent in running. He starts running from then onwards and keeps running in the entire movie and leaves behind all the people he cared for. The climax is cleverly chosen as a race between India and Pakistan to glorify the ending.

The story is bit stretched and the screenplay would have been much better. Cinematography is above average but not very unique. Production Design and Costumes are also average. Most of the time seems to have been spent on making the Body of Farhan though he has acted also really outstanding. But I cannot say it is his best performance. Sonam is good in her special appearance and good decision by Director for making her part that small otherwise it would have been another blunder of the story. The music of the movie again average, it does not inspire or creates that aura of sportsmanship or the passion.

Coming to the direction, Rakesh has a style of lengthy narratives and he follows the same here. Though he has not failed as miserably as Delhi 6 here but not as good as Rang De Basanti either. Little more work on the story or screenplay and finally some additional sittings on editing would have made this one a masterpiece to remember for. But alas! It didn’t happen. But still a great piece of work and worth watching. Farhan again comes out as a winner.