My Chennai Cinema Diary

Well as work beckoned, I was back in Chennai for a short visit of 3 days, incidentally my 2nd visit in less than 2 weeks time. Chennai has more than been home to me and so always has a special place in my heart. This visit was extra special because I ended up watching 3 movies on the big screen all in a span of 24 hours. It was back to my old days of glory and the feeling was accentuated since I saw the movies in Sathyam Cinemas, which is virtually my 2nd home in Chennai.

Considering that the last 2 months have been fairly drought prone in terms of movies, what with the strike in Bollywood (now finally called off) and hardly any major Hollywood release too, it was mainly regional cinema that kept me busy. So it was all the more interesting that I was watching a Hindi movie and 2 Hollywood movies one after the other after quite some time. And adding to all this was the fact that I genuinely enjoyed 2 out of those 3 movies, so without too much of a prologue, let me get into the details.

Thursday, 4th June,’09- 3.45 P.M show at Studio-5 (Sathyam Cinemas) – Movie-99
No one could have asked for a better way to capitalize on getting free so early on a working day. I was there with an industry friend to watch 99 again. Another friend, also from the industry was supposed to join in, but couldn’t make it due to some work. While I had asked my friend to get the tickets booked, my friend was slightly hesitant. His contention being that the movie was about to enter the 4th week and it was an afternoon show on a week day, so tickets should be easily available. But the scenario seemed to be completely different. Yes it was the smallest of the 6 screens in the multiplex but still it was a full house and hence very creditable for a movie on the 21st day of its release.Quite a few people among the audience were watching the movie for the 2nd time & most of the people seemed to be having a great time watching the movie. I think if the Bollywood strike has benefited anyone the most; it should definitely be the team of 99 as the movie certainly seems to be getting watched by a lot of people. I would not want to review the movie now as by now most of us know quite a lot about the movie. But yes I would definitely like to mention that by and large I was impressed with the casting choices. Of course I felt Vinod Khanna’s role had no meat and it could have been done by nearly anyone else. Kunal Khemu is a good actor and I would like to see him in more such movies than a Jai Veeru .

Soha Ali Khan,Cyrus, Boman Irani were all more than adequate. But I think Mahesh Manjrekar and Amit Mistry in particular rocked. I would really like to congratulate Krishna D.K, Raj Nidimoru and the entire team of 99 for not only have they been able to make a movie that’s entertaining yet made within a reasonable budget, they have also been able to bring in a lot of authenticity as seen by the way they have captured the years 1999-2000 in the movie. And considering that they have got the nuances of Mumbai and Delhi so well it becomes an even better spectacle to watch. There are so many wonderful moments in the film, that one always stays glued to the screen. Oh! Yes I do plan to catch the movie again probably sometime later this week.

Thursday, 4th June,’09- 7.00 P.M show at Santham (Sathyam Cinemas) – Movie- Angels and Demons
Based on the book of the same name by Dan Brown, this one is the filmy sequel to The Da Vinci Code (while the book is more of a prequel). While the book series and the previous movie have created enough controversy, this movie has also generated enough curiosity. Tom Hanks reprises his role as Robert Langdon in this movie directed by Ron Howard. Set within the Vatican, this movie is the archetype Hollywood masala movie. With its stock characters, some fair bit of intrigue, twists and turns and some rescue acts galore, this is a movie that will be lapped up by majority of the audience and the crowd at Santham (Sathyam Cinemas) seemed to be no exception too. Thankfully the movie moves at a reasonable pace and is technically good (not a surprise for a film of this magnitude). All in all it was a movie I didn’t regret having watched, but not something that I’m proud of either.

After the movie was over I realized that there was a paid preview of Star Trek, later at night and being a Star Trek fan (Trekkie/Trekker), I was tempted to make it 3 movies in a row, but restrained myself as I already had taken tickets for the next day.

Friday, 5th June,’09- 10.15 P.M show at Santham (Sathyam Cinemas) – Movie- Star Trek
Ok this is a brand new installment of the franchise that I kind of grew up with. I still remember watching the T.V series on D.D as a kid and watching the movies those days. Oh! Yes I also remember reading the books/comics of the series when I was in school and so when I heard of the movie being made, I was naturally excited. When PFC had reviewed the movie after a sneak preview in the U.S sometime ago, my curiosity levels were raised and so there I was on the first day of its India release to watch it. First things first, the movie does not disappoint. For a lot of Star Trek fans, it’s like re-visiting the franchise as you are shown the origins of Kirk and Spock. And for most newcomers among the audience (majority of the people didn’t seem to be aware of the franchise) it was good that they got to understand the concept quite well. The actors have changed, some personality traits have changed but at heart the franchise remains the same.So there’s time-travel, black holes, Starfleet Academy, distant planets and more such things that the franchise had started to symbolize. And for all the original fans, one also gets to see Leonard Limoy (the original Spock) who reprises his role as the senior Spock in the movie. All in all, this is one adventure ( directed by J.J.Abrams )that’s lovely to experience. I’m now looking forward to the next movie in the series.

Finally before I left from Chennai for a short vacation to Kerala, I was almost set to watch another movie- the Malayalam hit, Passenger. But due to shortage of time, I had to cancel the plan and looked forward to watching it in Kerala instead. So coming up next is my Kerala Cinema Diary.

Note- This was written a few days ago and was to be posted over last weekend. Now at the time of posting this I have already watched 99 once more. Viva cinema!!!

P.S- Originally posted in PFC.Check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/my-chennai-cinema-diary/