Ek Niranjan- a formula film from the Puri Jagannath Factory

After Bujjigadu-Made in Chennai, the combination of director PuriJagannath and hero Prabhas is back again with Ek Niranjan. This one bears the stamp of typical mass hero formula films in Telugu, something that Puri Jagannath seems to relish following the stupendous success of his Pokiri. The plot is fairly simple. The movie begins with Chotu (Prabhas) getting separated from his family during his childhood as he is abducted by Chidambaram (Makrand Deshpande). Chidambaram forces Chotu to become a beggar just as he has forced a lot of other children too. One day on a tip off from Chotu the police arrests Chidambaram but Chotu continues to keep in touch with Chidambaram in jail as he knows that he is the only link to his family.
As Chotu grows up he goes on to make a living as a police informer who turns in people wanted by the police. On one such occasion when he is on the lookout for a gangster Kailash, ( Mukul Dev ) wanted for the murder of the CM, he crosses the path of Johny Bhai ( Sonu Sood ), an underworld don. Chotu also falls in love with Sameera (Kangna Ranaut at her awful best) who is a guitar teacher and Sameera’s brother again happens to be someone that Chotu is after. So what happens to Chotu? Does he unite with his family? Does he win his love? Are there any twists in the tale? The rest of the movie answers all the questions in routine customary style.

I told you Kangna plays a guitar teacher
Talking about Puri Jagannath, he is somebody who has made some interesting movies like Idiot, Amma Naana O Tamila Ammayi, Super etc before the formula bug bit him hard with Pokiri. That Pokiri was a trendsetter is by now known to all and following the success of Pokiri he seems to be following the same path with his movies like Desamuduru, Chiruta, Bujjigadu-Made in Chennai and Neninthe. Neninthe was supposed to be an inside story of how the Telugu film industry works. But in trying to balance realism with escapism, somewhere the objective got lost.
Going back to Ek Niranjan, Puri Jagannath seems to be suffering from the Pokiri hangover in a major way. If it was Mahesh Babu as Pandu trying to act uber cool in Pokiri here it is Prabhas doing the same in Ek Niranjan. You had a villain Ali Bhai ( Prakash Raj ) with some kickass dialogue baazi in Pokiri and and here you have Johny Bhai ( Sonu Sood relishing his role with gusto ) doing the same. Ok there was one child in Pokiri and here you have a handful of children. The similarities do not end here. There are lots of sequences again which give you a feeling of déjà vu.
Prabhas seems to really thrive in these roles and he has come up with a more than passable performance. The less said about Kangna Ranaut, the better. She has probably never looked more awful on screen than in this movie (whom do we blame for this?). Tanikella Bharani, Makrand Deshpande,Posani Murali Krishna and Mukul Dev are ok. But the real hero of the movie according to me is none other than Sonu Sood. As Johny Bhai, he plays the don with a sadistic streak brilliantly with a comic touch. The dialogues,expressions and the costumes suit him very well. In fact the dialogues between Sonu Sood and his accomplice,Bhramaji are the main highlights of the movie. Brahmanandam, Ali, Sunil and Venu Madhav have been used just as props.

Are who's the actual hero?
The music by Mani Sharma is decent with the pick of the lot being the opening song – “ Amma ledu, nana ledu, akka chelli tambi leru, ek niranjan” . What takes you by surprise is the last song though- “are rey narthana thara “which is a sort of tribute to Michael Jackson with some of MJ’s footage playing in the background as well. Having said all this I am feeling a little tempted to think of what would have been in Puri Jagannath’s mind when he was conceptualizing the movie and given below is a sample check list that he must have used-
1.A cool entry scene for the hero with a nice energetic song to follow ( how else would we cheer the hero enthusiastically on his entry )2.Back story for the hero ( so that there’s an element of intrigue )3.A Villain with brilliant sense of dialogue delivery and comic timing4.Emotional quotient to be used at the right time with use of family sentiment5.Heroine who is shown as vulnerable and fragile to whom the hero loses his heart instantly.6.At least couple of songs to be shot overseas (Well we are teaching our song and dance routine to the outside world)7.Comedy brigade with all the big names included ( so what if they hardly have any screen time )8.The mandatory chases and fights ( with statutory rope shots ) for the desired effect9.Item song10.Punch Dialogues

Mass factor- fight in Bangkok
Well I can go on and on but let me stop my sample check list with the main elements listed and I can safely tell you all that in most of these elements Puri Jagannath doesn’t disappoint over here in Ek Niranjan . In spite of the extreme déjà vu factor the movie is still time pass fare for most part of it when suddenly the movie shifts its base to Bangkok (probably the producer Aditya Ram wanted to reward everyone with a foreign trip) and things suddenly look forced. Even the dialogues seem to get laid back over here. Sample this – when Sonu Sood tells his goons that they should rush to Bangkok and when Bhramaji asks him how he can be so sure that Prabhas is in Bangkok, the reply from Sonu Sood is“Lets go and search, if we don’t find him I’ll settle for a Thai massage instead “ . All said and done if you are yearning for some good old masala movie due to the hangover from “Wanted “, Ek Niranjan is not bad for a one time watch. But its high time Puri Jagannath reinvents himself otherwise he would continue to make clones of Pokiri.

Originally published in PFC.Check it out here-http://passionforcinema.com/ek-niranjan-a-formula-film-from-the-puri-jagannath-factory/

Main Aurr Mrs Khanna – A Movie that’s as confusing as it can be

A tale of marital discord with the lead actors being the ever popular Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor. Shot in impressive locations abroad & with nearly half the movie based in an airport and added to this is an array of well known names doing cameos. All this automatically makes Main Aurr Mrs Khanna (referred to as MAMK from hereon) a great Diwali release, one that can be an ideal outing with family or friends right? No my friends this one is again an embarrassment to the filmography of Salman Khan.
The plot ( if I can call it one ) is all about Samir Khanna ( Salman ) and Raina ( Kareena ) whose marriage is facing rough weather as Samir’s career seems to have hit a crisis. And making things difficult for them all the more is Samir who announces one day that they would follow his friend’s (Dino Morea) advice and shift to Singapore from Australia. Raina gets to know at the airport that Samir doesn’t want her to accompany him and instead wants her to go to Delhi.
But Raina prefers to stay back in Melbourne and takes up a job at the airport. There she comes across Akash (Sohail Khan) who works at the airport café and falls for her almost instantly. Her work permit is about to expire and Raina has to unwillingly apply to get married to Akash so that she can continue to remain in Australia. Just when Akash starts thinking of proposing to Raina enters Samir who returns after getting himself well placed in Singapore. He is now eager to take her back with him. What happens next is not so difficult to guess.
Prem Soni the writer and director, has got it thoroughly wrong. You wonder at times whether it’s an attempt to have a serious take on marital discord or a light hearted entertainer. There are so many situations which make you laugh (in agony) and cringe by looking at the situations conjured up by Prem Soni. Throughout the film there appears to be zero chemistry between Salman and Kareena and in fact Salman hardly has adequate presence in the film. In the scenes that he is present, Salman looks as interested as the furniture in the airport café. Kareena is strictly average over here. Sohail does what is expected.
Yash Tonk, Mehek Chahal, Nauheed Cyrusi, Bappi Da (yes of course Bappi Lahiri indeed) all have supporting characters (nothing special though) but are counted as cameos . Music by Sajid- Wajid is pretty average with the best track (Don’t Say Alvida) coming in pretty early into the movie. The Preity Zinta cameo including the song is a big let down. All said and done it looks like quite a few people have been either taken for a ride or have done the film without even caring to bother about the story (or the lack of it). After a string of flops Salman had bounced back with Wanted, but MAMK certainly derails him a bit.
It’s a pity that Prem Soni couldn’t come up with something much more impressive than this. With a star cast like this and with an enterprising banner supporting his venture its surprising how he let go of a wonderful opportunity. And it’s also a surprise as to how UTV had even wanted to support such a venture. A potential Diwali dhamaka that’s ended up as nothing but wet crackers. Inspite of the running time being well within 2 hours if you are still shifting uncomfortably in your seat or keep looking at your watch you know how boring the movie could be. MAMK gives you enough scope for it.

Originally published in PFC.Check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/main-aurr-mrs-khanna-%e2%80%93-a-movie-that%e2%80%99s-as-confusing-as-it-can-be/

Wanted- Young Stars, Where are they?

Note- By young star the reference here is to an actor in his 20’s and who has enough star power to carry off a film on his ‘young’ shoulders.]
A short while ago when I was in Mumbai I was involved in a discussion with some friends which included a few PFC authors as well. All of a sudden the discussion started focusing on one aspect- who is the best young actor in Hindi cinema these days? Most people said Shahid, one or two said Ranbir and probably someone took Imran’s name as well. Mind you this discussion took place a week before the release of Wake Up Sid and maybe if it happened after the release, Ranbir may have got a few more votes.
Now quite recently I was talking to another friend and discussing who would be the ideal candidate to do Ram Charan Teja’s role in Magadheera’s Hindi version. After a lot of thought I realized that probably the best choice for the same would be none other than Hrithik Roshan. Yes I do agree that Hrithik is certainly a decade older than Ram Charan, but then considering that the hero in Magadheera has to fight, dance, ride a horse, wear a period costume, perform bike stunts and most importantly look convincing in all these, nobody else I thought fit the bill better than Hrithik.
Most of us must be aware of the buzz created a few days back by apparent rumors that the producers of Magadheera ( Geeta Arts ) have decided to rope in Hrithik and Aamir to portray the hero in the Hindi version ( Hrithik for the past and Aamir for the present ). All this has made me ask the question aloud- where are the young stars in Hindi Cinema today? My personal observation is that Shahid Kapur certainly can fit the bill to a reasonable extent. While with a Ishq Vishk, Vivaah and Jab We Met he proved that he can pull of a romantic and family oriented film, the action genre still eluded him. After Kaminey even that has been handled to some extent.
But what Shahid needs now is to prove that he can pull off an out and out masala entertainer and emerge a big star in his own right. While Saawariya and Bachna Ae Haseeno invoked mixed response to Ranbir’s acting, Wake Up Sid has certainly brought in favorable response and now I think its clear that for light hearted romantic flicks Ranbir can certainly be an ideal choice. Even his forthcoming movies like Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani and probably even Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year seem to suggest the same. Prakash Jha’s Rajneeti might make a difference as it would be something out of the ordinary for him. But in spite of all this it’s still debatable if he can carry off a masala action entertainer. We need to wait and watch.
As for Imran Khan I do not really have much to say. I think the success of his first movie – JTYJN was due to a combination of A.R.Rehman’s music, the script and the performances of the entire star cast and not of Imran in particular. His later movies like Kidnap and Luck have not done anything positive for Imran. It’s probably even too tempting to say that Imran has probably been overrated a bit too early. Lets see if his forthcoming releases like Delhi Belly manage to create a more positive impact and tell us if he’s overrated or not.
Now let’s talk about Neil Nitin Mukesh who made a decent debut with Johnny Gaddar. While he looked lost in Aa Dekhen Zaraa, he was all right in New York but still has a long way to go before he can give us the confidence that he is a big star in the making. While Madhur Bhandarkar’s Jail could be a turning point for him, its time that Neil also decides to move out of the serious grim roles and loosen up a bit and do a light entertainer too so that we can see some variety from him. Now the only other names that I can think off are Kunal Khemu, Emran Hashmi, Sharman Joshi and Riteish Deshmukh.
While Kunal Khemu is certainly a good actor I really doubt if he could carry off the larger than life roles convincingly. Emran Hashmi,Sharman Joshi and Riteish Deshmukh are people who have just turned 30 and can maybe easily pass off as few years younger as well. After doing some trademark movies the actor in Emran has finally started emerging with movies like Awarapan and Jannat, but he still needs to do more such movies before getting universal acceptance. Sharman Joshi and Riteish Deshmukh have unfortunately got slotted as actors who excel in comedy films and though they have done movies like Life in a Metro, Rang De Basanti, Sorry Bhai (Sharman) Naach, Cash ( Riteish ) which are not comedy films, they still tend to get associated more with the lighter movies. Hopefully an Aladin and a Rann for Ritesh or 3 Idiots for Sharman will help in proving their versatility.
When we look at the scene in regional cinema, the scene is a bit different. While in Bengali and Malayalam cinema the situation is somewhat similar, it’s a lot different in Tamil and Telugu cinema. In Malayalam Prithviraj is the only actor among the young brigade who looks well set to fill in the slot that’s firmly occupied by Mammootty and Mohanlal. In Bengali cinema for a long time now it’s basically Prasenjit Chatterjee and Mithunda who have been ruling the roost. The only other actor who has managed to make a serious impact is Jeet who shot into prominence with his debut film itself (Saathi).

Prasenjit Chatterjee and Ranjit Mullick - Mama BhagneThrough there are other talented actors like Jishu Sengupta who have been hovering around for ages, they are yet to get their due. Dev is the current sensation and might probably join the ranks of Jeet to prove a worthy challenger to Prasenjit. A case in point about the lack of younger stars can be seen in the form of a recent Bengali movie- Mama Bhagne ( remake of Govinda’s Rajaji : ) ) where Ranjit Mullick and Prasenjit play the uncle and nephew respectively whereas ideally one would expect younger stars to fill the requirement.
The situation certainly is a lot better in Tamil and Telugu cinema. While Rajnikanth and Kamal Haasan are still going strong and Vijay,Ajith, Surya, Vikram, Madhavan constitute the next layer, there’s also a big pool of younger actors in Tamil like Dhanush, Simbu, Vishal, Bharat, Arya, Jeeva, Jayam Ravi and a lot many more. While Dhanush, Simbu and Vishal are focusing on trying to be the next big star, people like Jeeva (Katradhu Tamizh, Raam, Siva Manasule Sakthi etc), Bharat ( Kadhal, Pattiyal etc ) and Arya ( Arindhum Ariyamalum, Pattiyal, Naan Kadavul etc ) are trying to make a balance in their choice of movies. Telugu cinema also has a lot of younger actors like Jr.NTR, Allu Arjun, Ram Charan Teja, Ram, Allari Naresh etc who have reasonable star power.
Having mentioned all this let me get back to my earlier questions. Who do you think is the best young actor in Hindi cinema these days? And who do you think will ideally be fit to do Ram Charan Teja’s role in Magadheera’s Hindi version? I don’t think there would be too much of confusion regarding the responses to these questions, nevertheless let me wait and see what you all have to say. Let us remember that most of the popular stars today like SRK, Aamir,Salman,Akshay,Hrithik, Sanjay Dutt, Abhishek, Ajay Devgan etc all had become stars before they even turned 30. After all there are very few people like Amitabh Bachchan who started a bit late and turned a star in their 30’s. Considering that it’s tough to say how many of the current lot would go on to emulate their seniors. Time alone would say. In the meanwhile let us look forward to Hrithik (in all likelihood) doing the Hindi version of Magadheera. After all wasn’t it just recently that we saw Salman Khan doing his version of Mahesh Babu’s Pokiri (Wanted)?
Note- I have on purpose not discussed people like Zayed Khan, Harman Baweja, Jacky Bhagnani etc for obvious reasons.

Originally published in PFC.Check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/wanted-young-stars-where-are-they/

Eeram- S Pictures does it again

Imagine a typical day in your life when you go around with the regular routine, be it at work or home and then settle down to end the day on a rather nonchalant note. And at that particular moment if you were to come across something out of the ordinary, wouldn’t that really catch you by surprise? I had a similar experience last week when I saw the latest Tamil movie from the stable of S Pictures- Eeram. Now S Pictures, the movie production firm of Director Shankar has been known to make some small/medium budget interesting movies (unlike the big budget mass movies directed by Shankar himself for outside production houses ) like Kadhal, Veyyil, Kalloori etc. S Pictures has enabled debutant directors like Simbudevan to make a mark and also given a fresh lease of life to directors like Balaji Sakthivel,Vasantha Balan etc who couldn’t achieve much success with their initial movies. Continuing in this journey we now find another debutant, Arivazhagan (who has assisted Shankar earlier) coming up with his first film- Eeram (which means dampness in English).
As the movie begins, a cop Vasu ( Aadhi of Mirugam fame in a totally different avatar ) is called on to investigate the death of Ramya ( Sindhu Menon ).When Vasu arrives at the spot it is raining and throughout the movie water in the form of rain or otherwise is seen as an element in the narrative. Ramya’s body is recovered from a bath tub in an apartment of a high rise apartment complex. And since there is a suicide note left behind, it makes everybody including the police convinced that it’s a case of suicide. But somehow Vasu feels that there is something else apart from what meets their eyes and carries on with the investigation. And as Vasu gets emotional after seeing Ramya’s body, it is revealed that Ramya and Vasu used to love each other in their college days in Trichy.
Ramya’s sister Divya ( Saranya Mohan ) supported their love affair but since Ramya’s father disapproves of the same, they drift apart. Vasu goes on to fulfill his dream of becoming an IPS officer and Ramya marries Bala ( Nandha), a businessman and moves to Chennai. All this is depicted through flashback and then cutting back to the present there occurs a series of deaths all in a bizarre manner, one after the other. But this makes Vasu all the more determined to solve the mystery as he thinks there is a link to all these deaths. Slowly the movie evolves into an interesting thriller with a hint of the paranormal/supernatural touch.
One of the major highlights of the movie is the interval point where the director makes a startling revelation and manages to maintain the flow of the narrative later on adequately.Manoj Paramahamsa’s camera work literally adds strength to the film and brings out the blue and red colors (the colors by themselves qualify as elements in the movie) brilliantly. Thaman’s background score is certainly adequate and talking about the performances from the cast one can say that Arivazhagan’s choice of actors is excellent. Aadhi carries off the cop act convincingly and Nandha once again reminds you that he is an actor with potential. Sindhu Menon truly impresses and both Saranya Mohan and Srinath (as Nandha’s friend) do justice to their roles.
Overall this is a film which does manage to impress and keep the viewer fairly engrossed. It’s a welcome addition to the growing list of interesting Tamil movies the current year has witnessed so far.

Originally published in PFC.Check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/eeram-s-pictures-does-it-again/

Kaminey- A Tantalising Journey Like Never Before

Year after year one comes across movies which bring with it a lot of expectations and as the date of release draws nearby, the excitement only keeps rising more and more. So how many of these movies go on to disappoint you? Many, I’m sure and that’s when you are irritated, upset and sometimes heartbroken. And then when the next such movie releases you still go again thinking that this time you aren’t going to be cheated. But how many times do you watch such a movie and still come out thinking all that excitement and hype was justified ?And is it often that you keep thinking so much about the movie that its 3 A.M in the morning and you are still debating whether to sleep or continue soaking in the experience of watching the movie? I’m sure such instances are far and few nowadays and so when such an occasion comes by, isn’t it time to rejoice?
Without much ado I now head on to talk about Kaminey- the movie that most of us have been waiting for. By now its common knowledge that Shahid Kapur plays the roles of Charlie (he lisps) and Guddu (he stammers), twin brothers who hate each other due to an earlier incident in their life. You also know that Guddu and Sweety (Priyanka Chopra) are in love and that Sweety happens to be the sister of Bhope Bhau ( Amole Gupte), a Jai Maharashtra swearing gangster and a wannabe politician. With this premise Vishal Bharadwaj builds up a whole host of characters which initially give you the impression that there are parallel tracks running along in the film.
But anyways what is to happen will eventually happen. So by a strange turn of circumstances all the parallel tracks converge slowly to become one cohesive track. Brothers who’ve not met for years are forced to meet again; love for the beloved gets tested, cops turn as dangerous as criminals themselves and there is blood everywhere. All this happens and what keeps the strings tied to a common knot is not a person, but an object- a guitar. The movie takes some time to hook you, but be rest assured that once you are hooked, you are hooked till the end.
Vishal Bharadwaj scores brilliantly in terms of managing the delicate balance of using so many characters and still ensuring cohesiveness. He also scores for two other reasons- music, which is vibrant, pulsating and in sync with the movie as well as the choice of actors for the movie. The cast has a curious mix of known names, debutants and people from other streams of cinema all coming together on screen here. For both Shahid and Priyanka the movie would do wonders to their filmography but I would certainly single out Amole Gupte ( he can now look at returning to acting in a big way ) and Chandan Roy Sanyal ( who plays Mikhail ) who shine through the movie- not that the others are any tad lesser in their act.
Tassaduq Hussain’s cinematography also needs a special mention for having brought out the raw images in the movie splendidly. And aren’t movies all about those special moments- ones that you connect to and keep talking about and cry or laugh along with the memory later on? In case of Kaminey there are so many such moments that one can probably write a post on just those moments alone and I bet you that the post will look extremely lengthy. So I’ll refrain from doing so and instead allow some surprises to remain for you all.
There was a stage in life when I used to enjoy the big mainstream movies alone and frowned upon the so called “art” movies. Much later I started getting disillusioned with the bigger movies and then started looking forward to the middle of the road cinema. All this was part of my growing up in terms of cinema exposure. Now I feel that there is no need for any distinction between mainstream and middle of the road cinema (except for the scale of production). What really matters is whether the movie is ultimately good or bad. If the movie manages to keep you hooked right till the end, a major part of the director’s responsibility seems to get paid off, like it does in case of Kaminey. I will not pass any judgment on the movie by giving any grand statement but all I can say is that this is a movie which has its heart in the right place and I guess that’s what counts eventually isn’t it?
Dhan Te Nan- Go on and enjoy the journey!!!

Originally published in PFC.Check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/kaminey-a-tantalising-journey-like-never-before/

Achamundu Achamundu – Where Fear Lurks

Tamil Cinema has been having a fairly good run of late. Last year saw some really interesting movies like Subramaniyapuram, Anjathey, Poo etc which really bought back some glory to the industry. This year again has been no different and movies like Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu, Pasanga, Naan Kadavul, Nadodigal etc have all been quite unlike the run of the mill stuff that we are usually subjected to. And now continuing the trend is Achamundu Achamundu (AA from hereon) – meaning ‘there is fear, there is fear’, directed by debutant Arun Vaidyanathan.
AA has been in the news for being the first Indian movie to be shot using Red One camera and after doing the festival rounds, it’s now released in India. For his first movie Arun has chosen to go with a powerful yet rarely approached subject. To begin with AA is the story of a typical South Indian family in the U.S. Life is picture perfect for Senthil (Prasanna). He has a good I.T job, a loving wife Malini (Sneha) and an adorable daughter Rithika (Akshaya). Having just relocated to a new residence they find that their basement needs to be painted. Thus steps in Robertson (John Shea) who comes over to do the painting job. Soon their peaceful life goes for a toss and things are never the same again. Arun Vaidyanthan makes a reasonably good debut as director with AA.
The very fact that Arun has decided to tackle the sensitive theme of child abuse and pedophilia in his debut movie makes one appreciate the intention behind the movie. Since the subject happens to be a very sensitive topic it needs to be literally handled with kid gloves and Arun manages to do it fairly well. The chemistry between Prasanna and Sneha is wonderful and they portray their characters quite well. Karthik Raja’s (we need to see more of him) music especially the BGM suits the movie. But there is no real distinction that the Red One camera is able to bring in as a highlight to the audience.
While the overall length of the film is not a concern (under 2 hours), the flow does get languid at times. Also contrary to expectations it does not come across as a taut thriller and it is only towards the end that the pace picks up a bit. The dialogues also seem to be quite weak at places. Also there are no standalone moments in the film which one can linger upon in particular.All said and done the theme is very important in today’s contemporary world and for having tackled it in a mature manner, AA is certainly recommended for those who love good cinema.
And yes for those looking for regular wholesome entertainment,this may not be what you are looking for.Sadly the odd show timings and the overall number of shows do not justify the kind of movie AA is. But in the days of movies like Masilamani, Ainthampadai etc AA will certainly be noted in the annals of cinema as a movie that stood for a specific cause and dared to be different.

Originally published in PFC.Check it out here-http://passionforcinema.com/achamundu-achamundu-%e2%80%93-where-fear-lurks/

I know I've been away for a while

Well I know its my fault that I havent been updating this space frequently these days.Well no specific reason though.Do blog regularly on PFC, just need to get my lazy bones to update this space here too regularly and what better time than to start now :)
First thing first things are all fine- life continues as it is , keep watching movies, blogging and interacting with people & yeah not been reading so much- need to get back to it soon.Got quite a few books to catch up on.From now I'll start a weekly feature called "What's Up This Friday" which should ideally be posted on/before every thursday.This is a quick take on the movies releasing the coming weekend & my take on it.Will try to follow it up with a quick analysis after the weekend.Thats it for now, time to rush and watch Ninja Assassin.More on that later, my friends.