Life's one big party!!!

Salt N’ Pepper Movie Review: Makes for a very good meal indeed!!!

2011-08-03T02:42:00.000-07:00

What do you look for when you sit down to eat a meal at leisure? Is it the quality of the food, the taste, the ambience (if it’s not at home), the service that you get or is it everything put together? Similarly what does one look for in a movie these days? Is it the plot, the writing, the performance of the actors, the presence of known names, the music, the camerawork and other technical details or is it everything put together? Now what would be your reaction if you got to enjoy a wholesome meal with all the right ingredients and under the right ambience and got the best of the service? Similarly what would be your reaction if you got to watch a movie that has everything that you are looking forward to? Confused? Well please don’t be because there are the kind of questions that are going on in my mind ever since I watched director Aashiq Abu’s ‘Salt N’Pepper’, a Malayalam movie making waves both inside & outside Kerala and warming the hearts of its audience.

On the surface of it the movie is not revolutionary in terms of the story, nor does it boast of any super star and neither is the director’s track record envious (his 1^st and previous film with Mammootty, Daddy Cool didn’t do well commercially). But scratch the surface and you see that there are so many elements that go in favour of the movie. Let’s look into each of these elements a bit more in detail. But before that let’s cast a look at what the movie is all about. Essentially the film is all about how romance plays a role in the life of various people in their life. Kathali Parambil Kalidasan (Lal) is a middle-aged bachelor who works for the State Archeological Department and is a complete foodie. True to his profession he even loves collecting and using antiques at home, to the extent that even his car is a vintage Fiat. Kalidasan has really no regrets about his life and is happy with his ‘Old Monk’ sessions in the evenings accompanied by some wonderful food, often suggested by Kalidasan himself and prepared to his liking by his cook, Babu (Baburaj) who is more or less his man Friday of sorts.

In this idyllic sort of set-up in comes Manu Raghavan (Asif Ali), the nephew of Kalidasan who has come from Bengaluru to Thiruvananthapuram in search of a job and hence stays at his uncle’s place. Manu is a compulsive flirt and takes life easy. In a lot of ways he is very different in nature when compared to Kalidasan. But soon Manu fits into the routine at Kalidasan’s place and life is peaceful for the trio of Kalidasan, Manu, Babu (and Moopan the silent tribal who is also present with them). Maya (Shweta Menon) is in her mid 30’s and is unmarried. She is a dubbing artist and a foodie herself. Maya stays as a paying guest along with Meenakshi (Mythili) at Mary’s (Kalpana) house, who also runs a beauty parlour in the same premises. In fact Maya, Meenakshi and Mary also together have a wonderful bonding of their own.

One fine day however Kalidasan and Maya’s lives intersect thanks to a wrong phone call. It’s a typical working day and Maya yearns to eat ‘Thattil Kutty Dosa’ and calls up the restaurant to order for the same, only to end up reaching Kalidsan by mistake. Though initially both Kalidasan and Maya have a lot of scorn for each other, they keep talking to each other (egged on by Manu and Meenakshi respectively) and they break the ice when they realize that they do share certain common interests, chiefly food. The friendship over the phone slowly starts assuming the shape of a relationship when Kalidasan lets Maya know the story behind a multi-layered cake called Joan’s Rainbow. As they both meticulously prepare the cake at their respective places, we see their hearts melting just as the cake melts in their mouth.

So there then comes a point when both Maya and Kalidasan decide it’s time to meet and explore if there’s anything further to their relationship. But both become self-conscious of their physical appearances and wonder how the other person will react. Hence both of them end up sending younger substitutes- Meenkashi and Manu to go and do the needful on their behalf. This is where chaos sets in, not just in the lives of Maya and Kalidasan, but also in the lives of Meenakshi and Manu.

How do the principal characters go through the chaotic phase and do they emerge triumphant in their pursuit of love is what the rest of the tale is all about. The movie which comes with the tag line- “Oru Dosa Undakkiya Katha” (The story created by a Dosa) has our taste buds working overtime in the 1st half of the film. Right at the beginning when the rather innovative opening track (during the opening credits) “Chembavu” sung in rustic fashion by Pushpavathy comes on; one witnesses visuals of some of the most popular eating joints in Kerala. There’s more to come as there are constant visuals of either Maya or Babu cooking something or Kalidasan doling out instructions about some recipe to Babu.

Talking about interesting moments in the film, there’s one too many. Some of the standout moments include the portion where Kalidasan and Babu meet for the first time; the situation is extremely funny and innovative and surprisingly has even gay overtones (which kind of remains for a major part of the film but in a very understated and mild-humorous fashion). Also to be noted is the part during New Year’s Eve when it’s not just the men who are celebrating in their way but we also get to see Maya, Meenakshi and Mary welcoming the New Year by celebrating in style on their rooftop- something very natural and hardly seen in Indian films. Also praiseworthy is the scene when Kalidasan, Babu and Manu are enjoying the ‘Thattil Kutty Dosa’ and Babu enthusiastically exclaims 'Ithivide ondayittu nammal ariyaandu poyallo!’ (in spite of being here we never knew about it)- not only is the reaction spontaneous but also its heartening to see a cook actually relishing the work of another cook. And watch out for the portion when director Aasahiq Abu makes a tongue-in-cheek reference to heroines from outside Kerala being given priority over native Keralites in Malayalam Cinema ( this is done through a brilliant reference to the director’s own previous film- Daddy Cool J ).

Well such are the moments in the film that one can keep writing about it, but I’d rather not spoil the fun for those who are yet to watch the film. The film also boasts of a wonderful music score composed by Bijibal. Apart from the wonderful ‘Chembavu’ (lyrics by Bijibal and Rafeeque Ahamed) in the beginning the other songs include ‘Premikkumbol ‘(sung by P.Jayachandran and Neha Nair, lyrics by Bijibal and Rafeeque Ahamed), a wonderful romantic track that symbolizes the start of something interesting between Kalidasan and Maya. ‘Kaanamullal ‘is another classy romantic track picturised on Meenakshi and Manu and picturised in some wonderful locations captured through the wonderful lens of Shyju Khalid’s camera. And how can one forget the vibrant ‘Aanakallan’, the special music video track by Avial that comes in right at the end of the movie and acts as a wonderful finish to the film.

The film would not have been all that memorable if not for the dialogues by Syam Puskaran and Dileesh Nair, which have the desired level of humour and punch. A special word of mention to Suresh Kollam’s art direction (the antiques used in Kalidasan’s bungalow & the warm hues and colours on display at Maya’s abode are a treat to the eye) and costumes by Sameera Saneesh which are a wonderful blend of style and authenticity. In terms of performances Lal is simply wonderful as Kalidasan the archeologist with a passion for antiques and food. So likeable is he in the film that it makes one feel that probably no one else could do so much justice to the role as he does. Shweta Menon as Maya has equal footing as Lal and doesn’t disappoint at all. She’s one actress who has really climbed up the ladder in Malayalam Cinema and has carved a place for herself. This year with films as diverse as City of God, Rathinirvedam, Salt N’Pepper etc, she’s surely on the right track. Also a word of appreciation for Bhagyalakshmi’s whose voice suits Shweta so well in the film.

Asif Ali is certainly a good prospect among the current set of young actors in Malayalam Cinema and here again he makes good opportunity of the platform provided. Mythili has a good role but looks a bit out of place in most of her scenes. Vijayaraghavan as the senior colleague of Lal with his own romantic story is wonderful and so is the newcomer Ahmed Sidhique as K.T.Mirash, the ‘adviser/scholar’ friend of Asif Ali in the film. But the real surprise in the film is Baburaj, the perennial villain of Malayalam Cinema who steals the thunder with his remarkable performance as Babu the cook. Kalpana has nothing much to do while Dileesh Pothen as the director with a crush on Shweta Menon is hilarious.

But for a film that tickles our gastronomical buds and hooks us completely in the 1^st half, the 2^nd half is a bit of a letdown. There is no connect to food anymore (unfortunately) and the film slowly meanders its way a bit laboriously as it gets a bit melodramatic. Also the Moopan track (with all the so called thrill elements shown) seems to be totally a side-track that’s irrelevant to the story anyways. If these were taken care of the movie probably would have gone to become an instant classic, but in spite of this the film is more than worth a watch. It’s a film that has its heart in the right place and is fun to watch. As the film hurries a bit to the climax, you still walk away with a broad smile as the film ends on an interesting note with a wonderful exchange of dialogues between Shweta and Lal.

And for someone who is Mumbai based and always thought of Kerala as a place to go & unwind it was amazing to see that there is a lot of “life” beyond the regular in Kerala. Be it in the form of interesting work profiles of the lead characters (archeology, dubbing for films), life styles followed, a trendy Café Coffee Day and Mythili undertaking IELTS coaching –the movie does make me even re-think of Kerala as a place to live and work in.

Go for this feast- I’m sure you’ll find it memorable.

Ragini MMS Movie Review: When all the planning goes haywire

2011-05-26T05:09:00.000-07:00

Ok its summer time & with the sweltering outside and just IPL-4 going on endlessly on T.V its back to the theatres for a lot many people these days. Sample the multiple releases that have been happening for the last weeks (and which will continue in the coming weeks) and my statement will get vindicated. As usual some movies have turned out good, but may or may not be making money while again some movies have turned out to be average fare or even plain bad and may or may not be making money. But the fact remains that the public has a lot of choice on hand now, thanks to the multiple films on offer in your neighborhood multiplex/theatre.

So knowing this we have producer Ekta Kapoor doing what she’s really good at- coming up with a product which has the right amount of backing as well. The product is none other than this week’s release – Ragini MMS. As we all know through Balaji Telefilms Ltd & ALT Entertainment Ekta Kapoor has been trying to come up with fare that’s different from what she offers to us on television. And with movies as diverse as LSD, Once Upon A Time In Mumbai, Shor In The City etc we’ve come to expect that the trend will continue. With LSD Dibakar Banerjee and Ekta Kapoor dispelled a lot of myths- they proved if something interesting is tried then even a very small budget film with no known names can really succeed at the box-office. In the process they also came up with a totally new way of story telling for the Indian audience.

So keeping the success of LSD in mind I’m sure Ragini MMS was created to cash in on the formula and try and exploit even more. This time the elements involved were sleaze and horror- something that has always appealed to a large section of the audience. And by tagging along with the concept of shooting a sex video discretely, the makers have only tried to make the prospects look even more impressive. After all MMS scandals have been doing the rounds across the country for the last few years and even LSD had looked at the same in its own unique way.

So the plot (for those unaware at least J) goes something like this- Uday (Raj Kumar Yadav, seen in the supermarket segment of LSD) and his girlfriend Ragini (Kainaz Motivala) take off on a weekend to a desolate mansion a little outside Mumbai (Dahanu for those interested), which supposedly belongs to Uday’s friend. While both Uday and Ragini are both looking forward to a great weekend (no prizes for guessing what would keep them occupied) there’s also something that Ragini is unaware of. Uday has in liaison with his friend/benefactor rigged up the mansion with cameras all over the place in order to get a juicy video of course.

But there is something that even Uday isn’t aware of and that is the fact that there is an unknown element in the mansion too besides Uday, Ragini & the cameras of course. So just when Uday & Ragini decide to get wild and have a great time, that’s when they realize that there’s something else in store for them, which was not what they had in mind at all. So the from the kinky to the bizarre there’s just a thin line apparently and that’s what we are exposed to for the rest of the film. The film obviously borrows its premise not from one source- but from various sources. The MMS angle is from LSD of course and the film even pays tribute to it in its own way. Then there is the obvious inspiration from Paranormal Activity for the basic premise of the couple in a ‘haunted’ house and wait, wait there are also obvious tributes to /inspirations from The Blair Witch Project and even 127 Hours.

But if Paranormal Activity was subtle and left the audience to imagine a lot, the makers of Ragini MMS meanwhile decide that its better to spoon feed us and the result is there to see in the 2^nd half. Leaving aside all the inspirations mentioned earlier the film clearly also steps into the RGV school of horror in the 2^nd half in terms of the style used including the BGM. After a while you even stop wondering if it’s going to get scary and rather focus on laughing unexpectedly at a lot of places. Having said this I must admit that the casting of the lead pair has been spot on .Raj Kumar Yadav takes on a role which has shades similar to that of what he portrayed in LSD, only that he manages to pull it off in style.

That pseudo cool nature displayed coupled with his roughness (seen both in his language and also demeanor) makes him come across as very natural. Heck you even feel at a point as to why would someone like Ragini go around with him J and that’s a triumph in itself. But after LSD and now Ragini MMS there’s a strong danger of Raj Kumar getting typecast and lets see if he’s able to overcome it. Kainaz on the other hand looks extremely vulnerable and very much the object of desire, both qualities that go in favour for her as far the role demands. Even in the 2^nd half when the focus is more on her, she manages to keep us hooked, not bad for someone in her first film.

The debate will always continue on whether all the hype was warranted and if the film is actually a trendsetter of sorts. What I feel here is that the makers realized that they had a winning formula and coupled with the fact that they probably made this on an extremely shoe string budget, they had all the more reasons to spend on promoting the film. As for being a trendsetter, well with originality hardly being exhibited I wouldn’t say that the movie is a torchbearer or anything as such but seen as a summer Coke & Pop-Corn entertainer, it’s less likely to disappoint you.

To watch it or not is purely a matter of choice and depends on which way you look at it.

Stanley Ka Dabba Movie Review : For the child in you

2011-05-24T05:23:00.000-07:00

Once when I was in School, in class 8 if I’m not wrong, our Geography teacher asked us as to what each one of us wanted to do become in life. There were the standard responses- Doctor, Engineer, Cricketer, Lawyer etc and some interesting one’s as well. I didn’t really know what to say. I mean come on- in the early days in School I used to fancy myself to be a cop, like some of my on screen heroes. Only to realize later on that it’s different to be an actual cop when compared to an on screen cop. I also wanted to be an actor, writer and so many other things from time to time. The only other thing that was seriously on my mind at that time when questioned in class, was to become a Doctor, but then I thought it sounded so ‘normal’ so I said I’d like to be one of the most popular (not notorious J) men in the Country/World. All the others in class started laughing, but the teacher admonished everyone and said “hey! At least he’s trying to do something really unique” and I beamed with a lot of satisfaction.

There are so many such incidents, which suddenly flooded my mind while watching Amole Gupte’s Stanley Ka Dabba, the movie that technically marks his debut as an independent filmmaker. The movie takes you into the life of Partho (Stanley), a lovable little school kid, who is adored by his friends and is very popular. Trouble comes in the form of Verma Sir (Amole Gupte), the Hindi teacher who has a habit of siphoning food from the tiffin boxes of students and teachers alike. Stanley for his part does not carry a ‘dabba’ to school but his friends are always there to share theirs with him. This is something that does not go well with Verma Sir and then the kids try their own ways of steering clear of him. What happens later is what the rest of the film is all about. The film has so many tender moments that it is difficult not to control your emotions while watching the film.

Divya Dutta as Rosy Miss, the English teacher is wonderful and she clearly makes you remember your favorite teacher in school. Divya Jagdale as the Science teacher, Mrs.Iyer is very effective as well. Amole Gupte as Verma Sir sinks into the character so well that you actually start despising him after a while and that shows how effective his portrayal has been. Even some of the other characters including those of Stanley’s friends are exactly the way the story demands. And Partho, take a bow my little champion- what an awesome portrayal indeed. Comparisons are bound to be there with Darsheel Safary (for Taare Zameen Par), but I’ll certainly say that Partho holds his ground very well over here. One of the other highlights of the movie is the opening credit animation sequence, which instantly puts you at ease and makes you look forward to the rest of the film.

The film has enough and more going for you and is a great way to go back in time and revisit your own days in school. And thankfully the film doesn’t have any stereotypical kids, which makes you relate to the movie a lot better. By now the guerilla style filmmaking techniques employed in this film (shot on Canon 7D only on Saturdays and other school holidays alone) have become legendary. Nowhere does it hamper the film in any ways and rather only emphasizes the fact that good movies can be made with a lot of conviction as the primary tool. The songs composed by Hitesh Sonik (with lyrics by Amole Gupte) are simple, heart warming and fall in line with the tempo the film. While there is an important message at the end of the film, nowhere is there an attempt made at sensationalizing the agenda.

In today’s competitive World when children are saddled with a lot of pressure at home and elsewhere, it is nice to see movies like these, which still manage to bring out the innocence in children to the open. Life is too short to be just wasted by ruminating over petty things and there are lot more positive things to look at. This is another aspect that the movie tries to bring out. What was even more amazing was watching the movie on a Sunday morning at 10.30 a.m and finding the show to be houseful (something that is unheard of even for the bigger movies in that time slot). That my friends, is the power of WOM (word of mouth) and it’s heartening indeed to see the patronage being extended wherever the movie is on display.

Now the film is out and well into the 2^nd week it is all right to debate and see if the movie is worth all the attention its receiving or not, whether the movie is better than TZP or not and so on and so forth. But Amole Gupte certainly deserves all the appreciation for sticking to his conviction and making the movie in the way he wanted. I do not think I have in anyway become the popular person I set out to be, but yes I am happy that at least the movie reminded me that when I was in school I did think of doing something big in life. This movie is definitely for the child in all of us and yes remember the child in us will also get hungry while watching the movie (you’ll understand when you watch it) J

Badmaash Company Movie Review: Beware of this “Barbaad Company"

2011-04-27T04:49:00.003-07:00

There are some movies which are good and some which are bad and some which fall somewhere in between. But I’m going to be now analyzing a movie which falls under a completely new category- movies which are plain boring. I’ll come to that in due course of time. But as of now lets talk about YRF one of the most well known production & distribution houses in the country. A few years ago Yash Chopra & Aditya Chopra decided to follow the Hollywood style of “studio” functioning in the full sense by making multiple movies every year with a lot of directors signed up for multi film contracts. They realized that it was the best way to go in terms of scaling up since the father & son team couldn’t direct too many films by themselves.

So then we saw a slew of films across genres from romance ( Fanaa, Hum Tum, Saathiya, Bachna Ae Haseeno etc ), action ( Dhoom series ), sports ( Chak De India ), social ( Aaja Nachle, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag ), animation ( Roadside Romeo ), terrorism (New York ), slice of life ( Rocket Singh : Salesman of the Year ) etc. All these films have been directed by outside directors like Kunal Kohli, Siddharth Anand,Shimit Amin, Kabeer Khan, Sanjay Gadhvi etc. While some of the films worked, some didn’t and the films kept coming to us in regular intervals.

Whenever a YRF film flopped the detractors would say that the glory days of YRF are coming to an end and when a film became a hit the detractors would again say it was probably a fluke or something else. Of course loyalists continued to remain stead fast in their faith towards the films coming out from YRF. I for one have been following all their films for the past so many years and watch them all- sometimes feeling satisfied & sometimes not so satisfied. So all this was at the back of my mind when I went on to watch their recent film Badmaash Company, the directorial debut of actor Parmeet Sethi and having a young team of actors.

Shahid Kapur who has been going through a lean patch after Kaminey (Dil Bole Hadippa, Chance Pe Dance & Paathshaala being flops) and Anushka Sharma (finally seen again after RNBDJ) play the leads here. The story is all about how Karan (Shahid) &Bulbul ( Anushka ) along with their friends –Chandu ( Vir Das ) and Zing ( Meiyang Chang) go through a roller coaster ride of doing wrong things the right way i.e their way.
Set in the 1990’s when consumerism in India was still at its infant stage and with import-export policies being a lot different then, these 4 friends decide to start an importing business and make use of loopholes in the system as they develop their own ways of beating the system.

A rare paisa vasool moment

This in a nutshell friends is what the film is all about and yes like most other Hindi films these days, the action shifts from India to overseas ( the U.S here ) in the 2nd half giving way for more of the same stuff. Frankly speaking the 1st half gets to a close within an hour’s span and it leaves you wondering what you had been seeing till then. Ridiculous mechanisms of con jobs are shown again & again with Shahid trying to make us understand the process flow completely.

So at the half way stage as the action shifts to the U.S you are hoping that there would be something more interesting happening and that one would finally witness some genuine moments. Alas! Nothing such happens and you get to see the same silly con jobs handled the same way and depicted in the same way- its like Parmeet felt-“let’s maintain the consistency friends” . The sequences especially in the 2nd half leave you completely cold and you are left wondering what’s happening. Check out the “Bleeding Madras” sequence especially the portion with Michael Jackson ( yes I’m serious ) and you’ll know where I’m coming from.

Talking about the acting and the characters – Shahid Kapur looks so disinterested that you are left wondering what happened to the Shahid of films like Jab We Met & Kaminey.The only thing for Anushka is that she gets to sport some yuppy outfits when compared to her previous film- otherwise she has relatively nothing else to do. Vir Das & Meiyang Chang are decent, but no great shakes. But it’s a matter of great pity that veteran artistes like Pawan Malhotra, Anupam Kher and Kiran Juneja also have nothing much to do. In the beginning when you see Anupam Kher and Kiran Juneja playing Shahid Kapur’s parents, you get a vision of Khosla Ka Ghosla in your mind, but all that thought goes crashing very soon.

Music by Pritam is very ordinary and you’d hardly remember any songs after you complete the film. This is very surprising since most YRF films are known to have a good soundtrack. If the 1st half of the movie left you feeling what happened in the 1 hr of duration, the 2nd half comes across as very slow, lengthy and irritating overall. So let me go back to the different category of films that I started mentioning initially- movies which are plain boring. Badmaash Company is a prime example of such movies. I’d not really like to slot it in any other way.

At the time of writing this I realize that the movie is doing decently at the box office and may end up being commercially good for YRF. That makes me all the more worried- will a “barbaad company” like this inspire more such “barbaad” films from YRF? I hope not so that I’ll again go and watch their next film like I usually do.

Originally published in PFC- http://passionforcinema.com/badmaash-company-movie-review-beware-of-this-%E2%80%9Cbarbaad-company%E2%80%9D/

Bumm Bumm Bole Movie Review: Priyan’s mishmash remake of a classic

2011-04-27T04:45:00.000-07:00

As Taare Zameen Par grew in popularity, Priyadarshan was one of the first to announce a movie with the child star- Darsheel Safary. And the subject was something that drew mixed reactions- a remake of Majid Majidi’s renowned Iranian film “Children of Heaven”. Though Priyan has always been known as a remake factory, there were some changes being noticed of late. First of all Priyan made a truly offbeat Tamil movie- “Kanchivaram” which has received wide acclaim. Later Priyan went on record to say that he wanted to make more such serious films and announced projects on subjects like land mafia, AIDS etc. All this put together made me feel that Bumm Bumm Bole ( BBB from hereon ) could be a cakewalk for Priyan- after all he just had to replicate the film in its entirety.

As the release of the film drew near & as more and more people started sniggering while talking about the film, I wondered what the fuss was all about. I thought why a veteran who’s made 75 + films should falter by making a simple children’s film. As the film starts with a clear cut credit to Majid Majidi & his film, you start feeling even better. I guess that’s where I probably went all wrong. I’m sure most of the people reading this post on PFC would have seen Children of Heaven, but still let me get on with the plot for the convenience of the others.

BBB is a story focusing on a lower middle class family living in hills of Assam (more on that later). Atul Kulkarni and Rituparna Sengupta play the parents of Darsheel & Ziyah. Both the parents lose their jobs at the same time and its hard days at home. One day Darsheel loses the sandals of his sister which he had taken to get it mended by the cobbler. Knowing that his father has no money to buy a new pair of sandals or shoes for his sister, Darsheel asks his sister to wear his shoes while going to school since they have different school timings.

Thus begins the tale of the siblings sharing a weather beaten pair of shoes and all the trouble and heart burn that the children face in between. Against this backdrop we also get to see the kind of struggle that their parents go through. The story nears conclusion when Darsheel takes part in an inter school marathon with the sole objective of winning the 3rd prize- a lovely pair of sneakers. But as fate will have it otherwise he ends up winning the race. But by the time the movie ends with some in your face in-film branding moment (more on that later) you will be thoroughly irritated with the film.

Priyan gets it completely wrong this time & you realize this from the very first scene in the movie- a bomb blast in broad daylight. Right then you know that there is going to be something terribly wrong in this remake. So you have the terrorism angle floating in the background of the movie which was totally unwarranted and the kind of geographical representation shown in the movie will make you shake your head with wonder. Presumably based in Assam, the film has been shot in Ooty, has outfits/costumes of Kashmir and yeah the people talk in regular Hindi all throughout. Wow! isn’t that too strange a concoction?

Well that’s not the end of the tale my friends. As the movie gets over and the audience disperses you hear most people whispering how the movie appears more as a promo for a prominent footwear brand. As someone who’s sold/marketed consumer goods for quite some and who has an interest in movie marketing I can tell you that the in film brand placement as seen in BBB is something that any filmmaker should vehemently oppose. For the sake of commerce if the entire brand placement appears forced and even gross at times, it doesn’t add value but actually harms the film.

In Billu Priyan went overboard with the projection of SRK the superstar with posters all over the town ( in the film )& the kind of songs used with him. Here he goes one step further by making a brand look larger than the film itself. Children of Heaven is a great emotional roller coaster ride with wonderful moments between the siblings and some reference to the father- son relationship depicted excellently. As the film draws to a close with the marathon race, your heart is racing along with the characters and at the end you are left too stunned to react.

Here you feel nothing- virtually nothing for anybody. To be honest Darsheel and Ziyah are efficient while Atul is decent as well (but tends to go a bit overboard with the dialogues) but you never get to connect with them. For those who’ve seen the original film, BBB is a laborious watch while it may just about be ok for probably for those who haven’t seen the original version. A humble request to Priyan and all those who plan to remake such classic films- please leave them alone especially if you are hell bent on screwing up with the original in question.

Originally published in PFC- http://passionforcinema.com/bumm-bumm-bole-movie-review-priyan%E2%80%99s-mishmash-remake-of-a-classic/

Singam Movie Review: This Lion Roars For Now

2011-04-27T04:42:00.000-07:00

After the disaster called Seval, Director Hari is back with 2 aces (if we can call it that ) in his latest film-Singam. First of all he turns back to his favourite lead man-Surya with whom he has delivered two hits earlier (Aaru & Vel ). Also this time Hari returns to a format he’s handled before and which worked before- the story of an angry cop taking on a mob led by a tough villain. Yes my friends I’m referring to Saamy which starred Vikram andTrisha and which gave a major boost to the careers of both Hari and Vikram.

While Saamy was based in Tirunelveli, Singam is based in Nallur near Tuticorin. Surya plays the local S.I- Duraisingam who is true to his name, a firebrand of a cop. Prakash Raj plays Mayilvaganam, an extortion & land settlement handler who runs his activity in Chennai. A freak incident involving an old murder case brings Mayilvaganam to Nallur and thats where the first confrontation between the two takes place.

While all this is happening our cop also finds the time in his own characteristic way to lose his heart to the heroine,Anushka. She is the daughter of an industrialist (Nassar) who is in the village on vacation. After the altercation between Duraisingam and Mayilvaganam in Nallur, Durai gets promoted as Inspector and also transferred to Chennai. But it’s after he lands in Chennai that he gets to know that his transfer to Chennai was orchestrated by Mayilvaganam who now issues a challenge to Durai, saying the situation is now different as it’s his domain now.

Thus begins the game of brains & brawn (more of brawn of course) between Duraisingam and Mayilvaganam and so the movie chugs along. No prizes for getting what happens in the end though . The movie has all the elements associated with a “mass movie” – action in plenty, punch dialogues, songs shot abroad, comedy track and what not. The movie also happens to be the first major venture of Reliance Big Pictures in Tamil Cinema and I’m sure that this venture will give them a lot of confidence.

But having said all this I must add on a few more things I felt after watching Singam. For those who’ve watched Saamy the movie brings in a major feeling of deja-vu as a lot of elements are similar. In fact I’d rate Saamy as a better entertainer primarily because of two reasons- the comedy track by Vivek in Saamy is far better than his own track in Singam and also the music of Saamy was very popular, the tunes by Harris Jayaraj can still be heard. Compare this with Devi Sri Prasad’s work in Singam and the difference is very glaring. The music of Singam is very much of the ordinary kind, considering what DSP is capable of.

This poster illustrates what the movie actually is like

At times the dialogues and action scenes certainly go overboard especially with the constant reference to lion/singam motif being shown time and again when Surya is in the angry mode. Quite a few sequences also resemble those seen in other recent films and its quite funny how Singam goes up rising in his career. For someone who gets promoted from S.I to Inspector in 3 years, it’s a shocker to see him being promoted as ACP in about 3 months ( or so ) – must be the fastest case of promotion in Tamilnadu Police I guess . But then of course this being a mass movie, such questions do not really make sense.

In spite of all this and more if the film works, then a major share of the credit goes to Surya who carries off the loud cop role in his own characteristic way. Surya has already played a cop successfully earlier in Gautham Vasudev Menon’s Kakka Kakka, but that was a more subtle and a realistic portrayal of a cop. Here he makes a switch over to a larger than life cop and carries it off fairly well. In fact you even wonder if anyone else could have done a better job than Surya over here. Anushka’s character has reasonable scope to perform in the movie and that’s a surprise considering it’s a hard core action film.

Prakash Raj plays the bad guy pretty well in his own characteristic style. The supporting actors like Radha Ravi, Nassar, Manorama, Bose Venkat, Vijayakumar etc play their roles as expected. While watching the movie one can easily come to terms with the fact that Surya this time has safely trespassed into Vijay’s territory and emerged unscathed. But I hope that with his forthcoming projects like Rakta Charitra and Ezham Arivu (with Murugadoss) he will steer clear of this formula for some time at least.

Considering that the movie is turning out to be a good proposition for Sun Pictures and Reliance Big Pictures, it looks like Hari has done his job fairly well. His task was to deliver a summer blockbuster and that mission has been achieved. But as viewers what we can only hope is that we do not get Saamy Redux (aka part 3) again sometime soon. But then when success speaks, it’s tough to predict the flow of tide. Till then I guess this lion will roar for now and bring in the crowd .

Originally published in PFC- http://passionforcinema.com/singam-movie-review-this-lion-roars-for-now/

Vedam Movie Review : Telugu Cinema has a new benchmark

2011-04-27T04:38:00.000-07:00

The year 2008 IMO was one of the best for Telugu Cinema. Along with the usual potboilers like King, Kantri, Bujjigadu,Souryametc it also had some movies which were commercial and yet “reasonably different” in the kind of subject and treatment used. Some of these movies included Kotha Bangaru Lokam, Ashta Chemma, Nacchavule, Avakai Biriyani and Gamyam of course. Gamyam was a true road movie and was completely fresh in its way of reaching out to the Telugu audience. Directed by a debutant, Krish ( Radhakrishna Jagarlamudi ) this was a movie that gave all the actors scope and in particular made “Gaali Seenu”, the character played by Allari Naresh extremely popular. The movie went on to be remade in Tamil, Kannada and Bengali (awaiting release) as well.

Somehow after a good 2008, the next 1 & ½ years or so haven’t been all that good for Telugu Cinema. Last year saw the super success of Arundhati and Magadheera but after that there have hardly been any path breaking films. So when Krish announced his next film Vedam & disclosed that it will be a multistarrer with 5 different stories running in parallel, naturally the expectation levels began to soar. What made matters worse was that in 2010 while some movies have indeed made money, none of them again have been trendsetting films. So obviously as June 4th , the day of release for Vedam approached there were a lot of questions on people’s minds- the most important being will Krish be able to live up to the hype and will he be able to demonstrate that Gamyam was no flash in the pan?

So that’s why I was all the more excited while watching Vedam on the very first day of release. So is it a brilliant film, does Krish live up to the expectations and does the movie herald good news for Telugu Cinema? Well I’ll come to all that shortly but before that let me dispense away with the basics first. Vedam is what I’ll call a true Hyperlink film ( on the lines of Crash, Amores Perros etc ) and yes indeed its a multistarrer with 5 different stories/tracks running in parallel.

Track 1 : This one is all about Chakravarthy (Manoj Manchu), an aspiring rock star. His mother wants him to join the army and continue the family tradition. Instead Chakravarthy wants to follow his heart to become a rock star. He and his rock band members including Lekha Washington miss their flight from Bangalore to Hyderabad where they are supposed to perform at a live concert. Hence they decide to travel by road.

Track 2 : Ramulu (Nagayya) is a weaver in a small town. His grandson is a bright student. Ramulu owes money to a money lender and the money lender one day takes away Ramulu’s grandson and makes him a daily labour. Ramulu hence urgently needs money to get the kid back and he somehow finds a way of obtaining the money and visits Hyderabad along with his daughter-in-law ( Saranya ) for the same purpose.

Track 3 : Saroja ( Anushka ) is a prostitute in Amalapuram and very much popular. As she has to pass on major part of her earnings to the brothel owner, she decides to run away to Hyderabad and start her own brothel there. Giving her company on the run is her eunuch companion.

Track 4 : Raheemuddin Qureishi ( Manoj Bajpai ) is tired of being discriminated for being a Muslim and decides to leave Hyderabad and go on to make a career for himself in Sharjah. Accordingly he even gets his visa and is all set to fly out when his past catches up with him in an unfortunate development.

Track 5 : Cable Raju ( Allu Arjun ) is a cable operator in the slums of Jubilee Hills/Film Nagar ( Hyderabad ). Being a smooth talker he manages to get a rich girlfriend ( Deeksha Seth ) who is convinced by his charms that he is a rich guy too. As New Year’s Eve approaches she requests Raju to take her for a New Year eve party, where the entry tickets for a couple cost Rs.40, 000. Now Raju has to arrange money for the same.

While all 5 stories are of different kinds and temperament, Krish does a fairly good job of trying to run them in parallel and link them in his own way. At times one comes across a lot of cinematic moments which could have been avoided if possible and this is especially evident in the climax. But for all such moments there are so many well made moments as well which makes you completely look rooted to the screen while watching them.

My personal favourite track in the movie is the Allu Arjun one. While the premise is simple, it has been done in a very impressive manner. I would give full marks to Krish and Allu Arjun for elevating this track to the desired level. Frankly I did not expect this track to emerge so good. While on Allu Arjun I must admit that I have always felt that behind the star in him there exists a good actor who can be brought out to perform given an author backed role. So Krish has gone on to do exactly the same with Allu Arjun in Vedam.Check out the scene in the hotel on New Year’s Eve as Allu Arjun walks off to the parking lot and you may agree with me.

Nagayya as Ramulu is fabulous and he carries off the emotional scenes wonderfully. It’s tough to say that this is his first film. This is again a track that impressed me. The clandestine “organ donation” racket has been naturally depicted. The way Krish links this track with Cable Raju’s track is impressive. Manoj Manchu also comes up with a natural performance and is at ease playing the rockstar. Anushka’s role was looked forward to, thanks to the character she portrays and it’s heartening to note that she has not let her fans down. She comes across as genuine and lives up to the requirement.

Manoj Bajpai is a veteran and certainly doesn’t disappoint. Apart from the main characters Krish has brought out some good performances from the supporting cast as well and in particular those who stand out are Satyam Rajeshas Cable Raju’s friend, Ravi Prakash as the cop who hates Muslims and the eunuch friend of Anushka. A lot of other actors like Brahmanandam, Posani Murali Krishna, Raghu Babu, Giri etc put in brief appearances. Deeksha Seth and Lekha Washington manage to get noticed as well.

The writing by Krish is also to be singled out as he has beautifully interwoven these tracks together. Also ensuring that all the actors get their due is again not an easy task and hats off to Krish for ensuring the same. M.M Keeravani’s music is very much in line with the film’s requirement and the veteran does what is expected. Art Director Rajiv Nairdeserves a special mention for his work and the cinematography by Gnanasekhar V.N is effective as well. The producers- Devineni Prasad and Shobu Yarlagadda deserve to be appreciated for backing an interesting film and ensuring Krish gets to do the movie the way he wanted.

All said and done while this may not be the defining moment in Telugu Cinema, it’s certainly a film that’s a good attempt and Krish does succeed in proving that he’s no one film wonder. The drought in Telugu Cinema hopefully should end with Vedam and now filmmakers have a new benchmark to compare their films with.

Originally published in PFC-http://passionforcinema.com/vedam-movie-review-telugu-cinema-has-a-new-benchmark/

Shukno Lanka Movie Review : These ‘dry red chillies’ pack a punch

2011-04-27T04:32:00.000-07:00

Mithun Chakraborty aka Mithunda has been always regarded more as a star and that feeling is mainly since the majority of his films are being made to the specific target audience looking out for the star in him. But once in a while he does feature in films which remind us that there is a very fine actor hidden somewhere in this person whom we know is more easily seen asGunmaster G9, Disco Dancer or Phatakeshto (reference to a sample of his famous avatars). Films like Tahader Katha, Titli, Phir Kabhi, Guru etc are some examples of such films. So when I heard of writer-directorGaurav Pandey’s maiden Bengali film (as director )-Shukno Lanka (dry red chillies ) I was perfectly intrigued and looked forward to the release of the film.

Shukno Lanka talks about the life of a veteran junior artiste, Chinu Nandy ( played wonderfully by Mithunda- more on that later ) as we see the twists & turns in his life, both at work and at home. The movie also is about Joy Sundar Sen (Sabyasachi Chakraborty) an internationally acclaimed Bengali filmmaker who wins the Best Director Award at Berlinale. While in Berlin Joy meets Isabella (Emma Brown), an Australian actress and they start getting close. While on a walk together Joy comes across a book on short stories of Ritwik Ghatak and he is especially enthralled by a particular short story- ‘Parash Pathar’ and decides to make a feature film on it.

Joy’s wife Jhilik ( Debashree Roy ) is dismayed to see that her husband has no time for her and gets all the more concerned as she sees Joy getting close to Isabella. On the other hand Chinu leads a simple life at home which revolves around his wife Bela(Angana Bose). Things turn an interesting turn when Joy casts Chinu as the central character in his new film. One then gets to see these characters taking things forward as the story progresses just like the film being made by Joy. Chinu had almost resigned himself to his fate and was content with his life when this new development turns his life topsy-turvy.

Minor Spoilers Ahead

Right at the very beginning we see Chinu excitedly taking his wife for a late night ride on a horse cart and the story unfolds as the ride continues, through the roads of Kolkata’s Esplanade. Gaurav Pandey intricately weaves the narration as we are able to see so many facets of the story. On one hand there is the Bengali film industry operating out of the studios of Tollygunge and we are witness to some of the true to spirit happenings during the shooting of a Bengali film- like an ageing superstar, a South Indian choreographer teaching the mandatory jhatkas to the dancers, the same old sets etc.

On the other hand we see the contrast in the lives of Chinu the junior artiste, a typical character who is earning his daily salary of Rs.250 and alongside there is the sophisticated Joy who is caught up between the laments of his wife and the attraction he has for Isabella.The art directorIndranil Ghosh has impressively recreated the film sets and other locations like the room in Hotel Kenilworth, the ‘pada’ and the flat where Chinu stays, the posh residence of Joy etc and they certainly add a distinct colour to the movie.

Debajyoti Mishra’s music is very pleasant to the ears and certainly suits the film. There are a lot of wonderful moments in the film. My favorites include the ones where Mithunda as Chinu Nandy is interacting with the superstar hero and doing a test shot. Another impressive scene is the one where a big star complains to Chinu that he’s unfairly being denied awards every year and Chinu humbly suggests that the hero should maybe actually ‘buy’ an award and feel better. But it’s the scenes towards the end that really touch your heart completely. Chinu’s outburst in front of Joy on the sets during the last scene’s shooting and the way the horse cart ride ends are scenes that show of Gaurav Pandey’s talent, both as a writer and as a director.Mahesh Aney‘s visuals are wonderful especially those shot in the night during the horse cart ride.

Sabyasachi is wonderful as ever in his portrayal of Joy and both Debashree and Emma do a decent job. Angana Bose springs a big surprise as Bela and there is magical chemistry between her and Mithunda in the movie especially during the horse cart ride portions. Look out for the scene where Bela demands to have tea during the ride,it’s simply superb. And now let me come to the legend himself, Mithunda. Watching Chiru Nandy, it’s difficult to even think that anyone else can portray this character so well. Even when he becomes the main lead he continues to remain simple and respectful while talking to people. His expressions and body language are picture perfect. The scene where Mithunda breaks into an impromptu jig in a nightclub makes you smile.His character reminds you of the significance of the title ( dry red chillies ) as he remains similar to the chillies- ever present and adding to the flavour, but one who may not be noticed.One yearns to see more such performances from Mithunda in his forthcoming films.

All said and done the movie does have a few minor grey areas too. I felt that the last song which has Debashree dancing looked totally out of place. Even the scene where Debashree barges into the film’s set looked highly unnatural. But these are minor issues and they do not take away the fact that on an overall basis the movie works & works wonderfully at that. Its nice to see people like Gaurav Pandey receiving encouragement from the producers-Mumbai Mantra Media Ltd, who also ensured a very good release for the film. For those who like Bengali Cinema, quality cinema and for those who like Mithunda, this is a film not to be missed.

Originally published in PFC-http://passionforcinema.com/shukno-lanka-movie-review-%E2%80%93-these-%E2%80%98dry-red-chilles%E2%80%99-pack-a-punch/

Tere Bin Laden Movie Review: A Whacko Movie that makes sense!!!

2011-04-27T03:32:00.000-07:00

What exactly was Abhishek Sharma the writer and director of Tere Bin Laden(TBL from here on) smoking while conceptualizing the movie? Well this was the first question that came to my mind while I saw the first look and promos and read about the movie. The concept not only made me think aloud and smile, it also made me wonder what the trigger to conceive such a concept was. So needless to say this was a movie that I eagerly anticipated. But then something happened that kind of dampened my spirits a little. I got to know that TBL was scheduled for release on the 16th of July, 2010. A day that was also going to see the release ofInception, Udaan & Lamhaa- movies which for various reasons of their own were already making waves.

So I was at once even more curious as to whether Walkwater Media, the producers of TBL and Boney Kapoor’s BSK Network and Entertainment Pvt.Ltd, the distributors across India ( and who hold all the rights for the movie except the overseas rights ) were doing the right thing by choosing to release the movie this way. Well more on that later my friends. TBL begins with Ali Haasan, a reporter trying to shift from Pakistan to the U.S and very nearly getting successful in his effort. But a freak incident on board the flight ends up with Ali getting deported back to Pakistan. After that no matter however hard he tries to get his visa approved (watch out for some wonderful getups attempted) he is unable to get through the hurdle.

The story shifts to a period 7 years later and we now see Ali working as a reporter for Danka T.V, a small non descript T.V channel in Karachi run by a boss Majeed ( Piyush Mishra ), who is forever trying to make the life of his employees miserable. Giving Ali company is his cameraman-friend, Gul (played by a cheerful Nikhil Ratnaparkhi) and we get to see the boring life of Ali and Gul. Boring? Yes indeed boring as Ali still dreams of moving to the U.S and decides to take the help of Lashker- e- Amreeka, an outfit that aims to help people relocate to the U.S by hook or crook.

In one of the ‘blockbuster assignments’ given by Majeed, Ali and Gul are made to cover a rooster crowing/croaking contest. That’s where they chance upon Noora (Pradhuman Singh ) , a poultry farmer who bears an uncanny resemblance to Osama Bin Laden. In his quest to raise money for his gateway to the U.S Ali decides to make use of Noora without realizing the implications of his plan. What follows then is a mad cap adventure filled with plenty of laugh aloud moments throughout the film.

While the entire concept in itself needs to be lauded what is also important to note that this is a movie completely based in Pakistan and is telling a local story based in that country. For those who may think what’s so great about the whole deal let me remind you that most of our films are either based in India or it’s an Indian story based in some overseas location. How often do we get to see an Indian movie about a story belonging to another Nation and coming across impressively as well? This very fact itself makes me respect Abhishek Sharma all the more.

Also praiseworthy is the way Karachi/Pakistan has got recreated in our own Hyderabad. Yes at times the production values appear low and that’s evident in a lot of scenes. But rather than distracting us they actually add on to the mad cap masti that’s being played on in front of us. Santosh Thundiyil’s camera work is impressive be it while taking us through the eyes of the T.V cameras or even otherwise. And how can I not talk about the music of the film.The songs by Shankar-Ehsan-Loy and Dhruv Dhalla are completely in sync with the temperament of the film. With songs like ‘Ullu Da Pattha’, ‘I Love Amreeka’ etc you realize that the movie is certainly a fun ride all the way.

Talking about the cast then it’s mandatory to mention that Ali Zafar completely lives out the role of Ali, the reporter. He is certainly an actor with potential and could soon become another singer- actor to gain prominence provided he chooses the right projects. Pradhuman Singh not only is a wonderful look-alike of Osama Bin Laden, he’s also a delight in the role of Noora, the poultry farmer in love with his chicken and eggs. TBL is a great example of the fact getting the casting right goes a long way in ensuring that the movie turns out well.

This is illustrated when we look at the supporting cast members, all of whom have done justice to their part. Nikhil Ratnaparkhi as Gul, the cameraman-friend of Ali, Piyush Mishra as Majeed- the owner of Danka T.V, Sugandha Gargas Zoya- the beautician/make up specialist, Chirag Vohra as Lateef- the punching bag of Majeed, Rahul Singh as the communist Radio announcer, Barry John as Ted are all very natural and lend credence to their characters.

With a running time of less than 100 minutes, this is one movie I guarantee that will not make you complain about the pace being sluggish at times . What is also interesting to note that is that considering the subject of the film there could have been some controversial elements thrown in, as it’s the case generally. So it’s definitely to the credit of Abhishek Sharma and the producers for completely being restrained and sticking completely to the original framework very clearly.

At the time of writing this post I’ve realized that in spite of stiff competition from films like Inception, Udaan and Lamhaa there is still a positive buzz getting generated for TBL. So while there is no big director, a major International film festival entry or a big star cast attached to TBL, the movie is still earnest in wanting to reach out to us and tell us the tale of Ali and the World around him. Go watch this and I hope you’ll come out of the theatre/multiplex with a smile on your face.

Originally published in PFC- http://passionforcinema.com/tere-bin-laden-movie-review-a-whacko-movie-that-makes-sense/

Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai Movie Review- The Other Viewpoint

2011-04-27T03:28:00.000-07:00

Let me start with a confession, this isn’t a regular movie review that I’m attempting. By now I think quite a few people have already done that (including on PFC) and what I’m trying now is to share my feelings about the movie. So here I go on this personal account of how I look at Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai(OUATIM from hereon).

Let me start off by asking all of you a question- what was your expectation (if any) when you first heard of the movie or started seeing the promos? In my case I would say that the movie had me reasonably excited. And let me explain why. To start with I have admired Milan Luthria’s work and felt that given the right concept and the right cast in hand, he can pull off an entertaining film. So for everyChori Chori and a Hattrick, he also has a Kachche Daage or a Taxi No.9211 to talk about.

And then the subject itself appealed to me- the tale of two of the so called powerful men in the city once known as Bombay- Haji Mastan and Dawood Ibrahim. I somehow had the feeling that this will not be a movie in the RGV style of gangster movies like a Satya or a Company. Rather I had the feeling that this would be a total retro film with the movie turning to recreate the pulp entertainers of the 70’s & the 80’s. Unlike some of the others I was also looking forward to seeingAjay Devgan and Emran Hashmi in the characters modeled on Haji Mastan and Dawood respectively.

While Ajay has proven on numerous occasions that he is a wonderful actor and has done a gangster movie like Company, Emran looked like the dark horse to me. I have unlike a lot of people always felt that there existed a decent actor within the person who is known more as a ‘serial kisser’. This opinion has been proved right in his recent films like Awarapan, Jannat & Tum Mile. Also when I started hearing the songs of the movie, I was quite pleased withPritam’s work.

So with all these things in mind I looked forward to the release of the film and kept my date with the film on the Friday it released (July 30th). Deliberating upon the film now I’m trying to think of how the movie shaped up to my expectations and I realize that overall it was a fairly credible effort from Milan Luthria and his team. I thought the retro look of the 70’s and the 80’s were well captured and I would certainly give credit to Nitin Desai’s art direction and the cinematography of Aseem Mishra for the same.

OUATIM tries hard not to fall into the dark realistic gangster movie mould seen in so many movies like Satya,Company,Vaastav and so many more. Here in I believe is a victory of sorts for the movie. If the movie had been shown as another dark, realistic RGV kind of underworld movie, this would have been just another movie in that genre. And we would all be saying- “oh!no, not another gangster movie”. For me the music of Pritam in terms of both the songs and the BGM worked perfectly with the mood of the movie. Be it a romantic Pee Loon or Tum Jo Aaye or the totally retro Parda, the songs make a definite impact.

Which takes me now to the cast and their performances. Both the heroinesKangna Ranaut and Prachi Desai were decent but then their roles didn’t have much scope. But I have no complaints here as all along it was touted as a saga of two men and that being the case how much of depth do we hope for female characters in such films. For that matter there’s hardly any gangster/underworld film ( Anurag Basu’s Gangster : A Love Story is a remarkable exception ) which plays a lot of thrust on female character development. Ajay Devgan-the star was very much visible throughout the film and right from his look (suave whites throughout the film) to his swagger and the dialogue delivery ( kudos to Rajat Arora the writer ), everything had style in it.

Ah!coming to Emran Hashmi, what do I say? While he was not quite the show stealer, he certainly did pull off the character of Shoaib pretty well. Unfortunately he does not get much scope in the 1st act of the film and it’s only towards the end of the 2nd act that he really gets going. Randeep Hooda as the cop was earnest but his narration of the flow of events was looking very unclear in terms of the way it was happening. None of the other characters anyway made any strong impact.

Having said all this I certainly don’t want to give out the impression that it’s a great film or a perfect film. Far from it , but it’s a film which has fulfilled my expectations to a great extent. The climax appeared too sudden and abrupt and thus hampered the flow of the film. While I don’t have any issue with the way the story ends, I still feel there should have been a stronger (and a lengthier) pre-climax which leads to the climax.

For all those who have various complaints ( some people have an issue with the dialogue mannerism in this film, some people feel it wasn’t too gritty and realistic, some people feel it was an over the top film )with the film I do have something to say.Ultimately what did you expect from this film? If you weren’t expecting a pulp entertainer which was modeled on the films of the 70’s and the 80’s and bringing out the retro look intact then I guess you went in to watch the wrong movie. For the others the movie is a fairly engaging watch. As I write this I realize that the movie is slowly picking up at the box office and is gathering a favorable response from the audience. Lets just wait and see how much this rewind journey of ‘Mumbaai’ gets appreciated by the masses.

Originally published in PFC- http://passionforcinema.com/once-upon-a-time-in-mumbaai-movie-review-the-other-viewpoint/

Madharasapattinam Movie Review : A Period Love Saga

2011-04-27T03:23:00.000-07:00

Note- This post is dedicated to the undying spirit of the wonderful city we call as Madras/Chennai. Sunday, 22nd August, 2010 was the 371st birthday of the city.

When director A.L.Vijay who had apprenticed underPriyadarshan and made 2 reasonably good films likePoi Solla Porom & Kireedom announced his decision to make his 3rd film, most people following Tamil Cinema including me were quite intrigued. The reason for the people to get surprised was that the movie in question- ‘Madharasapattinam’ was to be a period film based in the 1940’s in erstwhile Madharasapattinam i.e the Chennai of today. For someone who had found reasonable success by making remakes till now, it looked like quite a bold departure.

But then what made it interesting was that the film was to be produced by AGS Entertainment , who in the recent period have shown that they are looking at being a serious player in the overall domain of Entertainment by getting into production,distribution and now exhibition as well. As work on the film progressed the buzz continued to get bigger and better. The first look and later the audio release ensured that the movie was certainly getting its fair share of visibility.

It’s the mid 1940’s and Paruthi (Arya ) is a young man who loves wrestling and who is a dhobi by profession. His life revolves around the washermen’s colony (present Washermanpet?) in the northern part of Madharasapattinam. The peace among the people there gets disturbed when the British decide to construct a golf course in the washermen’s colony and ask them to vacate. Paruthi and his friends are among those who try to resist the attempts of the British who try various means to make them vacate their land. In comes Amy (Amy Jackson) the daughter of the Governor of the Madras Presidency.

Amy Brown

Due to the turn of events Amy & Paruthi meet a few times and slowly there emerges a bond between them. Initially Amy moves across the town aided by the translator cum guide- Nambi (played wonderfully by the late Cochin Haneefa). The romance between Amy and Parithi slowly develops in spite of the language barriers faced by them. Around the same time there is a lot of political activity going on in India and finally it is announced that India will get its Independence on 15th August, 1947.

Unmindful of what’s going around them Amy & Paruthi continue their romance and things take a tough turn when Amy’s father get’s to know of their relationship. Against this backdrop we see that it is indeed time for India’s Independence and so Amy’s father decides that he must do whatever he can to separate the two lovers and take his daughter back with him to England.So while the whole Nation is rejoicing to the theme of Independence and celebrating with all joy & fervour, for Amy and Parithi – the eve of the Indian Independence brings out the biggest test of their love as they are made to run for themselves and their own freedom too.

What happens to Paruthi and Amy? Does their love succeed? Does 15th August turn out to be the day of Independence for Paruthi and Amy too? The movie goes on then to take us through that fateful night and what happens after that. At the very outset it is very clear that the movie is a visual delight and the recreation of the old city of the 1940’s has been very clearly established. The shots/scenes with the old Mount Road (now Anna Salai), old Buckingham Canal, the old Spencers (merging with the new Spencer Plaza ) all evoke a major feeling of nostalgia among us. Apart from Director A.L.Vijay’s vision, certainly due credit should also be given to Nirav Shah’s cinematography and the wonderful art direction done by Selva – as they are true aids in capturing the period look of the film.

But having said that one also cannot but help escaping the fact that there are so many traces of influence of quite a few other films that are seen over here. Most prominently there is a backdrop ofTitanic and Kisnathat’s quite visible and even a few elements of Lagaanas well. I wouldn’t elaborate further on the same as it could take away the essence of the visuals for those who are yet to watch the film. In terms of the cast Arya does reasonably well as Paruthi and fits the role description fairly well. Amy Jackson is certainly a pretty find and she’s probably the prettiest foreign actress seen in Indian Cinema of late.

Among the other major characters one must certainly acknowledge the presence of Nasser as the revolutionary and wrestling guru, who does justice to his role. And of course Cochin Haneefa as Nambi the translator will always remind us what a brilliant actor we have lost in the recent times. There are quite a few funny moments in the 1st half especially when Arya and his friends are trying to learn English and ‘kidnap’ the school teacher. These light moments do add a zing to the proceedings. Music by G.V. Prakash is quite effective. And my favorite song is certainly ‘ Vaama Duraiamma’ song effortlessly by Udit Narayan in his own inimitable style.

The rest of the British cast isn’t really too impressive as they fall into the typical trap of shrieking and overacting as seen by most such characters in Indian period films. As the movie gets over and as one walks out of the theatre/multiplex, what the viewer is most likely to carry with him from the film will be the period look of the city and the images of Paruthi and Amy. It’s a pity that the director could not go on to use the opportunity to go beyond the regular and probably come up with something more arresting and captivating. That alone could have ensured that the movie goes on to be a classic.

But in today’s age anything that’s even half decent is likely to find acceptance and this is especially true in case of films. This can be demonstrated by the fact that the movie has found reasonably good patronage from the Tamil Film audience. In a nut shell Madharasapattinam is a movie that probably does not deliver completely to its potential but still has enough to go for it.

Originally published in PFC- http://passionforcinema.com/madharasapattinam-movie-review-a-period-love-saga/

Naan Mahaan Alla Movie Review- Fiery Yet Realistic

2011-04-27T02:41:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to the 4th Anniversary of PFC which falls today ( 5th September,2010 ).

What do you do when the promos of a film before the release portray the film to be just another entertainer without anything drastically different? But what do you also do when you realise that the hero is someone who in his 1st 3 films has already proven that he is capable of pulling off both realistic and ‘mass’ oriented roles? Also adding to the confusion what if you get to know that the director of the film made his debut last year with a fairly engaging trendsetting film? In my case I just decide to follow my own impulse and check out the film and find out for myself.

The movie in question is the Tamil film ‘Naan Mahaan Alla’ (I’m not a Mahatma), from hereon referred to as NMA & the director in question is Suseenthiran who made the wonderful semi-rural based sports centric film- ‘Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu’ and the actor I’m referring to is Karthi who seems to be on a roll after his earlier releases this year ( Aayirathil Oruvan & Paiyaa ).From a semi-rural background, Suseenthiran this time shifts the base to Chennai Metro & looks at trying to provide yet another new dimension to the city.

NMA begins on a startling note as we get to see a group of scrawny looking youngsters who play football, consume drugs & even molest a girl on a secluded beach. The focus then shifts to Jeeva (Karthi) who is shown making his entry with his friend’s during a New Year’s Eve. Jeeva is shown to be a carefree youngster living with his parents & sister. Jeeva is someone who doesn’t really feel the urge to take up a job & is happy that his parents are taking care of his expenses.

Once during his college-mate’s wedding Jeeva and his friends run out of money to buy liquor and Jeeva even smartly tries to convince his friend, the bride to fund for their booze. That’s where Jeeva meets Priya ( Kajal Aggarwal ) and it is then love at first sight for Jeeva. Then we see Jeeva wooing Priya in his own characteristic style and yes very soon Priya also falls in love with Jeeva. Their romance is taken forward against the strains of Yuvan Shankar Raja‘s melodious ‘ Iragai Pole’ and all of a sudden Jeeva springs a surprise on Priya by landing up at her place and meeting her father to express his interest in marrying her.

But Priya’s father isn’t too keen on the alliance as he feels that Jeeva comes from a lower middle class background and also since Jeeva himself is unemployed. That’s when Jeeva himself decides to take up a job and becomes a collection agent for a bank. What follows are a bunch of hilarious sequences with Jeeva finding it difficult to make any collection. He ends up sympathising with the people ( watches a cricket match in one home, buys sweets for a girl in another home etc ) from whom he is supposed to collect payments and instead loses his job.

Karthi & Kajal

Amidst all this fun and frolic we are reminded of the guys who were introduced in the beginning of the film. Though college students the guys are shown to have a psychotic streak as they end up murdering a girl after outraging her modesty. The police unearth the body of the girl that has been cut into parts and when the news is made public, Karthi’s father (Jayaprakash) who is a call taxi driver comes forward to identify the guys before the cops as he had taken them around in his taxi just before the scene of the crime.

When the gang comes to know that their identity has been blown away they swear revenge on Jeeva’s father. Right at the time when there is a feeling of celebration at home (due to Jeeva’s sister’s wedding ) disaster strikes the family. The story leads on from there in a not so unconventional fashion and it is to Suseenthiran’s credit that he doesn’t allow the narrative to appear stale or clichéd.There is a delicate balance in the tone of the movie and while the 1st half of the film is filled more with light hearted feel good moments, the 2nd half gets into the realistic world of crime that seems to be penetrating even such youngsters these days.

Talking about performances Karthi not surprisingly is the life of the film. It’s very evident that he seems to have thoroughly enjoyed his role as he comes across as someone extremely comfortable & completely in control. Be it in the scenes where he is trying to woo Kajal, or when he is making the collection calls at various homes, or during the scenes with his Jayaprakash who portrays his father, Karthi is completely relaxed and in full form. And even when life forces Karthi to turn serious in life he looks quite convincing both while trying to take care of his family and also when he goes behind the ruthless group of guys.

Kajal Aggarwal makes a confident return to Tamil Cinema and looks extremely pretty as ever. She shares an excellent chemistry with Karthi and it’s pretty evident in the scenes where they share the frame. Unfortunately towards the latter half of the film her character is not shown at all and hence she doesn’t get too much scope beyond a point. Jayaprakash is perfect as Karthi’s father and is extremely composed. He is improving with every film and is becoming a fine character artiste. Watch out for the chemistry between him and Karthi and his wife ( Lakshmi Ramakrishnan ) which is crackling. The guys who play the villains are pretty effective and among Karthi’s friends, Soori ( from Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu ) stands out. The role of the don Kutty Natesan is played effectively by cinematographer Aruldas.

Art Director Rajeevan deserves a lot of credit for portraying the middle class surrounding of Karthi’s family and contrasting it with the upper class surrounding in case of Kajal and also the dingy interiors of places that the villains keep visiting. Of course R.Madhi’s cinematography also plays its part in ensuring that the art director’s work gets noticed. Some people might have a problem with the way the movie progresses to the climax and also the way it ends abruptly. But all said and done I found the climax to be chilling and thoroughly enjoyable. As to why the film probably ends the way it appears, well Suseenthiran would be the right person to answer that .

The movie in a nutshell has something for most audiences. While the 1st half would certainly appeal even to families and those who like feel good films, the 2nd half would probably not go down well with the same audience. While for those who like their films to have a bit of realism woven within the commercial format, NMA is a reasonably good watch. It’s a film on the lines of Polladhavan (Dhanush starrer) which also would fit into the same category of films. It will be interesting to watch out for Suseenthiran’s next film Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai as he has shown with NMA that Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu was not a flash in the pan.

Originally published in PFC- http://passionforcinema.com/naan-mahaan-alla-movie-review-fiery-yet-realistic/

Soch Lo Movie Review: There’s More to It than What the Title Says

2011-04-27T02:39:00.000-07:00

When writer/director/actorSartaj Singh Pannustated that Soch Lo is as mainstream a movie as it could be except for the fact that it’s an Indie film, it intrigued me. And this was not without reason. After all most Indie films coming out in India these days are issue based or ‘offbeat’ in nature and hence I was curious to see what Sartaj was trying to convey. Also the initial promo had given me a reasonably good feel about the movie. But then don’t we all know that promos can be misleading? Anyways regardless of all these thoughts I sat down to watch the movie with an open mind.

Soch Lo begins in a desert as we see a man who has been hurt and left to die over there. We realize that this man has lost his memory and then goes on to loot the people passing by the roadside and thus keeping himself going. One day finally the man comes across 3 people which includes a brother and sister. While the sister Pali ( Barkha Madan ) doesn’t want to do anything with him, her brother promises to help the man regain his identity if he would work with him and thus the man goes along with them. In a freak fracas the man realizes that he was on his honeymoon with his wife after which he mysteriously ended up in the desert.

The stranger who is now re-christened as Baba Adams sets out to look for his wife and also regain his complete identity. Parallely we get to know that the stranger was actually an army man who has an arranged marriage with Riva (Iris Maity) and was on honeymoon with her. Riva apparently wasn’t too happy with the wedding as she had been in a relationship with Basu (Nishan Nanaiah). But in a few days Riva does get close to her husband and decides to accept this new phase in her life. That’s when something strange happens as Riva goes missing and the stranger/her husband lands up in the desert.

The man sets about to look for his wife along with Pali and realizes in his own way that Riva, his wife has probably been kidnapped by her ex-flame, Basu. How does the stranger go about doing the search along with Pali? Does he get back his identity and what happens when he meets Riva and Basu is what the rest of the movie is all about. The very beginning of the movie when we see the stranger left to fend for himself in the desert itself is captivating. The film’s visually stunning in most places and both the desert and the seaside are captured pretty well.

Sartaj with Iris Maity

Sandeep Patil’s cinematography certainly needs to be commended for the ensuring that the film has a rich look and texture throughout. On the other technical fronts also the film certainly scores well. But the lack of a bigger budget shows in places. In particular the action scenes are disappointing, I wish they were better executed. Also since most of the cast is unknown at times some of the actors do appear a bit lost. The back ground score byNitesh Pires is haunting and goes very well with the tone of the film. Thankfully none of the characters break into a song & dance routine, however the soundtrack composed by Charu Mohan and Nitish Pires is reasonably good.

Sartaj Pannu is the life of the film as he does a reasonably good job of pulling off the character of an army man who has lost his memory and is searching for his wife and his identity. He gets the nuances right most of the time.Iris Maity doesn’t look too convincing as she appears confused as to whether her loyalty is with her husband or her lover. Barkha Madan fits the part as someone with a lot of attitude but still follows her heart and goes along with the stranger in his journey. Nishan Nanaiah who has been seen off late in Malayalam movies like Ritu, Apoorvaragametc has done a decent job as Basu. But what is baffling is the title of the movie.

When the movie ends you are left wondering whether the title was actually linked to the ending.But despite some obvious issues the film basically is an earnest attempt by Sartaj and his team as you are focused on the film for a major part of it’s around 110 odd minutes of duration.Which reminds me of Sartaj’s point about the movie being an Indie yet mainstream film and I can certainly agree with him on that front. Considering all odds against which the movie got completed and came out, it’s certainly encouraging indeed. It will be interesting to see what the team will come up with next considering all their experiences associated with Soch Lo.

Originally published in PFC- http://passionforcinema.com/soch-lo-movie-review-there%E2%80%99s-more-to-it-than-what-the-title-says/

Leaving Home- DVD Review and some random thoughts

2011-04-27T02:32:00.000-07:00

Note- This is not a straightforward DVD review & has a lot of personal insight as well.

Kandisa Alahaye, Kandisa Esana
Kandisa Alahaye, Kandisa Esana
Aalam Balam Aalam, Aamenu Aamen
Sliha Mar Yose, Almaduba Kudisa
Aangen Dhanusa, Nehave Dukharana

The above lines fromKandisa took me by surprise when I heard them for the first time in 2000/2001. That was the time when I was in B.School and most of my batch mates were busy trying to hone their skills and looking at making their way up the corporate ladder. However I was content living life on my own terms and tripping on movies, more movies and music of course. So while most of the time I would listen to Bollywood or Regional film music or maybe even Rock music, Indian Ocean’s music came over as something really refreshing. Of course that was also the time when Indi- Pop really started developing as well with record labels likeMagnasound and BMG Crescendo focusing on them. But nearly a decade later the dynamics of the Indian music industry have completely changed. Nowadays things are not the same and everything is centered around Indian film music (Bollywood & Regional) and that’s what makes an entity like Indian Ocean even more special. For not only have they held their own in the midst of all the changes sweeping the Indian music industry and continued making their kind of music, they have also worked with all kinds of formats and atmosphere, so much that Bollywood keeps beckoning them from time to time.

So as days wore on and as I stepped out of the cushy zone that B.School provided and re-entered the real world, for a long long time I floated along like many others without really knowing when I need to make the choice, the choice to follow my heart rather than my brain. All along Indian Ocean continued to make their kind of music, their albums likeJhini and Black Friday kept introducing a lot many more people to their music. I had a few options to follow my heart around the same time, but somehow things did not work out. Also maybe I was so pre-occupied with the rigmarole of life that I had probably stopped admiring some of the better things in life. When I look back in time I feel I can so much relate to the lyrics of ‘Bande’ from Black Friday with what I was going through in life then.

Are ruk ja, are tham ja
Are ruk ja re bande
Are tham ja re bande
Ki kudrat hans padegi
Ki kudrat hans padegi
Are ninde hai jakhami
Are sapane hai bhuke
Ki karvat phat padegi

Personally apart from casually following up on Indian Ocean’s music in general I had not been a full on fan boy. But nevertheless when Jaideep Varma was finally ready to bring out ‘Leaving Home’, his film and tribute to Indian Ocean, I was looking forward to the same mainly out of curiosity. After all it isn’t often that one gets to see a documentary/non fiction film on a music band getting a mainstream release. As ill luck would have it I was in Chennai when the film released and it never released there. I still remember trying to ask Jaideep if I could help in any way in getting the film released in Chennai and a few other places. Meanwhile whoever saw the film went on to talk so highly about the film that I went on to feel even worse for missing out on the experience of watching it.

Well destiny can always surprise you in many ways and pretty soon I finally took the call of listening to my heart and thus I came over to Mumbai in search of work in the entertainment space. That was when I also had the good fortune of meeting Jaideep for something else and casually when we discussed Leaving Home, he did remember that I was still waiting to watch it. So while he was telling me about the experience of filming it, I also finally managed to lay my hands on a DVD of the film. I was also told that there are a lot of extra features which the team had carefully worked into the DVD. While I got all excited and decided I’ll be watching the movie finally, I couldn’t fulfill what I wanted right away. For 3 weeks I just kept pushing away the prospect due to some reason or the other till I finally felt ashamed and saw it a few days back.

First things first- when I was seeing the movie I realized that I had missed out on something really and truly phenomenal all this while. As I sat alone and watched the 115 minutes of the movie and 58 minutes of special features unfold in front of myself, I sat mesmerized and at a loss for words. The journey that Asheem Chakravarty, Susmit Sen , Rahul Ram & Amit Kilam had undertaken is not only interesting but deeply inspiring as well. The film dispenses away with the use of a narrator and instead relies more on the 4 band members and their music to take things forward.

Keeping things in order or check are the chapters that are demarcated and unfold before us. What is interesting is that one need not be a fan of Indian Ocean or be aware of their music to understand or appreciate the film. And that’s where Jaideep and his team have scored really well according to me. Even for someone who is getting introduced to the band through this film, there’s so much on offer. While there have been so many stories of people from middle class backgrounds succeeding in life, there’s still something different and unique about the band and how they made it, which is captured in Leaving Home.For me probably the most defining moment in the film is the segment whereIndrajit Dutta, one of the original band members comes back to reflect back on his days spent with the band and how on hindsight he says he would have liked to stay back. But he knows that this was only his wishful thinking and he cannot turn back the clock. This moment hit me hard as I realized that there’s probably a reason why I’ve now decided to follow my heart. Who knows if I don’t take the call now then some years down the line I’d probably be regretting for not having the temerity to follow my heart and take the necessary decision.

The band a few years ago!!!

When Indrajit Dutta plodded by Susmit is playing on the guitar, there’s instant camaraderie as Asheem also moves in and the feeling is all the more complete. Also some other random wonderful moments include the time when Asheem is talking about his childhood and his family, when Asheem and Amit do a jugalbandi, as Rahul talks about his journey and you see footage of the Narmada Bachao Andolan while discussing Ma Rewa and many more such moments. What’s more we also get to know that while being exceptionally talented people, all the 4 band members are very much like us in a lot of ways. As I realized Rahul’s academic credentials for example (M.Sc from IIT Kanpur, Ph.D from Cornell University) my respect for them not only increased but it also made me feel that I’m doing nothing heroic just because I want to chart a different course in life.

DVD Special Features

The DVD has a very sleek cover with some memorable media quotes mentioned on it as well. For fans of the band there’s a nice little poster of the band which shows them practicing in their favorite hangout, the old bungalow at Karol Bagh in Delhi. In addition to the film the DVD also carries 58 mins of special features which include the following- The Making of Leaving Home, Random Asheem Moments, The Longer Trip: Preview and also Trailers of the film itself. The making of LH is very tastefully done and doesn’t come across as an extra feature. In fact for a film like LH the making also comes as just an extension of the film and thus gives an added insight into the band and the film.

Jaideep and some of the key members involved with the film like Paramvir Singh, the DOP, Vivek Sachidanand who took care of the sound design, Nimish Gaur, the editor etc all give their personal insights into the film. But enough care is taken to ensure that even in the making of the film they come across only as supporting elements to the band itself. There’s also close to 15 minutes of random Asheem moments which are selected from the total footage of the film. Both the making and the random Asheem moments are enough to make even those who’ve already seen the movie to watch it again.

And yes Jaideep has planned to come up with a 286 minute longer version of the DVD which is expected to come out on 25th December, 2010. There is also a sneak preview of the longer version given along with the special features of the regular DVD. Overall the special features are neatly assigned with the actual film itself in the DVD, making it a collector’s item for those who are interested.

The Finale

Oh and when the film was about to get over I suddenly remembered there was something missing. And I realized what I was missing only when the end credits rolled and Hille Le played-

Hille le
Hille le jhakjhor duniya
janta ki chale paltaniya
deh gae rajwade deh gae maharajwa
rani kari dhool mein lutaniya
hille le Asia re hille le Amrikwa
hille poori jagat ki janataaa

After all this was one of the more popular songs played by our resident DJ’s in the parties that used to happen when I was still in campus. So as I smiled and got nostalgic and reflected over a lot of things, I realized that the journey has just about begun in my case.

Originally published in PFC- http://passionforcinema.com/leaving-home-dvd-review-and-some-random-thoughts/

Endhiran & the Magic of Rajnikanth

2011-04-27T02:30:00.000-07:00

As I write this there are lakhs of people across various parts of the Country especially in the Southern States who are all sharing something unique- the joy of celebrating the arrival of the latest movie of their favourite movie star. All of them indeed are fans of the one & only Superstar-Rajnikanth. There are shows which started as early as 3.30 a.m today in various parts of Tamil Nadu for ‘Endhiran’, Director Shankar’s dream project with Rajnikanth, Aishwarya Rai & Danny Denzongpa in the lead. Combined with the Hindi (Robot) & Telugu (Robo) versions the movie is opening up to a mind boggling 2000 + screens Worldwide.

Reports have been positive so far and I’m sure this weekend will see lots of people across the globe, lapping up the movie. Which makes me ask the question- what is it that makes Rajni the phenomenon that he is? What makes people line up in anticipation months ahead of his film’s release and create the kind of buzz that’s unimaginable otherwise?Well the only answer to this could be – charisma. It’s the charisma of Rajnikanth that makes him come across as a larger than life phenomena and creates the aura around him.

The dynamics of the movie business has changed and today it’s the multiplexes which account for the bulk of the business though in terms of sheer numbers the single screens and cineplexes still are the majority. Gone are the days when we used to have 100 days (and later 50 days ) benchmark as the qualification for a hit status. In fact we were even used to silver jubilees ( 25 weeks ) and golden jubilees ( 50 weeks ) on a regular basis. But today it’s carpet bombing of theatres thats in vogue. Earlier when a Baasha or a Padayappa would release then outside South India except for select places like the good old Aurora Cinema in Matunga, Mumbai, there were hardly any other places to watch his films.

Milk abhishekam for Kuselan

So much so that I remember so many people who would actually come down to Chennai or their respective home town from a Delhi/Mumbai during the release of a Rajni film. With Sivaji-The Boss all that changed. One single movie, which brought Shankar and Rajni together for the first time, soon changed the way exhibition/distribution of South Indian films happens in the rest of the country. Sivaji ( and later Dasavatharam ) showed that there is a market for a Rajnikanth ( and Kamal Haasan ) outside the regular perceived audience too. As Sivaji-The Boss opened to a wide number of multiplexes and single screens in Mumbai and opened up new markets like Pune, Delhi/NCR, Kolkata, Gujarat etc, more and more people started taking notice of South Indian films. Even for a film which failed miserably like Kuselan ( which had Rajnikanth in a cameo and not the lead role ) the buzz was quite prominent.

But while carpet bombing of theatres/multiplexes became regularised and the importance of the opening weekend became all the more pronounced, some things still remain the same. Shows starting at mid-nite / early morning still continue to be the norm for a Rajni movie and it’s not different for Endhiran either. Fans performing milk/beer abhishekam still continues. The buzz across media (online/offline/visual) continues to be strong. While I’m not trying to debate on whether its right or wrong, I certainly do acknowledge that it’s the charm associated with all these things also which lends that special touch to cinema.

Last time around when Sivaji-The Boss released, it was just the Tamil and the dubbed Telugu versions alone that released (the dubbed Hindi version came after ages). But this time the dubbed Hindi version is releasing simultaneously. Given that there is a strong opposition in the form of a frontline Hindi film like Anjaana Anjaani which is releasing; it’s commendable that Robot has managed to get a widespread release in the Hindi belt. In fact a few days ago while promoting Anjaana Anjaani in Hyderabad, Ranbir Kapoor is known to have told the people “You can watch our film if you don’t get tickets for Endhiran”. That in a nutshell tells us how strong the buzz is for Endhiran.

And it’s also an event that brings alike people of all kinds of all strata of society for the single reason- the need to be a part of the festivity. I have never been a true blue fan boy of Rajnikanth ( and I’m being honest here ) but I have always marvelled at the kind of hysteria the man is able to bring out with just a single action or a sentence spoken. So the day of a Rajnikanth movie release is the time when I go out and witness the phenomena for myself again and see the magic come alive. When Sivaji-The Boss released, I happened to be in Vijayawada on the Friday of release. Friends and acquaintances who have nothing to do with films were calling or sending me SMS’s and telling me how they have enjoyed their movie.

Having decided to watch it in Tamil the first time I cooled my heels till Sunday when I reached Chennai and could finally watch the movie. This time around I’m missing the action in Chennai as I’m in Mumbai but I’m trying to ensure that I’m still having my share of fun. I’m heading over now to watch Endhiran maybe twice (including at the Imax Dome in Wadala ) today and soak in the magic. So are you all set for the magic as well???

Originally published in PFC- http://passionforcinema.com/endhiran-the-magic-of-rajnikanth/

Endhiran Movie Review : Man Vs Machine

2011-04-27T02:22:00.001-07:00

Dedicated to the memory of the late Sujatha Rangarajan who’s contribution to Endhiran is immense.

Director Shankar’s much in the news Endhiran finally hit the theatres this weekend and I was one among the curious onlookers on the first day. Curious for various reasons- 1. Shankar’s last film- Sivaji- The Boss had created a mass hysteria in the box office, proving that Shankar + Rajnikanthwas a very lethal combination.2. Also Endhiran was Shankar’s dream project, something which he had conceived nearly a decade ago and so was all the hype justified? 3. How was Shankar going to present the 2 different Rajnikanth’s in the film? 4. With the film receiving such a widespread release (even in the Hindi belt with the dubbed Hindi version) would the strategy work?

The movie begins with Dr.Vaseegaran ( Rajnikanth ), a robotics expert working day & night and finally completing his dream project- Chitti, the android-humanoid robot. Vaseegaran makes Chitti look just like himself as he passes on his way of speech & mannerisms too. The aim is to make Chitti an effective agent of use for the Indian Army. So immersed is Vaseegaran in his work that he even ignores all the calls , messages & even visits of his girlfriend, Sana ( Aishwarya Rai ), a Medical student.Vaseegaran unveils Chitti at an International Robotics Conference and that’s where Dr.Bohra (Danny Denzongpa ), Vaseegaran’s mentor and the head of AIRD ( Artificial Intelligence Research & Development ) also sets his eyes on Chitti. While the whole world goes gaga over Chitti, Dr.Bohra feels extremely jealous that his protégé Vaseegaran has made such a wonderful robot, as his own attempts at creating a similar robot hasn’t yet yielded the same result. We then see Chitti going through a lot of experiences (some of them humorous) as Vaseegaran wants him to get a slice of living with the humans before sending him for trial with the AIRD.

Aurora Cinema @ Matunga,Mumbai decked up!!!

Later during the trial for approval at AIRD Chitti is rejected by Dr.Bohra as he feels that Chitti can be a danger since it has no emotions and can thus be misused. Not wanting to give up on his labour of love, Vaseegaran strives hard to instil the required emotions in Chitti. And as Dr.Bohra says at the interval point- “ inimey than kadhaye aarambam” ( the story begins only now ). The rest of the movie shows Chitti discovering a whole host of emotions and in the process moving away from his creator, Vaseegaran.

For those expecting standard Rajnikanth prop’s like an opening song, punch dialogues, the hero doing superhuman stunts etc- there could be some disappointment as Endhiran has none of all this. But Shankar ensures that you still feel entertained nevertheless. It is Chitti the robot who takes the cake as there are two separate dimensions to him that are shown with a lot of contrast interestingly. The SFX work is top notch and the last 20 odd minutes in particular is the highlight of the film as Rajnikanth takes on so many larger than life avatars which need to be seen to be believed.
The camera work of Rathnavelu is top notch be it in the song sequences like ‘Kadhal Anukkal’ or ‘Kilimanjaro’ (which are shot in exotic never before seen locales) or even in the interior shots. Sabu Cyril’s art design is brilliant be it the scientist laboratories of Vaseegaran and Bohra or the AIRD campus. SFX work is even seen wonderfully in the songs like ‘ Irumbile Oru Irudhayam’ and ‘ Arima Arima’ ( the song though comes as a speed breaker in the film ).

Kilimanjaro Song

Talking of performances, Santhanam and Karunas do not really add any value and their attempts at comedy fall flat. Danny Denzongpa is very effective as Dr.Bohra, but one really wishes there was more for the character in the movie. Aishwarya looks pretty and nothing more to say about her, though she does have a presence throughout the movie. Which brings me to Rajnikanth, the life of the movie. Well Endhiran is another example of the charisma of the superstar being brought into the forefront. As Chitti in particular Rajnikanth carries off the dual shades very well indeed. It’s been ages since we’ve seen Rajnikanth in a role with negative shades and when Chitti walks in front of the mirror & strikes a pose, before giving aloud an evil laugh, you are transported back to an earlier era. In some ways you get to see vintage Rajnikanth ( like Alex Pandian in Moonru Mugam ) and also the actor in him whom we rarely see these days ( especially after Baasha ). A.R.Rehman’s music is good (especially the songs mentioned already ) but in all it is certainly Shankar’s victory as he has almost clearly achieved what looked pretty difficult.

Trying to keep Rajni restrained at times and yet giving him scope to explode at the right time, requires a very delicate balance in terms of the screenplay and direction. That’s why it is as much Shankar’s victory as it is Rajnikanth’s. So all said and done Endhiran is a special effects extravaganza that works along with the charisma of the man called Rajnikanth.

Originally published in PFC- http://passionforcinema.com/endhiran-movie-review-man-vs-machine/

Pranchiyettan and the Saint Movie Review: Where Art Meets Commerce

2011-04-27T02:17:00.000-07:00

That writer/director Ranjith is among the better filmmakers & story tellers in Malayalam Cinema these days is not an unknown fact at all. In fact right from his 2nd film as director – Nandanam, Ranjith has been trying to churn out films which are within the so called ‘commercial’ set up but yet leave some semblance of artistic touch as well. And all his recent projects like Thirakkatha, Kerala Cafe and Paleri Manikyam- Oru Pathira Kolapathakathinte Katha stand testimony to the same. Considering all these things when Ranjith decided to join hands again with Mammootty for his latest movie, the project looked interesting.

What made it even more interesting was the title of the movie itself- “Pranchiyettan and the Saint”, which was not only unconventional, but also did not easily tell you what it was all about. When the first look/trailer was unveiled it partially whetted the appetite of people like me as we could finally realise what the title meant. But believe me even that was just a very small sample indeed of what was going to be in store for the viewers in the form of the movie. Adding to all the excitement was the fact that it was going to be a Eid release along with 2 other prominent movies,M.Padmakumar’s Mohanlal starrer- Shikkar & Lal-Jose’s Elsamma Enna Aankutty.

Have you ever wondered how sometimes the simplest of things can provide joy & happiness that probably even more bigger/complex things cannot provide? Do you still marvel at how for some people it is not materialistic gains alone that provide satisfaction? Do you at times stop to ponder about how in the rat race to excel, you may be missing out on some of the simple joys of life? Well if your answer is a yes to all these questions then Pranchiyettan is indeed the movie for you.

Based in Thrissur in Kerala, Chirammal Enashu Francis a.k.a Pranchiyettan (Mammootty) is a successful businessman. Though he has long diversified from his family’s traditional rice trading into various businesses including jewellery, real estate, financing etc, he is still unhappy for one reason- he feels that he does not have a strong identity and is not a true celebrity yet. Adding to his misery is the fact that a lot of people still call him as Ari (rice) Pranchi , thanks to his family’s traditional rice business. Hence Pranchi is forever trying to do something or the other that will ensure that he earns name & fame and become a true celebrity.

Mammootty and Priya Mani!!!

Right at the start of the film one sees Pranchi visiting the Church late at night and you feel that he’s there for a specific reason. He is there to know if what he wants to do now is indeed the right thing to do at this stage in his life. To his shock & disbelief, his words reach the ears of Saint Francis of Assisi and then Pranchi narrates his story to Saint Francis. He takes St.Francis and the audience through his life’s journey so far and tells us why he has always wanted to make a name for himself and what all he went through in that process.

The movie from thereon is seen through incidents narrated by Pranchi and the movie in itself can be divided into 3 distinct parts. In the 1st part of the movie one sees how Pranchi lost his childhood lady love Omana to his rival, Jose. We are also told that even now he hates to see Omana ( Khushboo ) in the company of Jose ( Siddique ). Both are doctors now & when Pranchi contests for the position of the local club president’s post, he is defeated by none other than Jose. Having decided that come what may he would do anything to get famous, there are more botched attempts at managing the same.

The 2nd part shows the entry of Padmashree (Priya Mani) in the life of Pranchi. Padmashree is an interior designer and is introduced to Pranchi by Omana. As Pranchi and Omana get friendly, Pranchi helps her by saving her ancestral home from being sold off. Pranchi soon develops a liking for Padmashree but doesn’t really manage to convey the same to her. The 3rd part starts with Pranchi visiting Antony Master, the Principal of his old school. It is the last year of service for Antony Master and he’s now worried. He wants to retire with the school delivering a 100 % success rate in the final exams. But he feels that it wouldn’t happen just because of one student- Poly. Intrigued by this, Pranchi decides to take Poly under his fold and ensure that he gets all the support to come out triumphant in the examinations.

One of the best moments in the film!!!

The entire movie comes across to us as vignettes from the life of Pranchi. There is humour in abundance (though not of the slapstick variety) throughout the movie. It’s a treat to watch Mammootty as Pranchi going through hilarious situations in his attempts at becoming popular. He is matched comfortably in the initial segment by Innocent who plays Vasu Menon, a very good friend of Pranchi. Again in the 3rd segment when things get a little too heavy, there are some light moments brought about by another veteran, Jagathy Sreekumar who plays Pandit Deena Dayal. Needless to say both Innocent & Jagathy prove that their experience is worth the weight in gold with their performances.

Kushboo as Omana plays a supporting character very well, while Siddique has nothing much to do. Most of the others who play supporting roles also do justice to their characters. Ranjith himself lends his voice to St.Francis (Jesse Fox Allen) and that makes the conversations between the Saint & Pranchi to be very interesting indeed. Seasoned cinematographer Venu succeeds in capturing the indoor shots very well indeed. Especially commendable are the sequences in the grave yard & the church which convey the needed feeling of intrigue right at the beginning.Ouseppachan’s background score and the song (Kinavile) go in sync with the mood of the film.

Ranjith’s writing & direction is top notch in the film. And the dialogues written by him are extremely effective. If Mammootty comes across wonderfully while speaking the Thrissur slang, part of the credit is indeed due to Ranjith as well. But it is not that the film does not have its share of glitches. Post interval at some points, the film does indeed appear to meander aimlessly. Also some characters do not really add any relevance to the plot per se. But it is to Ranjith’s credit that he manages to overcome all these glitches and still come up triumphant. While the 3rd segment of the film especially starts dragging a bit, Ranjith makes it up for the same with the way he brings the movie to its logical conclusion.

And having spoken so much about the movie it will be a shame not to touch upon Mammootty’s performance in the film. When you watch the film, you seem to suddenly realise that Mammootty & Pranchi are so much interlinked. That’s because Mammootty makes the portrayal of Pranchi in such a natural way that you begin to even forget that this is actually a performance. We all know that some actors are really gifted enough to carry certain characters to great heights. Mammootty is one such actor and it’s remarkable indeed that he does it time & again. Though one keeps seeing memorable characters being portrayed by Mammootty often, Pranchi is a character that will not fade away with time.

As you step out of the theatre you’ll walk away with a smile on your face and you’ll hope to cherish some of the simple pleasures of life and that’s the victory of Ranjith and his tale of Pranchiyettan and the Saint.

First Look/Promo of the film

Originally published in PFC- http://passionforcinema.com/pranchiyettan-and-the-saint-movie-review-where-art-meets-commerce/

Daayen Ya Baayen Movie Review- for the dreamer in all of us

2011-04-27T02:13:00.000-07:00

Note- this is not a regular review of the film but more about my feelings for the film.

The last one week had indeed been special due to MAMI 2010.After watching a wide variety of films across genres, both Indian & International I’m even more convinced that a filmmaker’s victory lies in connecting with the audience through his/her film, whatever be the kind of film. And if the filmmaker is able to also make an honest film without making many compromises, the victory only becomes even sweeter. Daayen Ya Baayen ( DYB from hereon ) which released yesterday is one such film according to me. In these days when most filmmaker’s and producers are wondering which overseas location to base their film in, any film set even in the Indian metro’s is welcome indeed.

And out of the blue when you hear of a film based in a tiny hamlet in the hills of Uttarakhand it certainly makes a cinephile like me to get all excited. What makes it even more interesting is the fact that the writer-editor-director of the film (Bela Negi) and the leading man (Deepak Dobriyal) also hail from Uttarakhand. This made me feel a lot more confident about the chances of the film being honest. Hence when I got an opportunity to watch the movie at a preview arranged by the director I went in with some hope of watching a good film, nothing more nothing less.

But as the film unfolded I found myself to be not just liking the film but also chuckling along at various moments. Right from the moment when the hero reaches his village and is welcomed at the bus-stop by his family, the movie is a fun ride. I’m not from Kumaon myself but having travelled extensively in the Country it’s not difficult for me to make out if the local milieu and nuances have been captured well in a film. In the case of DYB I can proudly say that Bela Negi & her team have been very faithful indeed to the grass roots of Uttarakhand. Definitely praiseworthy is the cinematography of Amlan Dutta as he makes us experience the hills of Kumaon whether it’s an outdoor shot or an indoor one.

In fact it’s not just the main characters essayed by Deepak Dobriyal, Manav Kaul, Bharti Bhatt and Badrul Islam who provide the spark. Even other characters like that of the school principal, the teacher who’s more interested in knitting rather than teaching, the old lady who has now become rich thanks to a Govt.aid for freedom fighters etc are well utilized in the film. The television is a very important symbol in the hamlet and the soap operas and the advertisements give the glimmer of hope to the people about a life that’s a lot more exciting and ambitious.

Bela Negi also reminds us through the film that some things never change about the human psyche whether it’s in a rural or urban atmosphere. This is best illustrated in the way there is a turnaround in the way the whole hamlet starts looking at Ramesh (Deepak Dobriyal ) once he wins a shiny red Chevrolet by winning a jingle contest on television. Someone who was being looked at with ridicule suddenly becomes the centre of attention all over again, something that Ramesh himself had not bargained for.

Ramesh’s character also reminds us that there is a dreamer in all of us. In his case for whatever reasons which is not really mentioned to us, Ramesh has decided to forget the life in the city and create a mark for himself in his native village. While Ramesh dreams of opening a ‘kalakendra’ in his village, it also symbolizes the deep seated desire/aspiration that all of us have- yes all of us indeed. This weekend will soon get over and another indie film’s theatrical journey will also come to an end. But before that at least whoever feels that they support the small indie film should go do their bit by watching the film. And for all those who think all such films are serious issue oriented films then you may re-think after watching this film.

That such a movie got made and eventually released is in itself an achievement. It’s a pity that the producer who thinks of himself as a pioneer of the indie film movement in Hindi Cinema is not doing anything to promote the film. While we cannot do anything about it, the fact remains that we can do our bit by supporting the movie in some way or the other.

For those who maybe interested given below are the show timings in Mumbai-

PVR Lower Parel 1:30, 8:25 pm; Juhu 1:15, 8:35 pm; Goregaon (E) 10:50 pm BIG CINEMAS IMax-Wadala 3:45 pm; Mulund 3:15 pm; R City Mall Ghatkopar 12:30 pm; Vashi 2:15 pm INOX Nariman Point 1:00 pmCINEMAX Versova 1:45 pm FAME Malad 1:00, 5:00 pm MOVIETIME Goregaon 12:00, 8:15 pm BROADWAY Bhandup 3:00 pm

Originally published in PFC- http://passionforcinema.com/daayen-ya-baayen-movie-review-for-the-dreamer-in-all-of-us/

Action Replayy Movie Review: Time Travel that’s stale !!!

2011-04-27T02:01:00.000-07:00

Ever since Vipul Shah directed his first Bollywood film- Aankhen (2002), he’s formed a successful combination with his favorite actor- Akshay Kumar. Incidentally the only film which of Vipul Shah which didn’t hit the bull’s eye happens to be London Dreams which didn’t have Akshay Kumar. So when ‘Action Replayy’ the next film from the same combination got announced, it naturally raised the expectations. After all both Vipul and Akshay needed a solid hit again and what better way to deliver it than by working together. For all those who have been clued on to the promotion/publicity of the film you would be aware that the film was touted to be a colourful throwback to the 70’s with Akshay and Aishwarya Rai coming together after a brief dalliance in Khakee.

But then the curiosity in me was aroused when I saw the very first promo of the film. Somehow something looked wrong or misplaced. Seeing Aditya Roy Kapoor( in a very fleeting moment in the promo ) I also got the idea that probably the movie was similar to Robert Zemeckis’s Back To The Future starring Michael J.Fox which came out way back in 1985. But just when a lot many more people started thinking similarly about the influence; the team of Action Replayy promptly claimed that the movie was based upon a Gujarati play- Action Replay. And that’s what is mentioned in the opening credits of the film as well. Ok so before I go on & on about the influence let me mention something about Action Replayy in detail.

Zor ka Jhatka!!!

For those who still haven’t figured out the plot by now, here I go. It’s the 35th wedding anniversary of Kishen (Akshay Kumar) and Mala (Aishwarya Rai). They have a son Bunty (Aditya Roy Kapoor) who is afraid of committing to marry his girlfriend Tanya (Sudeepa Singh). Bunty has always seen his parents quarrelling and feels that getting married will probably make it worse for him as well. Tanya’s grandfather Prof.Anthony Gonsalves (Randhir Kapoor) is a scientist who advises Bunty that he should either marry Tanya or else forget her. As things between Kishen and Mala get worse during their anniversary party, Bunty realizes that he has to do something and so he sneak’s away in Prof.Gonalves’s time machine and sets off into the past.

Bunty lands up in the same city, in the year 1975 and his mission on hand is to ensure that his parents have a love story before they get married. How Bunty goes about doing this is what the rest of the movie is all about.So we get treated to Akshay as Kishen doing the lallu act all over again (already seen so many times in films like Jaan-E-Maan, Chandni Chowk to China, House Full etc ) and Aishwarya having nothing much to do again. There are also a whole host of prominent supporting actors like Om Puri, Kirron Kher, Rajpal Yadav, Rannvijay Singh etc who try their best to remain earnest but cannot create much of an impact. Though a couple of moments when Rajpal Yadav says “saara kaam main hi karoonga kya”? are reasonably funny.

Akshay with Aditya

Pritam’s music certainly disappoints and even the most popular song – “Zor ka Jhatka” doesn’t really pass muster thanks to the lackluster way in which it gets placed in the film. Coming to the retro look of the 70’s that’s been recreated here in the film, well what can I say about it except that it’s clearly coming across in a pop avatar (which worked for a film like OSO due to its premise). While Vipul Shah ripped off the basic theme from Back to the Future, it would have been good if he had also laid some emphasis on capturing the 70’s in a more authentic form than what is ultimately shown in the film. Also seeing the way Bunty goes about completing his task makes you wonder why life can’t get so easy for all of us as well

And what makes it even more irritating is to see the way consistency has been completely overlooked in the film. Check out the way Aditya’s hair style keeps changing from time to time ( long to short & vice versa ) or for the fact that some of Aishwarya’s costumes do not appear retro in any way.Those are still small things that can be overlooked but what about the fact that the movie’s promotion has been completely misleading the audience? Confused? Well let me explain- aren’t all the promos and the posters talking about the film as an Akshay- Aishwarya project? So for those who go about expecting the film to be a typical Akshay Kumar light entertainer it could be a surprise and it remains to be seen whether they appreciate the surprise or not.

This Diwali, the festival of lights would have been brighter at the cinemas if this movie had lived up to its initial potential, sadly it’s an opportunity lost. I will recommend a repeat of Back to the Future anytime over this.

Originally published in PFC- http://passionforcinema.com/action-replayy-movie-review-time-travel-thats-stale/

Golmaal 3 Movie Review : Thodi Masti, Thodi Dhoom

2011-04-27T01:52:00.000-07:00

For those who have seen Golmaal 1 & Golmaal 2 ( Golmaal Returns ) it is not difficult to understand what to expect from the 3rd part of the franchise. Whether one likes it or not Golmaal 3 (G -3 from here on) is certainly a film that has been made with a lot of care; care to ensure that it caters to its target segment among the audience. Going by the way G- 1 & G-2 performed at the box office it is also clear that the target segment constitutes the majority of the audience. And when you have a festive period (Diwali) as the time for release, things look all the more promising. Especially so when history has already shown what a potent combination this franchise can be during the festive reason (remember G-2 released during Diwali in 2008?).

Before I go on about G-3 its time for a confession. I had found G-1 to be reasonably funny (though it was partially inspired by Priyadarshan’s Malayalam movie- Kakkakuyil). So much so that I expected G-2 to be good as well but then all the hype had got onto me as I felt that the movie was nothing but cashing in on the success of G-1 and having nothing concrete in terms of a plot apart from just having a series of gags. So when G-3 was being promoted I had a strange feeling of deja-vu and kept telling myself – “Oh! No not again for Heaven’s sake”. But having decided for myself that it’s gonna be a filmy diwali as usual, I still decided to go ahead and watch it.

So what is G-3 all about? For starters its on one hand got similarities to Basu Chatterjee’s Khatta Meetha ( 1978 ) but thankfully Rohit Shetty the director of G-3 ( and the entire trilogy ) has molded the premise in his own style and made it look like a fresh approach in itself. G-3 is all about 2 families living somewhere in Goa. Pritam ( Mithunda ) has 3 good for nothing sons- Madhav ( Arshad Warsi ), Lucky ( Tushar Kapoor ) and Laxman ( Kunal Khemu ) who keep getting into trouble for their various ways of trying to make easy money. Geeta ( Ratna Pathak Shah ) has 2 sons, Gopal ( Ajay Devgn ) & Laxman ( Shreyas Talpade ). Daboo (Kareena Kapoor) is the neighbor and good friend of Geeta’s family.

Circumstances make the two sets of brother’s rivals as they keep bumping into each other by opening the same kind of business ventures in the same place as well. That’s when Pritam meets Geeta and both of them are shocked as long back both of them were in love but couldn’t unite as fate intervened . Daboo is the only when who realizes the truth and thus sets about trying to get both of them married now. While both Pritam and Geeta are reluctant since they know that their sons can’t stand each other, Daboo’s persisntence pays off and ultimately the middle aged couple do end up getting married. But then bedlam sets in as each set of brother’s end up doing whatever they can to make life miserable for the other set. What happens from thereon is what the rest of the film is all about.

Oh! And by the way there are also a whole of host of other characters who make their presence in the film and lend their services to the ensuing confusion in the proceedings. Some of the characters repeat their act or presence from the earlier films in the trilogy and some of them are new. But most of them have been sketched well. While watching the film one of the first things I realized was that in terms of a plot and the ability to keep the audience engrossed, G-3 scores way above G-2 comfortably. Yes some of the gags sound silly and make you even feel surprised at times as to whether you are really watching all this. But to be honest you can be assured of one thing- you’ll certainly be laughing aloud at a lot of places while watching G-3. And one of the other differences visible in this film is that Rohit Shetty has steered clear of the mundane requirements like a routine romantic track (except a hint of romance between Kareena & Ajay there’s nothing specifically shown), unnecessary songs, a regular villain etc.

What’s also interesting is that it’s not the actual Golmaal gang which contributes to the fun, but it’s a host of others who really deserve the credit for making the movie watchable. In fact the Golmaal gang of men are just there to show a continuation of the franchise and try to sound funny thanks to their quirks like for example- Ajay Devgn is shown as an extremely hot headed guy, Shreyas stammers, Kunal keeps using idiotic phrases while talking, Tushar of course continues doing what he did in G-1 & G-2 while Arshad keeps playing the prankster. So who are the scene stealers then if it’s not the boys? Well to start with Johnny Lever as Puppy Bhai is simply outstanding as he plays a gang leader with a Ghajini like short term memory loss problem. Also rocking is Mithunda as Pritam and the romance shown between Mithun and Ratna is simply fabulous. Mithunda’s ‘I am a Disco Dancer’ jig & Prem Chopra’s cameo make us feel nostalgic.

Also deserving applause is Sanjay Mishra as Daga one of the 2 main henchmen of Johnny Lever. As a guy who misspells English words, he truly comes into his elements towards the end of the film. Just when you think that the movie is about to end at around the 2 hr stage the movie just side tracks and heads on towards a slightly lengthier ending. While you do wonder if this was indeed necessary it is certainly creditable of Rohit Shetty that he manages to keep us engaged till the very end. So in all as a festival film that is meant to reasonably entertain with a few good jokes, G-3 does its job. Now if you are looking for anything other than this then I guess you’ve stumbled on to a wrong film .

Originally published in PFC- http://passionforcinema.com/golmaal-3-movie-review-thodi-masti-thodi-dhoom/