Movie Preview : Gangs of Wasseypur II

Oh, yes! Another film which won’t release in the US (imagine my joy)! Will I have to make a trip to India to see them 🙂 ?

Anyway, this releases 8th August in India, and features violent talk in polite UP-ite Hindi. No kidding.
(Caution : Below trailer has violence/colorful language).

Posted in 2012, drama, Previews, rating-R | Comments Off on Movie Preview : Gangs of Wasseypur II

What to watch on Netflix Instant : Edition #2

[amazon_link id=”B0007PALZ2″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]12 Monkeys (Special Edition)[/amazon_link]Yes, yes, I know! Another list of great Netflix Movies to see! Well, stop jumping for joy for a little while and read this :

1. 12 Monkeys (English) : I adore Bruce Willis, sci-fi and time travel scifi, in that order. This film has all three (and it has Brad Pitt :-)). Yes, it released in 1995, and those of you who missed it then should see it now. This is one of my all time sci-fi favorites!

2. Khamosh Pani (Hindi) : A story of the India-Pakistan partition and the horrendous ethnic riots that followed, told from a woman’s point of view. Full review.

3. Paan Singh Tomar (Hindi) : Based on a true life story this is an engaging look at the life of an athlete-turned-dacoit. Here’s the complete review.

4. Amreeka (Arabic) : A divorced Palestinian woman Muna and her son move to America to start their lives, away from fear, the threat of terror and political instability. A moving immigrant story, this is a good watch.

5. The Women on the 6th floor (French) : When I visited Paris, I saw these Parisian homes, large apartments I presumed by the number of people entering the main gates, which when shut, you couldn’t see through. This film is of families within such a home, where Jean-Louis Joubert, an affluent, stolid stock-broker lives with wife and children. By chance Joubert becomes friendly with the Spanish maids on the 6th floor which portends major changes in his life. Quite a lovely, whimsical watch.

Want more lists ? See this!

Posted in 2012, foreign, lists, mini-reviews, movies online, Netflix Recommendations, recommended, WhaTWON | Comments Off on What to watch on Netflix Instant : Edition #2

Movie Review : Madagascar 3

Rating : 2/5

This one is a snooze-fest for most adults. An over-the-top confection of noise, color and very little humor (for adults) this one is a pass unless you absolutely have to sit through it for the little ones. My little ones are not so little any longer, although they did want to see it. Post-movie they said they liked it and looked at least a little amused, so I’m guessing it still appealed.

Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) tire of Africa and long for the New York Central Park zoo. To get there they must join up with their penguin friends in Monte Carlo and make their way to New York by way of Europe. Along the way they find Inspector Chantel Dubois (Frances McDormand) in hot pursuit; she wants Alex’s head on her wall, and vows to hunt them down. The movie then is a psychedelic run through Europe where the animals join a circus, and smooth over rivalries with circus tiger Vitaly (Bryan Cranston) and make friends with sea-lion Stefano (Martin Short).

Animated films have come so far in their use of tech, that one is surprised at times with the amount of animation, sound and color that can burst upon the screen. And not all of it is good. Dreamworks productions almost always have their characters interesting and down pat – the expressions, the inflections and mannerisms are a pleasure to watch. However what this film lacks is good old story telling that keeps you bound to your seat. This is a predictable film, and you know where it is going – but sometimes these kinds of films work because of the nuanced portrayal on screen. Unfortunately this is not one of those films.

This film is mostly superficial; bright eye candy for the toddler film-goer, snooze time for the rest of us.

Posted in 2012, animation, english, family-friendly, hollywood, rating-G | 1 Comment

Movie Review : Cocktail

Rating : 3.5/5
Genre : Romantic Drama
Year : 2012
Running time : 2 hours 26 minutes
Director : Homi Adajania
Cast : Deepika Padukone, Saif Ali Khan, Diana Penty, Boman Irani, Randeep Hooda, Dimple Kapadia
Kid rating : PG-13

Bollywood prefers straightforward love stories – the “I love you, you love me” kind. Cocktail then is an unusual film by Bollywoodian standards because it a threesome (hence the subtle Cocktail :-)) and it is of the messy “I love you, you love her” kinds. Harder to make and gain acclaim for than the standard stuff, because this splits the audience into 2 camps : He-She1, and He-She2. Yes, harder to make and braver.

Cocktail reminded me of the Julia Roberts, Jude Law starrer Closer which was way messier because it was a foursome, who had their love lives tangled. Here good little Punjabi girl Meera (Diana) lands up in London bearing mangoes for her one true love, her husband Kunal (Randeep). Kunal, an A-grade opportunist cad dismisses her wifely claims and leaves her stranded in London, where she happens to meet sophisticated, hard-partying photographer Veronica D’Costa (Deepika). Veronica, seeing her plight takes her in, and helps her find her footing in London. They meet modern-day Casanova Gautam Kapoor (Saif) and Gautam shacks up with Veronica. Things start to get complicated when Gautam, in a no-commitment relationship with Veronica, begins to see Meera’s charms . . .

The first half of the film is breezy and filled with organic, irreverent humor, the kinds that is so common between good friends and that I only see in Farhan Akhtar films. Padukone and Penty are long, lean and beautiful and manage to light up each frame they’re in. Saif is suave enough to fit in. The characters are fleshed out just right and they behave consistently. Deepika steals the show as an outwardly confident, but inwardly insecure young woman who yearns to be accepted and loved. Saif is cast in a role which suits his personality, and appears charming enough although I couldn’t quite see him as the man Veronica describes him to be “I have never met anyone like him, and believe me I have met many men”.

Debutante Meera Penty appears unsure of herself (first film jitters ?). Her role requires her to be a god-fearing, mousy, religious sort, but she projects the same expression for every emotion, whether she is sad, regretful or anxious. Dimple Kapadia is miscast as the motherly Mrs. Kapoor – she appears neither Punjabi (bad accent) nor the typical orthodox mummy. I quite liked the easy affectionate mama-bhatija relationship between Gautam and his uncle (Boman Irani).

The film portrays society’s harsh reality for women quite well – you might be a tough, independent, alcohol-guzzling young woman, but when it comes to marriage and settling down, you must fill the mold of the good Indian girl, the one a guy can take home to mummy, the one as Veronica puts it “cooks biryani for her man with that yoghurt thing (raita)”. Gautam seems to echo that refrain when he admits that “mummy” knows best, so much so that she could see who would be right for him, when he couldn’t discern it himself. Deepika is quite fantastic as Veronica, lively and beautiful as the unafraid, modern, young woman, but needy and desperate in love, willing to change herself completely to keep hold of a man. One of the most effective shots in the film show a sad Veronica clad in a glittery, short dress, dancing amid a throng of people in a noisy, packed dance-club, but appearing quite lonely – it is as if she is the only one in an empty room. Out of the three main characters I felt the most for her – she moved me to tears, her best performance to date for sure.

Now this is romance, so we’d like to see some romantic sparks fly. And here is where I’m a little disappointed. Gautam and Veronica aren’t together because of an earth-shattering love, so fine – but apparently Gautam and Meera do feel for each other, yeah? So whither the love or the chemistry ? Unfortunately there is none, or none that I could see. Diana looks kind of plaintive in love, like she has a tooth ache, and I’m unimpressed by Saif’s voluble remonstrations of how hard love is. What is that he sees in her, or she him ? Why root for them ? How am I supposed to respond to the in-love pair when they don’t appear to be that much in love? Yeah, they say they are , but so what ? Unanswered questions all, and essentially what stops the film from getting a rating higher than 3.5 ; it fails to give us a reason to believe in – yes, it sounds corny – love!

The second half of the film turns serious, but does keep you interested. There is anger and betrayal, self-pity and desperation ; quite a difference from the fun-loving first half. Cocktail has some great dialogues, natural-sounding and realistic, and Deepika has some of the best lines, dripping anger and sarcasm and hurt all at once. The film boasts an impressive soundtrack; I quite liked “Tum hi ho bandhu”, “Daaru Desi”, “Jugni” and “Yaariyan”.

Even with it’s flaws, this is a well-made film. I’d expected better from writer Imtiaz Ali, but it is still a worth-while watch.

Kidwise : This film has a UA rating from the Censor Board, which is kind of equivalent to PG-13, and I agree with it. There is some heavy petting, kissing, allusions to sex, and skimpily dressed women; Deepika herself appears in a bikini – in which she looks fantastic. The tone and theme of the movie are mature, and probably won’t make sense to younger kids.

Posted in 2012, bollywood, drama, humor, rating-PG13, recommended, romance | 4 Comments

Movie Review : The Amazing Spiderman (2012)

Rating : 4/5
Year : 2012
Running time : 2 hours 16 minutes
Director : Marc Webb
Cast : Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Denis Leary, Martin Sheen, Sally Field Irrfan Khan, Rhys Ifans
Kid rating : PG-13

I wasn’t even going to see this film; does one need ANOTHER retelling of Spidey’s story ? As it happened, my alternate plans sank, and I accompanied the family – which included two very excited kids – to the theatre. (What is it about kids and super-heroes anyway ? Every super-hero film is an instant kid-magnet.) And, am I glad I did see the movie – it is the best Spiderman film of all!

At the risk of repeating old folklore – Peter Parker’s story is probably imprinted upon your brain for all I know – I will repeat if for those that have recently climbed out from under a rock : Peter is an orphan, and has been brought up by Uncle Ben and Aunt May following the demise of his parents. One fine day, Peter is bitten by a radioactive spider which gives him his spidey powers. Following an incident when a criminal kills Uncle Ben, Peter gradually adopts his Spiderman identity, complete with red and blue costume and mask, and fights criminals of all shape and form.

This film tweaks and modernizes the story a little. In the film Peter’s father Robert Parker is a scientist researching cross-breeding of species and dies in a plane crash. As a high-school teen with his own issues of loneliness and bullying, Peter finds his dead father’s research notes, and contacts his father’s friend and colleague Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans) . Connors now works for big corporation Oscorp, heading the research in cross-breeding, hoping to help humans find regenerative/healing powers. In Connors’s lab Peter is bitten by one of the test spiders, and this gives him superhuman strength and quick reflexes.

Following Uncle Ben’s death, for which Peter blames himself, he begins to use his powers to find Uncle Ben’s killer. Peter’s vendetta doesn’t end once he has found the killer; he begins to fight crime where he sees it, developing a costume to hide his boyish identity, and high-strength webbing from Oscorp research, truly making him the web-slinger of popular lore. Meanwhile Connors has used Robert Parker’s research to develop a formula to help regenerate body parts like the lizard. Under pressure from an ominous villain Rajit Ratha (Irrfan Khan in a 5 minute role) one armed Dr. Connors uses himself as a human guinea-pig hoping that the formula will help re-grow his lost arm. It does, but it also turns Connors into a giant, vicious, power-hungry lizard – a predator so powerful, none seem able to stop him . . .

We’ve had many, many retellings of Peter Parker’s origin tale. While the earlier movies starring Tobey McGuire were good in their own right, they seemed to focus on Spiderman vs. his newest nemesis. In the kerfuffle between the Spiderman brand, the busy, repetitive plotlines and the larger-than-life villains, those films lost Spiderman’s human essence. We forgot who and why Spidey was what he was, and why it was that we were supposed to care what became of him. In contrast, this film focuses on Spiderman’s story, making his troubles personal, his tragedies heartfelt, and his successes all the more resounding. I’ve rooted for this Spiderman as I never have for the others. He is the poor little super-hero; without his superhero persona a scrawny, much bullied high-school nerd, and an orphan to boot. And with such an under-dog (and it is odd, when you think about it, to refer to a super-hero as an under-dog), you want him to win.

Much of my fervor for the film stems from its well-developed characters and excellent acting. Gangly Andrew Garfield at 28, makes for an oldish high-schooler (although he is way more believable than 40-something, paunchy Bollywood heroes playing college boys) but is very appealing as the striving-to-be-responsible superhero. Sally Field makes for a sympathetic Aunt May and Martin Sheen is the epitome of a mature father figure (how did this reasonable looking man spawn Charlie ? 🙂 )

As I said, this film has been loosely adapted from the original comic. The Lizard-man is not a Marvel villain, rather he is a derivative of Doctor Octopus. In the original comic, Gwen Stacy and her father police chief George Stacy (Dennis Leary) appear in the Doctor Octopus episode; here they are worked into the fight against the Lizard-man. Rhys Ifans makes for a compelling villain, straddling the line between personal good and public welfare. Leary is a competent (if unseeing) police chief. Emma Stone plays Peter’s girlfriend Gwen Stacy, and carries off the beauty-with-brains persona very well, and Stone and Garfield have great romantic chemistry.

There are a few oddities given that the Doctor Octopus episode appeared in the 1960s and in this film is set in the 2000s. So, while Peter has a high-tech phone and computer gadgetry in his room, and Oscorp specializes in ground-breaking research with the help of modern technology, Uncle Ben and Aunt May seem to live in a curiously old-fashioned world. Also with the in-your-face, 24×7 news broadcasts of the modern world, it is a little inconceivable that Captain Stacy should still believe that Spidey is the villain. And what to make of Gwen’s style of dressing (miniskirts with thigh-high tights)? A throwback to the 60s or the fashion sense of a teenager?

The Amazing Spiderman comes to us via director Marc Webbs – he of “500 days of summer” fame – a film I didn’t quite like, although it does have its moments. You wouldn’t think that a superhero film would be up his alley, but he does good here. A great mix of super-heroics and good old-fashioned story-telling, this is a must-see film. Highly recommended.

Posted in 2012, english, hollywood, rating-PG13, recommended | 1 Comment

Movie Preview : Cocktail

You have doubtless heard the many popular songs from upcoming film Cocktail (releases 13 July). It stars Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone and model Diana Penty, and is directed by Homi Adjania (director of Being cyrus). Imtiaz Ali is the writer so hopefully he brings in some of his Rockstar, Jab we Met sensibilities to this urban romantic drama. The below song is Yaariyan and is song by Mohan Kanan of Agnee and MTV Roadies/Splitsvilla fame.

And here is Mohan singing the lovely Aahatein, the Splitsvilla theme song with Pritam and Indian Ocean :

And here is Manmaani, the MTV Roadies 9 theme song sung by Mohan and Raghu Ram – didn’t like it too much at first but it kind of grows on you:

Posted in 2012, bollywood, Previews, romance | Comments Off on Movie Preview : Cocktail

Movie Review : Ladies vs Ricky Bahl

[amazon_link id=”B006P3E6RO” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Ladies vs Ricky Bahl Bollywood DVD With English Subtitles[/amazon_link]Rating : 3.5/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2011
Running time : 2 hours 10 minutes
Director : Maneesh Sharma
Cast : Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma, Dippanita Sharma, Parineeti Chopra, Aditi Sharma
Kid rating : PG

Ricky Bahl is a small-time conman, switching appearances and jobs at will, and swindling his way across middle-class India. Sometimes he is an affable gym trainer, sometimes a hard-working cloth-merchant, and sometimes a poor bartender living in a barsaati. Women are taken in by this smooth-talker and much to their chagrin are relieved of their riches. Three such women – Saira Rashid of Lucknow, poor little rich girl Dimple Chaddha from Delhi and savvy businesswoman Raina Parulekar from Bangalore meet each other accidentally, and when they find out that they have been swindled by the same man, they resolve to pool resources and get even . . .

I really hadn’t expected much out of this film, but it turned out much better than hoped for. And by that I mean, quite entertaining really. It’s a light-hearted revenge drama, so someone is going to get his just deserts; when is watching that not fun ? This film has a reasonable-by-Bollywoodian-standards story, five winsome actors to light up the screen, and some fairly peppy music. Also great chemistry between Ranveer and Anushka (But then you already knew that, didn’t you ?)

Ranveer Singh quite suits this role, bringing his not-so-suave Delhi boy charm to each of the characters he plays. Anushka as the street-smart shop-girl Ishika Desai, the savior of the three damsels in distress, is her peppy self. Saira is played by tv actress Aditi Sharma – she of the annoying StarPlus “Tu hi tu” fame. Raina is leggy model Dipannita Sharma, and does quite well. The surprise package here is debutant Parineeti Chopra, who plays broken-hearted (yes she is in love with the cad) Punjaban Dimple from Delhi. Parineeti, who is Priyanka Chopra’s cousin displays the (family ?) flair for histrionics. She acts and dances with abandon, and while I wouldn’t have thought her perfect heroine material, is apparently quite set for Bollywood (see her recent release Ishaqzaade with Boney Kapoor’s son Arjun Kapoor).

This is an overall good film – not pretentious or perfect – just plain entertaining, and very much worth your time.

Kidwise : Fairly clean. Suitable for all kids.

Posted in 2011, all-in-one, bollywood, rating-PG | 1 Comment

Movie Review : Ferrari ki Sawaari

[amazon_link id=”B008C7P4PY” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Ferrari Ki Sawaari[/amazon_link]Rating : 3/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2012
Running time : 2 hours 20 minutes
Director : Rajesh Mapuskar
Cast : Sharman Joshi, Ritwik Sahore, Boman Irani, Seema Bhargava, Paresh Rawal, Satyadeep Mishra
Kid rating : PG

Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s reputation precedes him. Yes, that reputation – the one of making good, sensible little films. With Ferrari ki Sawaari though I’m disappointed – it is a decent enough film, given that crap abounds, but isn’t a comedy or even very believable. Also since it was touted as kid-friendly, I was expecting a carefree, fun-loving romp. It isn’t that.

The film has a simple enough story – three generations of Parsi men – a boy, his dad, and his grandfather live their busy lives in Mumbai. The boy Kayoze Rustom Deboo (Ritwik Sahore) is a promising cricket player and his clerk father Rusy (Sharman Joshi) tries to send him to the very best schools and coaching he can afford. Of course Kayo is selected for a summer camp at Lord’s, London and the fee is 1.5 lakhs, very much above what Rustom can cobble together.

By chance Rustom meets Babbu didi (Seema Bhargava of Hum Log fame), a wedding planner who needs a Ferrari for a politician’s son’s wedding. A Ferrari isn’t a common car, but Sachin Tendulkar does own one, and Babbu didi on realizing Rusy’s cricket connections (Rusy’s dad has once played in the Ranji Trophy) asks him to arrange for the loan of Tendulkar’s Ferrari. If Rusy succeedes Babbu didi promises to pay him the 1.5 lakh he needs.Of course Rusy knows the impossibility of the situation, it’s not like he’ll saunter upto Tendulkar’s doorstep and they’ll hand him the keys . . .

On the face of it, this is the kind of saccharine sweet drama, full of those much vaunted family values, that we desis are so proud of. So yeah, if you take it as it comes, take the emotional drama in your stride, you will not walk out displeased. It is a clean film, cleanly told, and families can watch it en masse (just be a wary of Vidya’s lascivious winks in the “Mala zhau de” wedding number). The hero of the film Rusy, the sensitive dad of our story, is a good man, trying to live his life as an example to his son. So he insists on paying a traffic fine when he inadvertently runs a red light even though no traffic policeman is around to catch him, he is unflinchingly honest and patient and a good samaritan to boot. The son adores his dad and vice versa.

Of course bad things happen to these very good people, and the contrast is between the oh-so-good-people and oh-so-wicked-world. Rusy’s character is overdone – he is good, so good that essentially he is a misfit in a chalta-hai, corrupt world. When I see the overdone-ness of his character I dismiss any notions of realistic cinema – we are now in fantasyland. Then when the good, honest person has bad done to him, I’m almost obligated to root for him. I say obligated because this is a fantasy anyway; rooting for this fantastical character does not move me. And that’s my problem with this film – it does not move me or engage with me. Has Rusy been a believable character I might have been more involved. As it is, I resent the forced mushiness/contrived emotional drama – why can’t film-makers be braver than this ? Why stick to this formulaic, predictable, cliched story-telling ?

All that said, there are a few things that were done well. Rusy’s dialog about setting an example for his son touched a chord. The father-son relationship between Rusy and Kayo is hard not to like inspite of melancholic Rusy – Kayo is a smiley, sunny kid with more gumption than his dad. I must commend Ritwik Sahore on his performance. Seema Bhargava as the wedding planner and Boman Irani as the elder Deboo are superb. Sharman Joshi as Rusy cuts a rather piteous figure; he smiles wide when he is happy and he smiles wide when he is sad – one heck of a repressed character. There is a more interesting film in here, and it is called “Rusy ko gussa kyon aata hai?” – Mr. Chopra please make that one, I’ll buy a ticket.

Kidwise : Family-friendly, mostly. I’m a little perturbed at the need for an “item number” for this film, but it does have one – that is why I rate it PG and not G.

Posted in 2012, bollywood, family-friendly, rating-PG | 3 Comments

Movie Preview : Teri Meri Kahaani (2012)

Mukhtasar is one of my favorite songs these days, and I’m looking forward to the film. It stars Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, two big stars who’ve done very well for themselves considering they had no family push or fawning daddies – Shahid is Pankaj Kapoor’s son, but has pretty much made his career on his own. The film is directed by Kunal Kohli which makes me a tad nervous since his track record is made up of mostly forgettable (Fanaa) or juvenile (Hum Tum) films. Still, one hopes for the best! Fingers crossed till 22nd June then.

Posted in 2012, Previews, romance | 2 Comments

Movie Review : Shanghai

Shanghai Movie (2012)Rating : 4/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2012
Running time : 1 hours 55 minutes
Director : Dibakar Banerjee
Cast : Abhay Deol, Emraan Hashmi, Kalki Koechlin, Farook Shaikh, Supriya Pathak Kapur, Pitobash Tripathi
Kid rating : PG-13

Dibakar Banerjee’s fourth film, inspired by Vassilis Vassilikos’ ‘Z’, is is a dark political thriller, a departure from the genres of his previous three films; Khosla ka Ghosla (2006) was a classy humor-filled drama, Oye Lucky Oye (2008) was an arty, biographical look at the career of a small-time crook, and “Love, Sex aur Dhoka” (2010) was voyeuristically snippy. Of the three KKG achieved commercial acclaim, while OLLO was relegated to the art house label, and LSD didn’t do too well. I expect Shanghai to do well in the metros – because while it is a good film, it has little overtly commercial appeal; it is slow-moving in the first half and the narrative is carried forward mostly by subtle dialogue.

Bharat Nagar is a populous, lower middle class locality in Madam’s state. Madamji (Supriya Pathak), the rotund Chief Minister is bent upon bringing in IBP to build a grand scale commercial complex in the Bharatnagar area. T. A. Krishnan (Abhay Deol), the chief executive of IBP (India Bane Pardes/India Business Park), is Madam’s trusted man, working closely with Madam’s strategic aide Mr. Kaul (Farooque Shaikh). When activist and IBP opposer, Dr. Ahmedi (Prosenjit Chatterjee) is run down and killed by a supposedly drunk driver, bowing to public/media outrage, the government sets up an enquiry and recruits Krishnan to head it. Krishnan diligently pursues all leads, and aided by Ahmadi supporter Shalini Sahay (Kalki Koechlin) and videographer Joginder Parmar (Emraan Hashmi), finds that there is more to this case than his superiors are willing to admit . . .

The devil is in the details they say, but with this film, Banerjee seems to have the devil well in hand. The film brims with fine-etched details. There is the Tamilian Krishnan, sedate and brainy, speaking his monotonous bureaucratic Hindi, the ubiquitous towel on the back of his chair. He is in one scene freshly bathed, in lungi and sacred thread, performing his Puja in front of his laptop, a godly image flickering on the screen and a bhajan blaring out of it’s speakers. There is seedy videographer Joginder, enamored with the foreign-looking Shalini, saving her number on his cellphone as “dreemgirl”. There are also nice touches, humorous, almost in passing – the khaki clad sweeper splish-splashily mopping the corridor, every passer-by a victim to the too-wet floors.

The three main characters in this film are not your everyday heroes. Krishnan is doing well at his job, set for a fruitful career under Madam’s tutelage; rebellion then, is hard work indeed. Abhay Deol underplays this subtle character beautifully, although his South-Indian accent didn’t always sound authentic. A great scene is one in which the Chief Minister asks for his opinion and he must give it in measured terms – watch for it; as the camera narrows onto Krishnan’s face and he contorts this way and that trying to form a wise answer to Madam’s rhetorical question, it becomes clear why Abhay Deol is the reputed actor that he is.

Shalini, with her white skin and her Indian upbringing, the whiff of scandal never very far, has trouble fitting in, but she must do what she has to. Kalki, in this role, looks a little like a deer caught in the headlights. She does well though bringing in vulnerable frailty – those narrow shoulders, the easily tearing-up eyes – and a resolute firmness to Shalini’s character. And Joginder? Poor Jogi, learning the tricks to the videography trade is caught squarely between right and wrong. Emraan Hashmi is quite impressive here in his finest performance to date, oozing equal parts sleaze and haplessness. Farooque Sheikh plays Kaul, a small but important role, and is spectacular as the suave opportunist. Pitobash Tripathy is in a role very similar to his in “Shor in the City” – a small-time, rabble-rousing goon, and he is just as good here.

Post-interval the film picks up steam, with chases through curfew-clad areas. Banerjee directs well, as expected, and the film is engrossing. The music is quite catchy – “Imported Kamariya” is the lone item number, and “Bhartmata ki jai” is ironic and farcical; note the lyrics : “Sone ki chidhiya, Dengue, malaria, gur bhi hai gobar bhi – Bharatmata ki jai“. Then there are Dua and Khudaya, both slow ballads, although I can’t recall Khudaya in the actual film.

The truly great films portray truths, and they portray them in a way that hits close to home. While the characters in this film are a tad removed from touching a raw nerve, this is still a thought-provoking, tongue-in-cheek depiction of the Great Indian Political Farce. It is a dog-eat-dog world in Bharatnagar. In governmental corridors, the ever-present babudom and the power of the public “servant”, ensures deep-rooted corruption.

This is a great film. Go see it.

Kidwise : Has a long drawn-out kiss, an item number, some pelvic-thrusting dances and allusions to pornography, although nothing is portrayed on screen. Clean otherwise, but probably unsuitable for younger kids with the adult theme and talk.

Posted in 2012, bollywood, directors, drama, politics, rating-PG13, recommended, thriller | 1 Comment