Movie Review : Paan Singh Tomar

Posted on March 29, 2012 by amodini

Rating : 4/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2012
Running time : 2 hours
Director : Tigmanshu Dhulia
Cast : Irrfan Khan, Mahie Gill, Zakir Hussain, Vipin sharma, Jahangir Khan
Kid rating : PG-13

I’ve been hearing of this movie for a while, and didn’t quite know what it was about. When it did make it to the screens, I heard of it only in critic circles; friends I’d mention it too would stare at me blankly – Paan Singh what ? Quite understandable really, for this is a relatively low-key film starring Irfan Khan who can’t quite command a commercial venture solely on his name, fabulous actor though he might be. Still it comes via director Dhulia, maker of films like the recent “Saheb, Biwi air Gangster” and the 2003 drama “Haasil”, so it comes as no surprise that this film also is just as watch-worthy as the previous two.

This film is inspired the real-life story of a jawan of the Indian Army who after competing nationally as a steeple-chase runner and representing India in the Asian Games (1958), became a dacoit in the Chambal Valley. Paan Singh goes into sports in the Army because it is a way of getting unlimited food (as a regular jawan food is rationed). When he appears to have a knack for running, and steeple-chases he is coached and manages to win in the National Games. Paan Singh hails from the Morena Zilla, know for it’s gun violence. Though peaceful by nature, he is forced to pick up guns over a family land dispute when the police and local law will not help him.

The film is told partly in flashback fashion when Paan Singh grants an interview to a small-town reporter. In the film, Dhulia details out Paan Singh’s life, from that of a law-abiding decent man to that of a notorious dacoit hunted for by the police. Dhulia develops his characters nicely – Paan Singh might be a law-breaker, but we’re siding with him anyways. There is in Paan Singh’s story the uncomfortable truth of little people, unable to garner influence or money to pay off the police, squashed by the merciless arm of the law. Irrfan as Tomar, one of those little people who wouldn’t take injustice lying down, does a fabulous job. Mahie Gill is his wife and has a smaller role, but leaves her mark nonetheless.

This film is gritty and down-to-earth. For it’s well-paced direction, screenplay and gorgeous acting this bio-pic is well-worth your time. Go see it!

Kidwise: Violent – may not be suitable for kids under 13.

Posted in 2012, action, bio-pic, bollywood, crime, drama, rating-PG13, recommended, social issues | 7 Comments

Movie Review : Agent Vinod

Posted on March 25, 2012 by amodini

Rating : 3.5/5
Genre : Thriller
Year : 2012
Running time : 2 hours 38 minutes
Director : Sriram Raghavan
Cast : Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Prem Chopra, Ram Kissen, Babu Antony, Ram Kapoor
Kid rating : PG-13

AGENT VINOD : UN-BOND-ING !

Director Sriram Raghavan is a master at producing slick, suspense thrillers like Johnny Gaddar and Ek Hasina thi (which has the #2 slot on my Best Films of 2004). I was pretty sure that with such accomplished credentials, Agent Vinod would be another unforgettable film. The trailer strengthened that notion. Now post-viewing I’ve got to say that I liked Agent Vinod, although this is well below Raghavan’s usual effort.

Agent Vinod is Bollywood’s answer to James Bond. Well almost. Saif Ali Khan is RAW operative Vinod – a stylish, suave master of international sleuthing. When a fellow RAW agent Rajan (Ravi Kissen) is killed, AV is forced to country-hop across Afghanistan, Morocco and London in pursuit of a nuclear “suitcase” bomb. En route he meets Dr. Ruby Mendes aka Dr. Iram Parveen Bilal of the ISI, who swears to Vinod that she is on his side, but he has trouble believing her.

The bomb apparently is to be exploded in New Delhi, and Vinod and Iram are thrown together to thwart plans by the heinous Colonel (Babu Antony). As they get closer to home, right into New Delhi itself, it seems it might be impossible to prevent this catastrophe . . .

First of all, kudos to Saif & Co. (Saif is producer also) on creating the first likable Indian spy hero. Yes, the first desi spy to come out of mundane sounding, bureaucratic RAW, and still be full of the coolth and the magical plasma that makes spy-agents seem so glamorous. Saif as Agent Vinod is quite delectable – dashing and stylish, never a hair out of place, always a debonair smile on the face. Young and vigorous with a sense of humor to boot, he jumps continents, bashes up baddies, speaks several languages, flies choppers on demand – all the while turning on the charm like it was on tap. As I said in an earlier tweet, desi spy hero ho to aisa ho!

Kareena as Iram is passable. As good an actress as she is, I couldn’t see her as a spy – didn’t look too fit, didn’t do anything too spy-like, and there wasn’t too much emoting required; a case of the spy who could but didn’t 🙂 . The villain Babu Antony is impressive because he appears cold and calculating AND suave. Prem Chopra as villainous Kazaan was a caricature, and I was just as appalled to see Gulshan Grover on screen.

Now for the meat : the film was reasonable fun but didn’t deliver on it’s promise of a spy “thriller” – thriller being the keyword here. Although I was relieved that inspite of this being a commercial venture, the film didn’t break often for songs – there is that Qawwali number, but that was it. There was the slow song “Raabta” which is pictured on a surreal fight sequence but that was done well, and didn’t break the tempo. Still the film didn’t manage to ratchet up the tension – so no hanging on to the edge of your seat in nail-biting anticipation, which in my view makes this thriller not so thrilling. This film is kinda all over the place, and doesn’t quite come together with the economy of movement, or succinctness which would have provided the much needed adrenalin rush. Screenplay and direction are to be blamed, me thinks.

There were some things very well done in this film – impressive hand-to-hand fighting sequences, some nicely done chases, a smattering of red herrings in the story and a pretty nice sound-track. Plus I was impressed that after all that globe-trotting, the film attempted a car chase on the ITO flyover in New Delhi. The background score was inspired by music of the 70s and 80s and the film itself had references to the older Agent Vinod (which starred Mahendra Sandhu), although this is not a remake of that film. The soundtrack is pleasing. From “I’ll do the talking tonight” which is a nice take on BoneyM’s Rasputin, to the soulful “Raabta”, to the playful “Pyar ki Pungi” this was interesting to listen to.

Watch this film with lowered expectations and you will not be displeased. This is not James Bond/Jason Bourne material, but a reasonable attempt at a rarely attempted genre in Hindi cinema – and for that worth applauding.

Kidwise : Violent. Free of double entendres/overt vulgarity, but does contain skimpily clad women/suggestive dance numbers.

Posted in 2012, bollywood, rating-PG13, thriller, watchable | 5 Comments

Movie Review : Kahaani

Posted on March 14, 2012 by amodini

Kahaani MovieRating : 4/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2012
Running time : 2 hours
Director : Sujoy Ghosh
Cast : Vidya Balan, Parambrata Chatterji, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Saswata Chatterjee
Kid rating : PG-13

KAHAANI : UNPREDICTABLE, TAUT AND ENGROSSING !

I have long lamented the dearth of good noir in Hindi cinema. We did get a decent smattering of it via “Johnny Gaddar” and “Manorama 6 feet under”, but even reasonable desi noir is hard to come by, and precisely the reason why I applaud Kahaani. This film is about Vidya Bagchi (Balan), a lone pregnant woman come all the way from the UK to find her missing husband Arnab. He apparently left London to come work on a project for NDC in Kolkata. After the first few weeks, he stopped calling and communicating, and now Vidya, desperate, has come to find him.

The local Calcutta police is quite helpful, but everyone has their doubts about Arnab – maybe he’s a fly-by-nighter who’s gotten tired of the wife? Vidya, undaunted, seeks help from the NDC office, but they, while polite enough, have no records of any Arnab Bagchi. No Arnab Bagchi has apparently even left the UK or arrived in India according to embassy records. All Vidya has to show for her marriage and her bulging stomach is a photograph – Arnab and her beaming on their wedding day. The man himself seems to have disappeared into thin air. And as time passes and all her leads come to naught, a weary and distraught Vidya is doubtful of ever finding him . . .

This is a fantastic little film. It is understated and develops slowly, but the tension mounts nevertheless. The characters are beautifully wrought – the babus are dour, pot-bellied and huffing and puffing away, the policemen are frustrated by the new-fangled computer systems, and the seedy guest-house, the “Monalisa”, where Vidya resides (because her husband had also lived there) is populated with a hapless manager, leering co-residents and a general dogsbody – a grinning child named Bishnu.

Vidya Balan is outstanding as the tenacious young woman risking life and limb to find her husband. The other actors are little known but quite good also, especially Parambrata Chatterjee who essays the role of diligent police man Satyoki Sinha aka Raja; as he explains to Vidya everyone in Kolkata has 2 names – one formal “bhalo-nam” and one informal “dak-nam”. He helps Vidya in her search, she remarking that he is named after Arjuna’s charioteer (see Satyaki in Indian mythology). Nawazuddin Siddiqui is ratty, self-serving Inspector Khan – quite an excellent portrayal. Saswata Chaterjee is the balding, out-of-shape insurance agent Bob Biswas.

I must credit director Ghosh for his handling of the film making it what it is – a unique mix of suspense and tightly-wound placidity. There are no thrumming drum-beats or breathless action to add to the fervor, but it creeps on you anyway, culminating in an unpredictable twist to the the tale. Because this is oh-Calcutta, it is peopled by Bengali Babus, all who insist on calling Vidya “Bidda” much to her annoyance. And because it is Kolkata we get beautiful shots of the Hooghly and the Howrah Bridge, and other vignettes into the fetid, festering life on the city’s streets. The beautiful cinematography captures Kolkata in it’s full glory at the time of Durga Puja – the sparkling, much-decorated statues of Kali, the dancing throngs and the white sari-clad, sindoor-smeared ululating women.

Kahaani is a lovely film, rife with atmosphere and and nuanced in it’s detail. It deserves your time and patience; go see it!

Kidwise : Clean, although might be hard to understand for kids under 13.

Posted in 2012, All Netflix, bollywood, drama, Hindi movies on Netflix, rating-PG13, recommended, suspense | 1 Comment

Movie Review : Contraband

Posted on March 8, 2012 by amodini

Contraband is a thriller starring Mark Wahlberg, Giovanni Ribisi and Kate Beckinsale. It is a remake of an Icelandic film and directed by Baltasar Kormakur, the star of that movie. This is a pretty good film, well-paced, engrossing and well worth a watch. Since I have recently started to review for Ultimate Reviews, please check out my complete review there.

Posted in 2012, action, crime, english, hollywood, recommended, remake, thriller | 1 Comment

Movie Review : Khamosh Pani (Silent Waters)

Posted on February 28, 2012 by amodini

Rating : 4/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2003
Running time : 1 hours 45 minutes
Director : Sabiha Sumar
Cast : Kiron Kher, Amir Ali Khan, Shilpa Shukla
Kid rating : PG-15

Silent Waters is a much acclaimed film, and I’d heard a lot about it. When I watched it recently via Netflix Streaming I was surprised to see the names of so many international organizations fly by on the screen. It appears that Pakistani director Sumar, who wished to make a film about the dangers of ever-increasing fundamentalism, had a hard time getting funding in her home country, and was forced to look for it outside. German and French film groups helped fund this film. Khamosh Pani is a partition-era movie, and it is about the partition and it’s after effects, especially it’s ramifications for women.

Widowed Ayesha (Kiron Kher), and her young son Saleem, the apple of her eye, live in the small, rural village of Charkhi, Pakistan. The village is a close-knit community and Ayesha lives frugally but happily, making a modest living by teaching the Quran to the village kids. Salim is in love with village girl Zubeida (Shilpa Shukla), but while she has dreams of a better, progressive future, he appears rather aimless and drifting.

The political climate (this is 1979) starts to change when Prime Minister Bhutto is assasinated and dictator Zia-ul-Huq takes power. Under him, fundamentalism is stronger and seeps down to Charkhi in the guise of two visitors to the village. The two men try to drum up support for regressive Islamic law by influencing the youth. Saleem is drawn to their dangerous notions, and fancies himself a religious soldier. His mother and Zubeida try to talk sense into him, but to no avail.

Meanwhile a band of Sikhs from across the border (i.e.; India) come to visit the village shrines, and are welcomed by the village people. However Saleem and other fundamentalists in the village would have them return. Tensions further escalate when one of the Sikh visitors spots a familiar face, a face that reminds him of his dead sister . . .

This is a wonderfully well-made film. It is simple, well-paced and narrates an emotional and gut-wrenching story without hype or over-dramatization. “Silent Waters” tells Ayesha’s poignant tale, and through her the tale of many women who were raped, killed or forced to commit suicide by their family members (honor killings) during the riots of the partition. Sumer also makes a statement against religious fundamentalism, and the regressive interpretation of Islamic law which forbids education of women, and the use of music and the arts. Kirron Kher is outstanding as Ayesha and the power behind the film, and Shilpa Shukla (seen in “Chak de India” and “Hazaron Khwaishen aisi“) as Zubeida is good too. Malik as Saleem is a tad weak in his portrayal. Kher and Shukla were the only two Indian actors I recognized; many apparently were not professional actors.

“Khamosh Pani” is a must-watch. Highly recommended.

Kidwise : The focus of this film is atrocities on women, a topic which might be difficult for children under 15.

Posted in 2003, All Netflix, bollywood, drama, Hindi movies on Netflix, historical, outstanding, rating-PG15, recommended, social issues, women | 2 Comments

Movie Review : Ek Main aur Ek Tu

Posted on February 20, 2012 by amodini

Rating : 3.5/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2012
Running time : 2 hours
Director : Shakun Batra
Cast : Kareena Kapoor, Imran Khan, Ram Kapoor, Ratna Pathak Shah, Boman Irani
Kid rating : PG-15

Watching the trailer for this film, one could be forgiven for thinking that this was the same old Bollywood tripe, where we pretend we are oh-so-liberal and progressive, and towards the end of the film come back to the usual conclusion – that a girl is best married, and soon. Thankfully it’s not! The reviews range from “meh” to “go-see-it”, and it came recommended by IHM – so kind of had an idea where this would be going. But did see it and did enjoy it.

Rahul Kapoor (yes, Rahul again ** rolls eyes **, it’s like the lucky number thingy, I imagine) is an architect living and working in Las Vegas – the center of architecture and construction apparently, (according to Rahul himself) although I’d doubt that anyone would actually think about that what with LV’s other charms being so touted. Anyway Rahul is a well-brought up lad, a go-by-the book kind of guy, trained by his critical parents to toe the line and be a good child. The child is now 25, but still pretty much does what the parents tell him to do.

Life as he knows it is interrupted when Rahul is sacked. He hides this fact from the parental unit. He also happens to meet Rianna Braganza, a happy-go-lucky, similarly unemployed hair-stylist. When Rahul and Ri are perchance thrown together and manage to get royally drunk, they step into one of Las Vegas’s handy get-married-instantly chapels, and end up man and wife. The rest of the film finds the pair trying to unravel their lives from the tangle.

This film comes to us via the good offices of Karan Johar, who in his films appears to be ahead of the times, atleast for India. I present in evidence : Kabhi Alvida na Kehna – in which the storyline kind of advocated that an amicable divorce was better than an unhappy marriage, and for supporting which, my review on Rediff was royally reviled by most of the commenters for being “untraditional”.

Anyway that was the past. We have moved on . . . to “Ek Main aur Ek Tu”. This was frankly a pretty decent film – good acting and construction overall. Kareena is quite the star here as free-spirited, flamboyant Ri; the film sparkles because of her. Imran might be playing himself; his character is so staid and goody-two-shoes. Whenever I watch Imran onscreen, it seems like his performance lacks will, like he himself is incredulous about being a Hindi film hero, so it never carries the believability it should.

Ratna Pathak Shah is Rahul’s socialite mummy. She is constantly chiding Rahul on his haircut (a trip to the Vidal-Sassoon salon maybe, beta ?), his food-chewing (chew 32 times before swallowing) and looking askance at his not-so-fashionable colleague(s) – an over-glorified Maya Sarabhai, if you will. She does do the snottiness very well! Boman Irani is Rahul’s dad – the portrait of the self-sacrificing pater, even when he looks oh-so-critical. The ever expanding Ram Kapoor (he is almost porcine here) is Mr. Bulani, Mr. Kapoor’s business associate, who exhorts Rahul to find other “extra-curricular” activities. Mrs. Bulani (Dana Lewis) has a wandering eye (and hand) and Rahul finds himself subject to her subtle ministrations almost under his parents’ nose (and table).

This film creates the almost mythical Indian girl, by Bollywoodian standards. She is independent, unconcerned about being a good girl or sticking to social mores. She does what she wants when she wants to, and not because it is expected of her by her husband/father/brother/mother/family/society/culture. Ofcourse it is easier doing this in liberal Las Vegas (and US) than in moralistic, we-do-not-practice-what-we-preach India. Batra directs well. My only grouse was that the film was a tad slow, and some sequences, like the one where Rahul calls up ex-girlfriend Anusha (Soniya Mehra), seemed contrived. The film’s music was good. “Auntyji” is vaguely catchy, and Gubbare is slow and soft and whimsical.

Not your usual filmi fare, this one is worth a watch.

Kidwise : This film is clean and classy, but has references to adult situations.

Posted in 2012, bollywood, drama, rating-PG15, recommended, romance | 1 Comment

Movie Review : Cooking with Stella

Posted on February 15, 2012 by amodini

Rating : 4/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2009
Running time : 1 hour 45 minutes
Director : Dilip Mehta
Cast : Seema Biwas, Lisa Ray, Don McKellat, Shriya Saran
Kid rating : PG-13

A young diplomatic couple, Maya (Ray) and Michael (McKellar) comes to Delhi. Their Canadian Embassy accommodations come with cook/housekeeper services. Stella Elizabeth Matthews (Biswas) is their cook, and has been the cook for several Canadian families in the past. She is old and a little crotchety but well-versed in the art of keeping saheb-memsaheb happy. She has also learned ways to make the system work for her. Maya and Michael settle in to their new surroundings but don’t quite know what to make of Stella and her quick-silver moods. Michael, a chef and temporary house husband who dreams of setting up his own restaurant on his return to Canada, wants to learn cooking from Stella. Meanwhile Maya hires a young nanny named Tanu (Saran) to help with their baby. Tanu, an honest girl, moves in but worldly-wise Stella doesn’t like the look of her.

With Maya and Michael given to intermittent discord, Stella and Tannu at loggerheads, and the uneasy teacher-disciple relationship between Stella and Michael, life on the home front is brimming with tension. Things come to a head when Stella is mysteriously kidnapped . . .

This is a very interesting film, short and simple and well-nuanced. Dilip Mehta explores Indian society’s class structure in this witty film. He gives us a unique eye-view of each of the parties in the household: Maya and Michael are nice people, and naively trusting of the capable help, Stella having lived a servant’s life has learned wilier ways, and Tannu, out to support her penniless family, clings to her honesty and integrity. All of them come from different backgrounds, societies and experiences and have learned to fend for themselves via different philosophies. Stella is crafty but drawn humorously – she knows what to say when and how exactly to present herself. Her employers are not only unaware of Stella’s extra-curricular activities, but they in their Western we-are-all-equal sensibility strive to treat Stella like a friend. She, of course, is completely befuddled with their egalitarian attitudes towards the help (her), but finds ways to make it work to her advantage. Tanu, by comparison is pretty virtuous and straight-forward and cannot stand Stella’s capricious ways.

Seema Biwas is quite fantastic as Stella, as expected from an artiste of Biswas’s caliber. Lisa Ray is adequate as the overburdened diplomat Maya Chopra, finding her feet in a new job in vaguely familiar surroundings (Maya is supposed to be half-Indian). Don McKellar as Michael Laffont, the disgruntled husband forced to put his job on the back-burner still comes across as pretty amiable and good-natured. And Shriya Saran as virtuous, untainted Tannu rounds off a capable cast.

I quite liked the fact that the film moved unpredictably, and the story seemed well-fleshed out and rang true. The details seemed right, which I was thankful for because in a lot of these high-brow, arty, foreign-conglomeration type films, the details are often not right; the films are done up through an outsider’s eyes. Witty and threaded with dark humor, “Cooking with Stella” is an enjoyable film. Do watch it – it is currently available on Netflix Streaming.

Posted in 2009, All Netflix, drama, foreign, Hindi movies on Netflix, hinglish, humor, rating-PG13, recommended | 2 Comments

Preview : Agent Vinod

Posted on February 9, 2012 by amodini

I’m excited about this film because it is directed by Sriram Raghavan, the director of such fantastic thrillers as “Johnny Gaddar” and “Ek Hasina Thi”. Agent Vinod releases March 23rd; here is the trailer :

Posted in 2012, action, bollywood, crime, directors, Previews, thriller | 1 Comment

Movie Review : Agneepath

Posted on January 31, 2012 by amodini

Rating : 3.5/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2012
Running time : 2 hours 45 minutes
Director : Karan Malhotra
Cast : Hrithik Roshan, Sunjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra, Om Puri, Zarina Wahab, Rishi Kapoor, Sachin Khedekar, Rajesh Tandon, Chetan Pandit
Kid rating : A

AGNEEPATH MOVIE REVIEW : NOSTALGIA, ANYONE ?

It is the time for remakes apparently. After Akhtar’s Don and Don2, now it is another of Amitabh’s films “Agneepath” remade and redone for our viewing pleasure. It is not that I do not like remakes, but remaking anything by the very definition of the word invites comparisons, and you’d better redo it well, else the brick-bats – they are a-waiting. I was pleasantly surprised to read nothing but praise from fellow critics and tweeters. So I am probably in the minority on this one; post-viewing I thought the film just about average.

The story essentially remains the same, although some characters have been added/modified. Vijay Dinanath Chauhan, a village-boy of 12, sees his school teacher father’s (Chetan Pandit) life snuffed out by a lynch mob of fellow villagers. Leading the muderous rally is resident villain Kancha (Dutt), who’s had it in for the school master after he (the master) has tried to stop Kancha from usurping the villager’s lands. Vijay and his mom them move to Mumbai from Mandwa, but that does nothing to tamp his desire for revenge. He takes the violent route and as a young man becomes the right hand man of Mumbai’s mafia king and Kancha’s enemy, Rauf Lala (Rishi Kapoor). He becomes estranged from his mother and sister in the process. Lala is at loggerheads with Kancha and Vijay sees an opportunity to use Lala’s might to wreak his revenge.

First the good : This is a film on a lavish scale – everything about it is big, the sets, the hero, the villain the frenzy and the solid 80s formula. It is a revenge story, so there are clear-cut good and bad guys here – nothing grey about it. The build-ups to crucial plot-points is pretty good, with thrumming background music, and some well-composed shots. Direction is decent, and the acting average.

Sanjay Dutt is an impressive villain. He’s big and bulky and hairless (shaved eyebrows no less!). To me he looked like a mix of Voldemort and the Shrek, only uglier. He’s menacing and plays the unhinged character of Kancha very well. He also has some of the smartest lines in the film, and delivers them with a dark wit. Hrithik on the other hand was a relatively weak Vijay. Purportedly Vijay has a fire in his belly, but I could not see the seething, simmering anger on him. Hrithik looks like a nice-guy; I cannot imagine him menacing. Neither can he apparently, because his dark anger comes through as the jitters and not as the soul-eating malaise that it is supposed to be. Plus I do think that Kancha gets more screen time and the better dialogues. I sit through many minutes of seeing Vijay get his ass royally whupped by a surprisingly limber Kancha, and when the time comes to turn the tables – it’s over in a blink-your-eyes-and-it’s-gone moment.

Rishi Kapoor is the big surprise here, packing a punch in this solid performance as wily, evil Rauf Lala. Pandit does nicely as the principled school-master, and Zarina Wahab resurfaces as the hero’s plaintive mother. Priyanka Chopra is Kali, Vijay’s love interest. Her role is inconsequential, as were women’s roles in the 80s, and awkwardly contrived.

This film reminds me why I’m over the 80s style melodramas like I am – because they’re overdone, overdone, overdone. Now, when less is more, and one awaits subtle and nuanced Hindi films, this movie is royally in-your-face, and contains enough melodrama to last me a decade. It delivers it’s message with sledge-hammer like drumbeats, and Ganpati-Visarjans galore.

And there’s the small matter of contemporary values – there are none. The phones are small enough, but the rest of the film takes one on a time-travel jaunt to a little island in the Arabian sea populated by impoverished farmers. This film then is not a re-interpretation of the earlier, but purely a remake with a different hero. Unfortunately it suffers on the style and personality counts. Amitabh had truck-loads of it. And a very grounded, earthy kind of charm. Hrithik, while stylish and trendy in his own way, looks a little too refined for this role. A singlet and a sweat-drenched body to match might have suited the angry-yoing-man of the 80s, but now it looks positively schlumpy, even on Hrithik – a Greek God among Bollywood actors.

Why would anyone watch this film ? Amitabh carried the earlier version with his swagger and smoulder and his wittily done snark. That film while unsuccessful at the box-office, developed a cult-status with some. This, a mere tribute to hammy cinema, unfortunately fails to garner us a hero suited to this gritty, down-and-dirty role. This new Agneepath offers up nothing new – it’s the same old stuff in a new bottle. And now the old stuff is a little stale.

It’s a long three hours of running time. Watch it if you know what you’re getting is what you want. For the rest, I advise restraint.

Kidwise : This film is rated A by the Indian Censor Board. I second that rating – Agneepath has lots of blood and gore; unsuitable for kids.

Posted in 2012, action, bollywood, drama, rating-A, rating-R, remake | 11 Comments

Movie Review : Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Diaries)

Posted on January 27, 2012 by amodini

Rating : 4/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2010
Running time : 1 hour 40 minutes
Director : Kiran Rao
Cast : Amir Khan, Kriti Malhotra, Prateik Babbar, Monica Dogra, Kitu Gidwani
Kid rating : PG-13

Dhobi Ghat is Kiran Rao’s portrayal of Mumbai and it’s people. She does it by telling us the story of 4 people, tenuously linked. There is Arun, a painter, who is distant and aloof even to Shai, whom he has a one-night stand with. Shai, is an American banker taking a sabbatical from work to indulge in her passion for photography. She walks around Bombay photographing what she finds interesting. Shai meets Munna, the local dhobi (washerman) and coaxes him to guide her through the innards of Mumbai. She is particularly intrigued by the Dhobi Ghat where hundreds of dhobis gather to wash their loads of laundry. Munna has aspirations of becoming a movie star and is very happy to find that Shai can shoot a portfolio for him.

Meanwhile Arun moves into a new flat to discover that the previous resident of the apartment has left behind some video-cassettes. Arun tries to find her to return her belongings, but failing to do so, plays them to find that they are video-diaries or video-letters really, in which the woman, Yasmin, catalogues her new married life in Mumbai to her (younger) brother back home.

These 4 characters come from different walks of life, religions, social and class backgrounds. Shai is a wealthy American, quite an outsider to India’s social mores, and sees nothing wrong in socializing with Munna – they go out to eat, see a movie together. Munna is from the impoverished lower class; he has a second job at night – that of rat-killer. When Shai, with her American upbringing, begins to see him as a “friend”, Munna dreams of equality, of being at par, a social equal to Shai. Arun is a Hindu artist, and by the nature of his work is a member of the privileged class. He finds his muse in Yasmin, a middle-class Muslim housewife he hasn’t met.

Rao explores these 4 different worlds in a very nuanced fashion. We see the social boundaries that divide Shai and Munna – he lives in a ramshackle room, and she in a posh Mumbai flat where he isn’t even offered a seat. His just as impoverished friends rib him about the memsaheb. Arun is curious about Yasmin – where did she go, what happened to her ? He finds himself drawn to Yasmin’s predicament. Yasmin, a character we only see through the lens of her video camera, (which her husband has bought her and she is quite excited about) is captivated by Mumbai, and her life in a big city. As Arun progresses through her video diaries though we find her spirits drooping. And then the videos end; we know no more. Shai, after the one-night stand, tries to find Arun again but he has moved. And Munna is half in love with Shai, a woman who does not return the favor.

This film is a little depressing and slow, but it is one I remembered and thought about long after I’d finished watching it. Quite fascinating, really. Worth a watch.

Kidwise : Fairly clean, some love-making and references to adult situations.

Posted in 2010, All Netflix, bollywood, directors, drama, Hindi movies on Netflix, hinglish, rating-PG13, recommended | 2 Comments