Review : The other end of the line

Posted on May 7, 2009 by amodini

Other End of the Line (Widescreen)Rating : Below average (2.8/5)
Genre : Romance
Year : 2009
Running time : 1 hour 45 minutes
Director : James Dodson
Cast : Anupam Kher, Shriya Saran, Jesse Metcalfe Kid rating : PG-13

THE OTHER END OF THE LINE : Worth hanging up on !

Jessica David talks to Granger Woodruff, over the phone. She is almost in love with his voice, and he wants to meet her for drinks. The catch – Jessica is not really American Jessica but Indian call-center employee, Priya Sethi, complete with Amrikan accent and knowledge of Amrikan culture, etiquette and movie stars. And she’s helping Granger sort out his credit card theft issue, while surreptitiously checking him out on the web.

Bangalore based Priya, being pushed into an arranged marriage with a tied-to-Mama’s-pallu suitor, decides to throw caution and parental disapproval out the window and head out to the US to meet Granger. However since he isn’t expecting an “Indian” Jessica, complications arise. The two do get to meet in total Bollywood fall-over-each-other style (and under false pretenses), but love is quite another matter . . .

Now, romantic comedies abound. So why should you see this one? No reason at all. The chemistry is non-existent, the storyline involves flights of fancy and logical lapses, and the acting is mediocre. Besides watching perpetually pleasant Priya turn into a coy, simpering desi girl in the presence of gorgeous Granger got tiring after a while.

Ashok Amritraj produces this jaded bit of filmdom. The story is pretty cliché-ridden from the over-strung Dad to the patriarchal future in-laws. And the quality, the overall feel of the film is very average. While most parts of the movie are passable – yeah, they won’t have you swooning in delight – some are so ineptly done, that they are almost gauche. James Dodson decides to lay on the whole Indian bit a little thick.

Shriya Saran playing Priya is nothing out of the ordinary; she’s the pretty girl next door, but without that quality which would separate her from the pack. And Jesse Metcalfe (from Desperate Housewives) playing Granger is OK. Anupam Kher is great always, but he’s been given this eccentric, overwrought Dad’s role, so you can imagine how it goes.

All that said, my biggest issue with this film is it’s predicatability. Another love story with the honor-ridden, what-will-people-say, izzat-minded desi parents and a girl wanting the unsuitable? Ouch. I would tolerate inept acting and direction if only to watch something new, with decent emotional grounding. If I could feel a glimmer of what Priya-Granger were feeling, or even get a whiff of their blooming (and you can take that any way you will !) romance I’d be a happy couch potato. But no, nada, nyet – all that they feel is expressed very amateurishly, and in a very limited fashion. Where is that rumbling passion that would make you toss aside parents/girlfriend ? Not in this film.

And it’s not like I expected Dodson to deliver it served warm and fuzzy, but one can hope, can’t one ?

A very been-there done-that film; an Indian “Pretty Woman” if you will – only there ain’t no oomph; Shriya isn’t a Roberts and there isn’t a Gere to dream of post-movie.

If you liked this film, you might also like (hint-hint – a well-made romance !) :

– Pyar ke side effects
– Rules
– Socha na tha

Posted in 2009, bollywood, hollywood, rating-PG13, watchable | 1 Comment

Review : Aa dekhen zaraa

Posted on April 30, 2009 by amodini

Rating : Below average (2.8/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2009
Running time : 2 hours
Director : Jehagir Surti
Cast : Neil Nitin Mukesh, Bipasha Basu, Rahul Dev, Sophie Chaudhary
Kid rating : PG

AA DEKHEN ZARAA : Predictable pot-boiler !

One is often wary of watching films with bad actors in them. And so it was with “Aa dekhen zaraa”. The fact that Neil Nitin Mukesh also starred in it somewhat mitigated that fear, because after the wonderful “Johnny Gaddar”, his next appearance was highly anticipated. Now, he’s not a master actor, but compared to Lady Bips, he is the King.

And then, of course, you have the , er . . , scientific angle. Because this film involves concepts of time travel – yeah, not so much that you’d have to stress that precious noggin, but just palatable enough for a casually entertaining desi flick. Me, being this huge time-travel fan, you’d think I’d go see this film the first chance I got, no ? But no, getting these many bad reviews of a film does put you off. So I waited. And finally did see the film. Here’s the plot :

Lady B plays Simi, a singer/DJ – nice, swanky looking club, and she looking marvelously hip and all. In a flat close by her’s, resides our photographer hero Ray (Neil). Now Ray has been left a camera by his grand-father, and it’s not an ordinary one. It can foretell the future – you click the snap and turn a handy dial, develop said photo, and voila ! the developed photo will be of the subject in the future. Awesome, you think ! Well, guess who else thinks this is awesome ? The villains of course. And there are many.

Anyway, with our boy Ray merrily clicking away, he has one photo taken of himself, and discovers that there’s something quite unwelcome looming in his future. Simi, who by this time has become serious girl-friend steps in, talks some sense, and together they try to beat this thing. The evil villains, predictably are hot on their trail . . .

Well, that’s as far as I can take you. And if you haven’t yet guessed the ending, please go see the film. It isn’t as bad as anticipated – for a masala movie. For one thing, the songs are pretty good – especially the title track, and that slow romantic number “Mohabbat aap se”. However the lead pair don’t have much chemistry; she looks quite a bit older and way more worldly-wise than dewy-eyed Mukesh. The direction is a bit slapdash, the film’s coherence hangs by a thread, and events and characters pop out of nowhere. Aah, and the logic – let’s just say that there isn’t much of that.

Rahul Dev as villanous “Captain” essays his role with some panache, while Sophie in yet another baby-doll-with-anglicized-Hindi is her usual self – bad. Bipasha can’t act but has personality, and Neil can’t act either but has this very earnest appeal thing about him. Makes you wish they got better scripts, and directors who knew what they were doing.

It is believed that we are attracted to the shiny and the colorful, as compared to the reliably hued. So it is with this movie – it’s thoroughly pulpy, cool angles, cool clothes, and quite a bit of bling. But for about 2 hours of mindless entertainment, I’d choose this over, say, a “Race”.

Posted in 2009, bollywood, drama, rating-PG, sci-fi, thriller | Comments Off on Review : Aa dekhen zaraa

Review : Gulaal

Posted on March 18, 2009 by amodini

Rating : Above average (3.7/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2009
Running time : 2 hours 50 minutes
Director : Anurag Kashyap
Cast : Kaykay Menon, Abhimanyu Singh, Aditya Shrivastava, Deepak Dobriyal, Jesse Randhawa, Piyush Mishra, Mahi Gill, Ayesha Mohan, Raj Singh Chaudhary
Kid rating : PG-13

GULAAL : WEAK ENDING RUINS STRONG BUILD-UP !

Technorati tag :

Kashyap’s latest is a dark film, not just in it’s content, but also visually. Dark or poorly-lit rooms, house dark, vengeful characters. The main story focuses on student politics in Rajasthan, where law student Dilip Kumar Singh (Chaudhary) has newly arrived. Naïve Dilip finds rooms let by Rananjay Singh, known as Ransa (Abhimanyu Singh), the son of the erstwhile Raja. Dilip, cowardly and weak, is soon embroiled in student politics, courtesy Ransa and other rival gangs.

Gulaal introduces us to politics via Dilip, but this is really the story of people hungry for power and the affluence that it brings. Duki Bana (Menon), a zamindar, who finds himself bereft of any real power in the face of Governmental rulers, wants money to build the state of Rajputana. Kiran (Mohan) and her brother (Aditya Srivastav), as children of a kept mistress, want their father’s name. There is a third faction of louts also contesting the student General Secretary post, however they do not become prominent to the story. Other characters, all interesting, are those who sway one way or another.

The first half of the film is strong and well-controlled, and Kashyap uses the time to give us a tight, political drama. You have a weak common-man, Dilip, friends with Ransa, who’s kind of wild and reckless. Dukki Bana, who’s married, has a mistress on the side, and is open to other amorous advances, is using Ransa to win over student politics in Rajpur, and thus supporting him over rival factions. Deepak Dobriyal stunningly plays Dukki’s right-hand man. Then there is Kiran, who will go to any lengths to win the elections and become the student General Secretary. And there is her brother, cold, calculating, trigger-happy Karan who master-minds Kiran’s every political move.

There are also minor characters like Dukki’s wife (Jyoti dogra), a dutiful woman, who gets a little feisty when she hears of Madhuri (Mahie Gill) Duki’s mujra-performing mistress. Model Jesse Randhawa plays Anuja, a teacher who is stripped of her clothes and her dignity, but must continue to puff-up impotent clouds of cigarette smoke, in the absence of any hope of action against the perpetrators. I found her role inconsequential to the story – it didn’t do anything and didn’t exert any influence on any character. The female characters in the film are all of them powerless, and truly depicted given the context. Even Kiran’s character, while conniving and determined, is only so at another’s bidding.

Then there is also Dukey Bana’s mentally retarded brother Prithvi Bana (Piyush Mishra), who is given to singing and composing couplets. Kashyap uses him to narrate the story in balladic form, and reflect on the corruption of it all.

This film doesn’t have any one protagonist. The main characters are all negative, except maybe Dilip, who’s weak, and doesn’t have the strength to overcome the odds. So it’s kind of hard to actually root for any one. Still, the film with it’s interesting characters, and brilliant acting, is trundling along nicely, until it hits intermission. Then, it’s downhill, because Kashyap fails to keep up his promise. The story flags and I found the end really disappointing. Where he should have upped the ante, and provided a sizeable twist to the story, he goes along with a jaded, and un-interesting premise.

Kashyap tries hard to give us a gritty, ethnically-flavored drama, and comes close to carrying it off, but ouch! – that ending. I cannot see this film succeeding commercially at all, for who really has the time to read between the lines, these days ? Still, this film is highly recommended; just don’t go in there expecting too much.

If you liked this film, you might also like :

– Haasil
– Hazaron khwaishen aisi
– Omkara

Posted in 2009, bollywood, drama, rating-PG13, recommended | 5 Comments

Review : Dil Kabaddi

Posted on February 27, 2009 by amodini

Rating : Poor (2.2/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2008
Running time : 2 hours 10 minutes
Director : Anil Senior
Cast : Irrfan Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Rahul Bose, Konkona Sen Sharma, Payal Rohtagi, Rahul Khanna
Kid rating : A

DIL KABADDI : TORTUROUS !

“Dil kabaddi” is apparently an Indianised version of Woody Allen’s “Husband’s and wives” – a desi take on infedility in a marriage. We have two couples, one Samit (Irfan) and Mita (Soha), and the other Rishi (Bose) and Simi (Konkona). Samit and Mita decide to split up, much to Rishi and Simi’s consternation. Samit hitches up with kooky Yoga instructor Kaya (Paya Rohtagi), and Mita, after much weeping and hand-wringing decides to get dating again.

Rishi and Simi meanwhile rethink their partner-ship, he, a professor, on more-than-friendly terms with a student, and she a journalist, almost in love with another man. It’s a tangled web, with lots of sex talk and sexual references thrown in. And if it was reaching for a deeper meaning, it gets lost in the messy thingamajig that is the screenplay.

“Dil kabaddi” is a warbled, garbled film. The characters are interesting, better handled it might have made a better film, but as is, they come in slip-shod and eccentric. The actors playing these ill-defined characters give it their best shot, but that isn’t enough to keep this film from sinking. The direction is amateurish, and the product comes across as incoherent and disjointed.

This film tries to get into the nitty-gritty of relationships, and tries to be quick and clever about it. The couples are, at least on the outside, smart, savvy and snappy. On the inside they are emotional wrecks like the rest of us. As such you’d think that it would be easy to sympathize with their predicament and root for them, in their search for “The One”. Unfortunately not. Inept handling makes this a difficult job – the one character for whom I felt (remote) sympathy was Mita.

This is an awful film, and not even strong acting performances could redeem it.

Kidwise : Contains sexual references, and gets an A rating.

Posted in 2009, bollywood, drama, rating-A | 3 Comments

Review : Luck by chance

Posted on February 22, 2009 by amodini

Rating : Above average (3.8/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2009
Running time : 2 hours 40 minutes
Director : Zoya Akhtar
Cast : Farhan Akhtar, Konkona Sensharma, Dimple Kapadia, Isha Sharvani, Hrithik Roshan, Rishi Kapoor, Juhi Chawla
Kid rating : PG – 13

LUCK BY CHANCE : WELL-TOLD FILMI DRAMA

Technorati tag :

I was really looking forward to this film, even though it lacked in the oomph department; Farhan as talented as he is (and he’s really working on those biceps) isn’t quite the man to make one’s heart go pitter-patter. And the Akhtars didn’t dissapoint. Zoya Akhtar’s debut directorial venture is an entertaining, interesting first film.

Luck by Chance is a story of two wannabe-movie-stars. One is a woman, hard-working but awaiting her chance. And the other is a man, her lover, a go-getter, an opportunist. He makes it, she doesn’t, and their relationship is the casualty.

The film is a hard look at Bollywood – how it works and who can work it. From the big-time producer Romy Rolly, and his hat-wearing director, to the Adonis-like superstar Zafar Khan – they’re all there and they’re all parodied just right. The hero Vikram’s character is fleshed out as a sly, manipulative go-getter, and Farhan does it justice. Each person’s role, however small is detailed rather well – they all appear to ring true.Zoya has an eye for detail, even the smallest part is handled with care.

There is much leg-pulling going on here – whether it’s the scene where the Nikki in a super-short dress attempts to touch Romy Rolly’s feet at the behest of her mother, or in the scene where Nikki, a spoiled star brat can’t quite pronounce the dialogue minus the Anglicized lilt that her priviliged upbringing has brought her. There are also well-done moments of truth as in the scene where Sona tells Vikram how selfish he’s being, and then forgives him saying he can’t help it – that is just who he is.

The two protagnists Vikram Jaisingh (Farhan Akhtar) and Sona Mishra (Konkona Sen Sharma) share almost equal screen time and importance, and the film is peopled with an excellent cast. Farhan Akhtar is quite the actor, and Konkona is marvellous. Dimple Kapadia is beautiful and fiery and tempestous and really quite effortless as Nina – the star mother. Isha Sharvani plays Nikki Valia, Nina’s daughter, and the heroine opposite whom Vikram gets his big break. But the pairing which I loved the most was that of producer Romy Rolly, played by fat and jovial looking Rishi Kapoor (with a wig of curly hair – how apt) and his ex-heroine, high-heel-shod, perpetually cheery wife Minty (Juhi Chawla).

The screen-play unfolds marvellously, it’s all in place, and the story flows. There was not a jarring moment, each persona had it’s moment. We got to know all the characters well, even though we didn’t sympathize with them – and in this the director succeeds very well ; in fact this is what makes this film so engrossing. LBC is an urban, modern look at life in the big city, succeeding in the cut-throat, incestuous world of Hindi films. On a deeper level, it’s about defining your own success and achieving it. It’s not poetic, it’s pragmatic. And done well.

The film also has a very good music by Shankar-Ehsan and Loy – a slow and haunting musical score to accompany a strong, and to-the-point film. Nice – recommended.

Kid-wise : This film has adult situations/talk and hints at sexual situations.

If you liked this film, you might also enjoy :

– Page 3
– Dor
– Mithya

Posted in 2009, bollywood, drama, rating-PG13, recommended | 3 Comments

Review : Delhi 6

Posted on February 21, 2009 by amodini

Rating : Very good (4.2/5)
Genre : Drama / All-in-one
Year : 2009
Running time : 2 hours 18 minutes
Director : Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Cast : Abhishek Bachhan, Waheeda Rehman, Sonam Kapoor, Om Puri, Deepak Dobriyal, Pawan Malhotra, Atul Kulkarni, Supriya Pathak, Tanvi Azmi, Rishi Kapoor, Prem Chopra, Cyrus Sahukar, K.K. Raina, Divya Dutta, Vijay Raaz, Aditi Rao
Kid rating : PG

DELHI 6 : DREAMY, DELICIOUS, DELIGHTFUL !

Technorati tag :

Heightened anticipation. Yup, that about describes it. Waiting for Rakesh Om Prakash Mehra’s upcoming film with heightened anticipation and wondering “Will he do a Rang de basanti once again ?”

The answer to that is – Yes, he does. And how !

The two films are sort of in the same genre, in that they both deal with angst and anger at the state of the country, and a sort of self-awakening. In RDB the characters were home-wrought, in D6 it’s an import (an American born hero). While RDB was more “motivational” so to speak, D6 is introspective and a tad preachy.

The title tells you where it’s at – Delhi, Chandni Chowk to be precise. So you thought the streets of old Delhi were crowded and grimy ? Not really, not in this film. Yes, the gallis are narrow and you can’t bring a car in, and have to walk or resort to cycle-rickshaws. And yes, mithai shops jostle along-side old homes for space, but this is home to the film’s heroine, feisty Bittu (a stunning Sonam Kapoor), and her neighbor Roshan Mehra (Bachhan) who’s come to drop off his grand-mother (a stately looking Waheeda Rehman) in India, because she wants to spend her last days “at home”.

OmPrakash Mehra portrays a languorous Delhi. It’s a Delhi of close-knit friends and neighbors, of warm, sunny terraces, of afternoons spent kite-flying. And because it’s delicious Delhi, Roshan who’s come for a few days decides to spend a little more time, getting sucked in , firstly as a wary spectator, and then as an energized participant, in the humdrum life of Delhi-6.

And it’s not like everything is hunky-dory. Mehra spends his time and his script detailing little atrocities – the untouchable Jalebi (a magnificent Divya Dutta) who’s looked down upon publicly but considered fit enough to use sexually, the town dullard Gobar derided, the unmarried bua (aunt) caught in the crossfire between two brothers. Even the heroine Bittu is caught in a quandary because she does not wish to marry but is forced to put on a show in the marriage market, to, as she says “walk a little, sing a little, and then pass off Bua’s samosas as my own”, because willy-nilly, she is the bearer of her father’s honor (or izzat).

The beginning of the film is light and breezy, finding humor in everyday situations. We see Roshan and his grand-mother welcomed by their neighbors and settling into their central courtyard-ed home, getting accustomed to the dry water-taps and the 8 o’clock power cut. Mehra pays Delhi his respects; it appears vibrant and luscious and colorful, veritably glistening as it is shot artistically. The visual appeal is heightened by Rehman’s melodious numbers – Genda phool is superb, as is the catchy Masakali. It might be that I have a prejudiced eye, but to me every frame in the first half of the film had that . . . that visual oomph; that classy quality feel – the kind that made me at once nostalgic and appreciative of the director’s deft handling of his subject.

The film’s story is peppered with instances of things gone wrong – of little slights, and large social problems, so you sort of gather where this film is going, even though it does not have a very active plot. It is towards the later half of the film that the director actually gets down to business, with the theme of distrust and hate. Mehra centers the film’s around 2 main ideas – the first is the Ramayana, and the second is the “black monkey” which is supposedly harassing the citizens of Delhi. Both of these ideas help the film move towards it’s more prosaic and preachy message.

While the film has a larger social message, Mehra manages to flesh in little details and believable characters. His Bittu and Roshan, while from different worlds manage to connect against all odds. The screenplay is astounding – in a film which was more of a touristy snapshot of Delhi (at least in the beginning), I did not discern a lag in pace, or a need for editing (or maybe I was so busy being grateful that this piece of art had come my way that I didn’t notice !)

As lovely as the film itself is, it couldn’t have been what it was had it not been for the excellent cast. Sonam Kapoor is young and fresh and a very good actress. Waheeda Rehman and Om Puri are immaculate – they aren’t veterans for nothing. Tanvi Azmi (as Roshan’s mother), Supriya Pathak , Deepak Dobriyal (as Mamdu the halwai), Atul Kulkarni (as Gobar), Divya Dutta (as Jalebi), Rishi Kapoor (as the charming Ali Baig), Pawan Malhotra, K.K.Raina, Vijay Raaz (as the corrupt inspector) – I could go on and on – are exquisitely cast and excel in their performances. Even Raghuvir Yadav comes in in a tiny role, and Prem Chopra portrays the greedy money-lender. MTV VJ Cyrus Sahukar shows up as the seedy small-town-ish photographer and does fairly well.

And now for the hero Abhishek Bachchan. He does OK, he isn’t superlative. I would have wished for a protagonist with a little more fire in him, a hero who could show that he felt what he was saying. Bachchan, mouthed the preachy dialogues all right, but I didn’t get that he felt them, with any intensity. The film thus is effective, although not as passionate as it could have been. The other flaw in the film was the lack of subtlety. Mehra is pushing a message in the film – we get it – no need to spell it out. But he does, and loses some of the impact.

All said and done, I must say that I loved the film. It is not as good as “Rang de basanti” but a pretty close second. I highly recommend it.

Kidwise : The film is pretty clean, with one hint of a love-making scene.

If you liked this film, you might also enjoy :
– Swades
– Rang de basanti
– Shool

Posted in 2009, bollywood, drama, rating-PG, recommended, romance | 14 Comments

Best films of 2008

Posted on February 2, 2009 by amodini

best_2008

Better late than never, say I. So, a little late, but here nevertheless are the Top 10 Films of 2008. The year began strong with films like Mithya and Jodhaa Akbar. There were very few blockbusters that did well. This was the year of the “cheapie” – a film with B grade stars, made probably on a small budget. “Hello” was one of these, and so was “Welcome to Sajjanpur”. As always stupidity ruled, and made films like “Singh is Kinng” big hits.

Anyway, enough said; here are my picks :

10. Ramchand Pakistani : This is a not-so upbeat film about a father-son pair caught in a border jail after inadvertently crossing the India-Pakistan border. A wonderful cast and good direction make this a very special film.

9. Rab ne bana di jodi : Ahh, Shahrukh as one of us ! SRK plays an ordinary young man, married to the woman of his dreams. The catch ? She doesn’t love him, and says she never will.

8. Superstar : Kunal Khemu, re-incarnated. In a double role no less. The story of two men who look alike but born to different circumstances, Superstar is a breezy watch.

7. Ghajini : Amir’s lone film of the year, Ghajini is a remake of the South-Indian film of the same name, and even stars the same heroine, Hindi film debutante, Asin. Fairly violent, Ghajini was a superhit in late 2008. It brings back memories of 80s-based, Shiva-esque dramas, and is a decent watch.

6. A Wednesday : A taut, gripping drama, Wedneday doesn’t have many big actors, save Naseeruddin Shah, but manages to leave an impact.

5. Sorry Bhai : Another film by director Onir, this one is quite enchanting. A tale of two brother and the one woman they both love, this film has got it all – emotion, humor and drama.

4. Jaane tu ya jaane na : The romance of the year stars newcomer Imran Khan and Geneliw D’Souza and is a peppy, fun, young film.

3. Jodhaa Akbar : This humongous history lesson stars hunky Hrithik and luminous Aishwarya as the historical couple Akbar and his Rajputian wife Jodhaa. The handsome couple also do well acting wise, and director Ashutosh Gowarikar delivers another enjoyable film.

2. Welcome to Sajjanpur : The feel good film of the year, this movie is set in rural India. Shreyas Talpade heads an impeccable cast, and master director Shyam Benegal brings to you another well-told, engrossing tale.

1. Mithya : A well-made drama about an ordinary young man thrust into the underworld as kingpin, this one is a must-see.

Honorable mentions go out to the following films :

– Oye Lucky Lucky Oye
– Hulla
– Fashion
– Tashan
– Bachna ae haseeno
– Rock On

Also look at the ones that were : The Top 10 films of 2007 and 2006 !

Tags : Best films of 2008, Best hindi movies, Good hindi movies, Top 10 movies

Posted in annual roundup, Best hindi movies, bollywood, recommended, Top 10 | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Review : Slumdog millionaire

Posted on January 22, 2009 by amodini

Rating : Above average (3.9/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2008
Running time : 2 hours
Director : Danny Boyle
Cast : Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Irfan Khan, Anil Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla
Kid rating : PG

I only had the vaguest inkling of the story of “Slumdog millionaire”, having carefully not read any of the reviews. So, when it started out, brutally enough in a police lock-up with the protagonist Jamaal (Patel) being tortured, it seemed to be quite far away from the shiny small-screen glamour of “Kaun banega crorepati”, the game show which supposedly played a major part in the film. However, SM, as I discovered, was woven between the past and the present, taking us through Jamaal’s few hours of television fame, his subsequent police incarceration, and his past life as an orphan in Mumbai.

Jamaal has had the good fortune of being selected as a contestant on “Kaun banega crorepati (India’s version of “Who wants to be a millionaire”). A humble chai-wala, with no formal education, Jamaal still manages to answer all the questions which are thrown at him. When the game breaks for the day, the show’s influential host Prem (Kapoor), unable to believe that Jamaal is not cheating at the game, gets him whisked away by the police. During the police interrogation, we get to know Jamaal’s story, and the fact that Jamaal is on the show to get in touch with his lady-love Latika.

SM is a pretty upbeat film. It starts off amidst wretched poverty, showing very starkly the underbelly of great, shining India. And I, being desi and all, and watching SM in a very mainstream cinema theatre in a very American city, am squirming in my seat, thinking this is another of those films milking poor, exotic India for a shot at the Oscars. Although, really, it’s not.

It does make me uncomfortable, watching poor, naked children wallowing in filth, begging at the cross-roads, playing next to large garbage dumps, in one of the largest slums of a bustling, rich, cosmopolitan city in the country of my birth (Ah, where are those dreams of being the next Shanghai ? Maybe an adequate sewage system first ?). It is one thing to travel back to India and feel desperate poverty all around you; it’s everywhere. But is quite another, to see it splashed across a wide-screen, in urban America, surrounded by relatively wealthy Americans, for whom definitions of poverty are quite different than those encountered in the Third World. It makes me uncomfortable, because it’s my dirty laundry hung out to dry, for the world to see, celebrate and toast as cinematic greatness at the Golden Globes, at the Sundance festival, at the Oscars. But it is what it is, I tell myself. They show it because it does exist. You encounter many such poor Jamaals on Indian streets.

The film now, it travels question by question. In flashback mode, it takes us through Jamaal’s interrogation at the Mumbai police station, and reveals his life story, bit by bit, as Jamaal tells the inspector (Irfan Khan) how he knows the answer to each question asked on the show. Dev Patel as Jamaal, is quite effective, except for the American accent he sports – it’s not really, really obvious, but you can tell. Freida Pinto, as fellow-orphan Latika, is much more believable, and so is the actor who plays Jamaal’s brother. Anil Kapoor comes across as a sneering TV show host, being ever so subtly snide about Jamaal’s poverty-stricken roots. Having watched Bacchan and SRK being extremely polite and amiable hosts, in the actual TV show “Kaun banega crorepati”, I’m a little surprised that Anil Kapoor’s character has such obvious class hang-ups.

As I said, the film starts with a cold, hard look at poverty, and the life of the poor; Jamaal and Salim are poor orphans of a Muslim slum. They are smart, and “jugadu” as street-kids are and their young life is strewn with escapes; escaping from the police, escaping from the beggar mafia, escaping from the railway ticket collector. As they work their way up with age and time, they separate. And getting onto “Who wants to be a millionaire” is Jamaal’s attempt at finding his loved ones again.

So, yes, SM starts off depressingly, but soon develops into a wistful love story. It’s very hopeful, what with the ascent of a slum boy to the millionaire’s chair. And it’s not that Jamaal is “made” smart by the script; he is a smart kid. An intelligent, smart kid born indigent. And he hopes, and he dreams of meeting Latika again, against all odds.

And, yes, the script and direction is strong, the story is interesting and well-told, and the actors deserve applause. The film takes you through many emotions, but above all, and what drew me in, is that this is a simple film. It’s basic, no additional flounces or frippery (except that Bollywood style closing) and it appears to be passionate. Made from the heart.

Posted in english, hollywood, rating-PG, recommended | 2 Comments

Review : Ghajini

Posted on December 26, 2008 by amodini

Rating : Above average (3.8/5)
Genre : Thriller/Suspense
Year : 2008
Running time : 3 hours
Director : A. R. Murugadoss
Cast : Amir Khan, Asin, Jiah Khan
Kid rating : PG-13

GHAJINI : MASALA MEETS MUSCLE

The remake of the South-Indian original, Ghajini reminds me of the 8o’s revenge based dramas; films like Shiva which, in their turn, were remakes of South-Indian hits. Hence the abundance of large instruments of torture and gory fight scenes which usually end up with a knife in the back or a smashed head. With the color-coordinated songs (clothes match the cars) this film is also reminiscent of older Jeetendra-Sridevi pot-boilers like “Himmatwala” etc.

It’s a vendetta based film, where the whole point of the film is revenge. Aamir plays Sanjay Singhania, a very, very rich tycoon, who’s run afoul of a nasty businessman/crook. When the villain vastly damages Sanjay and his loved ones, resulting in Sanjay losing his lady-love Kalpana (Asin), and most of his memory, he must have his revenge on an enemy he doesn’t quite remember.

This is a formula film – nothing new about it. The first half of the film is mostly breezy – there are some gory parts, but on the whole it’s pretty light-hearted and fun. This is mostly due to the heroine – peppy Asin, a newcomer who also starred in the Ghajini original. Asin makes an impressive Hindi debut; she reminds me of a slimmer version of Sridevi – the hair, the figure, the over-archingly self-aware, over the top acting.

The second half of the film features some very gory fight scenes, and much brutality. Amir goes from a sweet lover-boy to rabid, growling revenge-seeker, very believably. Truly, in such films, where direction is adequate, but not quite flawless, where the story needs you to put away rational doubts, and brute force, not realism rules, can one see the finesse of an actor. And Aamir is quite a fine performer.

Jiah Khan who plays a major role, can’t act. And neither can the guy who plays the role of police inspector; he does very little besides flex his muscles. The rest of the cast is just about adequate; the villains are evil and sneering and trigger-happy, and the “good people” are very holier-than-thou. The heroine especially is a wholesome do-gooder, earnest and a little too empathetic – the kind of chirpy, scootie-driving gal who appeals to all the richie-rich, macho tycoons of desi filmdom, because of her golden heart.

This film is quite interesting with it’s anterograde amnesia theme; the hero able to retain events of only the past 15 minutes. And while the pace is fast, and keeps you engrossed, all facets of such a potentially complicated story aren’t intelligently handled. The director glosses over much of the things-that-could-be. In reality, Aamir’s mentally tortured character might need intensive therapy, but in the film he bashes 7 men all by himself, deals with many traumas, and manages to beat up villains with iron rods stuck into him.

Yes, it is a masala film, so yeah, I’ll bite my tongue and continue. I liked the film – it’s an interesting drama, dark and gruesome. But it also has romance, light-hearted moments, and features one of my favorite heroes. The heroine packs some oomph, the film has good cinematography and some very nicely picturised, melodious songs. The song which features “multiple” Amirs , all in different get-ups and all in the same frame was especially interesting. The downer is that Ghajini is predictable fare; there had been a spate of such films during the Shiva phase, and this theme seems a little jaded for today’s time. I wish it had had more finesse and attention to detail, been more realistic, and avoided some amateurish blotches – then it would have been quite superlative.

Posted in 2009, action, bollywood, drama, rating-PG13 | 7 Comments

Review : Rab ne bana di jodi

Posted on December 13, 2008 by amodini

Rating : Above average (3.75/5)
Genre : Romance
Year : 2008
Running time : 2 hours 47 minutes
Director : Aditya Chopra
Cast : Shahrukh Khan, Anushka Sharma, Vinay Pathak
Kid rating : G
RAB NE BANA DI JODI : GOOD, BUT LACKS FINESSE

The much awaited “Rab ne bana di jodi” lives up to it’s hype – well almost. A film by director Aditya Chopra, this one is a romance. It’s meant to be one of those romances where we are persuaded to believe that true love comes because of inner, and not outer beauty (I could contest this genre by pointing out that such stories abound when the guy is the geek, and the girl is quite beautiful, if not Ms. Universe herself – after all how many times in desi films have you seen a geeky girl get the guy ?).

I won’t give too much of the film away – but here are the basics. In the face of tragedy, Taani (Anushka) is unexpectedly married off to geeky Surinder Sahni (SRK). She had hoped to marry her sweet-heart, but married to a boring Surinder, she resigns herself to a life of being a dutiful wife. Lively Taani loses her spark, but the love she thought she’d never feel again is awakened when she meets funny, young Raj . . .

The film’s story places it squarely in sadda Punjab, in Amritsar to be precise. It’s a far cry from Switzerland, and the breath-taking locales of Europe are replaced her by the narrow gallis of Sahni’s town. However the scenery is still colorful, the skies still blue, and the shots still beautifully composed. The glitz and glamour of a regular YRF film are a little toned down and the item-numbers have to be disguised as acts in a dance competition.The direction is strong as always, and Chopra is more careful than usual when sketching out his characters.

Surinder Sahni (Suri) is delineated out with affection. He is boring and staid and a creature of habit. A simple man, he loves his new wife with all his heart. Hers, body and soul, he offers himself up to her, to do with as she pleases (only she can‘t see it). Sodden and soaked in a love, which he is too shy to reveal, he is afraid that she will never love him (she tells him as much). His desperation to win her over is movingly depicted, and SRK, whom I’ve never considered much of an actor, save for his role in Swades, does an impeccable job; I really felt for poor Suri.

Anushka Sharma makes a strong debut. She is an average actress (which is generally more than enough in Bollywood), a graceful dancer with a shapely figure. This debut could have better had her character been graced with the same attention to detail as Surinder’s did. As it is, Taani is something of an unknown ; why she does what she does is a mystery – we don’t really know what goes on in her mind. As such we tend to empathize with her a little less.

This film starts off strong; we get to know Suri and his timid life. In comes Taani, and we get to know him better (unfortunately not her). And then closer to the interval, with that incongruous throwback-to-the-oldies song, the film starts to lose it’s moorings. It continues in this un-hinged fashion for quite a bit of the middle third, with events which have no bearing on the story. I feel Aditya Chopra, with all his talent, gets afflicted with the Raj-Kapoor-brand-of-love syndrome (which I find particularly annoying). This results in the film’s emotional momentum, which was building up quite nicely upto now, suddenly getting sporadic, and teetering between love and tragedy. If you’ve seen Raj Kapoor’s “Mera Naam Joker”, where he tries to dredge up sympathy (pity ?) for his (unlikeable) character, you’ll know what I mean.

One of the film’s songs is the soft and nicely picturised “haule haule”. The film in it’s build-up to the climax, doesn’t seem to be taking it’s own advice (i.e.; not so haule, haule) because we do not actually get to see the build-up of love in Suri’s life. True love strikes in the space of one song, and Suri is broadly brushed into his “chosen one” status fairly quickly. It is too filmi and too pat. Chopra seems to be saying – Here it is , do you get it now ? It is like we are wayward children, who need to be told what to feel, instead of an attentive audience which can gauge emotion by itself.

The film – it outs itself. Chopra seems to want to bare it all for us, the audience, as if he doesn’t trust us to reach the right conclusions by ourselves. As such, I’m a little disappointed that this film lacks the finesse that a “Hum dil de chuke sanam” had, and that a director of Chopra’s calibre sacrifices what could have been a thing of beauty at the altar of commercialism. “Rab ne bana di jodi”, while a fairly decent film, lacks the subtlety, that slow churn of blossoming love, that might have transformed this above ordinary film, into a spectacular one. It might seem that I’m quibbling over a minor matter, and being awfully picky. After all, in this age of “Golmaal” and “Golmaal returns” how does a little lack of finesse matter in an otherwise wholesome product ?

The film has lots of plot-holes, and requires you to wear your Bollywood-colored glasses, to overlook them. Me, I overlook them because of Suri – such a likeable character is he ! So, yes, this is very watchable film featuring a great beginning, a crowd-pleaser of an ending, and a mediocre middle. Kid-wise this is a clean film, although suited to older kids, because of the relatively slow pace of the film, and the forays into the pseudo-tragic.

Posted in 2009, bollywood, dance, drama, family-friendly, rating-G, recommended | 9 Comments