Review : Eklavya (2007)

Posted on February 17, 2007 by amodini


Note : The edited version of this review appears at Planet Bollywood, here.

Rating : Above average (3.2/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2007
Running time : 2 hours
Director : Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Cast : Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Boman Irani, Jackie Shroff, Jimmy Shergill, Vidya Balan, Raima Sen, Sharmila Tagore, Sanjay Dutt, Rama Vij, Parikshit Sahni

EKLAVYA : MORE HYPE LESS MATTER


Vidhu Vinod Chopra is a name I associate with quality cinema, so I expected Eklavya to be the Omkara of 2007. Unfortunately it falls short of my expectations. By far.

The film starts off by retelling the legend of Eklavya, to set the tone of the film – a fight between Dharma and Adharma as it is perceived by the main protagonist Eklavya (Amitabh). Eklavya is an old guard, long in the loyal service of Raja Jayawardhan (Irani). After the death of the Raja’s wife (Sharmila Tagore) a dark secret comes to light, and the Raja is beset with feelings of anger and jealousy. Murder plots and counter-plots are hatched, and there is general turmoil as Eklavya tries to be true to his duty and to his heart. (For a detailed storyline, see my Preview of Eklavya).

This is not a bad film, it’s not. It is decent enough fare, (considering that cinematic trash abounds in Bollywood), but it’s not the superly-duperly fantastic film I was expecting. Chopra has all the right ingredients – a script featuring mystery and treason. There is also the theatrical flavor – the nostalgia of the days when India was a mass of petty kingdoms, ruled by feudal Ranas. To top it all, he has a wonderful cast right from the Big B himself to veterans such as Parikshit Sahni, and Sharmila Tagore and the young ‘uns like Saif and Vidya. So, then, what actually went wrong ?

This is a 2 hour long film; it could have been longer. Coming from me this might seem a bit odd , seeing that I’m in mortal fear of directors who find it hard to edit their films to reasonable lengths. In this case however, I strongly wish that the director had taken the extra time to develop his characters a bit more soundly, and given us, the viewers the opportunity to get to know them better, empathize with the vagaries of their lives, and then care about them. The film picks up rapidly, from the start, but it’s like being thrown into the middle of a play, with little knowledge of the characters. The dialogues of the film are minimal, take a long time to come, and give us a very little information. We do not know much about the characters of the story, except what little (and I mean little) we see of them, and thus it is very hard to feel for any of their dilemmas or anguishes. I, as the viewer felt very distant and removed from the action on screen. Eklavya failed to move, to engross.

The film is slow paced. Some of the scenes in the film are done very well, like the scene in which Eklavya shows his marksmanship blind-folded, or the scene when the murders take place, but the rest of the story rolls along at a hum-drum gait, engulfed in sorrow, and a pall of gloom. Now that I look back, very little happened in those 2 hours, and crisply told this would have taken all of 30 minutes. The crux of the problem – Eklavya’s fight to stay true to his Dharma, and yet preserve all that is near and dear to him, is presented , but so mildly that frankly I didn’t care too much. Chopra hints at drama, but fails to deliver it inspite of a set-up ripe with promise, Eklavya’s affected mannerisms, and all those Sanskrit mantras reverberating in the background.

Actingwise, Vidya Balan shines the brightest. Saif also delivers the goods, but in a more straight-laced manner; I see none of the spark he displayed in Omkara. Amitabh is as good as ever, and shortcomings in his role are the director’s fault. Sharmila Tagore’s role is minor, and Rama Vij appears fleetingly as Eklavya’s mother. Boman Irani seems to exude just the right amount of paranoia and effeminate mannerisms, quite befitting a weak, jealous Rana unable to sire children. After a long time, I find a role for which to applaud Jackie Shroff, for he does a great job as Jaywardhan’s evil brother, Jyotiwardhan. Jimmy Shergill as Jyotiwardhan’s dissatisfied son does well, but then he was always a fine actor. Sanjay Dutt appears convincing as the cop. Raima Sen as the retarded princess, appears to be pretty sane in a few scenes.

The film is picturesquely shot, in vivid color. There is only one song. There is no strong background score (the Gayatri Mantra and other shlokas are pleasant to hear but do not comprise a musical score) which in a film like this is a major fault.

I’d desist from spending hard-earned moolah on viewing this in the theater – wait for the DVD instead.

Posted in 2007, bollywood, drama | 4 Comments

Review : I see you

Posted on February 7, 2007 by amodini

Note : The edited version of this review appears at Planet Bollywood.

Rating : Below average (2.3/5)
Genre : Romance / Thriller
Year : 2007
Running time : 2 hours
Producer : Mehr Jessia-Rampal, Suresh Savlani
Director : Vivek Aggarwal
Cast : Arjun Rampal, Vipasha, Chunky Pandey, Kirron Kher, Boman Irani, Sonali Kulkarni
Music : Vishal-Shekhar

I SEE YOU (ICU) : I wish I hadn’t !

Broad-shouldered Arjun Rampal might be able to carry many things, but the one thing he cannot carry is a film. On his own that is. In teeny-weeny, non-lead roles (like the one in Don) he might be able to get by, but as the main hero, he helps the film careen headlong into disaster. Add to this, a completely non-stirring debutante for a heroine, and a story as flaky as pastry crust, and you have one atrocious movie.

Quite possibly the producer, Rampal’s beautiful, super-model wife Mehr Jessia has not seen any of his earlier attempts at acting, else she’d have realized that for all his looks the man cannot act to save his life (or his film). I cannot credit them for the film’s story either since it is inspired from the Hollywood film “Just like heaven” starring Mark Ruffalo and Reese Witherspoon. However, for all my beating around the bush, my problem from the film stems not from the “lifted” story-line, or the non-dramatic powers of the lead pair . The problem is in it’s under-developed characters and languid pace, which made me nod off to sleep a couple of times.

The film centers around Raj (Rampal) who is the anchor of the British TV show “British Raj” (me, I don’t like that pun). Raj is a modern day Casanova, suddenly afflicted by super-natural powers and the ability to see and hear a ghostly spirit. An almost ghostly spirit that is, since the apparition is actually a girl Shivani (Vipasha) in a coma in a hospital, and her spirit seems to linger between this world and the next. Apparently the only person who can see and hear her is Raj , which gives rise to a series of trying-hard-to-be-comedic (and not succeeding) scenes with Raj and his friend (Pandey) who thinks Raj has gone nuts.

Anyway, now that Shivani has found her knight-in-shining-armor, she needs his help in communicating with her mother (Kher). Also, things are not what they seem, since someone is conspiring to kill Shivani (her comatose body actually) and Raj must unearth that secret, or see the apparition he now loves, disappear forever . . .

Put baldly, this is an Idiot Plot. To quote Ebert – “The Idiot Plot is a term devised for bad movies where the problems could be cleared up with a few words, if everyone in the plot were not an idiot “. This does not mean that films based on Idiot Plots do not succeed. They do. But this one doesn’t. The reasons are numerous – the main ones being the lack of chemistry (between the lead pair), lack of romantic/sappy moments (do remember that the story builds only because the pair fall in love), and the lack of projected goodness/bonhomie that would cause us to sympathize with such unlikely protagonists. Raj and Shivani meet and then for no reason (that I could see) they fall in love. Where, oh where, is the charm, the feeling, the attraction that’d make one sigh with satisfaction ?

The acting as I’ve already said is disastrous. I’m not sure how Chunky Pandey manages to come by any roles at all – doesn’t anyone else see his lack of talent ? Vipasha is an absolute wash-out – she might do better in second-tier heroine’s sister type of roles. She wears the same dress the whole film – first time producers apparently unaware that hit films generally have their heroines changing costumes at the drop of a hat. Rampal does a couple of songs which, like his acting, have no impact at all. Other reasonable actors like Boman Irani and Sonali Kulkarni have such small roles that even their valiant attempts can’t do much. The only saving grace of the film is Kirron Kher as Shivani’s mom – she seems to be her usual, ebullient self even in the role of a sorrowing mother.

The music of this film is, I’d say, far better than the film itself. “Subah subah” has a new, fresh sound, and “Kehna hai jo” is quite foot-tappingly catchy. Sunidhi Chauhan’s “Sach Hui” is melodious; something I could listen to again and again. “Haalo haalo” is a fusion of lots of sounds, and might serve as a dance-floor number.

The director does a decent job, for a first film, although he doesn’t hold the directorial reins tight enough. For a who-dun-it, the film flags very quickly – and for the attention-challenged viewer of today’s cinema this is a big no-no. Some of the shots are picturesquely composed but that doesn’t save this film. ICU, a first from the Rampal production house, is more of a multiplex film – I cannot see it released for the masses or even making a big splash outside India since it doesn’t have the glamour or the oomph it should have had to succeed.

To sum up, this is an insipid film and not worth your time or your money.

Posted in 2007, bollywood | Comments Off on Review : I see you

Review : Risk

Posted on February 5, 2007 by amodini

[amazon_link id=”B000NVIM4C” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Risk [DVD][/amazon_link]Note : The edited version of this review appears at Planet Bollywood, here.

Rating : Above average (3.6/5)
Genre : Drama / Thriller
Year : 2007
Director : Vishram Sawant
Cast : Vinod Khanna, Randeep Hooda, Seema Biswas, Tanushree Dutta, Yashpal Sharma, Anant Jog, Makrand Deshpande

RISK : INTERESTING !

RISK is standard fare from the RGV camp; it’s shot pretty similarly, it’s dark and of the same genre. Grim, stark and realistic, it tells a story sans frills. Randeep Hooda returns after “D”, as a police inspector this time.

The film, I believe, is based on the story of the “encounter” cop Daya Nayak (and they do thank him in the credits). While other cops are in on the “take”, Inspector Suryakant Satam (Hooda) has a dirty but necessary job. He is busy ridding Bombay of gangsters and their hit-men. To do this, not only must he capture goons (lots of chases through small slum lanes) but he must kill them in fake “encounters”, the logic being that if left alive the goons might be rescued by their political bosses. In this he has the support of his immediate superior the DCP (Shiv Subramaniyam). The DCP’s boss, the police chief is a venal man controlled by the Chief Minister Devki Vardhan (Seema Biswas), and her mafia benefactor Khaled Bhai (Vinod Khanna), who controls his slice of the underworld from Bangkok.

The politicians are hand-in-glove with the criminals, the Home Minister Sarang (Anant Jog) siding with South Indian gangster Naidu (Zakir Hussain), with Devki and Khaled pitted against them. In his work Inspector Sattam must tolerate such politicians, but when he goes after CM Devki, he is implicated in a false murder charge, and finds himself suspended and behind bars. His superior promises justice but the law must take it’s course. The now helpless and frustrated Suryakant realizes that the only man who can get him out of this dangerous predicament is his arch enemy Khaled Bhai . . .

The film’s story is pretty cut and dry, and the plot simple. There’s lots of action, and some of the scenes get gory. The film has a fast pace – very befitting the good-vs.-evil theme. The director’s treatment is efficient – he wastes little time in getting to the point, and thus the film does hold your interest.

Sawant assembles a good cast. Hooda fits right into the lead role as the taciturn cop. Stony-faced yet expressive, he is quite the efficient actor. He comes across as a stoic and steel-willed character, with little to say. Charismatic Vinod Khanna returns ater a long absence as Khaled Bhai and does a good job as the soft-spoken don. Yashpal Sharma plays Khaled’s impulsive and rash younger brother Arbaaz, and Makrand Deshpande Khaled’s right-hand man Hari. Seema Biswas is the conniving politician Devki, making trips to Bangkok to appease “brother” Khaled. Tanushree Dutta, considerably fattened up (is she heading for the Southern film industry a la Khushboo ?) plays Sattam’s love interest Shraddhha, and doesn’t really have much of a role.

Sawant employ’s the angular techniques he used in D, this time to reflect the dilemmas faced by an honest cop, sinking in a sea of dishonesty. The film hurls towards it’s climax, with little time spent on humanising it’s lead character. Inspector Suryakant does have a mother and a paramour, but that side of him gets swept away in his commitment to his work. Although this is a good film, it lacks the personality of the other cop film that I can recall – Shool, has. Still, even with an over-done genre, and cop versus hoodlum stories sprouting up like weeds, Risk is quite an interesting film, and well worth the watch.

Posted in 2007, bollywood, rating-PG13, thriller | Comments Off on Review : Risk

Preview : Eklavya

Posted on February 2, 2007 by amodini

Note : The edited version of this post appears at Planet Bollywood, here.

The Review is here.

Sometimes if you’re lucky and the stars are aligned just right, along will come a desi film which threatens to blow the competition into oblivion. A film with a great director, magnificent stars, and a script which promises to enthrall. For 2007, “Eklavya” appears to be the one. Going by Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s track record, his recent successes and his past acclaim, his upcoming epic promises to be the movie of the year. After last year’s bumper hit “Lage Raho Munnabhai” which he produced, Chopra this time weilds the director’s baton, along with writing and producing Eklavya. Chopra picks and chooses his work, but each film he is associated with, pioneers path-breaking cinema. Be it Bollywood’s first and best comedy “Jaane bhi do yaaron (1983)” for which Chopra served as Production Controller, or the first well-done who-dun-it “Khamosh(1985)”, or that impeccable desi gangster movie “Parinda (1989)” which he directed, Chopra does new and novel work. This time around Chopra directs after 7 long years, and gives us a royal tale of loyalty and devotion.

Another reason Eklavya is awaited with such anticipation is the stellar cast. This film has the best of the best : the versatile Saif Ali Khan, the graceful Sharmila Tagore, the inimitable Amitabh as Eklavya himself, and the talented Vidya Balan and Boman Irani. The story revolves around a royal family of Rajasthan on the verge of ruin, and the loyalty of their royal guard Eklavya. Eklavya’s family have been loyal servants to the Devigarh dynasty. He has only one purpose in life – to safeguard the family, their respect and their honor. His marksmanship is legendary, and his loyalty is unquestionable. When the Prince of Devigarh, Harshawardhan (Saif) returns home from London after his mother Rani Suhasinidevi’s (Tagore) death he sees his father Rana Jayawardhan (Irani) and uncle Jyotiwardhan (Shroff) ruling the land with a heavy hand. At his arrival, even though his mentally disabled sister Nandini (Raima) and his childhood sweetheart Rajeshwari (Balan) rejoice, there are others who conspire against him. When the people suffer, and death threats are unveiled against the royal family, a nonchalant police officer (Dutt) is called in to investigate, and it might be too late for old and infirm Eklavya to do his duty . . .

The storyline promises mystery and treason coupled with blue blood. Add to that betrayal, loyalty and the fight to stay true to your beliefs and you have a surefire hit. The released trailers, as precursors to the film itself, depict shades of upheaval amid the heavy sands of the desert. From the teaser, the film looks to be richly shot, and vibrantly picturised in striking hues. Much of the cast and crew of “Parineeta” return in this period film, including the music director, and many of the actors like Raima Sen, Saif Ali Khan, Balan and Dutt. Jimmy Shergill, Parikshit Sahni and Jackie Shroff are the new faces in the Chopra camp.

Originally titled “Yagna” and shot in picturesque Jaipur and Bikaner, “Eklavya’s” release date has been pushed back a couple of times. Shot with a budget of around 14 crores, with a large crew and the use of about 800 camels, this visual treat now finally releasing, is much awaited.

Posted in 2007, bollywood, Previews | Comments Off on Preview : Eklavya

Review : Salaam-e-ishq

Posted on January 28, 2007 by amodini

Rating: Above Average (3.5/5)

Genre : Romance
Year : 2007
Running time : 3 hrs and 45 minutes
Director : Nikhil Advani
Cast : Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Ayesha Takia, Akshay Khanna, Tinnu Anand, Vidya Balan, John Abraham, Anil Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Isha Koppikar, Sohail Khan, Govinda, Shannon Esra, Anjana Sukhani

SALAAM-E-ISHQ ( SEI ) : NO WARM, FUZZY FEELING !

After watching this almost 4 hour extravaganza, I feel like I feel after a large and heavy meal ; I liked eating it, but it was way too oily for consumption and I don’t feel particularly enthused afterwards. Rumored to be based on the romantic flick “Love actually”, which I loved actually, I can’t help but compare. Yes, they both feature romantic stories, of couples who are inter-connected with each other through friendship, relationships or just off-chance meetings, and one of the romantic situations in SEI is a take-off on the one from “Love Actually”, but that’s where the similarity ends.

I went in to see “Love Actually” for Hugh Grant, and came away a bleeding-heart romantic, on a cotton-candy- the-world-is-beautiful-and-the-sun-is-shining high. It left me with this warm, fuzzy feeling which SEI failed to deliver. And that really is the crux of the problem, after all that hype and hoopla – it fails to deliver.

SEI features 6 stories of 6 young couples in different situations, and different quandaries. All their problems are apparently caused by love, too much, too little, love for the wrong people, love for people who don’t want it, unrequited love, amnesia-afflicted love and what have you. Out of the 6 stories, 5 stay with you, while the 6th drops off the radar after a while, resurfacing only at the end for a little comedic relief.

Each of the 5 stories is moderately developed, the most believable being the Hindu-Muslim couple – the Ashutosh-Tehzeeb story, simply because of Vidya Balan’s strong performance, and John’s lazy charm . The starlet hungry to make it big, hatching up a publicity stunt which backfires – the Kkamini-Rahul (Priyanka-Salman) deal I had a little trouble believing, since it was a little too stretched – lot’s off treacly love, tears and under-developed characters. And really who was Rahul anyway, and why in the first place was he involved – the director never cleared that up and it didn’t help the believability any. The Stephanie-Raju (Shannon and Govinda) pair, she searching for her faithless Indian boyfriend and he the desi taxi-driver who ferries her around the country was sweet and reminded me of Marisa Tomei’s “Only You”. And the Shiven-Gia (Akshaye-Ayesha) yuppie marriage fiasco, with the groom with the cold-feet had me enthused because of Takia’s innocent naivete and Akshay’s zesty performance. The 5th story was of the stable married couple – Vinay-Seema (Anil and Juhi), whose 15 year marriage is threatened when the husband wants more than just boring, suburban life. This one closely resembled the Emma Thompson-Alan Rickman storyline in “Love Actually”, but was not portrayed with as much feeling (I remember weeping buckets for Emma’s character). The 6th couple’s story was Isha-Sohail as a rural couple unable to give vent to their passion, and I fear suffered the most on the editor’s table. It wasn’t even a love quandary really – just well-done attempts at humor.

The stories almost run in parallel, they develop initially, get to critical mass simultaneously, everything emphasized and every emotion underlined with music and dancing, implode and then resolve towards the end. The actors do fairly well, special mentions to Govinda who plays a Bollywoodised cabbie to the hilt, and the vibrant Akshaye Khanna. Salman has slimmed down, while Ayesha has gotten chubby, although she still looks gorgeous.The director transitions from story to story with relative panache, picturesque shots, and stylish edits. The songs are plentiful, well-picturised and pleasant. And some of the dialogues are so charmingly pretty and so romantically sugar-sweet that I, sucker that I am, longed to write them down.

Still, the movie was too long; “Love actually” did the job and did it better in half the time. Of course it didn’t have the songs and dances, and the Bollywood baggage which SEI has. Where this film suffers is in it’s pace, especially in the first half, where the film moves forward languidly. Also the director tries to tell us a lot, and shows too little (lots of captioning telling us the dates and locations of situations). The treatment could have also been subtler for love stories; at times it’s a bit in your face. All the glitz and glamour notwithstanding, I wasn’t too keen on any pair, although they all seemed OK. None of the many characters in SEI get time or space to develop their own, quirky personalities, into real people I’d care about or root for. And that I think stops this mediocre film from being spectacular.

This is fairly decent fare for a weekend watch, but don’t expect to come away awed with the magnificence of love. And this from someone who’s seen “Love actually” 5 times.

Posted in 2007, bollywood, watchable | 3 Comments

Review : Vivah

Posted on January 22, 2007 by amodini

Rating : Poor (2.2/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2007
Running time : 2 hrs and 41 minutes
Director : Sooraj Barjataya
Cast : Shahid Kapoor, Alok Nath, Amrita Rao, Seema Biswas, Anupam Kher, Sameer Soni, Lata Sabharwal, Anjali Prakash

VIVAAH : REGRESSIVE !

Finally saw the film, and the one erudite observation I must make at the end of it is that, Amrita Rao must have a massive crick in the neck from keeping her head lowered all throughout the film. But I’m being too harsh, there is more to her role than just lowering the head; she had had ample opportunity to smile coyly, laugh girlishly, nod her head in agreement, and generally be such a good, quiet and demure girl, that it makes me want to puke. But it’s not her fault really, it’s the director’s – being caught in an inescapable time warp and all that.

It’s often said about great movies that they leave a mark on you. I don’t know about greatness, but Vivah has certainly left it’s mark on me; it’s scarred me for life. I will wake up in terror at night, roused to sleepless-ness, from nightmares which feature Amrita Rao, resplendent in her good-girl attitude, eyes lowered respectfully, proffering with a faint, demure smile, a glass of water, and whispering softly (as nice girls do) “Jal ?”

Barjatya shows all symptoms of being chronologically challenged. He’s in the 2000s but he thinks he’s in the 1980’s. The characters is his film are too good to be true – they virtually drip selflessness, while the lead pair acts like they’re direct descendants of Ram and Sita. Technically this is a fairly decent film, but content wise I must say it rightfully deserves it’s place on the “Worst of 2006” list.

The film starts off with an intro to Pooja (Rao). Her story is told by Krishna Kant, her Chacha (uncle) played by Alok Nath. Pooja is an orphan, having come into her uncle’s household ater her parent’s death. Nath speaks of her as a “gift”, speaking of his aim in life being to nurture this daughter and to marry her off. Then in the same breath he scorns those who would treat their daughters as burdens. The whole dialogue left me a little dumb-founded – apparently Chachaji (and the scriptwriter) do not realise that this is cause and effect – daughters are considered burdens because their apparent aim in life is marriage, not education, not careers, not independence.

Pooja lives with her Chacha and Chachi (Seema Biswas) and their daughter Choti (Anjali Prakash). Of course the Chachi doesn’t love Pooja much, because she’s prettier than Choti, Choti being dusky of complexion. However the loving Chacha arranges a match for Pooja with the son of a wealthy, industrialist family from Delhi. Much time in the film is spent in celebrating the engagement and the getting-to-know-each-other process. Where Prem (Shahid Kapoor) is the magnanimous bride-groom, who decides that he will spend a month of each year at his wife’s parents’ home (let’s all stand up and clap please), well-brought up Pooja is the perfect shudh Hindi speaking addition to the clan.

The marriage day draws closer, but a fire in Krishna Kant’s house will put Pooja and Prem’s well-behaved love to the test . . .

OK folks this is a cheesy film, complete with corny dialogues. Still, the able cast handles all the corn and the cheese and cooks with it. And then ladles this out in small, edible portions. I think. It didn’t stop me from barfing it up throughout the film. And then the plot – there is no plot. It’s girl and guy, and then girl and guy gone wrong. This makes the film terribly hard to bear, especially during the middle. The beginning and the end are tolerable, since in the beginning you’re trying to get used to the whole time-travel (to the 80’s) deal, and in the end you are all agog with happiness since it’s finally ending. And the songs are unmelodious.

Still, why this leaves me with a feeling of distaste, and why I’m not recommending it, is that the film resoundingly gives the wrong, regressive message. It panders to a reality which has women only as backdrops in a male-dominated play. It treats women as glorified cheer-leaders egging on their men to do the important work, while they are content to serve the household, suppress their wants, speak in hushed whispers, with drawn ghunghats and lowered eye-lashes. It sets a (false) standard for “good” women, in that an ideal woman must be docile, biddable, unsusceptible to normal desires and wants, and must do as she is told. And with a smile.

Men, on the other hand, are tolerable as they are – no set strictures on being a “good” man. Plus, they must be applauded for every inch they give. Whether it’s the father-in-law who wants his daughter-in-law to continue her studies, or the fiance who decides to stick by his fiancee in her time of need, the male characters are glorified a whole lot too much. And really I’m not against glorification. What sets my teeth on edge, is that the very same behavior (for which we applaud the men) is behavior we take for granted when it comes to women.

So, unless you’re into time-travel or like being taken for a ride, this one’s not for you.

Posted in 2007, bollywood, drama, family-friendly, rating-PG, romance | Tagged | 11 Comments

Review : Guru

Posted on January 14, 2007 by amodini

Note : The edited version of this review appears at “Planet Bollywood”, here.

Rating : Above average (3.8/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2007
Running time : 2 hours 45 minutes
Director : Mani Ratnam
Cast : Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Mithun Chakraborty, Madhavan, Vidya Balan



GURU is the story of a man who wants to make money. He has the gumption and the smarts to do it too; what I would call a jugaadu person. How he does what he does, and how he progresses from a village lad to a rich mill-owning tycoon, is the movie. The film is fairly biographical, bears a striking resemblance to Dhirubhai Ambani’s life, and appears almost documentar-ish, except for the fact that the director actually takes sides, and chooses to paint the protagonist in heroic and altruistic colors.

Gurukant Desai (Abhishek) is the ambitious son of a small-time school teacher (Rajendra Gupta). After failing at school and earning his pessimistic father’s displeasure he travels to Turkey for work. There he does well, but opts to return home to work for himself. Home, and lacking enough capital to start his own business, he marries his best friend Jignesh’s (Arya Babbar) elder sister for her dowry money. The lady in question, Sujata (Aishwarya) has a tainted reputation, since she has attempted previously to run-away with a lover. Now, “saved” by Guru, she becomes his loving and devoted wife. Guru embarks in his new business venture in the city with his wife and her brother (who is his partner), and thus starts his journey . . .

The movie faithfully follows Guru’s trials, tribulations and successes, portraying Guru has a hard-working, industrious and extremely enterprising man. He succeeds by, as he puts it himself, the bribe and the kick philosophy. Where he can get work done through a “kick”, he lets loose, and where people want salaams, he salutes. He gets work done anyway he can, caring not about his many detractors but concentrating instead on forging ahead. Guru truly embodies the visionary, taking risks, and reading needs and markets correctly when other go astray. Abhishek does a sterling job as Guru, ebullient as the young Guru, and growing convincingly into the middle-aged, sport-a-paunch industrialist.

I’m not Aishwarya’s biggest fan, considering the fact that the lady has minimal acting skills. However, those that she does possess, Mani Ratnam has managed to put to good use, since she gives, what is possibly, the best performance of her career. Abhishek/impending nuptials doing her good, what ? Playing the devoted (and I mean DEVOTED) wife to the hilt, Aishwarya displays a subtlety which left me dumb-founded. Well, wonders never cease ! And since this one actually works to the benefit of the viewer, I hope these acting lessons stick !

Then there’s Mithunda, making a comeback to the acting skills (Mrigaya, Sitara) I was sure he’d forgotten after he donned those Disco dancing shoes. As newspaperman Manik Dasgupta, he looks old and quite the Bengali babu (which is what he’s playing) who, with his journalistic second-in-command Shyam Saxena (a thinned-down Madhavan) is for doing things by the book and thus against Guru’s devious ways. Quite the communist foil to Guru’s capitalist dreams. The duo, through their newspaper “The Independent” expose and malign Guru’s methods. Vidya Balan plays Meenu, Manik’s ailing grand-daughter, who marries Shyam.

The film isn’t boring, and I’m not too keen on bio-pics, but it does lack the oomph, because one can’t really get behind Guru’s cause. I mean I’m all for making money. Money is a good thing. But let’s call a spade a spade, and not hide all our lets-get-rich schemes under the guise of doing “world-good”. I would be happy championing Guru’s cause if he declared that he did it because that was the way to make money, money he wanted for his family and for himself. That’s not a bad thing to want. However, when Guru runs into trouble with the government for resorting to unethical practices, he justifies it as doing it for the people – “My company benefited but so did my shareholders”. Oh please ! No one does it for the share-holders; that is but a side-effect. We know why Guru resorts to bribes. It’s because you cannot be an honest cog in the wheel of a corrupt system. So I would forgive Guru all his misdemeanors , and nod my head in empathy, if he told it like it is. Does Guru really believe he’s altruistic ? If yes, that’s a bit pompous and hard to believe. If not, then Guru is presenting the “altruism” theory as a part of his conniving persona, which doesn’t jell well when you’re trying to believe that he’s a do-gooder with a heart of gold.

I do see director Ratnam addressing societal changes; Yuva dealt with youth action, and “Dil se” dealt with terrorists. So when he develops Guru’s story into a case against the government for throttling enterprising entrepreneurs, you can sort of see where he’s going, and sympathise. When Guru berates the government bureaucracy as working only when oiled with money, you nod your head in agreement. Yes, government rules may be archaic and stupid, but they must be amended and made to work not only for people like the devious Guru, but for the common man on the street.

The direction is good, the screen shots are composed beautifully and Ratnam handles the emotional aspects of the film with an ease only a master possesses. The music provided by Rehman, is OK, although Rehman displays a flair for butchering Urdu words when he sings. The one number which was sheer torture though was “Ek lo, ek muft”.

So, overall this film was good, definitely watchable. Without the pomposity and the self-righteousness, I’d have enjoyed it a whole lot more.

Posted in 2007, bollywood, drama, recommended | 5 Comments

Worst Films of 2006

Posted on January 4, 2007 by amodini

It gives me great pleasure to put together this list. So much to choose from, so little time. So here goes, in descending order (#1 is worst) the 10 Worst Films of 2006 are :

10. Phir hera pheri
9. 36 China Town
8. Chup chup ke
7. Vivah
6. Banaras
5. Zinda
4. Bhagam Bhag
3. Golmaal
2. Apna sapna money money
1. Dhoom 2

Now the films listed here earn a place because of various reasons :

1. Firstly, the very obvious reason – they are bad ; the worst of the worst e.g. Apna sapna money money
2. They purport to be comedies but descend into mindless and very dumb slapstick e.g. Phir Hera pheri
3. The film is touted as a dream, but really, it’s a nightmare e.g. Dhoom 2

Now, a disclaimer here – I haven’t watched Vivah (yet), but I have it on good authority and from extremely reliable sources that it deserves a spot on this list. And I did watch “36 China Town” but was too lazy (I can’t believe that – me – too lazy ?) to write a review.

Also see Best Films of 2006.

Posted in bollywood, Top 10 | 4 Comments

Review : Bhagam bhag

Posted on December 28, 2006 by amodini

Rating : Below average (2.6/5)
Genre : Comedy
Year : 2006
Running time : 3 hours
Director : Priyadarshan
Cast : Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, Govinda, Lara Dutta, Rajpal Yadav, Shakti Kapoor , Tanushree Dutta

BHAGAM BHAG : COMEDY’s NADIR

I’ve always liked Priyadarshan’s films – they’re sort of like the last bastion of decent comedy. With “Maalamal Weekly I had hope. With this and previous films like “Phir Hera Pheri” however, he seems to be losing his golden touch. Is this the same man who made the fabulous Virasat ? Seems hard to believe. It’s like the fall of Mahesh Bhatt – from the classy “Saaransh” to the rotten residue spilling over from the Bhatt camp currently. Hai ! That downfall; it’s painful to watch.

So what’s it about ? OK, there’s this drama troupe, comprising of the director Champak Seth (Rawal), main leads Babla (Govinda) and Bunty (Akshay) and Anjali (Tanushree), on their way to London to do shows. Problems arise when the heroine quits because of Babla and Bunty’s crude behaviour, and the troupe must fly sans heroine. Once in London, Babla and Bunty search for a heroine, and find one in suicidal Munni (Lara). But big-time trouble follows because Munni is not who she seems . . .

It’s not like I didn’t know what to expect. I had seen the trailer. And I still went to see it. So, who’s fault was it ? The dumbo director’s for dishing out this kind of trash, or mine for seeing it? Bhagam bhag is chockfull of the comedy one would call time-pass; time-passed badly that is. The comedy that is so eagerly lapped up by the movie-goer – no wonder we seem to be getting more of it.

The story, and I hate to call it that (gives it credibility), is nothing but a product of someone’s bad, impromptu imagination. I can just imagine THAT writer’s block. Ooh, I’m all out of ideas ! Oh my, oh my, what shall we do next ? Let’s let loose a hive of bees into their midst ! Already flaky characters pursued by bees ! Oh, yeah ! That should be money’s worth ! That’ll make the film a hit. And the pity is, is that it will. If not a hit, I’m sure BB will at the very least do pretty good business.

However, at this time of the year, I’m thankful for small mercies. And while this is a poor film, it did have fewer of those sick, vulgar innuendoes which other comedies thrive on. The rest – you know it all – the cardboard-ish characters, the apparent lack of brain-power, the inanity, the stupidity, blah, blah, blah – I could go on forever.

Still, because I’m an ultra-nice person, and it’s the holiday season and I’m feeling not quite my bitchy self (although a couple of more such “comedies” will get me there) I’ll say that the film does have some good points. They are in descending order :

1. The songs : Most of the songs are catchy melodies – especially the “Pyar ka signal” number.

2. Akshay Kumar : The actor looks good (although must get rid of the extra ab fat) even when dressed in dungeon-grunge as he is here, acts well, and displays a flair for comedy.

3. Paresh Rawal : You could dunk this guy in the worst film possible and he’d still come out smelling of roses.

4. Some genuinely funny lines – these are few and far between, but are present.

As in all of Priyadarshan’s movies, this film retains a semblance of order because of the decent direction. The acting, such as is required, is OK. Govinda has aged; he now sports a paunch and a couple of chins, but still retains his ad-libbing glib tongue, thanks to all that valuable experience in David Dhawan-esque films. Rajpal Yadav is reduced to a caricature as the taxi-driver Gullu.

So, unless you are getting free tickets, and have 3 hours to kill, you could do better with your time.

Posted in 2006, bollywood, comedy | 2 Comments

Review : Kabul Express

Posted on December 27, 2006 by amodini

[amazon_link id=”B000KX0GW4″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Soundtrack[/amazon_link]
Rating : Above Average (3.4/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2006
Running time : 2 hours
Director : Kabir Khan
Cast : John Abraham, Arshad Warsi, Hanif Hum Ghum, Salman Shahid, Linda Arsenio

 

KABUL EXPRESS : A BOLLYWOOD-ISED DOCUMENTARY

This is directed by documentary film maker Kabir Khan, so it is expected that it has a documentar-ish flavor to it. Still Khan manages to squeeze in a few light moments in this story of a desolate Afghanistan.

Suhel Khan (Abraham), a journalist and Jai Kapoor (Warsi) his cameramen, journey into Kaabul with the main idea being to get an interview with members of the Taliban. This turns out to be an inordinately difficult task, since firstly the Taliban are in hiding, and secondly the intrepid journalist duo haven’t done their homework – they haven’t a map, research, or any information. Similarly clueless is American journalist Jessica (Arsenio), whom they meet up with. She decides to travel with them, and the trio meander through the ruins of Kaabul with their driver Khyber (Ghum) and his trusty Toyota – Kabul Express.

They finally get their moment when Talib soldier Imran (Shahid) takes them hostage and forces them to turn the jeep towards the Pakistani border. Actually of the Pakistani army, Imran is working for the Taliban under orders from the Pakistani bosses, and now wishes to return to his country. Through the journey the group runs into lots of trouble, but this cements a bond between them, one human to another and exposes the real culprits – countries fighting wars for booty at the cost of their countrymen.

Kabir Khan takes potshots at everyone but India – Pakistan is a heartless nation sacrificing it’s soldiers under American pressure, and the US is corrupted by greed. The locales are shot realistically but the characters don’t stick that well and appear flat. The 2 Indian journalists appear to be greenhorns at war-reporting – which was probably intended. However they also appear dumb, which I’m not sure was intentional. The film as a whole appears to be a very on-the-surface treatment, and doesn’t get down and dirty. I mean, where’s the angst, the emotion , the baggage which comes with a war-torn country ? Where’s the stuff that could have transformed this film into a fantastic movie ? Because it did have potential.

The pace of the film drags in the first half, and the film could have been much tighter. Acting wise Warsi comes out the winner, but then he is an excellent actor. Salman Shahid is also very convincing as a Pakistani soldier in the employ of the Taliban. Hum Ghum is OK. John and Linda can be qualified as dramatically challenged.

The film while different (no songs) and an honest attempt to depict Afghanistan’s plight doesn’t have what it takes to go commercial. There is a difference between documentary and Bollywood and Kabir apparently can’t make up his mind on what genre to play up.

Still, worth a watch.

Posted in 2006, bollywood, drama, thriller | 2 Comments