Baahubali : The Beginning

S S Rajamouli’s effort to be a household name in parts of the country other than South India received a huge boost through Eega aka Eecha aka Makkhi.  Bahubali : The Beginning will bridge any gap that was left over for certain.  Not only does it claim to be India’s most expensive movie on record at 250 crores ($40 Million or so) – It feels like there has been an effort worth 250 crores put in.

D-Day (Hindi) (2013)

Nikhil Advani’s rap sheet in Bollywood is not the most attractive to begin with.  Salaam E Ishq was too long, Chandni Chowk to China was horrible, Delhi Safari was an animation disaster.  He was tolerable in Patiala House.  But with D-Day he seems to have learnt the fine art of Bollywood cinema – doesn’t say too much about him though. Because it is still B Town.  Not H Town.

Ramaiya Vastavaiya

I wonder what gave me the impression that Ramaiya Vastavaiya was to be the debut film of Chiranjeevi’s son – Ram Charan.  But that was the remake of Zanjeer.  With Ramaiya Vastavaiya, we are definitely in for a tight contest for the most disastrous debut of 2013.  Within a few seconds of Ram (Girish Kumar) entering the movie, you know that the only way he could be present in a movie is if his father has put in the money.

Vishwaroopam (Tamil)

Confucius says, “People who live in glass houses, should undress in the dark”.  He also says, “Man with forked tongue should not kiss balloon”.  Aaah what am I doing.  I am probably making an ass of myself just like one of the finest actors in Indian cinema.  The worry is that he will be making the same mistake again – about 2 years from now.  A fact that is made amply clear at the end of Vishwaroopam.

Jayantabhai Ki Luv Story

Yet another joke that has been doing its rounds of late and is so damn true its not funny at all!!! The best way to hide your porn collection on your PC is to name the folder – THE VIVIEK OBEROI COLLECTION.  Oh I’m sorry.  Vivek. He has dropped the “I” from his name but it seems to have made little difference to his luck.

David

It is 1975 and the setting is the city of the Big Ben.  We have a special group of Indian services personnel who are in a conversation with someone who seems quite influential.  The common thread – Iqbal Ghani – a renowned gangster who has complete control over the South Asian community in that part of the world.  He is also wanted for activities that India deem “not safe”.  The group of people are plotting his death.  The only way that is possible is if they get through to one man.

 

Cut to 1999.  Maximum City.  A reverend – Father Noel (Nasser) is addressing a group of people in an attempt to get them to contribute towards helping people who have been impacted by a suburban fire.  He is being supported by his daughters Alice (Shweta Pandit) and Sussannah (Shweta Menon).  But when the water truck makes its appearance, the crowd disappears equally quick.  His son, a musician, walks in at the end of it all and mocks his father’s attempts.

 

Cut once again.  To a place that is considered to be paradise by most people on the west coast.  And I am not talking about God’s Own Country (some may argue that this is the original version of GOC).  A well-built man is getting drunk in a shack by mixing whiskey and soda through a funnel.  He is being mocked by most around him as the unluckiest man on the planet because of his runaway bride.  The result – most at the bar (including a woman) finds herself sore and on the floor.

 

What connects these 3? DAVID.  That’s what their parents named them.  But how do their lives come together? It is 3^rd February in the respective years.  By 3^rd March, they will all be faced with a huge choice that they need to make and will impact their lives significantly. 

 

I loved Shaitan – and I think I am a small portion of the audience.  And I was expecting at least as good from Bejoy Nambiar.  In terms of the way the movie was made, absolutely no debate that he has lived upto his reputation.  But where he probably gets it wrong this time around is the story.  You are left waiting forever to figure out why there are 3 storylines in the first place.

 

Also, the casting could have done with at least one change.  Chiyaan Vikram was a disaster.  I am quite certain that if there was more effort put in, we could have found someone closer home.  The music was again quite different. While I liked the version of Dama Dum Mast Kalandar, I could not quite understand the reason for its positioning in the movie.

 

At the end of day, David is not meant for the masses for sure.  It is a very well made movie but how many people will be able to sustain the 140 minutes of semi-commercial cinema remains to be seen.  In my books, the best movie this year to date.  6.5 on 10.

 

Trailer on http://www.youtube.com/user/bigpictures?v=fmOBx6jS3Fc

Rowdy Rathore

How many movies do you know that has most songs which are foot tapping to say the least. And also have an item number with 3 item girls….yes… not 1, not 2 but 3 item girls. And in one song!!!! And 3 hot looking ones at that – Mumait Khan, Maryam Zakaria and Shakti Mohan.

How many movies do you know which not only had the music as above but also had a lead actor in a double role. Yes!!! As if one Akshay Kumar was not enough. We have 2 Akshay Kumars!!!! And not only all that but also improves your vocabulary with words such as “Lapadjhandi” (now don’t ask me what that means).

How many movies do you know that have all of the above mixed with an absolute masala story line that involves a thief called Shiva (AK1) who is a spitting image of an inspector called Vikram Rathore (AK2). Rathore has been killed trying to save a village from the clutches of a goon (Nasser) but one of the villagers sees Shiva in Mumbai city and informs the goon that Rathore is still alive. The chase then begins.

How many movies do you know that have all of the above and have an extremely solid dose of brilliant action. The sequences (action ones) are choreographed extremely well in true South Indian style that sees the bad men flying through the air with just one kick from the hero. That sees the use of some of the most exotic weapons which have ever been used in Indian cinema.

How many movies do you know that have all of the above and have actually been made in 4 languages before Bollywood caught up with it? In fact Bollywood could catch up only after the Hindi dubbing called PRATIGHAT - A REVENGE. The Telugu film, VIKRAMARKUDU, was also made in Tamil as SIRUTHAI, in Kannada as VEERA MADAKARI and in Bengali as BIKRAM SINGHA: THE LION IS BACK.

And how many such masala movies do you know which were produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and directed by PrabhuDeva? That more or less zeroes down on what makes Rowdy Rathore not just unique but one of the better made movies in recent times. My respect for Prabhudeva as a director has gone up manifold because most of the times, directors forget that finishing is an extremely crucial aspect of movie making. So what if it was a masala movie. And Prabhudeva scores full points there.

Music by Sajid Wajid & Sandeep Chowtha background score are the icing on the cake. Watch Rowdy Rathore because you like complete masala movies. But you will like it because it has been well made indeed. 6 on 10 as a movie. 8 on 10 for full entertainment. Worth a dekko.

Trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCAcU3p9GNo