Firstly, the
movie is called SHAAHID (like Afridi – for lack of any other comparison) not
SHAHEED (as in martyr). Just to ensure
that there is no confusion on the pronunciation. Shahid is based on the life and times of one
Shahid Azmi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahid_Azmi)
– a human rights lawyer who defended several people wrongfully accused of terrorism
or related activities.
Showing posts with label Raj Kumar Yadav. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Raj Kumar Yadav. Show all posts
Friday, 18 October 2013
Saturday, 23 February 2013
Kai Po Che
This time
around, I made it a point to read the book before I said down for the
movie. And I cannot begin to tell you
how excruciatingly painful it was to go through 250 odd pages of nearly rotten
English. The writing was anything but grammatically
correct. So it comes as no surprise that
the current “Chetan Bhagat generation” thrives in not only reading this crap
but using it in their day to day lives. In hindsight, I should not have read
the book before the movie.
Thursday, 18 October 2012
Chittagong
Written by Bedabrata Pain and Shonali Ghosh, Chittagong is the adaptation of the book by the same name and describes the events that led up to the revolt of the 20th April 1930. Surya Sen (Manoj Bajpayee) who is also known fondly as Master Da because he runs the local school was the brain behind the entire process of challenging the British oppression in Chittagong.
Master Da asked of the people some basic questions. One of them being – the British do not expect us to attack them because they believe we do not have the required backing for this atrocious thought. Isn’t that reason enough for us to actually think of it. What would be more surprising that that?
And then there is the aspect of not using the regular red card holders – the people who were known to be involved in rebellious activities. Instead, with a very heavy heart he accepts the possibility of using a bunch of young teenagers for the purpose. Was that the right thing to do or a horrible thought? Master Da took the debate with him to the gallows. But he didn’t die with a regret because a few days into a not so successful attempt to annex Chittagong, he asks the boys to go back home.
The entire story is told through the voice of Subodh Roy aka Jhunku (Delzad Hiwale). Jhunku was one of the teenagers who was heaving influenced by Master Da. He came from a family which was quite pro-British and was well set for a stint at Oxford. But peer pressure and his fascination with Master Da prompts him to take the revolutionary way. The conflict in the mind of a 14 year old has been shown quite well.
Most of the characters in this real life incident continuously grapple with choices. Master Da with the choice of using teenagers for his war. Nirmal Sen (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) for his choice between expressing his love for Pritilata Wadedar (Vega Tamotia) or not. District Magistrate Wilkinson (Barry John) between following the instructions of the Raj in quelling the revolution and being a human being. All of these have been bought to life very well by first time director Bedabrata Pain (Producer of Amu – starring Konkona Sen).
I am not a huge fan of freedom fighter movies and those about the so called Indian freedom struggle because it makes me cringe. More because of the way we have as a generation really abused what a whole bunch of people fought for. A pity that what Master Da and Nirmal Sen and gang believed in has been bought to naught.
Overall a well made movie. Much better than the previous attempt called Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se starring Jr. Bachchan & Deepika. Some rock solid performances from the reliable names like Manoj Bajpayee and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. And equal to the task was Delzad Hiwale. I liked the movie. Not too many people will though. 7 on 10. Worth a dekko.
Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C7sOtAgpns
Master Da asked of the people some basic questions. One of them being – the British do not expect us to attack them because they believe we do not have the required backing for this atrocious thought. Isn’t that reason enough for us to actually think of it. What would be more surprising that that?
And then there is the aspect of not using the regular red card holders – the people who were known to be involved in rebellious activities. Instead, with a very heavy heart he accepts the possibility of using a bunch of young teenagers for the purpose. Was that the right thing to do or a horrible thought? Master Da took the debate with him to the gallows. But he didn’t die with a regret because a few days into a not so successful attempt to annex Chittagong, he asks the boys to go back home.
The entire story is told through the voice of Subodh Roy aka Jhunku (Delzad Hiwale). Jhunku was one of the teenagers who was heaving influenced by Master Da. He came from a family which was quite pro-British and was well set for a stint at Oxford. But peer pressure and his fascination with Master Da prompts him to take the revolutionary way. The conflict in the mind of a 14 year old has been shown quite well.
Most of the characters in this real life incident continuously grapple with choices. Master Da with the choice of using teenagers for his war. Nirmal Sen (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) for his choice between expressing his love for Pritilata Wadedar (Vega Tamotia) or not. District Magistrate Wilkinson (Barry John) between following the instructions of the Raj in quelling the revolution and being a human being. All of these have been bought to life very well by first time director Bedabrata Pain (Producer of Amu – starring Konkona Sen).
I am not a huge fan of freedom fighter movies and those about the so called Indian freedom struggle because it makes me cringe. More because of the way we have as a generation really abused what a whole bunch of people fought for. A pity that what Master Da and Nirmal Sen and gang believed in has been bought to naught.
Overall a well made movie. Much better than the previous attempt called Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se starring Jr. Bachchan & Deepika. Some rock solid performances from the reliable names like Manoj Bajpayee and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. And equal to the task was Delzad Hiwale. I liked the movie. Not too many people will though. 7 on 10. Worth a dekko.
Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C7sOtAgpns
Wednesday, 8 August 2012
Gangs of Wasseypur 2
Try and watch the trailer of Gangs of Wasseypur 2 (GoW2) before you actually watch the movie. It will give you a strong flavor of what you have in store of what can be easily termed as the most awaited sequel from the Bollywood stable in the recent and also the not the recent past. The lucky ones probably got to see the trailer at the end of Part 1 itself if your screen didn’t scrimp on saving power for a few minutes. For the not so lucky ones there is you tube.
GoW2 continues from exactly where it left off in GoW – with Sardar Khan’s death. But a few minutes into the movie and you will know that you are in for something that is even more gory and bloody as compared to the precursor. In about 10 minutes, there are 2 funerals and one chopped head – both of which are shown in as much graphic detail as you could probably get out from the censor board.
Sorry about the spoiler but it just left a lasting impression in my head. I can remember very few (if any) movies which are this graphic in nature and grabs hold of you with both hands and shakes you up in such a short span of time. And all of this is inspite of its really slow pace.
The onus of running the Khan family then falls squarely on the shoulders of Faizal Khan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) who has to now try to achieve a fine balance between his fascination for the green drug, his attraction to Mohsina (Huma Qureshi) and his mother’s expectation of revenge.
GoW2 also sees the introduction of 3 new characters. Faizal’s younger brother who speaks with a lisp who is fondly called Perpendicular. At age 14 he is uses Faizal’s fear to the maximum along with his almost fair weather friend called Tangent. And the most important character being Faizal’s step brother – Definite (Zeishan Quadri). The former and the latter are strongly sketched through the movie – especially Definite.
The hallmark of GoW2 will undeniably be the blood and gore that it has shown as blatantly as the censor board could have allowed. But this can at no point take away credit for the clean character sketches of each and every role or the stunning performances from each and every one in the crew. Even if it is a small role like that of Tangent, Shamshad or Guddu, the effort put in is simply superb. Anurag Kashyap could not have come up with the goods once again without these performances. To me, the find from the series would be Richa Chadda, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Tigmanshu Dhulia.
Watch out for yet another fabulous score from Sneha Khanwalkar. I personally think she is insane. One cannot make music that is so apt for a movie and of such high quality if you are normal. Not to forget the hilarious and talented performances from Yashpal Sharma. To me, GoW 1 and 2 have been the movie of the year to date. 7.5 on 10 for this one as well.
Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3PZbL8JGYQ
GoW2 continues from exactly where it left off in GoW – with Sardar Khan’s death. But a few minutes into the movie and you will know that you are in for something that is even more gory and bloody as compared to the precursor. In about 10 minutes, there are 2 funerals and one chopped head – both of which are shown in as much graphic detail as you could probably get out from the censor board.
Sorry about the spoiler but it just left a lasting impression in my head. I can remember very few (if any) movies which are this graphic in nature and grabs hold of you with both hands and shakes you up in such a short span of time. And all of this is inspite of its really slow pace.
The onus of running the Khan family then falls squarely on the shoulders of Faizal Khan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) who has to now try to achieve a fine balance between his fascination for the green drug, his attraction to Mohsina (Huma Qureshi) and his mother’s expectation of revenge.
GoW2 also sees the introduction of 3 new characters. Faizal’s younger brother who speaks with a lisp who is fondly called Perpendicular. At age 14 he is uses Faizal’s fear to the maximum along with his almost fair weather friend called Tangent. And the most important character being Faizal’s step brother – Definite (Zeishan Quadri). The former and the latter are strongly sketched through the movie – especially Definite.
The hallmark of GoW2 will undeniably be the blood and gore that it has shown as blatantly as the censor board could have allowed. But this can at no point take away credit for the clean character sketches of each and every role or the stunning performances from each and every one in the crew. Even if it is a small role like that of Tangent, Shamshad or Guddu, the effort put in is simply superb. Anurag Kashyap could not have come up with the goods once again without these performances. To me, the find from the series would be Richa Chadda, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Tigmanshu Dhulia.
Watch out for yet another fabulous score from Sneha Khanwalkar. I personally think she is insane. One cannot make music that is so apt for a movie and of such high quality if you are normal. Not to forget the hilarious and talented performances from Yashpal Sharma. To me, GoW 1 and 2 have been the movie of the year to date. 7.5 on 10 for this one as well.
Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3PZbL8JGYQ
Saturday, 23 June 2012
Gangs of Wasseypur
It is very difficult to find fault with the likes of Anurag Kashyap because more often than not, he makes masterpieces. Masterpieces which are fleshed out to the level of detail that leads to most people to interpret the movie as too slow. Like I mentioned to someone a couple of days back that movie makers such as Kashyap and Dibakar Banerjee put so much of emphasis on characters that the intensity often comes at the expense of pace and is not appreciated by most people. Gangs of Wasseypur is no different from any such movie that you have seen from Tipping Point productions.
GOW gets to the table the atypical commitment towards making a movie that one has come to associate with the likes of Anurag Kashyap only. The emphasis on each character and each frame is stunning. And in this case, Kashyap has gone to great levels to get the back story absolutely in place before moving on to the actual story, for which we will have to wait for a while. The back story itself has taken over 150 minutes of which the first 90 minutes itself gets to a point where you actually start to wonder – is there an interval to this movie? So on a not so serious note, ensure that you relieve yourself before the movie starts lest you are not able to hold back too long
The back story starts way back in the 1940s where the roots of Wasseypur are established. It is a small village on the outskirts of Dhanbad – primarily dominated by the Qureshis who gain their livelihood by robbing trains of the British Raj. A new smart alec Sultan Khan throws a cat amongst the pigeons and earns the wrath of the Qureshis who are actually butchers by profession.
He is banished from the village and starts to make a living in Coal Country where he is noticed by a new Thekedar (Contractor) Ramadhir Singh and taken under his wing. Sultan eventually gets eliminated by Ramadhir when inadvertently learns of Sultan’s ambitions to take over from him. Many moons later Ramadhir is a politician and Sultan’s son Saradar has grown in stature and slowly but surely starts avenging his father’s killer.
Part 1, spans 3 generations of the Khans and the Qureshis with Ramadhir being the constant feature across all of them. GOW, one may rightfully feel, is a bit stretched because after all of this, we still have another part to go. If there is a flaw, this would be it. And that in some scenese, Anurag’s human nature comes to the fore with some silly consistency errors and some even sillier factual errors. Albiet not visible to the normal human eye for certain.
One this is for certain though. The performances from every single person – lead or supporting is stunning – superb work by the Casting director – Mukesh Chhabra. The extras may not have done too well though which is very unlike Kashyap again. The screenplay is absolutely Jharkhandi and so is the music from Sneha Khanwalkar. Both keep the interest and humour alive in the movie which would otherwise have put the audiences to deep sleep. I was unable to catch the name of the editor but without the superb cuts, GOW would not have turned out to be a brilliantly finished movie.
That its an Anurag Kashyap movie in itself is enough reason to watch it. But that it is a very well made one will only make it better. But be prepared for the slow pace. 7.5 on 10 as of now. I may take the rating higher once I have watched 2. Mind you, watch 1 and you will not be able to skip 2. Enjoy!!! Oh yes, I forgot – extreme violence and super gory scenes – not for the light hearted.
Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/user/Viacom18Movies?v=j-AkWDkXcMY
GOW gets to the table the atypical commitment towards making a movie that one has come to associate with the likes of Anurag Kashyap only. The emphasis on each character and each frame is stunning. And in this case, Kashyap has gone to great levels to get the back story absolutely in place before moving on to the actual story, for which we will have to wait for a while. The back story itself has taken over 150 minutes of which the first 90 minutes itself gets to a point where you actually start to wonder – is there an interval to this movie? So on a not so serious note, ensure that you relieve yourself before the movie starts lest you are not able to hold back too long
The back story starts way back in the 1940s where the roots of Wasseypur are established. It is a small village on the outskirts of Dhanbad – primarily dominated by the Qureshis who gain their livelihood by robbing trains of the British Raj. A new smart alec Sultan Khan throws a cat amongst the pigeons and earns the wrath of the Qureshis who are actually butchers by profession.
He is banished from the village and starts to make a living in Coal Country where he is noticed by a new Thekedar (Contractor) Ramadhir Singh and taken under his wing. Sultan eventually gets eliminated by Ramadhir when inadvertently learns of Sultan’s ambitions to take over from him. Many moons later Ramadhir is a politician and Sultan’s son Saradar has grown in stature and slowly but surely starts avenging his father’s killer.
Part 1, spans 3 generations of the Khans and the Qureshis with Ramadhir being the constant feature across all of them. GOW, one may rightfully feel, is a bit stretched because after all of this, we still have another part to go. If there is a flaw, this would be it. And that in some scenese, Anurag’s human nature comes to the fore with some silly consistency errors and some even sillier factual errors. Albiet not visible to the normal human eye for certain.
One this is for certain though. The performances from every single person – lead or supporting is stunning – superb work by the Casting director – Mukesh Chhabra. The extras may not have done too well though which is very unlike Kashyap again. The screenplay is absolutely Jharkhandi and so is the music from Sneha Khanwalkar. Both keep the interest and humour alive in the movie which would otherwise have put the audiences to deep sleep. I was unable to catch the name of the editor but without the superb cuts, GOW would not have turned out to be a brilliantly finished movie.
That its an Anurag Kashyap movie in itself is enough reason to watch it. But that it is a very well made one will only make it better. But be prepared for the slow pace. 7.5 on 10 as of now. I may take the rating higher once I have watched 2. Mind you, watch 1 and you will not be able to skip 2. Enjoy!!! Oh yes, I forgot – extreme violence and super gory scenes – not for the light hearted.
Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/user/Viacom18Movies?v=j-AkWDkXcMY
Thursday, 16 June 2011
Shaitan
One of the reasons I did not put up the review of Shaitan up earlier was because I was quite certain that people would watch it – review or no review – and not be disappointed with it. The other reason – the more important one – was that I was and still am running the movie back in my head to piece a few things together to figure out if they were really required in the movie. I probably have missed a few points when I saw the movie for the first time and may manage to latch onto the finer nuances when I watch it again (which will probably be this week). Its worth it when you are debating whether to give a movie a score of over 8 or was it really that good.
What makes Shaitan a magical experience is not just the direction. In fact that’s a small part of the entire mix is what you would feel at the end of it all. I have not seen a movie in a long time where the performances of every single person in the cast was near outstanding. If there was a blemish in the performances it would have been Nikhil Chinappa who appeared the weakest. Even the dialogue deprived (actually no dialogues at all) Sheetal Menon was inch perfect in her essaying of the peeved wife of a cop who decides to leave him albeit for a couple of days. Kashyap and Nambiar have taken very true to life actors and led them to probably their best performance possible not only to date but maybe for good. How else can you explain the likes of a Kirti Kulhari coming up with what she has. Her last performance was as Pammi in that slapstick movie – Khichdi. What a transition I say!!!! I tip my hat to you M/s Kashyap & Nambiar – like several others in this country are doing as we speak.
There are 3 reasons why I will not give Shaitan a score of more than 8 – Firstly I did not find the reason to introduce Shomu (Rajat Barmecha) into the story at all. Yes, it was a nice way to call out a kidnapping plot but I personally felt it was too stretched out. Secondly – I did not find any reason to introduce a chase scene with a Dahi Handi in the background. It could have been a regular chase. Difficult cut to make for any director but I guess that’s what differentiates the tough directors from the not so tough. Lastly, I felt the movie lost tempo somewhere in between. Cannot really point a finger on the exact spot where it started dropping and it picked up again but I did feel a sense of the movie drifting a little bit for about 15 minutes. In atypical Anurag Kashyap style, Bejoy Nambiar gets the movie from an absolute high down to the very low abysses and then shoots it again through the roof. I am quite certain that the movie was ghost directed by Anurag Kashyap – every frame reeks of Kashyap. Unless Kashyap is not only a great director but also a fabulous teacher and has trickled his learnings down to his protégé better than anyone else can.
My final verdict - 8 on 10. Undeniably the best movie of the year so far. MUST WATCH. And yes – Don’t miss the chase sequence with the evergreen Khoya Khoya Chand Remix playing in the background. Completely blows your mind!!!! And this is my official protest against the makers for not carrying such a brilliant track on the Audio CD. Please release the uncut version with a couple of more tracks and i will still be standing in line to spend another 150 bucks for it. Hope u have it on the DVD when u release it.
Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1kk_5OohaM
What makes Shaitan a magical experience is not just the direction. In fact that’s a small part of the entire mix is what you would feel at the end of it all. I have not seen a movie in a long time where the performances of every single person in the cast was near outstanding. If there was a blemish in the performances it would have been Nikhil Chinappa who appeared the weakest. Even the dialogue deprived (actually no dialogues at all) Sheetal Menon was inch perfect in her essaying of the peeved wife of a cop who decides to leave him albeit for a couple of days. Kashyap and Nambiar have taken very true to life actors and led them to probably their best performance possible not only to date but maybe for good. How else can you explain the likes of a Kirti Kulhari coming up with what she has. Her last performance was as Pammi in that slapstick movie – Khichdi. What a transition I say!!!! I tip my hat to you M/s Kashyap & Nambiar – like several others in this country are doing as we speak.
There are 3 reasons why I will not give Shaitan a score of more than 8 – Firstly I did not find the reason to introduce Shomu (Rajat Barmecha) into the story at all. Yes, it was a nice way to call out a kidnapping plot but I personally felt it was too stretched out. Secondly – I did not find any reason to introduce a chase scene with a Dahi Handi in the background. It could have been a regular chase. Difficult cut to make for any director but I guess that’s what differentiates the tough directors from the not so tough. Lastly, I felt the movie lost tempo somewhere in between. Cannot really point a finger on the exact spot where it started dropping and it picked up again but I did feel a sense of the movie drifting a little bit for about 15 minutes. In atypical Anurag Kashyap style, Bejoy Nambiar gets the movie from an absolute high down to the very low abysses and then shoots it again through the roof. I am quite certain that the movie was ghost directed by Anurag Kashyap – every frame reeks of Kashyap. Unless Kashyap is not only a great director but also a fabulous teacher and has trickled his learnings down to his protégé better than anyone else can.
My final verdict - 8 on 10. Undeniably the best movie of the year so far. MUST WATCH. And yes – Don’t miss the chase sequence with the evergreen Khoya Khoya Chand Remix playing in the background. Completely blows your mind!!!! And this is my official protest against the makers for not carrying such a brilliant track on the Audio CD. Please release the uncut version with a couple of more tracks and i will still be standing in line to spend another 150 bucks for it. Hope u have it on the DVD when u release it.
Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1kk_5OohaM
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Ragini MMS
OK now I seriously need to have something different when it comes to horror movies. And something with at least a little bit of originality. And a tribute to Paranormal Activity and Blair Witch project presented with a disclaimer that the movie is based on a true story which happened in India doesn’t amount to originality. It would seem, as the writers claim, that the story is based on what a south Indian girl experienced in the year 2009 somewhere close to Mumbai. But the stark similarities to the movies mentioned earlier cannot be ignored – no matter how hard you try. It is indeed time that Indian directors take a long hard look at themselves when they are attempting to make movies under the genre that is supposed to scare the heebeejeebies out of the viewers. Very honestly, it has been a really long time since I have actually seen a decent horror movie that scares me like the way an Omen did a few decades back or for that matter how Ring did less than a decade back.
Now I am quite a “fattu” (scaredy cat for those who are unfamiliar with the colloquialism of India) and very honestly, I had forgotten that Ragini MMS was supposed to be a horror movie before I walked into the theatre. By the time it was too late to change my mind and watch Arthur. So given a lack of choice, I had to go through the couple of hours of a movie that was more hilarious in parts than the parts in which it was scary. If you are a really big fan of horror flicks like a few of my friends, you would be a tad disappointed with this one is what I can assure you. But if you get your kicks from some kind of a gory looking apparition continuously screaming in a guttural voice, “Mein Chudail (Mangala Ahire) nahin hoon. Maine apne bachche ko nahin maara. Yeh Mera Ghar Hai. Mein yahaan se nahin jaane waali hoon. Aur mein tumhe bhi yahaan se nahin jaane doongi” (I am not a witch. I did not kill my baby. This is my house. I will not leave it. And will not let you leave it either) – then Ragini MMS is just the kind of movie for you. And of course did I mention that there is a decent amount of Soft Porn thrown in to add to the spice. Soft Porn that alternately shows Ragini (Kainaz Motivala) and Uday (Raj Kumar Yadav) in heat and leaves me wondering if women are actually that daft?
Nothing too great in the direction department from first timer Pawan Kripalani. But then again not too bad either. There are some scenes that make you jump up and actually scare you. And coming to the acting department, Kainaz Motivala hasn’t come too far ahead from her previous 2 attempts at Bollywood – Paathshaala and Wake Up Sid. Yes she has finally got a lead role. But if anything is going to make an impact from her side as of now, it would be the posters and not her acting skills in anyways. And it really doesn’t help her at all that her co-star, one Raj Kumar Yadav has done a commendable job to say the least. That’s the only saving grace of the movie as such. I don’t think it makes the cut from my end. 3 on 10 is what I say.
Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0570q7nNxHc
Now I am quite a “fattu” (scaredy cat for those who are unfamiliar with the colloquialism of India) and very honestly, I had forgotten that Ragini MMS was supposed to be a horror movie before I walked into the theatre. By the time it was too late to change my mind and watch Arthur. So given a lack of choice, I had to go through the couple of hours of a movie that was more hilarious in parts than the parts in which it was scary. If you are a really big fan of horror flicks like a few of my friends, you would be a tad disappointed with this one is what I can assure you. But if you get your kicks from some kind of a gory looking apparition continuously screaming in a guttural voice, “Mein Chudail (Mangala Ahire) nahin hoon. Maine apne bachche ko nahin maara. Yeh Mera Ghar Hai. Mein yahaan se nahin jaane waali hoon. Aur mein tumhe bhi yahaan se nahin jaane doongi” (I am not a witch. I did not kill my baby. This is my house. I will not leave it. And will not let you leave it either) – then Ragini MMS is just the kind of movie for you. And of course did I mention that there is a decent amount of Soft Porn thrown in to add to the spice. Soft Porn that alternately shows Ragini (Kainaz Motivala) and Uday (Raj Kumar Yadav) in heat and leaves me wondering if women are actually that daft?
Nothing too great in the direction department from first timer Pawan Kripalani. But then again not too bad either. There are some scenes that make you jump up and actually scare you. And coming to the acting department, Kainaz Motivala hasn’t come too far ahead from her previous 2 attempts at Bollywood – Paathshaala and Wake Up Sid. Yes she has finally got a lead role. But if anything is going to make an impact from her side as of now, it would be the posters and not her acting skills in anyways. And it really doesn’t help her at all that her co-star, one Raj Kumar Yadav has done a commendable job to say the least. That’s the only saving grace of the movie as such. I don’t think it makes the cut from my end. 3 on 10 is what I say.
Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0570q7nNxHc
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