Hindi Medium (2017) (Hindi)

A good cast and a good plot / storyline doesn’t necessarily make a good movie.  No other movie in recent times can come close to this adage as much as HINDI MEDIUM.  The movie has Irrfan Khan in it and therefore it must be good. Keep in mind that Irrfan also have non-movies such as Jazbaa, Thank You and Acid Factory amongst others to his credit.  He is human.  He makes mistakes.

Qissa - The Tale of a Lonely Ghost

Of 17 movies that I saw at the Mumbai International Film Festival this was the first.  Anup Singh is a Tanzanian Indian director (if it registered correctly in the Q&A after the movie) who has taken forever (the better part of the previous decade) to make this movie that centres itself around yet another unique topic.  I have gathered after my first experience at a Film Festival that the stories / concepts are just out of the world.  In many cases – just like with Qissa, the execution adds to the magic of cinema.

Tasher Desh

Rabindranath Tagore’s Tasher Desh (Land of Cards) was a simple story of a land which is so rooted into silly rules that they refuse to see life as something that needs to be celebrated.  Tagore’s aim (and this is my interpretation) was to ask people to challenge the status quo both in their own lives and that of the population in general.  Something that people have written about for generations in a variety of ways.

Shanghai (Hindi 2012)

We are slowly but very surely making our way towards a style of directions which will very soon be classified under a different genre. A genre that will go with the initials of DB. He is just 4 movies old or should I say 4 movies young but Dibakar Banerjee has given us enough and more to feel really good about. Starting from Khosla Ka Ghosla, he has always entertained us with his signature style of directing. One that doesn’t push the movie to the limits of speed that the audience that can be pushed to but takes the absolute easy paced way of entertainment. One that ensures that each scene is shown for just the right amount of time – flirting with the arty farty long shots at times but never going overboard. A style that I am personally getting very addicted to and am enjoying every bit of.

If there is a fault I can find with Shanghai then it would be with its pace. DB tends to get a wee bit carried away in getting the intensity up. With the whirring of the fan in the background of a seriously intense scene or with the Clock ticking in the background of an intense hospital scene where Ahmedi (Prosenjit) is fighting to stay alive. The other aspect would have been that the performances from the extras looked forced in a couple of scenes. Barring this, Shanghai is near perfect.

Shanghai is a political drama if ever there was one. Ahmedi is a social activist who is campaigning for the fair treatment of people who are being relocated from Bharat Nagar for building a new SEZ. He realizes that the people are getting a raw deal from the ruling coalition. Of course the coalition is not planning on keeping mum and has him disposed off. And then puts up an enquiry commission to save face. But… the commission is led by a person with an elephantine memory called T A Krishnan (Abhay Deol).

Emraan Hashmi delivers on the confidence that DB put onto him in his picture perfect execution of Jogi Parmar, a sleazy photographer. Abhay Deol yet again convincingly executes the role of a South Indian IAS officer who is struggling to come to terms with being on the right side of the politicians but on the wrong side of his values. The rest of the cast has names which have always been dependable and continue to be so.

I had predicted a very good movie in Shanghai. But now I am rephrasing my judgement. Shanghai will finish in the top 5 movies of the year for sure. And it may be remembered for quite some time to come. And mind you that is primarily due to DB’s ice cold, fluent and effortless direction. Right now, I am only wondering how good Gangs of Wasseypur will turn out to be. At 7.5 on 10 Shanghai is going to be a tough act to beat.

Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3VRi50BLgc

Turning 30

Sometimes I wonder if it I am losing my sense of humour. Or have I completely lost connect with what people find humourous these days. Because I catch myself not laughing at stuff which the entire theatre seems to be guffawing at. Maybe its old age. I don’t know. I hope to find out soon enough. And when I do, you would be the first to be told about it. Of course, if someone has the answer to it, I would be more than glad to listen. I have one more worry. Its been over 100 reviews now and I find myself being a little more stringent on my ratings than before. Is that the general feeling with everyone or just a figment of my imagination? Do let me know. Comments welcome.


Nevertheless, let’s shift our focus to the life of Naina (Gul Panag). She is 2 weeks from her 30th birthday. An event that has been made out to be supremely larger than life by a vast majority of the public in general. These days, it would seem as important as achieving puberty or getting a driver’s license. Naina is in an extremely fulfilling relationship with her boyfriend Rishabh (Siddharth Makkar). They have been seeing each other for nearly 3 years now. And the time has come to take the relationship to take the final plunge – that of marriage. Add to that the fact that Naina is a successful creative director @ ADZ. Things couldn’t be better for her. And she knows that her boy friend is going to propose to her anytime. Rishabh’s parents are happy. Her mother (Anita Kanwar) is happy. What more could a woman ask for just before she is about to turn the biggest corner in her life.

But, like most stories, things have to fall apart sometime. And that happens when Yamini (Ira Dubey) walks into their life. An innocent meeting between Rishabh and Yamini ends up activating Rishabh’s instincts to be responsible towards his parents and not just himself. Seeing the opportunity to marry rich, he decides to change his mind and now get married to Yamini instead. Very smart boy I say. Obviously Naina is shattered and spends the next few days crying over it. She is given reasonable support by her buddies Rukshana (Jeneva Talwar) and Malini (Tillotama Shome). Add to that the politics in her office where her colleague (Sameer Malhotra) takes all credit for the work that she puts in thanks to an affair he is having with her boss Rathod (Bikramjeet Kanwarpal). Before she knows it, she is also out of a job. But as easily as she goes through the pains, she gets her job back by threatening to escalate to the New York Office. And her boy friend from the past, Jai (Purab Kohli) comes back into her life. If only things were as easy an lucky in everyone’s life.

Alankrita Shrivastava gets added to the list of fast growing first time directors in Bollywood. I am sure her intent was very noble to say the least but she falls quite flat with Turning 30. Long way to go for her to get to any reasonable level of directing it would seem. And was it a figment of my imagination that Gul Panag was a solid actress on her way to being better with each movie? Her last 2 outings i.e. Hello Darling and Turning 30 would seem to indicate otherwise. She just cannot cry OR the quality of her tears is so superb that one cannot see them due to the transparency OR the print used @ PVR Mulund was that of an extremely poor quality. I somehow think it’s the former. Extremely disappointing to say the least. The stand out performance though is from Tillotama Shome  (Alice in Monsoon wedding – who Vijay Raaz is trying to court – yes she speaks too J) who plays the role of a lesbian friend extremely well. Especially the point where she comes out of the closet – well executed I say. The only other high point of the movie would be the portrayal of Naina’s desperation to get Rishabh back at all costs. The rest of the movie was imminently forgettable. 4 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/broadband/video/Movie-Promos/4VPAFj39/1/Theatrical-Trailer-Turning-30.html