Rajnigandha

The 70s. Where movies were filled with innocence. A headache was a reason to skip work. An aspro to cure a tooth ache was a reason to have a party. A phone was only a landline restricted to use only in an emergency. Where a postman walking into a building was greeted with such excitement that it was a festive occassion in itself. Travel was by train and a visit to anywhere wud take 5-7 days at least. Where the background music in a movie was predominantly a sitar for emotional moments. Where Mumbai had the likes of Volga and Rivoli which were the hot spots to be seen in. Where having a tooth ache which was cured was an excuse for a party. Where working in an advertising agency was the coolest job on the planet because you could do almost what you wanted and when you wanted it more importantly – at leisure. And working for the government was super secure and therefore increased your value in the marriage market. Those were the super cool days.

Basu Chatterjee through Rajnigandha uses exactly this set up to build the story of a young woman, Deepa (Vidya Sinha) who is in a relationship with a young government servant, Sanjay (Amol Palekar). Sanjay is totally in love with Deepa but keeps making the errors which most guys his age in that era made i.e. totally prioritizing his worries and his problems over the woman’s problems – some may argue that nothing much has changed since then . A chance interview call in Mumbai gets Deepa to meet her college sweetheart Navin (Dinesh Thakur). Deepa and Navin had broken up thanks to some differences in values. But Navin has grown into an extremely responsible man and of course continues to have a soft corner for Deepa. Torn between a person who is closer to her version of the ideal life partner and another who she has committed to get married to – Deepa goes through a very challenging 7-10 days.

A very brave topic to be dabbled with for the Indian audiences way back in 1974. Perceived as almost infidelity in that day and age or one would assume isn’t it? I guess not when it comes to Basu Chatterjee who executes the movie with aplomb. The cast has been perfectly picked and go about their performances as if it is the most natural thing to do. Amol Palekar in the role of the hyperactive but loving Sanjay is near perfect. And Vidya Sinha who is the central character of the movie gets the emotions of a confused twenty something girl of the 70s extremely well to put it mildly. Don’t view Rajnigandha with the technical aspects that today’s movies have. Look at it from a perspective that there was so much achieved without any technology. Simple and clear entertainment with a deep emphasis on the message. Playing these days on the in-flight entertainment on Jet Airways. It’s a short movie so if you are taking a longer flight like Mumbai Kolkata or Bangalore Delhi you are perfectly placed to finish off this 110 minute beauty. 7 on 10. And of course the title song has been heard forever right and takes a couple of points on its own.

Trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZwSV5qeMoc

Mausam

Have you guys heard the story about The Hare and The Tortoise? I cannot say with conviction that everyone who reads this blog would have. But I can say this with absolute conviction that Pankaj Kapur has not only heard the story but also took it so much to heart that he applies it in every aspect of his life. But there are a couple of learnings from the story that Pankaj Sir seems to have forgotten about the story. Firstly the moral was “Slow AND STEADY wins the race” – not just SLOW wins the race. Secondly, winning happens if and only if the Hare decides to take a nap and not the goddamn Tortoise!!!! Mausam in a nutshell is the best sleeping pill one can have after a hard day’s work. It is the ultimate prescription that a doctor can give for insomnia. Guaranteed results or your money back. This one is in the league of “Tree of Life” folks – complete and utter yawn fest.

It was a full house for the 2040 show @ PVR Mulund – much to my pleasant surprise and of course to the happiness of the multiplex owners. The campaigns and probably the decent music of the movie seemed to have made an impression on quite a large bunch of suckers – chief amongst them being yours truly. But most of us who walked in expecting a reasonable romantic movie were in for a really rude shock. Let me speak about the positives first because that would be a quick one. There was cinematography and credit to the team to have created a movie that may not have been a sight for sore eyes but was visually quite appealing. And then there was the music which was good but the pessimist in me is quite certain that Pritam would have used his international resources quite well to come up with the final product. Honestly, I cannot find much more other than these two factors.

I am quite convinced that the only person who can make Shahid Kapoor act is Vishal Bharadwaj. I am also quite certain that there is a gene pool mismatch between father and son which is worth investigating for those who would be very curious. That the additional A in Sonam A Kapoor is not making things work too much for her is quite obvious. And Mausam hasn’t sent her charts sky rocketing in any manner. Most of the support cast seems non existant with Anupam Kher getting precisely 3 minutes and 38.497 seconds of screen time. Aditi Sharma was definitely the pick of the support cast as the desperate Rajjo who cannot look beyond our hero Harry. I have immense respect for Pankaj Kapur as an actor. But his directorial debut has been nothing short of a disaster. Editing is all but absent. I would strongly recommend Mausam for the sleep deprived population of the country. 3 on 10.

Trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZwSV5qeMoc

The Devil’s Double

For some reason or the other I was never able to get around to watching The Devil’s Double earlier. It did release nearly 4 weeks back and most people who saw it were raving about it. Lucky for me it did not get chucked out of the theatres in 2 weeks like most good movies do – disappointingly.
The Devil’s Double is the adaptation of several stories as told by Latif Yahia – the now well known body double of Uday Saddam Hussein. To what extent is it true, as claimed by Latif, one would never know. And I am quite certain that the world would like to take Latif Yahia’s version as the truth for now. Even if one were to watch The Devil’s Double as a fictional story, it would remain as powerful thanks to a simply stunning performance from Dominic Cooper who has done his chances for an Academy Award this year absolutely no harm whatsoever. Believe me, I had no idea who Dominic Cooper was before this movie. I would have definitely seen him in his previous movies such as Mamma Mia but I assure you the performance was forgettable. But the double role of Uday Hussein and Latif Yahia is one that audiences are not going to forget for a long time to come. Cooper shuttles between an insanely negative character of Uday – eccentric, sexaholic, murderer, power crazed, drug addict, alcoholic, simply put INSANE – and that of Latif Yahia who is the diametric opposite with what can be described only as “with consummate ease”.

There are only 2 ways, someone as un-noticed as Dominic Cooper could have pulled off this blinder. He is either an immensely talented actor who was waiting for the right role or he is a director’s actor. In this case, I would give Dominic the benefit of the doubt and attribute the success of the role to both him and Lee Tamahori whose direction was super solid to say the least. The use of the yellow / golden hue all throughout the movie just took the cinematography up a few notches. Matched with the intensity of the story line and the performances, the combination was too lethal.

This is Dominic Cooper’s movie for certain but the support cast of Ludivine Sagnier as Uday’s mistress Sarrab and Raad Rawi as his “caretaker” Munem were very good too. The only thing I would change about The Devil’s Double if I were given a chance today would be the language. This one would have been unbelievably stunning in Arabic with English subtitles. Definitely a must watch at the earliest. 8 on 10 for sure. One of the best movies released in India this year.

Trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi4213939481/

Mere Brother Ki Dulhan

Indian Audiences are probably very easy to please. What else could explain the extremely positive reviews that a way below par movie like Mere Brother Ki Dulhan has received since its release. First of all there is the aspect of a story line. Yawn. Everyone knows what is going to happen at the first look of the trailer itself. Boy (Imran Khan) is entrusted to find an ideal wife for his brother (Ali Zafar) who is based in London and has no idea about the concept of being on a rebound. Boy sincerely but unconvincingly goes about the formalities to complete his duties and is aided by his rhyming bum chums Shobhit (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub) and Rohit (cannot remember who plays this). After several unsuccessful attempts he finally receives a call that seems to have truck loads of potential thanks to the prospective bride’s father (Kanwaljit Singh) being employed with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Turns out that the bride (Katrina Kaif) is an old rebellious college friend from Lady Sriram College (does this institute pay money for in film placement? That would probably explain the 100% cut off they had for admissions this year). With the aid of technology, the bride to be and the groom to be have a chat and voila we have a “middle class” Indian wedding which is nothing short of a BIG FAT INDIAN one!!! Not to mention the obvious – boy and bride to be fall in love and a comedy of errors ensues.

Why would a debutante director, who has only part of his name different from one of his lead actors, dabble with such a predictable plot is beyond me. It is anyways difficult to direct a movie for the first time – so what if you have the experience of being an assistant director for 7 movies prior to this? But it is simply sacrilegious if the audience knows the entire plot and the ending within a 2 minute trailer. To make matters worse Ali Abbas Zafar is not helped with the quality of the script which can be described as stale at best. And wait a minute. That is just the beginning of his woes. He has as part of his cast the nephew of one of the most successful actors in India whose repertoire of expressions can be summed up with the use of just one finger. And the bride to be manages to hold audiences simply because she is super sizzling hot. The elder brother has done his chances of a career no good at all. Disappointing – considering that his first movie (Tere Bin Laden) was such a well made one and his performance was very good to say the least. The rest of the cast is uninspiring as well.

I would consider MBKD to be yet another movie made with the “chalta hai” (anything goes) attitude that has plagued Bollywood since time immemorial. Barring a few light moments, some decent music and leching at Katrina Kaif, there is nothing that would hold you back. The trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1376033817/ and save time and money. 3 on 10 is my verdict. If you still decide to go ahead – my best wishes are always with you.

Friends with Benefits

The last Will Gluck movie that I reviewed was one called Easy A – with Emma Stone in the lead. It was a decent chick flick which I had rated as an ideal “in-flight” movie and given a 5.5. Gluck seems to be building a lovely niche for himself with little improvement on either the scale or the kind of movie that he is proficient at making. Don’t get me wrong here. Both Easy A and Friends with Benefits (FWB) are highly entertaining movies. But they are just entertainment. Casual fun. Not for the serious watcher of “cinema”. I have always liked this genre of cinema i.e. the RomCom and the Chick Flick. FWB gets added to the list. Gluck sure knows how to make them – easy viewing. What I don’t quite understand is the obsession with Emma Stone (enough to give a bit part as an ex-girl friend) and her name from Easy A being used as a tribute of sorts on one of the boards at the airport. Found that to be a bit over the top from Gluck.
And yes, FWB is quite like No Strings Attached. Man meets woman. Man and woman like each other – a lot. But they want to be friends only. No relationships etc. Man and Woman have both been in relationships before. Both have been unsuccessful at the relationship scene. Both come from family backgrounds which are a bit troubled. Man’s mother left the family over a decade ago. Woman doesn’t know who her father is and has been bought up by a reckless, single mom who cannot remember who the father was either. Both Man and Woman are quite afraid of what a relationship would mean to them and whether it would last at all. But since they like each other enough, the decide to be the crutch the other person needs. Just pure “Friends With Benefits”. But then they hadn’t heard about the age old adage popularized by a certain brand ambassador of Rotomac over 20 years back which said – Ek jawaan ladka aur ek jawaan ladki kabhi dost nahin ho sakte (A young man and a young woman can never be “just friends”). And so the complications start creeping in as always and there are lows in the relationship that take it to a breaking point before a gyan session from the single mother to her daughter and the now single father to his son and the eventual happy ending will keep everyone happy.

What works for FWB is the slick humour thrown in all through the movie. Clean and not slapstick which is quite surprising for a movie from across the Atlantic. Like
Jamie (Kunis) : Why don’t they ever make a movie after the big kiss?
Dylan (Timberlake) : They do. Its called Porn.
Loads of rib tickling one liners make this a movie that is imminently watchable. It is fast paced and has 2 lead actors who I am fast developing a huge liking for. I have always leched at Mila Kunis from her That 70s days and she has only grown into being even more delectable. And yes did I mention that she can act – extremely well? Justin Timberlake is as natural an actor like I have ever seen. He continues with the confidence he showed in Social Network and executes the role of Dylan with aplomb. I liked FWB and would give it a 5.5 on 10 as a movie. But as I said before. It is very very entertaining. Go ahead. You will not regret it.

The trailer can be viewed on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2190056729/

Contagion

Back to back movies after a really long time and I had no clue about what was in store for me when I walked in to watch Contagion. My super hectic schedules ensured that I had not seen even the hint of a poster and had no idea about the “Power-Packed” cast that was waiting for me. Starting with Beth Emhoff (Gwenyth Paltrow) who is somewhere in Hong Kong apparently having a super duper time in the casinos. But little does she know that she is going to live for only the next 48 hours. She comes back to her home in Minnesota and her husband Mitch Emhoff (Matt Damon) – only to collapse in a heap like an epileptic would but for no apparent reason. The only thing worrisome was the high fever she had by the time she got back home from Hong Kong. She is rushed to the hospital but survives only for a few minutes more before the docs give up. They request for an autopsy so that they can find what actually happened.

Meanwhile, several such cases are being reported across the globe for the same kind of illness. A Japanese businessman on his way home. A girl in London. A waiter from a casino in Kowloon, Hong Kong. Someone in San Francisco. And the chain reaction has just about started. In what seems to be an Outbreak (Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo) kind of movie, Steven Soderbergh uses the power of his star cast to weave a story line that is littered with exceptionally heavy medical terms. Most of which go flying past you like a jet plane would. But the star cast does manage to hold the movie together for what its worth. Ignore the unpronounceable and you can watch Contagion purely on the merit of performances. Matt Damon has the biggest role other than Laurence Fishburne and both get out the intensity of their characters beautifully. Damon is in the role of a father whose only objective is to save his daughter after the loss of his wife and son to the “Contagion”. Fishburne plays the role of a committed doctor at the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and is torn between a commitment to his role and that towards his wife to be. And then there is probably the most beautiful woman in Hollywood today – the ethereal and immensely talented Marion Cotillard in the role of a French doctor who is kidnapped and develops a case of Stockholm Syndrome. Jude Law as the over obsesses blogger is also very good. And Kate Winslet – what can I say – effortless is the word that always comes to mind. Superb all round performances in short.

Cannot say the same thing about Soderbergh though. For a director as superb as Soderbergh, he is unable to hold the movie together. The trademark cinematography, music and cuts are conspicuously missing for no apparent reason. The story seems to meander around endlessly around some random population figures across unrelated cities. Soderbergh is unable to build the suspense factor too well – another talent that he has always had but seems to have suddenly taken a leave of absence. Also, the fact that there are too many stories within a story doesn’t help. Worth a dekko for certain but don’t expect too much. 6 on 10 is what I would give.

The trailer can be viewed on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3924270105/

Bol

The very essence of movie making other than the perceived entertainment value that most people look at, is the message that is passed on to millions of people who watch it. As a journalist (I can only assume) tells Zainub (Humaima Malick) at the beginning of the movie, “Tumhein apni kahaani batana zaroori hai. Is se shayad kisi ek ghar mein farak pade. Aur agar is se hazaaron gharon mein farak pade toh kya badlav la sakte ho tum”. (You need to tell your story. It may make a difference to only one household. But if it does touch a thousand households then imagine the difference you would be making).

Bol is the story of Zainub who has been sentenced to death following trials at every single level of court starting from a low level sessions court to the Supreme Court of Pakistan. She maintains her silence at all her trials. Her last request for presidential pardon is also rejected. However, she asks for and gets permission to tell her story live on national TV before she is hung to death. Wierd. But given that there is no political motive behind it, the President allows it.

Bol touches upon several issues that it would seem have plagued not only our neighbours but also us in a big way. The manner in which loads of people even today twist around the “word of the lord” as defined in religious scriptures is just appalling. Even today, people consider child birth as a god given right or should I say “gift”. And even today, there is a marked desperation for a male child when you already have enough girls to take care of. Not to mention that in several parts of the either country, even today, vasectomy / tubectomy are viewed as sacrilegious. And then there is the ever taboo topic of homosexuality / effeminacy. Lets not forget the time tested issue of inter caste marriages. One would like to believe that these are issues restricted to the other side of the border but we would only be fooling ourselves in the bargain I guess. Movies such as Bol only get them to the fore. It is now up to us to think and act in a manner that is correct.

I was one of the few people who found Khuda Kay Liye a really bad movie. And this is not because of my intrinsic desire to rebel. I just found the performances to be really bad with the exception of Nasseer Bhai’s 5 minute monologue. Thankfully, Bol, turned out to be quite the opposite in terms of performances. Humaima Malick hogs screen time alright but she is the central character – a little over the top at times but solid overall. Manzar Sehbai in the role of the almost Hitlerian Hakim Sahib is quite superb. The support cast, were distinctly less involved as compared to the lead actors but definitely up to the mark.

What stands out from the first shot is Salman Razzaq’s cinematography which is superb. The use of colours, light and sound are extremely effective. What it could have done with is better editing (very badly edited I must say), some real emphasis on the make-up which was too unreal to believe and consistency errors which are a dime a dozen. However, distinctly better effort at direction from Shoaib Mansoor. He does pick up relevant issues and tries to communicate them in a manner that is perceived as acceptable by the Pakistani Censor Board – quite an achievement in itself I would say. Average music and some really poignant scenes which can get you close to tears to round off what is overall a good movie.

Bol will leave you with a superb thought which Zainub screams out, “Sirf Marna hi jurm kyon hai. Paida karna jurm kyon nahin hai” (Why is murder a crime and not giving birth?) – a concept which you will understand as you go through the movie. Add this to your list of movies that definitely deserve a watch. Makes you think. 7 on 10.

The trailer can be viewed on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDCJzaRal3o

Mummy Punjabi

The first thing that struck me when this movie started was that the lyrics were by Sameer. And I was taken back 20 years to the Aashiqui days where the dreaded trio of Nadeem Shravan and Sameer used to belt out tracks which started off as brilliantly as they turned inane to the likes of “Doodh Ban Jaoongi Malai Ban Jaoongi” from Sarhad. And that is pretty much what “Mummy Punjabi” turned into. Although I do believe that if the version that is saw wasn’t the dubbed one, it would have turned out to be a much more tolerable flick that what I landed up watching. I was of course as confident as ever that this one would turn out to be a not so great movie and was had braced myself for what was in store. But it helped little. Maybe I should take advise from people who care about me and insist on lesser reviews of higher quality and not just go for every single movie in town. That is a discussion we will continue with some other day however.
Mummy Punjabi, as I said, would have turned out to be better in Ingliss than it turned out in the Hindi dubbed version that I saw. It was extremely distracting to say the least to watch the awry lip sync and it took me a bit of time to figure out that this was actually supposed to be an Punglish movie (Punjabi + English). It revolves around a semi psychopathic (harsh words I must say) mother – Baby Arora (Kirron Kher) aka Mummyji – of 3 who treats the world the other way around. She believes that her 2 sons should be really looked out for since it is a “woman’s world” these days. Her sons of course are quite familiar with the ways of the world and are having a whale of a time. One of them runs a discotheque in the city which is called out as a family restaurant for the benefit of Babyji. The sons are aptly named Karan (Viraf Patel) and Arjun (Sachin Sharma). And hold on to your horses ladies and gentlemen. The daughter of 22 is called….. Simran (Simran Vaid)!!!! Completeing the happy wali family is Rajendra Arora (Kanwaljeet Singh) who is the husband who apparently has tolerated Baby ji for 30 years now. Baby ji’s only aim in life is to get her elder son married to a domesticated wife, the younger son to an American or Canadian doctor and the daughter is free to make her own choice of husband.

What appears to be an interesting story-line and one that could have immense potential degenerates almost at the beginning itself into a superb case of broad daylight slaughter. And I am talking about aspects of movie making and not human slaughter. There is not much of a script to write home about. The dialogues are quite creepy (and crappy too). The senior members of the cast i.e. Kirron Kher, Kanwaljit, Divya Dutta and Anju Mahendroo manage to hold their own and ensure that they give their respective roles what was expected of them. The junior members of the cast (and unfortunately there are too many of them) are absolutely pathetic to say the least. There is not much direction to write home about and the music is also pretty bad. The makers could have at least retained the regular Hindi songs which were used for a couple of attempted dance sequences by the 2 bahus (daughters-in-law). Not a good movie by a country mile but I am sure the English one would have been reasonably watchable. The Hindi dubbed version sucks!!! 2 on 10.

The trailer can be viewed on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OerjSloIfKk