Veer Zaara

Now this is the kind of movie that reeks of Yash Chopra all the way from start to finish. And it also reeks of being written by Aditya Chopra. Because it is a larger than life and unbelievable kind of romance. The one that transcends all sorts of boundaries – in the literal sense of the word. One that can be described using the word – unrequited. Very few instances where this ten letter word can be used.

Cycle Kick

I was in a nutshell, “circumspect” when I walked into watch Cycle Kick this afternoon. My experience with trailers, as most of you would know by now, hasn’t been the best to date. And therefore – circumspect. It was the 3rd movie of the day for me and I was quite bored after having watched Resident and Always Kabhi Kabhi before this. Hence the hope in my heart that the movie turns out to be as good as the trailer and not another damp squib. Adding to my doubt was the fact that it came from the stables of Mukta Arts and Dr. Ghai hasn’t been at his best for over a decade now.
But about 20 minutes into the movie, I was quite at ease. The story had built up pace well and there were some really good performances to watch. The entire cast was fresh. I haven’t heard of Nishan Nanaiah, Sunny Hinduja, Girija Oak, Ishita Sharma & Dwij Yadav – Ramu, Ali, Shrishti, Suman and Deva respectively. These are the lead characters in a movie that is about hope – ala Iqbal – Aasha Niraasha se Nikalti hai. Bas Nikaalne waala chahiye (From despair springs hope. It just depends on the person who can generate it – very loosely translated). Again ala Iqbal there is a coach but this time he isn’t a drunk and desperate Nasserudin Shah. Cycle Kick marks the return of Tom Alter in the role of Coach Thomas – the spirited, principled coach of St. Joseph’s College who refuses to accept a team built with kids who are present only because their father is a reputed trustee or provides the institute with money. He gets into a disagreement with the school principal, Gaitonde (Ashok Beniwal) and moves to the local Government College in the hope of teaching football to the economically deprived. All of this is happening as the characters of Ramu and Ali are getting fleshed out as two young kids who can play football but are poor enough to barely afford 2 square meals a day. Their only aspiration is to own a cycle – for the former it is about making more money by putting up more movie posters in a day and picking up his kid brother after school each day; for the latter it is about impressing his lady love.

Newbie director Shashi Sudigala, who has also written the story – an original one – based on old concepts however. But the good part is that it is written sincerely and from the heart. The difference between this one and AKK is perceptible to say the least even to the unseasoned eye (Roshan Abbas are you listening???). Sudigala builds up the story very well in the first half with great camera work and editing in a manner that is very natural to say the least. The emotions and worries of 2 young kids and their passion for their broken down cycle have been represented very well indeed. We do seem to have a good prospect on our hands with Sudigala. Before I close I would like to call out an outstanding performance by Dwij Yadav in the role of Ramu’s little brother Deva. Super confident in front of the camera and exceptional dialogue delivery. And I am not taking anything away here from Nishan Nanaiah but to see a 3 foot kid performing the way he did was superb to say the least. Cycle Kick is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon with the family. Probably the best movie released this weekend – 6 on 10. Would have loved to give it a 7 had Sudigala not goofed up on his execution post the interval.

Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1jB9dZfto0

Bheja Fry

Yet another advantage of visiting your friends abroad.  You get them DVDs that they have always wanted to have and more so with friends down under coz they don’t get most of our Desi Titles and even if they do, it is horrendously expensive.  The best part is that they have probably not watched an all out hilarious movie like Bheja Fry and a maniac like me was only looking for the next available excuse to watch it.  So on a not so warm evening around 8 kms away from a place called Margaret River in Western Australia, I seized the opportunity to watch one of India’s finest comedies to date with my close friends Shilpa and Parikshit. And for those who were wondering what I was doing watching desi movies on vacation – do come down to wine country and try to find some place open after 7. Would love to know J

Ranjit Thadani (Rajat Kapoor) is a successful music producer.  He is married to Sheetal (Sarika – and does she look gorgeous still – wonder why Kamal Hassan left her – the vagaries of the world I say).  Their marriage is going through troubled times.  Ranjit cares more about his work than what Sheetal does.  Sheetal is a reasonably successful singer in her own right and was actually seeing a music director, Anant Ghoshal (Milind Soman) when she met Ranjit, who promptly steals her under Anant’s nose.  Ranjit and his friends have a fetish.  A fetish to have fun at the expense of unsuspecting folk who think that they are searching for new talent (helped by the fact that they are in the music business). Every Friday, the gang meets up to “unearth” fresh talent.  Stuff like people a guy who genuinely believes he has talent because he can spit a really long distance – Ugh!!!  Whats worse is that the group actually believes that the entire process is a great stress buster for all of them.

It would be Ranjit’s turn the next Friday to introduce the next talent to the gang. And he is quickly running out of time.  But a close friend, Jagdish Varma (Ikhlaque Khan) bumps into a genuine “talent” on his way to Pune.  Someone who actually believes that he was born to do only one thing – sing.  Meet Bharat Bhushan (Vinay Pathak).  He is not only under the illusion of being a good singer, but also goes that extra mile to convince people that he really can sing.  He doesn’t waste a single opportunity to sing. And he is a leech to the core.  One doesn’t have much of a choice but to hear him out.  Complete chaos ensues when Bharat Bhushan enters the scene.  And very shortly, you would be holding on to your stomachs in pain – thanks to some amazing comedy that will come your way.

Bheja Fry is the kind of movie that comes every once in a while to reaffirm our faith in quality comedy.  Director Sagar Ballary is far from being a superb director considering the number of inconsistencies that existed in the movie and the editing that was definitely below standard.  But these gaffes are more than masked by the superb performances of everyone in the cast.  Everyone but for Milind Soman who for my money’s worth should realize by now that acting is not up his alley.  He should stick to modeling which he can continue with for the next 10 years plus – he still looks absolutely stunning and is a huge role model for us 30+ paunchy folks who have resigned to not looking smart and fit coz it is all too late.  People are going to remember the performances of Vinay Pathak and Ranvir Shorey for a long time to come.  And Bhairavi Goswami will be talked about till eternity for her classic dialogue as Suman Rao, “Ranjit, Jaane se pehle mujhe ek baat bata doh.  Yeh “Tharki” kya hota hai”? Complete Master Card moment I say!!!! Long Live Comedy.  7 on 10 for this one.