KAUFMAN - "Or cramming in sex, or car chases, or guns. Or characters learning profound life lessons. Or characters growing or characters changing or characters learning to like each other or characters overcoming obstacles to succeed in the end. Y'know ? Movie shit."
Kaufman is sweating like crazy now. Valerie is quiet for a moment - from "Adaptation".
We are all about CINEMA. That movie shit.
NOTHING is sacred.
NOBODY is spared.
Because we talk about films, dammit.
Not your sex life.
Films, fests, unsung, indies, undiscovered - all that and some fun. If you have dope on anything related to cinema or you would like to share something, do write to us at moifightclub@gmail.com.
The views, opinions, reviews, articles, or positions, expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions or strategies of ANY OF THE EMPLOYERS, FRIENDS, RELATIVES, PR agencies, Production houses, Media group and such third parties associated with the authors. The latter make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use.
In short, if you have an issue with us or any post we've written, write to us at moifightclub@gmail.com
If you missed the latest episode of Koffee With Karan, we have got the most interesting part of the show. Our VOTD – Critics talking about filmmakers and the directors talking about the film reviews.
KWK had Raj Kumar Hirani, Farah Khan and Imtiaz Ali as guests on the show. And the critics were Mayank Shekhar, Minty Tejpal, Sarita Tanwar, Anupama Chopra, Rajeev Masand and Taran Adarsh. But WTF is Sarita Tanwar ?! Someone who has no clue about films and rated Once Upon A Time In Mumbai and My Name Is Khan 4.5 stars! And Taran Adarsh ? Well, thats a joke. Or joker. You decide.
2009 – The Master of Feel Bad started the year delivering his career’s first hit and the Master of Feel Good Cinema ended the year with a recording breaking monster hit! Aha, not that bad if we count only the boundaries. After the musical notes of the year, we sat down to discuss the filmy notes of the year. Here it is – the good, the bad and the fuglies!
1. Best Credit Roll – If ever a credit roll said something so simply and superbly, this is it. Luck By Chance. Also great debut by Zoya Akhtar.
2. Anurag Kashyap turned musical and how! More than a dozen songs and we discovered Amit Trivedi.
3. Anurag Kashyap – 2009 belongs to only one director. Dev D, Gulaal and even Paanch finally got a release, you know where. Whats more, he finished shooting his next film That Girl In Yellow Boots in just 13 days. Aur bolo ?
PS : The same Anurag Kashyap wrote the dialogues for Kurbaan ! Strange bedfellows remained strange.
4. Nobody, we repeat nobody, can save Harman/Hurrman/Harmann/Harrman/Whatever it is Baweja.
5. Wooden Film of the Year– New York. Three good looking woods with zero expression.
6. Ranbir Kapoor – Dude of the year! He is not only working with best directors of bollywood but delivering his best too. Cool & confused, fool & romantic, middle class & lost – he did it all.
7.Imran Luck Khan – The poster boy of 2008 is light years behind Ranbir. He only talks cool and acts still uncool. Competition, whats that ?
8. Imtiaz Ali has only one story to tell. The journey of cool and confused lovers on the verge of marriage. First time, they were about to mary. Second time, they were close to marriage. This time, they finally married and then solved their problem. More here and here.
9. Samir Karnik got money to make one more movie. Who ? Where ? Why ? How ?
10. Rani Mukherjee’s career is over. Hadippa!
11. Multiplex cinema & hits are not everything. Its a big myth. Ask the makers of Wanted. Or is it only Salman Khan ?
12. And if its Salman Khan, why Main Aur Mrs Khanna packed up in just two days ? As they say, nobody knows anything. And what was UTV smoking ?
13. Overrated Gimmicky shit of the year – Paa. More ramblings here.
14. R Balki should stick to making tv commercials. One idea and thats it. He also told the same story again. Smart & dying child bring lovers back together. Age gap somewhere. Check.
15. Akshay Kumar’s bubble busted and how!. He failed everywhere. Chandni Chowk, China, Hollywood, under water, inside or outside Tasveer.
16. The Invisible Director – Who is Anurag Singh ? Does anyone knows him ? The man who put the last nail in the coffin of Rani’s acting career. Hadippa!
17. Sanjay Gupta and gang (read Suparn) are still copying. Even the promos! Now the Unknown ones! More here.
18. Suresh Nair – the only writer to have two big films releases on the same friday. Aladin & London Dreams and both flopped.
19. Underrated Film – Sooni Tarporevala’s delightful Little Zizou, where all the possible parsis united to turn bollywood into pollywood! ( Missed Barah Aana, Mohandas)
20. Ripley’s Believe It Or Not – Sunil Shetty got an award for acting in Anant Mahadevan’s Red Alert – the War Within. Believe it, nobody has seen the film yet.
21.Most Subtle Expression of the year – In Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Delhi 6, a man lands up with a mirror to show your andar ka kala bandar! Beat this!
22. Nagesh Kuknoor – Dont give him big budgests and big stars. He will go cuckoo-noor!
23. Vishal Bhardwaj delivered again. Five films in a row. And showed us Amole Gupte – the actor. More here.
24. Ajab Prem ki Gazab Kahani tried too hard to be Andaz Apna Apna. Insanity happens! You cant plan and design it.
25. ENG Filmmaker -Madhur Bhandarkar continued his expose and it finally flopped.
26. Smirk & Smug of the Year – Vivek Oberoi in Kurbaan. It was the ROFLOL film of the year where terrorism was wrapped in chiffon saree.
27. RajKumar Hirani lied to all of us and made the same film again. As a friend said, its Munnabhai B Tech. More here.
28. Couple Of The Year – Jaideep Sahni & Shimit Amin who delivered Rocket Singh – Sales Man of the Year! More here.
29. The only U-25 who proved us wrong – Ayan Mukherjee. Wake up Sid. Confident debut. More here.
30. Only 12 scenes, not 12 roles – Ask Priyanka Chopra. Easily the best performance of the year. Length doesnt matter, performanace counts. Vishal did it. Gowariker failed.
Bravery Awards – Aftab Shivdasani turned writer and producer with Aao Wish Karein.
Someone directed a film titled Jai-Veeru!
Abhijeet Sawant turned actor.
LOL Titles Of The Year – They said it all. No explanations required.
Its that time of the year when we love making those lists. The best, the worst and the top ten. We sat down with some of our favourite music in non-stop loop and made our list of the good, the bad and fuglies. Whatever caught our attention, from every possible extreme.
1. Ripley’s Believe It Or Not – We had Himesh Reshammiya in non-stop loop! He had Rekha Bhardwaj for company, but this Himesh is all new. Check it out, if you still havent!
2. Cuss Word Converter – Give a cuss word to him and it will never be the same again. The reason why Gul-still-Czar! Add Vishal’s vocals and you have the best title song of the year! Meri aarzoo kamini, mere khwab bhi kaminey, ek dil se dosti thi, yeh huzoor bhi kaminey!
3. Whats In a Name Song – Earlier they had no names. It was kabootar ja ja ja and atriya pe lotan kabutar re! Rahman and Prasoon Joshi made sure that we all googled Masakalli. And you are still wondering whats in a name, that too of a dove!
4. Religion Converter Song – It seems that A R Rahman is hell bent on making sure that we go for religion conversion soon. First it was Piya haaji ali, then Khwaja mere khwaja and this year he gave us Arziyaan. If I ever convert, blame it on Rahman, only Rahman. For cheap thrills, we still try to count the number of times “maula” is there in the song. Whats your count ?
5. Killer One Song – Shankar Ehsaan Loy had the complete album, Amit Trivedi killed them with just ek gaana called ek taara!
6. New Genrae – Piyush Mishra invented a new genrae of mujra, polticial mujra! Jaise door desh ke tower me ghus jaye re aeroplane. Gulaal. Now our only worry is if he can be denied USA visa for putting 9/11 in a mujra.
7. Legends Should Retire – Dont attack us! But if this is what we get, legends should remain as legends. Illayaraja’s music did little for Cheeni Kum and it was the same for Paa. Except the theme tune nothing worked in Paa. The udi mudi judi or whatever it is, doesnt stay even for few seconds! or May be legends should never work with their fanboys!
8. Song ONLY for the Big Screen – It proved us wrong. Dhan tedan! Its only for the big screen, in a dark theatre. We saw it once. We went again. Watching it on tv, we were wondering why has Vishal shot a song inside a nightclub in such unimaginative way. We saw it on the big screen and ate all our words, twice!
9. Musical Aag of The Year – Is Ashutosh Gowariker’s music sense complete zero ? Was it all Rahman ? Like his film, the music CD was quite a fat one packed with 13 forgettable songs! And shot in similar way! Is this the same man who shot yeh jo desh hai tera & khwaja mere khwaja ?
10. Music That Was Hit in Fantasyland – The album was hit in twittosphere but shit otherwise. Aladin. The cast and the crew went on overdrive with their tweets but as Time Out’s Nandini Ramnathan wrote, it was all gone in sixty seconds!
11. Vishal Dadlani must be the only rock-star who writes nursery rhymes. Have you heard the “hey baby, you may be” whatever shit it is! But he can put his vocals to great use. Kurbaan hua had our Rocky in full throttle!
12. No Pun Intended Song – Pocket me rocket hai, pocket me. As a friend said, it sounds like a great jingle for sex toys.
13. Cheap-est Thrill-est Song – Only for Adults! Bold and bitchy! Dev D. Courtesy lyricist Amitabh Bhattacharya. Pyaar, emosanal atyachaar, bitch and (w)hooooore – all at one go!
14. Best Installation Art in a song – Chandni chowk came close to New York, Gau Mata was near Gucci and we had our eyes wide open because Dil gira daftan.
15. Mohit Chauhan can do a masakalli and melancholy with equal ease! Can we now spare him! Why only rona dhona senti menti songs?
16. Best of 2009 – Bunch of kids got together in an “Audio Garage” and delivered the album of the year and the love anthem of our generation. Dev D. Music director, lyricist, singers – all new. Amit Trivedi, Amitabh Bhattacharya and the gang! ( If Rahman and Bhardwaj dont deliver, who will. So, would not put them here).
17. A R Rahman gave us a musical note for boo boo. Its called Buuloooo.
18. Best Closing Notes of the Year – Check out the last 2 mins of Rehna tu! Pure bliss. Can someone enlighten us what instrument it is.
19. Underrated Songs of the Year – Pankho ko from Rocket Singh – Salesman Of The Year and Delhi Destiny from 99. Everything else gets so much overplay that the joy of discovering a good song is almost dead. Jaideep delivers one of the best lines of the year…..uljhe nahi to kaise suljhoge….bikhre nahi to kaise nikhroge.
20. Imtiaz Ali is going for formula in his music too. One punjabi bhangra for closing credit, one peppy number with english words, one sad song in Mohit or Raahat’s voice and blah blah! Partner in crime – Pritam.
21. Weirdest Words of the Year – Bhangra bistar! Courtesy – Jaideep Sahni.
22. Wannabe BPL Rock Album of the Year – London Dreams.
23. Worst Musical Import of the Year – Kylie Minogue with chiggy wiggie! whatever that means.
24. Worst Musical Export of the Year – Rahman with Couples Retreat. Why, O Dear Lord, why ?
25. Self-Flagellation Song of the Year – Bebo main bebo!
26. Musical Sucess Party of the Year – Dulha Mil Gaya! Yes, they threw a party to celebrate its musical success. Who is listening ?
27. Jingles of the Year – dil titli…dil titli….kabhi yaadon ka…kabhi sapno ka and Yeh kis pyaari hifazat me ho befikri ki haalat hai..yaara o yaara. First one is by Swanand Kirkire and second by Gulzar.
28. Few things that never change – Atif still singing out of tune, here, there, everywhere. But its still working…tu jaane na ( Ajab Prem ki Ghajab Kahani )…nobody knows why and how! Confession – we also love it!
29. Cinematic Homage Song of the Year – Akira Kurosawa from Chintuji. Its a riot…Kapola kapola! Listen carefully and see how many filmmakers you can spot!
Love Aaj Kal had big names like Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Rishi Kapoor and Imtiaz Ali. But the one who got all the eyeballs and got people talking was Giselli Monetiro (Harleen Kaur). She quickly made her entry in Google’s top search that week also.
And here is a bit of info that we heard recently. The actress was paid only Rs 1 lakh for the film! Huh? Only One Lakh!!?? Even the character actors get paid better. Am guessing they must have convinced her saying its a big break with big stars and blah blah!
Those of who you who liked here, here is some good news. It seems the actress is soon going to sign her second film. She has been approched by Ravi Chopra for his next production Puraani Jeans. The film will also launch Chopra’s son Kapil Chopra alongwith Rati Agnihotri’s son Tanuj Virwani.
Recently I wrote a post on Love Aaj Kal. But the kind of extreme reactions the film is generating, I could not resist the temptation to dissect it more. And so, in the span of just three days, here is one more post on Love Aaj Kal, wondering how & why was it written.
So, why do you feel the need to tell/write a specific story ?
(A) Because something inspired you. You saw, heard, read or experienced something that triggered that thought. That got stuck in your head, heart or anywhere else. You slept over it, your start drawing the characters, the characters starts talking to you, dancing on your head, make you confused and restless. And so, you don’t hav a choice but to write. To get it out of your system.
OR
(B) Is it because you want to say something ? Because you want to make a strong statement. You want to prove a point. Because you observed something and you want to share your take on the subject.
Now, (A) and (B) can happily co-exist. But if you got (B) in your head, you know what you want to say in the end, then you join the dots, draw the lines and make the structure (A).
To me, then the story seems like a mathematics theorem. Why ? Because you know the result. You know what you want to say in the end. Like any other maths theorem that you are given to prove in the exams. So, you pick up the variables, put certain constraints, take some steps and show that the theorem is correct!
So, is it the same way that Imtiaz Ali wrote Love Aaj Kal ? He knows (or belives) what is Love Aaj and he knows what is Love Kal. He wants to put it all together. He has to prove what he knows or believes. He picks up the characters, sets them in certain conditions and beliefs, make them take some steps and in the end, proves the theorem. The Love Aaj Kal Theorem.
Huh! Enough of dissection! Filmmaking is all about faking it, right ? How well one fakes it, there lies the catch. And when you can see through the art of faking, where is the fun! You desperately look out for that smooth flow of the story. But you realise, its just one step after another, towards that last line “Hence proved”!
Bollywood’s new age Love-guru is back! And with a heavy adjective like that, its difficult to live up to the expectation. Yashraj romance is so passe. After Socha Na Tha and Jab We Met, Imtiaz Ali is cool, hep and happening.
Read all the reviews. Thought will catch on sunday morning. Tickets will be cheap and easy to get. How many people wake up and reach the theatre by 11 am. I was wrong. Fame Adlabs – 11:30 am show. Houseful. I thought I will wait, will manage a ticket from someone. It has never happened with me, that i have returned home without watching a film. No luck. I moved to Cinemax Versova. Believe it or not, Cinemax has 24 shows daily! One show every half hour. Cinemax – 12 noon show – Houseful. Again I decided to wait. No luck. 12:30 – Is also houseful. Only red lounge availabe. Huh! Whats the point of waking up and coming early if I am going to watch it in red lounge, which is too expensive. Finally bought the ticket for 13:00 pm show and moved to my fav place (Landmark) to kill time. Now if this is any indication of the box office report, Love Aaj Kal is heading for big numbers. And a real one, unlike Kambakkht Ishq’s pumped up numbers. Next week there is only Agyaat, so Love Aaj Kal will have two weeks time till Kaminey releases.
Does Imtiaz Ali delivers ? And if so, what ? Well, he tries atleast. Some ten great scenes, smart dialogues but too much of deja vu! Give me one more punjabi family that wants to sing nagada nagada..nagada baja, and I will take out my gun and blow someone’s head! Seriously! Imtiaz’s characters still prefer to run away and get married. They are still confused about their choices. Here, they are just a step ahead, more confused, and realise it all after marriage. They still talk in the same tone.
Comparing notes of three films, Imtiaz and his love mantra has changed a lot with time, as it happens with us when we grow up and see the same world in a different way at different age. First one (Socha Na Tha) was naive, tender, natural. Second (Jab We Met) was smart, mature, understanding. This one (Love Aaj Kal) is clever, trying to be too smart and calculative.
And when you have two tracks in a love story, the craftsmanship is easy to spot, which makes it look unnatural. Have always felt that. The criss-crossing makes it look all intentional, to mix and match this scene here with that scene there. The intention is still honest but then the baggage becomes too heavy.
After a friend’s recco, recently saw a film titled 5 X 2 (Five times two). Five chapters of a couple’s romantic story which starts with their divorce and moves in reverse. So, a story with a sad end has a happy cinematic ending. The first time when the boy meets the girl. Love Aaj Kal too starts with a break up, and you know, its a hindi film, so the couple will get together for sure. How ? Thats the question.
They break up. They find new boyfreind/girlfriend. They pretend to be cool about it but realise soon that its the wrong choice baby! Much like Abbas Tyrewala’s Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. And as a friend asked me, so what new can you do in a romcom ? New ? Well, add a old track then. And thats where Rishi Kapoor fits in with his Harleen Kaur. The villain in the story is distance. Yesterday, they went all out to cover that distance. Today, we have too many choices close to us, why bother to go for the long distance ! Thats the central theme of Love Aaj Kal.
Saif Ali Khan is not new to being the cool n confused lover, having done similar acts in Dil Chahta Hai, Hum Tum and other films. Deepika Padukone is unbelievably inconsistent. In some scenes, she cracks the code perfectly and in some, she is horrible. Harleen Kaur (Giselle Monteiro) must be the subtle-est character in the history of hindi cinema. Blame it on Brazil! But it works.
They poke. But they dont make out. They talk and go yap yap. But they dont do anything. You only hear the “khula saand“, the “kuch bhi” talks. The intention must have been to score U/A certificate, so that it becomes family viewing. Was surprised to see so many kids in the theatre. What kind of parents take their kids to the theatre to watch Love Aaj Kal ? Its not for kiddies, by any logic and reason. Its a mature story and God only knows, what the kids will make out of it. Am scared for the next generation. Poking friends on Facebook and in Love Aaj Kal is not the same.
I loved Socha Na Tha. I liked Jab We Met. Superbly written. And Love Aaj Kal is, well, nice. Honest but too crafty! Its all about having black tea/coffee together!
We wrote about Harleen Kaur in our last post on Love Aaj Kal. But it seems people are still googling who plays Harleen Kaur ? And almost every reviewer has mentioned her name or her character’s name. She may not have much to say but her look has worked and how!
It happens. Recently during the screening of Delhi-6, at the interval, I turned to my freind and asked, who is this Rama Bua ? Later on, got to know that all my friends and their million other friends also wanted to know the same. We googled, found out more and finally confirmed that she is happily married and is a delhi based dancer Aditi Rao Hydari!
Ok. So back to Harleen Kaur in Imtiaz Ali’s Love Aaj Kal. Believe it or not, she may look the coy desi girl with old world charm but she is not from India! Giselle Monteiro is a Brazilian model who has no clue about hindi and hindi films. She came to audition for the part of Saif’s other girlfriend. But was later on selected for the role of Harleen Kaur. Imtiaz Ali managed to make her act but her lines were dubbed. Strange are the ways of bollywood! But as long as Harleen Kaur looks Harleen Kaur, we arent complaining. Desi, firangi or from any other planet!
Will Imtiaz Ali score a hattrick ? Everyone loves his first one Socha Na Tha. Jab We Met gave him box office success. And now the third one – Love Aaj Kal starring Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone and Rishi Kapoor. And who is that Harleen Kaur ?
Post-press screening, we heard mixed reviews about it. Nothing mindblowing. Ok to good to great timepass. Some early reviews are out. Take a look.
Gaurav Malani (Indiatimes) – Love Aaj Kal doesn’t promise much newness in its plot but clicks largely for its casual-n-cheerful presentation – 3/5
Anand Vaishnav (Buzz18) – Love Aaj Kalis not perfect. But in one of Bollywood’s dullest years, this one comes as a refreshing ray of hope. It’s bound to bring a smile on your face. Here’s a film with both head and heart – 4/5
Taran Adarsh (Indiafm) – On the whole, LOVE AAJ KAL is for the young and romantic at heart. Sure, it’s not perfect, but the terrific performances, melodious music and stirring emotional moments more than compensate for the hiccups – 4/5
Raja Sen ( Rediff) – Love Aaj Kal is a harmless, watchable film — sad, because it could have been truly special. It has its moments in the first half, while the second half is an over-melodramatic drag – 2.5/5
Anupama Chopra ( NDTV) – Love Aaj Kal is an above average film with some wonderful moments, nice lines and fine performances. But it’s not as sparkling or engaging as it should have been – 3/5
Rajeev Masand (CNN IBN) – The film in the end is ordinary stuff, watchable but never memorable like the director’s previous efforts, the far superior “Socha Na Tha” and “Jab We Met” – 2/5
Shubhra Gupta (Indian Express) – It’s hard not to warm up to a film which is, at its core, likeable. I just wish I could have liked it more – 3/5
Khalid Mohamed (Aslibaat) – The result is cuts above the kind of movies you’re getting aaj kal. Worth the price of a ticket-cum-popcorn. Make that caramel – 3/5
Minty Tejpal – Though a poignant love story, Love Aaj Kal lacks the joyous, organic soul of Jab We Met, and appears crafted. Nevertheless, Imtiaz Ali shows that he is a top notch director, with an eye for subtle, emotional nuances 3.5/5
Mayank Shekhar (Hindustan Times) – Eventually, a script that starts off supremely crisp, loosens out into climaxes. And a final explanation that while times have changed, only expressions may have altered – 3/5
Baradwaj Rangan – After ‘Socha Na Tha’ and ‘Jab We Met,’ Imtiaz Ali dreams up another winning romance – about love today versus love yesterday.
So far, 2.5 to 4, seems what we heard is right.
And yeah, finally we have got the name of the actress who plays Harleen Kaur! So all you guys who have been googling Harleen Kaur, stop now. She is Giselle Monteiro! And with an intersting name like that, we are more curious. Anybody got any more dope!
The season of the sequels is back, with a good news and a bad one.
Imtiaz Ali is planning a sequel to Jab We Met. What will happen to Geet and Aditya post-marriage ? Nothing is confirmed yet. Its just an idea. Or may be its a PR-driven feature to have some more buzz for Love Aaj Kal. For the full report, click here.
And the bad news. Remember Shit is King. Producer Vipul Shah is planning to make a sequel and plans to direct it himself. The first one was directed by Anees Bazmee. Happy Singh with Nappy Singh jokes will be back, in a different setting.
Love Aaj Kal had big names like Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Rishi Kapoor and Imtiaz Ali. But the one who got all the eyeballs and got people talking was Giselli Monetiro (Harleen Kaur). She quickly made her entry in Google’s top search that week also.
Recently I wrote a 
Bollywood’s new age Love-guru is back! And with a heavy adjective like that, its difficult to live up to the expectation. Yashraj romance is so passe. After Socha Na Tha and Jab We Met, Imtiaz Ali is cool, hep and happening.
We wrote about Harleen Kaur in our last post on Love Aaj Kal. But it seems people are still googling who plays Harleen Kaur ? And almost every reviewer has mentioned her name or her character’s name. She may not have much to say but her look has worked and how!
The season of the sequels is back, with a good news and a bad one.
F.i.g.h.t C.l.u.b 