Posts Tagged ‘review’

Aarakshan – film, debate, publicity & politics

Posted: August 14, 2011 by moifightclub in bollywood, conspiracy theory, film, News, reviews
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Let’s tackle it one by one.

So the film has finally released all over India except Uttar Pradesh. Most critics have rated it between 1.5 to 2.5 stars  ( Rediff 1st review- 1.5, Rediff 2nd Review – 2,  NDTV – 2.5, Indian Express – 2, CNN IBN – 2, Hindustan Times – 2, Mid-Day – 2.5) with the few exceptions (Mumbai Mirror – 3.5 + the usual suspects). I still haven’t seen the film. But looking at the trailers of the film, it seems loud and very tacky, and can be best described as “from the makers of Raajneeti”. Or as Jayhind tweeted earlier, Prakash Jha is Madhur Bhandarkar with a JNU degree.  That’s the best and the apt description of the filmmaker if you look at his last two films. Hilarious trivialisation of serious issues with stars masquerading in unintentionally funny characters. what a fall!

The film still hasn’t released in UP. And with a Dalit Behenji at the helm of the state, this might just be a power trip for her. Plus, the  votebank. But don’t be surprised if it gets a release soon there as well. Though at this point Prakash Jha admits that he is not even getting a window to start the talks – what do they actually want? No communication. Behenji  ne bola, toh darwaza bandh. But a photo-op and some chai-paani can make things move at any political quarter.

Whats more weird is the points raised by the Punjab Government’s 7-Member Committee who saw the film and asked for the following changes –

1. In the dialogue “humne aapki tatti bhi uthai hai“, it was felt that the “mull” can be substituted for the word “tatti”.

2. In one of the scenes, “hans chuggega dana tinka, kauwa moti khayega” is there in the background. The couplet should be removed.

3. In the credit roll of the film, a palm drenched in blood appears when the movie title appears. This needs to be removed.

WTF can be a mild reaction if you ponder over the cuts asked by the Committee. With our over zealous conspiracy theorist mind at work, many insinuated that it was all orchestrated. A tracking agency did confirm that the film’s buzz went up in the last week because of the controversies. But inviting ban? Three states, loss of revenue, fear factor. Some gyaan gurus on twitter also suggested that with its banning in three states, the revenue will increase multiple times in other places. Looking at the first day’s collection, that surely didn’t happen.

So?

My theory is the makers were smartly playing around the issue till the last week. Like all filmmakers do these days. Plant stories, theories, counter it, deny, get space for more stories. When the matter went to court, the reply from the makers spilled out the truth – it’s more about commercialization of education and less about reservation. But with a title called Aarakshan, who would believe it. By that time, P L Punia, Chairman of National Commission for SC, had made enough noise. And bollywood has always been a soft target. People came, shouted, made their voices heard, grabbed headlines and the film got some more buzz. With both the parties benefiting and without spending any single penny, its a win-win situation for both. It all went of hands in the last week. Nobody expected such extreme reactions and the ban. If the film had released without any political party making any noise against it, most of them would have been disappointed after watching the film. A friend who went for the special screening of the film, realised that most RPI party members who had come to watch the film, they never came back to their seats after the interval. Like the rest, they might have got bored.

Though Amitabh Bachchan poured his heart out in this post but Javed Akhtar made a very valid point in an interview – where were these sentiments when Fanna got banned or there were protests against Water? They are paying a price for being silent then. On Fanna’s release, I remember his stand clearly – What Aamir is doing is right, what the others are doing, they are also guided by similar principles. On asked to take a stand and criticise the ban, he said he needs to acclimatised himself with the situation as he is not completely aware of it. I guess it’s a complete circle now with Aarakshan. But you can’t blame him either. That’s the industry stand – don’t look around, don’t speak up till I’ m not hurt. Not sure what those Power Lists of bollywood means when some of the biggest stars of the industry can get together and take some concrete action against nonsensical hullabaloo. Or blame it all on their need for some more buzz.

Not very long ago filmmaker Hansal Mehta wrote a post on PFC about what he had to face during the release of Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar. Since the post is not online now, posting it here again. Do read.

Raj Thackeray – Get Well Soon

A few months ago Shiney Ahuja was arrested for allegedly raping his maid. Yesterday Karan Johar apologized for being raped. His rapists have emerged triumphant. In our law books there is punishment for physical rape. There is no law for raping our freedom of expression. There is only triumph for the rapists. Bravo, Raj Thackeray. You are a master rapist.

Nine years ago after the release of Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar, I was subjected to humiliation by moral police from some wing of the Shiv Sena, headed by ‘youth leader’ Raj Thackeray. His touts(a few thousand) vandalized my office. They thrashed me. They colored my face black. They threatened to burn down the home of Kishore Kadam, a wonderful actor and even more wonderful friend. I was summoned to Khar Danda and made to apologize in front of over 20,000 people and 10 MPs, MLAs and local politicians. I was made to touch the feet of a lady in the village to make amends for my mistake. My mistake? An innocuous line of dialogue from my film, misinterpreted, misunderstood and twisted to suit the publicity hungry touts hired by Mr. Thackeray. Touts who had not even seen the film save a couple of them who viewed a pirated VCD and smelt a great opportunity for titillation. Some called me a coward. Some called me spineless.

The truth is that I was a film-maker who was coping with the box-office failure of his film. I was a father who feared for the safety of his young children. I was a son who feared for the well being of his parents. I was a friend who feared for the security of his actor’s home. They threatened to burn down Kishore Kadam’s house if I did not show up at the village. They refused to stop thrashing me and painting me black until I agreed. The police did not want me to visit Danda village and apologize. They feared that they would be unable to grant me protection. But I wanted to move on. I wanted to erase all memories of this dastardly attack, this blatant violation of my human rights. I thought I had moved on.

The latest threat to Karan Johar about similar innocuous references to Mumbai as Bombay reminded me that whatever happens, the scars of that shameful week will never be erased. The wounds will never heal. It was a similar situation then. There was a Congress government in the state and the Shiv Sena needed to make it’s ‘marathi’ presence felt. Today the situation is doubly dangerous. A bigger film-maker. Not one but two cancerous organizations – the Shiv Sena and MNS. The jihadis have Osama. Gujarat has Modi. Maharashtra has the Thackerays.

I spent last night reliving the horror of nine years ago. I spent a sleepless night. I was tormented by visions of my cowardice. I awoke to find my being filled with anger. Once again, the blood suckers have succeeded. One more film-maker bites the dust. The vicious, self proclaimed messiahs of the marathi manoos have triumphed. They persecuted me. I apologized. They harassed the Bachchans. They apologized. They threatened Karan Johar. He apologized.

Today, I apologize. I apologize for being a selfish, cowardly citizen of an impotent country. I apologize for pretending to express through cinema. Who said cinema is a powerful medium of expression? Who said that it reflects society? The only cinema in our country is the political drama that unfolds every day. The only real protagonists are the goondas who portray such convincing politicians. And the antagonists are all of us who retreat into their supposedly secure lives, happy to carry on living as persecuted citizens of Bombay. Sorry Mumbai.

Dear Sirs, where were you then ? Dil Pe Nahi Liya?

Iti Mrinalini : Koko channel in Rina rut

Posted: August 1, 2011 by moifightclub in cinema, film review, movie reviews, reviews, Tollywood
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Pratim D. Gupta is a full-time film critic with The Telegraph and a part-time screenwriter. Well, part-time till his film gets made. Based in Kolkata, he closely tracks Bengali film industry’s every intelluctual, pseudo-intelluctual and aantel (ask your bong friend. There is no english word for this one) move. So where does Aparna Sen’s latest film Iti Mrinalini fits in? Scroll down and read on…

Disclaimer: I don’t know why I am writing this piece. In an industry where scratching backs is the only way forward and where every film is a classic and every performance award-winning, one online rant really matters very little. Unlike Bollywood where good films and bad films, moneymaking films and praiseworthy films all have their own space, Bengali cinema is going through this incredible phase where you have to laud at everything and anything up there on screen. If you do not comply, you are against the growth and prosperity of Bengali cinema. “How dare you? Just because your script hasn’t got funding, you are badmouthing other films!” Honestly, I can’t help myself. I refuse to be party to this mogojdholai (brainwashing). So you can have your own conspiracy theories but I have my own views and I will stick by them. And no I didn’t like Iti Mrinalini. You too have a choice — close the window at this stage or read on.

What goes wrong with Aparna Sen? She makes a brilliant film and follows it up with something so ordinary, you start wondering how could she have possibly made that earlier great movie? One of the frequently asked questions in Bengali movie circles that has refused to die: Did Ray ghost direct 36 Chowringhee Lane? You watch Mr & Mrs Iyer, Paromita’r Ek Din and The Japanese Wife and you know the answer. You watch Yuganto, Sati and 15 Park Avenue and you are not so sure about your answer.

The problem is not just with inconsistency. There are many great directors whose great films are punctuated with not-so-great films. It is the sheer ordinariness of some of Aparna Sen’s films that really complicates the situation. You look at every nook and corner of the frame hoping to spot that Rina-di touch and your disappointment mounts by the minute till the time you want to throw up your hands and leave the theatre.

Sen, along with Rituparno Ghosh, has been the so-called custodian of the modern Bengali woman on celluloid. Her fantastic domestic femmefatales are independent, self-sufficient beings who manage to emerge on top of every challenge that men (and society) have thrown at them. From Paroma to Paromita. Sen herself in the 1970s was this ultimate epitome of everything that was new and clutterbreaking about the Bengali woman ultimately leading to her print revolution, as editor of Sananda.

Mrinalini is a wimp! A namby-pamby, a maudlin… such a waste of human life, that I do not want to watch her wet — strictly tears — life on screen for two hours. I do not care which bits of that life are fictional and which bits are from Sen’s own life, the life is dull, boring and flaccid. She fell in love with a boy in college who was a Naxal and got shot down, she then fell for her director who had a wife and two kids and was never really interested to set up a home with his kept and their daughter, and then she developed feelings for a man who has a very sick wife at home and yet is always there by her side. As is evident, it’s always the men who call the shots in Mrinalini’s life, who is just a ping-pong ball in search of the net.

And this insipid biopic is narrated in the most archaic way possible — an unfinished letter, a bottle full of sleeping pills and lots and lots of glycerine! You get the drift?

The only mildly interesting bit of the film is Mrinalini’s daughter with her director lover Sid who she gives away to her Canada-based brother and sister-in-law but ensures that the girl spends the summer vacation with Pishi and Kaku. It is a unique relationship that these five people share where terms of endearment and lines of blood get beautifully blurred. But then the most important scene of the film, when the young girl Sohini reveals to Mrinalini that she already knows that Pishi is her real mother and Kaku her real father, is so lazily written and treated so matter-of-factly that the emotional fulcrum is not tampered. How can Mrinalini’s reaction line be: “When did this happen?” As if the date and time of the revelation is more important to her — clearly written with the audience in mind — than the fact that her daughter knows she is her daughter. Compare this scene with the heart-wrenching revelation scene between Irrfan and Kal Penn in the car in The Namesake and you know where the difference lies.

The script has no structure or build-up of any sort and have scenes that shouldn’t have ever made it to the screen. Towards the climax we have a scene between Mrinalini and her young director love Imtiaz which goes something like this… “Have the tea Imtiaz.” “I didn’t ask for tea.” “Now that the tea is here, have the tea.” “No.” “Will you have coffee then?” “I can have coffee. But black coffee.” After she has ordered the black coffee for him, she asks: “Have you studied in America?” “Why because I asked for black coffee?” “Something like that.”

And then the whole film is explained in one scene. “There are different types of love Minu,” says one of the men in her life. Ok alright, we get it! But Rina-di, have you seen Frida? That film conquered what you set out to achieve. Yes, it’s a biopic of a real person and obviously a far more fascinating person that Mrinalini but it has the same plot points comprising Frida Kahlo and the men in her life. And this feels really silly on my part to tell this to someone like you but just by giving voice to WHAT THE WOMAN WANTS, Frida becomes so bloody awesome. When her husband Diego Rivera learns that Frida has been unfaithful to him, he says: “You’ve broken my heart, Frida.” She gives it back to him: “It hurts doesn’t it? But why? It was just a fuck, like a handshake.” Mrinalini sadly has no venom or vermin.

The Rituparno effect on Aparna is quite telling in this film. The whole analogy to Karna-Kunti Sambad and Raktakarabi bears a strong whiff of Ghosh and company in the way literature is blended into the lives of the characters. Throughout Iti Mrinalini there is an attempt to attach importance to a subject which is obviously not that important. It’s not true to its genre, it tries to be An Aparna Sen film. The political events streaming in the background (Vishal Bhardwaj tried the same in 7 Khoon Maaf) and the baffling ending are the biggest examples. It wishes to leave you dumbfounded, just like the ending of 15 Park Avenue. It’s that last shot in the arm to elevate the film to something substantial but when it backfires – like it does here – it really does more harm to the film.

The only masterstroke of Iti Mrinalini is how Konkona Sen Sharma is asked to perform like Aparna Sen and not the other way round. They both play Mrinalini and Konkona has the lengthier role but yet she tries to ape Aparna. Because the director understands that the better actor should be given the difficult task. And while Konkona cannot possibly start looking like a young Aparna, her body language and especially her speech is ditto her real-life mother. Close your eyes in the theatres and you will know what an outstanding job Konkona has done in Iti Mrinalini.

All the other actors barring Aparna herself — these filmmakers who act really need someone else directing them, as was evident in Ranjana Aami Ar Ashbo Naa recently — are good. The deadly combo of Rajat Kapoor on screen and Anjan Dutt in the dubbing studio makes Sid such a believable character. Koushik Sen is so effective in the few scenes he has. Saheb impresses in his little cameo. Priyanshu has great presence but is saddled with such a strange character, he can only do that much. The late Somak Mukherjee shot Iti Mrinalini with a lot of pizzazz, especially that shot on the beach where the two women are chatting and the camera curls on the young girl sleeping on top of Rajat. Wish there was at least a hint of period detailing, though.

Iti Mrinalini is really a very weak and disappointing effort from Aparna Sen. But sometimes there comes a performance that becomes so much bigger than the movie it comes in that the ordinariness of the films takes a back seat. Konkona has always reserved her best acts for her mother’s films. And while her mother’s films have ranged from brilliant to bad, she has shone in all of them. Personally, I found this performance to be her best till date. Here neither did she have the superficial condiments embellishing a Mrs Iyer nor the free mind of a schizophrenic patient like Meethi. It’s just one of the best actresses of our countries at the top of her game.

But Rina-di, don’t you think Koko deserves better? And maybe we too?

Iti Pratim

Vishal Bhardwaj’s 7 Khoon Maaf – Packed with so much, yet offers so little

Posted: February 18, 2011 by moifightclub in bollywood, cinema, movie reviews, reviews
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The day I got to know that Vishal Bhardwaj was adapting another Ruskin Bond short story for the big screen, I went to all the possible book stores, searched desperately for the book with the story Sussana’s Seven Husbands, found it, bought it, read it and then heaved a sigh of relief. How else can you claim to be a Bhardwaj Fanboy!

The short story (just 5 or 6 pages) by Bond is a mood piece, sets an atmosphere where you don’t feel comfortable and there is an eerie feeling that something is lurking around the corner. Things are not explained, deaths are without any reasons and everything else is left to your imagination. Once I and other B-fanboys finished reading it, we all wondered endlessly about how Vishal is going to adapt it for the big screen. Knowing Bond, it should have been easy to predict. Rewind to Rusty days.

But what will compensate for the lack of central drama ? Add to that, our cinema habit of enjoying a “destination film” more than a “journey film”. If the last 20 minutes doesn’t satisfy us, nothing can compensate for the price of the ticket, no matter how brillant the rest of the film is.

And every fear came true with 7 Khoon Maaf. In CBSE curriculum, we had a short story in school titled “Curiosity Killed The Crow”. In case of 7 Khoon Maaf, I was the Crow. Not sure how different my reaction would have been had I not known about all the spoilers. Since the announcement of the film, have been following every bit of news, forcing every possible source to spill out the beans and I even knew about the spoiler in the film. The film’s official synopsis made matters worse where it gave out every detail about the plot. The only thing left to know was – How ?

The film opens with a scene where Priyanka is holding a gun close to her head. And the first thing I noticed was the patchy make-up on her face. You don’t expect to see such a face in a film directed by one of the country’s top five filmmakers. And things got worse from there. Not sure on whom the blame should be put but you can almost feel the layercake of make-up put on Priyanka’s face in many scenes.

If you follow the blog, am guessing you know more than enough about the story. Sussana. Six Marriages. Husbands. Dead. Neil’s character had so much potential but if only fake moustaches could save the day, we all would have been roaming around with those. John, well, I don’t have too many adjectives for wooden blocks. More or less, he remains the same. Naseeruddin Shah doesn’t have much to do, Russian actor Aleksandr Dyachenko has a charming presence and as always,  Annu Kapoor is effortless. Irrfan Khan – benign by day, beast by night and he can go no wrong. But the one who gets to be the dude is Shah Junior – Vivaan. Not conventional good looking but confident and how! An assured debut. Unlike other first timers, not self-conscious of his body language at all. Blame it on the Shah-DNA. But to imagine him as Konkona’s husband, and again with that layer-cake make-up, that was the toughest part. Priyanka is spot-on, whatever she is expected to deliver, she does it well. If only she could get rid of that school-girl giggle, she would be more likeable.

If I ever murder someone, I’ll put the blame on Coen Brothers. Because they make killing look so cool. Wish I could share the blame with Bhardwaj too. But he goes for the emotional baggage. Justifiying every killing of the “dukhi-bechari-badkismat” Maidyum. Looking for love. Settling for blood. Killing just for the sake of killing, what a delicious dish it is! Like that war of whip-lashes (Neil Nitin Mukesh) in an open muddy ground.

And what’s the big picture ? 1,2,3,4,5,6 and then go for the sublime sufi swirls. Count that 7 and bingo!

The brillance of Bhardwaj is there, but too little, the way scenes are set and lit ( Double woot for Ranjan Palit).  The master who has penned some of the best dialogues in the last few years, also drops few few lines here and there. Shaadi jaldi jaldi aur pachtao araam se. But it all boils down to nothing. It’s packed with so much stuff and yet offers so little.

The worst – even the song Tere Liye is not there in the film. At least that would have compensated for some of the pain of seeing one of your favourite filmmakers falter this way.

“The sound of 7 Khoon Maaf – Let it grow on you” suggests Fatema Kagalwala

Posted: February 3, 2011 by moifightclub in cinema, music, reviews
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It is difficult to write a ‘review’ of the musical output of team VB-Gulzar. You generally listen with the heart and gut (and if you don’t then Lilaah!). The head is generally blissed-out by the perfection of lyricism and sounds so much so that even the imperfection melts in and doesn’t evoke question marks. So you understand my difficulties in writing a ‘review’. More so you wouldn’t be interested in reading if I just went by my gut and said, ‘Nahi boss, jama nahi.’ Or just gushed, ‘OMG, OMG, OMG, what genius!’ Jamta nahi na boss, so here is me trying my best to sound all knowledgeable and balanced, while blaspheming as I review VB-Gulzar. (Astagfirullah!)

Tere Liye – All of you, or at least most of you, have been going crazy about this one. So have I. It starts like ‘Ab mujhe koi’ but as it unfolds becomes totally something else. It is a soft, mellow ditty that matches Suresh Wadkar’s vocals perfectly. The light, pretty, romantic lines are matched with the equally light, pretty, romantic music. It makes u imagine chiffon sarees and Swiss hills, soft focus, diffused sunlight and well, Lata Mangeshkar 🙂 but it isn’t superficial. It is tender and soaked in love, the kind, gentle, warm type. It makes you want to hold your love by the hand and slow dance till forever ends.

Or just –

Jado ki narm dhoop aur aangan mein let kar,

Aankhon pe kheench kar tere daman ke saaye ko,

Aundhe pade rahe kahi karwat liye hue’.

Know what I mean? Gulzar’s lyrics do that to you. Savour this –

Halksi sardiya aur saans thodi gram ho,

Shamo ki shawl bhi thodi si narm ho,

Tere liye kishmish chune, piste chune,

Tere liye,

Humne toh parindo se baagon ke saude kiye,

Tere liye…

The piano is beautiful. And then its mixed with santoor-like strains. Suresh Wadkar’s redolent singing takes you back to ‘Tumse milke’ but with a lovely blend of western and Indian, the song is unique in itself.

Dil Dil Hai – Suraj Jagan ROCKS! Young and very unlike the regular VB. Reminds you a bit of Emotional Atyachaar rock version. Maybe the way the bass guitar has been used but then its rock after all. It doesn’t really impress me but I like the adolescent rebellion. It’s not intense or angsty, even a little rabble-rousing type. But since I can’t say anything bad about VB I shall simply say it’s the weakest of the lot and let it remain here.

Yeshu – Love the haunting tone. The way the church bells ring, suggesting an impending terrible doom. Like heralding the rise of the dark world. Builds tempo and becomes absorbing, enthralling and like a black hole hurtling towards you. It has a distinct dystopian note to it despite the fact that it’s a prayer. This contradiction is interesting and gives it the intensity. Rekha Bhardwaj’s sensuality adds an undefined aura, a mixed emotion of yearning, pain, searching, confusion, hidden desires. You start off wishing it wasn’t a ‘prayer’ because you don’t want her singing chaste songs really but it is amazing the darkness she brings to an already sinister song. The over-powering orchestration builds in a fine momentum throughout till it gradually reaches this sustained crescendo. And then it doesn’t end with a bang but on a gentle note. With Rekha crooning and church bells echoing alone somewhere in the background. The loneliness is ever-so-beautifully established. Ever-so lingeringly sad…

Darrling – I listened to the Russian folk song Kalinka (composed in 1860) after I heard this one and got a little more besotted by VB. Listen to the original, its all over the net! Darling wins the top-spot in my list hands down. Its verve, its energy and absolutely lip-smacking folksy gusto. And then there is Usha Uthup. I can like anything she sings even without listening to it. And my heart is torn to pieces here as I admit I like Uthup’s energetic dominance more than Rekha’s rumbling romp. The former has a command and the latter’s earthiness comes in the way, for once becoming her un-doing. To my ears the combination kind of doesn’t add up and Uthup clearly wins my vote. So when she sings with her fiery irreverence ‘public mein sansani ek baar karne do!’ I just wanna say, ‘Be my guest, can I join you?’ 😉

Doosri Darrling – Starts with a collective vigour that is difficult not to tap your feet to. Makes you wanna get into groups and dance away till your feet fall off. This other version is loveable because it beautifully uses RB’s mellowness. So much so that Uthup sounds a little lesser here in comparison. And love the Pushkin bit! (WHERE does Gulzar come up with stuff like this? :))

Bekaran – L’ilaah! The intoxication of love! That is this nazm. Doobne lage hain hum… saans lene dijye na… yes, there is a sinking kind of ecstasy in the song, a dreamy smile that cannot be rubbed off. There is a slight crackle in the beginning which makes me want to imagine rain. VB does a perfect O Saathi Re again. The echoes in the background and the slightly mis-matched mixing is ever-so delectable. Again contemporary rhythms are used so well even as there is a light retro feel very reminiscent of 70’s ghazals which were pure melody.

Awara – Very mood song! Has a typical banjara feel and Master Saleem’s fakir-like singing bathes the Sufi song with emotion. The music is desert-tribe Arabic with its gypsy instruments mixed palette of a rousing orchestra. Will have you swaying from the time it kicks in. Its cyclical, repetitive rhythm with Saleem’s wanderer-voice is trance-like…makes me want to step out of my skin and look at my body doing restive moves to it. There are strains resembling ‘Naina’ from Omkara, ‘Albela Sajan’ from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and vague resonations with ‘Satrangi Re’ from Dil Se. But the way my gut responds to it, these influences don’t take away from the originality or power of the song.

Na shaakh jude na jad pakde…Sounds scary but think about it, wouldn’t it be lovely if that were to happen in real-life? Free-floating all of us, with no roots, no need to be rooted…bliss-like, gypsy-like…The song ends on a fade-away…narrowing as much as it becomes expansive. Love the fade-away…

Tip – Play and listen to it while doing something else. It will grab you by the…collar 😉

Mama – Rock again! Again, adolescent. And this time the lyrics sound more so. Begins with a promise, somewhat light and innocuous. I prefer it to Dil Dil Hain but then to my ears, heart, gut and other music-responding organs it really is not that hot. Guess both the music and lyrics were done keeping John Abraham in mind 😉 Oh, btw Wiki bhaiyya tells me Mohanlal was to do JA’s role. Errr…wonder if this song would still be the same way then? It owes a sort of allegiance to the original baap of under-ground rock, ‘Khuda Hoon’ from Paanch, also by VB but doesn’t really hold a torch to the power or hotness quotient of that one. But then KK does a brilliant job and the rest of the song, well, flows. Remember I said I can’t say anything bad about VB? 😛

And just when I was gonna wind up, the acoustic version comes up and this slightly disappointing O Mama becomes a love ballad that drowns me. KK’s soulful singing and the tempered version transforms this one completely! I’d listen to this one over the rock version, given a choice.

Like most VB albums this one grows on you on repeat hearing. Like most VB albums this one also reveals its beauties on every hearing. As it is Gulzar’s lyrics never have you say enough, so all in all, ‘Hit hain boss!’

Hrrmmppphhhfff! So much for restrain!

“127 Hours – why it makes me want to make movies. And why not !” questions Fatema Kagalwala

Posted: January 27, 2011 by moifightclub in cinema, Hollywood, movie reviews, Thoughts
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Until very recently I was quite unaware of a concept called creative diffidence. Or let’s say creative insignificance. I always thought talent was immeasurable. Everyone had their own share and it’s really upto you to do what you will with it. And even if you had been passed up your share then passion, intellect, skill or some such thing made up for it. Then one day I was speaking to a copywriter friend who is an ardently devoted worshipper (notice the redundancy, its purposeful) of Frank Zappa. This friend plays the guitar, composes and also has set up this small studio at his place to further his passion for music. That night along with waxing eloquent on his studio he was going on about Zappa too and he caught my breath (yes, note that disjunct too) when he said that listening to Zappa makes him feel totally disheartened. Why? The bewildered me asked. He replied, ‘Because I feel so inconsequential as an artist when I listen to his genius. I mean, here is Zappa who is a genius and here I am, doing what I am doing which doesn’t even compare. So why I am doing it at all?’

The stubbornly optimistic, idealistic girl inside me refused to understand what he said then. But those very words and that drowning sort of sentiment in his voice kept coming back to me as I watched 127 hours.

I knew Boyle is a genius. And so is Rahman. I like Franco and loved the premise. It had got spirit, adventure, optimism, fight, survival written all over it, things that make me go very smack-my-lips even in real life. In all truth I went to watch the story of Aron Ralston, not a Danny Boyle film. What I got threw me off with a 50,000 mph force of a meteorite, probably the same ancestor of Ralston’s boulder…

I went in with the expectation to be ‘inspired’ by the story but kept getting awe-struck at the shot-taking. All throughout, right till the end I kept thinking, ‘How the fuck did he shoot that? How the fuck did he execute that? But before execution comes thinking. Imagination. Every time I am bowled over by genius I always ask myself this bewildered question, ‘How did he even think of this?’ Ralston’s story has courage, human spirit, and all elements that have the 100% potential of the drama kind of romance. But Boyle chooses to tell the story just how it happened. Or must’ve happened (I’m not googling now, you do it.) No yarn about spirit, no yawn about courage, no senti about spirituality, no unnecessary emotion. When I first heard of the story and the digital medium and the approach I told myself, ‘Documentary-ish! No, I don’t think I am gonna watch this.’ Oh, dear meteorite in heaven, am I glad I did?

As soon as Ralston gets stuck, I was like aaah, now he is gonna get heroic. He didn’t. Then I thought now he is gonna get emotional, he did a bit but so not hysterical. Then I thought now, its just time for him to get all super-human. In a sense he did otherwise he couldn’t have done what he did, but that was so loaded with sheer desperation and that very vulnerably human wish to live that it all fit in so beautifully. Actually it was a revelation…of realism. At every step my melodrama/drama-fed/trained mind kept getting pleasantly surprised at being second-guessed and being told, ‘Wait, THIS is how a young man trapped by a boulder in a crack in a canyon without a hope for survival would react.’ And yes I agree, that was indeed how a man would react…Funny how a film can take you closer to real life.

While Boyle was keeping me enthralled with the brilliant character disclosure layer by layer he was also doing his own thing on the sly. Ace-gimmicker (I know that’s no word but you know what I mean and its all GOOD!) his aces in his sleeves kept falling out one after the other like Ralston’s hope. His dreams, his hallucinations and his attempts to rescue himself. To completely cliché myself I have to say those are set-pieces of cinematic brilliance that we don’t see often. With the razor-sharp editing Boyle blends the reality, unreality and surreality of Ralston’s situation such that all one is left with is a breath caught in one’s throat. Like when he blends Ralston’s dreams of being rescued by the rain and the other brilliant illusions he sets up for that catch of breath. How did he even think of those?

Like everyone, I had tons of issues with Slumdog and it wasn’t all to do with the portrayal of India. That’s why when I read, Screenplay – Danny Boyle and Simon Beafuoy, I was like, ‘ahem’. But this time it is sheer brilliance. The character arcs, plot points, drama and suspense are perfectly poised. At the same time retaining the essence of the story and telling it with complete honesty and respect.

I am no encyclopedia on film-making but I’ve never watched an exposition of the film as brilliant as this one. Tight, concise and full of adrenaline. And unlike most films who bother a little too much about story or experience this one was all about character. He did not need to but he did. We know Ralston as a carefree, sanguine young man in love with his expeditions. Canyon is his world he has been here many many times. Watching his exuberance at doing what he loves doing we feel, ‘Yes, this is how a man in love should be like. Happy.’ And it is this sense of security that is shattered but without shattering the man behind it. Was it that Ralston had genes from Krypton? Maybe. But what Boyle shows us is clearly a psychological study of a young human with, well, a very vulnerably human wish to live.

I thought I’d come out all blushed about the spirit of survival and all that but in fact I came out gushing about the sheer artistry with which this has been crafted. There is no mood to evoke, just the starkness of events as they happen. Not documentary re-telling but sharp, precise and edgy narrative. Not soft at the edges but yet blurred with the in-n-out surreality to suck us deep into Aron’s desperately befuddled senses.

It is tempered throughout by Rahman’s music like a perfectly matched couple doing a tango and then ballroom and then ballet. And the use of silences was almost post-coital bliss-like…He doesn’t miss a beat like Franco doesn’t. It’s unimaginable to believe he is acting or he is being filmed…the tenseness, the fatigue, the pain and the desperation, it’s palpable without a false note.

The film ends on a soft note of Aron living a happy and fulfilled life today, still doing what he loves that is adventure sports. But again, it is the part-quirky, part tongue-in-cheek, part-sentimental note it ends on that showed me Boyle for the genius that he is. It could have easily ended dead-pan or dramatically. Or it could suddenly put a sentimental spin given the climax is quite cathartic. But Boyle chooses a lighter tone yet conveys so much more! For all those who have watched it you know what I am talking of. For all those who haven’t, please watch it and experience it for yourself.

To come back to my opening para and heading. The film made me dazzlingly optimistic about human genius and the explosive talent that we as a race are so capable of. You know the kind that totally makes you proud to say you are a homo-sapien if you met an alien from Mars? It made me believe that its so possible! There IS vision, there is talent, there is imagination and there is skill and there are also those rare moments in history when all of these come together in all the men/women working with you and you make something like this. Maybe someday even I will discover this dazzling genius inside me and the product of my creative imagination will be my nirvana because if I made a film like this I’d happily die and go to heaven. But then I look at our geniuses again and think, ‘Here they are, these geniuses and here I am, doing what I am doing which doesn’t even compare. So why I am doing it at all?’

FC Ed – Click here to see the real Aron Ralston narrating his story.

Red Bull doesn’t give you wings, but Udaan will says Jahan Singh Bakshi

Posted: July 20, 2010 by moifightclub in bollywood, cinema, film review, reviews
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And this one comes from far east. Or you can say far North, North of Bengal. Jahan Bakshi, a member of U-25 gang, is currently stuck in the tea gardens of Dooars. Bored with the smell of tea and too much green all around, he traveled to Siliguri (some 95kms) to watch Udaan. And thinks it was worth every penny. Since he was non-stop tweeting about the film after he saw it (No, he wasn’t paid to do so), we asked him if he can go beyond 140 characters and write a post for us. So, here it is…read on…

(And a clarification…No, he was never thrown out of Mayo College, Ajmer or Calcutta’s St Xaviers  College from where he graduated in Mass Communication. Current Status – Still flying high!)

Okay. Have been tweeting since the screening like a man possessed. Not, however out of bored frustration like @moifightclub during #Lamhaa screening. But because I take Anton Ego’s monologue in Ratatouille rather seriously. You see, unlike Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, I don’t think a critic is someone ‘who knows the way but can’t drive the car’, but someone who encourages the new, because the new needs friends. The new needs US – you & me. And hence before I talk about the film, I urge you to please (get over/ delay watching Inception and) go and watch this film. You’ll do yourself and good cinema a favour.

I genuinely haven’t felt the way I felt after watching Udaan this afternoon seeing any Hindi film. Forget about the emotional richness of the film- I’ll probably see the film again to absorb it fully. I was stunned by the maturity and delicateness with which Motwane crafts this film. As treatment goes, this is as un-Bollywood as it gets. As opposed to the Bollywood hammer and tongs approach, here is a film that feels like it’s been created with forceps. Nothing goes overboard or out of hand, thanks to the amazingly controlled direction. Each character and emotion has nuance and heart, thanks to some of the most sharp, sensitive writing I’ve seen in some time. Each frame breathes with life, and Jamshedpur becomes a character in the film, thanks to the wonderful cinematography. And each frame is allowed to speak, thanks to the absolutely exquisite pacing. This is a film with a texture (yes, Kartik Krishnan you can laugh) that truly echoes international cinema.

Rohan Singh (Rajat Barmecha, whose eyes speak volumes, and who I described earlier in the day as ‘twice as cute as Imran Khan and a 1000 times more talented’ and his ‘despotic’ Bhairon Singh (Ronit Roy, mind-blowingly brilliant, who knew he had this in him?) are both men with scarred souls. No one really understands them, and they certainly don’t understand each other. Rohan, however distills his pain into his writing and poetry (watch out for the hauntingly beautiful poems recited through the film), while his father chooses to drown it in, well, distilled spirits. He may be a well built monster on the outside, but inside, he is a lonely, pathetic figure, swallowed by his hopelessness and personal demons- a fact that comes through brilliantly in the end.

Troubled growing years are something that inevitably change you. Even if you come out of it as a healthy, ‘functional’ human being, you bear scars that people mostly can’t see or imagine. And even when those wounds occasionally surface to fester, you can’t expect other people to understand. But the amazing thing is- you feel you’re cursed, but what you may not realize is that it is the reason you can feel things and sense emotions no one else can feel. And in that sense, you’ve been blessed with something beautiful- the ability to appreciate beauty all the more. In my many moments of self-pity, I’ve often wished I wasn’t the mind-fucked creature I am, only to realize how all my bad experiences have only enriched me as a human being, and frankly I wouldn’t trade that for anything.

Udaan is also such a magnificent story about fathers and sons. I wondered what Rohan actually felt more- the real absence of his mother, or the virtual absence of his father. I empathized with his feeling of being trapped, of having to bear the consequences of things that you have no hand in, and which you can do absolutely nothing about. I felt his humiliation, his helplessness, his anger. And I was touched by the power of his undying hope and spirit to overcome in the midst of this unending cycle of despair.

Udaan is truly a little film that says so much, that moves you on so many levels, that inspires you like nothing I’ve seen in a long time- and not in the ‘light a candle today, and piss on it tomorrow’ way. I said it before and will say it again: Red Bull doesn’t give you wings, but Udaan will.

P.S: I also must say that the film is pure poetry, not just in metaphor, but literally. The haunting pieces of poetry recited by Rohan through the film are so good, they’re worth the price of admission by themselves.

P.P.S: For those who can spare a good 15 odd minutes, do read this lecture by Orhan Pamuk, where he talks all about his father and being a writer.

‘For me, to be a writer is to acknowledge the secret wounds that we carry inside us, the wounds so secret that we ourselves are barely aware of them, and to patiently explore them, know them, illuminate them, to own these pains and wounds, and to make them a conscious part of our spirits and our writing. ‘

Makes for great reading.

Pic Courtesy – From making of Udaan

Lamhaa TwitteReview – Great research doesnt mean good film or cohesive script!

Posted: July 17, 2010 by moifightclub in bollywood, film, film review, movie reviews, TwitteReview
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Mommy asked – what is Twitter ? Moi – Its a lazy man’s tool, must be invented by the laziest person on this earth. Mommy – How so ? Moi – You say everything in just 140 characters. Mommy – Wow! Me, your dad and Granny desperately need one Mr Twitter between! Moi – #JGrin.

And when lazy men like us are dragged to watch a film that they have no intention of watching, what do they do ? Tweet. Tweet. Fom the promos and the publicity material of Lamhaa, we felt like its going to be Kaante 2. Kashmir Ke Kaante! Don’t get us wrong, we are all for political films but not bollywoodized versions!

So, here goes our compiled list of all the live-tweets from Lame-ha ? (plagiarised from Varun’s tweet ). Plus, the key words in BOLD.

Sm1 dragged me to the theatres for #Lamhaa. BEWARE! If am getting bored, will flood d timeline. Ths seems 2 b d worst this week.

In #Lamhaa Sanjubaba is Gul DUDE Jehangir. Nt sure fm which angle he is Gul OR Jehangir bt DUDE fm every angle. Sudnly a song n he is Munabhai 2

It hs mor information than Inception bt nothing new RT @KausPD: @moifightclub jst 1 tweet in 35 mins, looks like you are enjoying lamha 😉

#Lamhaa Interval – it promised to tell the ‘untold story of kashmir‘. So far, nothing that i dont know/havent read/seen/heard

#Lamhaa – ok, m convinced. Kashmir just needs few Sanjay SLO-MO Dutts. And every problem will be solved. Am serious.

#Lamhaa is also subtitled. Every 5mins. Tells u d location. At one point, it read …village of half widows. Am i missing something ?

#Lamhaa – every 5mins, someone reminds you – yeh kashmir hai janaab n then blahblah. Yeh kashmir hai bhaijaan n then blahblah. more blah!

RT @jahanbakshi: @moifightclub: If you’re too bored, try and spot if Bips is sporting Reebok Easytone sneakers. #classicproductplacements

#Lamhaa – Bet Rahul Dholakia can write a gr8 thesis paper on Cash-mir. But not sure how many thesis paper can translate into decent script.

#Lamhaa – ok, now m LOST. Its more complicated thn #Inception. I swear. If u dont believe, try it.

#Lamhaa – d zee news reporter is suddenly reporting in english. When did they launch english news channel ? pls enlighten.

#Lamhaa – Kunal Kapoor’s azaadi and then ‘vapas aa jao’ speeches r hilarious. On dais u nid furniture but not wid a mike in front of them!

#Lamhaa -like Kashmir, boils dwn 2 nothing. Our films genraly lack resarch bt this one is surely over-researchd n still offrs nothing new

#Lamhaa – strts n ends wid so many info plates. Someone just nid to push d delete button for d film in between to go away. U dont nid a bomb!

RT @singh_dr so @moifightclub havin Lazy Lamhe in Lamha ?

RT @DannyBoy84 @moifightclub “Serious political” Hindi movies are good at telling you what you already know. Haven’t seen Lamhaa yet but same symptoms i c

RT @mriganayanika Don’t watch Lamhaa for anything. Its cherry was popped by a very haggard Dutt.

Conclusion – Dholakia is a far better Gujrati filmmaker (Parzania) than a J&K reporter (Lamhaa). Brave effort, noble intention, bad casting, hilarious acting and over-researched mish-mash leading to nowhere! Atleast, it connects with the Kashmir problem on the last point.

Inception – I call it the Charlie Kaufman Action Movie declares Vasan Bala & we bow down to him for dissecting “Being Christopher Nolan” so well!

Posted: July 17, 2010 by moifightclub in cinema, film review, Hollywood, reviews, Thoughts
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We all have been INCEPTED! Ok, except few here and there. And few who belong to U-25! Guys, go easy on that age factor, seriously. Am going all cerebral here. Deep down, three levels. #JGrin

Lot of us, including Vasan Bala worship Charlie Kaufman. So, to compare anyone else with him is itself a big compliment. But Christopher Nolan is not “anyone”. Oops.

Vasan is the third musketeer in our group whom we ditched and went to see Inception before it hit the theatres today. But seems like for the next Nolan movie, I have to give him the preference because he has dethroned the old fanboy Kartik Krishnan. Vasan has nailed it and how! In short, simple and crisper way and much like one of the central thoughts of the film – you don’t remember where you start dreaming from, rite ? Its “Being Christopher Nolan“. Read on. For Kartik Krishnan’s post click here and for my orgamsic non-stop twitter post, click here.

Some people are calling it the Cerebral Blockbuster.

Some say it’s all mind and detached from the heart.

I call it the Charlie Kaufman Action Movie.

Or was it the GREAT NOLAN RETROSPECTIVE.

Then again something in me says the seeds of Inception were thrown in when Sammy Jankis was born or was it the insulin, or was it when the search for John.G began…it never ended…did it…ok…where was I ?

Or when Will Dormer could not sleep in the endless daylight of Alaska ?

Or was it when Angier’s wife drowned.

Or was it Bowden’s arrogance in pushing his devotion for magic too far which led to a lot of blood shed, scarred egos, tons of accumulated guilt. Were we watching closely?

But then wait wait wait…Cobb….was always there, right from the start FOLLOWING the young man. A serial burglar….a thief getting into the mind of the YOUNG MAN.

As Cobb said in the Following “You take it away, and show them what they had.”

Cobb here in Inception just takes a HUGE ‘LEAP OF FAITH’ and digs into some three more layers.

The art, the craft, the obsession, the love, the loss, the guilt, the anger, the redemption, was it all worth it…was it for real…are you willing to put a bullet to your head to know ?

INCEPTION is one of those Kaufman moments where the genius lies in telling a simple story in a seemingly complex way yet with plenty of leads to find your way, almost spoon feeding you and making you feel cerebral enough to decipher HIS creation…..and all this with Nolan’s blockbuster vision. Where Kaufman failed at his SY^&%%$%^$ NEW Y$%^ maze Nolan builds it ever so complex yet so effortless, ever to explanatory yet so discreet. LET GO.

Am still quite dumbstruck by this illusionary cerebral elevation in my created by Nolan.

Fuck all that…..go watch it THRICE. Am already geared for level 2.

What last for 5 minutes will last for an hour in LEVEL 2….and the third???? Go figure!

It never stopped spinning….hahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahahahahha!!!

(PS – Lets ditch the old fanboy this time and go for Level 2 soon)

Inception – baffling, confounding, brilliant and/or flawed wonders Nolan fanboy Kartik Krishnan

Posted: July 16, 2010 by moifightclub in cinema, film review, Hollywood, reviews, Thoughts
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He is the biggest Nolan fanboy whom we know. He has googled and read, youtubed and seen , everything thats possibly available on Christopher Nolan and his films. Add to that, the books, philosophies, theories and every possible meaning of anything that Nolan ever said or shot. We saw the film together (and ditched the third musketeer of our group because had only two tickets & fanboy should get the first prefernce) but seems  the fanboy wasn’t as impressed as I was.  Click here to read my orgasmic non-stop tweets on Inception and read on to know Kartik Krishnan’s views.

At the very start itself I will confess that I’m as big a Nolan fan as anyone else. Loved all his films from Inception to Following/doodlebug

The concept, idea, premise behind Inception is intriguing and like one of the good old sci-fi films. A group of ‘dream stealers’ who get into a subject’s dream and steal the secrets in his mind. And of course Nolan being Nolan, there will be a dream within a dream setup-possibility which will be explored. Corporate espionage, a heist & con which is truly psychological, special effects which cannot be identified as so, adequate performances from all & sundry including Leo, & the massice ‘scale’. Just about everything you think should be there is there. Including a Shutter Island meets Memento track.

It’s all in there. Exposition which doesn’t look like exposition. Twists keep happening. The pledge, the turn & the prestige – all there. The magic tricks are shown first and then much later subtle reasoning is provided which takes you by surprise. The question is when do u know that the trick has ended ? Is there an overkill ?

My single basic grouse with the film is – the inability to suck me in. It didn’t suck me in unlike the equally long Dark Knight, Batman Begins. Or may be it was my fault that I didn’t get sucked into it.

The reaction I had was similar to what my friends had to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Full marks for scale, production design, idea etc but somewhere it left them cold. Overwhelming yes. Cold – may be I was the only one.

No one is debating the greatness of the film. But the emotional connect/feeling of tied down a lot. There are too many ideas for a 148 mins film. Too many strands.

May be I do need to watch Inception again. Let me know if you felt the same.

( Our recco – KK – Please go and watch it again. You feel the “attachment” better when you pay for the tickets. Bet! ;-))

VOTD : Doodlebug – The Inception Of Christopher Nolan & orgasmic tweets by a Nolan fanboy!

Posted: July 16, 2010 by moifightclub in bollywood, cinema, film review, Hollywood, movie reviews, reviews, short film, songs & videos, Thoughts, video, VOTD
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Is this the bestest friday we have seen in ages ? Seems so. The Baap of every mind-bending game is here! Christopher Nolan, with his Inception. Plus, there is Udaan by Vikramaditya Motwane, Tere Bin Laden and Rahul Dholakia’s Lamhaa. Ok, rest can wait. Back to Inception.

The year was 1997. He was “Chris Nolan” on the credits then. But as they, the signs were all there. Watch it, if you havent seen it yet – the short film by the master before the world discovered him through Following.

We are Nolan-bhakts since we saw Following and he still delivers and how! As we saw his latest release Inception, I flooded the Twitter timeline with orgasmic, or should we call it Nolan-asmic tweets! If you are not on Twitter, here is all our gloating, as friends called it, all in 140 characters……..

I.N.C.E.P.T.I.O.N. See you guys after the dream (Jackass grin) !

Interval – HOLY FUCKETY FUCK! NOBODY, nobody is gonna fuck you like this. Everything is explained slowly but you CANT even blink!

Inception – go with as much expectations as u want! Its a BET! Nolan plants an idea, gives u orgasm, ditches u and gives u hard-on again!

Inception – anyone try writing the spoiler alerts…its gonna be one fat book u cant even imagine. Am not sure what can Nolan do after this.

Inception – did i mention its a love story! Ur mind is d scene of the crime. But ur heart gonna pull the trigger!

Inception – at every scene u r given explanation. Sm call it dialogue exposition. But still, it defies all gravity!

Inception – am willing to sponsor Aamir khan’s ticket. He didn’t understand Memento. I want to see the expression on his face after this one.

Inception -not sure if any1 ever balanced matters of head N heart so perfectly well 2 get u into d trap. Oops, did he beat my God C.Kaufman. J.Grin

As i said, I Luv Hate Storys. Cue – J. Grin! RT @Rychyk: @moifightclub I HATE YOU…make that WE. 😦

Envelope? He pushed d whole post office! RT @vicramb @moifightclub Knwing him,Smthing evn crazier! Tht guy really knws how 2 push d envelope

Inception – as d movie is about 2 end n u think Nolan has done everything possible 2 u, he delivers a BIG punch in d last scene. V r still debating it.

now m still in d Nolanland. Bet u cant locate me! J. Grin! RT @Envyas @moifightclub OK,stop this gloating or I know where u stay. :p

Block me 😉 not sure when i will b able 2 do that again RT @ArtRevel @moifightclub I want to Block you till I watch it 🙂 Making me jealous

# Ok, one last one…after all d Inception tweets how many Nolanbhakts cant sleep 2nite…wanna count 😉 and i will be in a dream! Aha, life!

So, have you booked you tickets ? Don’t forget to book you brains too. Ok, get that over-booked! J. Grin (we just can’t get enough of it). Also, releasing this friday is Udaan. And click here to read our review of Udaan.

PS – Don’t forget to let us know what you felt about it. And what do you think about the last scene/sequence of the film ?

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