opinions on oscars
continuing my habit of speaking on all topics even those not remotely connected with me, its time for some throwing of light( among other things) on movie awards.
The Oscars, people say, are the best of various(Various in this case means so many that its difficult to count) awards that go around. Infact there are a series of bollywood awards, the highly rated National Awards, the old Filmfare awards, IIFA awards, then each of the television channels has an award. Not to mention all the various regional language awards (at least one for each regional language TV channel )
Historically, Indians have always lamented the fact that Indian movies rarely get “honored” with Oscars. The word “honored” is particularly chosen as that is what it was perceived as. But that’s beside the point, the core issue is, are the Indian movies actually that bad, that they cant win an Oscar?.
Agreed, at times you see some of the crappy movies and lament the lack of realism, but hey Hollywood is bigger on fiction than are Indian movies. If Mithun ducks below a speeding bullet , its humor , but if Keanu reeves does that its “action”.
Nevertheless, Was watching a movie called “Hotel Rwanda”, a fabulous hardhitting movie. Its “moving” to say the least, and based on a real story. My first reaction was did it win the Oscars? As it turns out the Actors were nominated and it turns out Million Dollar baby won the best movie. I have seen both the movies and I may not be an expert at movie making, but the gut feel is Million Dollar baby doesn’t even get close to the effect of Hotel Rwanda. But then that may be because I know less about movies than do the Oscar jury.
In any case, consider the historical major movies at Oscars, Ben hur, titanic etc , they don’t exactly separate themselves out from competition. But then that’s my OPINION.
Rang De Basanti as it turns out doesn’t make the cut to the Nominations level too. The movie that is the Indian equivalent of what Bob Dylan was to US hippies and revolt in those days , doesn’t get nominated to the Oscars. But then If the Man who taught the world the way of peace (and peaceful protest) doesn’t get a Nobel Peace Prize, may be this isn’t that unexpected. You may never know, after a few years US and Osama have made peace and He and Bush get the Nobel peace prize for bringing peace in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Whatever it is ….its an Opinion… and India is still a democracy..
Monday, November 21, 2011
Rockstar
Its been a long time since I blabberred out my own opinion of the cinema that I m subjected to, or should I say I subject myself too. Blame it on lazyness, or tht they have blocked blogspot in office or my trip to liberia or just the fact that there hasn't been much worthy of being written about.
So while 11.11.11 was a date people were generally looking fwd to, I was looking fwd to the date on which the immortals wld release...no not to see the movie, its coz its trailer ends with that date. :)
Nevertheless, everyone apparantly was looking fwd to the release of rockstar.
Me, well, I was so darn irritated at work, I was looking fwd to watching something good which wld take my mind of things. P.s I m a person who values attitude and responsibility taking at work and nothing annoys me more than ppl with wrong attitude. Ironical isn't it if u started ur day with an article on how praise is not necessarily a good thing. Life teaches u lessons fast. Ouch and grrrrrr. Maybe they haven't seen the hulk. You are making me angry, you won't like it wen I am angry.
Anyway that's a subject for another day.
Coming back to the movie. To start with, I love imtiaz ali movies, socha na tha and jab we met remain my alltime favs...among others. Rockstar is in a way different from typical Imtiaz ali movies, its not a typical bollywood lovestory, and he does well as usual buildin a complicated love story where the emotions in characters aren't necessarily in clear black and white. I wouldn't give away much of the plot but suffice to say, its the geek to fab story meet jab we met and love story. Rest ofcourse you can experience. Music and the background score is awesome. The background score and the songs hold the movie together esp in the second half. First half is a series of flashbacks which do provide an occassional chuckle and more than occassional songs. Guest appearances and support acts lend a good touch esp the friend/manager and shaMmi kapoor's presence is touching.
Rest well, not much to say, ranbir does a good job...though I did find him inadequate at times, so did I find some part of the character build up. Somewhere the character lacks the smouldering anger of the eyes of amitabh bachchan from anand, though overall, over the long spread out period of the movie, u do come out sort of relating to the anguish of the protagonist. As I said Imtiaz ali movie, its not the same black white characters.
Picturisations etc are good as expected. Nargis looks cool and looks hot :).
The first half feels a bit stretched though second half even though long holds its own.
Its a movie which leaves with a mixed feeling, parts of weaknesses but overall I liked the movie even though its a bit depressing.
Probably one of the better ones to come out since znmd
Anyway looking fwd to tin tin and immortals tomorrow
So while 11.11.11 was a date people were generally looking fwd to, I was looking fwd to the date on which the immortals wld release...no not to see the movie, its coz its trailer ends with that date. :)
Nevertheless, everyone apparantly was looking fwd to the release of rockstar.
Me, well, I was so darn irritated at work, I was looking fwd to watching something good which wld take my mind of things. P.s I m a person who values attitude and responsibility taking at work and nothing annoys me more than ppl with wrong attitude. Ironical isn't it if u started ur day with an article on how praise is not necessarily a good thing. Life teaches u lessons fast. Ouch and grrrrrr. Maybe they haven't seen the hulk. You are making me angry, you won't like it wen I am angry.
Anyway that's a subject for another day.
Coming back to the movie. To start with, I love imtiaz ali movies, socha na tha and jab we met remain my alltime favs...among others. Rockstar is in a way different from typical Imtiaz ali movies, its not a typical bollywood lovestory, and he does well as usual buildin a complicated love story where the emotions in characters aren't necessarily in clear black and white. I wouldn't give away much of the plot but suffice to say, its the geek to fab story meet jab we met and love story. Rest ofcourse you can experience. Music and the background score is awesome. The background score and the songs hold the movie together esp in the second half. First half is a series of flashbacks which do provide an occassional chuckle and more than occassional songs. Guest appearances and support acts lend a good touch esp the friend/manager and shaMmi kapoor's presence is touching.
Rest well, not much to say, ranbir does a good job...though I did find him inadequate at times, so did I find some part of the character build up. Somewhere the character lacks the smouldering anger of the eyes of amitabh bachchan from anand, though overall, over the long spread out period of the movie, u do come out sort of relating to the anguish of the protagonist. As I said Imtiaz ali movie, its not the same black white characters.
Picturisations etc are good as expected. Nargis looks cool and looks hot :).
The first half feels a bit stretched though second half even though long holds its own.
Its a movie which leaves with a mixed feeling, parts of weaknesses but overall I liked the movie even though its a bit depressing.
Probably one of the better ones to come out since znmd
Anyway looking fwd to tin tin and immortals tomorrow
Another old one - Dhobi Ghat
If ever one starts counting the films that are widely anticipated and looked forward to, Aamir khan's films have an unparalleled quality expectations to it (Rajni and SRK might have wider fan following and thereby much more anticipation).
With wife kiran rao as the director and a really catchy promotional video, it got enough media attention. And so did its mumbai theme which i have my own reservations about (but thats a different story).
Neverthelesss, in anticipation of something worthwhile and different from the bollywood stable I was looking forward to the friday launch. The reviews it turns out werent very flattering. All praise for the director, the cinematography, etc but seemingly "not for masses" movie .
But then when it comes to the hardened movie goers, a few critics are much of a dissauding force. Infact denting the expectations only trivially we barge in.
well, for one, its a pretty well cast movie. The Story revolves around Prateik (as Munna (Zohaib) a wannabe actor who works as Dhobi and a rat killer) and Monica Dogra(as Shai...a US based investment banker on a sabbatical who spends time on photography)
Prateik steals the show with an excellent performance. Monica Dogra fits her role quiet well. her dimpled expressions are rivetting, charming which help her have a strong and endearing presence as Shai...(yeah yeah .... she is cute...)
Kriti malhotra manages to have a strong presence in the small role as a newly wed who records video mails to her brother while Aamir khan plays an artist who manages to get obsessed with the newly wed's videos.
kritis presence is refresshing to say the least. Aamir's character is a bit sketchy. (yeah yeah i know, many may not agree...but i feel it might have been better to have a nobody play the role from the movie perspective. though he added a lot of publicity for sure.
though just to clarify, there are times where u feel he is a perfect fit into the character of a slightly recluse artist. At times, the characterisation is incomplete. Nevertheless, he is overshadowed by sterling performances and a beautiful cinematography.
The Script is ok, meandering meaninglessly (Art Film!) , a tad slow, but its light subtle drama woven around characters in life...but not particularly into a story.
Its almost like a story without a start and an end, just the capture of a chance encounter.
You can watch the movie for its performances, nothing intense but light and cute, good cinematography ...(this was planned with the awards in mind)...
and if you are feeling, this review is going round in circles without actually giving you any conclusions....well ....thats the feeling you are going to get from the movie. :-P
With wife kiran rao as the director and a really catchy promotional video, it got enough media attention. And so did its mumbai theme which i have my own reservations about (but thats a different story).
Neverthelesss, in anticipation of something worthwhile and different from the bollywood stable I was looking forward to the friday launch. The reviews it turns out werent very flattering. All praise for the director, the cinematography, etc but seemingly "not for masses" movie .
But then when it comes to the hardened movie goers, a few critics are much of a dissauding force. Infact denting the expectations only trivially we barge in.
well, for one, its a pretty well cast movie. The Story revolves around Prateik (as Munna (Zohaib) a wannabe actor who works as Dhobi and a rat killer) and Monica Dogra(as Shai...a US based investment banker on a sabbatical who spends time on photography)
Prateik steals the show with an excellent performance. Monica Dogra fits her role quiet well. her dimpled expressions are rivetting, charming which help her have a strong and endearing presence as Shai...(yeah yeah .... she is cute...)
Kriti malhotra manages to have a strong presence in the small role as a newly wed who records video mails to her brother while Aamir khan plays an artist who manages to get obsessed with the newly wed's videos.
kritis presence is refresshing to say the least. Aamir's character is a bit sketchy. (yeah yeah i know, many may not agree...but i feel it might have been better to have a nobody play the role from the movie perspective. though he added a lot of publicity for sure.
though just to clarify, there are times where u feel he is a perfect fit into the character of a slightly recluse artist. At times, the characterisation is incomplete. Nevertheless, he is overshadowed by sterling performances and a beautiful cinematography.
The Script is ok, meandering meaninglessly (Art Film!) , a tad slow, but its light subtle drama woven around characters in life...but not particularly into a story.
Its almost like a story without a start and an end, just the capture of a chance encounter.
You can watch the movie for its performances, nothing intense but light and cute, good cinematography ...(this was planned with the awards in mind)...
and if you are feeling, this review is going round in circles without actually giving you any conclusions....well ....thats the feeling you are going to get from the movie. :-P
A really old blog....being shifted
On Nov 23, 2009 12:15 AM, "Patil Swapnil" wrote:
In India, movies aren’t just movies. Going to movies is a social event. For some it’s the “romantic” thing to do with your girlfriend/boyfriend, for some, it’s the thing friends do when you don’t have a girlfriend/boyfriend/wife around, for some it’s the family time together with the Dad, mom and the kids going out together. As with everything else, awkward moments aplenty, Especially when you have a Dad taking his kids to movies, wondering all the way what the “A” rating means to realize its what he feared it was for. Nevertheless, for some of us, movies on the weekend is the sort of minimum “hanging out together” thing we do. After a lot of confusion over the tickets, we end up going to watch Kurbaan with as usual skeptical feelings.
There are various styles of making movies about subjects such as terrorism. In the western world its usually, we are the good guys, terrorists are the bad guys, good guys get rid of the bad guys in the end. In a country like India you are trying to be politically correct by trying to be showing so called “both sides” of the story. Some guys turn to bad guys as bad things are done to them and turn good in the end with some good guys in between. You anyway get critical acclaim for covering such a story and avoiding the usual candyfloss, dance around the trees romance. That’s what Kurbaan is about. Its an attempt to use a serious subject to create an engaging terror thriller mainstream movie by a “socalled” candy floss mushy mushy “boy meets girl formula”(well usually its boy meets girls) movie maker sort of trying to prove that he is a serious filmmaker.
For one, there is no need for Karan Johar to be apologetic about the kind of movies that he makes. He does a good job; yeah technically there are a lot of things which could be better, the entire world being created isn’t exactly realistic at times, The Characters are larger than life, Not all things in the story add up logically but I would call it artistic freedom. In a world of make believe, why one should want things to be realistic. If I want reality, I would watch the news (if that is real is another question), drama is much larger there sometimes.
Nevertheless, just as candyfloss movies aren’t necessarily bad cinema, not all movies which broach serious subjects necessarily great cinema. The usual flaws in the story are there all around the movie. Things somehow don’t seem to add up. Why doesn’t Kareena(Avantika in the movie) call up 911. She is never ever shown going to teach in the University. She even sends off Saif for his job interview. Isnt she supposed to be working in the same university? The FBI let things go around in the subway even after knowing there is a major bomb threat. And the trains aren’t even stopped even after a bomb going off in one subway. Everyone seems to be going around their everyday business apart from the people actually hit by the bomb. This coming in a country which is known to be paranoid about Terrorists, is extremely hard to believe.
But notwithstanding the amount of flaws in the story line and notwithstanding the whole movie seems to remind us of so many other movies from where the plotlines seem to be drawn that you stop counting, it can be classified as a good attempt. The suspense is held well through most of the movie and the Actors do a good job. Saif for a change does a serious role. Kareena fluctuates between doing a good job and seeming lost as to which expression she has to give in that particular scene. You whiz past the romance unconvinced. One begins to wonder if the director assumes the audience will accept it with the offscreen romance of the lead pair in mind. Nevertheless, while the diehard fans will swear by the movie, I wouldn’t rate it as amongst the best works by the lead pair. Just because you do character with negative role, it shouldn’t give you rave reviews, its just a tendency widely common amongst a lot of reviews, critics and fans. For Saif its all seems the same, his candy floss roles or this one all seem same to me. Langda Tyagi remains the best role he has assayed and as much as I would have hoped he could have pulled off something similar he doesn’t. It’s a good job but its not spectacular. With Kareena, it’s a sort of mixed feeling. You want to rate is higher because of the “seriousness” of the role and coz usually the female leads don’t have strong characters but unfortunately cant. Jab we met still remains Kareena’s best role so far (actually only noticeable one as far as I can remember…or atleast I have seen).
As far as the support actors are concerned. Good job by Vivek Oberoi. He has a small role with a decent job. Diya Mirza looks really cute but the director kills her off within minutes of appearing in the movie. Om Puri is well wasted and Kiron kher hams through her scenes. If the director was trying to make us feel sympathy for Kiron Kher’s character, it seems hardly believable. They could have drawn something from “peacemaker” where inspite of the strong antiterror feel of the movie, you do feel sympathy for the main negative character. You need to build those characters as well.
I also read of this part about Kareena not wanting her mother to see the so called “lovemaking scene”. Well she shouldn’t want her parents and grandparents to watch the entire movie as well. The Scenes were either out of bad taste or a publicity stunt to cash in on the offscreen romance. It was totally superfluous and unnecessary and done in real bad taste. It makes it awkward for family viewers to watch without adding any value to the movie. Most people watch English movies my dear directors and even those who don’t have seen more skin on screen (on Cable or IPL!!!). So please, only if the story really really needs it.
Overall it’s a thumbs down from my end. If you have watched English movies or Iranian movies or Hebrew movies on terror, you are better off. You wouldn’t miss anything in the world by waiting for the movie to come on the TV channels. You could go and watch DDLJ the 20th time and still be better off. As I Said earlier, you don’t have to make serious movies to claim to make good cinema. Watch woody Allen movies, you will know what I mean.
In India, movies aren’t just movies. Going to movies is a social event. For some it’s the “romantic” thing to do with your girlfriend/boyfriend, for some, it’s the thing friends do when you don’t have a girlfriend/boyfriend/wife around, for some it’s the family time together with the Dad, mom and the kids going out together. As with everything else, awkward moments aplenty, Especially when you have a Dad taking his kids to movies, wondering all the way what the “A” rating means to realize its what he feared it was for. Nevertheless, for some of us, movies on the weekend is the sort of minimum “hanging out together” thing we do. After a lot of confusion over the tickets, we end up going to watch Kurbaan with as usual skeptical feelings.
There are various styles of making movies about subjects such as terrorism. In the western world its usually, we are the good guys, terrorists are the bad guys, good guys get rid of the bad guys in the end. In a country like India you are trying to be politically correct by trying to be showing so called “both sides” of the story. Some guys turn to bad guys as bad things are done to them and turn good in the end with some good guys in between. You anyway get critical acclaim for covering such a story and avoiding the usual candyfloss, dance around the trees romance. That’s what Kurbaan is about. Its an attempt to use a serious subject to create an engaging terror thriller mainstream movie by a “socalled” candy floss mushy mushy “boy meets girl formula”(well usually its boy meets girls) movie maker sort of trying to prove that he is a serious filmmaker.
For one, there is no need for Karan Johar to be apologetic about the kind of movies that he makes. He does a good job; yeah technically there are a lot of things which could be better, the entire world being created isn’t exactly realistic at times, The Characters are larger than life, Not all things in the story add up logically but I would call it artistic freedom. In a world of make believe, why one should want things to be realistic. If I want reality, I would watch the news (if that is real is another question), drama is much larger there sometimes.
Nevertheless, just as candyfloss movies aren’t necessarily bad cinema, not all movies which broach serious subjects necessarily great cinema. The usual flaws in the story are there all around the movie. Things somehow don’t seem to add up. Why doesn’t Kareena(Avantika in the movie) call up 911. She is never ever shown going to teach in the University. She even sends off Saif for his job interview. Isnt she supposed to be working in the same university? The FBI let things go around in the subway even after knowing there is a major bomb threat. And the trains aren’t even stopped even after a bomb going off in one subway. Everyone seems to be going around their everyday business apart from the people actually hit by the bomb. This coming in a country which is known to be paranoid about Terrorists, is extremely hard to believe.
But notwithstanding the amount of flaws in the story line and notwithstanding the whole movie seems to remind us of so many other movies from where the plotlines seem to be drawn that you stop counting, it can be classified as a good attempt. The suspense is held well through most of the movie and the Actors do a good job. Saif for a change does a serious role. Kareena fluctuates between doing a good job and seeming lost as to which expression she has to give in that particular scene. You whiz past the romance unconvinced. One begins to wonder if the director assumes the audience will accept it with the offscreen romance of the lead pair in mind. Nevertheless, while the diehard fans will swear by the movie, I wouldn’t rate it as amongst the best works by the lead pair. Just because you do character with negative role, it shouldn’t give you rave reviews, its just a tendency widely common amongst a lot of reviews, critics and fans. For Saif its all seems the same, his candy floss roles or this one all seem same to me. Langda Tyagi remains the best role he has assayed and as much as I would have hoped he could have pulled off something similar he doesn’t. It’s a good job but its not spectacular. With Kareena, it’s a sort of mixed feeling. You want to rate is higher because of the “seriousness” of the role and coz usually the female leads don’t have strong characters but unfortunately cant. Jab we met still remains Kareena’s best role so far (actually only noticeable one as far as I can remember…or atleast I have seen).
As far as the support actors are concerned. Good job by Vivek Oberoi. He has a small role with a decent job. Diya Mirza looks really cute but the director kills her off within minutes of appearing in the movie. Om Puri is well wasted and Kiron kher hams through her scenes. If the director was trying to make us feel sympathy for Kiron Kher’s character, it seems hardly believable. They could have drawn something from “peacemaker” where inspite of the strong antiterror feel of the movie, you do feel sympathy for the main negative character. You need to build those characters as well.
I also read of this part about Kareena not wanting her mother to see the so called “lovemaking scene”. Well she shouldn’t want her parents and grandparents to watch the entire movie as well. The Scenes were either out of bad taste or a publicity stunt to cash in on the offscreen romance. It was totally superfluous and unnecessary and done in real bad taste. It makes it awkward for family viewers to watch without adding any value to the movie. Most people watch English movies my dear directors and even those who don’t have seen more skin on screen (on Cable or IPL!!!). So please, only if the story really really needs it.
Overall it’s a thumbs down from my end. If you have watched English movies or Iranian movies or Hebrew movies on terror, you are better off. You wouldn’t miss anything in the world by waiting for the movie to come on the TV channels. You could go and watch DDLJ the 20th time and still be better off. As I Said earlier, you don’t have to make serious movies to claim to make good cinema. Watch woody Allen movies, you will know what I mean.
Zindagi Na milegi dobara
I should start with the disclaimer that I usually say that I find something to relate to in almost every single movie I watch or I find inspiration in many of the movies I watch or the books I read. Sometimes though there are scenes and plots and dialogues which feel really ironical or do provide a sense of Déja Vu or characters in movie which remind you of what you have gone through or you have seen someone else going through.
Case in point, you are watching a movie wherein protagonist (well one of the three protagonists) is on a conference call with a Japanese client in the middle of a long drive on a holiday much to the chagrin of his buddies. The “Moshi Moshi” (Japanese for Hello) scene seems funny till your phone rings at the precise moment and you are answering your boss in the middle of a movie. Jokes on you buddy. To make it worse, you had just met the boss on the way into the theatre. Ok may be It isn’t that funny for a third person and I am no Hrithik Roshan (the protagonist in this case) but that is one point where you can really relate to a movie character. And there is more…The Guy is in finance, does derivatives (ok I know I m no i-banker, but he sounded a lot like a commodity sales guy), has grown through economic hardship and therefore a workaholic chasing monetary success, doesn’t know how to swim, now if only we can have a Katrina riding a bike in somewhere here as well…..sigh…just when it gets really interesting the parallels end.
Well you should have guessed it by now, this is my take on Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.A Road trip Rom Com movie which leaves me with mixed emotions, there are things I loved about the movie. Cinematography , Music is acceptable and poetry , well, that was just phenomenal. Javed Akhtar rocks. Period. Didn’t find much wrong with the casting. Chemistry between the three main characters came out well on the screen, though I personally found some of the depiction of hostility between the protagonists quite contrived. (I don’t really know if there is a concept of “protagonists” or if only “protagonist” is acceptable but hey I suppose you get the point). Abhay Deol did a decent job, though contrived context in his case probably may not have necessarily been the best place to do one. The guy is almost trapped in stereotypical characters now, “Socha Na Tha” still being the best of the lot in my opinion. Wasn’t particularly impressed with hrithiks acting either, but still cant put my finger on if it seemed a storyline issue, direction issue or plain lack of depth in characterization. Farhan had the character with the most depth. All characters depth ofcourse accentuated by the awesome poetry and background music in the moments of silence (ok that’s a contradictory statement, there is a sense of calm and silence when the poetry is being narrated which my limited vocab doesn’t have words to describe). Katrina looked beautiful, seriously beautiful. And call me filmy, but I liked the whole bike chase. If only….
Kalki koechlin brings a difference to every character she plays with her unconventional look and persona. The Girl looks and acts crazy.
As usual I wont discuss the plot so as to not be a killjoy. Overall it’s a thumbs up to ZNMD….Life wont come again……or in simpler terms….dude get a life.
Ok so by now you would also be wondering where did the part of inspiration come in. Ok so there are 2 aspects to this, one the part of getting a life in the mad rat race at work. The second isn’t this movie at all! Ha. It comes from the one I saw yesterday on TV. A movie called Invictus. I wont discuss the plot as usual. You definitely need to see it. But it’s a story of Nelson Mandela, South African Rugby and finally most importantly its about two things, well not two, its three things, Inspiration and Reconciliation and the third, is about doing the right thing because you know its right. The movie is based on the book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation by John Carlin. There were flaws in the cinematography, editing and there was some over the top background score sometimes, but then easily pardonable. I did find the rugby game scenes a bit stretched, we have seen better sports scenes. You stand and take a bow to three people for the movie, Clint Eastwood, Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman who sadly only got nominations for awards but none won. This is a must see movie. I cant end this without quoting a poem, no not Javed Akhtar…as much as I liked his poetry. A poem named Invictus which is said to have inspired Nelson Mandela ….and whose name the movie carries
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Case in point, you are watching a movie wherein protagonist (well one of the three protagonists) is on a conference call with a Japanese client in the middle of a long drive on a holiday much to the chagrin of his buddies. The “Moshi Moshi” (Japanese for Hello) scene seems funny till your phone rings at the precise moment and you are answering your boss in the middle of a movie. Jokes on you buddy. To make it worse, you had just met the boss on the way into the theatre. Ok may be It isn’t that funny for a third person and I am no Hrithik Roshan (the protagonist in this case) but that is one point where you can really relate to a movie character. And there is more…The Guy is in finance, does derivatives (ok I know I m no i-banker, but he sounded a lot like a commodity sales guy), has grown through economic hardship and therefore a workaholic chasing monetary success, doesn’t know how to swim, now if only we can have a Katrina riding a bike in somewhere here as well…..sigh…just when it gets really interesting the parallels end.
Well you should have guessed it by now, this is my take on Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.A Road trip Rom Com movie which leaves me with mixed emotions, there are things I loved about the movie. Cinematography , Music is acceptable and poetry , well, that was just phenomenal. Javed Akhtar rocks. Period. Didn’t find much wrong with the casting. Chemistry between the three main characters came out well on the screen, though I personally found some of the depiction of hostility between the protagonists quite contrived. (I don’t really know if there is a concept of “protagonists” or if only “protagonist” is acceptable but hey I suppose you get the point). Abhay Deol did a decent job, though contrived context in his case probably may not have necessarily been the best place to do one. The guy is almost trapped in stereotypical characters now, “Socha Na Tha” still being the best of the lot in my opinion. Wasn’t particularly impressed with hrithiks acting either, but still cant put my finger on if it seemed a storyline issue, direction issue or plain lack of depth in characterization. Farhan had the character with the most depth. All characters depth ofcourse accentuated by the awesome poetry and background music in the moments of silence (ok that’s a contradictory statement, there is a sense of calm and silence when the poetry is being narrated which my limited vocab doesn’t have words to describe). Katrina looked beautiful, seriously beautiful. And call me filmy, but I liked the whole bike chase. If only….
Kalki koechlin brings a difference to every character she plays with her unconventional look and persona. The Girl looks and acts crazy.
As usual I wont discuss the plot so as to not be a killjoy. Overall it’s a thumbs up to ZNMD….Life wont come again……or in simpler terms….dude get a life.
Ok so by now you would also be wondering where did the part of inspiration come in. Ok so there are 2 aspects to this, one the part of getting a life in the mad rat race at work. The second isn’t this movie at all! Ha. It comes from the one I saw yesterday on TV. A movie called Invictus. I wont discuss the plot as usual. You definitely need to see it. But it’s a story of Nelson Mandela, South African Rugby and finally most importantly its about two things, well not two, its three things, Inspiration and Reconciliation and the third, is about doing the right thing because you know its right. The movie is based on the book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation by John Carlin. There were flaws in the cinematography, editing and there was some over the top background score sometimes, but then easily pardonable. I did find the rugby game scenes a bit stretched, we have seen better sports scenes. You stand and take a bow to three people for the movie, Clint Eastwood, Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman who sadly only got nominations for awards but none won. This is a must see movie. I cant end this without quoting a poem, no not Javed Akhtar…as much as I liked his poetry. A poem named Invictus which is said to have inspired Nelson Mandela ….and whose name the movie carries
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Pyaar ka punchnama
Faced with the perplexing situation (those adept at English might wish to correct or point out if perplex was the right adjective but nevertheless) on the realisation that members of the senior management were made aware of the “critiquing” skills (or the lack thereof) and the inclinations (there is no lack on that front, critiquing or criticising) of blurting innumerable lines of opinions on movies and almost every other stuff one can think of (I mean this one can think of), one is forced to ask this question , to write or not to write. But then in an seemingly quixotic manner. I shalt not give up on foisting my opinion on unwilling ears(a second tribute to Colin firth …..“I must be heard coz I have a voice….ala Kings speech…).
For reasons withheld due to their private nature, I tagged along on a weekday movie jaunt which started with the first question arising at the time of ticket purchasing . Err which movie have we come here to watch…the answer to which gives rise to counter questions, which? Who ? how come I don’t remember even watching the trailer?. Ofcourse Facebook quickly provides the reviews from trusted parties (friends). One raises poignant question….it says take your partner to this movie, she will learn to have realistic expectations ..ahem …Anyway, so we begin ….pyaar ka punchnaama…
A movie with unknown actors and unknown director and unknown story… Hmm…that’s a change. The start isn’t good, Samosa aren’t cooked enough so get returned/dumped and we reach prior to the movie actually starting …bad omens? Perhaps not as it turns out.
One of the things I like about going for movies with extremely low expectations is the part of being pleasantly surprised….(mind you, there have been n number of unpleasant ones too. Some really really unpleasant ones) and pyaar ka punchnaama actually does that for you. It is a story of 3 bachelors living together in something which can only be described as a bachelor pad whose lives get turned topsy turvy by the entry of three damsels (two of them can be considered as the damsels in distress for the part of the movie , rest of the time they r damsels causing distress!!). What follows is a rendition of the oft-seen and oft repeated stories of the stereotypical nice guys and terrorised boyfriends struggling to cope with the unfathomable and seemingly devious femme fatales.
Characterisations are incomplete and limited in depth (No you wont find a Richard Blaine in there…)and pretty darn onesided…in favour of brevity and more so in order to save the plot lines I would delve more on the characters and the plot. The Soundtrack is a mixed bag, the introductory song is decent and so is the song which appears to be one of the heaviest rock anthems in hindi cinema history (I cant tell u the lyrics coz I couldn’t make out a word of it) , rest wasn’t even passable. Dialogue-writers are the real heroes of the movie (along with decent performances by the lead trio). While the accents seem real, frequent outbursts of all the three characters are absolutely hilarious. The Second half is a drag and goes too serious for the most part of it which is an absolute turn off and in contrast to the rest of the movie…
Normally I am a guy who finds something or the other I can relate to with every movie. This movie has a lot more than usual to relate to, the stories may be not, the incidents definitely. I came out remembering my college days and oft repeated stories of the “Nice guys” amongst my friends and colleagues. That’s probably it actually, the way every engineer saw his college days in 3 idiots, perhaps some of us see some of our bachelor days and friends in this one too. The Girls may not really like it though. The One accompanying us didn’t !
It is some what satirical look at relationships and nice guys getting into imaginary relationships and thankfully for me apart from the really funny dialogues (watch out for the monologue…you will know which one when u get there…….) it ends just the right way…. This isn’t the Chick flick where the jerk will fall for the nice girl and he turns out to be a prince charming golden hearted fellow and they live happily ever after…this one ends ironically with the guys ending up exactly where the movie started…..laughing at themselves!!...
Overall, guys if you liked the comedy of pyaar ke sideeffects, you are gonna love it, girls you just need to go and see it, coz then u know what you don’t want to turn into !!! :-P Go only if you can take things with a pinch of salt….
p.s. The writer’s opinions on the movies are his own opinions on the movie, as has been in the past, a lot of people have tended to disagree. The Opinions on the movie or the blog neednot reflect the writers opinions on any subject and should not be taken to out of the context of a supposedly humorous blog!!!
For reasons withheld due to their private nature, I tagged along on a weekday movie jaunt which started with the first question arising at the time of ticket purchasing . Err which movie have we come here to watch…the answer to which gives rise to counter questions, which? Who ? how come I don’t remember even watching the trailer?. Ofcourse Facebook quickly provides the reviews from trusted parties (friends). One raises poignant question….it says take your partner to this movie, she will learn to have realistic expectations ..ahem …Anyway, so we begin ….pyaar ka punchnaama…
A movie with unknown actors and unknown director and unknown story… Hmm…that’s a change. The start isn’t good, Samosa aren’t cooked enough so get returned/dumped and we reach prior to the movie actually starting …bad omens? Perhaps not as it turns out.
One of the things I like about going for movies with extremely low expectations is the part of being pleasantly surprised….(mind you, there have been n number of unpleasant ones too. Some really really unpleasant ones) and pyaar ka punchnaama actually does that for you. It is a story of 3 bachelors living together in something which can only be described as a bachelor pad whose lives get turned topsy turvy by the entry of three damsels (two of them can be considered as the damsels in distress for the part of the movie , rest of the time they r damsels causing distress!!). What follows is a rendition of the oft-seen and oft repeated stories of the stereotypical nice guys and terrorised boyfriends struggling to cope with the unfathomable and seemingly devious femme fatales.
Characterisations are incomplete and limited in depth (No you wont find a Richard Blaine in there…)and pretty darn onesided…in favour of brevity and more so in order to save the plot lines I would delve more on the characters and the plot. The Soundtrack is a mixed bag, the introductory song is decent and so is the song which appears to be one of the heaviest rock anthems in hindi cinema history (I cant tell u the lyrics coz I couldn’t make out a word of it) , rest wasn’t even passable. Dialogue-writers are the real heroes of the movie (along with decent performances by the lead trio). While the accents seem real, frequent outbursts of all the three characters are absolutely hilarious. The Second half is a drag and goes too serious for the most part of it which is an absolute turn off and in contrast to the rest of the movie…
Normally I am a guy who finds something or the other I can relate to with every movie. This movie has a lot more than usual to relate to, the stories may be not, the incidents definitely. I came out remembering my college days and oft repeated stories of the “Nice guys” amongst my friends and colleagues. That’s probably it actually, the way every engineer saw his college days in 3 idiots, perhaps some of us see some of our bachelor days and friends in this one too. The Girls may not really like it though. The One accompanying us didn’t !
It is some what satirical look at relationships and nice guys getting into imaginary relationships and thankfully for me apart from the really funny dialogues (watch out for the monologue…you will know which one when u get there…….) it ends just the right way…. This isn’t the Chick flick where the jerk will fall for the nice girl and he turns out to be a prince charming golden hearted fellow and they live happily ever after…this one ends ironically with the guys ending up exactly where the movie started…..laughing at themselves!!...
Overall, guys if you liked the comedy of pyaar ke sideeffects, you are gonna love it, girls you just need to go and see it, coz then u know what you don’t want to turn into !!! :-P Go only if you can take things with a pinch of salt….
p.s. The writer’s opinions on the movies are his own opinions on the movie, as has been in the past, a lot of people have tended to disagree. The Opinions on the movie or the blog neednot reflect the writers opinions on any subject and should not be taken to out of the context of a supposedly humorous blog!!!
blah blah
Let me be honest, I am no expert at judging films and I don’t claim to have watched a lot of real good movies and neither do I stand for majority opinion (well, read as not necessarily one to actually be on the majority side most of the time :-P) but to paraphrase Colin Firth, I have a right to be read, coz I have a blog!. So getting to the point. First the background to be set up for the discussion.(I know I know , its not a discussion, its a monologue...but then aren’t most conversations usually only multiple monologues with no one listening anyway). getting back to the "monologue". Last few months have seen a serious lack of good films, the average quality of the films seems to have degraded a lot (some people like to blame it on the World Cup fever ....but hey who in this filmdom ever believes that he is not making a good film.) . It could also be the fact that yours truly have been less selective when it comes to making an attendance at the local theatre(Selection limited only to the filters applied by theatre and inability to squeeze time out of office). But anyway, ended up watching Dum Maaro Dum this weekend in the usual "run out of office, rush to theatre and enter just as the movie has begun" mode... The movie it turned out raised widely varied reviews, some liked it, others hated it. Some didn’t like the depiction of Goa, some in Goa were surprised by it (yeah, the innocent or naive). I enjoyed the movie, with all its flaws, clichéd dialogues, over the top caricatures and one liners (Seems like CID has created a stereotype in the Indian psyche on how Cops in India speak) and plotlines which ranged from clichéd to predictable. Casting as well gave away some points. Please note reading further from here on can give away the plot and the "whodunit" is the only thing holding that movie together. Just to take care of all those who wouldn’t stop even after a small warning I will like it a bit vague, but still....if Kamat (Abhishek bacchan) family dies in the first scene and he is a fighting crime....what would you think would happen to him in the end of a normal Hindi film? . When you cast Govind Namdeo as a cop, what do you expect ...and we can recognise his voice!!! the plot of whodunit becomes almost obvious!!! its only the question of how he figures it out and it comes as an epiphany!
Nevertheless, I felt Abhishek did a decent job, maybe someone else could have brought out better flavour to the role (which seems pretty one track) but he did fit the bill reasonably. So did Rana duggabuti (And apparently had all the girls going weak in the knees just by being there on screen and romancing bipasha). Muzammil had a good cameo as the assistant to Inspector Kamat with his "takiyakalam" “it’s a shit job” almost being a Déjà Vu for most of us!!....Its kind of a reminder on how we all seem to be working most of the times....doing shit jobs and to such a result !!
but anyway, Rest of the cast didn’t have much to do and they didn’t do much. Bipasha and Deepika looked ravishing (notwithstanding the whole song being turned from seductive to comical by the shitty potty lyrics. One must stand up and appreciate the creative inputs that must have gone into the Dum Maaro Dum song, without which one wonder how did they manage to screw up a remix of that song so badly!!! I mean seriously, what the hell were you thinking...Whoosha Whooosha
anyway so the point being, I saw a movie which well you could call it as one lying on the borderline of watchable and unwatchable, but then that isn’t true, it is a movie which a lot of people will enjoy (no not appreciate...there is a difference) and a lot of people will utterly dislike for being what it is ...a "Bollywood" clichéd film. Which is where part of choice comes in. Agreed, there are flaws in movies which ought to have been corrected and there are a lot of "class" movies with not so clichéd dialogues and plot lines. but then a lot of people forget that movies are also about entertainment (I don’t know why the word "also" comes in.....). This is the world of Cinema, not world of Six sigma (for it to not have loose ends?) nor the world of Grad school essays (to not have any "inspired" dialogues"),...in fact taken in the sense of caricatures or sarcasm , some of the clichéd scenes or dialogues are almost spoofs....( I am sure I will burst into laughter during Gladiator remembering Dum Maaro Dum's impersonation of Russel Crowe). So I hope, the people of this world, start leaving their auditing hats at home sometimes when they come to watch movies and just enjoy the movies for what they are, an art form meant for entertainment !!!
And as far as this one is concerned, I liked it, you go and form your own opinion.
p.s. considering the name of the movie, a social message is called for…. smoking is seriously injurious to health. There are faster ways for suicide.
Nevertheless, I felt Abhishek did a decent job, maybe someone else could have brought out better flavour to the role (which seems pretty one track) but he did fit the bill reasonably. So did Rana duggabuti (And apparently had all the girls going weak in the knees just by being there on screen and romancing bipasha). Muzammil had a good cameo as the assistant to Inspector Kamat with his "takiyakalam" “it’s a shit job” almost being a Déjà Vu for most of us!!....Its kind of a reminder on how we all seem to be working most of the times....doing shit jobs and to such a result !!
but anyway, Rest of the cast didn’t have much to do and they didn’t do much. Bipasha and Deepika looked ravishing (notwithstanding the whole song being turned from seductive to comical by the shitty potty lyrics. One must stand up and appreciate the creative inputs that must have gone into the Dum Maaro Dum song, without which one wonder how did they manage to screw up a remix of that song so badly!!! I mean seriously, what the hell were you thinking...Whoosha Whooosha
anyway so the point being, I saw a movie which well you could call it as one lying on the borderline of watchable and unwatchable, but then that isn’t true, it is a movie which a lot of people will enjoy (no not appreciate...there is a difference) and a lot of people will utterly dislike for being what it is ...a "Bollywood" clichéd film. Which is where part of choice comes in. Agreed, there are flaws in movies which ought to have been corrected and there are a lot of "class" movies with not so clichéd dialogues and plot lines. but then a lot of people forget that movies are also about entertainment (I don’t know why the word "also" comes in.....). This is the world of Cinema, not world of Six sigma (for it to not have loose ends?) nor the world of Grad school essays (to not have any "inspired" dialogues"),...in fact taken in the sense of caricatures or sarcasm , some of the clichéd scenes or dialogues are almost spoofs....( I am sure I will burst into laughter during Gladiator remembering Dum Maaro Dum's impersonation of Russel Crowe). So I hope, the people of this world, start leaving their auditing hats at home sometimes when they come to watch movies and just enjoy the movies for what they are, an art form meant for entertainment !!!
And as far as this one is concerned, I liked it, you go and form your own opinion.
p.s. considering the name of the movie, a social message is called for…. smoking is seriously injurious to health. There are faster ways for suicide.
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