Dilwale

Movie Review

I heard a rumour - Shahrukh Khan now-a-days acts in movies only directed by his friends.  A rumour mind you, because I am sure a man who has been in this industry for a long time knows that a good friend and a good director do not necessarily go hand in hand. 
By all means act in mindless movies directed by buddies but please do not release it for the public who might just watch it expecting some kind of entertainment, instead of a two hour plus headache!!!
What is this movie, Dilwale??? Did everyone lose sense of what a story should be or how one delivered dialogues, or move towards more natural acting?? 
The garish over the top set, the strange lack of chemistry between Shahrukh and Kajol, and my total disconnect with the movie led to a very miserable two hours plus. Though I did enjoy one song, and to enjoy that I simply needed to shut my eyes.

So a good hearted mafia don, Kali, (hero), falls for the enemy'daughter, Mira (heroine) who stabs him in the back. Later, she falls in love with Kali and both are happy, when the enemy decides to kill Kali and his father. Showdown-- Mira sees gun in Kali's hand while enemy dies. No explanation required. She shoots Kali. End of Act I. 
Years later...  Raj, our hero, escapes the bullet and works as a car modifier, hero's 'mentally retarded' brother, (I thought he was) falls for girl who turns out to be Mira's sister. In between, Boman 'King' Irani pops in as a comic drug lord.
What a story!! And yes, the pictuesque locales with the cutout poses by the lead pair is really really jaded.
Another mistake I made -- I saw this movie a day after I enjoyed Bajirao Mastani.

Shahrukh, please have a little consideration for your audience. Maybe there are a few who are still waiting for a Chak de or Swadesh.

Bajirao Mastani

Movie Review (Hindi)

To be quite truthful, I did get a little biased with all the negativity I was hearing about this movie, how it had moved away from the truth and how the greatness of the Peshwas had been put down. 

Once I saw the movie, I really appreciated it. I did not remember the historical figure, Peshwa Bajirao I or the reality of the Maratha empire. What remained with me was the scintillating story of Bajirao, a straight forward and valiant General and his love for his land and his love for Mastani.

I think Ranveer Singh is one of the actors to look out for in the near future. He literally scorches the screen with his presence. Both Priyanka (as Kashibai) and Deepika (as Mastani) have done justice to their roles and Tanvi Azmi played the strong matriarch to the hilt.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali really knows how to create magic in every shot. The end was superbly shot. The cavalry galloping into the water and the Peshwa trying to fight them off is a scene I will keep revisiting.

A must watch just to remind us of the magic that is movies.

Angry Indian Goddesses

Movie Review

First of all, each of the actors was brilliant. 

Second of all, there was a tightly edited script that did not let you look at your popcorn. 

It began with quite a bang with each goddess showing her capabilities, not as sexual objects as the men would want them to be, but as individuals who could take charge.

We have a photographer, a businesswoman, an activist, a singer, a housewife, a maid, a struggling actress and a little girl. Friends gathered to celebrate a marriage and each one helps in building the story of the angry goddesses. 

I loved the way so many issues were integrated into this movie. Activism against mining, same sex marriage, legal hassles related to crime, drugs and depression, infertility, women in Hindi movies, single moms and finally rape and murder – each of these issues scorched the screen. The camaraderie and the squabbles among the women livened things up. 

Thank you Pan Nalin for this story, though I would like to know why the image of Kali remained blurred. 

But no matter, our Angry Indian Goddesses took over and gave Evil quite a chase.

Travel Tales 3

To Ellora....

Ellora is an hour’s drive from Aurangabad. What was surprising for me was that Ellora involved more walking and climbing! 

Buddha flanked by two Bodhisattvas

34 caves are divided between Jain, Buddhist and Hindu caves.  Caves 1 to 12 are Buddhist caves where 11 are viharas and only one is a chaitya. These were created between 700 and  800 AD. Each cave is massive and similar in design to the caves at Ajanta. The viharas are very spartan giving an idea of the simple living the people believed in.

Shiva slaying demon Andhakasur with Parvati by his side

Caves 13 to 29 are Hindu caves dedicated mostly to Lord Shiva though we do see glimpses of Vishnu, Ganesh, Durga and Parvati and Laxmi. The sculptures are simply exquisite!

The entrance to the Kailashnath temple

The Kailashnath temple which is cave no. 16 is no doubt the most mesmerizing. The entire temple has been cut out of a single rock and has many storeys to it. Carving began right from the top and worked downwards as the main shrine of Shiva took shape in the upper storey.  The entire temple is said to symbolize Mount Kailash, the abode of Shiva. 

A monolithic pillar at Kailash

Mahishasurmardini

Various pantheons of gods and goddess adorn the walls. But it is mainly about Lord Shiva since it is his abode. There are two monolithic pillars rising in the centre under the open sky, something akin to the Ashoka pillar. This temple was constructed under the patronage of the Rashtrakuta kings in the 8^th century.

The Indra sabha dedicated to Mahavir

Cave nos. 30 to 34, dated 9^th century AD, belong to the Digambar sect of Jainism which is older than Buddhism.  These caves have intricate decoration on pillars and walls and sculpted images of the Jain Tirthankaras, including Mahavir, Parshwanath and Gomateshwar. 

Next stop --- Daulatabad Fort

Travel Tales

To Ajanta...

After Aurangabad, I set out for the Ajanta Caves. Took about 3 hours as I had taken the longer route via Daulatabad and Khuldabad (where you can visit Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb’s tomb). I climbed some steps cut into the hills, took a turn and there the panoramic view of the caves spread out nestled amidst such beauty! 

The View

30 caves cut out from the steep Sahyadris with the Waghora river curving below. And this was done from 200 BC till 650 AD when this area was abandoned. The last few caves have been blocked probably for safety reasons. I began my exploration from the 26^th cave, the last one that tourists are allowed to access. Only thing missing was a detailed write up on every cave. It would have made things easier instead of relying on the guides who earn their living giving the historical background of the caves which sometimes are quite imaginative!! Though Ajanta is known for its paintings, the sculptures is not to be overlooked.

Chaitya

 Though Ajanta is famous for its paintings based on the life of Gautam Buddha and the Jataka tales, the paintings are fast disappearing and what is left is difficult to see in the dark. Some lighting arrangements have been made though. Five of the caves here are Chaityas or temples and the other 25 are Viharas or monasteries.

There is a story to the present state of paintings. Apparently an Italian team was called in for restoration work on the paintings in the 1920s. With the best intentions, this team with their experience in their country, coated the paintings with shellac as a protective covering. Unfortunately, over the years, shellac darkened in the hot and humid climate and the luminosity of the paintings was lost. Removing the shellac is proving to be difficult for ASI. 

The ceiling and wall paintings - or what is left of them

Besides, the lakhs of visitors who visit the caves increase the humidity levels. People are also known to be uncaring and go about touching the paintings. Both of these are reasons we might not have the paintings for long.

Also, centuries ago, when the artists completed their work, the monks inhabited these caves for prayers, studies and living. The oil lamps and incense they burnt, covered the paintings with soot. Now after excavation, the soot is being removed and experts feel this is harming the paintings underneath. 

Bodhisatva - Padmapani

Bodhisatva -Vajrapani

Caves 1, 2, 16 and 17 are the ones where some paintings are still intact. These just show us how much of this wonderful art we are missing today. The entire caves were filled with paintings too exquisite to be described. The walls and the ceilings glowed with yellows, reds, whites, blues, greens and blacks. All the colours were mineral based except for the black which came from lamp-black.

The murals depict Buddha as a youth, as a prince, as a monk and finally as an ascetic surrounded by people and nature and I was glad to be there to just take in all this beauty. This just cannot be explained so easily. I wonder at the dedication of the artists who spent hours in the dark caves, perhaps using metal sheets and water to reflect sunlight onto the walls or even using lanterns to help them paint, reaching every nook and cranny and the ceilings, filling them up with their dedication and love.

Travel Tales

Aurangabad and more ....

It took me about five hours by road from Pune to Aurangabad via Ahmednagar. Reached before lunchtime and after a good lunch (a veg thali) set off to take a look at the city of Aurangabad. Not a city, I would say a large town, which is defined by its chowks (crossings) and Darwaze (gates).

My first stop was the Biwi ka Maqbara (the Wife’s Tomb). This is the mausoleum of Aurangzeb’s wife, Rabia-ul-Durrani and was built by Aurangzeb’s son, Azam Shah. It has a striking resemblance to the Taj Mahal and is known as the Taj of Deccan. 

Entrance to Biwi ka Maqbara

Taj of Deccan

The next stop was the Pan Chakki which is a water mill. Yes, this is a mill that is driven by water and was used to grind wheat more than 200 years ago. Underneath the grinder is a fan that rotates by the force of water released into the tank. An engineering marvel, the water is carried through earthen pipes from the underwater springs of the nearby hills. 

The waterfall at Panchakki

The grinding stone

The ancient banyan tree

The water was forced over a high wall and a waterfall is created that falls into a huge water tank. In one corner lies the panchakki with the hidden fan underneath.  The tank is full of fish. I saw the grinder still rotating. Many many years ago, it was used to grind grain to feed  the devotees visiting  the dargah in the premises. A huge banyan tree, more than 500 years old, stands next to the tank providing shade even today!

Next Stop --- The Caves of Ajanta

Bridge of Spies

Movie Review (English)

If you haven't seen it yet, What Are You Waiting For?? The electric combination of Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg gave us this fast paced movie set in the 1950s. It's the time of the Cold War, something that we really cannot think of today.

 An American lawyer, James Donovan (Tom Hanks) takes on major powers like Russia and Germany singlehandedly. The Berlin wall rises and divides. A Russian spy is caught and then defended by the American lawyer. Now the lawyer is targeted by his own countrymen for defending an enemy. 

The movie revolves around the exchange of two prisoners and with characteristic cleverness, Donovan converts a one for one exchange to one for two exchange. 

Loved the character of the Russian spy Abel (Rylance). Donovan asks, " Aren't you worried about the trial?" Abel's reply: "Would it help?" Quite a simple matter of fact answer really. 

The best part -- the movie is based on real events.

The Joy of Giving

I am sending out an SOS to all of you on behalf of my 107 students whom I teach as a Fellow of Teach for India.

Do lend a helping hand and help them march towards their dreams.

http://www.giveindia.org/iGive-educationalinequity

Talvar

Movie Review (Hindi)

I was intrigued to see that a director would dare make a movie on a real double murder case and clearly show the lack of evidence which anyway led to a guilty verdict. Meghna Gulzar, the director, has brilliantly executed the happenings of the tragic night and the days that followed, the goof ups by the police and the rivalry within the CBI leading to more goof ups.

 
It is scary to note how the so called law protectors (the police and the CBI) completely lose their game, making the common man's tragedy a humongous one.

I do not understand why the parents of the victim (young Aarushi) should be sentenced to life if the evidence is not concrete. The murder of the household help, Hemraj, also complicates matters. But such is the imbalance of justice. 

The film is fast paced and the director has chosen her actors carefully. Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Konkona Sen Sharma and Neeraj Kabi are really accomplished actors. There is a documentary feel to the movie as if no one knows there is a camera filming their every move. The different versions of the night of the murder is a master stroke.

The Intern

Movie Review (English)

Robert De Niro is one of the few actors who is a guarantee to a worthwhile 2 hours or more watching the silver screen. And I have never been let down. So when The Intern comes along, I have no choice but to go. Anne Hathaway is another actor difficult to ignore. I enjoy the magic she brings to the screen. 

Being of an past the thirties, I found this start-up world, inhabited by today's youngsters a little intimidating. Seeing Ben Whittaker (De Niro) take up a job as an intern after retirement  in a start-up firm dealing in e-commerce was a gutsy thing to do. Loved his perspective of the world and the way he conducts his life.

With a personality like him around, Jules (Hathaway), the founder of the company, is bound to have found her North. And mind you she has the driven CEO syndrome, the guilty mother and wife syndrome and OCD. 

Simply enjoyed the relationship between the two. 

If you want to feel "All's well with the world", then go watch The Intern. You will not regret it!!

Thank you Nancy Meyer. Though sometimes, too much on the plate might just make one lose appetite.

Drishyam

Movie review (Hindi)

Frankly I am a little wary of watching remakes. They generally turn out to be duds when compared to the original. But thank goodness, in Drishyam's case, this was not so. I saw the movie because I had heard of the excellent film made in Malayalam and am happy I saw it. 

 The trailers of the movie are very misleading, as far as the story is concerned. Vijay (Ajay Devgn) will go to any extent to save his family from disintegrating. A death and then the ways to avoid detection. How? Through movies of course!! Vijay owns a cable service company and loves watching movies through the night in his office, his phone off the hook. (That's not advisable...). So all his education comes from watching movies. He is after all class 4 fail. The twists and turns keep the audience engaged as does the performances of Tabu and Ajay. 

Good to see an engaging Hindi movie after a long time. When Ajay Devgn decides to perform, he is one of the best. Thanks Jeethu Joseph for the excredible story!

Tanu Weds Manu Returns

Movie Review (Hindi)

First there was Tanu Weds Manu which regaled the audience with a fresh story and great actors. Then, because of its success, came the sequel, Tanu Weds Manu Returns... Wonder who named it this way??? 

Whatever the reason for the name, the movie had the same characters as in the first one, thankfully. So here's a marriage which was conducted with a lot of filmi drama and now hibernates in the cold, both literally and metaphorically. It's the London winter where Manu (R Mahadevan) and Tanu (Kangana Ranaut) live. So bored is Tanu with Manu that she does not turn a hair when her hubby is put into a mental asylum, apparently for torturing his wife. I love the unconventionality of the entire episode. 

While Manu is among the mad brethren, Tanu returns home and behaves like a traditional vamp in Hindi films would!! Taking bike rides with a neighbour, meeting up with her ex-fiance, Raja Awasthi, (Jimmy Shergill) !! 

So once divorce proceedings are underway, Manu, out of the asylum and back in India, falls in love again, but wait, the girl studies in college and is a spitting image of Tanu. So, does he fall in love with Tanu again? Our new Tanu is named Datto who speaks impeccable Haryanvi. Next the audience moves to Haryana and marriage. The last phera of the marriage is about to make them man and wife, when Datto asks one last time if Manu is ready to go through with this. No, our hero isn't. Much better to be sent to the asylum than marry someone who is a better version of his ex-wife, I guess. 

What a filmy ending! But a great watch. Anand L. Rai, you do have courage, being the director. Take a bow, Kangana, for the twin roles so different from each other and Madhavan for being a whiny, weepy and mopey film hero and winning the audience over. 

Dil Dhadakne Do

Movie Review (Hindi)

When I saw the Zoya Akhtar movie, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, I was elated. I really enjoyed it. I was a part of the journey that the three friends embarked upon. This, for me,was the winning point of the movie. 

And this precisely, according to me, is the losing point of Dil Dhadakne Do. 

I just could not be a part of the ultra rich class. I was dissociated for the entire length of the movie, expecting every moment to be pulled into that world, but alas! That made the film a loooong and tedious one.

I loved Pluto. Thank you Zoya and Reema for that master stroke. Little nuggets of interesting info on the main characters and on human beings in general coming from a dog-- full of humour.  The other redeeming factor of the movie - the sizzling cast. This at least made sure that the audience would not return disappointed.

Yes, the movie dealt with gender bias, patriarchy, social snobbery, sibling love, finding oneself, etc, etc. All of these would have worked wonderfully if the cast wasn't in the middle of the ocean in a cruise liner in a temporary setting. Too many people, too much confusion and nothing worthwhile happening.

Already looking forward to another good movie from you, Zoya...

Piku

Movie Review (Hindi)

I enjoy movies directed by Shoojit Sircar. Especially because he teams up with an excellent scriptwriter, Juhi Chaturvedi, and voila! an excellent movie is created.

Piku has an interesting story and well defined characters. I have always appreciated Irrfan Khan's acting abilities. I find Amitabh Bachchan getting better with age. But the surprise package is Deepika Padukone. She was so much at ease, getting into the skin of Piku, that I really felt sorry for her and annoyed with her dad.

The humour built around the digestive tract was beyond compare and the toilet seat sitting on top of the car is something I am not likely to forget in a hurry. The last shot of Mr Bachchan touring Kolkata was a delight as was the huge ancestral house where the last scenes were shot.

But the movie is all about the journey from Delhi to Kolkata, Bhaskar Banerjee's (Amitabh) perception of life as it changes and Rana's (Irrfan) exasperation and growing fondness for Piku.

Looking forward to more such quirky though true to life stories...

Margarita With a Straw

Movie Review (Hindi)

This is a fairly simple coming of age story of a college going girl. Only tiny hitch -- she suffers from cerebral palsy. Now that tiny hitch is what makes the movie worth watching. Good thing I had read about Kalki Koechlin or I would want to know, since when did Bollywood audition young girls with cerebral palsy for roles in mainstream cinema. Whether this is mainstream is another question.

Director Shonali Bose has handled the actors so sensitively that every act seemed to evoke an emotional response. I asked myself, how many times have I given a thought to the real needs of  a person suffering from cerebral palsy? Answer - Never. That certainly does not mean they don't have a life as real as mine or that they are too mired with their disability.

I was really surprised that the censor board members for once decided to act like adults. Love the fact that young actors take the plunge with unorthodox roles. Both Kalki as Laila and Sayani as Khanum seemed quite comfortable in their roles as partners. Revathi who plays Kalki's mother is excellent as a loving parent, an angry parent, a forgiving and dying parent, all in one movie.

Here's to more Margaritas with or without straws!!

Movie Review (Hindi)

Byomkesh Bakshi

First, we must remember that the protagonist is a character fairly well known as a Bengali detective. He was quite famous in the forties. 

Second, many other directors have brought him to life with various degrees of success. 

Third, this edition was directed by Dibakar Banerjee.

The film opens into Calcutta of the 1940s with World War II happening in the background. The Japanese are next door trying to gain a foothold here. The British are the masters. The Chinese are smuggling in opium with impunity. The poor Indian might even forget he is in his own motherland. Very skillfully, the movie gets the audience into this milieu and then suddenly, as if in a fast moving roller coaster ride, we zip and zap through so many events and characters and violence and gore that it is hard to breathe. It is hard to dwell on what is going on in the detective’s mind. So, by the end of it, I was almost thankful that it ended. Just like Byomkesh himself, I too, am queasy about too much blood flowing all over.

But, however the director tried to portray his detective and tell his story, Sushant Singh Rajput came away with top honours.

Movie Review (English)

Whiplash

 A wonderful film depicting the myriad hues of grey of the creative world.

Andrew, a young jazz drummer played with aplomb by Miles Teller, passionate about the skill, wants to become the next Buddy Rich, joins a studio band led by conductor Fletcher, (JK Simmons, at his best). However, the instructor has a totally different take on how to push his students to further their skills. Fletcher is excruciatingly cruel in his words and actions and needs the students to be perfect or else he makes them bleed (literally!!) It can be called a revenge drama for the revenge exacted both by the struggling drummer and the teacher. 

Beautiful ending with some superb solo drumming.

Movie Review (Hindi)

P K

P K is what I expected a Raju Hirani movie to be. A scintillating plot, lots of gyan hidden in an interesting story and a top notch actor. His tight editing left no time to breathe.  There is no doubt that an alien would question our social mores and find this a strange world. 
Again, I was wondering if the alien, Amir Khan, had landed in any other country, life would have been simpler for him. But no, he had to come to India where the Mahatma was respected only on the rupee notes, where one got clothes to wear from dancing cars, where people refused to claim ownership of a packet of condoms, where certain people claimed to be in direct communication with God, and much much more. And not to forget our alien hero falling in love with Anushka Sharma, the latest among heroines to do a silly lip job.
A friend did feel that the Hindu religion could not be oversimplified so easily. The question of faith holds different connotations for different people. Whatever be the case, the film is quite a hit and Hirani got extra publicity  thanks to some extremist Hindu group demanding a ban on the movie. Did not work.
Looking forward to a sequel to this movie...