Lipstick Under My Burkha

Movie Review (Hindi)

Lipstick under my Burkha is a film that you take away with you after the screen time is over. Every person watching it will find it relate able. Lets take the four central characters of the movie, each representing a phase of a woman’s life.

A woman in her late 40s/ early 50s – She has been widowed for long and misses a man in her life. But dare she express her desires publicly?? No, no, no, that would be blasphemy! She is old and ought to visit satsangs. So when she wants to learn swimming she needs to shop for a swimsuit very surreptitiously and when she finds her coach handsome and desirable, she flirts with him over the phone assuming a different character.

A woman in her 30s – She is married with three small kids. Her husband has returned from the middle east and has no job now but he does have an extra marital relationship. All he wants from his wife is sex. He hardly looks at her as a thinking individual. She is a brilliant sales woman and wants to better herself at work but is told by her husband not to try to be a husband.

A woman in her 20s – She is pretty and works in a parlour. She has dreams of making it big in the business of marriage photography along with her lover. She has no qualms of having a relationship. However, her mother who is a single parent, is struggling for a livelihood and wants her daughter to get married into a decent family.

A teenager studying in the first year in college – She, in fact, gives the film its literal name as she roams around in a burkha, shoplifting from branded stores, flinging her burkha away before she reaches college, melting into the crowd of young people. She is pretty, sings well and loves to dance and dress up. At home, however, she stitches Burkhas at the family shop and lives an alternate life after her parents retire for the night.

It is funny, but if the women were to be replaced by men, there would be no story to tell!!

I rest my case!

Each actor did justice to her/his role. What a casting coup!

Alankrita Shrivastava and Prakash Jha, Thank you for making movies meaningful.

Airlift

Movie Review (Hindi)

Quite a misnomer. I really do not understand why the movie has been titled Airlift when the act of lifting in the air happens at the end of the movie. For me, it was the journey towards the rescue operation that was the highlight of the movie rather than flying out.

Many of us would not have the faintest idea of what really happened to Indians during the Iraq war with Kuwait. So this movie truly engages. The film is well shot and the editing is tight. There are no moments of relief keeping in mind the nature of the plot.

I stayed glued to the screen wanting to know how Ranjit Katiyal (Akshay Kumar), the protagonist, overcomes one obstacle after another. A man who was a go-getter businessman turns into a messiah for more than a lakh Indians stranded in Kuwait.

There are moments in the movie where patriotism shines through and it is nice to see the bureaucratic wheel turning sometimes, while the politicians are really painted in a bad light, though I am not complaining.  I generally do not watch Akshay Kumar’s movies, but am glad I watched this one. You should watch it too. 

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!

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)

Haider

I was really eager to see this third offering by Vishal Bharadwaj, with his take on Shakespeare's tragedies. I was disappointed. After Maqbool and Omkara, it was only natural for me to have my hopes high, but in vain. I was unable to connect with the characters or the story which is very important for me to be able to enjoy a movie. 

There were flashes of excellent acting when I was really impressed with Shahid Kapur's acting skills, especially when he addresses a crowd with his head shaven for the first time. Tabu had the strongest role but what was her character trying to do? She loves her son, she does not love her husband, she lusts after her brother in law, lives with him and then marries him the moment she comes to know of her husband's death. She loves Haider, her son, but she also suspects he has lost his mental balance. Finally, she realizes that her present husband is no good and blows herself up. Shraddha Kapoor, Haider's love interest was a disappointment. 

The movie left me cold which left me quite depressed. Enjoyed the music though.

Movie Review (Hindi)

Khoobsurat

The original was one of my favourite movies, mainly because the protagonist was a woman (Rekha) and she was a rebel. She stood up against the rigid rules put in place by the matriarch. I was hoping this Khoobsurat would be along those lines. Well, it was in a way. Only I did not see Sonam as the reason for my liking the movie. She was wildly over the top for me. You know, Mr Director, subtlety is not obsolete, really. I liked Ratna Pathak Shah though as the tough woman laying down tough rules. Wish the younger girl (Ratna's daughter) had more life in her. Now, I must mention the hero, Fawad Khan. Total waste of a good actor. But he kept me interested. And yes, Kiron Kher though predictable, was hilarious. Thanks for the laughs... 

Though it does bring in the big question, what had gotten into Disney to do this movie???

Movie Review (Hindi)

Mary Kom

It is rarely that I get to see two Bollywood movies back to back which I enjoy. Also both movies being women oriented is also an interesting coincidence. So, soon after Mardani, I get to see this wonderful movie, Mary Kom, based on the life of India's champion boxer, Mary. 

When I had heard about the making of the movie, I read that Priyanka Chopra was to play Mary Kom. Frankly I had my misgivings about her being cast in this role. And thank goodness I was proved wrong! 

I do wish all women were blessed with such an understanding husband as Mary Kom's. He takes over the household chores and looking after the twin sons and forces Mary to stick to her discipline!! Is he for real? Apparently he is. Also like all great achievers, Mary has a super coach who keeps her 'boxing fit'. 

The movie brought all elements of good cinema together. The script was tight, the editing close, the acting just right and the direction couldn't be better. 

This makes me more confident of looking forward to movies revolving around women. There was Kahaani, English Vinglish, Queen, Mardani and now Mary Kom. Thanks to the changing times... Here's to WOMEN!!!!!

Movie Review (Hindi)

MARDANI

When I heard about this movie starring Rani Mukherjee, I was instantly reminded of the Hindi peom weitten by Subhadra Kumari Chauhan on Rani Laxmibai. There was a refrain in the poem... Khoob ladi mardani, woh to Jhansi wali Rani thi. I wondered at the simile. Was the earlier Mardani going to be reflected in this Mardani? And thank God she was! One of the few occasions when a Hindi film is carried on a woman's shoulders and the woman holds a position of power being a police officer who takes on the menace of trafficking of the girl child.
The movie impressed because of a crisp script, smart editing, clear direction and capable acting, both by the actress and the villain. Commercial movies make sense when they deal with such socially relevant topics. The more it is publicized, the more people will watch it and somewhere deep in the mind something will change. All those 100 crore clubs (or more) nonsensical movies make no difference to society other making millions for the producers and actors and creating other wanna be actors mirroring themselves after those stars.
Here's to more Mardanis!!! Thank you Rani Mukherjee. You never cease to amaze me!

Movie Review - Bollywood

Lootera (The Thief)
After hearing rave reviews of this Hindi movie, I decided to take a look myself. Another reason why I do not watch a movie after going through the reviews. I either have very high expectations or just don't have any. Lootera suffered because of this. The film is well shot. A lot of importance has been given to each shot which is great and a welcome change. But the story did not really work for me. It reminded me too much of Fanaa (the Kajol-Aamir Khan starrer). Boy meets girl, falls in love and then ditches her coz his line of work does not allow for love. Ditto here. Then there is more of Fanaa at the end with snowscape and the hero's death. I was really glad the writer did not get a child into the mess.
But the best of all was the use of the O. Henry short story, The Last Leaf. The artist in the story claims to paint a masterpiece at some point in his life and finally the masterpiece is the last leaf painted on a wall that helps a young woman live, while he dies of pneumonia. The story was, of course, used in pure Bollywood style in Lootera. But I thank those responsible for this tribute to O. Henry.
P.S. - Sonakshi Sinha and Ranveer Singh are good actors.