Jab Tak Thi Jaan

Jab Tak Hain Jaan is a story of some of the most stupid characters you have seen till date. Check this out -

A Punjabi NRI girl who bargains with Sir Jesus for every damn thing in life, ultimately bargaining for the life of someone she apparently loves immensely (while engaged to someone else, but we'll forgive her for that) in return for not loving him again ever (or as it seemed from later parts, not to sleep with him, coz you know, that's what true love is all about - sex). Dont even get me started on the lack of bottoms in her wardrobe - apparently someone told her women dont need to wear anything below the upper thighs, for that part is made of pure plastic. Incidentally, that is the same material as her face.

A wannabe, yuppie modern 21 year old missy, who makes out and breaks up with guys at will and considers that one of the achievements to list on her resume along with being a topper in every subject, being a champ at every sport, not to mention a National Level swimmer and deep-sea diver who doesnt realize the water in Ladakh lakes is cold before she dives into one for a bet as measly as her budget for clothes and almost drowns in it before being rescued by a brooding armyman who waits till she chokes under the water before pulling her out. Some National swimmer she is!

And finally, we have the hero of the movie, the kind of guy you feel bad for because he is saddled with dumb and dumber as the choices for his mate in bed. Why am I being crass, you ask? Coz that's what he wants most of the time - to do the dirty. Dont blame him though, for the plastic looks really good and National champ has a penchant for chaddis shorter than a purse and tops that will make a tank-top look like a burkha. Any man who can remember what that means will fall for that.

Which brings us to the worst enemy of the movie - the plot. The plot is so skimpy, it competes with Katrina's skirt and Anushka's IQ for brevity. Its something even Sherlyn Chopra would be wary of wearing. Or maybe not. The story is ridiculous to say the least and borrows liberally from children's stories - for instance that part about keeping your promise with God. It also makes a mockery of the Indian Army and the noble profession of bomb diffusion. The innumerable plotholes are not even worth getting into. The music looks bad on-screen, the hammy cameos by Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh are embarassing and saddled with unbelievable logic. The background score is remarkable and keeps you awake through the 3.5 hrs. The cinematography is breathtaking and gives the film a fresh and majestic look - something the film is quick to counter through trite dialogue and cring-worthy scenes. Katrina is a mix of John Abraham and Neil Nitin Mukesh. Anushka is a mix of Preity Zinta on coke and Zayed Khan not on coke. SRK is okay as the 25 year old Londoner (although he cant pull it off that well anymore due to age) and really good as the armyman. It was good to see him not resort to buffoonery after years! Sadly, he is screwed over by a terribly written film. The saving grace is the last song showing Yashji directing the movie. It is a delight to watch. Unfortunate that he didnt sign-off his directorial career with the evergreen and entertaining Dil To Pagal Hai. Jab Tak Hain Jaan takes whatever life was left in viewers after watching ignominies like Ra.One, Mausam and Bol Bacchan and dunks it into the freezing Leh waters. And there's no brooding armyman waiting to resuscitate you back to life.

Sweet!

Barfi! is the kind of film that makes you care about the characters - smile with them, feel for them, empathize with their situation, root for them and ultimately, be with them in spirit in their journey. For this reason alone, it is a film that needs to be commended and promoted. That it achieves all of this and also manages to entertain is a complete bonus, and a delightful one at that!

Anurag Basu shakes off the effects of the monstrous snoozathon, remembered as Kites by the more adventurous who dared to watch it, and as the-Sphinglish-movie-that-almost-killed-Hrithik-Roshan's-career by others, and returns to his Gangster and Life..In a Metro roots to cook up a tasty, heart-warming, feel-good movie that focuses on characters and their lives rather than the audience's money. The story is beautiful and maturely handled. The cinematography is top notch. So is the background score by Pritam, which adds even more life to the movie. The music is perfect and used exceedingly well in the proceedings. The dialogues are minimal, given the predicament of the main protagonist, and yet, the few that exist, are well-written. The feel of the movie is cheerful, and in spite of the grave topics touched, remains happy throughout. The silent dramedy genre is not tried too often in Hindi cinema, and when it is tried so well, all you want to do is stand up and applaud. The supporting cast is apt and Saurabh Shukla in particular is delightful as a harrowed cop troubled by years of misdeeds by the protagonist. When you compare his portrayal of the character with something similar shown in typical Hindi movies, like Amitabh's character in the God-awful Bunty Aur Babli, you can see how we as an audience, have always valued star wattage more than good acting. And 7 years hence, things havent changed much. Even today, an Akshay Kumar for a Rowdy Rathore or an Ajay Devgan for a Bol Bacchan continues to get more acclaim for their "different" roles, over someone like Saurabh Shukla in this film or Anu Kapoor in Vicky Donor. Not to take anything away from Kumar or Devgan. They just happen to have larger fan bases. Ultimately, it is gems like Barfi! that wake us up from our mediocre slumber party.

The direction is of top quality, and in spite of loopholes like the predictable whodunit track, or the shaky back-and-forth in timelines, it does complete justice to the written word. The screenplay is brilliant and easily the best of the year yet. Coming to performances, Ileana exudes charm and confidence in her Hindi debut and fits her Bong character to the T. Hardly can you guess from her portrayal of Shruti that she is a born Goan, who has been working in mindless Telugu masala for 6 years. For someone whose hips, rather than emoting skills, have been the focus of much discussion for years down in Tollywood, Ileana does very very well and has Anurag Basu to thank for, for sketching such a meaty character for her debut. Priyanka Chopra packs a complete surprise! I had expected her to ape SRK from MNIK and was cringing at the thought of enduring that through the movie, but she plays the role subtle and subdued, with the right amount of energy when required. After Saat Khoon Maaf, here is another performance she can be proud of, when she eventually hangs up her boots. And finally, to the star of the show - Mr. Ranbir Kapoor. After wowing us in Wake Up Sid, RocketSingh, Raajneeti and Rockstar, RK delivers another masterstroke in and as Barfi. It is a very difficult character to play at any stage of your career, let alone so early, and I cannot imagine anyone doing as much justice to it as Ranbir does. He immerses himself completely and makes you smile when he plucks his heart out for Shruti, feel for him when he discovers he has no chance with her, and root for him when he is out to help Jhilmil. Doing physical comedy is no mean feat and the only one who has managed it well in the last 20 years is Govinda. RK however does a very different take on physical comedy, more of the Chaplinesque variety, and manages it with aplomb. No words can describe the brilliance of his performance. He is sure to sweep all awards and critical acclaim this year as well.

Ultimately, Barfi! is a film which deserves being seen, for few films are so sincerely made and yet manage not to take themselves too seriously. Missing it will be like missing out on something truly not worth missing, like a ummm....well made Barfi? :)

Identity crisis

**Spoilers!!!**

While watching Ek Tha Tiger, the thought that kept hitting me again and again was that throughout the making of the film, the makers faced a dilemma and were unable to decide what kind of movie they wanted to make. Did they want to make a realistic story of spies and their world, or did they want to make a full-blown, no-holds-barred, quintessential Salman Khan entertainer which defies logic and earns whistles and claps in abundance? They couldnt decide, and finally, they ended up making a movie that is neither here nor there.

Don't get me wrong. Ek Tha Tiger is not a bad movie. In fact, far from it! It has a decent plot, it maintains its tone and tempo and even has some stunning action scenes. But it is not a very entertaining film. At the same time, it is not the best Salman Khan film ever, as is being touted. Nor is it the best Bollywood action film yet. Heck, it is not even the best spy movie to come out of Bollywood this year. But before we get into comparisons, let's talk about what worked and what did not.

The story concept, although not terribly complex, is interesting. What happens when a spy decides he/she wants to lead a normal life? Can someone who has been trained and who has sworn to put country before self for all his or her life revert the decision at some point of time in life and start a new life afresh? There are so many possibilities there and Ek Tha Tiger pretty much skims over them. The screenplay is quite dull and underplays everything. The stakes dont rise high enough - not in the emotional scenes, not in the funny scenes and surprisingly, not even in the high voltage action scenes. The action scenes are excellently choreographed though, and do appear slick and sophisticated. They are fun to watch but the experience continues to be underwhelming, because the stakes arent high enough, and as an audience member, you dont feel the action has an end purpose that you care about. The culprit here is the direction, which underplays everything and ends up making the entire movie look like a ho-hum effort. The background music is apt and does improve the impact of the scenes in places.

Music is a mixed bag. Banjara is the weakest of the lot and is picturised very typically. It also comes at a point where the momentum of the film is already low and acts as a speed-breaker. Laapata is easy on the eye and comes as a refreshing change in the movie. Saiyaara is perhaps the best placed song, but lacks good visuals to accompany it. Maashallah comes off as the best of the lot, especially since it appears at the end as the credits roll, and there is nothing it can do to spoil the effect of the movie. It is easily the most energetic song of the album and, in spite of an uninspired display of dance moves by the lead pair, manages to entertain. Cinematography is excellent and every frame looks beautiful and adds to the scene. The direction by Kabir Khan, who gave us the very interesting Kabul Express and the fine-till-the-muddled-climax New York, is confused and, for lack of decision, makes a meddle of a good story idea and opportunity.

The supporting cast is pretty good and does a commendable job. Girish Karnad and Ranvir Shorey are a delight to watch in particular. Katrina Kaif is ill suited to the role and although she does her action scenes with aplomb, her emoting is wooden and listless. A better actress could have done wonders in this role, which itself needed more fleshing out. Salman Khan does well as a RAW agent, especially in the first half where he is under disguise and in the action scenes. He plays his part with conviction, without going over-the-top and without his usual low-brow humor. It is refreshing to watch him do simple stuff without hamming or overacting. Where he appears unconvincing is the romantic angle, and that is because the romance is half-baked.

Ultimately, Ek Tha Tiger is a well-meaning film, which at only 2 hrs 10 mins takes too long to come to the point and then makes the point very meekly. In the process, it does not entertain enough and ends up being a middling effort. It is neither a massy film that caters to Sallu fans nor one that will win critical acclaim for its finesse. Again, it is not a bad film, just an underwhelming one. And all this because it faces an identity crisis.

The Tiger Roars...Review

Coming soon....

Ek Tha Mish-mash

Ever since the movie was announced, there has been a lot of anticipation for seeing darling of the masses Sallu bhai in a classy action role sans the juvenile humor that is usually part of his movies (and that drives me nuts! Why does he need to do those pathetic jokes in every single movie!). I was looking forward to the music even more since it is composed by Sohail Sen, who delivered very enjoyable music in Mere Brother Ki Dulhan last year. The album is finally out.

The album starts off with a very, very ordinary Mashallah, sung by Wajid and Shreya Ghoshal and also composed by Sajid-Wajid. Wajid screws up the track to some extent with his uninspiring vocals. And Shreya is the wrong choice for the song. Sunidhi would have been perfect. The Arabian theme is good but the execution is where the song falters.

Next up is Banjaara, easily the best song of the album. I had been looking forward to this song since I saw the shoot clips in Jan. My first reaction to the song was it is underwhelming. The violin tune playing throughout the song is lovely, but Sukhvinder is not in form. His part lacks energy. The song starts off classy, even reminding one of Dil Gira Dafatan from Delhi 6, then moves on to a massy base, and ultimately cant make a choice between being classy and massy; ends up being a middling effort. But after repeated listens, it is starting to grow on me.

Next up is Laapata sung by KK and Shreya. It is okayish and sounds like a leftover from Mere Brother Ki Dulhan. These kind of songs suited Sallu during his Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge days when he put loads of energy into the dances.

The album concludes with Saiyaara, which is another neither here nor there effort. Mohit Chauhan does well but is not in top form. The song sounds like a wannabe great emotional number but ends up being just that - a wannabe.

The Tiger theme is decent, but nothing great. Overall, I am disappointed with the album, although it isnt the worst of the year. Its just about average. Expected a lot from it and Sohail Sen after his chartbusters last year. Hope this is one of those cases where okayish music does not spoil the effect of the movie (think 3 Idiots)

Two sides of the same coin?

I finally got around to watching two of the most hyped Marathi films in recent times - Deool and Shala - and I must say the experience was a bit like having a Krackjack biscuit. Lets talk about Deool first.

Deool is a very well-directed, well-enacted tale of beliefs and how man uses God for his own benefit. Its starts off slow and slightly difficult to decipher, but grows with each scene, until it reaches a high-point by the intermission. The scenes in the second half are well etched too and the end is just perfect, fittingly allowing Girish Kulkarni a couple of scenes of his own with "his" Datta. The village setting, the lingo, the playful politician couple, the mandatory female Sarpancha backed by a stronger hand, the older generation's obsession with TV soaps, the youth leader's mental tussle between backing his uncle who brought him up and backing his instincts which could open more doors for him, the transformation of the village from a serene place to a bustling worship-center, the economic upturn and its downsides, the demoralization of a good-natured man who wants to do good for his village but cant make others see it, and ultimately, the mental turmoil of the simpleton who is the reason for the change but not the beneficiary - it is all protrayed so well, that the director Umesh Kulkarni deserves a pat on his back. He has tried hard to stay on course and although there are a couple of weak points - like the item song under the garb of using a celebrity show for publicity and using a famous actor in a gimmicky cameo in the climax - those are minor abberations in an otherwise well-conceived project. All actors do full justice to their parts - right from Dilip Prabhawalkar as the well-meaning Appa, Nana Patekar as the chameleon-like Bhau, Hrishikesh Joshi as the ridiculously-named Tomya, Srikant Yadav as the seething-with-anger Anna, Sonali Kulkarni as the flirtatious Vahini saheb, and last but not the least, National award winner Girish Kulkarni as the god-fearing simpleton Keshya. The dialogues strike a perfect balance between being hilarious and poignant, and the irony in the scenes takes the movie several notches higher. The songs are just awesome - especially the bhajan Deva Tula Shodhu Kutha and the parody Phoda Datta Naam Taho. They are not only well sung but also brilliantly penned and add to the sarcastic nature of the story. The end is very apt and makes you cry for the poor Keshya who has lost his cow to the commercialization of God, but who finally comes into his own by sending a message back to the establishment, even though he knows it will have only a minor effect. Deool entertains and also makes you think about what is wrong with the way we view progress and the cost at which we achieve it. A movie you cannot afford to miss!

Shala, on the other hand, is a take on adolescent love in school days, with the backdrop of emergency. It tries to provide an unbiased view of how teens think and behave, and what shapes their thoughts, without being judgemental. Shala is helped by a very good performance from Anshuman Joshi as the main protagonist Joshya, through whose eyes we see the world. The setting is authentic and the camaraderie between Joshya and his buddies Fawdya and Mhatre is sure to bring back memories of your own buddies from school. Ketaki Mategaonkar is sweet as Shirodkar and you can see why Joshya falls for her. Most of the teachers do a good job and a few scenes like the one which draws parallels between what is happening in the country at the time of emergency and what happens in the classroom when Shirodkar doesnt put a brown cover on her book, or the one where Joshya's father listens to his side of the story considerately before reaching a conclusion, are very well handled. Where the movie falters big time is in its direction, in all senses. The story does not have any direction, and while it is quite understandable that debutant director Sujay Dahake wanted to come up with a slice-of-life film, Shala does not have enough entertaining or interesting moments to keep you hooked for 98 mins. Now when a movie cant do that for such a short span of time, its asking for trouble. Most topics broached are just poked at and then left alone, which left me tremendously dissatisfied as a viewer. For eg. the parallels between emergency and classroom atmosphere started out very well but the emergency angle petered out very tamely in the end. The issue of a newly admitted Bandra girl trying to commit suicide because her classmates tease her using their favorite teacher's name was handled very very amateurishly. If the issue was not important or did not deserve a proper conclusion, why bring it up at all! The character of Joshya's uncle was half-baked and did not go to its full potential. Even Joshya's own philosophies were under-developed, and while that is understandable since he is only 14 years old, the message that the movie gave out was terribly confusing and that is not pardonable. Every movie need not have a message or take a stand, but a half-baked, lily-livered message is worse than no message at all. Shala succeeds on one count, and that is invoking nostalgia. Unfortunately, it fails on most other counts - story-telling, entertainment and holding the viewer's interest. Its not so much a bad film as it is an amateurish attempt at making a feel-good film. Ultimately, it ends up being a pretentious, wannabe film, that could have been so much more.

A twist in the tale

Now this is a story Jeffrey Archer would have been proud of. I must admit I went into Kahaani expecting a good movie - a deep, meaningful film with great performances - and came out getting a taut, riveting thriller that is hard to second guess! And yes, it had great performances too. Giving anything out about the movie and its story will be a gross disservice to those who havent seen it yet, so lets just focus on the other aspects.

Kahaani has a great story, which ties up almost all loose ends and manages to be totally convincing. Yes, there can be one or two minor issues you may have with the story (I have a couple, hit me up if you want to get into a discussion), but those are inconsequential when compared to the masterful direction by Sujoy Ghosh. This guy had lost his direction (no pun intended!) with the terrible money-waster Aladin a few years after starting out brightly with Jhankaar Beats, a deliciously fun film with great music, and Home Delivery, a movie that bombed but also one I enjoyed in parts for its superfun spoofy format. He is back on track with Kahaani and I am eagerly looking forward to what he comes up with next.

All the actors are in great form, not the least of them Vidya Balan, fresh from the success and accolades earned for The Dirty Picture (which I found a tad overrated). She gives a fine, controlled performance and barring for a couple of out of place laughs and smiles, she carries the film on her firm shoulders. Nawazuddin Siddique is real as IB officer Khan. But the show is stolen by Saswata Chatterjee in the role of Bob Biswas. He is killer! Technically, the cinematography and editing are apt and the background score fits the mood. The songs are not used much but wisely used wherever they are used.

In the end, Kahaani is a work of a master director. If movies like Johnny Gaddar and Samay are your cup of tea, Kahaani is an exotic chai you shouldnt miss.

The jinx is finally broken?

After my rant exactly a year ago, the "jinx" finally seems to be broken! For the first time since 2002, someone other than well-past-his-prime-as-a-leading-actor Amitabh Bacchan, performs-well-but-gets-awarded-for-the-weirdest-roles Hrithik Roshan and I-yam-the-self-proclaimed-khinggg SRK has won the Best Actor at Filmfare. Lets give a round of applause to the David who managed to defeat these Goliaths - Ranbeer Kapoor. Janardhan Jakkhad has managed to do what people like DJ, Radhey Mohan, Munnabhai, and Chulbul Pandey couldnt! Hopefully, this isnt a one-off year when the choices are sane and this will usher in a new era of unbiased and non-SRK-in-hammy-self-anointed-king-role-winning-for-bullshit awards!

The Filmfare winners this year are given below. My choices can be seen here.

BEST FILM : Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
BEST DIRECTOR : Zoya Akhtar for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

BEST ACTOR : Ranbir Kapoor for Rockstar
BEST ACTRESS : Vidya Balan for The Dirty Picture
BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE : Farhan Akhtar for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE : Rani Mukerji for No One Killed Jessica
BEST MUSIC DIRECTOR :  A.R. Rahman for Rockstar
BEST LYRICS : Irshad Kamil for "Naadaan Parindey" from Rockstar
BEST PLAYBACK SINGER (MALE) : Mohit Chauhan for "Jo Bhi Main" from Rockstar
BEST PLAYBACK SINGER (FEMALE) : Rekha Bhardwaj and Usha Uthup for "Darling" from 7 Khoon Maaf
Best Debut (Male): Vidyut Jhamwal for Force
Best Debut (Female): Parineeti Chopra for Ladies vs Ricky Bahl
Best Debut Director : Abhinay Deo for Delhi Belly
RD Burman Award for upcoming talent in field of music: Krsna for Tanu Weds Manu
Best Film (Critics): Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Best Actor (Critics): Ranbir Kapoor for Rockstar
Best Actor Female (Critics): Priyanka Chopra for 7 Khoon Maaf

Best Dialogue: Farhan Akthar for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Best Screenplay : Akshat Verrma for Delhi Belly
Best Story: Sanjay Chauhan for I Am Kalam
Best Production Design: Shashank Tere for Delhi Belly
Best Editing: Huzefa Lokhandwala for Delhi Belly
Best Cinematography: Carlos Catalan for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Best Background Score: Ranjit Barot for Shaitan
Best Sound Design: Nakul Kamte for Don 2
Best VFX: Red Chillies VFX for Ra.One
Best Action: Action Concepts for Don 2
Best Choreography: Bosco-Caesar for "Senorita" for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Best Costume: Niharika Khan for The Dirty Picture

Fire in the belly

I had not expected Karan Johar to back such an intense, gritty film, and I am pleasantly surprised he did! Agneepath is a difficult film to make, especially since the original, in spite of being a pretty bad movie with hammy performances, continues to live in memory of the audience. Kudos to Johar and director Karan Malhotra for making their own film borrowing only the basic theme of the original!

Agneepath is NOT your quintessential masala potboiler. Whoever claims it is probably does not know what a quintessential masala potboiler means! It is a dark revenge drama, replete with excellent performances, strong but rarely over-the-top dialogue and above all, hardcore, earthy action. The direction is really good, especially for a newcomer, and it is to the director's credit that he manages to extract focused performances from pretty much the entire cast! Rishi Kapoor as Rauf Lala is a knockout, and it is wonderful to see him play an out-and-out negative character at this stage of his career, not bothering about screen image and length of role. THIS is how a superstar ought to age! Sanjay Dutt is brilliant as Kancha and invokes terror every time he is on screen. His expressions, his dialogues and his overall demeanor are worthy of a villain and after the Munnabhai series and Vaastav, this is another performance of his that will be remembered for years! Hrithik Roshan carries off the main protagonist's role with a lot of intensity and pathos. His eyes speak when his lips dont and not giving him too many lines is a masterstroke, for I have always found Hrithik weak in the dialogue delivery department. He tends to mumble a lot and comes off as incoherent when given too many complex lines to deliver. Which is why he excels even more in this role which needs him to talk less and emote more. That he is brilliant at the latter is no secret and he proves it once again with a near flawless performance. Its just the end of the first month of the new year and we already have a couple of brilliant, award-worthy performances from Agneepath! Chetan Pandit as Master Deenanath Chauhan and Arish Bhivandiwala as the young Vijay are really good in their roles too. Cinematography is brilliant and complements the proceedings very well. The dialogues deserve special mention for being impactful without going over the top even once.

Now to the downers. Priyanka Chopra sticks out like a sore thumb in this mammoth cast and in spite of having almost nothing to do, still manages to botch it up by acting like someone who needs to be in a mental asylum. Once a competent actress, she has surprisingly lost all talent since 7 Khoon Maaf, which was perhaps the high-point of her career, acting-wise. Zarina Wahab playing Vijay's mother, has to make do with a confusing role and although she doesnt do a bad job, you cant really tell what her issue in life is. Does she not realize why her son is doing what he is doing? Does she not know a way of trying to stop him from being bad? Does she not want her daughter to never know about Vijay? Maybe she is supposed to be confused, but she comes off as indifferent, due to the poorly sketched role. The songs act like speed-breakers and at times, spoil the realistic portrayal of the story. Gun Guna is idiotic and takes the movie down a notch or two while it is on. Chikni Chameli is energetic but wasted. Shah Ka Rutba has some unintentionally funny choreography, although it goes well with the proceedings. Deva Shree Ganesha is superbly picturized and aptly used in the pre-climax. The background score is top notch and fits the mood of the movie. Action is excellent and, with the exception of one hilarious bit in the climax, takes the movie to a different level altogether. Thankfully, it is not over the top and very believable, which is a relief after watching some ridiculously choreographed set pieces in Bodyguard et al.

Ultimately, Agneepath is an action drama with a strong story and commendable performances. Its violent, yes, but its also gripping and in spite of being almost 3 hrs long, manages to hold your interest for almost all the time, which in itself is no mean feat. In times when good, sensible movies are few and far between, Agneepath is one movie that gives you pretty much all you could hope for from an action drama.