You live but once!

There are few movies that touch something inside you so deeply, you cant help shed a tear or two. There are fewer that make you do so out of self-realization. The last ones I can recall were Rang De Basanti and Dil Chahta Hai. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara joins that elite list now.

How flawless can a script be? How perfect can scenes get? How to do spontaneous, everyday comedy without going over-the-top and without resorting to gimmicks? How to ensure all the protagonists in your movie get their fair share of screen space without making it unfair to the story and the audience? How to blend music so well in your movie, it becomes another character by itself? All these questions and more are answered effectively by Zoya Akhtar and gang in ZNMD! After her lovely debut in Luck By Chance, which I loved immensely and have watched at least 6 times btw, Zoya Akhtar has pulled out all stops to give us a delicious masterpiece! ZNMD is one of those rare films where every character is played spot on by actors who have some acclaimed work to their credit from before and yet who have managed to surpass their own benchmarks with effortless performances. The casting is perfect! I read somewhere that initially the movie was supposed to star Ranbir, Imran and Farhan, and am I glad those two refused the film!! Not to say they are bad actors, its too early in their careers to call them good actors just yet.

Coming back to ZNMD, I have never really liked Hrithik Roshan's performances before, except his beautifully nuanced act in Lakshya (directed by none other than Farhan Akhtar. Coincidence?) and his awesome cameo in Luck By Chance (directed by Zoya. Coincidence?). I always felt he went way over the top even when not required and his charm and body carried it off for him on more occasions than one. But in ZNMD, he is just awesome! Underplaying his character to start with and letting the real Arjun come to the fore later, his transformation is wonderfully captured and the scene in which he cries after experiencing a whole new world while getting rid of his fear for water is simply out of this world! Hrithik does a marvelous job and should be a strong contender at award ceremonies next year (which I am sure will neglect him for doing well in a multi-starrer and give it away to SRK for Ra.One or Don2 :| )

Farhan Akhtar is brilliant as Imran. I cant imagine many other actors who could have done this role better. Maybe Aamir Khan, but Farhan Akhtar brings a certain tempered energy and depth to Imran, that is the mark of a mature actor who knows the demand of the script inside-out. No surprises there since he has written the dialogues. His squabble with Arjun is one of the high-points of the trip and the movie.

Abhay Deol - the emerging Rahul Dravid of Indian cinema - underplays his part just right and brings the vulnerable and suave side of Kabir to the fore with such ease, you cant help but admire his thespian skills! Kabir is the glue that holds the group, the trip and the movie together, and although it is a bit of a thankless role with lesser shades than the other two, its made tremendously enjoyable by Abhay.

Katrina Kaif is pitch-perfect in an extended cameo, essentially playing the catalyst in the story. Her scenes with Hrithik are mesmerizing. Kalki Koechlin is a fine actress and does her job wonderfully well! Her lip-syncing to rock chick is hilarious and so real! Ariadna Cabrol, who looks stunning btw, draws the boys and us like a moth to flame. She is just wow! Naseeruddin Shah is dependable as always in a crucial cameo while Deepti Naval is effective too.

Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy give us songs that will stay anthems for a long time to come. Be it the spirited Kab Tak Gine Hum Dhadkanein, or the peppy Suraj ki baahon mein, or the foot-tapping Paint It Red, or the philosophical Der Lagi Lekin, or the beautiful Khaabon Ke Parinday, or the utterly enjoyable and wonderful Senorita, they elevate the movie to a different level altogether with each tune. The Senorita song especially is so well picturised, its as if you are there, sitting in the audience, watching your friends play fool in a public performance! Farhan Akhtar's poetry is deep and meaningful - unlike say, the smart-ass lines said by guide Rehan in that monstrosity called Fanaa. Cinematography by Carlos Catalan is top notch - Spain is on my list of next destinations! Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti have written a fabulous script, and Zoya does full justice to it with her flawless direction.

And finally, the philosophy of the movie is what makes it what it is! For how many of us have really been happy, and I mean really happy, from the inside, on getting every paycheck? In a world that teaches us to keep fighting to stay afloat, and by afloat I mean chase a billion after you have reached a million, ZNMD is a whiff of fresh air that tells you to...well go get some fresh air for yourself and your soul. You deserve it because its you who decides what you deserve and what you dont! :)

Aisha!!!

Amit Trivedi is back with a bang! And not just your ordinary bang, not the kind they used to depict in the Batman TV series by lame words-in-clouds like POW and WHAM! This is serious kick-ass stuff!

It begins with Suno Aisha sung oh-so-delectably by Ash King, of Dil-Gira-Dafatan-fame, with able assistance by Trivedi himself and while it reminds a lot of another recent classic, Aditi from Jaane Tu, that's only bcz its reminiscent of the former in spirit. The use of saxophones and trumpets is a master stroke and Ash King does a fab job at making the song simply irresistible!

Gall Mitthi Mitthi is a winner all the way with Tochi at helm crooning a very non-mundane Punju tune, which is a refreshing change...especially bcz the lyrics are true-blue Punjabi, as compared to the random mundiya, chunari, kudiyon crap usually served till date in Hindi movies...The beat grows on u after a mere 2 listens and while i cudnt get what the hype abt the song is all about in the first listen, by the end of listen 2, i was hooked, in fact bowled over!

Sham is beautifully sung by Nikil D'Souza and is the soothing element in the album...well written, awesomely arranged and amazingly pleasant, Sham is a treat for the ears...'nuf said!

Lehrein is an introspective song, again awesomely arranged and beautifully sung by Anushka Mani, with some great lyrics! Another song u will be willing to listen on loop, especially if ur in a melancholy mood!

Behke Behke is probably the first Spanish style Hindi song ever...its energetic, vivacious and foot-tapping, belly-shaking to say the least. The awesome Anushka Manchanda sings this one and boy, does she do it well!

Anushka comes back for By The Way, which is a very VIVA-like song and yet, much better than what VIVA cud ever manage, of course bcz its Amit Trivedi at the helm of affairs here! Bubbly, effervescent and full of life, this ones a winner too!

Remixes of Gall Mitthi Mitthi and Lehrein wrap up the album, and both up the ante considerably! All in all, Aisha is hands-down, by far, the album of the year! Its a superb follow-up by Amit Trivedi to his much deserving and brilliant Dev D! He manages so much with some lesser-known singers, that its truly remarkable how carefully he has chosen the right voice for the right track! I hate to compare but, I havent felt like this abt an album since Rock On...Delhi 6 came close and while Dev D had 7-8 masterpieces, it also had another 4-5 tracks that I rarely liked to listen to (not bcz they wr bad, only bcz m not into that kinda music)....so considering the whole album, Aisha is a rarity, at least for me, where EVERY track stands on its own and tall! Dont take off ur headphones for the next month! :)

P.S. : I remember finding Emma pretty boring when I read it abt 12 yrs back...But Aisha sure looks a peppy adaptation! And not to forget, it has that most important factor every Hindi movie shud have...no no not the script....Abhay Deol! \m/

A day later...

Its almost 24 hrs since i watched Dev D and the movie hs been sinking inside all this while...I am sure there r gonna b hundreds of opinions abt this one and i know mine is just one in the whirlpool....but if ur an ardent lover of cinema as an art rather than just a mode of passing some time, only then will u undstnd wt m abt to say...Dev D is to hindi cinema what penicillin ws to medicine...or Galileo to astronomy...or Niels Bohr to chemistry...or T20 to cricket...its radical, its eccentric, its psychedelic, its subtle (rathr baap of subtle!), its technically astounding, and most importantly, its a crazy, crazy ride into the psyche of humanity! Thank God for mavericks and non-conformists!!!
Anurag Kashyap hs put an amazing spin on the age old Devdas story and the result is just spell-binding...his vision as a director is evident in more scenes than one...thrs so many memorable moments in ths movie, it'll b a huge spoiler to say anyone out aloud...and yet i cant stop myself frm talking abt one particular scene in which Chanda passes a stricture on morality in today's society "Half the country downloaded the video and derived self-gratification out of it...and they call me a slut!"...the takes on morality, ego, love and self-destruction are honest and raw...and path-breaking for hindi cinema...
Abhay Deol plays his part perfectly, but more than him, its the writer who writes his part to the T...the character is written so well, tht u begin to loathe Dev for the self-conceited egotist tht he is...and his self destruction is so tangible, u cn actually see it happening b4 ur own eyes! Mahi Gill as Paro is startling and forthright...the care she hs for Dev inspite of him being a scumbag, is genuine....and whenevr, some1 tries to make a doormat out of her, she doesnt hesitate one bit before showing the othr person his place! Darn good! But probably the most emotionally-relatable character of the ensemble is Chanda.....its brilliantly written with all the finer nuances crafted expertly and painstakingly...and wonderfully underplayed by Kalki...she lives the role like its her own...and in the process, provides the movie with the much needed emotional depth tht it othrwise lacks...
Inspite of being a trippy trip, this ones essentially a musical in the truest sense possible, bcz the songs carry the story forward instead of being huge boulders between scenes....its a case study in how songs cn serve as worthy substitutes to dialogues in narration...a word here for Amit Trivedi, who hs created the most freakin', tru-to-the-movie soundtrack ever!the songs r so appropriate and so well-used, tht they end up towering over everythng else, even the intelligently written lines and the technical finesse....and THT is sure a monumental task! not to take away anythng frm the technical crew, who hs done a fantabulous job, rit frm the camerawork to the art direction to the choreography (esp the break-dancing dudes in Pardesi!) to the background score to the editing....ths probably is one of the few movies, where almost nothing goes wrong in any of ths depts...
Of course, thr r bound to b a few glitches...lik the second half drags a wee-bit... and the end, altho radically diffrnt, is kinda abrupt and doesnt hit u lik a ton of bricks (and mayb thts y it does eventually manage to hit u hard, no matter what!)...the return of the break-dancing dudes for Saali Khushi seems like stretching the rubber-band too hard...and thrs self-indulgence on part of the director in a couple of instances, whr he gets carried away by his craft and tends to lose control....but ths r just minor abberations in an othrwis flawless piece of cinema (and for once, i wudnt hv the slightest hesitation in calling it ART, altho i used to hate tht word bcz of wht was erstwhile referred to as art in cinema!)...
The scenes and lines stay with u loooooooong aftr the movie's over...and the Einstein-ian 'A-Ha!' moments keep happening as each layer keeps unfolding with time...the multi-layered, multi-dimensional nature of the movie sure makes u take a trip inside ur own psyche....and thts saying a lot...bcz not many thngs, let alone movies, cn manage tht!
Everyone associated....take a bow!! Hats off!

Dev.D

INTELLIGENT.CAPTIVATING.INTELLIGENT.MESMERIZING.

INTELLIGENT.OVERWHELMING.INTELLIGENT.AWE-INSPIRING.

INTELLIGENT.BRILLIANT.

Anurag, Amit Trivedi, Abhay, Mahi, Kalki and everyone else...Take A Bow!

Oye Lucky!

This one's a fab film by Dibakar Banerjee, after his immensely enjoyable debut with Khosla Ka Ghosla...The film treats its audiences intelligence as somethng tht needs to be valued unlik a lot of recent movies and the multiple layers tht exist almost throughout the movie, are just brilliant from the conception and writing point of view...

Similar in theme (a rare case of genuine inspiration here, probably unintended!) to Spielberg's cat-and-mouse game Catch Me If You Can, Oye Lucky...Lucky Oye is a warm, honest film tht succeeds on all the counts. Abhay Deol deserves special mention here. He seems to b the only one in thr elite family who actually hs the sense to spot good scripts and then the sensibility to protray the characters with an uncanny chutzpah. His more brawny and less brainy cousins surely need to tk a leaf or 2 out of hs book!

The movie isnt straightforward tho and tht cud b a deterrent for those who hv no appetite for the subtle...the othrs, jus get hold of ths one!