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Reviews
Dabangg (2010)
Bollywood, served HOT!
As a director, Abhinav Kashyap has made it clear that he does not want to subscribe to his brother Anurag Kashyap's school of cinema and that he will not be compared with him. Here is a filmmaker who does not take himself too seriously, but knows what kind of audience he is catering to, and churns out a total entertainer for them. It is not for stimulating your intellectual senses, nor is it a non sense flick ala Om Shanti Om.
Admittedly, the story is the weak link in the movie. It is too run of the mill, too clichéd. But that is not what you are going into the movie for. The promos have set the expectations of b-grade bollywood coming to A-class movie making with the A-list actors, chart topping music and crisp editing & direction. You come in for superhero styling, rustic humor and comic book action. On all these counts, it delivers. There is not much in the plot. Chulbul Pandey (Salman Khan) is a step-son in a strained family and goes on to become a police officer in rural Uttar Pradesh. He is unscrupulous, but has his heart in the right place, hence the self proclaimed Robinhood Pandey. His arch rival is a small time politician Chhedy Singh, played by Sonu Sood, who, for his political motives tries to ruin everything around Chulbul's family which is already bursting at the seams. Chulbul has a love interest in the form of new comer Sonakshi Sinha who holds the screen in every scene that she is in. The movie progresses towards the Pandey family burying the hatchet and Chulbul having his revenge on the villain. A gripping story and a strong villain would have made this one a classic. But that is beside the point.
There is never a dull moment. The action is over the top and purposefully so. Some people will love it and others will have a good laugh about it. Expect an out and out mass entertainer, and that is what you get. There is action, romance and lots of laughs. There are some emotional scenes too, but they are short and abrupt to keep away from becoming overly melodramatic.
The songs are very well placed and are entertaining too. And then there is the Wild West background score that adds punch to the witty one-liners throughout. The editing is crisp and the UP hinterland has been created beautifully. All the shots are filled with extras right up to your face.
There is a lot of style to Salman's character and don't be surprised if you see Salman aficionados sporting the thin moustache and wearing their ray-ban rip-offs at the back of their shirt collars and dancing to the title song. Then there are other actors like Arbaz Khan, Anupam Kher, Om Puri, Mahesh Manjrekar,Tinu Anand and a glimpse of Mahie Gill, making sure with their performances that this does not end up as a b-grade movie with poor side actors.
There are directors who make films keeping actors in mind. We have seen this with Amithabh and of late Aamir & Shahrukh. It is about time that filmmakers capitalize on the kind of fan following that Salman has. And with Wanted, and now Dabangg, Salman has grabbed it with both hands. We only hope that the different scenes & sequences were connected to each other to make the narrative more cohesive.
And if you are looking for a message in the film, it is loud and clear. This is not Classical cinema, this is good old' classic Bollywood, on a platter. It is not a parody of the 70's cinema. Instead, it builds on that style and is seasoned with action-Rajnikant style. Whistle aloud and have fun!
Raajneeti (2010)
A multi-starer to the core
Even if you do not know before going into the movie, it is evident in the first few minutes that the film draws heavily from the epic of Mahabharata. From the basic plot to the characters. Your palms will get sweaty a few times if you can relate to it.
Ranbir Kapoor is our modern day Arjun & Krishna woven into one. All characters in the movie have shades of gray and Ranbir is no exception. He is a strategist who is not afraid to go the bloody mile. Being a young actor in a multi starer can be tricky, but Ranbir does emerge on top, thereby setting the pace for more serious & deeper roles in the future. Nana Patekar is so subtle & understated that he takes the film forward effortlessly. No yelling, just shrewd smiles. Ajay Devgn proves yet again that he is past the stage where he needs screen time to justify his role. He easily enters into the skin of the modern day Karna, letting Manoj Bajpai as Duryodhan take center stage. And Bajpai, justifies every minute of his presence on screen. Arjun Rampal has his moments in the sun. Katrina impresses mainly through her improved Hindi. This is definitely not the role that she was hoping would get her a national award.
Subtlety is not a mark of Prakash Jha's cinema. From Gangajal to Apaharan to Raajneeti, all are in your face dramas. Raajneeti, if I may say, would be his most commercial outing in some time. We have very mainstream actors, a grand scale in the sheer number of crowds, bloody violence, cars going up in flames & people killing each other left, right & center.
Even for its 3 hour run time, some scenes & sequences do seem rushed in a bit. Nasserudin Shah has as much a presence in the film as he has on the posters. He is not in the film if you are five minutes late to the movie. All our political men are ultra virile & the females- ultra fertile. There is also a needless club song. Then, there are car bombs & a climactic gun battle that is a bit over the top just like all Prakash Jha films. It could have been kept tighter & more believable.
But that said, the film is a gripping tale with very intensely executed pieces and careful attention to detail. The basic premise remains that of the Mahabharata, but the film is not limited to that. It is fast paced and there is seldom a loose moment. It is not Jha's best work, not even close. But I am tempted to rate it highly for the power packed performances & the gripping screenplay.
I say 3.5 on 5
Road, Movie (2009)
A lesson in cinematographic excellence, an incomplete movie
There are just four characters in the movie. Vishnu, played by Abhay Deol, wants to do more than just waste his time selling herbal oil as his father does before him. So, he volunteers for a friend to deliver across the desert an old truck which is a mobile cinema. The film is then about his journey, the movies that he plays & more importantly, the people that he meets on the way.
We have seen bits of brilliance from Satish Kaushik in the past, from Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro to Calendar in Mr. India, but I think this is the one that he will be most remembered for as an actor. Cast as a veteran mechanic, Kaushik plays a central role in taking the movie in a different direction than the protagonist has planned to. He has been cast very well along with the little boy that Vishnu picks up early in his journey. Both these characters provide for the lighter moments in the film while also inducing some thought provoking dialogue. There is also scope for a female lead. A tribal whose husband was slain over a water dispute some years ago. As she mentions that she too wants to get lost in the magic of cinema, one can't help but wonder if there is a deeper meaning to this sentence. And this deep meaning dialogue is a standard feature of the film.
Wide angle views of the vastness of the desert that lead to nothingness in the desert and a set of women treading along for days in search of water are brilliantly executed. And, other than the road & the movies, they are a common string throughout the film.
The film exists at many levels. At the most superficial level, it appears to be a subtle comedy with situational jokes and a bit of slapstick too. You dig a little, and you find that it is a person's journey to finding himself by having to deal with an old truck, rough, dry weather and some people who have been through their share of pain & suffering and how they still manage to be at peace and look forward to some elusive tranquility.
Dig a little deeper and you find the film is about some inherent social problems that still affect most of rural & tribal India. That something as basic as water can be a reason for murder & arson is hard to imagine but it is brought to us with a lot of sensitivity. How the lead characters almost die of thirst, how they almost get killed for trying to steal water all help appreciate a problem that is alien to most of us.
Dig a bit more and we find that Indian cinema is trying to usher in the seemingly selfish directors who make films from the heart with a message that they want to send across to anyone who tries to understand their cinema. There is no plot in the movie that would build up into something big. For a film like this, there has to be no plot. Very few directors can do it and get away with it. It is a movie that should go down as one that shifted or at least tried to shift the paradigm of Indian cinema.
That said there is much that the director could do better explaining & elaborating a little. Like what is the protagonist actually wanting to do with the truck, how does a particular mela (caravan fair) disappear overnight and mostly, why such a brilliant film seem a bit too long even for its 95 minute run time.
It is most definitely a lesson in cinematographic excellence. One would just hope that it would be a complete movie in itself too.
Ishqiya (2010)
Don't get me wrong!
This film's trailers have been around for long & I have to admit that I set my expectations very high from this one. Reasons: For one, it's coming from a filmmaker like Vishal Bhardwaj, who we know does take his movies seriously (even if it's a comedy). Second, you have performers like Naseeruddin Shah & Vidya Balan and a near perfect character actor in Arshad Warsi. Third, the way the trailers & the songs have built up the movie for some months now.
So, does the movie live up to the hype? Well, both yes & no.
Yes, because Abhishek Chaubey has a great sense of the art & the screenplay is really good. The way the lead actors are introduced is the mark of a director who knows his trade. The short lived love triangle between our three lead characters is presented in a way that has the audience guessing all the time. The research that has gone into the work is brought about in the diction with which Naseer & Arshad carry off their Bhopali avatars. Naseer plays his role to perfection, never dominating the screen but making his presence felt all the time. Arshad is ever the joker, brings us some good comic scenes. Vidya Balan has the aura of the seductress and carries herself with some aplomb. The songs & background score leave you wanting for more.
Given all this, I get the feeling that I would have been better off walking out of the movie hall after the first half, as in that case, I could have still lived in the illusion that the movie would end in something spectacular, which it unfortunately it does not. I'm still unclear of the objective of the whole thing. It is not just the loose ending but the entire second half. It falls apart. The jokes in the movie have all been around in the trailers & there are only a few fresh laughs for those who have been following the television promos. And these comic scenes with the "dirty" words thrown in look like they have been planted in the movie and have no role in taking the movie forward. Still, there are at least two high points in the movie. One is the song "Dill toh bachcha hai ji". It is really lyrics par excellence, sung from the heart. The second one is the long drawn passionate kiss between Warsi & Balan. It shows that Bollywood is maturing up to romance, minus the qualms & morality.
What makes me give such a lowly rating to a fairly good movie is that when you have such a heady cocktail of actors, director, screenplay writers & lyricists, we do go in for a movie of a lifetime(or maybe at least , of the year). Had this movie been directed by a person like Rohit Shetty, I would have proudly said that it is a 8 on 10, but from Vishal Bhardwaj, the man with Omkarra & Kaminey, the bar is set a bit higher and hence, I'm tempted to give it 5, or maybe a 5.5, not more.
Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year (2009)
Ranbir Kapoor: Find of the Year
The way the opening credits are presented, they raise your expectations from the film. And the first 30 minutes are typically reflective of a salesman's life. It is easy to connect with the situations and giggle at the workplace jokes. Our protagonist has just barely graduated & wants to make a career in sales. But he is naive, and has to learn the tricks of the trade soon. To complicate matters, he has demanding bosses & non co-operative peers. Been there.
But soon enough, our guy, with a few other employees of the same company, hatches a plan to prove a point & make some money by creating a dummy company that provides superior service & works on ethical lines only. A good intentioned simple storyline from Jaideep Sahni, but a bit too far-fetched. So, once again, it is up to the director & the actors to elevate it. And they do. Once you get past the fake moustaches & loose wigs, the movie engages you. The script is kept tight & there are no silly song & dance routines to break the flow.
Ranbir Kapoor & Prem Chopra (who plays Ranbir's grandfather) have very good chemistry & all their scenes together are so real & touchy. Ranbir's friends & his love interest do have their moments in the sun, but the movie is not about them. As the director did with ChakDe India, the characters who take the movie forward, including the office peon & the receptionist, are developed well & are given ample screen time & they also carry their characters with ease. Salim-Suleiman have little to do barring the title track (which is missing in the movie), because the movie is not a dramatic melting pot a la Chakde. The screenplay is good, direction is good, and the actors deliver. What the film really lacks is a climax. It ends without a bang; it ends all so smoothly, with a social message thrown in.
One thing that this film confirms is that, in Ranbir Kapoor, we have found the next big thing. As with all his other movies this year, he gets right under the skin of the character, hence making it utterly believable. A director's actor, never the star. 2009 may well be the year in which all his movies came oh too close to being the biggest hits of the year. Rocket Singh may well be the next in that category.
Wake Up Sid (2009)
Watch it, it's worth.
Indian cinema is finally coming of age with established banners taking chances with new age directors & relevant themes. Wake up Sid is one such attempt. The movie opens with a last minute study routine that all of us have gone through some time of the other. The film connects with you from then on.
Ranbir Kapoor plays the rich kid Sid who has never thought of any plans beyond tonight and couldn't care less about making a career. Konkana Sen Sharma has just come to Bombay to make something of her in the field of creative writing. She has tastes ranging from Tagore to Annie Hall. How they meet at a party and become friends. And Sid goes about discovering himself with Aisha (Konkana), who is elder to him, as his muse. Their building romance is subtle & well presented.
The director delivers some powerful scenes. The one when Sid's dad asks him to leave home is par excellence. The director's sensibilities are obvious by portraying Sid as a boy who likes his bunch of people but is rude to others not his kind. As is generally the case in real life too. Attention to detail is visible from little things like Sid's servant's over-sized T-shirts which look like Sid's throwaways.
The music may not have been a chart buster, but flows with the movie. "Ikk Tara" is definitely the high point of the movie. Also, the background score is particularly good. In some scenes, the score begins and then stops playing abruptly just enough for the actors to deliver some intense scenes, then it begins again. A good experiment. Impactful too.
Ranbir with his stoned look is ideal for the lead character. His expressions are natural. Look for the sequence when he sees the result sheet to know that he has failed the exams. Konkana Sen Sharma takes over from where she left in Luck By Chance, not to say that she's repetitive, but an almost perfect antithesis to Sid.
There are some flaws like the friends keep coming in & going out & remain on the fringes of the film. They could have been more to them. There are some parts that do remind of Dil Chahta Hai & Lakhshya as the basic premise remains the same. But it does not take you on a journey to picturesque Goa or the Kargil war for Sid to wake up. It is more a journey within, near home. Watch it, it's worth.
The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)
Pacy, but loose.
It has all the trademarks of a Tony Scott film. Good cast, brisk pace and good editing. For some time, the film even moves in real time as events unfold. But all this get lost in loose script, mediocre narrative, funny dialog, technical glitches and average performances.
The film is shot in hand-held style to give a feel of intimacy to the viewer which it fails to achieve unlike what Michael Mann has been able to do with Public Enemies.
There are a few scenes that are intense due to some superlative editing, gripping background score and wavy camera motion. But it lacks good dialog that should give you an adrenalin rush.
The film is full of flaws. There is little attention to detail and a lot of implausible events that you are forced to accept & overlook. For example, Denzel Washington's shirt is too crispy for a guy who has just worked a full shift. The internet connection on one of the passengers' laptop is too far fetched and his lines are cheesy. A car crash has been put just for the heck of it just like many other things.
A word about the cast. John Travolta has really gotten under the skin of his character and carries the role effortlessly. Entirely passable as the Wall Street guy gone wrong.
But, Denzel Washington, James Gandolfini & John Turturro have been wasted. Washington has very few good scenes and fewer good lines. He is exceptional in whatever little he has been given to do.
James Gandolfini could be better cast as a hard negotiator or a bad guy, not as the two scene mayor of New York. Turturro just moves around on the fringes without purpose.
None of the characters of the hostages is developed much, so we don't feel bad when they get killed. Even the Hijackers are just roaming holding guns without purpose. And go on to be killed too easily & oh, too foolishly.
In the end, the film becomes very predictable with a lame ending. Most of it looks as if the director will not be able to outgrow DejaVu. Remember, this same director has given us cult classics like Top Gun & True Romance. Sadly, there is nothing fresh about this one.
Kaminey (2009)
Yeah Baby!!!
Vishal Bharadwaj has done it again. After tense stories of Maqbool & Omkaara, he takes a deliberate take away from Shakespeare and delivers instead an awesome dark and twisted tale of two brothers each with his own share of mess to take care of, not to mention their speech impediments that provide some great sounding dialog to the audience and depth to the characters.
The film does not try to emulate one as the good brother and the other gone wrong. That's not what the director wants to show.
One brother knocks up a Don's sister unknowingly (the buildup to this is awesome) and the other one chances upon a guitar full of cocaine.As the plot thickens, both the brothers must gets their hands on the same cocaine to save their lives. Then, the director takes on a joyride through the shanty towns of Mumbai.
The film has strong overtones of the current issues in Mumbai politics and a leading lady in Priyanka Chopra, who is very much representative of present day Indian girl. She is no arm candy, she has a pivotal role and takes the film to its climax. A climax that drags on with one little twist after another, but it is't boring. by the end of it, you would want another.
The music is very good and does not interfere with the pace of the film. Gulzar has again delivered deep meaning lyrics that are more in sync with the film's theme than with classic poetry.
There are a lot of characters to take care of in the film and it's easy to lose to track, but none is less important than the other. Each one has a defined part and is intertwined in the destinies of Guddu & Charlie. It does remind you of Guy Ritchie films like Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels etc but it is in no way an imitation of such works. It is a complete masterwork in its own right.
With Jab We Met, Shahid Kapur showed that he can carry a film on his own, Kaminey shows that that two of him are better than one. He plays both his parts with such panache that its hard to see that its the same actor. This could well be the point when he lands more serious roles and less of the boy next door.
The film is dark with everybody fighting for survival but the presentation is such that you do feel for the people in it but can't help but sadistically laugh at them. that is what Bhardwaj has been able to achieve with Kaminey which very few directors in India can manage to.
Definitely one of the best works of contemporary Indian cinema.
Frost/Nixon (2008)
One of the best
Ron Howard does to Frost/Nixon what he knows best. He picks up people and develops them into these intriguing characters, as he did with James Braddok in Cinderella Man or John Nash in A Beautiful Mind. Frost/Nixon is not an attempt to bring out a protagonist in either of the two lead characters. It is rather an intense presentation of a fallen but stubborn President and a maverick talk show host who knows what sells on TV.
Langella is brilliant as Nixon. And Michael Sheen is developing into a niche character actor. The film initially develops his part brilliantly, which is needed, since we know much about Nixon but little about Frost. The film does not bore you with needless background. it comes straight to the plot and moves smoothly.
Ron Howard presents gripping tale with moments of sheer class augmented by superior camera-work with focus on closeups and expressions given by the actors. the narrative style gives the viewer time to catch her breath in an otherwise fast paced and indulging film.
One of the best films of the year.
Angels & Demons (2009)
Below expectations
Angels & Demons is by far the best book by Dan Brown. It has a plot and pace. I'm afraid i can't say the same about the film. The film is shot in beautiful style capturing all of the Vatican & Rome. And Tom Hanks & Ewan McGregor do justice to their characters. But thats about it. the film opens well and builds up really good till it becomes a little predictable. Other characters like Ms Vetra are unconvincing to say the least. The movie lacks the pace of the book and falls apart in places. When you see Ron Howard making films like Frost/Nixon, you go with certain expectations for a film like this. It doesn't do justice to the director or the book. But a decent watch, nothing to carry home though.