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The Underground Railroad (2021)
A Destructive Poetry on Celluloid
I dreamt of green pastures flooded with white cotton, a quaint cabin in the woods and an elderly tree overlooking time passing through generations. And then, I dreamt of red embers breathing against darkness, screams echoing from voids, cryptic verses travelling acres and smoke rising from burnt charred woods. I dreamt of life and death coexisting - mocking the fabrics of reality.
A destructive poetry on celluloid, The Underground Railroad is a caludron fuming with seething rage. Barry Jenkins has crafted a ferocious beast and has left no stone unturned in the unflinching homage to his ancestors.
Elliptical, surreal and a sweeping epic of mind numbing proportions, Jenkins' hallucinatory trip down the bleakest corners of American history muses aching beauty with infernal savagery. A modern masterpiece, indeed.
Shanghai (2012)
A ruthless political pit
It takes a maverick director to craft a cinema so bleak and brutal in its portrayal of truth that it has the power to provoke debates and lead to heavy handed argumentation. Dibakar Banerjee steers a political thriller so acidic in its content and so bitter in its handling that it hits you hard in your guts and leaves you wanting for more.
When an activist leader, Dr. Ahmedi (Prosenjit Chatterjee) is mowed down by a fast moving truck in what appears to be an accident, the hypothetical city of Bharatnagar boils down into a war field of riots and horrors. A student of Dr. Ahmedi, Shalini (Kalki Koechlin) becomes convinced that it was not an accident and was a preplanned murder. She along with a local photographer Jogi (Emraan Hashmi), who claims to have decisive evidence, fights for justice in a city brimming with deceit, bureaucracy and corruption. A high ranking official Krishnan (Abhay Deol) is given the responsibility of investigating the case.
At its core, Shanghai carries the notion of development at the stake of humanity. As the slogan of a prominent party IBP in the movie goes, "Kasam khoon ki khayi hai, Sheher nahin Shanghai hai", Shanghai is treated as a metaphor for all the progress and evolution that the party promises in bharatnagar. Yet, regardless of the ballgame and skin crawling riots and unforgiving violence, the citizens of bharatnagar, proudly sings, "Bharat Mata Ki Jai". 'Shanghai' is a painfully slow movie. So, the viewer who has to sit back in the first hour only has his comfort in the beautiful little nuisances spilled across the screen. Dibakar Bannerjee has an eye for the details and he hits all his notes correct in detailing the landscape of silver screen. It is in the second hour that the movie grips the audience and sucks us into the world so true yet so oblivious to our naked eye.
Dibakar Bannerjee who previously directed Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006), Oye Lucky Lucky Oye (2008) and Love Sex Aur Dhoka (2010) shows superlative skills of direction and writing. The script is savage and brutally raw. Shanghai is an atmosphere driven movie and the screenplay scores brownie points by depicting the circumstances as authentic as they could have been manifested on the silver screen.
The film tends to get distant from the viewer and is deliberately a tad sluggish. Kudos to the star cast with Emraan Hashmi leading from the front with a visceral portrayal of a middle class citizen. With Shanghai, Abhay Deol gets another coat in his armor and he is undoubtedly, 'the dark horse' of Bollywood cinema. Kalki Koechlin shines again as a lone girl seeking for justice in a ruthless system.
'Shanghai' is merciless and forces the audience to ponder over the state of our nation. It is by no means a yet another 100 crore blockbuster. It is an intelligent political thriller with a noble intention and a callous crime drama at its heart.
Rating: 3.5 / 5
Rowdy Rathore (2012)
Relish the Rowdiness
When you see a larger-than-life protagonist delivering heavy handed dialogues in a rustic yet unflinching fashion, you ought to put your appetizer down and give a hand to the rowdiness of our own khiladi, Akshay Kumar.
The dancer turned director, Prabhu Deva directs Rowdy Rathore, a remake of telegu movie VIKRAMARKUDU [2006], with eccentric confidence and panache. With Rowdy Rathore, he proved that WANTED [2009] was no fluke and he has an eye for the masala entertainment.
Shiva (Akshay Kumar) is a con who falls for Priya (Sonakshi Sinha), a girl straight from Indian heartlands, Patna. When things were going heavenly for our veteran, a juvenile girl, calling Shiva her father enters the scenario. Life threatening attacks and a deadly secret leads Shiva to a town in Bihar ruled by the ruthless politicians and small time thugs. A place whose inhabitant's only redemption lies with Shiva!
Raving dialogues, vivid background and unabashed heroism of Akshay Kumar makes Rowdy Rathore a hardcore crowd pleaser. Sonakshi Sinha reprises the role of a desi girl with charm and brilliance. A lack of expressions of our female lead is redeemed by the brutal delivery of her raw one liners especially in the second half of the movie. Prabhu Deva deserves brownie points for handling the flashback sequences with subtlety and ease.
The first half of the movie was a tad uneven in pacing but is backed up with a visceral second hour which gives the audience enough to whistle about. Akshay Kumar found comfort in his role and brings out a strong performance elevated by his sense of comic timing. The compelling action sequences derived from the cinemas in south were a definite USP. Special mention of the music composed by Sajid-Wajid is a must as it has been a rage since its release and definitely explodes on the silver screen.
When the main aim is to make an instant blockbuster, storyline usually finds its feet in the grave. Rowdy Rathore suffers from a similar fate. With a tinge of predictability and seen-it-before feel, the storyline does not let the movie reach its crescendo. The emotional scenes lacked a punch and the romance between Priya and Shiva felt unbaked.
The packaging of the movie is such that it shadows the faults and provides paisa vasool entertainment in all measures. Rowdy Rathore has blockbuster written all over it. Have a decko, and relish the rowdiness.
Men in Black³ (2012)
Movie Review : Men in Black III
It has been a decade since the guys in black dazzled the cinema goers with slick action, dizzying aliens and tongue in cheek comedy. It was indeed fascinating to see whether the director, Barry Sonnenfeld with the same crew but a débutant screenwriter, Lowell Cunningham will be able to reignite a dormant franchise and make the cash counter running by delivering a blockbuster.
Agent J (Will Smith) and agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) have been together since last 15 years. They account for the safety of our planet, throws in slapstick humor against each other and take care of the extraterrestrial activities happening in our realm. When a long lost enemy, Boris the Animal, played eccentrically by Jemaine Clement, goes back in time to kill Agent K, Agent J decides to take a trip down the same lane and stop the inevitable.
The obsessively detailed aliens, enormous set pieces, spectacular action sequences and the eye popping 3D, the director and our duo has scored a home run. But the most enthralling of all the achievements is the balance between the technical aspects and the human heart. The two veterans shine with an electrifying chemistry all the way and are in top form.
Where the movie falters is in its script. It leaves the viewer with a been-there-done-that kind of feeling. It never justifies its existence. It definitely is better than the limp sequel, MIB II (2002), but does not quite match up to the heights of the very first outing. A bit more creative climax would definitely have given more juice to the proceedings.
Men in Black III works in parts. It will keep your popcorns churning, but will leave you wanting for more. And when the curtains go down, you definitely won't require neutralizing your memory. It deserves a watch!
Rating- 3/5
Kahaani (2012)
A 'Kahaani' To Remember!!!!
Right from the Howrah Bridge, bathed in chrome colors to the Durga Pooja, all in reds and whites, to the angst of people living inside the city. Kolkata would never have felt so much alive on the screen before. A character in itself, containing an assortment of people holding things close to their hearts and each having a story to be told.
Vidya Bagchi (Vidya Balan), a pregnant woman, enters the mad rush of city with a hope of finding her husband in the lost crowd. A crowd having Kolkata living inside them. Easily muddled by the layers of complexity and the ingenuity of the characters, she learns the brutal fact that searching for her husband would be an uphill task. The director, Sujoy Ghosh, knew his content well and has masterfully executed a thrilling tale which makes sure that the viewer remains engrossed till the end credits roll down. Accolades to Vidya Balan for driving a film with so much of twists and turns safely home. She was terrific in her role and had a commanding screen presence. When all will be said and done, people will remember this as yet another movie, single handedly carried by an outstanding actress.
This was a movie that belonged to the characters who found comfort in their respective places inside the screen. Special mention is to be made of Bob Biswas, who gave a trendiest performance with the role he was entrusted with. Parambrata Chatterjee as Rana shined brilliantly in his portrayal of a police officer who was helping our veteran lead. Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Khan will be remembered for his cold characterization of an Intelligence Bureau Officer.
Be it Setu's aesthetic cinematography, the soulful 'Ekla Chalo' rendition by Mr. Amitabh Bacchan, the jaw dropping intermission sequence, the devoted Durga Pooja crowd, the dramatic and heart racing climax, the scintillating opening scene or the claustrophobic environment of Kolkata, Kahaani hits each and every note right.
A benchmark for the Indian thrillers, Kahaani will easily rewrite the way tales are told in our country. A path breaking movie that will find accolades among the classes as well as the aam junta. All said, this 'Kahaani' will leave you stunned.
Shaitan (2011)
What does it take to bring the "Inner Shaitan" out of you...????
What does it take to bring the "Inner Shaitan" out of you...???? Is it the thumping feel of the moments or is it the insane, complex and unstable working of our minds????
Shaitan features a group of youngsters to whom life is all about being reckless,being high and being enjoying things over the top.Their rule is to screw all the rules but have one "usool" or mantra,"Bharosa",trust on each other.Ten minutes into the movie and we welcome their world with open hands.The awkward camera angles,catchy dialogues and superb background score only add on to the freshness of the movie.But,life can't be just happy and fun going for our gang.A wild night and an all-of-a-sudden incident changes their lives and gloom plays on their faces replacing the shaitani out of the frame.From here on begins a mind numbing journey making us see the ugly faces of corruption,kidnapping,of facing inner demons,betrayal,dope,vice and the unapologetic truth.And guess what..!!We end up sympathizing our uber cool guys.The way of letting us know the little little nuances(read "shaitani") associated with each character helps us to dive in their twisted lives and and gets emotionally attached to them.From the dark and raw past of Amy to the present day thinking of the girl,we understand the reason of her being neurotic and why she have the rawest of emotions you have seen on screen in quite some time.
The zany,fast cutting camera work(can be compared to Darren Aronofsky's movies) along with the hard hitting and hard-to-accept,gruesome reality makes us sit up and see the eccentric movie which will surely find many haters along with the lovers.Special mention of "Khoya Khoya Chand" sequence is a must as such a rendition just takes you off guard.The uncanny chase through Dharawi is splendid too and will surely create many goosebumps.
The loopholes,well..very less actually.Maybe the half-baked story of the cop(Rajiv Khandelwal) or the reason of Amy's mother's eccentric behavior.This exhilarating ride will definitely leave your eyes quenched of the amount of perfection shown by the newbie director and when the end credits role down,what left in you will be the surreal sound of bass and a feeling of being numb.Go out and UNLEASH YOUR DEMONS.