Simmba Smila !

Simmba Smila !

Dabang meets Singham meets Zanzeer . And you get Simmba. And you do smila once in a while. Rohit Shetty probably looked at all the mess around in the industry with the biggies landing with a thud everytime they tried to mimic a Hollywood film so he jogs backwards into Singham territory  with the new boy on the block Ranveer. There is absolutely no need to prattle on about the tale. Same old tried and tested stuff. Jangling Lezim sounds with loud male and Female chorus introduce us to a corrupt inspector who comes into a new Goan town to be more corrupt , at  cross roads with the local mafia landlord - six packed rippling Sonu Sood , befriending a local teacher who does charity by night , obviously gets into trouble with the local goons for trying to prevent children from being used as mules and leaving the rest of the story for the corrupt inspector to find his zameer and close loose ends with help from Rohit's lucky mascots from his past and future films

It is something we grew up with. We knew in our Badla movies , every time a girl got too happy and exchanged mushy affection with her Brother, she gets into trouble in the following scene. It is left to the brother to burst veins and bash up the villains who seem to be defying various laws of physics.  They spin around so much that I estimated they would generate electricity with a few more fights. 

Cars are smashed around less,  though one police jeep does makes its crashing appearance to save the hero, almost killing him in the process.

And yet I was not displeased. I  wondered if it was the extreme anger and frustration at the previous Zero Sum.

Simmba is all about Ranveer  who is a director's man and you cannot help admiring the sheer fun that the man is. However it is disappointing that Rohit had to dilute his equity in the end and bring in his tried and trusted horse from the previous works.Thought it was totally unnecessary and distracted from the tightness that the director had managed to build up.

The humour is almost pedestrian but one that is likely to draw whistles due to the earthy nature of the dialogues and the delivery.Sara Ali Khan is an amazingly confident and has no justice done to her presence. She ends up looking like Sonakshi from Dabang.Rohit should be careful about trying this Singham and Simmba track again as it is getting boring with no innovative twists in the tale.

If you have been frustrated with the recent Mulitplex visits and are already done with the offerings on Netflix then this multiplex outing won’t hurt you but it is not outstanding academic cinema. Just feel good for the good boy that Ranveer genuinely seems to be, marvel at Sonu's fitness, feel happy that a very confident Sara is round the corner, that Rohit provides a lot of occupation to spinning humans and cars, some bold dress designs though not as gaudy as before and finally smile at the super exploited packaging of multiple franchises that the director is promoting and of course directing 

**½

Zero In. Move over Saawariya !

A director does an excellent job recreating the kaliedoscope of colours of a small town with excellent art direction and supplanting the landscape with believable characters. He loves Kanpur Lucknow and other small UP towns where the people are beautiful in their own cute ways. He is a simple man but with a Midas touch. He has managed a couple of small budget movies that have become money spinners. He is picked up by the big boys. Given a story line, big names who will keep their acting acting intact and he needs to apply his magic touch. He is obviously befuddled moving from a Texan town in India to NASA territory in the USA and a dwarf wastrel who befriends a Female Stephen Hawking character gets sufficient attention from a depressed film actress and then to keep it contemporary has to ensure the wastrel lands on a undiscovered territory. Baffled? The poor man to was. Because he seems to have been shoved aside partly into the picture as there are none of his flourishes visible.

Cut to a dusty town where the main protagonist faces unto his opponent who we later find post the dream , is his father. The following scenes are the only ones where the poor small scale director is allowed to indulge in his small town screenplay and then it appears the screen play moved onto areas where no screen writer has dared to go before . To the land of difficult to understand story line. There is a dwarf who is cocky and before you start feeling empathetic about the challenged physique SRK imbues him with all the necessary heroic antics that he is associated with . So don’t cringe if he does everything from being a wastrel to falling in love with a female Stephen Hawking to a depressed actress who kisses strangers on the road with fluid mascara all over her face. Somehow the challenges of being vertically challenged compensates for the beautiful scientist who suffers from cerebral palsy and hence it is ok for her to fall in love with a uneducated wastrel who wears three piece suits on occasions and spouts wise lines.

The dusty town scenario where Anand seemed at ease moves to five star hotels which are converted to Sanjay Leela Bhansali sets with tons of colours flying around. The cinematographer forgets the director and becomes obsessed with capturing snow flake and water drops illusions . Probably worked on Black and Guzaarish.

The only semblance of real life seems to come from Katrina who is a film actress dumped by her beau and depends a lot on 500gms mascara to cover up her facial landscape and convey the depression. This angle is soon forgotten and then in between winks I saw a baby emerge again soon to be forgotten, quick shift to NASA territory and the wastrel is now headed to places where no man has ventured before.

If this written view confuses you spare a thought for us who saw this confused mess that heads nowhere.

Special effects cannot be a story by themselves. The problem with us is that we become so overawed with small achievements in special effects . We can clearly see that the producers and the cast must have been beside themselves at appreciating this than the story that was being conveyed.

A famous movie maker famously told me almost ticking me off, to first learn the art of film direction before commenting on it. Sorry sir/madam I am a paying viewer and this is from that point of view after having paid hard earned money. So there will be an opinion. If it is bad then it has to be taken in the same stride that good appreciation is taken.

It is sad when movies like this destroy the equity of talented actors and make them look silly. The decision makers need to take responsibility and in this case it does not look like the director alone.

To see it or not Is your Christmas holiday choice. For me I found a challenger to the throne of the most baffling boring movie that was till now being held by Saawariya. Move over Saawariya. Someone else has Zero'ed in on your seat !

* ( one star)

Big Pressures on a weekend . What to buy !

This pressure is getting worse than the pressure at office. I mean like I now have to return the Harry Winston set purchased for the Missus and remember to step into Tiffany’s and remember not to buy their silver as they have slipped down the snob ladder.
Sigh!

Buy Tiffany’s gold but not silver .. infradig if I do ! Hmm will try to remember that .

Will keep this ready reckoner in the pocket when I shop!

Have to rush to buy Leview Peony collection before they slip the rankings  and make me feel like a below poverty line buyer !

Would like to meet the guy who made Maslow just roll in his grave !


( pic source the business insider )

Short film Rogan Josh

It misleads you to think that it is about a Chef and his delightful dish . So you stare warily at the screen itching to check out the moment the principal character will start reading out a menu. But with Naseeruddin on the screen you dare not. So you wait as you an intentional build of a mix of ordinary chatter and some confusing hints to back stories are  thrown in . You are almost getting furious with the director’s intention to keep you guessing where it  is heading . Even Shishir’s jolly good doctor seems carefully suspect of leading unto something . Srishwara looking prettier than ever before keeps you further rooted . You realise it is worth it .
You gulp at the ending . You should have seen it coming . These short stories are becoming masterly .
Watch Nasserruddinn traipse through what is another day’s work for him and Shishir  bring new nuances to every character he plays . The respect he gives to his co stars and reaction support he gives is commendable .
Watch it . 3/5


https://youtu.be/r06uBlw0zj4

Sweets Lanterns Fireworks - Diwali - The diminishing joys

The festival of Diwali (festival of lights in India) just concluded. Associated pyrotechnics have either, with obeisance to social awareness to reduce pollution or plain boredom, reasonably reduced. I accept the practicality of it with a tinge of sorrow. Mouthing grandiose earth saving measures after crossing 30s for most people is convenient having suddenly found their social conscience heart beating wildly. We have done it all and now have no qualms about making our children feel guilty about playing with fireworks for two to three days in a year a tradition which is perhaps centuries old. The same guilt ridden heart which beats wildly for the earth seems innocuously silent when it comes to contributing to the same environmental goal by reducing personalized fuel guzzling travel in fancy cars. Because it is easy to brainwash the innocent children than to sacrifice travel in smoke chugging convenience. It is also politically hard work to go behind vested interests that burn down farmlands or industries that blatantly flout norms, that are in fact the core reason behind smoke laden cities and not just children who burn sparkling flowerpots.

But am digressing. The point was not really to gripe about popular social media viral videos about how one must not celebrate by using fireworks for Diwali. It saddens one that the younger generation also lose the plot behind the community and family cohesion that came about with unified activities preceding the festival.

Diwali the festival of lights also the celebration of triumph of good over evil. There are multiple stories depending on the part of the country but they all allude to one singular nonnegotiable fact that is the victory of the truth and goodness.

The schools usually aligned their midterm exams well before the midterm holidays to ensure that the tough first term concluded with a joyous occasion. The festival is also bang in middle of the many festivities during this period of the year.

The festival entailed hosting a colorful lantern in the front yard. Lanterns lit by oil lamps had given way to those powerful ones lit by 100Watt bulbs and also the string of small electric lamps which lined up the perimeter of the house or the balcony or in some cases our Hibiscus trees. The first signs of the festivities was the wafting wonderful aroma of toasted anhydrous dairy fat (ghee) getting ready to host and mingle happily with refined wheat flour to transform into one of the many sweets that formed part of the ensemble that had to go into boxes/ steel containers to be exchanged with those from friends and family.

Mother used to be diligently bent over the ladle creating with historical expertise sweets that blended with obedience into shapes and sizes and textures that she wanted. We looked on from a distance holding our books in one hand peering from the sides of the kitchen doors waiting for the magic to happen. Slowly the various fat dripping or powdery or amorphous sweets in various shapes and sizes had taken their dutiful places in aluminum or steel vaults where they remained untouched till the anointed day. They would soon be joined by the more savory part of the snacks like fried chickpea flour fritters / noodles / chaklis and a general assorted savory mixtures. We looked on longingly hoping that mother would in that rare moment of relaxation of religious sanctimony offer a few pieces. Her rule book said that it had to be offered to our beautiful gods on the D day before being partaken. We looked hard at our gods and secretly prayed surely they would not mind us dipping into the savories just that bit. Somewhere the prayers would be heard and mother would with a pretentious strict wave of her hand give us the goodies and up went the aluminum or steel round vaults locked away for the next few days.

I think the gods used the festival to get us humans to clean up our minds and surroundings as one had to clean and declutter our homes before the festival began. So immediately after the midterm exams were over we were happily shunted to different parts of the house to hunt and ferret out hidden dust from corners, throw away articles of futility in use and generally do a 5S around the home. Great concept actually because  besides creating a generally clean atmosphere it also led to finding many items of value that had been lost and in turn saving money for a happy dad.

When the washing and cleaning had been done the next best was to order out the crackers. While we waited for those fancy temporary tent shops to open and house all those fancy crackers in exploding colors. The stickers on these crackers packaging usually was the glossy type one which we kept aside as souvenirs. I found one recently tucked away in my Wren & Martin for decades. The very bamboo supports coming up on the open ground set our hearts palpitating in anticipation as it heralded the incoming favorite festival.

We had two options either to go to the shops or to order out with the first version of Flipkart and Amazon, temporary businessmen who went from house to house taking orders for the fireworks to be delivered on the day of the festival.  We did not savor the idea though we welcomed the person with his fanciful names for various types of fireworks. But to go with father and siblings to the shop on an anointed day with a limited budget aroused un-paralled excitement that mounted as the day progressed. It was a tragedy to not choose from all of the array of fireworks on the step type structure that the tent held. The shopkeeper seemed such an important person to us. We wondered if he had a chance to burst all the unsold crackers at his home.  We usually headed home with a modest selection of spinning wheel / flower pots / noise electric crackers and the more robust and manly nitrogen bombs as we called them (sutli bombs) which made the maximum sound

Making the lantern with finely cut soft bamboo, lining them with translucent and transparent gelatin papers pasted onto Kraft papers and trying to hold them together with rice starch was a fine art. It took a whole day to make it look decent. But when the final bulb had gone in and the rays of light crashed through the colors creating a resplendent show of rainbow effect on the plants in the garden we looked on in pride praying the rice starch held on.

The competition always was to see who got up the earliest on day one and burst the first cracker and whose house had the maximum color paper litter in front of the house by 6 am as the sunshine broke through the minor smog. Even in those days sensitive children had to tie handkerchiefs around their noses to prevent asthmatic attacks. But the smell of the fireworks was magical. We could identify which cracker had gone off from the differentiated smells floating around competing with those of the neighbors. Dangerous practices of keeping flying rockets in glass bottles held at the best by soil, holding the electric tiny crackers in the hand and lighting them with the incense stick was frowned up. Being the safe person, I always landed up timing the louder fireworks using a newspaper string attached to the fuse to delay the explosion while walking back in styles reminiscent of the heroes doing the same on the silver screen

Consumption of large scale sweets and savories created memories main pleasant and some leading back to the doctor for stomach ailments due to over consumption.

Today in a world with glossy packaged sweets sold in shiny malls prepared industrially where children don’t peek at their mothers cooking in anticipation has deprived the festival a lot of its magic. We must try not to rob the children of the festival aura with the traditions that precede or succeed the event be it Christmas Diwali or Idd or any of the wonderful celebration milestones that human beings have in their wonderful journey of life.

My mother was happy that we had kept the tradition alive and prepared the savories and sweets at home. She always believed it to be safe and important as it is part of the journey of wonderful mood that we must luxuriate in and make sure our children do too.

Hey Chilli Chilling out ? Lets Salanbrate !

“Hey Chilli Chilling out?” 

The small fresh green nestling in their dozens in a plastic pack peered at their larger older cousins fresh Byadgi who had been biding their time in the confines of the vegetable basket in the cooling cabinet.  Byadgi snorted, looked down at the younger but stronger cousins who frequently exited the cabinet at the beck and call of the humanoids. Eight of them with their power of 50000 Scoville heat units had waited their turn wondering if they were to form part of a salad unit without any hot make up or perhaps be presented with the opportunity of a more special unit the Mirchi ka Salan. A chill ran down their shiny green smooth skin excited at the prospect of being part of a more royal dish than just end up at the lower ranks doing ordinary routine spicy jobs.

“Hanging in here waiting for our turn. We only do special projects “

The snub was apparent to the small green ones who were stocked up with Capsaicin.

The humanoid did turn up on the weekend excitedly yanking the Byadgi who went green with envy. 

They knew they had to get rid of their stock of capsaicin and instead be ready for a more friendly stuffing of a paste of sesame jostling for attention with the humble peanuts and dried coconuts who had lost their water but retained strong oils and a few fenugreek seeds. Byadgi waited while they warmed themselves on a black pan for 8 minutes. Byadgi looked on indulgently as they rustled together tanning themselves and grinding themselves to a beautiful dark chrome paste.

The humanoid had now tossed dollops of olive oil and made music with mustard and cumin and allow friendly visits from ginger bits as they all jumped around in the hot dance and slipper floor of Olive. Byadgi then decided to make a grand entry and eased themselves into the oily pool.

Finally the sesame coconut fenugreek paste jumped into the fun and frolic and everyone sloshed around as byadgi embraced all of them and basked in the temperamental mix

Common salt waited patiently knowing they had to go and control the enhanced atmosphere. They looked back at fresh green coriander leaves who looked pleased with their cut selves. They knew they always got special seating and allowed to retain their color and place on the top.

Byadgi settled into a pleasant peace waiting to please the palate of the hard working humanoid.

Also excited to meet their starchy friendly carbohydrates.

 “Hey you Gluten”

The round roasted carbs smiled back as they bloated with pride. They were happy to finally meet the MIrch Ka Salan after boring daily rounds with the lentil curries. 

The carbs shouted back “Let s salanbrate “and jumped in with the Byadgi

(This is the offbeat description of the Mirch Ka Salan of a happy cook on a boring Sunday morning. If you feel it is cheesy please wait till you read about the Aubergine travails next week as they do the Bharta. While you sneer and exit please thank me for the recipe ;-) )

Gen X gives birth to Gen Z ( Badhai HO)

Ayushman khurana and the new wave cinema are spoiling us. A year back I would have been raving about this utterly natural cinema with a trustworthy script, honest art direction, from the heart acting by the astonishingly perfect ten casting and yet the new benchmark created is so high that you happily retain your feel about it being a better than average movie without guilt. It only speaks highly of the high standards seeping into the Indian Film Industry and that can only bode well for the audiences. Ayushman, Rajkumar Rao, Radhika Apte are among the new wave age actors who seem to do no wrong in the scripts they encourage. And despite the commercial  heft of the success they see, there is none of the overhanging arrogant stardom around them. That is heartening. Character artistes like Gajraj Rao and Pankaj tripathi are strengthening the foundation of the starcentred storylines and adding solidity to it.

But back to Badhai HO and to speak not about the hero or heroine but the rock star of the movie,the grandma played by Surekha Sikri. At 73 she peaks to chew the screen out. In the 90s Banegi Apni Baat saw her impressing the TV landscape and with this act, the NSD graduate simply rocks. Gajraj Rao in a much understated role brings on the maximum laughter with his gentle embarrassed cringes and plays perfect foil to the accomplished Neena. You wonder why she was missing all these years

The premise is startling and yet simple. An aged couple with elderly working children accidentally land with the responsibility of having to give birth to and be parents of an accidental procreation. It also draws sniggers and blushing attention from a traditionally reserved population that deems people with grown up children as retirees from work and also from the pleasures of life. The Film attempts to challenge this unfair unspoken ratification by society.

Why is a country that obviously has worked hard to create a billion plus population fighing shy of pleasures of the act beyond the purpose of procreation alone. An aged mother on path of pregnancy helps to raise the necessary emotional conflict and confusion in the script to keep the story moving but the premise runs out of comical steam soon and the director sets out on sub plots which seem like a soft manipulation of the audience but with seemingly less than necessary impact. At just over two hours the makers do feel the strain of keeping the laughs genuine and the plot interesting to keep the audience rooted.

The lack of energy in parts should not take away from the fact that the movie is a sum of the whole talented cast that star in the script with a Bachchanesque Surekha stealing most of the popular lines. Ayushman shows with Rajkumar they are redefining superstardom. In a middle class milieu highly reminiscent of the Tanu Weds Manu or that of the more recent Bareily ke Barfi , recreation of the North Indian middle class is outstanding and the writers with the directors and the cast play a big role.

In the end you feel the director wondering if he should also rope in the message of the girl child but then decides against it preferring to retain the movie as a more modern effort to free up the unfairly boxed in expectations of life from Gen X. Wish they had invented more plausible sub plots to strengthen the story.

But it is a very decent watch and full marks to the cast. Another movie that needs to be encouraged. Because it dares to dream that Gen X will give birth to Gen Z

***

#metoo set to change history

Periods in history when seemingly normal incidents trigger a wave of change.  The trigger incident is just that nudge which helps history tip over into a new era. Digital connectivity has swamped the human interaction. It almost obliterates direct interaction which was limited anyway but gushes with a resurgence of network of electronic sinews that makes historical human communication seem insignificant.

Consequently the swamp of information also has created a new power equation for the people. The waterfall of opinion which seemed to flow down from the people at the top of any profession and landed at the lowest common denominator. Today the water fall has collapsed to a common pool and so has the power equation. The common man / woman feels empowered to pitch in their opinions in real time thanks to the electronic tools now available.

Is it any surprise then that discrimination and exploitation look vulnerable themselves? It is not to gush about these words disappearing from the vocabulary. That could be a fairy tale. But a renaissance where the oppressed find a voice.

When #Metoo excited the cable lines a year back in USA, it looked like a western phenomenon in a country known for its outspokenness and where the powerful media put their weight behind such movements to shake people and even governments. It was truly heartening as the fire singed big stars and studio bosses who must have had their exploit fun times.

So when a lesser known ex Indian actress returned from the USA briefly to give what seemed like an ordinary interview, it seemed like a sensation that could die down soon. But then she had more spunk and seemed to find the right flame of intention and took names of some people considered almost untouchable partly due to their star status and in part due to the aura created by their affiliations to political parties and some social work thrown in.

But this is 2018 and there are 460 Million subscribers on the net in India. This mass is hungry and angry. Hungry for programming, sensational news and angry over what seems to be a continuing period of angst towards living conditions that don’t seem to improve with the speed they got access to their smart phones. There is also a simmering discontent with the current equation of respect for people with authority and money. Psychologically these masses are ready to see their default champions collapse in a heap. Lack of Ethics in behavior, lackadaisical attitude towards the law does not get lost in the glare of glamour and political authority anymore. The people are baying for uniform justice.

Result what could have been swept under a carpet a few years back or victims further victimized has turned into a raging firestorm that threatens to singe anyone that dares to differ or cross its path. Entertainment Business houses, big idols , big directorial names and now even a minister are falling victim to a movement in India that is threatening to reach the top echelons of the  political class besides now swallowing the entertainment industry and it is a matter of time before the corporate sector feels the heat. The business houses are not bereft of exploitation irrespective of Gender. 

Hierarchical bullying is prevalent though spoken of only in whispers. There have been heads of tech giants and now the heads of some banking industry who are being named.There have been conspiracy whispers of the timing and the intent of this campaign. But assuming there is even an agenda behind it, how does one justify not acknowledging that the wrong people are being teased out of their sick exploiting cocoons. Clearly it seems like Split personality and existence of Mr.Hydes is an epidemic that needs to be addressed.

This is not a movement that will vanish overnight and should not. It is here to stay and will probably go down as a history changing movement for India when the under privileged and the exploited found their voice and paved the way for a more egalitarian society

Blinder of a movie

A cat plays a piano accidentally. A rabbit strays into a cabbage field and saves lives. A selfie stick that could be patented by detectives is invented by a young boy. Gratitude is expressed for Chitrahaar and Chayageet which will ensure keen attention from those who grew up in the 70s and 80s. And unmistakably all of these are portentous to the script which in itself is a well-polished gem.

Never tire of saying Script is king. Proven once again in Sridhar Ragahavan (Johnny Gaddar)

Andhadhun. A thriller that never sways from its intent….To surprise.

It is actually a state of art in surprises. You laugh nervously and wait for the next spin in a story that coasts along leafy yards set in cozy Pune, with sting operations conducted by 8 year olds, pleasantly  surprising you with a real life film star of the yesteryears (Anil Dhawan) who spends his useful time admiring the YouTube videos of his movie ( probably the thank you to ChayaGeet emerges from here)..Or at a bar that is the playground for excellent piano pieces and also home ground for a blind pianist.

Top all this up with an exciting ensemble of actors who line the script who uniformly deserve your applause from the natural and beautiful Radhika to a super confident Ayushman who seems to know what he wants in life now and then there is the magnificent Tabu who is simply outstanding and  revels in a role of her lifetime.

Right from the word go featuring in one of the most intelligently written scenes of the movie at the beginning as the blind pianist on an invite from the aging  star visits his home till the end you are never sure that the director has exhausted his bag of surprises. The moment you slack he throws another one at you.

Writing anything about this movie is like spoiling it for those who will and must set out to see it. And see it you must. Knowing well that India loves CID it will not be a surprise that this one may just turn out to be the sleeper hit of the year.

Just go ‘ blindly’ and watch this one even if it momentarily strays into weak patches but that helps build the pitch for what follows and macabre scenes made funny keep you fully engaged.

****

Sad waatla Mala Sad waatla !

Remakes are always treacherous zones. You are either struggling hard to live up to the quality of the original or trying to be so different that you end up making a mess.

Mess no, but a baffling Russian roulette of characters geographies plots etc. striding away from the original screaming …ME not Sairat !

Yet it is an official remake. The director sprinkles the plot with endorsements for starters. Then in defiance moves to Rajasthan away from Sairat’s Maharashtra. Right move in selecting two bright youngsters Ishaan and Jhanvi. Earnest, but they seemed to be given the brief to watch the original a number of times but not to imitate. The rich girl here is yawnnnnn a politician – Ashutosh Rana – fuming so hard that his moustache hair almost catches fire and the boy is surprisingly taken out from Jo Jeeta Who Sikander, a restaurant owner’s son...

The rich girl for reasons not fully explained and without requisite emotion falls in love with the poor boy and they wade through the smorgasbord of insipid scenes in the first half. There is absolutely no attempt to capture the freshness of the lead pair and there is unfailingly a confused workshop before the shoot which seems to have killed any natural flair. The director seems to be working very hard to stray away from the original script almost in defiance of its enrapturing excellence and ends up in not capturing either the captivating romance of the original nor the naked fear of its casteist war.

It is only when the pair in defiance of their discouraging elders moves to Kolkata that the movie picks up steam and the lead pair look a bit more seasoned actually excelling in a couple of showdown scenes. One actually looks forward to the interaction of the Lodge owner a cute Bengali dada – Kharaj Mukherjee who supports the society orphaned pair.

Those who have seen Sairat know what to expect but to give due credit to the director ,performs better in the second half and stuns you with the climax though the reasoning through the end titles is too pretentious to arouse sincerity towards any social messages.

Jhanvi is a bright spot and has it in her DNA but it will be dozen or more movies before she can really excel to the levels that her lineage commands. Ishaan suffers from a bad directorial vision. He looks sadder than a boy in love can or should be.

The First half is really sad and yawn inducing while the second half does salute the original well in many departments.

They should not have tried to experiment with the music as it nearly kills the splendor of the original.

The much appreciated choreography of Zingat is actually very mediocre and below average. I am sure Farah is not proud of that. Not her fault actually as the popular song is totally misplaced, has no place in a Rajasthan milieu and the lyrics jar in a wrong surrounding.

Photography surprisingly is listless and not at all in sync with orchestrated grand symphony sound. 

Sairat in that was a class apart. There is no effort to sync the camera movements to the grandiose of the background music.

If anything one needs to watch Sairat again to infuse the brilliance of the Maharashtrian excellence. Remake bagun " mala sad waatla "

**

Trapped 13

Whoosh ! Finally it is over 

I think people must go and congratulate each and everyone who contributed in any way to the rescue of these unfortunate 13

Each one has put  their life at risk to save these people 

I just hope that people around the world take this as a lesson and go on adventures wisely weighing the risks and not attempting anything that will require sacrifices to save them from a fix .

Nature has changed around us in the last few decades and what may have seemed less risky years back may not be so now. We have to look out for those warning signs 

The boys will be changed people and perhaps turn out be great human beings filled with gratitude and solid in their character 

Their coach who may be wallowing in guilt should also be helped through this difficult period as he has undoubtedly contributed immensely to keeping the kids alive healthy and full of life . He will no doubt have a great book in his mind

I can already see this become a case study for management schools on team work and convergence of efforts leading to greater success 

Let us not forget Elon musk who came up with a single human submarine contraption that can be used in future 

Great work Divers and rescue team members from around the world. 

Just left with the wringing thought of that unfortunate diver who lost his life in this misadventure . His efforts did not go in vain .

Sacred games - city version of gangs of wasseypur

Inside edge on Amazon
Sacred games on Netflix

Relieved . Not because they are watchable but because they Spell the doom for badly written Hindi saas bahus that abound

Subscription channels are giving the freedom to those in the Creative field who want to unleash without burden of box office expectation

Sacred games does not offer something startlingly new . The premise is standard stuff . Politicians their connection to the underworld mafia an underdog policeman etc
It is perhaps the the quality treatment that makes it addictive

We need to see Nawaz  do something new while radhika is effective .

But if the gloss and watchability helps audience fare improve who are we to complain

Watch it 🙂

Farzand - Great history Insipid narration

After Shivaji Maharaj, Tanaji was my favourite character from our history and I remember having sobbed each time I read about his sacrifice. I remembered the Kondaji chapter vaguely and happy to therefore get a cinematic version to watch. Sanjeev Langarkande and Raja Payagude need to be commended for always making that extra effort to make quality Marathi Cinema available and to top it get the cast here in the country.

The movie is about a slice of Maratha history where Shivaji Maharaj played aptly by Chinmay Mandlekar requisitions the service of  Konkaji Farzand ( Ankit Mohan)  despatches his best generals to recapture the fort of Panhala in a difficult terrain. Farzand insists on taking just 60 of his best people and works towards recapturing the fort from the Mughal commander Beshak Khan. A pulsating thrilling piece of history which could have been recreated with tremendous drama. So how does Farzand fare ?

Farzand excels in its casting. People picked up aptly for their roles especially the role of Shivaji played by Chinmay. The excellent representation  lies in the fact that the role is played with sophistication and stateliness that we associate with Shivaji Maharaj rather than screaming populist patriotic monologues that the director could have easily resorted to.  There is a challenge of the budget and it is visible in the fact that the art director tries to fill the art deco in minimum tight closeups but fails to give the scale of enormity that the powerful background music seems to suggest. I wonder why the use of Special effects was not resorted to . It ends up looking like a very high budget play than a well budgeted film.

The film has glass undoubtedly but suffers from an insipid script that is unable to the pulsating theme and make it thrilling. A sense of drama is missing as the director tries to make a Bahubali out of Kondaji with rippling six pacs and focusing more on espousing on his good muscular heroic looks than his historical work. Slowly the lack of finesse in the fights and lack of conviction on how they capture the fort seeps in and which is sad as it lessens the real life grandeur of Kondaji’s actions.

The film has its heart in the right place, the costumes seem apt, the art direction not distracting and helping the director to the extent the budget allows but is let down by a script that does not do justice to fantastic actors like Mrinal Kulkarni who mouths very predictable dialogues and looks honestly disinterested or to a very enthusiastic Prasad Oak who plays Bahirji the master of disguises or Ankit Mohan who executes his part as expected . Think we should see more of Chinmay as Shivaji in a large budget movie devoted to Shivaji Maharaj wholly. 

It is still a movie with its heart in the right place and a good learning for children who are still not fully aware of Indian history and Maratha history in particular

**

Sanju The Forbidden Hero

In line with the present trend to wear patriotism on your sleeves and exhibit it at the drop of a hat , the social media is abuzz with whats app messages asking people whether it is right to watch Sanju because it was a PR exercise to clean up Sanjay Dutt’s image as had admitted to cavorting with people from the mafia, one who had been guilty for waging war against the country. There is no doubt about his incrimination. He has been judged and sent to jail for those very reasons. But to tell people not watch a movie made on his story is baffling. By that logic we must steer clear of movies made on all sorts of criminals in history. We have lapped up dictators’ stories of Hitler and Mussolini intrigued by their emotional bend of mind. The same curiosity applies here. What made this actor coming from a family with strong credentials behave the way he did?

Frankly I found the average movie actually more of a lesson for today’s youth than an entertaining peek into someone’s sordid life. I say a lesson because the aftereffects of drug addition comes through strongly and should have a lasting impact on youth who could be influenced.  I say average because it comes from the stable of our favorite Raju Hirani who is a magician with social message stories and his Jhadoo ke Jhappi, revisiting Gandhiji’s ideals, whose Munnabhaisms are legendary and reflective of how cinema can really influence society with a lasting effect. Surprisingly the people who object to Sanju the biography I am sure were hooting and cheering for Munnabhai.

Sanju traces the story of Sanjay Dutt the actor from his younger days to the time he got jailed and his travesty with drugs and his faltering relationship with his father and his most recent tryst with people across the line with criminal backgrounds.

Raju makes no effort to sweeten the deal for the actor in return for sharing his story. The story is as gory and true as can be. There are no apologies for him. He is shown as a person always given to treading the thin line of morality and violating it at every turn starting off on drugs thanks to evil intentioned friends. He is unable to live up to the morally high ground that his parents have set their life on.  But that is a slim excuse. He goes bad with his eyes wide open. The movie does not shy away from depicting him as an immoral person in relationships or not living up to friendships. And to be fair it does not glorify him either.

The problem however, with the movie is its anecdotal style trying to find a solid footing to establish his weak excuse on why he was found in the possession of an AK 56 gun. The reasoning sounds logical enough to believe considering the threat to his family and him was real and established and the fact that he foolishly thought he could protect himself with a gun. Obviously these guns will be available from nefarious elements with who he obviously has no excuse to be in the company of. He had a proclivity to rub shoulders with criminals and it is explained in passing by inferring to the pressure that all film actors succumb to. But none of the others turned into law breaking citizens by that logic.

The director walks the thin line of appearing  to white wash his crimes and at the same time be frank about what led to his imprisonment trying to appear brutally honest in making a biopic.

The reason the film does not hold your rapt attention is because the director dilutes his magical touch by being clearly so awestruck with his subject that he allows all the other characters to fade into ordinary and flat existences. Even Paresh Rawal looks unsure about his role and the surprise realistic elements he usually brings to his character is missing. Everyone is raving about Vicky Kaushal but I found him quite commercial and more focused on mimicking the character than blending into it. He was just trying too hard to fit into a commercial movie and that shows and he has a considerable role in the movie. He looked and sounded more credible in the other movies he has been seen in recently. One would have liked to see more of Manisha Koirala playing the mother and Diya Myrza the wife. And veterans like Sayaji Shinde, who can make even real dons quake with their portrayals, steals the show in just two scenes that he has. The sisters at least one of who has a very prominent role in real life is shown with plastic emotions in the background without a single dialogue and one wonders why? Anushka has a completely forgettable role but  executes it sincerely

So what keeps you glued till the end is the restless creativity that Ranbir invests his role with never generating laughs because he is imitating someone. I kept flitting between remembering he is Ranbir and not the real Sunjay many times during the movie. He is fabulous and the prime reason one may want to watch this film. The music is completely forgettable except for the retro ‘Main Badiya tub bhi Badiya”.

So does the movie make us feel sympathetic to Sunjay Dutt? Absolutely not I think and therein lies the honest approach of Raju to his subject and not manipulating our emotions to support the man who no doubt went the wrong way and paid for it. But whether he is a terrorist? If you follow the man and his actions you really doubt he has the necessary gumption and thought process to execute evil on mankind.  It is not an outstanding movie but keeps you rooted for its length. You leave the theatre wishing it could have been better fiction.