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Friday, January 28, 2011
Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi, Omi Vaidya, Tisca Chopra, Shruti Haasan, Shraddha Das, Shazahn Padamsee, Rituparno GhoshDirector: Madhur Bhandarkar
New Delhi, Jan 24 – They say men never grow up and filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar is exploring this pyche of men in a humorous way through his new romantic comedy ‘Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji’ releasing Friday. Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi and Omi Vaidya, ‘Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji’ is the slice of life movie that talks about three men and their encounters with love. Shazahn Padmasee, Shruti Haasan and debutante Shraddha Das will play their love interests respectively. Naren Ahuja (Ajay) is in his thirties and is going through divorce. While nursing his broken heart following a failed marriage, Naren meets vibrant and bubbly June Pinto (Shazahn) and can’t stop himself from falling in love with this young girl.
Milind Kelkar (Omi) is a naive poet and idealistic lover. He develops a liking for an ambitious and practical Gunjan Sarkar (Shraddha) who is determined to follow her dreams. But Abhay (Emraan), a charming casanova, is different. His mantra in life is money and women. But his life too takes a turn after an encounter with Nikki (Shruti), a modern girl who knows her needs and speaks her mind. He too experiences love, an emotion he had always stayed away from.
According to director Bhandarkar, the film is a funny take on love, with real-life relatable characters, and shows to what extent people would go to achieve it or avoid it. Bhandarkar is known for making hard-hitting and realistic films like ‘Chandni Bar’, ‘Fashion’ and ‘Jail’ which garnered critical acclaim as well as box office success. ‘Chandni Bar’, starring Tabu and Atul Kulkarni, depicted hardships of women working in dance bars, while ‘Fashion’ explored the glamorous but dark world of modelling. The film starred Priyanka Chopra in the lead. His last outing ‘Jail’ put the spotlight on cruel realities faced by prisoners in jail. Although the film didn’t do well at the box-office, it was indeed applauded by critics.
With ‘Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji’, Bhandarkar attempts to move away from serious cinema and take the audience on a laughter ride. However, the filmmaker is adamant that his stamp and signature style will be evident in the film. Just like his director, Emraan, known for playing edgy roles in ‘Murder’, ‘Gangster – A Love Story’ and ‘Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai’, is trying comedy for the first time.
Omi has expectations riding high because this is his second release after blockbuster ‘3 Idiots’ and the actor admits this has been a challenging role for him as he plays a Maharashtrian and he had to ensure that his accent is perfect. Last year brought a mixed response for Ajay’s films. While ‘Golmaal 3′ and ‘Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai’ and ‘Raajneeti’ were hits, his home production ‘Toonpur Ka Superhero’ and ‘Aakrosh’ failed to impress the audiences. Ajay hopes to start the new year on a good note with ‘Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji’, which is the solo release this week. A couple of years back Amitabh Bachchan had commented that if there was one film maker who had the potential to carry forward the legacy of Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee, it could be Madhur Bhandarkar. Well, his prophecy has indeed come true with 'Dil Toh Baccha Hai' indeed reminding audience of the cinema of yore where films were made in and around real-life situations.
It is these real-life situations that make 'Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji' a smile through film where audience gets into a feel-good zone for those two hours. Really, right from the time the opening credits start rolling till the last frame comes up on screen, a smile seldom leaves you. And even when it does for those few moments, the dramatic moments are gripping enough to hold your attention. Characters belong to the kind that one can relate to. Ajay Devgn going through a mid-life crisis and falling for his much junior office colleague could well be the story of many a men folk in their late 30s. Emraan Hashmi's flirt character which tries to hop in from one female to another regardless of their age isn't surprising either. Also, Omi Vaidya's 'till death do us apart' character is the kind of romantic which may be a rarity but still possible.
Even women here are unpretentious and know what they want and are doing. Shazahn as a cute girl in her early 20s behaves like one in her casual avtar. Shraddha knows what she wants from her career and sticks on to that as her first love. Same holds good for Shruti for whom a one night stand is, well, just a one night stand. As for Tisca Chopra, a surprise inclusion in the film and a strong character to boast, she is the kind of ex-beauty queen turned socialite which is hardly a rarity in high society circles. Any blemishes? Well, there are intermittent moments on both halves where one hopes for some elevation in the proceedings. Also, there is some degree of repetition that comes in the track featuring Omi and Shraddha track, especially when it is crystal clear that Omi is being taken for a ride. However this is pretty much compensated by Ajay-Shazahn track which is the best of the three. Really, you can't help but break into a big smile whenever the two interact. As for Emraan-Shruti track, it is half baked. In fact Emraan-Tisca track is much stronger and leaves a solid impact.
However it is the chemistry between the three men which instantly reminds one of 'Chashme Baddoor'. Whenever the three come together, they convert a scene into a winner. Right from the time they discuss their love lives to their minor conquers to their disappointments and then the final resolve, Ajay, Emraan and Omi get it right, hence ensuring that there could well be a sequel in the offering. In fact Ajay is loveable as a moony eyed lover and his goofy expressions are laugh worthy at every instance. Emraan is characteristically himself in the first half but excels in the dramatic portions of the second half. Omi is earnest and also gets some good lines for himself but at places is marred by (as stated earlier) repetitive situations.
Shazahn makes the best of the opportunity and is extremely good as the young chirpy girl who is vivacious and energetic. Shraddha is good while playing a character which has strong grey shades. As for Shruti, she is seen in just a cameo and doesn't get much scope except for looking good. Tisca leaves a good impression and shows a different facet of her personality, both in acting as well as looks department. Visually the film is easy on eyes. Songs compliment the mood of the film with 'Tu Khwab Hai' being the soul of the film as it plays in the background right through the narrative. Sanjay Chhel's dialogues are witty as they compliment the written material (by Madhur Bhandarkar, Anil Pandey and Neeraj Udwani), hence keeping the audience engaged with a definite storyline and light hearted moments.
It is surprising that the film has been given an 'A' certificate though. In fact the film reminds of the times when films like 'Shaukeen', 'Chashme Baddoor', 'Katha', 'Baton Baton Mein', 'Rang Birangi' and many more found acceptance amongst the audience. Overall 'Dil To Bachcha Hai' turns out to be a nice and decent entertainer by Madhur Bhandarkar which can be given a very comfortable watch with the entire family. Before Madhur Bhandarkar decided to make this film he had declared he would be making another film based on the film industry, with Kareena Kapoor in lead. And while he waited for the actress's dates he decided to go ahead with Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji. The film was finished in no time and the results are there to see. DTBHJ looks half baked. DTBHJ is based on a single thought. And it is not a bad one! It's about how men never learn from mistakes in love. But it is never established well.
The story is about three men different in character and at different stages of the lives and what happens when they fall in love. 38-year old Naren (Ajay Devgn) falls for 20-year old June (Shazahn), who is an intern in his office. He starts believing that June likes him when the much younger girl gets friendly with him. Milind (Omi Vaidya) works with a matchmaking website and falls for an RJ who thinks he writes great poetry. Abhay (Emraan) is a playboy who falls in love with a girl who is busy with social issues. All three start believing that the girl they love will reciprocate till they learn otherwise.
The film starts out well. The opening credits actually remind you of good old '70s. Things go good for the first half an hour as the director established the characters and the situations. The girls are quickly introduced too. However soon after that the story goes haywire clearly indicating that the writer didn't put much effort. Or maybe it was a case of lack of time, as indicated in the first paragraph. Emraan Hashmi's love story is way too patchy as the director decides to give more space to Tisca Chopra than Shruti Haasan. None of the stories have a proper graph and the ending is a complete spoiler. The dialogues are intended to be funny, but you may laugh only a few instances as they rarely make an impact.
Technically too the film is quite weak. While the cinematography is inconsistent, the production quality is a letdown. The background music is too loud and the editing is just about ok. The playback music is good. Performances too are a mixed bag. Ajay Devgn is the best of the lot. Emraan Hashmi plays his usual character fluently while Omi Vaidya, playing a similar character to what he played in 3 Idiots, just about manages his Marathi lines. Tisca Chopra is best among the girls. Shruti Haasan and Shazahn Padamsee fail to please yet again. They clearly need a lot of work on their act. Shraddha Das is ok while Rituparna Sengupta hardly has anything to do.
In the film Shruti Haasan says to Emraan, referring to a one-night stand, that it was neither her first time nor his and hence he could just forget it and move on. The dialogue somehow suits the whole film. This is neither Madhur's first bad film nor the first bad one that we have seen. Move on, let it pass. Hold on safely to your money, you will find better avenues to spend on! Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji is at best mediocrity fuelled by hasty filmmaking decisions.
Dhobi Ghat
Cast: Aamir Khan, Prateik Babbar, Monica Dogra, Kriti Malhotra, Danish Hussain, Jehan Manekshaw, Ashok Varma, Kitu Gidwani
Director: Kiran Rao
Yet another hit by Aamir Khan. Everything that he touches seems to turn into gold. The movie is written by Kiran Rao and tells a story of four people from very different backgrounds, whose worlds intersect and leave them forever altered and the relationships they are drawn into. The film marks the debut of Monica Dogra and Kriti Malhotra, who are marvelous in their performance. Prateik gives another great performance and could be a upcoming star. The movie is a must watch. Kiran Rao in her debut film has told an evocative and complex story of people coming to Mumbai – the city which offers more than pools of money apart from its breathtaking sea face where she interestingly twines the lives of Arun (Aamir Khan), an upmarket artist meets Shai (Monica Dogra), an NRI investment banker at his exhibition. A chance encounter makes Shai believe it can be taken further but the moody Arun is in no mood of relationships.
Shai the investment banker who can afford a sabbatical to follow her passion of clicking pictures is pissed. She befriends Munna (Prateik), the friendly neighbourhood dhobi who happens to be a wannabe actor too, they both watch movies, dig on keema pav at Mumbai bustling Mohammad Ali rd, the girl treats the boy as equal but the guy knows his limitations, it’s a totally diverse world but still they stay together in this beautiful city to fill their emptiness. Meanwhile Arun gets hooked in the video-taped story of Yasmin (Kriti Malhotra), the simple small town ex-inmate of the house he currently occupies. Recently married Yasmin shares a simple newlywed bride dream, she has an untold story to tell to her brother, the movie is a crisscrossing story of these four people who have immigrated to this city of dreams and how they survive, choose to carry whether they bind or break. How they respond and confront situations. Kiran chooses the guerrilla route to narrate her 95 minute story where the proceedings seems like we are watching our friends handy cam, the picture has a lean, almost procedural style, in which every scene and line of dialogue counts striking the notes of emotional distress, class difference.
Kiran purpose is simple, she wants us to meet these people, know them, sympathize with them but don’t drive any conclusion and that is what truly fascinating. The movie makes Mumbai more alluring thanks to the camera of Tushar Kanti Ray which captures the city in each every shade in dawn and dusk. Nishant Radhakrishna’s smart and crisp editing and the berating soothing score by Gustavo Santaolalla is an extra plus, making this mystical metropolitan city the fifth character which holds everyone together.Films about interconnected lives stumble under the weight of coincidences, not ‘Dhobi Ghat’, Kiran who also pens it turns out to be too savvy to let that happen.
The actors, Aamir (who does a smart job once again) and the newcomers bring an air of weary authenticity to their roles, Prateik Babbar as the day time dhobi and part time rat killer at night is intensely ‘in’ the role respecting the genes of his remarkably talented mother Smith Patil, Monica Dogra as Shai is hot and easy going perfectly modeled for the role. Kriti Malhotra as Yasmin is a welcome surprise, Kittu Gidwani is competent. All of them make ‘Dhobi Ghat’ a wise and complex drama that accompanies diversity and globalization to the simpler human story of how individuals cope with losses for which they bear a portion of the responsibility.
Well, Kiran makes a point as a helmer but in the commercial and artistic push and pull of cinema, Kiran’s Mumbai Diaries is not vividly clear to all. The rasikas are definitely goanna lap it up but it whistles doesn’t go beyond the niche ears as the maker doesn’t listen to general demands. But Kudos for Aamir Khan Productions for believing in cinema of choice and getting better more artistic and intelligent with ‘Dhobi Ghat’ after giving us ‘Lagaan’, ‘Taare Zameen Par’, ‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na’ And ‘Peepli [Live]’. Every year literally hundreds of thousands throng to the city of dreams, Mumbai. To cover so many dreams in a small span of an-hour-and-a-half calls for some brilliant filmmaking. And watching "Dhobi Ghat" will make you realise that there indeed have been very few debuts as stunning as this one.
"Dhobi Ghat" is the story of five characters - Yasmin (Kirti Malhotra), Arun (Aamir Khan), Shai (Monica Dogra), Munna (Prateik Babbar) and the city of Mumbai. After a one night stand with Arun, who is a painter, Shai, an investment banker from America and an amateur photographer, obsesses over him, while her dhobi Munna pines for Shai. Arun, meanwhile, discovers a few tapes in his flat from the previous tenant and, watching them, falls in love and find a muse in the woman who has made them - Yasmin. Each of the character is thus looking for something in one another, while the fifth character, Mumbai, simply stares blankly at them without comment or prejudice.
One of the best things about the film is its casting. Each of the actors complement the film, its director, and the city of Mumbai perfectly. Each is believable in his or her own garb. Prateik is bound to become the heartthrob of the generation, while Kirti Malhotra's innocence has to be seen to be believed. Real life singer Monica brings out the uncertainty of her character beautifully. The only one who is a little out of place, and hence the small sore point of the film is actor Aamir Khan. He begins shakily and is self conscious, unable as he is perhaps of shaking away two decades of Bollywood's acting baggage. By the end of it though, he manages to get into the film's rhythm and gives a believable performance.
It is hence not Kiran Rao's luck that she got superstar husband Aamir to act in the film, but Aamir's luck that he is in this film, which will go down in the history of cinema as one of the best character sketches of a city and its people. Very few people in the world have sketched any city with such tender love, care and affection. And to add to the lilting melody that is Mumbai in the film is composer Gustavo Santaolalla who gives a haunting background score. Director Kiran Rao brilliantly manages to find a physical representation of Mumbai city, in the old woman who blankly stares at all the characters, but says nothing. The metaphor is simple but powerful - Mumbai is a dying, decaying city, but one that is definitely alive and watches over all. And like the character of Arun who becomes a voyeur into the life of Yasmin, it is Kiran Rao that has played voyeur on the city of Mumbai. Another good thing about the film is that nowhere does it slacken or lose pace. On the contrary, it unfolds almost like a mystery, like a rose bud, only to scintillate the senses in full bloom. It thus might become the low budget indie Indian film that will finally make money like big-budget Bollywood fare.
In the end though, that wouldn't matter much to the audience who will find themselves somewhere in the film. Each one of the characters in the film is like Mumbai, and Mumbai is like each one of us who inhabit it.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Yamla Pagla Deewana
Cast: Dharmendra,Sunny Deol,Bobby Deol,Kulraj Randhawa,Anupam Kher,Mukul Dev,Himanshu Mallik,Amit Mistry
Director: Samir Karnik
Directed by Samir Karnik, Yamla Pagla Deewana is a frothy and fun-filled movie that will have the audience in splits. It is a film that is all about the Deol trio of Dharmendra, Sunny and Bobby who conjure up a great on-screen camaraderie to dish out a laugh riot. The film is firstly and thankfully not a slapstick though there are hints of spoofy gags. It also relies on the image of the Deols while outlining their characters. For instance, Bobby has been presented mostly as a lover boy while Sunny breaks bones and also mimics the now-famous hand-pump scene from Gadar.
Dharmendra is a delight to watch and will tickle your bones with some of his witty one-liners. The entire film is a comedy of errors with a pretty hotchpotch storyline. Bobby plays Gajodhar and wants to marry Saheba (essayed by newcomer Kulraj Randhawa). But Saheba’s brothers decide to accept Sunny Deol as their potential ‘damaad’. Sunny plays Paramveer who reunites with his lost dad and brother in the first few minutes of the film. Thereafter, the trio indulge in their antics and draw huge guffaws from the audience.
Though the performances are commendable, the music of the film is weak and has got only the title track to boast for. But chuckles are guaranteed with some genuinely hilarious moments. However, had the editing team done a better job, the film could have been much better. Nevertheless, it is a watchable flick if you wanna laugh out loud. If you have had a bad day and want to cheer yourself up, Yamla Pagla Deewana is the best option you have this week. Rather, it is one of the best options you have had in quite some time. And if you have had a good day, it just gets better!
Unashamedly based on a the age old and clichéd Bollywood formula of separation and reunion in families, Yamla Pagla Deewana starts with a recap of some of the famous 70's dramas in the credits. That sets the tone. So you have a Canada-based banker Paramveer Singh Dhillon (Sunny Deol) who finds that his father and brother are still alive and are in Varanasi. He promises his mother to get them back and lands in India. Here he meets them but his father Dharam Singh (Dharmendra) refuses to recognize him. Paramveer decides to stick on till he gets his father to accept him. In the meantime the younger brother Gajodhar Singh (Bobby Deol) falls in love and that takes the three of them to Punjab.
The first half is almost a drag as the director sets the stage for an exciting second half. In fact the story barely moves in the first half, though it is replete with magical moments. Post the intermission the story takes a huge leap in pace while keeping the laughs alive. You have references of the Deol films and also fresh stocks of jokes. For example a young Punjabi girl's desire to settle in 'Caneda' and preparing for it by reading up about the country on the internet! There are also funny statements on how the masses feel anyone speaking in English is right.
The film could have been better if the first half was controlled. A couple of songs could have been easily removed - something evidently kept for one section of the audience. And then the chaotic Priyadarshan style climax could have definitely been done better. The Deol-magic is manifested to the optimum with their trademark characteristics used in the storytelling. So you have Sunny Deol and Dharmendra bashing up goons in Rajnikanth style action while Bobby romancing his girlfriend on music borrowed from Kareeb. The film looks like it has been directed by a hardcore Deol fan as it is filled with everything that the audience loves about the Deols. The good part is that all of these gimmicks actually gel very well into the story and are not just clubbed in for some cheap cheers.
The three Deols are in magical form as they do what they do best. Sunny Deol is very good. Dharmedra looks good at this age. Bobby Deol comes up with one of his best performances as he tries comedy- a genre he has not exploited much. Kulraj Randhawa adds the much required freshness. The rest of the cast bring in their own styles to make the film more entertaining. Amit Mistry deserves special mention.
After a decent start to the year with No One Killed Jessica, this film promises to shoo away the ghosts of last year's dismal box office reports even further. We often try to come up with some phrase to describe a film. Like the promos says that this film has action, romance, emotions, drama and also a lot of confusion! It indeed has a whole lot of elements that Indian cinema has predominantly celebrated- be it family, honesty or love. YPD generates one cheer - Hit hai! Well the team deserves this one, at least director Samir Karnik does! ‘Yamla Pagla Deewana’ is a fulfilled tribute to the spirit of Bollywood which reconfirms that Indian cinema of yore can never be ‘lost’ and it should be ‘found’ periodically to give us a ‘feel good’ feeling in this troubled times.
Producer Director Samir Karnik pays a ‘Deolastic’ tribute to Manmohan Desai, Prakash Mehra - the papas of wholesome entertaining musicals who gave us ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’, ‘Parvarish’, ‘Hera Pheri’, ‘Dharam Veer’, ‘Yaadon Ki Baaraat’ etc. YPD is a crazy fulfilled joyride where happily married Paramveer Singh (Sunny Deol) comes to India from Canada to look for his father, Dharam Singh (Dharmendra) and his brother Gajodhar Singh (Bobby Deol), who were separated from him during childhood.
Paramveer finds them earning their livelihood as con men in the ghats of Benaras. But before he can take them back with him he must resolve his kid brother's complicated love story by tackling the girl's (Kulraj Randhawa) tough brothers (Anupam Kher and co). This leads to joyful ride to sadda Punjab and the result is a total paisa vasool fun. But how a cliché story makes it possible to provide the fireworks every now and then in the 2 hrs 30 minutes time span mostly during the second half.. Simple, Director Samir Karnik does a smart casting act which turns out to be just perfect to satisfy the appetite of entertainment hungry souls of Bollywood cinema. He uses the qualities of the Deols and mixes with their superb chemistry which we did see in ‘Apne’ where everyone gives his best and the trio is thoroughly enjoyable.
Bobby in his mischievous roadside Romeo act is engaging. Big brother Sunny is highly entertaining in this ‘bhaiya’ act where in action he goes beyond his own set benchmark in his biggest hit ‘Gadar – Ek Prem Katha’, the climax where he blows everyone with his trademark yell is howlarious and in the scene when he gets drunk by drinking mugs of whiskey from a bucket can make any stone hearted laugh to the fullest. Having said this, however, the show stealer is undoubtedly the 75 year old Dharampaji who is still ‘garam’ on screen with his entertaining acts. The biggest compliment for Dharmendra is that he doesn’t look like a father on screen he looks like the elder brother of Sunny and Bobby and does an amazing job, his comic timings, dance moves are just fabulous.
The trio has a plenty for their fans over here. B-town new introduction Kulraj Randhawa is attractive, you can’t move your eyes when she is on screen and she has the potential to stay long as an actress. The movie would not have been a joyride without the excellent support of its supporting cast especially Anupam Kher who is outstanding as the egoist NRI obsessed Sardar brother. Johny Lever entertains, Nafisa Ali is up to mark, Sucheta Khanna is fabulous, Amit Mistry is fine, Mukul Dev is fantastic as the drunken jat. Himanshu Malik is fair,
Emma Brown Garrett as Sunny's wife was endearing, people will love the part when she says Hindi especially the line ‘Arre mein loot gayi’. The kids are a delight and Ajay Devgn's voiceover is appropriate. The movie already has two, maybe three chartbusters – the title, “Tinku Jiya” and “Chamki” marking the comeback of Anu Malik. The dialogues are nice and entertaining and the chemistry between the Deols is dazzling. Lens work by Kabir Lal and Binod Pradhan is first rate, editing by Mukesh Thakur is crisp and production values are topnotch. So what’s wrong… Well not much but still the writer should have concentrated more on the chemistry and Samir as the director should have followed the movie in the tone in which Ajay Devgn started his voiceover. First half is a bit laid back as the real action filled with all the masala happens during the second half.
All said and done, ‘Yamla Pagla Deewana’ is fun filled Bollywood road trip that’s shoots all the right targets on its way and will become a winner, the flawless casting, the high entertainment quotient designed for the masses and catchy score will push its prospects at the B.O. Later the emotional connect established with a feel good heart will make it reach to a broader audience. It’s a sure shot winner anywhere where ‘Bollywood is watched, seen or heard.
When was the last time you went to see a movie to watch a real-life film family have fun? Was it 40 years ago in ‘Kal Aaj Aur Kal’ when the Kapoor khandaan, grandfather Prithviraj Kapoor, son Raj and grandson Randhir Kapoor got together to show us how the generation gap can smother a free flow of ideas and emotions within a family? In ‘Yamla Pagla Deewana’ (YPD) where the Deol parivar puts its laughing heads together for a fun fiesta, the problem in the plot is just the opposite of what we saw in ‘Kal Aaj Aur Kal’. The generation gap has disappeared. Son Bobby Deol calls his father Dharmendra ‘Dharam’ in the formal moments and ‘Kamina’ when Bobby-boy is in a particularly affectionate mode of thought. Both father-son go around conning the whole of Varanasi in the first, decidedly more deft and amusing half of this crazy, zany, irreverent ode to a dysfunctional family. Sunny Deol’s NRI character comes searching from Vancouver for a father and brother who are hardly in the mood to be found. Turban in place.
Cleverly, often wittily, written by Jasvinder Singh Bath, YPD is big broad burlesque-styled homage to the spirit of on-screen and off-screen camaraderie. The Deol brothers are in full form and have been cleverly cast to create a somewhat disembodied study in contrasts. Bobby is deliberately loud and hammy, almost like Salman Khan in ‘Dabangg’ without the humour in uniform.
Sunny Deol in a more controlled avatar than the other two Deols does his larger-than-life heroic act with habitual panache. It’s interesting to see how Sunny balances out the guffaws with the fights. His character and the rest of the plot repeatedly hark back to the dhishum-dhishum bak-bak razmatazz of the 1970s when cinema was all about unabashed villain bashing on sets that were supposed to look like sets. Director Samir Karnik who showed his sensitive side in the underrated ‘Heroes’, here muffles the mellow moods in a melee of harangue and one-liners.
Interestingly the lines of morality are delightfully blurred here. Dharmendra the ultimate super-hero of the 1970s is here an unapologetic con-man. One never knows when the he-man transforms into the hee-hee man. All that matters is that Dharmendra seems to be having fun in his sons’ company. The mood of mischievous gaiety is contagious even in the second comparatively less engaging half when the entire cast moves to rural Punjab where Bobby woos the comely Kulraj Randhawa and wins over her zanily autocratic father(Anupam Kher, in full farcical form) and his battalion of goofily macho patriarchs. For better or worse all films about marriage and courtship in a Punjabi milieu always reminds us of Imtiaz Ali’s ‘Jab We Met’.
But hey, did Imtiaz’s film have Dharmendra’s first-born creating a ruckus after drinking whiskey out of a bucket? Nahin na? There are in-house Deol jokes and references to Dharmendra neo-classics ‘Sholay’, ‘Dharam-veer’, ‘Phool Aur Patthar’ and ‘Pratiggya’, all adding up to a rather heartwarming tribute to the Deols. The spirit of tongue-in-cheek irreverence dominates the proceedings. The film has a rough-at-the-edges feel to it, perhaps deliberately to accentuate the rugged humour. By the time we come to the crazy climax in the godown in the second-half, someone comments, ‘This looks like a cheap godown set from a tacky Hindi movie.’ And we get the point of this scrambled crazy-as-can-be exercise in subversive laughter. Director Samir Karnik loves the Deols. The Deols love one another. And we love watching a diehard Deol fan of a director bring Bollywood’s family together in a comedy that keeps us smiling till the last breathless moment of hilarious havoc. Yes we love this film’s anything-goes mood. There are some delectable cameos. Watch out for Sucheta Dalaal as a spaced-out Canadian-and-sex-starved spinster and Amit Mistry as a not-so-cool Punjabi dude. They get the point.
Turning 30
Cast: Purab Kohli, Gul Panag, Siddharth Makkar, Tillotama Shome, Jeneva Talwar, Anita Kanwar, Rahul Singh, Sameer Malhotra
Director: Alankrita Shrivastava
Hollywood has given innumerable chick flicks namely the likes of 13 Going On 30, Sex And The City, Bridget Jones Diary, Clueless among others. However, Bollywood has never really experimented much in this domain. Not too long ago filmmaker Rajshree Ojha burnt her fingers with her attempt Aisha and now Alankrita Shrivastava is trying her hands with a chick flick Turning 30. The film is about an urban woman Naina (Gul Panag), living in Mumbai and how her life takes a turn when she hits the age of 30. To begin with, her stable boyfriend Rishab (Siddharth Makkar) dumps her for a richer and hotter girl. And then she loses her job.
Fighting with her mother's insistence to get her married Naina somehow manages to get a hold of her life when her college affair Jay (Purab Kohli) who comes back and proposes her for marriage. Now whether she marries him or he just becomes her rebound case and how she gets her life together follows through the rest of the plot. Turning 30 takes off very well but suddenly turns into a tripe plot. Repetition is a recurring issue in the film. The fact that Naina doesn't come to terms with her break up and keeps making attempts of getting back with Rishab is also reinstated several times. Despite that neither do you feel for the character nor does her emotional turmoil touch you.
Moreover, the film appears straight out of novel. Director Alankrita Shrivastava seemingly appears to be a big fan of chick lit or chick flicks and produces a mishmash of all of them. The screenplay is exactly the way one would visualize a scene while reading a book. Another sore point is the dialogues which sound very lyrical and bookish as if one is reading them out and the film is 80 % in English. The music isn't appeasing either.
However, Turning 30 does have some light moments, specially the interaction between Gul and her two friends Ruksana (Jeneva Talwar) and Malini (Tillotama Shome) but they are few and far in between. Purab Kohli is decent while Siddharth Makkar acts well. Ira Dubey stands out even in a cameo. B-town transporter of desi political and crime exotica Prakash Jha goes urban as a producer to explore the feelings of a thirty year old hottie in this Bollywood explanation of its sex and the city.
Helmed by first timer writer director Alankrita Shrivastava, this urban comedy about a nearing thirty urban career girl whose fondness for a whole host of unattractive addictions has gone a long way in putting the screws to her romantic life and her self-esteem is more style than substance. The nearly 2 hour flick is padded with those trendy garments in which we see our colleagues and friends roaming around us and the movie feels exceedingly familiar too, so much so that most of the plot turns can be guessed well before they happen.
The scarcity of clever quips makes the movie lengthy but still, there is still something satisfying about the effort. The movie is nice and naughty for the older teens who get identified with Naina (Gul Panag), her casting comes as a good news as she effortlessly grapples with heartbreak and a crisis in the film where she plays an advertising executive who had just broken from a relationship, has a prestigious project to handle at work, she is about to enter into her 30’s and she is still waiting. She is confused about love and doesn’t know what is right for her. As Naina fights her anxiety and fears about being 30 years old with her friends nicely played by Tillotama and Jeneva Talwar, enters Purab Kohli her ex-flame who along with Naina’s friends make her realize that there's a lot of growing up to be done. Naina broken relationship keeps haunting her, she gets cheated in office and couldn’t decide between her broken boyfriend who keeps haunting or the ex-flame Purab who has comeback. Suddenly the same Naina gets the strength to fight a case against her bosses and even write a novel Agreed one of her friend who plays a lesbian in the movie finds her writing skills but we needed some explanation on that. Needless to guess, the movie ends up at a bookstore where Naina signs her autographed copy to her once haunting lover and moving on in the arms of her comeback vehicle Purab. Gul Panag and Purab shine in this urban comedy which has the routine ups and downs but sadly they are not emotional.
It’s stylish, sassy, even naughty at a time but doesn’t connect emotionally overall as most of the part are in English. First timer writer director Alankrita Shrivastava comes up with an idea but not a proper script, it’s like planning a house with all the amenities but alas the house wife is missing. Technical and production values are first rate, dialogues are appropriate and costumes by Poornamrata Singh deserve special mention. Music by Siddharth and Suhas is just passable. Cinematography by Akshay Singh is sharp. Naina (Gul Panang) has her life in full throttle but just a few days before she turns 30, she is facing the wrath of her boss, gets dumped by her boyfriend (Siddharth Makkar), friends tell her about the biological clock and mom wants her to settle down. To top it all the aging also starts showing with the grays. So what happens to Naina and how does she intend to see her life through this barrier?
Alankrita Shrivastava tries to see the life and the society through the gaze of a 30-year old woman and as a debutant director it is quite ambitious project. Turning 30!!! is a chick-flick but it is not the quint-essential Bollywood kind of one, nor is it a mesh of a desi version of Bridget Jones’ Dairy and Sex and the City. But instead it does take into account the life of the cosmopolitan working woman at its crux, a theme that doesn’t find much space in the Bollywood sagas. However, the film does start with a promise, but a not so hard hitting script and writing with lame development of the characters,the film falls short of what it could have delivered. While the first half is still to a certain extent an entertaining section with the quips and the jokes, the formulaic screenplay in the second half calls the doom for the film.
Nonetheless, those who do want to wallow or kind of is in the mood while turning 30, it would be a good to watch and find a way out of it. But still 30 is a phase in life where things does get into perspective for many, as the young age is full of aspiration and the after 60 is full of regret, so the middle-age is the time to enjoy.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Vikalp
Cast: Kranti Jha, Akshay Singh, Nirmal Pandey, Pankaj Berry, Abhijit Leher, Jyoti Singh, Omkar Singh, Deepal Shaw, Abhay Joshi
Director: Sachin P. Karande
The importance of a good technical team, director and proper financial backing are best showcased when a project turns out to be bad for the lack of these. Vikalp is an example. This one is a technological thriller. But from the look of the film, at no moment does it seem like one. Vikalp has many problems and the terrible shabby look is one of them. The cinematographer seems to have forgotten what 'focus' meant and the director never bothered to check. Result - half of the film is out of focus! And that, believe me, is extremely irritating. Also the grainy look, if it was a planned move, does not fit the movie and only makes things worse. For the genre in reference it would have helped to have a cleaner and sleek look.
This apart there are far too many flaws in detailing, be it characters or scenes. Double it up with poor dialogues! And then you have the unwanted songs - these hurt more because of the uninspiring music! On the good side, the basic plot of Vikalp is rather interesting and holds immense scope. Cyber crime is a topic that Bollywood is yet to explore. And the superb twists in tale in the second half manages to create attention. The story is about a girl called Rishika Gandhi who has been brought up in an orphanage. Bred in Marathi medium government institutions, she is a self taught computer genius. Rishika lands with a good job in Bangkok only to realize there is something very fishy about the place the she works in. Performances wise Deepal Shaw puts up a decent effort although her forced Marathi accent gives away at times. For an actress to get one whole film to herself is not something that happens too often in Bollywood and Deepal seems to have just turned lucky. Only if she had a better director and co-stars around her! Among the rest, Chetan Pandit is good. The film also happens to star Nirmal Pandey whose demise in early 2010 left us stunned. Not the most worthy last film for a talent who could have been exploited far more by the industry. First things first, 'Vikalp' isn't meant for 'aam junta' by any means. Since the film talks heavily about risk, security, code, hacking devices etc., it would be mostly indecipherable by a large segment of audience. Nothing wrong with that. After all as long as the film has a set target audience for itself and made in a reasonably budget, it is fine to pitch it accordingly.
However in execution of these ideas, there are problems aplenty. First and foremost problem is the very title of the film. Director Sachin P. Karande's debut flick 'Payback' released just a few days back and went unnoticed due to the very same reason. Now 'Vikalp' is even dicier as it gives an impression of a serious film with philosophical tone to it instead of a thriller about the hacking world. 'Vikalp' is about a young girl (Deepal Shaw) who has learnt the art of hacking entirely on her own but uses it in an ethical manner to expose loopholes in a system rather than misusing it for her own personal use. After being ridiculed by her first organisation, she moves to Bangkok and starts life afresh in a new IT company. Her assignment involves developing a hacking code that could be further used to safeguard the world of banking. But was this her real assignment?
After a jittery initial portion of the film which moves at a snail's pace, there is some movement that takes place once she manages to retrieve her stolen files from the server. After she reaches Bangkok for her new assignment and begins to write hacking code, the film does pick up pace. While one can see the twist coming from a distance, the interval point is decent enough to make you look forward to the second half. However, after a few interesting moments in the first 20-25 minutes of the second half, the film goes downhill, and how. A couple of random songs come out of nowhere, love stories start building up, Deepal's ex-boy friend lands up in Bangkok, her new boy friend has his own back story as well and then the worst of all are the penultimate 20-25 minutes where everything starts falling in (or out) of place way too conveniently. The revelation of culprits is hardly a surprise while the gun fire that happens inside an IT organisation is, to put it mildly, rubbish.
Amongst actors, Deepal definitely looks committed in her central protagonist character that she plays. Amongst other actors, the ones who leave an impression are Chetan Pandit (her boss in Bangkok) and the man who plays her boyfriend in Bangkok. Music is barely passable while cinematography is plain average. Really, for a film that did show a glimmer of hope at number of places and promised that there would be a good story in the offing after all fails miserably as it reaches the culmination point. To think of it, a film which had followed a real route and narrated the story of an IT professional who was a top ethical hacker ends at a stage where there is gunfire and 'dhishoom dhishoom' all around. Now if this isn't taking cinematic liberty too far, what else is?
Vikalp movie is about a girl Rishika Gandhi who is a docile, middle class & Marathi girl from an orphanage in Kolhapur is a sort of prodigy in the field of computer education. She lands up in a job with a respectable IT company in Mumbai because of her exceptional talent. Some goof up happens during her tenure as the code developer in the company. Rishika through her sheer genius wins over that hurdle and proves her detractors wrong but is so heart broken after that insult that she resigns from her job. At the same time her personal life too gets a jolt from the blue when the very affluent family of her five year old boy friend, suddenly discovers about their love affairs & visits her at her hostel room and blames her for using their son for seeking financial security for her. Humiliated & heart broken, Rishika ultimately decides to leave India and takes up the offer from another Bangkok based software company. Rishika thought that Bangkok was a great refuge from all her troubles in India but she was wrong. Within a couple of months of working there she realizes that she is caught in a network of internet criminals' and she was being used as a hacker in the name of software developer. Her passport and other documents are with the company only, when she decides to escape that network. Very soon she realized that leaving Bangkok against the wishes of those powerful criminals was not that easy. She is given a false identity of a criminal and she had nothing & no one on her side to prove that she is Rishika Gandhi. The technology through which she wanted to make an identity of her own ultimately has taken away her identity itself. It seems like an impossible to win battle for this timid, shy & low on self esteem girl. How Rishika wins her internal & external weakness to face the greatest challenge of her life using her education and will power makes up the highly moving and inspiring climax of the story
Impatient Vivek
Cast: Vivek Sudarshan, Sayali Bhagat, Hrishikesh Joshi, Charu Asopa, Rounaog Ahuja, Muni Jha, Pratik Dixit, Nirmal Soni, Ashok Beniwal, R. P. Singh, Kirti Kapoor, Vijay Bhatia, Sharmila Goenka, Hemangi Rao, Anurag Saxena, Zia A. Khan
Director: Rahat Kazmi
The movie Impatient Vivek is a brilliant rom com, set on the beaches and lush locales of Goa. The story revolves around a young boy from Rajasthan named Vivek who visits Goa and happens to meet a girl. A scientist by Profession, Vivek is just too shy to open up and express his feelings. Then the love bug bites him and he is totally smitten by the girl called Shruti. The movie is basically about the art of puppetry and the male protagonist is seen taking the help of puppets to express his feelings to his lady love. The storyline has a deep connection with puppets playing a pivotal role .Hence the colorful backdrop of the film is simply amazing and the movie gets quite interesting with the boy proposing to the girl via puppets. The plot however has a lot of unfolding to do before the inevitable happens. Thus Vivek, who is fondly called IV, gets into a dejection mode as Shruti is not really very interested in him. Not able to come to terms with his dejection, IV or Vivek returns to his home town.
The storyline then fast forwards to two years hence. Now, Vivek and Shruti happen to meet again but accidently. This time IV or Vivek is unable to let go off his love and immediately proposes to her. But again he faces dejection as Shruti was already engaged to be married soon. The lover boy finds himself in such a desperate state that he finally goes ahead and kidnaps Shruti. This turn of event therefore leads to a series of hilarious situations and as each scene unfolds there is plenty of drama and fun as Shruti’s family struggles to get her back. The story of the film is written by Rahat Kazmi and B.K Tyagi. Music is by Shadaab Bhartiya, Anamik, Neeraj Shrivastava and Raja Ali. The movie releases on the 7th of January all over India. Be sure to catch it up. Impatient Vivek is one of those films that make you tear your hair apart or make you regret your decision to watch it. It has a bewildering plot of an impatient person Vivek (Vivek Sudarshan) who falls in love with a girl Shruti (Sayali Bhagat). But without knowing whether she loves him or not he goes ahead talking to her father about marriage. Facing rejection, he kidnaps Shruti only to realize she doesn't love him. But that's not it, there are many stories that run in tangent to the main plot making you wonder what eventually the main plot of the film was. So you have a step brother of Shruti called Annu (Rounaog Ahuja) who comes out of nowhere in the middle of the film and falls in love with his childhood friend Rani (Charu Asopa) who too suddenly makes her entry into the story. There's also a wicked mom and her wicked son both of whom don't want to share their wealth with Annu and deploy means to get him out of their house!
Impatient Vivek, that claims to be a rom-com, has been passed by the censor board with an 'A' certificate and 15 minutes into the film you know why. There are many unnecessary voyeuristic scenes that are meant to be funny but appear crass and vulgar. Impatient Vivek is neither romantic nor is it remotely comic. Rather this product from director Rahat Kazmi is simply listless. Not one scene, dialogue or character in the film comes out good. The cinematography is mediocre and so is the music and background score. Debutante actor Vivek hams and stutters his way through the film. Sayali Bhagat appears like an overgrown, immature actress and seriously needs to work on her act. Final verdict Impatient Vivek not only has faulty script but also rides on hammy actors bristling their way through the film. It tests your patience to the fullest. Best Avoided!
In case of 'Impatient Vivek', there isn't any redeeming factor whatsoever. Actors don't act, director doesn't direct, story writer doesn't write a story good enough and the technical crew doesn't bring in any finesse to the product. End result? A total disaster which even makes one forget that even the title of the film was totally indecipherable to begin with. The film is about a young man named IV (Vivek Sudarshan) who is 'Idiot Vivek' for his dad, 'Impatient Vivek' for his friends and 'Adorable Vivek' for his mother. Ever so hasty in his decision making, he falls in love with Sayali Bhagat but when the girl doesn't respond and things don't go as per the plan, he kidnaps her. What follows from this point on is total commotion that makes one totally give up rather than spend time and energy on getting restless or impatient. 'Impatient Vivek' is everything that one expects from a film which comes out of nowhere and doesn't hold any credentials whatsoever from the production perspective. The leading lady walks into a police station in an outfit which would be deemed fit for a ramp, side heroes and heroines indulge into love making which by no means is connected to the story and other random scenes fill up rest of the remaining one and a half hours which are torturous by all means.
Neither Sayali's 'bhatakti aatma' act nor Vivek getting kicked in his private parts bring even a smile on the face. Also, the plot continues go off tangent every now and then with nothing coherent about it. Worse, songs come at just the wrong places in the film and since they aren't well tuned either, they hardly act as a relief. Amongst actors, Vivek just doesn't get it right. Leaving aside the fact that he doesn't look the part of a leading man, he can't act. Period. His dialogue delivery is faulty as well while his body language is awkward. Even Sayali Bhagat, who showed promise in her debut outing 'The Train' which released three years back, seems to be totally lost and doesn't have much to do.
'Impatient Vivek' is one terrible, terrible and terrible film. It doesn't make you impatient by the way; it just makes you get engaged with other far more exciting activities, notably being clearing your mailbox in your cell phone. Really, in front of 'Impatient Vivek', director Rahat Kazmi's first film 'Dekh Re Dekh' looks like 'Peepli [Live]' (the common element there being Raghuveer Yadav).
No One Killed Jessica
Cast: Rani Mukherjee,Vidya Balan, Neil Bhoopalam, Rajesh Sharma, Shireesh Sharma, Myra Karn
Director: Rajkumar Gupta
The first week of the year is not usually a time when A-grade films see a release. It's just not considered the luckiest of times. For quite some time now Bollywood has seen only forgettable B-graders in this week. Even the second week has rarely been successful with recent years seeing disasters like Pyaar Impossible, Chandni Chowk to China and Halla Bol released in the last three years. The release of No One Killed Jessica at this time hence shows a great deal of confidence on the makers' part. And considering the tremendous response to the promos of the film it does seem to be a safe decision.
Part fact, part fiction No One Killed Jessica is a tale of Delhi model Jessica Lall's murder and her sister Sabrina's (Vidya Balan) fight for justice. An apparent open and shut case is extended to over six years with witnesses turning hostile till the accused are acquitted. And that's when a journalist Meera Gaity (Rani Mukerji) takes up the case and started unveiling facts, steering up a trial by media and thereby creating pressure on the government to take required action against the culprits.
While the basic outline of the story is pretty much the same as it happened in real Jessica Lall murder case the details added are fictionalized accounts to suit storytelling. The story is told from the point of view of Meera, who rises to fame following her live coverage of the Kargil war - a la Barkha Dutt. Meera ignores the Jessica Lall case for six years believing that it is a 'no story' but is stumped when she finds that the culprits are let go. Jessica's family in the meantime reduces to half with deaths and she loses hope in justice and people.
Director Raj Kumar Gupta tries his best to keep his narration true to life. However there are times when he lets go off his restraint and the speed goes slack. A very long first half and quite a short second half give a disproportionate feeling. While the second half moves swiftly the lack of punch and drama is felt miserably after the built up that the elaborate first half creates. Scenes like the candle march for justice overwhelms while scenes where Meera turns from a journalist to almost a superhuman capable of superb mimicry are quite filmy!
Technically No One Killed Jessica has some inconsistent camerawork. Extreme close ups of faces at many occasions is unappealing, while many other scenes remarkably well shot. Interestingly the way the candle protest scene is shot is quite inspired by Rang De Basanti - up to the camera movement. And the film probably could have been edited by a dozen minutes more. Amit Trivedi's music is excellent as usual and works for the film.
Performances add great strength to the movie. Both Rani Mukerji and Vidya Balan have very distinct characters and they play their part with equal aplomb. It's a delight to see Rani back on screen and this performance should go a long way in re-establishing her lost position in Bollywood. Vidya in the meantime seems to be on a dream run. Paa, Ishqiya and now NOJK - all three one after the other have been solid stamps on her command as an actress. The supporting cast which includes Neil Bhoopalam, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub, Rajesh Sharma and very good too. Also Myra, who plays Jessica, shows promise.
The film does have the capability to stir you mildly and ponder over the injustice that is often meted out to people by the ones who hold power positions; and how not everyone turns out to be as lucky as Jessica and her sister Sabrina - who had the entire country's people backing them. The story pokes a finger into the power cabinets of the country and what ill-deeds they are capable of. However director Raj Kumar Gupta, who had left us wanting more with his debut film Aamir, does disappoint us. Post his tremendous first film this is not quite the best follow up. He could have done better. Nonetheless, No One Killed Jessica is a film you mustn't miss. On April 29, 1999 a shot was fired from a .22 bore pistol whose loud reverberations lasted over a decade. The shot that killed a vivacious, aspiring model Jessica Lall was fired in the presence of more than 100 ’socialites’ present at a party in New Delhi. Yet, accused Manu Sharma walked free in 2006 prompting a newspaper headline that read “No One Killed Jessica”.
In the ensuing decade, Venod Sharma, father of the accused and a high profile congress leader, paid millions of rupees to silence witnesses. It was not until the Tehelka Magazine did a sting investigation and Star News aired the footage that justice was finally served. “No One Killed Jessica” faithfully follows the case to emerge a winner. Almost everyone knows the story. Yet, the film makes some interesting departures to keep the momentum going. A Barkha Dutt type character has been introduced in Rani Mukerji though the former did not have much to do with the case or its reinstatement. However, Rani lacks the intensity to pull off such a strong role and the strain shows. On the other hand, Vidya Balan soars with the unglamorous, distraught and hunchbacked portrayal of Jessica’s sister.
Director Raj Kumar Gupta makes direct comment on the society we live in, its voyeuristic tendencies and the judiciary’s disregard for justice. Everyone knows the extent of corruption and rot in the system as symptomised by the acquittal of Manu Sharma, but the question as always is who would bell the cat if the police and judiciary do not. In this case Tehelka, who did the sting investigation and Star News (and not NDTV that walks away with the praises in the film) that aired the footages did manage to right a wrong. But the question is not just of Jessica Lall, but the thousands like her whose cases have not had the light of justice shine upon them. The Jessica Lall murder thus became an emblem of the rot in the democracy, police and judiciary.
The truth is, the culprits were not just Manu Sharma, his friends and his family, but Shayan Munshi who redacted his statements leading to Manu’s acquittal and Bina Ramani, both of whom continue to have successful careers, one as an actor-model and the latter as a heedless socialite. The culprit is all of us who stay silent to the injustice all around us.
The injustice done in Jessica’s case has been corrected, but the question remains of the millions of other cases of injustice in the country. Gupta’s film on a true incident bodes well for Bollywood, which is normally not too keen on reality, and the concept of justice itself. Yet, the question is not who killed Jessica Lall, but as the gross miscarriage of injustice in Kashmir, central and northeast India and the thousands of pending cases in the country show it is: who killed justice in India? For a film like this which is based on reality but is told in a thrilling manner, it was always a thin rope to walk for the makers. After all the case went on for years in court and just like 'Black Friday' (which again tried to connect number of disjointed events), 'No One Killed Jessica' too is a terrific portrayal of what 'could' have actually happened.
There is tension in the air the moment Vidya Balan is informed about her sister been shot. From this point on there is no turning back as you look at the screen wide eyed for the next 15-20 minutes as a graphical representation of minute by minute series of events that led to Jessica's (played effectively by first timer Myra Karn) death are depicted on screen. You know that it would be one dramatic journey from here on and as an audience, you aren't disappointed.
While the film takes a thrilling route, it isn't without its fair share of emotional moments that never fail to result in moist eyes. Vidya's realisation that her sister is dead, the hopelessness of seeing witnesses turning hostile and then the brilliant interval point where Rani Mukherjee, a firebrand journalist, wakes up to a newsprint in bold 'No One Killed Jessica' you are bound to get your tissues out. Meanwhile the film never leaves its dramatic pitch. The killing followed by Neil Bhoopalam (playing Jessica's friend) call of desperation, interrogation by the cop (Rajesh Sharma), the confession that follows, demands made by the witnesses, high society witnesses failing to turn up, cop's frustration, other witnesses turning hostile and then finally the prime witness' (Neil) shocking declaration in the court of law - there is a lot to pick in the first half of the film.
The second half too proceeds on a good note with Rani picking up the mantle of going neck deep down into a 'story' which had now turned into a national headline. The sting operation that follows is very well done which does changes the course of the film and also ensures that for that wide segment of audience which wanted the film to be high on entertainment quotient, there is a lot to be offered. One does feel though that while the build up to the silent protest is good and the sequence by itself is picturised well, there are portions where NOKJ starts slackening a little. The finale (Rani meeting Vidya at Jessica's grave), though justified, is a tad too filmy and even as Myra's montage tries to bring her back alive in audience's memory, one would have rather wanted a realistic route to be followed right till the end.
Leaving aside such minor blemishes, the fact remains that NOKJ has started 2011 on a very good note. From a small budgeted 'Aamir', Gupta has graduated to a medium budgeted NOKJ. However how one wishes that he sticks on to this route rather than getting tempted by big bucks and bigger budgeted projects. Reason being that 'No One Killed Jessica' acts as a slap on those 50-75-100 crores budgeted films that just loot audience on the name of entertainment.
As performers though both Vidya and Rani are equals. While Vidya's almost silent act turns out to be impressive as less is more here for her, whether it is by means of few dialogues or a subtle body language, Rani gets her fiery act right too while ensuring that there is no dull moment whenever she is around. Rajesh Sharma is a find and after playing a lighter part in 'Ishqiya', he acts tremendously well as a toughie who deserves to be seen in more films. The man who plays the main accused, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, is convincing while Neil is quite good as well. Myra Karn is not just a pretty face but acts well too. As for the biggest highpoint of the film, it is undoubtedly Amit Trivedi's music which is tremendous, whether via songs or the background score. There are three things that remain constant while you are watching 'No One Killed Jessica'. 1) You don't blink your eye, 2) Your heart continues to pound hard and 3) There is a lump in your throat. That's the power of this Rajkumar Gupta directed film that stays with you for hours after you are through watching it.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Toonpur Ka Superrhero
Star Cast: Ajay Devgn, Kajol, Tanuja, Sanjay Mishra, Delnaz Paul, Mukesh Tiwari
Director: Kireet Khurana
Toonpur Ka Superrhero cannot be described as a must watch type of a movie but it is a light and a fun-filled movie with lots of colorful cartoons along with the charming Kajol who plays the role of Ajay Devgn’s wife. Toonpur is a cartoon land and the hero Ajay Devgn somehow gets trapped in that land and after which he needs to defeat the bad cartoons called Toonasurs to aid the good ones called Devtoons. The script is loosely connected to the Hollywood flick Space Jam of 1996 in which the protagonist of the flick also gets trapped in the cartoon world. However, the Bollywood script has some flaws which fail to glue the audience. The characters of the movie are bit filmy with a character called Guppy which is a Bappi Lahiri look alike. One of the cartoon characters is also shown to be a Bollywood fan and it copies Shah Rukh Khan’s character in the flick Darr.
The only thing about this movie is that it’s not only dedicated to the kids but, even the grownups will find it somewhat interesting. Obviously the movie is not fantabulous, but one thing worth mentioning is the effort put into it. The concept of the movie is new to Bollywood and good work has been done by director Kireet Khurana. The story revolves around the protagonist of the movie Ajay Devgn as Aditya Kumar who has a happy family with wife Kajol as Priya and two lovely children. However, the kids wish that their dad should be a real life hero and from there the plot starts. So, when Aditya miraculously finds himself trapped in the world of bizarre cartoons he gets an opportunity to prove his heroism to his kids.
Though the movie is not quite catchy at the start, however, gradually the movie starts becoming interesting and the characters of Rubdoot and bad guy Jugaro are also quite exciting. However, the climax of the movie is nothing outstanding though it cannot be called bad either. So, if compared to the famous animation movies like the Toy Story 3, Toonpur Ka Superrhero has a long way to go. The bad part of the movie is the loose script which becomes very monotonous. Though the movie may not be a blockbuster, but, it is a good and light movie which can be watched at our leisure time when one has nothing else to do. Christmas is a good time to release a movie for children because both the kids and parents are off work. And Toonpur Ka Superrhero aim to plug the benefits of the season. Relatively higher budgeted than the regular children's movies that are made in India, TKS also has an appealing storyline apart from the fact that it is the first Indian live action animation.
Aditya Kumar (Ajay Devgn) is a film star but his kids consider him a fake hero who gets his stunts done by body doubles. However the toons from the toon-world believe that Aditya is a real superhero and the only person who can save their world from constant wars. So they kidnap him! Soon they figure out Aditya is only an actor and no good when it comes to real fighting. But Aditya takes up the challenge to prove to his kids that he can be a real hero too and goes about helping the 'Devtoons' - the good toons who are fighting the bad toons called 'Toonasurs's. Though the film has everything that would keep the kids engrossed it falls short on a few parameters. The film which took almost three years in making clearly needed more planning. The director's attention in keeping the animation right probably led to a bad job in the writing, which goes stray track at some points. While the first half is slow the second half is quite exciting. The film ends on a good note.
The film scores on animation. As mentioned earlier this is the first time such a film in India and the entire work is done in some of the country's best animation studios. It is not exactly in the category as Hollywood greats in the same genre but this is advancement in Indian standards. On the scale of performances Ajay Devgn deserves kudos. It is not easy by any means to act in a live action animation film, where you are supposed to be talking to character who are created later graphically. Kajol has relatively lesser job to do but is good in what she does. Overall, Toonpur Ka Superrhero should keep the children's attention while not boring the adult audience outright - at the least kids who less than 10 years old. Without a doubt it could have been many notches better but we cannot deny that this is a good start!
Toonpur Ka Superrhero' is a visual experience that needs to applauded for the sheer attempt that has gone into it's making. As for the story of 'Toonpur Ka Superrhero', it is the kind that can be instantly grasped by children, its target audience. There is a world somewhere far far away and it is called 'Toonpur'. There are good toons and bad toons. And then there is Ajay Devgn, a screen-hero, whom the good toons rope in to defeat the evil ones. The film is just ordinary when it comes to the scenes involving real characters. The opening action sequence with a motorboat chase belongs to 90s and is hardly thrilling. Also, the sequences involving Ajay, his secretary, his family etc. have a ‘seen it done all’ feel. Frankly, if there was an attempt at bringing on some emotions here, it doesn't quite work. Also, there is no spark that one sees on screen despite Ajay and Kajol coming together.
The world of toons though is better laid out though none of them - whether it is the Gujarati woman, the Sikh kid, the Marathi 'hawaldar', the Bengali performer, an Einstein kinda scientist or the Christian hottie - have much character depth to them. Of course no one expected a full-on detailing around their past, present or future but still there could have been something about these characters that would have made audience emotionally connect to them. This is the reason why the second half of the film works because while emotions just didn't work in the first hour of the film, action dominating the second half more than makes up for it. A massive first step in this direction is taken with the song 'Rubdoot'. This is when you actually clinch your fist and exclaim - 'Yes, we have arrived when it comes to world class animation'. In fact portions in and around this scene leave a major impact as well. The villain's den, his bunch of 'goondas', the fight that takes place soon after and then the announcement of battle lines being drawn between Ajay Devgn and Toonasurs - there is a promise of some superb action ahead.
In fact there is much more delivered with the entire climax made of three stage gaming. Watch out for the manner in which Ajay Devgn (who is later joined by Kajol) wins his first two rounds. However the final combat (set in an arena) could have been better. It turns out to relatively easy, hence leading to a climax that also seems like a little abrupt. Nevertheless, in the times when all that one gets to see in the world of animation films are one mythological tale after another, it is wonderful to see someone (Ajay Devgn here) backing a project like 'Toonpur Ka Superherro'. Now if only the film would have been as exciting from start to finish, it may just have been the perfect outing that a family may have been looking for.
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