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Thursday, February 24, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Kaccha Limboo
Cast: Atul Kulkarni, Sarika, Vinay Pathak, Sarika, Rukhsar, Chinmay Kambli, Arman Malik, Rajesh Khattar
Director: Sagar Ballary
Sagar Ballary wanted to make a kids film with Kaccha Limboo. And he almost did. The first half of this film is adorable and takes you right back into your school days, be it remarks on your calendar or assembly halls or fights with classmates. But oh, what a tragedy he creates out of the second half almost killing the film and everything beautiful he had managed to develop with it! Ballary's intention was to bridge the gap between children and adults. That's what he had said during the promotions of the film. But he clearly tried too hard to keep up on the thought as he introduced unnecessary complications towards the end of the story.
Kaccha Limboo is about 13 year old Shambhu. He is fat and his classmates make fun of him for that. He keeps landing up in trouble, not always for his own fault. He desires to belong to a group of friends but they don't want him. He also likes a girl and tries calling her on her mobile phones but he cannot go meet her in person as he lied that he is from a senior class. At home his mother is pregnant and hence the attention that he used to get has diminished. The situations only make him more aggressive and he decides to run away from home. When he does, he meets Vithal, who is younger and a complete reverse of what he is. And they both decided to run away. As mentioned earlier the film is filled with cute moments, which probably the director had to work hard to get right. And then he falls prey to the same old 'love for his own hard work' phenomenon. So he includes a whole lot of such moments and as an audience you would not complain till you realize that the story is not moving anywhere. What happens much after the interval should have happened by interval. And even then things tend to go on a continuous loop till the director realizes that he needs to end the film and he uses an axe to chalk out a very smart end - so smart that it leaves you confused!
Technically the film is just about passable be it cinematography, editing of music. Screenplay could have been worked on But the pluses in the acting department take care of a lot of negatives that the film has. Taher Sutterwala is very impressive as Shambhu while Chinmay Kamle scores as Vithal. Sarika sparkles.
Overall, Kaccha Limboo demands a watch for those moments and the performances. But these apart it falls back as a mediocre project. Don't expect it to keep you entertained all the while.Every generation deserves its own phrase-generating movie that is made keeping children in mind. Those which have stayed for long and will remain are Satyen Bose ‘Jagriti’ (1954), Gulzar’s ‘Kitaab’ (1977) and Nagesh Kukunoor’s ‘Rockford’ (1999). Because they were made keeping children in mind and amazingly ended up with ‘for all ages’ tag. Sahara Motion Pictures, ‘Kaacha Limboo’ is seen struggling in that area and to add more salt to it wounds it even struggles to find a proper genre to explain what it is a drama, teen comedy or coming of age.
This teenage emotional energy released by the battery of ‘Bheja fry’ helmer Sagar Ballary is a stretched short film, probably too long for the sort of picture on big screen. Following the subtle culture that we experienced in the comedy ‘Bheja Fry’, ‘Kaacha Limboo’ begins with a simple sweet but laid back route and tells us a story of Shambhu (Taher Sutterwala) a 13 year old teenager caught in a transitional, adolescent phase. Experiencing the typical teenage psyche at the age of 13 where you want to be big and gain attention, our protagonist Shambhu very naturally performed by the first timer Taher ignores the love, care and concern of his pregnant mom effectively played by Sarika and understanding new father played nicely by Atul Kulkarni with ease.
Indeed the high school experience in the movie is a major plus especially the scenes with the gang where Shambhu wants himself to be included. The attitudes shown and the lingo expressed in the dialogues are the same we see our younger friends in high school speaking with each other. However the movie’s most loving phase the school times fail to cash on the establishment created by Sagar in the first half, in the second half Shambhu runs away from home due to his own mistakes done in school. Fine Shambu falters consistently and invariably finds himself to be all thumbs down at the most crucial moments.
Shambhu is a big cause of worry to his parents due to his constant goofy behavior. He has found himself in an unfortunate mess with a gang of boys where he has to pay 5000 otherwise his priced mobile from where he calls his sweetheart and the current hottie of the neighboring girls’ school. All well till here. Agreed his running from home is justified. Now the problem starts Shambu lands up in fisherman colony and bumps into vitthal (Shaheer Vitthal Umap) must say the boy is a bundle of talent and he gets real smart lines. But why he speaks so much in Konkani making it difficult for others to follow. Shambu finds a stark contrast to the world he had left behind vaguely reminds us with the feelings of master Raju in Gulzar’s Kitaab’. But here Sagar seems to be lost in the fisherman’s colony enjoying the boat, the sea and the fish and the crabs of boredom starts biting as the writer director become stubborn to move.
You really want Shambu and Vitthal to show signs of growing up by doing something. Sagar ends the journey abruptly where in the end Shambu gets a bravery award which is not properly explained in the film. Vitthal is missing. The hallmark of Sagar’s previous success ‘Bheja Fry’ was its direct note and role, it did shout theatre but still ruled due to the characters got stock situations to endowed themselves with extra dimensions of humanity, weakness and insecurity. ‘Kaacha Limboo’ is not comic but it does not satisfy the viewer as a drama either. Its high school moments are notable along with performances and technical quality which is fine but not strong enough to develop a positive word of mouth to attract legs at theaters. Post theatre prospects seem to be safe for this low budget film, after the welcome sweet little surprise called ‘Bheja Fry’, Sagar will have to come up with some ‘pucca limboo’ next time.
Angel ( Fails to gel )
Cast: Nilesh Sahay,Maddalsa Sharma,Aruna Irani,Manoj Joshi,Vaishali Thakkar
Director: Ganesh Acharya
If you thought Ganesh Acharya had done his worst in Money Hai Toh Honey Hai, Angel is going to be a surprise! A film on a very sensitive subject, Angel turns out to be a complete disaster in every aspect from casting to execution. A freak accident involving Abhay (Nilesh) kills a person. Abhay is sent to prison for two years but when he gets out. He remains the irresponsible and irritating chap. Though his family clearly tells him that he is not required in the house Abhay shamelessly hangs on, without understanding that people don't like him. His friends too show him the door. He finally finds a friend in the daughter of the deceased victim. Sonal (Maddalsa) too has no friends as she is suffering from cerebral palsy. Her brother and sister in law stay in a posh house while she is kept with a maid in a chawl.
Angel could have been a tear jerker love story. But the film is marred by a bad screenplay. The characters are never established. You fail to understand why Abhay, who comes out of the jail after a 2-year sentence, never behaves sensibly but instead continues being an idiot. In the meantime Sonal's condition is also not explained and neither does she evoke empathy. The entire first half is lost without any progress in the story. The second half has one single twist, which too is badly handled to have any impact. Ideally the twist should have come around interval to help the pace and sustain the interest. The dialogues too are unworthy. The editing is loose. The look of the film is probably the only thing good as it has been shot decently. The songs are not good enough to stay in your mind once you are out of the theatre. And the background music, which has been done by the veteran Aadesh Shrivastav, is absolutely out of place. Performances are forgettable. Nilesh Sahay will need a lot more than his lineage to survive. He is bad and tries too hard to walk like his uncle Sanjay Dutt. The blame should go squarely on him and the director! Maddalsa Sharma, who has done South Indian films before, is inconsistent. It is a tough role that she plays though she has very few dialogues. She fails to do justice to the physical impairment. Overall, Angel is a bad attempt at film making. It needed a director who could have handled emotions and tough situation better and Ganesh Acharya does not seem to make the grade.Choreographer turned helmer Ganesh Acharya fetish for 70’s came into existence when he gave his first impression as a helmer in ‘Swami’ which moved a bit. The movie starring Manoj Bajpai and Juhi Chawla didn’t ring much bells but Ganesh entry into the helmers club was welcomed.
He then himself threatened to resign from the elite club by giving a turkey like ‘Money Hai Toh Honey Hai’. Now he wants to tell us that dude, my cinematic inspirations are beyond Bollywood so he mixes the desi liquor borrowed from Dulal Guha’s ‘Dushman’ (1971) starring Rajesh Khanna, Mumtaz and Mena Kumari. And mixes it with the Korean wine called Oasis (2002) by the master film maker Chang-dong Lee which is and will remain the most stunning, brave and perhaps the best love stories told on celluloid in the last decade if I let pass the beautiful Iranian story of love by Mohammad Ahmady proudly known as ‘Poet of the Wastes’(2002). Well it’s a crime to compare such cinema with this one but when you get inspired from such magnificent work of art like ‘Dushman’ and ‘Oasis’ then my dear your vision should be clear. But alas, Ganesh’s ‘Angel’ doesn’t gel and the operation ends up more interesting in theory than it is on the screen.
Debutant Nilesh Sahay drives his bike recklessly going home after a party, and he kills a man in the accident. Surprisingly he is jailed for two years only. Coming out of the jail, Nilesh goes to his elder brother Manoj Joshi. Manoj allows Nilesh to work in his garage on the condition that he would behave well in future. Nilesh goes with flowers to the house of his accident victim. The dead man had left behind a son and a daughter. The daughter is handicapped and the son does not care for his sister. He had even discontinued her physiotherapy. Nilesh develops a soft corner for the girl played by debutante Maddalsa Sharma. They are caught by the brother in a tender moment. He accuses Nilesh of rape. A friend and Maddalsa try to save him.
Choreographer turned director Ganesh Achary makes mess of a theme. The script is full of loopholes and utterly unconvincing from the start to the finish. The pace is slow and it drags most of the time. The only saving grace is Maddalsa Sharma. She looks pleasant and lively despite being physically challenged. Nilesh is playful but his antics are annoying instead pleasing. Manoj Joshi is okay. Aruna Irani makes a brief appearance. Amjad Nadeem’s music does not lift up the film.
7 Khoon Maaf
Cast: Priyanka Chopra, John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Irrfan Khan, Naseeruddin Shah, Annu Kapoor, Vivaan Shah, Aleksandr Dyachenko
Director: Vishal Bhardwaj
Chalk up an absolute winner for the Vishal Bhardwaj Priyanka Chopra team. They make a coherent vision out of an inconceivable marital crises. How do you make sense of a woman who's an incorrigible potentially loathsome serial spouse killer who when challenged about her weird passion for changing husbands by divine decree rather than the law of the land, turns around and says, "This heart of mine, it's to blame." Wicked laughter follows. And dammit, we are amused! How does one make head or 'tale' of such a woman? Well, the first thing a director with a canny sense and sensibility does is sign Priyanka Chopra to play the wretchedly unfulfilled, genetically incomplete woman, a living, throbbing warning against the institution of marriage! Priyanka, not for the first time, proves she is leagues ahead of all competition. She approaches this strange and sensual creature of the night from the outside and then quietly makes inroads into the woman's heart and soul. We can actually see the character's snarled inner-world on Priyanka's face! We don't even know when and how she does it. Priyanka is that kind of a player.
Vishal Bharadwaj has earlier made films about gangs and gangsterism. Every time the dark brooding atmospheric surface seemed to suggest a life of sinister suppressions. Those unspoken, intangible thoughts and visions that often guide a human being to his or her doom are outlined in "7 Khoon Maaf" with supreme poetic elegance. This is Bhardwaj's most fluidly-narrated film to date. Of course, having Gulzar on board helps. He pens Urdu poetry for Irrfan Khan and rock poetry for John Abraham. For Priyanka poetry is not needed. She creates a kind of indecipherable poetic statement for her deeply dysfunctional character who kills 6 husbands and moves to the 7th at the end of the film with the profound satirical grief of a woman who has discovered that this world has no true love to offer her. True love Now that's an idea. At heart Vishal's dark elegiac film is about the search for true love. The relationship that Sussanna (Priyanka) forms with a young boy(Vivaan Shah) as she goes from one husband to another remains at the core of the film. In a macabre subversion of the almost-pure love that Susanna shares with Vivaan's character, at one point in the narration she tries to seduce the boy who's almost like a son. It's a dark ugly moment, almost repugnant in its incestuous resonances but in keeping with the character's insatiable appetite for destruction.
Vishal Bhardwaj brings to the storyboard a deep sense of tragic grandeur even as Susanna slips from self-gratification to delusional spirituality. Priyanka Chopra has already proved herself way ahead of her contemporaries in her earlier works notably "Fashion" and "What's Your Raashee". In "7 Khoon Maaf" she moves to another level, displaying a range of emotions and age-changes (minus prosthetics) that one last saw in Shabana Azmi's performances. Priyanka's sequences with Irrfan Khan (playing a gentle poet who transforms into a sexual pervert in bed) are stuff poetic nightmares are made of. We can clearly see the cinematographer (Ranjan Palit) is not in love with the actress, but the character. His camera searches for intransigent images in Susanna's life, even as Priyanka's quest for the character's core takes her into areas of self-expression that are far beyond the reach of cinema acting as we know it.
A Sreekar Prasad edits the life of Susanna with a surety that, alas,the character never comes close to achieving in her dealings with the opposite sex. Sreekar creates a symphonic seamless movement from one husband to another, sometimes joining segments in Susanna's life with visuals that would otherwise seem incompatible. The husbands are all played by actors who have no qualms in stripping away their vanity to become the kind of suave but duplicitous untrustworthy spouses who cheat and betray for the sake of the opposite emotion to love. Irrfan Khan as a wolf in poet's clothing, Naseeruddin Shah as the affable old Bengali dietician (his Bengali accent is more dead-on than any true-blue Bengalis) and John Abraham as a stereotypical rock musician gone to poppy-seed, are pitch-perfect in their creating a drama of the callous for Priyanka's character. But it's Neil Nitin Mukesh as her first legless army-man husband whose display of clenched menace jolts you.
As a storyteller Vishal Bhardwaj has never been more in command of his language. He punctuates Susanna's story with bouts of unexpected humour and poetry. Providentially the murders are committed in ways that appear more humorous than savage. And that's both a good and a bad thing. The narrative shows a rare understanding of the gender dynamics and the sexual tensions between men and women. Priyanka Chopra's interaction with the unctuous and closet-horny police officer Anu Kapoor delectably illustrates the fable of the Temptress & The Besotted. And by the way Viagara never seemed funnier.
Priyanka Chopra goes from husband-to-husband with a mocking sigh of resigned surrender. She is not a victim. But neither is she the hero of the bizarre web of destruction and delusion that her character weaves around her.When you have Vishal Bhardwaj movie you expect nothing but perfection. He is one of the few directors who manage to come up with something that can leave you wanting for more; be it Maqbool, Omkara or Kaminey. And with 7 Khoon Maaf he further establishes his prowess as a director. However, how appealing the story is, is another matter of discussion! 7 Khoon Maaf is not the run of the mill love story. It is rather a story of search of love and happiness of a woman called Susanna. And in her she comes across various men, each man giving her some hope. But the marriages lead to disappointments driving her to a position when she decides to kill the husband. She may have just left a few of them without killing, but as one of her aids explains, Susanna never believed in running away but believed in killing the problem!
The story manages to bring out the change in the character of Susanna brilliantly as she gets more and more frustrated, almost to a psychotic level - almost enjoying some murders! But then you also fail to see a solid conclusion to her story, which could make her entire journey meaningless. There is something missing and also it gets enormously heavy for an audience who may be looking for any sort of entertainment out of a movie. But these things are overpowered by Bhardwaj's screenplay and director and of course the performances. This could have become an abnormally long film but the director's expertise is seen in the way he uses time lapses. 7 Khoon Maaf becomes one of the best crafted movies of recent times. Vishal not only gets the casting and characters right he also gets the time lapse right. The story is set in an undisclosed location, Susanna's aging is documenting through various milestone dates in Indian history in last 50 years. And his characters are a realistic part of these settings. Be it the rock-and-roll guy in the '80s, the poet in the troubled Kashmir, or the Russian spy working in India before the country becomes a nuclear power! Technically too the film scored very high with first rate work of cinematography and editing. The music is relevant to the settings and the story, apart from being very appealing.
Performances, as all of Bhardwaj's films, are superlative. Priyanka Chopra manages to amaze with her versatility. Neil's short stint is powerful and he will be silencing a lot of critics with this film. Irrfan Khan and Annu Kapoor leave a mark. Russian actor Aleksandr Dyachenko is effective. Naseeruddin Shah yet again proves that he is one of the Gods of acting. In a very small role the actor manages leave you wanting for more. He plays a Bengali who speaks Hindi with a mother tongue influence and yet never makes it look like a caricature, which most people end up being. But among all these actors stands tall debutant Vivaan Shah, the younger son of Naseer. He ages from 17 to 45 and what a remarkable job he does! Overall 7 Khoon Maaf could leave you loaded with thoughts and doubts. The fact that it is more of a journey without a regular conclusion could be disturbing to some part of the audience. Also as mentioned earlier it is not the regular entertainer and is quite brooding and dark. But there are far too many good things in the film to leave you unsatisfied. Watch this film.The film is based on Ruskin Bond's "Susanne's Seven Husbands" and tracks the story of a beautiful young girl Susanna Anna-Marie Johannes (Priyanka) who ends up tying the knot seven times following untimely and mysterious deaths of her hapless husbands And due to strange circumstances, Susanna becomes the prime suspect.
Produced by UTV Spotboy and Bharadwaj himself, it stars Neil Nitin Mukesh, John Abraham, Irrfan Khan, Naseeruddin Shah, Annu Kapoor and Russian actor Aleksandr Dyachenko. Naseer's son Vivaan also plays one of the husbands in the thriller. In the film, Priyanka's character ages from 20 years to 65. The first story titled "Adamkhor Major" has Neil playing the role of Major Edwin Rodrigues. Susanna falls for him as he looks dashing in uniform; he's however a bit old for her and likes to give orders. Good looking guys are Susanna's weakness. Post-Edwin's death, Susanna decides to marry Jimmy, played by John, as she is floored by his good looks and musical talent. She, however, doesn't have any idea what's in store for her. This story is called "Ek Duje Ke Liye". But Jimmy also dies and then enters poet Wasiullah Khan a.k.a. Musafir played by Irrfan. Impressed by his poetry, Susanna marries him too. Although during the day he is gentle, as the dark dawns upon, he becomes something else. This story is called "Mussafir Hoon Yaaron". "Amar Prem" sees Susanna falling for Nicolai Vronsky, played by Russian actor Aleksandr Dyachenko, from Moscow but this marriage doesn't last long as Vronsky dies too.
Following the death of Susanna's previous husbands, the police start taking keen interest in the case. So police officer Keemat Lal enters Susanna's life. He not only persuades her to marry him but also makes it impossible for her to say no. Their story is titled "Pyaar Ki Keemat". After the death of Keemat, Susanna is attracted to Dr. Modhusudon Tarafdar. Titled "Mashroom Da", as the story progresses Susanne is now suffering from melancholy and her husband Naseer puts her on mushroom only diet. The seventh husband is played by Vivaan, but the story has been kept under wraps. For her role, Priyanka had to go through seven different age makeovers, for which prosthetics had to play a vital part. Bharadwaj had hired Hollywood special make-up effects artist Greg Cannom of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" fame to create those seven different looks.
It is also being said that to make Priyanka look like a 65-year-old woman, the make-up team used Priyanka's grandmother's photo for ideas. Like always, Bharadwaj has also composed the music for the film. The Indian version of traditional Russian folk song "Kalinka", "Darling" instantly struck a chord with the music buffs. It has been sung by Bharadwaj's wife Rekha and Usha Uthup.This statement pretty much summarises what the character played by Priyanka Chopra goes through in '7 Khoon Maaf'. Well that could have been the thought of the audience as well which starts going through the motions within 45 minutes of the film. When you have someone really angry (Neil Nitin Mukesh), a drug addict (John Abraham), a sadist (Irrfan Khan), a spy (Aleksandr Dyachenko), a sex-hungry Romeo (Anu Kapoor) and an opportunist (Naseruddin Shah) entering into your life one after another, there is indeed something wrong in the script. No, not of character's life but the one written for the film.
Really, the film tests your patience and Vishal Bhardwaj manages the impossible by keeping '7 Khoon Maaf' thoroughly boring throughout the film's length hence ensuring that many didn't even bother to stay back in theatre when the epilogue around the 'saatvaan khoon' began. Yes, it did happen where I saw the film and yes it was in an upmarket multiplex where the target audience the urban intellgentsia was seated. Another reason that makes one wonder why was '7 Khoon Maaf' ever mounted with such star cast because frankly, a lot of talent is actually wasted big time here. Irrfan Khan is the one who would be most disappointed as not just his episode the most boring of lot, his performance too is hardly anything to boast about, something which isn't something that goes with his name. The actor who was totally in form in 'Yeh Saali Zindagi' just a few days back is just out of sorts here.
Naseruddin Shah is another actor whose services were just not required in this film. In any case he features in a rather hurried episode and whatever little he does is also something which could have been done by anyone far junior in experience and skills. For all the talks of Anu Kapoor leaving an impact in the film then well, his act sounds more like hamming then comical. Neil Nitin Mukesh leaves the maximum impact amongst all and also features in the best of the stories. Unfortunately it's the first to come which means there isn't much remaining for the audience in the film to follow.
John Abraham as a drug addict with a kinky touch is superb while occupying stage as a rockstar. However his role is short-lived which means one has to be content with whatever unimpressive that follows next. Aleksandr Dyachenko comes across as a confident actor but his episode takes a predictable route. This is where silver lining comes in the form of Priyanka Chopra who is frankly the only reason that makes one at least sit through '7 Khoon Maaf'. Really, with a lesser actress the film would have been totally unbearable due to its plot movement and weird storyline. However one expected an act of substance from Priyanka and this is what one gets from her right from start to the finish of the film.
All said and done, the film is an ordeal to go through and only ends up making one remember disasters like 'Raavan', 'Kites' and the mother of them all 'No Smoking' that tried telling different stories (or telling them differently) but failed, hence leading to total disconnect from the audience, '7 Khoon Maaf' doesn't do any better and unfortunately turns out to be Vishal Bhardwaj's weakest attempt till date."This is a tough story to pull off and despite the voluminous talent on display here from director co writer composer Vishal Bhardwaj to Priyanka to co-stars like Irrfan Khan and Naseeruddin Shah the film stumbles and fumbles." feels Anupama Chopra (NDTV).
Nikhal Kazmi (Times of India) warns the film is not for someone who's just looking for entertainment, rather it has many layers to it. Says she, "7 Khoon Maaf is an intensely dark film which unfolds in shadows and silhouettes. So, if you aren't mistakenly looking for entertainment here, you are going to love this half-lit canvas of crime and punishment which lays bare the innermost recesses of a tortured soul. Vishal never once slips and lets go of his hold on this intense study of grief and grime. From the very first shot, which explodes with a grimacing Priyanka pulling the trigger on God knows who, the director inexorably draws you into this welter of passion and crime. All the death play takes place in semi-darkness: an almost outward pouring of an evil soul." Performances "Amongst the remaining cast, Annu Kapoor leaves the maximum impact. He's simply outstanding! John doesn't really get much scope, Neil is effective, Irrfan is wonderfully restrained, Naseer is believable and Aleksandr is passable. Vivaan Shah, who narrates the story of Susanna, is a talent to watch out for. Though it's his maiden film as an actor, it doesn't seem like one. He is not your regular debutant and that's what makes his character appear so real. Konkona Sen Sharma does well. Usha Uthup and the two male helps are good," says Taran Adarsh. "Thankfully Susanna has more texture. She is a chameleon vulnerable and tearful in one moment and an unfeeling viper in the next. Susanna is vain and cruel and Priyanka doesn’t try to soften her. Instead she revels in the chance to go twisted, dark and frankly ugly. But beyond a point, even she can’t prop up the sagging plot," says Anupama Chopra.It's quite a 'David Lincher' (Zodiac, Se7en) sort of scene, if you will. A frustrated army major points his half broken leg towards his wife half circling it to the right of the screen, calmly sipping on whisky from his couch.
The wife's patiently taken his Jaipur foot off. The sight's a bit gross. She's also just pissed him off, having danced provocatively with another young man at a party before. He's a violent dude. There's an uneasy chill in the air. You know something will happen. But the moment stays somewhat frozen in the anticipation alone! This officer (Neil Nitin Mukesh), who lost his leg to Punjab's Operation Bluestar in '84, we're told, would make for the most typical Indian husband: boring, possessive, insecure, maha shakki (super suspicious). This could well be true for the typical Indian wife. But that's another matter. The friendless, wealthy wife in this film is atypical in every way. For one, she's had more than a few husbands, serially addicted, as she seems, to men and marriages. For a woman, she's also unusually good at keeping secrets. She eventually confesses, "Humans haven't known an accident worse than a wedding." I think they have: it's called getting murdered for it, maybe!
The film's title suggests, so you figure, the heroine will have blood in her fingers each time she ties the proverbial knot. You still remain glued to the screen. For Priyanka Chopra, who plays the Anglo-Indian protagonist, this is unquestionably a role of a lifetime. She has you by the eyeballs. So does most of the movie. The husband Susanna picks up after the lame major is the sort of boy "Hindustani girls fall for quite easily: Someone who plays the guitar! This one sings well too (John Abraham)." He's a desi 'Axl Rose' in his delusions, with Scottish kilt around his waist, lost to a harem of female fans, and doses of heroin. He calls himself Jimmy. The only rock-star Jimmy you're likely to know from the '80s is Mithun from Disco Dancer! You're aware this dubious fellow will follow the last one to the grave. As would the others lined up after him.
Each husband of Susanna's, it turns out, is sick in the head (and bed) in uniquely separate ways. She adopts each one nonetheless, sometimes trusting hope over experience. Few things remain constant in her life thence, besides a poor boy she raises in her stud farm (Vivaan; remarkably understated), who narrates this film; a few house helps, who still stand by her; and that obedient bottle of potent alcohol. Her Victorian bungalow is a loner's den. India plays out as the larger backdrop of this claustrophobic story. We watch subtle and major events, both in politics and popular culture, unfold through the mid-80s, up until almost the present. This is also the period India herself openly swapped her global partners in bed.
I don't know if the metaphor's intended: One of the husbands Susanna bumps off is an Indophile Russian spy, who helps with secrets for '98 nuclear tests! She was the loved Anna (Karenina) to his hopelessly shady, useless Vronsky. Daarrling, he had to go! So many murders, and with such little concern for investigation, verification, let alone redemption, you could argue, 'normalises' killings no end. But that's usually a pop philosopher's concern never the filmgoer's. This movie, in some ways, is the complete, exact opposite of the popular, American 'fem-jep' ('females in jeopardy') genre. Wherein a woman silently goes through male hell. She seeks sympathy (or secret delight) from her audiences. Eventually she comes of age (look up Madhur Bhandarkar movies closer home!).
Vishal Bhardwaj's directed, produced, written, and composed both soundtrack and background score for this film, revealing himself yet again as that rare Renaissance man in an art form that deserves more. Bhardwaj's screenplay is admittedly based on a reworked Ruskin Bond short story. The author and filmmaker had referred to Quentin Tarantino's female fight fest Kill Bill in their last film together (Blue Umbrella, 2007). Not sure if that should now be listed as premonition, or promise for things to come. But this ain't no Kill Bill. There is no underworld blood-thirst or pornographically gruesome revenge to extract. It's in fact impossible to figure why the serial bride here prefers deaths to simple divorce, jumps into marriage over casual relationships instead.
It's hard to tell if she's plain unlucky in love, or deliberately attracts males of the worst kind. This isn't entirely a closer look at the baser side of women either you could like that, given every other film explores the natural instincts of men (violence, sex etc). The story line, the main character's motivations, or her mental state, are not the picture's prime concerns. The movie is clearly crafted around strong, effective scenes alone: a lot of it, cleanly cut and clinical, a whole lot immediately compelling. The other time you will feel instantly queasy from your seat is when Irrfan's character (husband no 4?), a Kashmiri poet, soft in his verse, shockingly turns out as dangerously sadomasochistic in bed. He slaps her, pushes himself again. His kurta hangs loosely over his thigh. His eyes haunt you. He goes after the wife. You cringe. Huff I know, the next time you miss your husband: you'd unlock the gun. Reload the bullets. Aim again! Sorry for that poor Internet joke. But yeah, you needn't miss this partly captivating movie either.
Patiala House
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Anushka Sharma, Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Prem Chopra, Hard Kaur, Rabbit Sack C, Soni Razdan, Tinu Anand, Kumud Mishra, Jeneva Talwar
Director: Nikhil Advani
It takes us just five minutes to get the hang of this film’s narrative structure. It is as nimbly paced as a fast bowler playing cricket in a wide open field trying to avoid all the roar and din of the cheering crowds in the stands. For a film that has a surprisingly large number of characters (after the 23rd Sikh Briton running up and down the wooden staircase I stopped counting) the noise decibel is surprising low. The clamour of a crowded Sikh household in London never overpowers the emotional kernel of this film.
The delicate supple bonds that grow among people, who are not just mal-adjusted in a foreign land but are also spiritual and emotional misfits in their own household, are brought out in vignettes that show the hand of a confident storyteller. Nikhil Advani’s admirable episodic structure of “Salaam-e-Ishq” failed because of its inordinate length. This time Advani takes no chances with the length. Economy of expression is paramount to the effectual storytelling in “Patiala House”. Not that Advani shies away from taking risks. The self-assured manner in which he aggregates the characters in a house run by a patriarchal Sikh in Britain (Rishi Kapoor, firmly in command) without crowding and asphyxiating the canvas shows Advani’s deep empathy with the characters who drift into his range of vision. At heart, “Patiala House” is a father-son story. Akshay has done them before. One immediately recalls Suneel Darshan’s “Ek Rishta” where Amitabh Bachchan was the father who drove son Akshay to a state of smothered silences. In “Patiala House” Akshay’s silences scream in wounded protest every time papa Rishi Kapoor’s iron hand falls on the boy’s dreams. In many ways the screenplay (Advani, Anvita Dutt Guptan) is a compendium of cliches despotic dad, timid mother (Dimple Kapadia), unfulfilled son, encouraging girlfriend, her precocious surrogate-son (he reminded me of Kajol’s boy in My Name Is Khan). Advani converts familiar characters into real believable warm endearing characters whose lives begin to matter us as we watch them in their Southall setting.
The historic data about the Sikh community in Britain is kept at a bare and bearable minimum. The narrative never feels the burden of the cross-cultural migratory journey made by the plane-load of characters. And that’s the film’s USP. Even as the peripheral characters make a fleeting but coherent impact (Rishi Kapoor’s pregnant daughter-in-law’s anguish at watching her husband being treated like a doormat is as apparent to us as the family’s daughter Hard Kaur’s tattoo on the arm), we are constantly seeking out the next chapter in the repressed Gattu’s wretched-going-on-glorious life. Akshay plays Gattu with a restrain that never shies away from tears. Every time he thinks of his ruined dreams a trickle of a tear comes down from the side of his cheek. It isn’t done for effect. Akshay embraces Gattu’s shattering dreams and makes them his own. Is this Akshay’s finest performance to date? For the sheer mastery over the heart and soul of his character and the dignity he brings to the loser’s character, yes, this is Akshay’s best.
Akshay and Rishi don’t look like father and son. And that’s the best compliment one can pay to the film’s theme. How can they look like a family, when the father has spent all of his son’s growing years denying the boy’s sense of the self? Oh, Rishi is a bellowing volcano of arrogant prejudices. Brilliantly bravura as always, Rishi almost echoes the tyranny of Prithviraj Kapoor. Player kiya paida to darna kya? His sudden reformation at the end is unconvincing. The unhurried grace of the rest of the film gives away to an urgently-claimed culmination. One can’t blame Advani for abandoning the pace at the end. He knows the audience wants a hurried send-off. Anusha Sharma remains effervescent in her volubility. But she needs to play a less talkative character. Though scarce, the moments between Akshay and Dimple are very precious. There is a specially evocative sequence at the hospital when the invalidated Rishi Kapoor tells his screen-wife Dimple Kapadia to shut the door on their screen-son Akshay’s face.
The film has some exceptionally emotional moments bolstered by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s resplendent background score. Santosh Thundiyil’s cinematography adds precious little to the proceedings. London doesn’t seem to come alive beyond the cricket field. The editing (Manan Sagar) could have been less generous. Portions of the narrative lose their energy. Before it sags, the director swoops up his characters’ dreams into curvy shapes. The narrative never loses its way in the maze and clutter of the characters and ambitions.One can't deny the fact that audience is well prepared for the mandatory high, low and ending points of 'Patiala House'. You know that Akshay would be hesitant to pursue his cricket dreams all over again, you know that entry of Anushka in his life would be a motivating factor, you know that his family would rally around him, you know that initially his father (Rishi Kapoor) would be against him, you know that Dimple will stand besides her husband only to come up with a final outburst (a la Jaya Bhaduri in 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham') and you of course know that eventually all would be well! With all such predictions/assumptions actually coming true, one may wonder what really makes 'Patiala House' tick? Well there are two factors here classy treatment and performances. Due to the kind of stereotypes that have been built around Punjabis, it would have been the easiest way out for the writers to incorporate 'sarson ka saag', 'Punjab ki mitti' and 'makki da saag' into the narrative. However none of that actually happens in 'Patiala House' as 'being Punjabi' just stays on to be one of the many factors that keep the story ticking.
Instead, the film arrests you right from the opening sequence where Akshay indulges in some net practice all by himself. He is not a looser here; he is just someone who is on the verge of loosing total self confidence in him and could well reach a nervous breakdown as he continues to be haunted by his father's decision. His lonely lunches, lack of love life and 'let me stay in the background' attitude only sucks him deeper into depression which is a complete departure from the carefree image that has been built around him for years now. On the other hand as the Head of the family, Rishi Kapoor is someone who knows how to have his way even as it crosses the boundaries of being selfishly protective. From someone who kept himself on the back foot for the sake of his family (in 'Do Dooni Chaar') to the man who leads from the front without even giving his family's emotions a second thought (now in 'Patiala House'), Rishi Kapoor demonstrates a good range. Any points where one would have wished a tighter grip? Well, after the character establishment and the background setting, one would have expected the drama to move a wee bit faster. Also, one would have wanted the push for Akshay to resume cricket a little harder and with far solid reasoning. Also, one misses Anushka (spunky all over again and extremely effective in each of her scenes) when she goes missing for large part of the second half. On a different note, one also expected some tender moments between Rishi and Akshay so that the father-son relationship could have looked far stronger. Here, it just seems as an act of respect more than anything else. Also in the second half, the entire plan around Akshay's identity being hidden from his father seems a bit too far fetched.
However this is compensated by some drama that stays on to be subtle with 'Patiala House' turning out to be one of those rare films in recent times that maintains a 'thehrav' right through it's narrative. In fact it is apparent that director Nikhil Advani's funda was clear - he didn't want anything over the top or out of the ordinary for this fourth film. Instead he wanted to bring a different depth to his characters and treatment, something that makes 'Patiala House' different from rest of it's ilk. What compliments the going-ons in the film is the music and background score. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy spin some good tunes with the one that tops the list being Kyun. Others keep the momentum going as well while 'Laungda Lashkara' rounds up the film well.
Eventually, what you take home after 'Patiala House' is through is a nuanced performance by Akshay Kumar who indeed silences his detractors once for and all. He may have gone by the demand of the market and done back to back laughter entertainers during last few years. However with 'Patiala House' he announces once again (after milestone films like 'Jaanwar', 'Dhadkan', 'Ek Rishta', 'Namaste London') that if he wishes, he can go subtle and underplay his character well too. 2011 may have just started but with 'Patiala House', Akshay has made himself a good contender already when awards for the best of the best are announced. And yeah, for the sheer effort by the overall team which instead of going overboard about the inherent classiness that the film carried kept it all low and allowed the product to talk about itself, 'Patiala House' wins for itself an additional quarter of star.Patiala House comes at a time when both the leading man Akshay Kumar and his director Nikhil Advani are quite desperate for a success. Akshay's last few films haven't exactly set the cash registers ringing and Advani is yet to taste success after ditching the Karan Johar SRK camp after his debut Kal Ho Na Ho. On the other hand, leading lady Anushka Sharma is yet to taste failure. All her films (Rab Ne, Badmaash Company, Band Baaja) have worked at the box office. Can the Anushka factor bring luck to the film? Let's find out Patiala House is about Gattu (Akshay Kumar) who is torn between the love for his Bauji (father) and his passion for cricket. Bauji who has suffered from racial abuses and jailed for violence has deep hatred towards the British. His hatred is so strong that he stands in his son's way, when Gattu gets a chance to play for the English Cricket team. Enter Simran (Anushka Sharma) who re-ignites Gattu's passion for the game and pushes his families thinking against Bauji. Will Gattu realise his dream, his passion and play for England?To use popular journalese, the peg of this Patiala (House) story is British racism of the early '90s. This is around the time Indians and various other coloured minorities were targeted by white skinheads in the increasingly multi-racial neighbourhoods in the UK.
A young sardar had stood out then as a Martin Luther King figure of sorts. He'd fought against goras, built a community around Sikhs. The film's set in South Hall, a London neighbourbood infinitely more popular than South Mumbai for locations in Hindi films (the euro is still valued at Rs 60-plus, the producers can do the math around movie ticket sales). The said sardar, an old man, is South Hall's current 'sarpanch' (Rishi Kapoor on a sensational second wind of his career, you can tell). He's a fanatic: Someone who wouldn't change his opinion, and won't change the topic. He hates the Brits, or the whites. Why he still chooses to live in the British capital, pay taxes to the Queen, the filmmakers don't deem fit to explain. A prominent victim of this reverse-racism is the sardar's own son, who once gave up his cricketing dreams of bowling for England. The father wouldn't have it otherwise. He'd commit suicide, if his kid did anything, besides a sundry clerk's day-job at a corner-store.
The old man's own love for cricket is unquestionable. He loves the late Lala Amarnath. He watches every game that India plays at the local community centre. Was he ever to take the infamous British 'Tebbit's test' that checks on fan loyalties of British migrants when England plays a country of their origin, he'd fail it. He'd support India instead, for sure. He's clearly unopposed to sport or cricket itself. For the love of Lala, it's hard to figure why this dad would entirely ignore his son's unbelievable bowling talent at such young age. Even the great Nasser Hussain remembers the mohalla boy's swingers from back in the day. Ship him off to Punjab for Ranji Trophy, if county or England cricket's such an issue, no? No. Because that son's Akshay Kumar. This film wouldn't be made otherwise if we began muddling ourselves up with issues like these. Neither would a quarter of Mumbai's film industry find a freelancer's job, if this indefatigable hero rolled out any less than five movies a year. If anything, this is one of the best of recent Akshay Kumar flicks, from a rapidly expanding annual inventory, of course. Tees Maar Khan, about a month ago, was his last.
This leading man is 34 by now, hasn't played any competitive cricket in 17 years, has merely practiced alone to an unguarded wicket. There's a God. He's also Sikh, and belongs to the England selection committee. He instantly finds this mid-aged fast bowler a place in the national T20 squad. The boy (which is what adults in cricket teams are supposed to be) immediately earns tabloid sobriquets 'The Punjab Express' etc first game onwards. The father doesn't know. Here's why. Relatives and friends conspire to keep it from him. Front pages of his daily newspapers are changed everyday. Cable connections are switched off at the time of matches. And this is one colourful Yashraj London Ludhiana family from the '90s having a blast. They number over a dozen, rotate around a strict dad (Amrish Puri's unfortunately no more), everyone's incredibly Indian in their accent and manners, obsessed with group dances, and big fat weddings. It's all wonderfully joyous. It is. So is the actor Anushka Sharma, the chirpy young thing, who plays the leading man's love-interest. She's easy on the eye, equally easygoing in her ways: something that's begun to delight her audiences lately (Band Baaja Baraat, Badmaash Company). Speaking of her love for life and movies, she says in the film, show me a picture where the hero has no back-story, and I'll show you a flop. Fair enough.
This picture of hers does have a back-story. Whether it matters at all, is the point. Or, maybe not. The Brit-Indian cricketing hero never faces the Indian team in the world cup either. A real conflict in a story can be avoided too. It's all good, this Patiala peg. Just chug de phatte! We're all about Bollywood and cricket 'n' all, innit? Firstly the story is dumb why does Bauji continue to live in a country, whose citizens he hates? Why not simply move back to India? Also, which father would want to break his son's dream of playing international cricket no less and instead want him to turn into a shopkeeper? Pretty dumb isn't it? But moving on, the film will be loved by those who love melodrama and family oriented movies. Patiala House does at times go over the top, but what is the most important for a film of its genre is music, performances and hitting the right note with emotions. And that's exactly where it scores big. It has good music, great performances and a heavy dose of emotions that should work well with the viewers. And yes, for the first time since Kal Ho Na Ho, director Nikhil Advani is in complete control! Patiala House should silence his critics and Akshay Kumar's too! The actor is in terrific form and his performance is a refreshing chance over the buffoonery that he overdid in many of his last films. Whether it is playing Gattu the family man or a cricketer, Akshay excels!
Anushka Sharma, who has great screen presence, does very well and effectively supports Akshay. Rishi Kapoor is loud and irritating at times, but then again, he adheres to the requirement of his role. The many supporting characters, all of them well-handled by Advani, perform well too.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Hum Dono (Rangeen)
Actors: Dev Anand,Dev Anand, Sadhna,Nanda, Lalita Pawar, Gajanand Jagirdar
Director: Amar Jeet
Yes, ‘Hum Dono’ is back. The 1961 film about two look-alike soldiers who become friends at war, is as far-fetched in plot as say, today’s ‘Dabangg’ or James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’. Indeed, the film’s old-world values of valour, integrity, loyalty, fidelity and trustworthiness seem to belong to another era, if not a completely different planet. They are rescued from fading by computer-coloured velocity. Admittedly even today ‘Hum Dono’ makes a fairly engaging triangular love story with war at its backdrop. The coloured version that has come to us now leaves us with mixed feelings. Though at first one enjoys the splash of colour that is added to V. Ratra’s outstanding black-and-white cinematography, a lot of the film’s original visual intensity is lost in colourised translation.
We are left wondering who decided what colour Dev Anand’s shirt or Sadhana’s sari was meant to be! Did the colour-generating department check with the film’s core team to decide the colour schemes? If not, is it ethical or even legally permissible to tamper with the film’s creators’ original vision? The Dolby-enhanced sound leaves no room for quibble. Jaidev’s music score, considered by many aficionados to be one the 10 finest Hindi motion-picture soundtracks of all times, heals all the wounds of excessive coloured flamboyance. Whether it is Mohammad Rafi and Asha Bhosle’s duet ‘Abhi na jao chhod kar’ or Lata Mangeshkar’s immortal bhajan ‘Allah tero naam’, or those two imperishable Rafi ghazals ‘Kabhi khud pe kabhi halaat pe rona aaya’ and ‘Main zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya’ you just can’t help being swept into the sheer melody of the moment.
The casually stylish way the songs are shot, the sharp closeups being intercut with lyrical poetic long-shots, incidental but intense interludes of passion played out in the visual detailing, all carry the distinctive stamp of Vijay Anand who wrote ‘Hum Dono’. The film’s direction is credited to Amarjeet, who later directed Dev Anand in a film called ‘Gambler’. Ah, Dev Anand…a star beyond any definition of stardom! He shines with meteoric melancholy in the double role of men at war with themselves, much more than for his country. The way this debonair actor enacts the solo numbers by Rafi makes you wonder if the song came first? Or was the song inspired by the face that conveys the numbers on screen? Sadhana (impish, coquettish) and Nanda (tremulously poignant) are lovely supplements to the Dev Anand mystique. What was he thinking when he romanced these beautiful ladies?Surely more than what Sahir Ludhianvi’s love-lorn lyrics describe!
They don’t make stars like Dev Anand any more. They never will. Or for that matter a film so suffused in the splendour of its own cultivated grace is impossibly to come by in today’s era of pelvic passion. Old world charm - That's the major most reason for one to check out what 'Hum Dono Rangeen', the coloured version of Dev Anand's 'Hum Dono', has to offer. Re-releasing after half a century has passed by, the film has also been technically enhanced by means of sound and cinemascope viewing, something that makes it a promising viewing for those who haven't caught the movie yet.
The story here is about a jobless youth (Dev Anand) and his rich girlfriend (Sadhna) who can't live together due to their class boundaries. Feeling jilted, the young man joins the Army and finds a senior who is his look-alike (Dev Anand again) and already married (to Nanda). The two become thick friends but when the senior goes missing on the war-field, the junior has to take the responsibility of filling up for him at the home-front. How he struggles while trying to live a dual life is what 'Hum Dono Rangeen' is about.
The person who makes the entire revisit of the film worth it is the man at the hot seat, Dev Anand, who (with his unmistakable charm) still manages to win your heart. He plays two distinct characters in both his roles and brings in a difference through physical appearance, body language as well as mannerisms. Amongst the leading ladies, Sadhna is of course easier on eyes due to her more 'crowd friendly' characterisation since Nanda is shown to be already married and also bed ridden for large portions in the film. It has to be noted though that the film doesn't really have many twists and turns save the one around the pre-climax. An extended war sequence before the interval is done well though.
'Hum Dono Rangeen' isn't one of those stylised films, something that Dev Anand has been famous for. Instead, the shot taking is simple, sets pretty ordinary and production values average as well. Also, for those who are used to watching films that last under two hours, 'Hum Dono Rangeen' is indeed a test of patience. There are long drawn scenes and extra long pauses that contribute in a major way to result in a near three hour long affair. In fact it wouldn't have been a bad idea if a snappier, under two and a half hours version, of the film would have actually been released. Nevertheless, what gets etched in your memory are the songs with (of course) 'Main Zindagi Ka Saath', 'Abhi Na Jaayo Chorr Kar' and 'Allah Tero Naam' being the pick of the lot.
With a passage of 50 years and hence 10000 films, it isn't difficult to predict how the storyline of 'Hum Dono Rangeen' will take the shape. What could have been mighty original then would seem stale or repetitive today. This is the reason why one has to keep this in mind while watching the film. Also, there are number of other changes that have happened over a period of time. The mode of communication, family values, relationships, patience there are so many places where one feels that if a similar situation would have taken place in the current era, the outcome would have been different.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
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