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Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Friday, September 28, 2012
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Ferrari Ki Sawaari
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Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Kung Fu Panda : Legends of Awesomeness
Kung Fu Panda : Legends of Awesomeness
2011 Blue ray rip
Kung Fu Panda : Legends of Awesomeness
2011 Blue ray rip
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Thursday, January 26, 2012
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
Ready
Cast: Salman Khan, Asin,Arya Babbar,Paresh Rawal,Mahesh Manjrekar, Akhilendra Mishra, Puneet Issar, Manoj Joshi,Anuradha Patel, Sudesh Lehri,Manoj Pahwa,Sharat Saxena, Nikitin Dheer,Arbaaz Khan, Zarine Khan, Ajay Devgn, Sanjay Dutt, Kangna Ranaut,Gargi Patel,Eva Grover,Hemant Pandey, Mithilesh Chaturvedi, Jaswinder Gardner, Shilpa Mehta,Prachee Pathak, Pravina Deshpande, Kiran Ahuja, Rajiv Kachroo,Shalini Sahuta, Mohit Baghel,Kubraa Sait
Director: Anees Bazme
As expected, 'Ready' turns out to be the kind of a film which is all about 'masala' ingredients that are packed in just the right proportions during those two and a half hours. A story that could have been stretched for 30 more minutes or wrapped up 20 minutes earlier, it gives what one was waiting for a long time when it came to movie watching for an entire family 'Some real good entertainment'. A case of mistaken identity brings Asin in the life of Salman who stays with his joint family made of millionaires. Asin too comes from a family of millionaires but there is trouble in paradise as her uncles want to usurp her wealth. Oblivious to them, Prem starts getting closer to their respective families with his own near and dear ones ensuring that Asin's uncles leave their 'mafia giri' aside and start living life like normal people. In this entire series of events, there is a CA (Paresh Rawal) and a stranger Romeo (Sudesh Lehri) who get involved as well.
As one expects from a storyline like this, all is well eventually. However there is a lot of comedy, drama, emotions and action involved, something that Salman truly justifies just before the interval when he tells Asin 'What would we tell our kids if there are none of these 'masala' ingredients in our love story?'So 'masala' one does get with everything from 'Hum Aapke Hain Kaun' to 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge' to even 'Hero No. 1' coming together in the right mix to pep up this affair. While the film's beginning portions are exactly like 'Hum Aapke Hain Kaun' and 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge', the second half of the film, where Salman takes it upon himself to unite the family and bring kids on the right path, is straight out of what Govinda did in 'Hero No. 1'.
The film takes a mass route throughout but that doesn't mean that there isn't anything for the class audience. I witnessed it myself while watching a packed show with family audience at a premium multiplex on Friday evening and the reactions said it all. This is not all as the complaints that some have around the first half aren't much justified either. Based on what I saw, audience were thoroughly enjoying both the halves with laughter coming in on a more or less continuous note. Expectantly, Salman is what stays constant right through the film even as other characters surround him from all ends. One can sense the kind of renewed confidence that he has in himself and this is the reason why he can afford to commit a murder and get away with that. Asin is easy on eyes and comes up with a natural act. She looks million bucks in 'Dhinka Chika' though one doesn't see much of her in the second half. Paresh Rawal and Sudesh Lahiri are fantastic though one wishes there was more of Manoj Joshi.
Music is fantastic with 'Dhinka Chika' (in both the India as well as Bangkok version) as well as 'Character Dheela' are fun. Action is in small doses though one wouldn't have minded if it was longer, especially the climax sequence involving auto rickshaws which just ends abruptly. It isn't always an easy task to remake a film, especially the one which has been a successful venture. You do it right and you end up getting no credit whatsoever as it is said to be 'way too easy'. You do it wrong and all the flak comes you way as you are accused of not being able to manage even a successful formula. Thankfully for the audience, Anees Bazmee doesn't forget any of these facts while also ensuring that he maintains his own identity. An out and out entertainer that doesn't let the audience engagement slip away for even five minutes, 'Ready' is fun and clean film that gives exactly what one expected out of it.It's a daunting task for any reviewer to assess a Salman Khan film. After all, he/she may either earn flak from the Salman fans or would hold no worth. The ones who like him will definitely go for it whether the review is in favor or not. That's the magnanimity of the star power riding on Salman Khan; a case in which assessment of story line, screenplay, editing or cinematography doesn't count.
Prem (Salman Khan) has a happy giant family where as Sanjana, an orphan lands in India to be with her mamas (Sharat Saxena, Akhilendra Mishra), who are greedy and want to usurp her property. Sanjana in the garb of Pooja gets into Prem's family and the two falls in love with each other. Enters a major problem, Sanjana's mamas are at constant loggerheads with each other and want Sanjana to marry their respective brother in laws in order to acquire her property. How Prem manages to win over Sanjana and brings the two sworn brothers together forms the rest of the plot.
Right from its first promo itself, it's clear that filmmaker Anees Bazmee is trying hard to encash Salman's success of Dabangg. And the way the songs Dhinka Chika and Character Dheela have become a rage, one surely expects another masala potboiler from Ready. However, within a couple of minute into the film you know you're in for a major let down. The entire film reeks of clichéd dialogues and story line of his past films. Worse still, of flops like No Problem and Thank You! Anees once again comes up with leave your brains at home kind of comedy. So while Ready has the typical "hanging by the cliff" scene reminiscent of No Entry, the dialogue aided by Salman on being asked what is he doing there is "just hanging around!" Ready also has the same old don connection used earlier in Welcome. If only dragging audience to the theatre was enough Anees! The filmmaker surely has lost touch of making decent films and should take to a long sabbatical before he plans another debacle.
Another sore point is the loud-mouthed badly written dialogues say for example, "Main kutta hoon yeh kutiya hai!" Even the dialogue "Life mein kabhi teen cheese ko underestimate mat karna I, Me And Myself" has been painfully inserted with a desperate attempt to make it click. There's also a bare-chested scene of Salman, obviously to give the aam junta their money's worth. With the kind of efforts Salman is putting in promoting this film, wonder what even 10 per cent of that into acting would've done for the film. Salman is not only taut throughout but also hamming. Blame it on the director who couldn't extract much from his actor as Salman did put up a decent show in his last two hits Wanted and Dabangg. Asin barely gets much to do. An ensemble cast of Mahesh Manjrekar, Paresh Rawal, Sharat Saxena, Akhilendra Mishra, Aarya Babbar, Puneet Issar, and Manoj Joshi among others compete with each other in hamming. Music apart from Dhinka Chika and Character Dheela is very dheela. Editor Ritesh Soni probably slept off at the editing table as there remain too many scenes that could easily be chopped off. At least a small length of the film would've reduced the agitation.
The few things that work in the film are the paisa vasool fight sequence of Salman, his pocket-fiddling dance steps or his character dheela moves. Even some repartee between Salman and Paresh Rawal are quite humorous. She's a runaway bride. He's a runaway rogue, a little rough around the edges but a good heated lovable soul. Salman Khan can play this character over and over again with his eyes closed. In "Ready" he is back to playing the lover-boy clown.
"Mr. Fix-it" and "Ms Hum Apke Hain Conwoman" flirt and get naughty in exotic locations. They don't generate chemistry. They are just being around. Jeez, these two never tire of saying cheese! And when the going gets cheesy there's always the family to fall back on. There are three families, living in homes that appear to have been built to accommodate over-sized families. The setting is almost laughably anachronistic. Salman Khan and his director Anees Bazmi pay a hefty comic homage to "Hum Aapke Hain Koun". The Salman-Asin romance unfolds against the backdrop of a commodious joint family where every family-member seems determined to have a good time even at the expense of good taste.
True, Asin lacks the gamine charm of Madhuri Dixit. But then the Salman Khan in "Ready" is not quite the Salman Khan from "Hum Aaapke Hain Koun". He hasn't aged. He's just become more smug and self-confident. Many times we catch him looking bored on camera. But that is this iconic star's style statement. When you are Salman Khan you can slip out of a character when you want. No one is complaining. Bazmi's script, a shoot off of a Telugu hit, accommodates more characters than Goa during the tourist season.
Every character is over-dressed and over-the-top. Then men are constantly looking for reasons to say goofy corny things to one another. That's the required mood of this "panga-'mirth'-lena" comedy with an attitude that stretches from one end of the lengthy narration to the other with hardly a break for the plot to gather together its thoughts. Bazmi keeps the proceedings neatly on the side of good taste. Innuendos are avoided, and partly so because Salman has an image of the good-bad boy. He never offends refined sensibilities with his wildly bratty antics, though he never shows any inclination to be one of those refined types himself.
He is happy being human in a way only Salman Khan can be. He gets able support from some solid performers like Akhilendra Mishra, Sharad Saxena, Manoj Pahwa, television comedian Sudesh Lehri and Mahesh Manjrekar whose hilarious act as Salman's dad is lifted from Sanjay Chhel's "Khubsoorat". Strangely the women performers are all vapid to the point of seeming sedated. This is a men's comedy with women welcome to join the fun. But nobody minds. And not because this is a mindless comedy. The quality of the gags is often higher than what we usually get in Bollywood comedies. But the film suffers from an overloaded narration.
There is too much effort to cram in "entertainment" at every possible level. There is also a rather lame attempt to define the status of women in feudal households. But the attempt is so hurried and cursory, it's almost farcical. Replete with tongue-in-cheek references to many earlier blockbusters including Sooraj Barjatya's "Hum Aapke Hain Koun", "Ready" is like one of those familiar tunes sung to a new set of lyrics that you may not approve of but you empathize with because it offers the comfort of the familiar. Having said that, the film, it must be confessed, doesn't really offer even die hard Salman fans the fun-quotient expected from the mega-star. Too many people colonies this domestic comedy. Boisterous uncles, over-dressed aunties, under-intellectualized gangsters and irksome henchmen are all greedy to be noticed. The trouble is, they aren't doing anything that is terribly exciting or engaging, except playing the foil to the star of the show.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Satrangee Parachute
Cast: Jackie Shroff, Kay Kay Menon, Zakir Hussain, Rajpal Yadav, Sanjay Mishra, Rupali Ganguly, Lilliput, Siddhartha Sanghani, Pappu, Rajvi SuchakDirector: Vineet Khetrapal
Kids the biggest customers of the world are the toughest to be pleased and in this growing age of CGI heaviness along with the bombarding of more and more bindaas, cartoon networks and Disney to name a few in the comfort of your sofa cum bed, this tiny little cinegoer is becoming more smarter and jazzier. Wonderworks Films ‘Satrangee Parachute’ takes the ‘Iranian route’ thinking telling a story via a child is cute. Produced and directed by Vineet Khetrapal, this supposed kidpic falls from the mindset of a child as it slips from the adults lap.
The helmer Vineet who is also the producer in association with screenplay writer Pulakesh Bhowmik makes an amateurish attempt to trap the 6 to 60 wala audience. What starts as a kid’s movie later turns out to be a not very inspiring drama. The hangover of T.V. is evident. Indian child by heart audience is already flattered by Disney uncles, Pixar brothers etc on big and the small screen respectively, so does Vineet story adds to any glory? The answer is No. The mindset over here is to be blamed. Why we give second hand treatment to kid flicks is unknown. In Hollywood kid teen flicks is a mighty industry in its own. Iranian cinema is well known to tell its story through a child’s psyche. Aamir exploited it brilliantly in his ‘Taare Zameen Par’ which was an inspiration from the magnificent Irani film maker Majid Majiddi’s ‘Colour of Paradise’. Anyways lets come to the parachute which we all want to know when it will take off Ironically, it never does. The Story Pappu (Siddhartha Sanghani), a precocious kid, wants to find a parachute for his visually impaired friend Kuhu. He sets out with a bunch of friends from Nainital to Mumbai in order to fulfill his mission, But Mumbai is murky city. Pappu and his buddies get embroiled with a gang of terrorists who are determined to create terror in the city with dubious parachutes. What to look out for? Siddhartha Sanghani as Pappu is confident, Rajvi Suchak is pious. Zakir Hussain and Rupali Ganguli are okay. Cinematography by Soumik Haldar is beautiful.
What not? The movie wastes many good talents like Kay Kay Menon, Liliput, Rajpal Yadav, Sanjay Mishra, and Jackie Shroff. The kids apart from Papu lack the naughtiness and they hardly excite. The movie lacks the much required kid teen spirit for such flicks. Conclusion: ‘Satrangee Parachute’ could have been a family packet of vanilla in this coming summer heat but alas, the inconsistency by the writer and the director to hold interest of the young and the old alike makes it a stale watery gola which leaves a lot to be desired. The attempt to make a film on kids still deserves a pat (an extra star for that) otherwise this flick has nothing to offer.Second time in consecutive weeks we have a children's film which is about running away from home. Last week Kaccha Limboo was about an early teenager running away from home and discovering life. And this week's Satrangee Parachute is about some children running away to get parachute, which will help them fly, and in the process gets some militants caught. Sadly, like Kaccha Limboo, Satrangee Parachute too has the director confused on who he wants to cater. Both films have innocent starts, targeted at spoon feeding it target audience kids. And then both lose their way trying to deal with complex situations.
The problem with Satrangee Parachute is that the crux of the story the kids running away comes only in the second half. And within no time the film is over, posing serious questions on the validity of the title of the film. And before this happen the director Vineet Khetrapal wastes the entire first half just to convey that his protagonist Pappu is smart and that he really cares for his visually impaired friend Kuhu. We would have understood the director taking his own time to unfold the story so that he could keep it simple enough for the kids. But the terror elements in the second half go over the top. He also decides to leave the screenplay too loose, and let go reasoning. The terrorist are not even confirmed before the police shoot them dead. When you have smart kids as protagonists in your film, you really cannot afford to think that your audience would be as dumb!
One good thing about the film is the location. Shot in beautiful Nainital the cinematographer captures the hill station beautifully. Splendid locations attract. The music too, though drags the movie, is very soulful. Coming to performances, the director fails to extract performances from the kids. He however has a very established adult cast, who do their jobs beautifully. Zakir Hussain, Kay Kay, Rupali Ganguly are good. With all its faults Satrangee Parachute ends up being another disappointing watch. If at all, it will appeal to kids below 10 years of age.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
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.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
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