No One Killed Jessica – Movie Review

Some stories need to be told. Especially, in a country where corruption has conquered the highest echelons of governance and especially when there is one, JUST ONE success story of people power winning over corruption; All the more reason to make a meal out of it.

Honestly, this was a 1 in a million case. Things like this, do not happen in India, coz. in India (as Arvind Adiga aptly explained in White Tiger) people have learnt to live in a cage, like chickens, ready for slaughter. Every time the butcher comes, all the chickens run as far from the gate as possible. Finally, one of the chickens is caught and taken away; and the rest of the chickens then relax thinking “Thank God, it was not me” till the next time the butcher comes again… But that’s for another day. For now, let us appreciate the brilliance of Director Raj Kumar Gupta who made sure that this inspiring ‘miracle’ has some repeat value, for now.

The movie starts off with a visual collage of Delhi and the powerful title track. The voice-over of Rani Mukerji then describes the year 1999 in order to take you back to that period. I think this was done very crisply and smartly, and you get the feeling that the script will not muck around. Shortly thereafter, the horror begins. Bit by bit, scene by scene, the horror of the security and legal system in India is laid threadbare. If this was fiction, you’d still have difficulty believing all of it; I mean, the witnesses being managed, critical evidence lost, it was just a lot of things being screwed up in broad daylight; just that it wasn’t fiction. It is horrifying because you realize that whatever happens in Prakash Jha’s fictional movies in Bihar and UP isn’t really that far from fact. It is even worse because you know there’s no hero who will avenge all those who have been wronged by the end of the movie; Just that in this case, there was / were.

Agreed, the movie got a head start in terms of having an amazing tale to tell; But the way in which it has been translated on screen is commendable. I’m not saying it is perfect, but it is almost there. Especially, there are a few moments in the movie which have great impact and couldn’t have been done better to reflect Indian psyche; one of which I just have to talk about. (Do not read the rest of the paragraph if you intend to watch the movie). Somewhere during the time, the initial trial was underway; the parents of the accused (whose father is a minister in the cabinet) pay a visit to Jessica’s house. The parents of both the killer and the victim sit in this sitting room, without exchanging any words, without even looking at each other. The silence stretches to the length of being awkward, and then Jessica’s father, in his confusion of being overwhelmed at having the killer’s father and a Cabinet minister paying him a visit, suggests “Chai (Tea)”. Take a bow, Mr. Gupta, thinking about the moment you visualized this scene and put it in the screenplay. There are a few others, but this one just blew me away.

On the things that weren’t perfect, well, a little melodrama, a little entertainment doesn’t harm the movie much so we’ll just let that pass. And I’d say, apart from the title track, I was a little let down by the sound track. There isn’t any other song that sticks except the title track and ‘Aali re’. Especially, ‘Aitbaar’ was disappointing; given the nice lyrics it seemed to have.

Rani, Welcome back! She’s in top form and scorches the screen with her presence, be it her colorful language, her look, her attitude, everything is top notch. Vidya, on the other end, plays her behenji part to perfection as well. It was a treat to watch these two women in a woman centric film; and to add to that, Myra was endearing in the role of Jessica.

Once in a while, the Indian film industry does surprise itself. This is one of those rare instances. All I’d say is, Do watch it; if not for the movie, watch it for the tale it tells. Even this tale is one of those rare moments, where India did surprise itself.

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Raavan – Movie Review

Unbearably loud, horrendously tacky and incomprehensibly silly is how I would describe Raavan in short.  But if short doesn’t do for you, read on…

Unbearably Loud:  Right from the first scene, the sound or rather noise of beating drums starts getting to you.  And then, loud is not only about the noise, the movie is even loud in its appearance, ABHISHEK’S (BEERA’S) MADMAN EXPRESSIONS, AISHWARYA’S (RAGINI’S) SCREECHING, VIKRAM’S (DEV’S) NATHULAL MOUSTACHE, almost everything in the movie SCREAMS at you.  The blaring continues right through to the end, it isn’t reserved for some special scenes.  It is just out and out blaring from start to finish.  There isn’t a moment of respite, not a moment.  There’s a slight hint of peace in a flashback scene between Ragini and Dev but even that is edited in 5 second parts regularly coming back to the present to include the unbearable noise. 

Horrendously Tacky: Santosh Sivan, for one, known for his ability to cover tremendous landscapes (remember Roja) seems to have just one task:  Forget about everything else, focus on the faces.  The cinematography suffers from an overdose of close shots, hand held unstable shots (which especially feels unbearable in action scenes), and lots and LOTS OF RAIN.  He has just worked on the entire film without a wide lens.  In every scene, the FACE occupies 70% of the screen.  Imagine 3 hours of in your face Abhishek who overdoes his long face and bottom lip pout and Aishwarya who overdoes her blue eyes and confused expression with loud drums beating in the background and again… a lot of rain.    There isn’t a single wide lens shot that captures the natural landscape coz. Mani Ratnam just doesn’t want to waver from the first family, or more specifically, their faces. 

Incomprehensibly Silly:  There isn’t a hint of a story in the movie.  If you let go the overdone references to Ramayana, it is just Mani Ratnam’s pretentious version of Road – Remember that movie where a madman (Manoj Bajpai) kidnaps Antara Mali and Vivek Oberoi follows them to get her back; Exactly the same – As silly and as tacky as RGV’s Road.  Just to align it to the Ramayana, there’s a monkey aping Govinda (Sanjeevani), and the unnecessary references to the characters as Raavan and the lie detector test that Dev asks Ragini to take etc.  At least Road didn’t pretend to be serious or an epic and in the process provided a few laughs.  What is disappointing is that at least with Mani Ratnam you do not expect absurdity; I still don’t understand why was Ragini trying to seduce Beera.  The way she looked at him, supposedly angrily, was actually more like seduction.  Dev’s ploy to trick Ragini in going back to Beera is… retarded.  In the climax, an entire special force fires at Beera while Ragini sits below on her knees unharmed by a single bullet.  On top of that, Dev is standing in front of the force while they merrily fire at Beera, from behind him while he’s untouched as well.  And what was Govinda doing in the movie? He doesn’t have a role; other than act as another sorry point of alliance to the Ramayana by his tree jumping antics.

There are bad movies but therein, you can find some respite, some moment that you can speak about or at least a rare fleeting glimpse of what could’ve been a good scene.  But Raavan is entirely incongruous right from the start to the end titles.

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Paathshala – Movie Review

You ever been to a food court?  Yeah and you ever got that feeling, you want to eat everything all at once.  You end up ordering a veg. burger from McDonalds, 2 pieces chicken from KFC and pani poori from Bombay Chowpaty.  At the end of your meal, you feel like the chicken piece that you’d eaten was a vegetarian who had eaten pani poori just before he was slaughtered.  Paatshala is like that feeling.  At least after that kind of meal, you get some entertainment playing ‘Guess what did I have for dinner?’ game, every time you burp.  With Paatshala, I’m still guessing @#$%$ “What the F@#$ was it all about???”

Seriously, this movie seems to be like a typical house wife’s grocery shopping trip.  Milind (Director) says to Hanif (Writer) “Dude, did you try this new education subject.  My wife tells me it’s really nice.  She saw TZP and 3 idiots really liked them.”  Hanif sets out in the supermarket and first gets Education from the subject shelf. 

Later in the story maker section, he enters the key word “Education” and clicks on the FIND RELATED THEMES button.  He gets a whole lot of results – Children, Teenage romance, crush on teachers, typical accent teachers, school fees rising, profession vs. commercialization debate, talent hunts, reality TV shows for kids and a whole lot of similar stuff.  He clicks on buy all for special price…

You have Shahid as a school teacher, Ayesha Takia as another, Nana Patekar as the ethical principal, a whole bunch of child actors – the Fanaa boy, the Cheeni Kum girl, the Balika Vadhu girl and they don’t even have proper characters or roles.  The popular Balika Vadhu girl doesn’t even get a single dialogue on screen.  Few cute teenagers as well are in there but just like passing sideys, I don’t even remember any of their names in the movie.  That’s why I say it is like a housewife’s shopping trip.  The director put in everything in the bag not having any proper role for any of them.

And this was just the beginning of clichés; the hero’s name is Rahul, he teaches music, rather holds the guitar as a mannequin and it strums itself, sings songs, makes the entire school happy, girls have a crush on him, teaches cool handshakes to everyone from students to stuck-up geography and hindi teachers… and all this in the first 10 minutes in a happy song.  An ugly kid doesn’t have any friends; the PE teacher is always punctual and carries a stop-watch everywhere; the peon is the good old Wagle (Wagle ki duniya), the principal is ethical, the school trustees are money minded, even the school’s name is “Saraswati Vidya Mandir” and what else could be the movie’s name – Paathshala.  You see, how original everything is.

And listen to this, the writer forgot to pick a music director from the supermarket so he himself makes up some ordinary songs.

There’s no purpose, there’s no flow in the script and no sense to the whole hullabaloo on screen.  And if that’s not enough, the climax is a 5 minute long lecture by the righteous principal about education, commercialization of schools yada yada yada.   It’s so bad, you can’t even doze off.

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my name is Khan – Movie Review

Warning: May contain a few spoilers.

I am perplexed whether to talk about the movie – My name is Khan or the issue – My name is Khan.  I’ve been staring at this blank page for almost 15 minutes now and have written and deleted quite a few introductions to my review coz. I’m still not sure whether to talk about the movie or the issue because the movie is strictly ‘Ok – not bad’ to say the least but the best part about it is it treads into a sensitive and very relevant issue. 

It may not have happened on 9/11 as the movie says, but it did happen somewhere near the turn of the century – this religious polarization of the world.  Without getting into the reasons for this happening, one of the results has been that it has become difficult to be a Muslim today.  Celebrating holi, lighting lamps or bursting crackers on Diwali, lining up in temples on Shiv-ratri, wearing a saree or salwar kameez, feasting on a turkey etc. can just be seen as enjoyable traditions or customs but keeping a big beard, praying five times a day, wearing a hijab and celebrating Eid by sacrificing a lamb have become subtle symbols of siding with extremism. 

And if you have Karan Johar – the Lady Gaga of Bollywood, dealing with this extremely sensitive issue, it sure looks like a very bad idea.  Surprisingly though, Karan seems to have finally grown up.  Not that I did not enjoy Kuch Kuch Hota Hai but never thought that he could refrain his cheese when it came to serious subjects. 

On second base, you again had a potential disaster.  Shahrukh Khan, the man who, with every passing day, gets closer to becoming Dev Anand the Second; both of them have two things in common – heart throb status in their 40s and a head that is always at 10 to 6 or 10 past 6.  Give him a condition – Asperger’s syndrome and in all probability, his neck could have disconnected from his body and his head could’ve gone out for a walk, all on its own.  Again, surprise surprise, it didn’t happen.  Actually his condition meant that he could not express emotions and I think that was a neat trick by his director to restrict him.

And then with all the controversy it generated and the initial 5 star reviews which gave the impression that Shahrukh has pulled an Aamir, it was tough to sit and watch the movie without expectations. 

All said and done, the movie is … for want of a better word… ‘Not bad’ and it does try to do justice to the issue it represents.  After a brief ordinary introduction, Shahrukh as Rizwan in the first half is in brilliant form when, he comes to America and starts selling cosmetic products.  There are quite a few similarities with Forrest Gump though, but I didn’t mind it.  After all, don’t all autistic conditions look equally cute on screen.  His expressions of giggling goofily when being confronted with love are indeed special.  Kajol does manage to still look pretty after all these years of being out of action. 

The second half however, I thought, lacked something, I can’t put a finger on it precisely though.  Yes, there are moments where it is difficult to hold back the tears and the lump in the throat just doesn’t go away but still, I feel the portrayal of the issue could have been a lot better.  Kajol, unfortunately seems to have lost the edge.  Her rage at her son’s death when she asks Rizwan to leave, does seem a tad unreal.  It is Shahrukh who excels with his subdued performance as Rizwan.  His speech at the church remembering his son, devoid of any expressions because of his condition, does extract tears and is very hard to watch. 

The problem however, with the movie was that you do feel empathy towards the person Rizwan but there is no empathy generated towards the muslim Rizwan.  I mean, the tears and the hard to watch moments have nothing to do with the issue the movie claims to portray.  The tears flow when he talks of his son but not when he is arrested and tortured in prison.  Actually, his naivety in not comprehending the torture does feel overdone coz. though, he was autistic, he wasn’t dumb.  I guess, this is where the movie could have been a lot better. 

Shankar Ehsan Loy have once again given refreshing music.  Though Sajda is the popular track in this album, I loved the rendition of Noor E Khuda by Shankar and Adnan Sami.  ‘Tere Naina’ is yet another nice and vibrant track.  The music does gel with the movie nicely. 

So I guess, the movie isn’t really SRK’s best performance till date as the 5 star reviews suggest (coz. we still have Swades and Chak De), but it is a fair effort and a reasonably good watch.  Just don’t expect the movie to provide as much entertainment as the controversy it generated and you’ll be fine.

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Paa – Movie Review

“A Hindi movie about a kid with a rare disease wherein his body ages much faster than his age”; This synopsis would any day give me an idea about a melodramatic tissue fest and actually did turn me off even before I saw Paa. But I guess it was the lure of watching it on a huge screen under the winter sky was what made me go for it. I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised. Giving credit to R. Balki, Paa is surprisingly humorous and witty, two adjectives that you’d never expect reading the synopsis. The last 30 minutes or so become a little melodramatic but it is still far from the regular sentimental over the top treatment that such a subject would get from any other director. In that sense, the movie is a winner.

The movie starts off with Jaya Bachchan narrating the titles and this got me real confused. I mean, what were those expressions; somewhere between giggling on an adult joke and trying to suppress the urge to go to the loo. ABCL seems to be hard selling their family package – Sign any two people in the family and the third comes as a guest appearance absolutely free.

Enter Amitabh as Auro and my fears of him being over the top were whisked away after watching him on screen for just ten minutes. It is a relief that he gives a constrained performance. He is obviously not as cute as his class mates (and is not supposed to be either) but the good part is that he’s not repelling and he sort of grows on you through the movie. I’m not sure however about his mannerisms and the way he bends his arms while walking. But overall, he doesn’t seem to overshadow the story and that is good in a way. The other good thing is that the movie is not only about Auro and his disease or what he goes through. The harsh parts of his life have been done away with. The movie is more about his innocence, his friends and the story of his parents and that is what helps it to be refreshing rather than tiresome. It is indeed wonderful that the story focuses on the bright moments in an otherwise supposedly hard life. The best parts of the movie however are not the ones by Amitabh. The take on the media, I thought, was very comical and especially, the character of Auro’s best friend Vishnu – He has the best (funniest) lines in the movie. Children are such natural actors, they don’t really have to worry about comic timing. I wish they had more screen time.

Unfortunately then, the story tries to get serious and the love story between Abhishek and Vidya Balan stretches for a tad too long. When you have to wait for the obvious ending, it really gets boring (especially when you’re not in the cozy cinema seats but in straight back chairs in a lawn). The music isn’t all that great and considering that it is by Illaiyaraaja, it is a huge disappointment.

R. Balakrishnan (R. Balki – the writer and director) comes across as a very mature film maker. His is a unique brand of subtle humour that stems from serious issues and situations; be it the age difference in Cheeni Kum or the rare condition of a little ‘old’ boy in Paa. His stories tend to be positive, always looking at the lighter side. I guess, that is what eventually saves Paa.

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And I’m leaving you with some picures of the temporary 400 square metres screen at the Dubai Media City, Amphitheatre…

 

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Kurbaan – Movie Review

To all the lovely ladies who insisted I watch Kurbaan and review it…
I’ll kill you !

(Can’t help it, I’m in this dumb killer mood after watching a movie that killed all my smart brain cells; even the desire to watch Kareena Kapoor’s bare back was killed by UAE censors.)

I think this concept of the suave and sexy Muslim terrorist luring an unsuspecting demure damsel to further his ends of blowing up a few more people has been done to death now; and ya, even the premise of another Muslim coming to the rescue; Obviously. The movie uses the clichéd modern day plot of Islamic terrorism against the US but then they throw in the love angle which is as absurd as Vinod Kambli in reality TV.

The problem begins with the very first shot. Saif and Kareena have been together for so long that no matter how hard they try to act like strangers; they come across as a couple having a love tiff. It took me a few minutes to realize that they actually were strangers in the movie. But a few coffees and an awkward smooch later, they are in love. But by this time, they actually look like they’re actors just pretending to be in love. I couldn’t really get it whether it was plain bad acting or it was me.

And then since you do not feel any love between them, you do not feel any pain when Kareena discovers that her handsome husband is a member of a terrorist sleeper cell, unlike Fanaa where the initial love story was so sweet that it was hard, not to feel sorry for Kajol.  Throughout the rest of the movie, the director seems unsure whether Kareena loves him or loves him not. And given that Saif was playing a most wanted terrorist, how easily did he give up his objective of blowing up people for saving the girl whom he used to get to the US. The entire premise is so messed up, it doesn’t make any sense.

Saif and Kareena together sure make the hottest couple on and off screen and after the first few minutes, you do start appreciating Kareena’s new designer look and Saif’s royal lineage but if that’s what we wanted to see, we could pick-up any movie magazine and they’re splashed all over the pages like some bad curry stain. And Viveik Ouberoioiooio (why take chances) – man, he clearly is the most grating actor on screen; even more than John Abraham. (Yeah, now imagine how did the world survive Kaal). Simply put, he’s got a weird hairdo, zero acting skills, and expressions that resemble a turd toad. Add to that, he’s given brains of a turd toad (I’m really enjoying this) in the movie. He doesn’t call the police or the FBI when he gets information about suspects behind a bomb but in true 70s style, he goes after the terrorists himself… singlehandedly, infiltrates their group and comes out a winner. And oh ya, he does call the FBI at the end anyways.

Clichéd characters – all terrorists wear pathanis and their wives are Abaya adorning dumb figures; Clichéd dialogues – do people still argue about who is the real terrorist – US or the Taliban? Or how many people died in 9/11 vis-à-vis how many people died in Iraq?; Clichéd acting – the guys playing terrorists speak less and are always angry, the lady terrorist has a pashto accent. Actually this reminds me, what a misfit the Saif seemed in their group wearing Italian cut suits and smart ties.

So I guess, in spite of the screwed up review (if I could call it that), you do get the drift. Thankfully, it is now time for some seriously nice cinema. Dubai International Film Festival begins on 9th December.

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Wake Up Sid – Movie Review

Fresh, inspiring and awfully sweet, debutant director Ayaan Mukherji’s ‘Wake Up Sid’ is sheer genius. Inspite of a simple and predictable story, ‘Wake Up Sid’ manages to feel bright and make you smile a lot. It’s so sweet, it almost hurts.

The story is quite obvious even from the titles and the promos. Sid Mehra (Ranbir) has just finished college and is completely aimless. On the very same day, he has a chance encounter with Aisha Banerjee (Konkona Sen Sharma) who is the exact opposite of what he is. The movie is basically about Sid’s journey from the day he’s out of college to the day he’s finally found his calling. The magic is however in the small moments of his learning; in his failures and his initial denial and later in his acceptance; in his realization of love and the direction of life. Each such moment has been scripted brilliantly and the performances are just right. Neither too loud, nor too subtle, Ayaan Mukherji has managed to brilliantly balance realism with story-telling. For instance, when Sid goes to meet his mom, he doesn’t give her a hug, and that was very like him. At another place, just the expressions on a mom’s face while playing with her son for a picture perfect moment do the talking. No dialogues are said, there isn’t a heavy background score. Just a few light guitar strings and her expressions make the audience feel exactly what Sid is feeling.

Another thing I loved about the movie was that though Sid grows up in the movie, he still remains a kid at heart. He doesn’t grow up beyond his capabilities and become a hero. He just conquers his demons and for him, that’s enough growing up. And again as I said, the magic is in the nuances. At one stage, he looks at Konkona and winks. That one second scene, that subtle mannerism of his, is another step in his personal journey.

Ranbir finally seems to have dug out his dad’s innocence and his mom’s good looks from his gene pool; not to mention the acting talent. Sid Mehra’s boyish and vulnerable charm is very likeable and (I know I’m repeating this but there is no other way to describe it) awfully sweet. Konkona Sen is, as always, a class act. She plays her part to perfection. But this is Ranbir’s movie all along. He alone, is the 10 reasons to watch ‘Wake Up Sid’. And then you’ve got Konkona, and the music.

The music is another super score by Shankar Ehsaan Loy. This trio has somehow sensed the change in music tastes or maybe they are being the change themselves. Right from Taare Zameen Par to Rock On and now to Wake Up Sid, their music is starting to change the feel of movies. What was Pianos in the 1970s was replaced by Violins and Keyboards during the 90s (remember Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayi by Anu Malik) and now their music has primarily guitar strings. That is one reason why their music sounds so fresh and new.

If you’re still wondering, I’d say ‘Wake Up Sid’ is definitely a must watch. Yes, the story is predictable and we could’ve done with a little more witty humor considering it features college kids but the magic of the movie is in its feel. It comes across as nice, honest and extremely endearing, just like its protagonist Sid, and you don’t even have to switch off your brains to enjoy it.

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Wanted – Movie Review

‘Abey, woh He-Man ka baap hai, Batman ka chacha hai, Bruce-lee ka nana hai woh; Last action hero hai‘.  With these lines, enters Radhe (Salman Khan).  I’d say it’s been a long long time but finally as Rakhi would put it ‘Mere Karan-Arjun aa gaye‘.  Yes, the last action hero has arrived and how.  “Boom boom bang bang bang; too much action” complained a friend when we got out of the movie.  I told him “Have you ever complained that there was too much comedy in a comedy movie?”   I know it’s silly but the point is Is the action good?  And I swear to God (I’d rather say today – Teri Maa ki kasam) Hell Yeah!

As you would’ve realised, this movie is not for everyone.  No; it is only for those who can watch Salman with our without his shirt.  It’s almost like a gift to his fans.  I think the last time Salman was this serious about action was in ‘Veergati‘.

Small thug with big dreams works his way into the underworld and gets involved in a deadly gang war with his rival gang.  In the middle of all the killing and mayhem, our action hero also tries to play romantic hero with Jhanvi (Ayesha Takia).  Throw in an international don Ghani Bhai, a corrupt police officer Talpade (Mahesh Manjrekar) and an honest commissioner and you at least have something you can call a plot.  The good part is that almost everyone has a sense of humour.  The silly and at times unexpected humour, gives viewers some break in the intensity and the bang bang of this No holds barred WWE event.  The sweet and busty (deadly combination I’d say) Jhanvi is the other refreshing relief.

The songs are when you go out to smoke or take a pee; Loud, out of place and completely forgettable.

The director is Prabhu Deva and the south Indian influence is quite visible in the action but thankfully it has been moderated (a little) for Hindi Movie audiences.

By now, I guess my review is even longer than the thin storyline though with a suprisingly happy ending.  I loved the twist at the end.  Alternatively, if I follow QI’s style, I’d just quote the Black Eyed Peas – ‘Boom Boom Pow’!

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Kaminey – Movie Review

Serious critics will pretend to love it. It always happens with a Vishal Bharjdwaj movie. How can you not enjoy a Vishal Bharjdwaj movie? You’d be dumb to not like it. I’ve not yet seen Maqbool and I thought Omkara was overrated. But this time I was looking forward to watching Kaminey. I somehow felt good about Shahid’s look and his lisp-ness in the promos. I wasn’t disappointed, not for the first half at least. For the better part of the movie, it keeps you engrossed, it surprises you and the tight crisp script keeps you edgy. But later somehow, it just flattens out. The brilliant screenplay somehow nearing the end loses steam and just wants to get done with. And the surprising part is that the lengthy climax scene wasn’t really necessary. The movie could’ve ended before the climax began but I dunno why, all the characters gather in a chawl in Mumbai and the climax goes to party with blazing guns. It feels like suddenly Vishal went for a loo break and Priyadarshan took over.

There are some outstanding moments though. Bhope’s conversation with Mikhail is funny, fascinating and chilling all at once. The background score at that point, the dark lighting in the room, the dialogues, everything about that scene is almost perfect. Then, there’s another scene where Charlie and his friends discover they’ve screwed up at the hotel. The understated humor in the circumstances is just too good. Even the romantic angle between Shahid and Priyanka and the political issue is a nice complete subplot in itself, not at all belittled by the crime thriller going on at the other end. Priyanka in her role as bold and beautiful Sweety is remarkable. She is a wonderful actress and with her performance she almost single handedly carries the parallel plot to conclusion.

Shahid Kapoor has finally grown up. This has to be one of his finest performances to date. He plays a double role and though, as Guddu he is his regular chocolate boy self; as Charlie, he comes of age. Charlie the lisp will definitely be added to the most interesting characters in Bollywood – Ferioufly. His rugged look with unkempt long hair and stubble fit his character perfectly. He looks exactly what his character is – Bad guy but naïve, tough yet soft, greedy yet scared… There is something about Vishal Bhardwaj’s characters. Langda Tyagi in Omkara or Charlie in Kaminey or even Omi Shukla in and as Omkara, all his characters have depth, shades, typical mannerisms and that makes them a treat to watch.

I enjoy a movie with different characters and their personalities if it is woven tightly into the main plot but I’m not sure if a movie with so many characters appeals to a many people. I think a lot of audiences find such plots discerning and they loose the plot. There are numerous characters and a few sub-plots into the main plot but the script has been kept taut right to the end… almost. The last half hour is where all hell breaks loose, literally. All characters assemble at a location and start playing ‘Contra’. You don’t really understand who’s shooting who but people are surely dying. This sort of left a sour taste at the end.

But apart from this, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. The story is interesting, the screenplay has been kept tight, the humor is unassuming yet intelligent and hilarious and the music – a few songs are definitely very good. ‘Dhen te nen’ is already a club thumper. But I loved the slow title track sung by Vishal Bhardwaj himself. Technically the movie is awesome. Brilliant cinematography by Tassaduq Hussain; He was the same guy who won a number of awards for cinematography for Omkara and this movie similarly has warm overtones to the picture. Similarly the editing by Meghna Sen (again who won an award for Omkara) is equally good keeping in mind there are scenes where twin brothers fight each other.

After the glut of nonsensical fare being dished out, finally there is something to enjoy, something worth spending your hard earned money in the theatres. This time the critics might actually love it.

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Luck – Movie Review

Cast: A whole lot of good actors
Writer & Director: Soham Shah

Soham Shah makes movies like Paris Hilton – Occasionally good to look at but full of crap. The torture of Kaal, though I watched it in 2005, was still fresh in my mind when I ventured into the theatre to watch Luck. Why did I go? Well, the promos seemed promising; there was Sanju Baba who is any day a better actor than John wooden Abraham and Vivek irritating Oberoi; and most of all I thought Soham would’ve grown as a Director in 4 years. Unfortunately, some things never change.

The opening sequence tells you what the movie is all about – Interesting premise with larger than life characters but let down by fudgy camera shots and tacky computer graphics. The movie starts of introducing the main characters and their LUCK. Moosa Bhai (Sanju) was extremely lucky to have survived a building collapse, floods and falls from high rises during his life and once he discovered this trait of his, he made fortunes playing by his luck. He then takes this game of Luck to a whole new level where people blessed with awesome luck will play games involving life and death while bidders would bid on each of them. Surviving this 20 day game would give the winners a chance to win the jackpot but it would also make a lot of money for the betting syndicate run by Moosa Bhai.

The characters are equally interesting – Ram Mehra (Imran Khan) – a bank employee who’s in big trouble but extremely lucky though he doesn’t know it yet; Major Jawar Pratap (Mithun) – who has been in numerous wars but has never been shot once; Shortcut (Chitrashi Rawat ‘Bhains ki punch’ fame of Chak De) who’s a camel jockey and has never lost a race; Raghav (Ravi Kishan) who was the first person who escaped death sentence because of a faulty noose; and Ayesha (Shruti Hassan) who had won the first jackpot and has returned for the second season of the game.

But that’s where the fun and thrill ends. First of all, the movie takes awfully long to introduce each of the characters with major screen time given to Imran Khan (which sort of tells you that he’s gonna win at the end). Finally when the game is set to begin, you see a number of faces from other countries but none of them is a character. They are just plain sideys who are there only for a minute or two. It would have been really thrilling to get a few unknown foreign faces involved in the act here. In the first game, there is a Pushto speaking actor who has a dialogue and it seems, the movie might get interesting with all these other characters but alas, he lasts only for 2 minutes. Then onwards, the movie becomes horribly predictable as far as the storyline goes. But one thing you can never predict is – How dim is the director gonna get?

In the middle of all this, there is time to sing a few songs, sit around a camp fire, go fishing at beautiful locations, fall in love, the bad guy attempting a rape but the hero appearing at the right time, everything that you would otherwise see in a typical stupid Hindi movie, and the funny part is all of this is without a purpose – it doesn’t take the story forward at all. All of this could’ve been edited without losing the story. When that is possible, it means there is something seriously wrong with the script.

And just when you are waiting for the movie to end, Soham takes ‘stupid’ to a whole new level. The final game is set which is basically an action sequence on top of a train, good guys vs. bad guys, and which has got nothing to do with LUCK. To top it off, the execution is horrendous, a lot of new sideys enter the game just like that, Ravi-Kishan goes on a video game rampage, firing bullets with a weird face, Imran Khan runs dodging bullets which were anyways being fired somewhere else, land mines which explode minutes later behind him and sword yielding Kung fu fighters who just fall and die once he looks at them.

Shruti Hassan definitely has her mom’s good looks but is far from her dad’s acting talent. The other actors are good in what they do but they are sadly let down by a paralyzed script. And yes, there is Mithun da reliving his ‘Koi Shak’ days.

I went to the movie with expectations of amazing stunts but was hugely disappointed. People diving from the sky look like they’re standing in their balcony leaning down. Imran Khan said in an interview that they had to do a Scuba diver’s course but I’m wondering where did he Scuba dive in the movie. There’s a tacky stunt where they’re under water for 30 seconds and then they show whales sharks (edited, thanks Anon) following them in a different shot. Where the whales sharks appear with the actors, it clearly seems like a computer generated graphic, but there was no scuba equipment, not even a diving suit, what was he talking about? It is really frustrating when actors and directors underestimate audiences expecting them to lap up whatever crap they dish out.

Movies like Luck, Tashan, Tasveer etc. are becoming part of a disturbing trend where a nice subject is reduced to an unwatchable torture. The songs are good, catchy tunes, the title track has Sanjay Dutt dancing in the middle of a few women with a huge belly but nevertheless, the entire package looks good. This along with the initial hour or so of the movie is good. But that’s about it. After building momentum in the first half, the second half is nothing but all masala clichés loosely put together all with cheap video game effects. Disappointing mainly because, being someone who knows how Luck behaves (I’ve tried a lot from cards, cricket, matka etc.) there was definitely an engaging story to be told here. Though not entirely original (premises have been borrowed from ‘The Running Man’ and ‘The Condemned’ but still, it was given a nice twist bringing in the Luck factor. In a movie about gambling, there isn’t a single scene where you feel the rush of betting and winning or losing big money (except maybe a short lighter sequence which is Ok). I wonder who allows Soham Shah to write and then direct such crap. Where is Rajkumar Santhoshi?

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