Science or Superstition?

The great debate between science and superstition continues, but RGV’s ‘Phoonk’ tilts in favour of superstition, civilised society may frown at superstition and blind belief but as a subject, it works big time because somewhere deep within all of us, we’ve heard of the power of the unknown. Whether you’re superstitious or not, you may have heard tales / experiences concerning black magic / voodoo. And you’re all eyes and ears the moment someone comes up with an alibi. For ‘Phoonk’ — the subject of black magic — is its biggest star and that alone is ensuring houseful boards outside cinemas.

Crocin ki goli pe bharosa karna aur kaale jaadu mein vishwaas karne mein kya antar hai ???....!!! This line is actually a dialogue from the movie and let me tell you it is one of the high points in the movie as it pops up the big question of whether things like black magic actually exist or are they just whims and fancies of a creative / destructive mind. In retrospect this movie has made a strong attempt that it’s not just a belief and something like this actually exists. You can believe in these or not, it doesnt matter. But you have to consider this when you or your loved ones are seemingly being threatened by demonic force. RGV has always rejected any responsibility for influencing audiences through his cinema, so I guess; RGV has already absolved himself in print several times!

Children can be superbly scary because that's precisely what we least expect them to be. In films like ‘The Exorcist’, ‘The Omen’ and more recently, ‘The Orphanage’, little kids have successfully made us scream. Ahsaas Channa, as a child possessed by an evil spirit is really moving. She has very clearly exhausted herself in exhibiting what her character went through, and has performed really well. My heart went out as much to her character as to the child artiste herself.

As always, RGV has managed to extract the best out of Sudeep, Amruta Khanvilkar, Ahsaas Channa, Kenny Desai, Ashwini Kalsekar, Zakir Hussain and Ganesh Yadav. On the technical end an interesting camera technique is employed to reveal different aspects of the same tableau. The film is excellent for the first time DOP Savita Singh, who has played with the camera angles throughout the film making it a fascinating cinematic experience on a subject that’s rarely tackled. Every sequence RGV manages to very effectively toy with the audience's expectations of when a scare will appear. That’s the stamp of a genius that RGV is, hits and flops notwithstanding.

For me personally, RGV’s ‘Raat’ is still the best in this genre.

Tribute to the spirit and resilience of Mumbai

Post 2006 train bomb blasts in Mumbai, there was a newspaper headline – ‘Mumbai Ripped Apart’. The same day, another national daily carried the same news, but with a different approach towards it. It read – ‘Mumbai Survives’. It was just the difference in various point of views from which people looked at the entire incident.

‘Mumbai Meri Jaan’ tries to deal with the same. At one level, it shows how there are people who overcame the fear of bomb blasts and moved on in life as if nothing has changed. While there is another sect of people whose lives have forever been unsettled because of this incident.

In terms of theme and format, the film is reminiscent of Naseeruddin Shah’s ‘Yun Hota To Kya Hota’ where multiple stories ran in parallel episodes and converged at the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers. This one, too, has different tracks but the individual stories ‘emerge’ from the 7/11 train bombings in Mumbai. From a brilliant broadcast journalist to a patriotic corporate man; from a retiring policeman at the twilight of his life to a rookie cop at the dawn of his career; from an angry and xenophobic unemployed young man to a coffee-vendor struggling to survive and belong: ‘Mumbai Meri Jaan’ follows the lives of people from all strata of Mumbai's bustling society as they tackle the aftermath of a fatal incident that brings out the best and sometimes the worst in them.

The modern city of Mumbai is a collage of seven islands. In the film Paresh Rawal, wonders if the seven train bomb blasts, which killed over two hundred people, will divide the dynamic city again. It's perfectly observed moments like this that make the film so special. A movie like this helps society to introspect, to find its strength and drawbacks.

Amidst formula-driven films, only once in a while do you come across a movie which strikes chord with a social theme and is enormously entertaining at the same time. Only once in a while do you come across a movie that has an outstandingly original screenplay and more importantly it connects with the viewer convincingly. While the film embraces an underlying social theme, it at no point tends to get preachy and also steers away from taking sides or getting judgmental. It’s the director’s slice-of-life approach that makes you receive the film with an unconditional open mind.

‘Mumbai Meri Jaan’ is embellished with superlative performances. Paresh Rawal comes up with one of his most poignant performances in recent times, a pleasant change from his customary comic act. His climax speech that covers the plot-points of all the protagonists brings a lump in throat. Despite playing a character with similar motivations like in ‘Shaurya’, Kay Kay brings variety to his act. Soha Ali Khan is outstanding in the scene where she breaks down in the hospital. Irrfan Khan doesn’t speak a single Hindi word in the film but yet conveys immensely through his expressions. His character oozes innocence in the climax sequence where he seeks pardon in his own charming way. Vijay Maurya is exceptionally good as the idealistic junior constable. Madhavan is at his best.

This film is a brilliant piece of cinema; mainly because, it is not rushed into production like some of the other films in mainstream Indian cinema. It has spent its deserved time on the scriptwriter’s table. What we have, as a result, is a film that looks complete. For people complaining of incompetent scripts, here is a screenplay that is immaculate, intelligent and emotionally binding. 'Mumbai Meri Jaan' is a director's tribute to the spirit and resilience of Mumbai and its people. The climax is one of the most subtle and heart-rending, yet strongest ones I’ve seen in Hindi cinema in the recent times.

In a scene from the film, Paresh Rawal tells his junior Vijay Maurya, ‘Mumbai mein sirf picture dekhne ka, acting nahi karne ka’. It’s this evasive sense of responsibility that the film highlights our attention to. At least as an audience, be responsible enough to respect such cinematic attempts.

Love in Transition

The promise that Ranbir Kapoor displayed in Saawariya, his debut venture, has been duly fulfilled in this breezy, urbane tale of love and longing, set against a come-of-age backdrop of 21st century twenty-something Indians. Here is a crackling bunch of gals and guys who mirror the mores and manners of modern India. And leading the bratpack, or should we say, carrying the film through, is the smart and superbly relaxed Ranbir Kapoor who proves he's a complete natural before the camera.

It's a three-track love story, relayed in a delectable style which unabashedly pays homage to Yash Raj productions signature film ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’. Ranbir Kapoor plays a newage Raj and takes off where Shah Rukh Khan left in DDLJ. This is not the greatest YRF movie, but it may be sufficient to get them their first hit of this year and break the jinx of a series of flops. The gist of the story is truly captivating; the guy is a complete flirt, he wears his heart on his sleeve. Enter three women in different stages of his life. Love is in the air. Two dream of marrying him, but he ditches them and the third, whom he intends marrying, says a blunt 'No' to the offer. Heart-broken, the guy realizes his folly. He goes back to the first two women and apologises. It’s a reasonably mature look at relationships and gives women believable roles to play. ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’ bears an uncanny resemblance to the yesteryear film ‘Teen Devian’ starring Dev Anand, Nanda, Simi Grewal and also a recent hit Telugu film ‘Autograph’ starring Raviteja and Bhoomika. On the whole, ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’ has an interesting first half, but a weak second half spoils the film which had lot of potential.

Ranbir Kapoor has grown from ‘Saawariya’ to ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’. He handles emotional scenes now with more flair and comfortability. His comic timing is great and he comes across as a dashing young man with a heart of a romantic and he plays the role with aplomb. In just his second film Ranbir Kapoor shows why he is touted as one of the best newcomers. Finally, Bollywood gets its new chocolate boy. Bipasha Basu as usual sizzled on the screen throughout, maybe because she has a better written role. Minisha Lamba was inconsistent but good in parts. Deepika Padukone gives a super confident performance and that too just in her second film! Kunal Kapoor has delivered a knock out (pun intended) performance as a surprise element in the film. Hiten Paintal is a revelation, a talent to watch out for.

Siddharth Raj Anand offers stunning visuals and extracts some really fine performances, but is highly letdown by the script in the second half. Three songs stand out, the classic ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’ ‘Lucky Boy’ and ‘Khuda Jaane’. The cinematography is fantastic; the locales have been beautifully captured.

If you have followed the news, you would be aware that Katrina Kaif was also a part of ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’. Her role was eventually chopped off as the running time of the film was going well over 3 hours. I am very curious to know what her role in the movie actually was?!

Where is the zing Mr.Kinng?

Off late, the Hindi Cinema is all about making big bucks. Get a star worth crores, a director who’s had a hit or two, location shoot in the exotic foreign locales; go far out to the maximum extent with the publicity. And you’ve got the initial audience. Unless your luck is really as bad as Yashraj’s ‘Tashan’, it’s a winner formula.

The opening disclaimer in ‘Singh is Kinng’ included lines to the effect that, ‘The hen in the hen chase scene is digitally crafted; no cruelty has been imposed on animals for the shoot of that scene’. Uhh…what about the cruelty inflicted upon us the humans who watched this tripe in the name of ‘mass entertainment’?

I understand that all filmmakers don’t want to change the world - they don’t want to make message movies, they probably don’t want to address issues either. I get that. But how can a filmmaker not care about engaging his viewer - how can he not care if his audience is entertained or not? If you’re making what you describe as a comedy, shouldn’t you want the audience to laugh? ‘Singh Is Kinng’ is a film that has little or no regard for its audience. They only care about the fact that you paid your hundred bucks and bought your ticket! I know that people who make films shouldn’t be made to feel guilty about wanting to earn money from them - I agree with that completely. My problem is with people whose only objective for making films is to make money - they could well be in the construction business, they could be manufacturing cigarettes, but they are making movies for a living!

In a recent interview, director Anees Bazmi said ‘My basic aim is that the film is a big hit, people make a lot of money, actors can raise their fees and everybody else gets paid more. Maybe 10 critics will write bad things but the lives of 100 people will change’. I do hope the makers can afford swanky new BMWs from the money this film will invariably make. Someone should get something from this film, because the audience gets nothing! ‘Singh is Kinng’ is a pedestrian film. There isn’t a flash of wit or elegance in it.

None of Akshay Kumar’s commercially successful capers of late, I suspect, are likely to be worshipped in public memory. Yet each, regardless of everything else, has packed in theaters with sustained publicity and quite literally brought in the moolah. The last few I've had the misfortune of sitting through were called Namastey London, Bhool Bhulaiya, Welcome, and all supposed super-hits! Now, ‘Singh is Kinng’ adds to this long list.

The story of ‘Singh is Kinng’ is a taken from the highly successful Jackie Chan starrer ‘Mr. Canton and Lady Rose’ a film through which Jackie Chan paid tribute to the American Director Frank Capra. The thing to admire here is that now a days our sources for films have become more exotic - since we’ve already extensively ripped off Hollywood, we are now cannibalizing other cinemas of the world!

Whoz ugly and whoz pagli?

‘Yeh Bambai hai. Yahan par sabke paas script hai. Doodhwale se leker Bhansali tak’. This is a line that a peon rudely tells Ranvir Shorey when he goes to sell his girlfriend’s script to a production house. But, obviously the director Sachin Kamalakar when making this film didn’t have a script because ‘Ugly aur Pagli’ is a poor & ugly copy of Korean classic ‘My Sassy Girl’ which was adapted from a young man’s true-life experiences posted on the Internet.

Sachin Kamalakar should have kept in mind that mere copying a film does not work; the basic problem is that the screenplay rewritten to Indian conditions is patently absurd and mind-scrambling. Incidentally, quiet a few scenes from ‘My Sassy Girl’ were earlier lifted in Yashraj’s mind-numbing ‘Neal N Nikki’.

Since the film is a romantic comedy, the director tries very very hard to make the movie differently funny, but the gags fall flat, the humour has few, very few clever one liners!

Individual performances are quite good. To a large extent in the film Mallika Sherawat rocks as the domineering, sharp-tongued woman until she starts crying and Ranvir Shorey polishes his loser act to perfection and manages to rise over the script on most occasions. Cameos by Bharati Achrekar and Sushmita Mukherjee are fun. And I wish that Zeenat Aman hadn't been wasted in a one scene appearance!

Watch the original Korean classic, anyday. Its one of my all time favourite romantic comedies.

Rajinikanth's much hyped film fails to live up to the expectations!

‘Kathanayakudu’ is a remake of the hit Malayalam film ‘Katha Parayambol’ a modern take on the Krishna-Sudama story, with an obvious twist. It could have been a simple and unsophisticated story with a touching theme of friendship. But what it ends up is being raw, loud and missing all that little moments that the movie needs. While the title has been chosen keeping the Super Star status of Rajnikanth and his crowd pulling capacity, the film is essentially about Jagapathi Babu.

Something similar to a debate from ‘A film by Arvind’, in one of the scenes from the film, Rajnikanth meditates on who really a Super Star is - is it the individual or the individuals who write the script and the characters. Rajnikanth gives the credit to all his writers who worked with him and hails them as the real Super Stars. At another point in the film, Rajnikanth says that if the story is not good, then even the Super Star cannot save it. Unfortunately, the Super Star does not succeed in striking a chord with the audience with ‘Kathanayakudu’. The film absolutely lacks believability, and the makers look in to pull off some extra gags by painfully injecting re-enactments from Rajni’s best box-office blockbusters like ‘Narsimha’, ‘Chandramukhi’, and so on. Apparently, these scenes are for their sequels, which makes one wonder how many movies is the Super Star shooting for or is it a film titled ‘Best-of-Rajni’?

Nayantara sizzles in the same i-really-wanna-be-a-bad-girl mood. Meena is just about ok in a brief role. Mamta Mohandas clearly is in the pits of her career to have accepted such a blink and miss role which only lasts for a couple of shots! Prabhu is painfully obese. In fact, our Union Minister for Health A. Ramdoss can use Prabhu for a National Public Health Campaign to show how one will eventually look like with a junkie-sedentary lifestyle. Rajnikanth is his usual self. Poor chap, what could he do having being caught with his own philosphy? With no story, even the superstar can do nothing! The saving grace of the film is Jagapathi Babu who comes up with a brilliant performance.

The director, who had earlier made ‘Chandramukhi’ is completely out of form here. Moved by the original, he has quickly roped in Rajnikanth and shot a hotch-potch film that doesn’t even fit with the theme or the concept of the story! Yes, there will be tears at the end, but that is only because Rajnikanth sheds tears in a well enacted emotional scene. The friendship connection and depth in the screenplay is missing even as the Director is totally out of ideas as to how-to-show Rajnikanth in a new and innovative style - Zorro, 007, Pharoh etc… I didn’t even understand why that irrelevant solo-song in the rain with Nayantara in a skimpy two piece? Didn’t the Director have the confidence in his film and even the Super Star Rajnikanth that he felt he needed a wet and gyrating Nayantara to pull in the crowds?!? The only person who would have enjoyed this song would be the cameraman who was all over Nayantara’s body. The writing is mediocre. The music is just about ok. The village set looks very artificial. It is supposed to be an Indian village but it looks more like a set from a cowboy film in Hollywood!

This movie had all the potential to be simple and beautiful but Rajinikanth’s much hyped ‘Kathanayakudu’ fails to live up to the expectations. Let's hope for Shahrukh Khan's sake his ‘Billoo Barber’ turns out to be a more purposeful and entertaining film.