Tintin's Top Ten Thirty
Best Bollywood Films of 2013
I decided for the
best films of the year, I want to do something different and expand from ten to
thirty. Cause surprise! Surprise! I believe there's enough films for that. Of
course the 100 years of Bollywood also demanded this.
This best of post
will be divided in 3 parts, the first being the films that are Good but not Great
(30-21), those that were Just so Close (20-11) and of course the Best of The
Best (10-1).
Like with the worst
of this year, a theme about the best has been of course some original scripts,
smart direction and great acting
But more than that a
surprisingly stellar return to old fashioned romance on celluloid. But not only
old fashioned romance, there's been all types of romantic films this year that
have just lit up the screen. So lets head on.
Also note, like with
my previous top tens on Bollywood in 2013 there will be something unique
included.
I review my films
from an objective perspective. As such the unique feature will be the ranking
of each film in terms of my favorite. Essentially the subjective ranking of the thirty films.
This also brings me
to my next point, if certain films have the same score, than the film that was
my favorite among them will get the higher best film ranking, irrespective of individual score such as Performances etc.
Now onto the feature presentation...
Good But Not Great (30-21)
30. David
Director: Bejoy Nambiar
Cast: Vikram as David, Neil Nitin Mukesh as David/Iqbal, Vinay Virmani as David, Tabu as Frenny, Lara Dutta as Neelam, Isha Sharvani, Akash Khurana as Iqbal Ganni Sheetal Menon as Susie, Naseer as Father Noyal, Nishan as Peter, Prahlad Kakkar as Father Albert, Monica Dogra as Noor, Neil Bhoopalam as Jahanzeb Rohini Hattangadi as Malti Tai with Saurabh Shukla as David's Late Father and Satish Kaushik as David's Neighbour
Genre: Anthology
Best Scene:When David's (Vikram) ghost father enters a child's body and starts drinking with him. At the end the child's mother shouts at David and his father moves out of the body, the befuddled child is left with a beer bottle in his hand. It's not funny when read out, go watch the movie.
Best Performance: Vikram as David
Best Dialogue: Can't Seem To Remember any
Genre: Anthology
Best Scene:
Best Performance: Vikram as David
Best Dialogue: Can't Seem To Remember any
Pros:-There's a good
balance between the three stories, each is also varied in style and genre
giving some entertaining moments.
-All three David's are crafted with
great depth but also individuality. The first is dual natured and conflicted,
the second progresses well through his arc and the third is hiding a broken man
under a comically drunk façade
-The perfectly adapted noir tones
(both visual and narrative) gives the first story a unique sensibility the
other two lack
-Nambiar in just the first few shots
establishes a sense of setting, backstory and even character
-The films message of self identity
and humanity is profoundly effective
-An all round supporting cast is
terrific. Highlights are Tabu, Rohini Hattangadi and Saurabh Shukla
-Vikram has stellar comic timing and
gives a heartfelt performance through out while parallel to him Nei Nitin Mukesh
exudes confidence and plays his character with sublime brilliance.
-The way Nambiar weaves music into
narrative and story mood is perfect
Cons:-As a whole,
the film is just plain boring. This is a big sin for any film to commit.
-The connectivity between the three
David's feels lazily written and forced
-After a while the extravagance in
camera work gets annoying
-Some sequences are oddly placed,
Nambiar seems to use them to highlight style over substance
-Climax gets tedious due to the
repetitive song and excessive slow motion
-The second story is bogged down by
a poor performance by young Vinay Virmani
Score: 6.9/10 (Story-6.8, Direction-6.3, Performances-8.1, Background score/soundtrack-6.2)
Favorite Rank: #20
Bejoy Nambiar's
David was an intriguing and worthwhile film to watch, but unfortunately could
not live up to the magic his debut feature Shaitan (part of my 100 favorites)
created in 2011. Even then it has a really interesting plot.
The film follows the
journeys of three David's in three different eras. Each one connected to the
next by a thin thread of life. These three men will have to go through the
trials and tribulations of their lives, to make the choices that will define
themselves forever. It takes a leaf out of Hypelink cinema, with it's structure clearly jumping between each of the three narrative threads.
The first takes place in 1975 London; David (Mukesh) is a gangster working for the dreaded don Iqbal Ganni. Set to take over from Ganni, David soon comes across a secret that will either take him further or bring him closer to Ganni. Amidst this is his struggle to be with his beloved Noor (Dogra), against the wishes of Ganni and his men.
In Mumbai 1999; David (Vermani) is an aspiring musician, who has a torrid relationship with his priest father Noyal (Nassar). But when a Hindu Politician Malti Tai (Hattangadi) accuses his father of force conversions to up her own political status, David must stand up to her and take a darker path or realize the enlightenment in forgiveness and being the better person.
Then in 2010 Goa; David (Vikram) is a fisherman who is drunk all day, he harbors mental wounds for the woman who ran away from his wedding day. He meets Roma (Sharvani), but unfortunately she is set to marry his best friend Peter in a few days.
David was one of the last films I had a chance to watch in the year. I was wary of it after reading reviews of how it was dull and not a really great picture as such. Of course the major deal breaker was the fact that it does not live up to director Bejoy Nambiar's sensational debut feature Shaitan.
While the is true and the film is also quite boring in patches, this was actually a fun film as well but dulled by the hype generated by its director. Even objective sense, this is something that cannot be overlooked when viewing David.
But before that lets explore each story individually. As mentioned, the film uses a Hyperlink cinematic format where it balances multiple (mostly interconnected no matter how vaguely) plots. The writing does so well, with each film being allowed to build its characters specifically the three Davids, bring forth the major themes and motifs of the picture as a whole and give precedence to the issue in each protagonists tale with immense depth. Each story is also quite unique in tone, making the film much more intriguing to view.
The first is a sensational Noir/Gangster film that revolves around Ganni and the darker truths of its family. But it doesn't stop there, for its run-time it adds in a very believable and tragic love story around David and Noor. Woven into it are typical plot points and twists, but are highlighted by what is a crackling and unexpected turn of events to the climax. The film was released in both Hindi and Tamil, as such this story was removed from the Tamil version and thus you can see how the connectivity is scarred by the periodic distance between this tale and the next two. It's tied together by a very vague and awkward point, where David's son Iqbal (who appears in the second feature) looks exactly like him such that the audience are in on the setup. The message of self realization is vital in its aspect for the unconventional ending to the conventional narrative beats, as David puts away his anger over betrayal and sacrifices himself for Ganni cause after all he raised David as his father.
The best thing though here is the character work. Few short scenes easily explore both Ganni's son Jahanzeb, and easily make him pitiable due to the negligence he's faced at his father hand. Ganni himself is explored, as a man divided between sons and his failure as a father to not only Jahanzeb but even David in some form. Noor is profound, that she is someone in an era and culture who goes against the norm and is far bolder dictating her love for David more so than he is. She sleeps in his bedroom under the roof of her in laws and forced husband Jahanzeb.
David himself is shown to be a layered individual. He is cold blooded and swift as a killer, but doesn't really boil up until the climatic revelation of his back-story. At the same time, when with Noor he completely melts into this caring and tender lover who is easily silent in her presence compared to her firebrands antics. His arc allows him to develop a conflicted nature, of a bittersweet joy to his birth revelations but also a poignant yet raging sense of betrayal at Ganni's actions.
Of the three, this was my favorite story and not only because of the writing. Nambiar's visual flair works brilliantly in this period setting, the decision to place this film as noir works well, both the visual and storytelling tones used dictate a classic Noir style merged with a bit of Nambiar's own flamboyance. The blacks and whites clash well and at times present a vivid grey spectrum of David's mind.
There is also the use of music in this feature. Nambiar weaves it in with ease, especially the final iconic song 'Dama Dam Mast Kalandar' across the backdrop of a function and the eventual final shootout that takes the lives of David and Ganni. He did this with 'Khoya Khoya Chand' in Shaitan, and he performs his sublime magic again with David.
On the performances front. Khurana is stellar in the few scenes he gets to hint at his deeper turmoil, watch his eyes specifically when his wife calls him out on his bad parenting against Jahanzeb. The y show the pain of a world weary man and guilty criminal both literally as a gangster and figuratively as a father. Bhoopalam is another to watch, he steals the few scenes he is in with his sarcastic and finally profound delivery. Monica Dogra looks elegant yet also gives her character the voice it requires, she plays the romantic scenes with a sensual aura.
The real highlight though is Neil Nitin Mukesh, the man is no doubt a great performer when pushed to it. Here he has that charismatic silent presence in order to give off the power of David, yet he also sinks in easily to the more romantic man. Both aspects are highlighted by his use of lesser diction and more of an expressive form of acting, he embodies the pain with his facial expressions when he sees Noor being wed to Jahanzeb.
Onto the second narrative. Here the depth is filled by the theme of self realization and forgiveness through humanity is executed with stellar hands. Where the screenplay fails toe engage, the message tend to cause a great effect.
Unfortunately that theme is realized in its large scope ending, where narrative threads from the earlier story are concluded as well. As such for a larger portion of the film your disengaged from the film, elements are poorly handled and create a weak structure of the script. Apart from the effective hassling that happens early on to Father Noyal, everything else falls flat after.
We see David confronting Malti Tai's politician ally, and get beaten down twice in the same manner. Barely establishing anything apart from another really good scene where he gets to threaten Malti Tai, but is again put down.
Finally the nonsensical happens, David is pushed onto the streets where he easily meets a man who hands him a knife and tells him; this is the only way to deal with such situations. The odd pacing towards the climax at this point, shows how unplanned and practically disjointed the plot is.
It also doesn't help that Vinay Vermani isn't experienced or talented enough to shoulder this part of the film. He is supported well by Menon (the other Shaitan returnee), Lara Dutta and more importantly a harrowing showing by Nassar. But he himself isn't effective, especially when compared to his other two parallel leads in Mukesh and Vikram.
But the best here is Hattangadi, she relishes the menace with which she performs her acts and highlights both her deeper insecurities and cowardice with the way she carries herself.
Onto the final story. This is the most funniest of the bunch. David here is a drunk who was left at the altar. He has the habit of wearing a monkey mask and punching brides at their weddings. He is also visited by his dead dad's ghost, who is constantly up to shenanigans by entering people's bodies and trying to cope a feel at David's friend Frenny.
David is in love with the mute and deaf Roma, a new girl in the village who is set to marry his best friend Peter. David tries to sabotage their wedding believing she loves him and that Peter is only marrying her for the dowry. Unfortunately it seems destiny along with Davids father is trying to teach him not to meddle in someone else lives.
The film is touched up with hilariously outrageous moments, thanks to its tight script and smoothly flowing screenplay. It unravels a lot of its main protagonist, without letting some of the deeper issues strangle the bigger picture and the comedic tone.
David is a broken man underneath his comically misguided and drunk persona, his unrequited love established well in some of the slower scenes specifically one under the shining moonlight. Unlike the other two David's we're more invested in this character, because the issue at hand is general and very easy to liken to.
He also gets a sense of closure unlike the other two and specifically his story is linked well to the second. Here he realizes Peter's true happiness with Roma, and doesn't try anything foolish. He learns a life lesson from the wedding priest (Vermani's David, having also learned his own lesson). Yet Nambiar also keeps the viewer intrigued, David along with Frenny are walking away when they witness another bride and groom stuck on the road, David adorns his monkey persona and goes onto punch the woman. It begs us to question, is David still over his first wedding and Roma?
What's done really well, is that Nambiar allows the story to flow at its own pace and doesn't give it that hyper stylish touch he does to the previous two. Most importantly both the script and his direction leave the scope of the premise to its accomplished actors.
Shukla is adorable and sincerely funny in his extended cameo, his delivery is spiced with a unique voice depending on whose body he enters. He also gives us subtle comedic moments, with the way he interacts with everyone else specifically as a ghost when he lusts after Frenny.
Tabu as ever is dependable. This is a performer that's so far gone into her craft, she can easily take up any role small or big and play with easy conviction. Sharvani makes simplicity look stunning, she works herself well with the mute character and to the audience gives us the vibe of friendship that David misses in his drunk stupor. Most importantly, I was hoping we get to see her dance and we do, for those not into the know; Sharvani is a professional dancer and damn good at it.
But the real livewire is Vikram. Aveteran of Tamil cinema, Vikram can make even a badly written character work (see Mani Ratnam's Raavan). Here he gets to play it funny, and he does this with sublime ease. He makes you laugh even in moments for him that are romantic and sweet, but most importantly he also touches the audience heartstrings. He easily expresses his regret and inner turmoil regarding his previous marriage and status in the village community, he gets the audience to care without being showy. This will go down as by the far the most unappreciated leading performance of the year.
On a side note; I don't get how Vikram hasn't got any big time Indian films on his resume, I get that his debut film Raavan was a dud but as mentioned he was great. This is a veteran actor of Tamil cinema who hasn't resorted to either his charisma or comfort zone to perform in a film. Vikram has some of the most versatile work you'll see in an Indian actor not just a South one. I suggest go watch him in Sethu, Anniyan and Deiva Thirumangal to just see the differences in roles he portrays.
Now as an all round film. I've mentioned the flimsy connectivity between narratives, which was unnecessary considering the overarching theme of the film. Apart from that, I've also said the film is boring, mostly in the second narrative. Luckily with the feature jumping between stories, and not a linear structure means that a major portion of the film doesn't lag but rather the film is inconsistent in patches. Still not a good thing though.
The major issue is that Nambiar here brings his visual flair without any proper mix with the narrative. The time jumping sequences are fine but begin to get excessive after a while. There are some scenes that don't have meaning yet lengthen the run-time only for the audience to be awed by Nambiar's vision and nothing else.
Overall as Nambiar's second directorial venture, David is a disappointment. Yet the film is a subtly well crafted blend of different genres tied together by a thought provoking message, bolstered by some great performances among two out of three entertaining stories.
29. Mickey Virus
Director: Saurabh Varma
Cast: Manish Paul as Mickey Arora, Eli Avram as Kamayani, Manish Chaudary as ACP Siddhanth Chauhan, Varun Badola as Inspector Devender Bhalla, Raghav Kakkar as Floppy with Vikesh Kumar as Pancho and Nitesh Pandey as Professor
Genre: Comedy/Thriller
Best Scene: When Mickey has to pull a race against time and delete evidence that he knows and was in love with Kamayani, to prevent the cops from arresting him for her murder.
Best Performance: Varun Badola as Inspector Devender Bhalla
Best Dialogue: 'Ek alsi aadmi ko koi kam do na, toh woh aasan tarika doondh hi leta hai karne ka'-Mickey ('You give a lazy man work to do, and he'll find easiest way possible to complete it')
Resonates well cause it applies to me.
Virus is a film that tries desperately too hard to be this years Vicky Donor, rather than carving its own detailed niche and identity. Mickey Virus is the story of Mickey Arora (sound familiar? well in Vicky Donor, it was Vicky Arora). A lazy good for nothing hacker, he's only fast on his feet at the sound of work.
Two international hackers get murdered in Delhi city, ACP Siddhanth decides that they must fight fire with fire and bring in a hacker to solve this case. Enter Mickey, after much coaxing Mickey decides to help them track the hacker gang responsible; Brahm Gang. Meanwhile he falls for Kamayani, going to the lengths to help her do an illegal transfer at her bank job.
But when Kamayani dies, Mickey realizes that there is a larger ploy at hand and he must escape the web of doom before the Virus that is the Brahm Gang deletes him forever.
Virus is a hilarious film, there's no doubt about that. It adapts and works in the details of its Delhi setting well, from the lingo to the characteristics of its characters. Dialogues with the typical Northern accent make you laugh, there's also a surprisingly great berth of physical comedy from the way characters move and their actions. Specifically on this front, the film is centered around some zany comical sketches between Mickey and Bhalla.
Unfortunately where the script gets marred is in its tonal change. For a while the main narrative aspect doesn't bear on the comedy, this is because it isn't full present or realized. Then when the thriller potion of the story ramps up, it starts to affect any of the fun vibes and really doesn't keep the viewer thrilled.
There so many plot threads that are illogically introduced and developed, that by the time the climax rolls around the audience will be confused as to what's going on. The writing does try to salvage this, but by then its too late and the only thing to do is give a lengthy boring and static exposition scene to explain every single detail to the viewer.
In its bid to rib tickle the audience and set off that all too familiar Delhi vibe, the film compromises its major narrative thread and defeats the films purpose.
Varma brings a lot to the table, one of the more destructive points of the film is its multiple and unnecessarily present twist. He executes them with smartness, bringing each twist into the fray with crisp editing in tow. Basically a saving grace for the portion of the screenplay. Apart from the Balla related twist (which goes unmentioned for too long) every other thing from Kamayani's truth to Professor's agenda is worked in well thanks to the director, he is the saving grace of a shoddy script.
I would also give a shout out to the use of certain visually striking elements, such as thought bubbles for Professors knowledge or the computer related things.
Of the performances, the cast as a whole is quite competent. I'd single out Puja Gupta who leaves a mark as Chutney, easily blending a spice of comedy and great buddy-buddy chemistry with Paul. At least resorted to a side romantic angle or such.
Manish Chaudary and Nitesh Pandey are terrific as the two major antagonists of the film. Varun Badola however is the scene stealer, he hits the right accent and caricature style of his character while also having some stellar comic timing.
Eli Avram makes a very flimsy debut, she's uninspiring and too plastic. Manish Paul is the films major focus, its a starring debut for the former show host and VJ and he basks in the opportunity. He has the right dose of charisma with a superb touch of aloofness to it, he makes you believe in a character like Mickey easily.
The score and music is something I cannot remember that well. However I do know that some of the songs such as the romantic track weren't really that tuneful and don't show the best of its setting/style.
Overall Mickey Virus is a fun film worth watching. The only problem it's far focused on being something else, rather than building a compelling and smart narrative as it should to be level of that thing. (The thing being Vicky Donor). Still, Manish Paul shows he has the talent to give a script a competent leading man. Hope he gets noticed for some future films.
28. Sixteen
Director: Raj Purohit
Cast: Wamiqa Gabbi as Tanisha, Izabelle Liete as Anu, Mehak Manwani as Nidhi, Highphill Matthew as Ashwin, Sumit Bharadwaj as Sameer with Prabhleen Sandhu as Tanisha's Aunt and Keith Sequira as Vikram Kapoor
Genre: Teen Drama
Best Scene: The finale where in each character has reached their lowest point and must decide their next course of action, to embrace the darkness or come out of it a better person
Best Performance: Wamiqa Gabbi as Tanisha
Best Dialogue:
The first takes place in 1975 London; David (Mukesh) is a gangster working for the dreaded don Iqbal Ganni. Set to take over from Ganni, David soon comes across a secret that will either take him further or bring him closer to Ganni. Amidst this is his struggle to be with his beloved Noor (Dogra), against the wishes of Ganni and his men.
In Mumbai 1999; David (Vermani) is an aspiring musician, who has a torrid relationship with his priest father Noyal (Nassar). But when a Hindu Politician Malti Tai (Hattangadi) accuses his father of force conversions to up her own political status, David must stand up to her and take a darker path or realize the enlightenment in forgiveness and being the better person.
Then in 2010 Goa; David (Vikram) is a fisherman who is drunk all day, he harbors mental wounds for the woman who ran away from his wedding day. He meets Roma (Sharvani), but unfortunately she is set to marry his best friend Peter in a few days.
David was one of the last films I had a chance to watch in the year. I was wary of it after reading reviews of how it was dull and not a really great picture as such. Of course the major deal breaker was the fact that it does not live up to director Bejoy Nambiar's sensational debut feature Shaitan.
While the is true and the film is also quite boring in patches, this was actually a fun film as well but dulled by the hype generated by its director. Even objective sense, this is something that cannot be overlooked when viewing David.
But before that lets explore each story individually. As mentioned, the film uses a Hyperlink cinematic format where it balances multiple (mostly interconnected no matter how vaguely) plots. The writing does so well, with each film being allowed to build its characters specifically the three Davids, bring forth the major themes and motifs of the picture as a whole and give precedence to the issue in each protagonists tale with immense depth. Each story is also quite unique in tone, making the film much more intriguing to view.
The first is a sensational Noir/Gangster film that revolves around Ganni and the darker truths of its family. But it doesn't stop there, for its run-time it adds in a very believable and tragic love story around David and Noor. Woven into it are typical plot points and twists, but are highlighted by what is a crackling and unexpected turn of events to the climax. The film was released in both Hindi and Tamil, as such this story was removed from the Tamil version and thus you can see how the connectivity is scarred by the periodic distance between this tale and the next two. It's tied together by a very vague and awkward point, where David's son Iqbal (who appears in the second feature) looks exactly like him such that the audience are in on the setup. The message of self realization is vital in its aspect for the unconventional ending to the conventional narrative beats, as David puts away his anger over betrayal and sacrifices himself for Ganni cause after all he raised David as his father.
The best thing though here is the character work. Few short scenes easily explore both Ganni's son Jahanzeb, and easily make him pitiable due to the negligence he's faced at his father hand. Ganni himself is explored, as a man divided between sons and his failure as a father to not only Jahanzeb but even David in some form. Noor is profound, that she is someone in an era and culture who goes against the norm and is far bolder dictating her love for David more so than he is. She sleeps in his bedroom under the roof of her in laws and forced husband Jahanzeb.
David himself is shown to be a layered individual. He is cold blooded and swift as a killer, but doesn't really boil up until the climatic revelation of his back-story. At the same time, when with Noor he completely melts into this caring and tender lover who is easily silent in her presence compared to her firebrands antics. His arc allows him to develop a conflicted nature, of a bittersweet joy to his birth revelations but also a poignant yet raging sense of betrayal at Ganni's actions.
Of the three, this was my favorite story and not only because of the writing. Nambiar's visual flair works brilliantly in this period setting, the decision to place this film as noir works well, both the visual and storytelling tones used dictate a classic Noir style merged with a bit of Nambiar's own flamboyance. The blacks and whites clash well and at times present a vivid grey spectrum of David's mind.
There is also the use of music in this feature. Nambiar weaves it in with ease, especially the final iconic song 'Dama Dam Mast Kalandar' across the backdrop of a function and the eventual final shootout that takes the lives of David and Ganni. He did this with 'Khoya Khoya Chand' in Shaitan, and he performs his sublime magic again with David.
On the performances front. Khurana is stellar in the few scenes he gets to hint at his deeper turmoil, watch his eyes specifically when his wife calls him out on his bad parenting against Jahanzeb. The y show the pain of a world weary man and guilty criminal both literally as a gangster and figuratively as a father. Bhoopalam is another to watch, he steals the few scenes he is in with his sarcastic and finally profound delivery. Monica Dogra looks elegant yet also gives her character the voice it requires, she plays the romantic scenes with a sensual aura.
The real highlight though is Neil Nitin Mukesh, the man is no doubt a great performer when pushed to it. Here he has that charismatic silent presence in order to give off the power of David, yet he also sinks in easily to the more romantic man. Both aspects are highlighted by his use of lesser diction and more of an expressive form of acting, he embodies the pain with his facial expressions when he sees Noor being wed to Jahanzeb.
Onto the second narrative. Here the depth is filled by the theme of self realization and forgiveness through humanity is executed with stellar hands. Where the screenplay fails toe engage, the message tend to cause a great effect.
Unfortunately that theme is realized in its large scope ending, where narrative threads from the earlier story are concluded as well. As such for a larger portion of the film your disengaged from the film, elements are poorly handled and create a weak structure of the script. Apart from the effective hassling that happens early on to Father Noyal, everything else falls flat after.
We see David confronting Malti Tai's politician ally, and get beaten down twice in the same manner. Barely establishing anything apart from another really good scene where he gets to threaten Malti Tai, but is again put down.
Finally the nonsensical happens, David is pushed onto the streets where he easily meets a man who hands him a knife and tells him; this is the only way to deal with such situations. The odd pacing towards the climax at this point, shows how unplanned and practically disjointed the plot is.
It also doesn't help that Vinay Vermani isn't experienced or talented enough to shoulder this part of the film. He is supported well by Menon (the other Shaitan returnee), Lara Dutta and more importantly a harrowing showing by Nassar. But he himself isn't effective, especially when compared to his other two parallel leads in Mukesh and Vikram.
But the best here is Hattangadi, she relishes the menace with which she performs her acts and highlights both her deeper insecurities and cowardice with the way she carries herself.
Onto the final story. This is the most funniest of the bunch. David here is a drunk who was left at the altar. He has the habit of wearing a monkey mask and punching brides at their weddings. He is also visited by his dead dad's ghost, who is constantly up to shenanigans by entering people's bodies and trying to cope a feel at David's friend Frenny.
David is in love with the mute and deaf Roma, a new girl in the village who is set to marry his best friend Peter. David tries to sabotage their wedding believing she loves him and that Peter is only marrying her for the dowry. Unfortunately it seems destiny along with Davids father is trying to teach him not to meddle in someone else lives.
The film is touched up with hilariously outrageous moments, thanks to its tight script and smoothly flowing screenplay. It unravels a lot of its main protagonist, without letting some of the deeper issues strangle the bigger picture and the comedic tone.
David is a broken man underneath his comically misguided and drunk persona, his unrequited love established well in some of the slower scenes specifically one under the shining moonlight. Unlike the other two David's we're more invested in this character, because the issue at hand is general and very easy to liken to.
He also gets a sense of closure unlike the other two and specifically his story is linked well to the second. Here he realizes Peter's true happiness with Roma, and doesn't try anything foolish. He learns a life lesson from the wedding priest (Vermani's David, having also learned his own lesson). Yet Nambiar also keeps the viewer intrigued, David along with Frenny are walking away when they witness another bride and groom stuck on the road, David adorns his monkey persona and goes onto punch the woman. It begs us to question, is David still over his first wedding and Roma?
What's done really well, is that Nambiar allows the story to flow at its own pace and doesn't give it that hyper stylish touch he does to the previous two. Most importantly both the script and his direction leave the scope of the premise to its accomplished actors.
Shukla is adorable and sincerely funny in his extended cameo, his delivery is spiced with a unique voice depending on whose body he enters. He also gives us subtle comedic moments, with the way he interacts with everyone else specifically as a ghost when he lusts after Frenny.
Tabu as ever is dependable. This is a performer that's so far gone into her craft, she can easily take up any role small or big and play with easy conviction. Sharvani makes simplicity look stunning, she works herself well with the mute character and to the audience gives us the vibe of friendship that David misses in his drunk stupor. Most importantly, I was hoping we get to see her dance and we do, for those not into the know; Sharvani is a professional dancer and damn good at it.
But the real livewire is Vikram. Aveteran of Tamil cinema, Vikram can make even a badly written character work (see Mani Ratnam's Raavan). Here he gets to play it funny, and he does this with sublime ease. He makes you laugh even in moments for him that are romantic and sweet, but most importantly he also touches the audience heartstrings. He easily expresses his regret and inner turmoil regarding his previous marriage and status in the village community, he gets the audience to care without being showy. This will go down as by the far the most unappreciated leading performance of the year.
On a side note; I don't get how Vikram hasn't got any big time Indian films on his resume, I get that his debut film Raavan was a dud but as mentioned he was great. This is a veteran actor of Tamil cinema who hasn't resorted to either his charisma or comfort zone to perform in a film. Vikram has some of the most versatile work you'll see in an Indian actor not just a South one. I suggest go watch him in Sethu, Anniyan and Deiva Thirumangal to just see the differences in roles he portrays.
Now as an all round film. I've mentioned the flimsy connectivity between narratives, which was unnecessary considering the overarching theme of the film. Apart from that, I've also said the film is boring, mostly in the second narrative. Luckily with the feature jumping between stories, and not a linear structure means that a major portion of the film doesn't lag but rather the film is inconsistent in patches. Still not a good thing though.
The major issue is that Nambiar here brings his visual flair without any proper mix with the narrative. The time jumping sequences are fine but begin to get excessive after a while. There are some scenes that don't have meaning yet lengthen the run-time only for the audience to be awed by Nambiar's vision and nothing else.
Overall as Nambiar's second directorial venture, David is a disappointment. Yet the film is a subtly well crafted blend of different genres tied together by a thought provoking message, bolstered by some great performances among two out of three entertaining stories.
29. Mickey Virus
Director: Saurabh VarmaCast: Manish Paul as Mickey Arora, Eli Avram as Kamayani, Manish Chaudary as ACP Siddhanth Chauhan, Varun Badola as Inspector Devender Bhalla, Raghav Kakkar as Floppy with Vikesh Kumar as Pancho and Nitesh Pandey as Professor
Genre: Comedy/Thriller
Best Scene: When Mickey has to pull a race against time and delete evidence that he knows and was in love with Kamayani, to prevent the cops from arresting him for her murder.
Best Performance: Varun Badola as Inspector Devender Bhalla
Best Dialogue: 'Ek alsi aadmi ko koi kam do na, toh woh aasan tarika doondh hi leta hai karne ka'-Mickey ('You give a lazy man work to do, and he'll find easiest way possible to complete it')
Resonates well cause it applies to me.
Pros:-The first act
is rib tickling, dialogues and physical comedy are hilarious
-Visual elements such as loading
text, timer, boss hacker tips are well placed in context of the film…and those
T-Shirts, just wow!
-Director effectively executes the
surprising twists and turns of the plot
-The supporting cast is great. Varun
is a show stealing highlight reel
-Manish Paul debuts with an air of
confidence, giving a charming and endearingly goofy performance
Cons:-The final acts
get marred by logic gaps and not so thrilling moments
-Some of the dialogue and the
narrative structure are clunky
-The films plot points get so
convoluted by the end that it requires a virtually static un-engaging
exposition scene to explain away everything
-Eli is the weak link in a rather
competent cast
Score: 7.1/10 (Story-6.9, Direction-7.7, Performances-7.7, Background score/soundtrack-5.9)
Favorite Rank: #26
Virus is a film that tries desperately too hard to be this years Vicky Donor, rather than carving its own detailed niche and identity. Mickey Virus is the story of Mickey Arora (sound familiar? well in Vicky Donor, it was Vicky Arora). A lazy good for nothing hacker, he's only fast on his feet at the sound of work.
Two international hackers get murdered in Delhi city, ACP Siddhanth decides that they must fight fire with fire and bring in a hacker to solve this case. Enter Mickey, after much coaxing Mickey decides to help them track the hacker gang responsible; Brahm Gang. Meanwhile he falls for Kamayani, going to the lengths to help her do an illegal transfer at her bank job.
But when Kamayani dies, Mickey realizes that there is a larger ploy at hand and he must escape the web of doom before the Virus that is the Brahm Gang deletes him forever.
Virus is a hilarious film, there's no doubt about that. It adapts and works in the details of its Delhi setting well, from the lingo to the characteristics of its characters. Dialogues with the typical Northern accent make you laugh, there's also a surprisingly great berth of physical comedy from the way characters move and their actions. Specifically on this front, the film is centered around some zany comical sketches between Mickey and Bhalla.
Unfortunately where the script gets marred is in its tonal change. For a while the main narrative aspect doesn't bear on the comedy, this is because it isn't full present or realized. Then when the thriller potion of the story ramps up, it starts to affect any of the fun vibes and really doesn't keep the viewer thrilled.
There so many plot threads that are illogically introduced and developed, that by the time the climax rolls around the audience will be confused as to what's going on. The writing does try to salvage this, but by then its too late and the only thing to do is give a lengthy boring and static exposition scene to explain every single detail to the viewer.
In its bid to rib tickle the audience and set off that all too familiar Delhi vibe, the film compromises its major narrative thread and defeats the films purpose.
Varma brings a lot to the table, one of the more destructive points of the film is its multiple and unnecessarily present twist. He executes them with smartness, bringing each twist into the fray with crisp editing in tow. Basically a saving grace for the portion of the screenplay. Apart from the Balla related twist (which goes unmentioned for too long) every other thing from Kamayani's truth to Professor's agenda is worked in well thanks to the director, he is the saving grace of a shoddy script.
I would also give a shout out to the use of certain visually striking elements, such as thought bubbles for Professors knowledge or the computer related things.
Of the performances, the cast as a whole is quite competent. I'd single out Puja Gupta who leaves a mark as Chutney, easily blending a spice of comedy and great buddy-buddy chemistry with Paul. At least resorted to a side romantic angle or such.
Manish Chaudary and Nitesh Pandey are terrific as the two major antagonists of the film. Varun Badola however is the scene stealer, he hits the right accent and caricature style of his character while also having some stellar comic timing.
Eli Avram makes a very flimsy debut, she's uninspiring and too plastic. Manish Paul is the films major focus, its a starring debut for the former show host and VJ and he basks in the opportunity. He has the right dose of charisma with a superb touch of aloofness to it, he makes you believe in a character like Mickey easily.
The score and music is something I cannot remember that well. However I do know that some of the songs such as the romantic track weren't really that tuneful and don't show the best of its setting/style.
Overall Mickey Virus is a fun film worth watching. The only problem it's far focused on being something else, rather than building a compelling and smart narrative as it should to be level of that thing. (The thing being Vicky Donor). Still, Manish Paul shows he has the talent to give a script a competent leading man. Hope he gets noticed for some future films.
28. Sixteen
Director: Raj Purohit
Cast: Wamiqa Gabbi as Tanisha, Izabelle Liete as Anu, Mehak Manwani as Nidhi, Highphill Matthew as Ashwin, Sumit Bharadwaj as Sameer with Prabhleen Sandhu as Tanisha's Aunt and Keith Sequira as Vikram Kapoor
Genre: Teen Drama
Best Scene: The finale where in each character has reached their lowest point and must decide their next course of action, to embrace the darkness or come out of it a better person
Best Performance: Wamiqa Gabbi as Tanisha
Best Dialogue:
Pros:-Underlying
theme of loss of innocence is quite thought provoking
-Characters in all roles come off as
very real and complex
-The director captures the right vibe
of the youth of this generation
-Writers and Director do well to
highlight each individual characters issues and arc
-The fresh cast really helps in
bringing out the young characters to life
Cons:-The film just
feels a bit flat
-The films visual narrative at times
seem to just move through the motions. There's a very weak connective thread
between situations
-Song sequences get a bit too much
Score: 7.2/10 (Story-8.3, Direction-7.7, Performances-7.7, Background score/soundtrack-5.2)
Favorite Rank: #19
A film about four different friends who go through their own issues that break their innocence at the most formative age of their lives; Sixteen.
Tanisha (Gabbi) is a girl rooted in Delhi with her spinster aunt, she seeks true love but whenever she meets someone she cannot get over their imperfections. Enter older gentleman and tenant Vikram Kapoor (Sequira), through him she'll learn love but more importantly see through her own faults. Anu (Liete) is an aspiring model, at the age of sixteen she's been there done that and has no qualms about her sexual nature. Unfortunately society is blinded to the fact that she isn't just a one note person, she is headstrong, smart and more importantly caring for those who know her. Her world turns upside down when she discovers her parents open relationship, can she accept them the way they are considering the way she is or is this the breaking point of her fragile heart. Nidhi (Manwani) is the epitome of innocence at Sixteen, she knows how her friends act and react but she never follows their paths. She is waiting for the right moment to lose her virginity to her boyfriend, but when emotional blackmail takes an ugly route she decides to go ahead. Pregnant; lost, alone and ashamed, Nidhi must realize that no matter what her family is with her. Ashwin (Matthew) harbors an unrequited love for Tanisha and an unaddressable rage at his father. Being forced by his dominating father to become something his father couldn't be, when Ashwin reaches his breaking point he crosses a limit from which he can never return.
What was once the age of innocence, in these times has become the path to despair and darkness for these four youth. Together they must try to attain some semblance in life.
Essentially Sixteen is thematically tied by a powerful message, at its core the film is an analysis of the loss of innocence the youth faces at an early age in this modern world. There's no denying kids are smarter in the day and age, with the technological resources they are far able to comprehend the complexities of life. Unfortunately at the same time, they are unable to judge these complex issues and the paths they must take with ease.
A lot of the film does is try to channel the typical source of these four's issues into their parents, it's an obvious trope as a parent is responsible for the youths upbringing and the values they hold in life. But the film subverts this in an intriguing fashion, there are different types of parents. On top of that, at the end of the day the script highlights that the faults lie within the decisions of the children's not to do right by understanding their parents who themselves at least have understood their children in the most simplest form. Although in Ashwin's case, his father was a douche. Only because the script required one parent that was easily dismissible as wrong no matter how misguided or cliche he is.
Back to the message itself. The different plot points for each characters vary but are steeped well in reality. Among these stories, Tanisha's is the weakest. Hers is something very easy to relate too in terms of finding flaws in people she likes, but that's why it's through her closest (in this case Vikram) that the films point of view runs. He gets to realize the issues of this young people, issues he himself has faced. He is able to guide Tanisha, fall in love with her but make her aware of what she is getting into and also how her issues pale in comparison.
He also highlights the importance of the parents, when he decides that Nidhi's parents need to be made aware of her pregnancy and operation for abortion. We also see that he parents are there to shelter and protect her, but at the same time also have by the end enrolled her into an all girls school as a sort of punishment. Anu is also supported and supportive equally, she understands her parents decision and they understand hers to become a model despite the negativity faced when her ex releases a scandalous clip of theirs.
With Ashwin, the final act keeps him separated from the other three. It's where the story gets a bit clunky, it seems the writers had hefty material for him but rather shortened it to fit into this film. Ashwin's narrative also includes the real stereotype of an Indian parent forcing their dreams upon their children, as such it seems to be telling a story already known and not effective to change it.
The three girls are vividly complex and relatable and could have and do easily form the backbone of the film. If the script had stuck to that, it could have been far tighter and connected. From a constructive standpoint, the film jumps from scene to scene in a disjointed fashion. Writer/Director Raj Purohit and co-writer Pawan Sony are not bringing forth four distinctive stories, their narrating a fully formed picture based around four characters as such this is inexcusable. The sense of connectivity is poor, even in comparison to something as excusable as David.
All together this just puts the viewer off, and simply the larger plot of the film falls flat although Purohit is able to visually execute his message. The fact that he and Sony keep it balanced even with the unnecessary Ashwin plot, and are able to build compelling arcs for each protagonist is laudable.
Purohit also captures both the language and atmosphere of the youth spectacularly. He understand the smaller and larger issues at hand and also highlights the kind of setting and vibe these characters are into whether it be frequenting areas or music taste.
On this front, the film also hits the right note with pitch perfect casting. The supporting cast is competent, but it's the four fresh faces that steal you eyes away. Matthew is stellar, he shows a level of great maturity in the way he carries himself. His love for Tanisha is well brought out in his actions, he also gets to present a darker side with the death of his father and subsequent turn into an unwilling thief presenting a restrained edge. Unfortunately the final dramatic scene highlights his inadequacies in delivery, as he chews his words among tears and his actions.
Manwani is a bit annoying, specifically in the way she delivers her dialogue. This is all because of the sweet and babyish character she portrays, at the same time she also comes off as endearingly sweet and you believe in her right to want to keep her virginity. When she witnesses her boyfriends manipulations your cheering her not to falter. Liete produces an aura of confidence and has the arrogance up to the mark, she also produces the characters grounded attitude and liking for her friends with simple tone change.
The real mark though left is by Wamiqa Gabbi. Carrying the weaker narrative she is a mix of both Anu and Nidhi yet vastly different, she presents both the lighter crush for Kapoor with ease yet also leaves behind an air of unease within the viewer at where this relationship is going. She can also as easily make you hate her, when she points out her true feeling for Ashwin and the way she is oblivious to her own imperfections.
One of the major problems overall though, is that for a youth oriented film the music is a bit off a dud. None of the songs really hit the best note, which is sad considering how well placed they are in the narrative.
Still overall this is a very enjoyable film with a very strong and thought provoking message. It's worth a catch to teach a lesson as well as to understand a youth, so as to be able to guide them and not accuse them for their mistakes.
On a last note; I'd like to take a pot shot at the marketing team. It's disgusting to see that they white washed actor Highphill Matthew's face (who is far duskier than the girls) in order to make him look fairer. That's sick and an example of how the thought process for the larger amount of people think in the media.
27. Go Goa Gone
Director: Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K.
Cast: Saif Ali Khan as Boris, Kunal Khemu as Hardik, Vir Das as Luv, Puja Gupta as Luna with Anand Tiwari as Bunny and Ross Bucharn as Nikolai
Genre: Horror/Comedy
Best Scene: Crackling chemistry and dialogue amongst Hardik and Luv as they share a join in the bathroom discussing Luv's relationship with his girlfriend. It defines the heart (no matter how inconsistent) of the film.
Best Performance: Kunal Khemu as Hardik
Best Dialogue: 'India me booth preth hote hai, yeh zombies kahan se aagaye?'-Luv ('There are only ghosts in India, where the hell did these zombies come from?')
'Globalization. Yeh firangio neh waat lagadi, pehle leke aye HIV abhi Zombies'-Hardik ('Gloablization. These foreigners fucked us over, first they brought HIV now Zombie')
When in doubt blame the (white) Man.
India's first official Zombie film and that too a Zombie Comedy brought to you by the director duo of Nidimoru-Krishna (who gave us underrated gems like 99 and Shor In The City). GGG is the story of Luv (Das) and Hardik (Khemu), two loafers who constantly stay on the couch eating food, drinking beer or smoking pot. Their life takes a turn, when they decide to join their roommate Bunny (Tiwari) on an office trip to Goa. In Goa they decide to head to an island rave party held by the Russian mafia. Unfortunately for them the next morning will be hell, a Zombie infested hell. Now on the run, the trio must save their lives, hold their friendship strong and most importantly not piss off Zombie Hunter Boris (Khan).
Gone is by far one of the most entertaining and hilarious movies you'll see, mostly in its first half. There's a collection of over the top gory moments defined by some hilarious dialogue, from the one mentioned above to things such as;
'Yeah, you like it...fuck you!'-Luv, after realising his girlfriend has been meaning to dump him. After which she notices the expensive ring he was about to give her.
'You look a little desi'-Bunny ('You look a little Indian'), to Boris. 'Haan Delhi se hu benchod"-Boris, ('Ya I'm from Delhi, *bleep*'), in a complete Indian accent Boris reveals his secret
'Luna ko chor Luv...me tere liye nayi Luna lake dhonga, woh bhi aachi wali fir tu use har waqt chalana'-Hardik, ('Leave Luna...I'll get you a new Luna, one that's nice and you can ride her everytime') when Luv decides to face the Zombie danger to save Luna. In your face to the core.
Plus the dialogue is surprisingly credited to Kunal Khemu. Bonus for the underappreciated talent.
The film itself also has some laugh out loud moments both higlighted by the visual in front of us as much as the dialogue. there are also some hilarious scenes that give homage to former Zombie films;
Scenes of the lead trio arguing as to what they're actually faced with, they're idiotic brains can't contemplate whether these are Vampires, Witches, Phantoms or as they put it 'Evil Deads'.
Both Hardik and Luv making fools of themselves in front of Luna.
Hardik distracting a female Zombie, running around a tree like theydo did in cheesy Hindi romantic films.
Hardik remebering the love of his life (Soha Ali Khan, Saif's sister and Khemu's girlfriend in a crazy non speaking cameo)
Scenes of references, such as where Luv alludes to the movie Shaun of The Dead without saying the name aloud. He plans that he will act like a Zombie to pass their hoard to safety, like they did in a movie.
Or a scene when Boris and Nikolai drive them to an abandoned cottage for safety. You will notice Zombies following them. Each wearing some very intresting clothing if you knwo your Zombie pop culture (one with a white shirt and red tie like Shaun, one in a hospital patients gown like Jim from 28 Days Later and one in a Sherrif's costume like Rick Grimes from the Walking Dead.
And of course the finale where the five survivors realize that the only way to stop the zombies is by pouring drugs on them.
It's a finale that's a bit overcooked. We have a long exposition scene explaining Bunny's escape from the clutches of Zombies, then to top it off our two protagonists have become heroic out of thin air and most importantly the deux ex machina solution. It really tries to tie back to the message of the film; drugs are bad, since it's the drugs that made people zombies in the first place. On top of it, the final scene reiterates the message of the film as how each of the trio explains that they learned that drugs are bad.
This also brings me to character development. Of the three leads, none of them are specifically likable. Luv is the lead protagonist and the straight man, but he's also so in tune with the wrong things that Hardik does you can't begin to remotely care for him. His initial scene establishes how right his own ex-girlfriend is, and him trying to change a few hours earlier doesn't make thing different.
Bunny begins as someone pitiful. Yet he's also a bit snobbish about his values compared to Luv and Hardik, still his follows them like a fool but more importantly is quick to give up in the toughest situation and willing to blame (although it is partially their fault) Luv and Hardik.
Finally Hardik's Hardik, he's a chauvinist pig with a really despicable attitude to life. It wouldn't been a problem if these characters had developed, but they don't show any signs of this and in the end seemingly are heroic in nature. They unfairly try to gain the audiences backing and sympathy, and their issues as well victories only slightly resonate thanks to how their relationship as a whole is established and developed. After all these are characters easy to relate to, due in most part to their friendship.
The directors however add a lot of sensation to the picture. The camera work captures both the lush and grime of Goa with ease. Elements such as blood splattered introductions to characters like Boris or titles for Luna, make the film have a unique feel.
While a bit downgraded, the make up and visual effects for the zombies are good enough and give it a bit off that low budget horror comedic touch. Unintended, but somehow the right effect for the film.
In truth it's the performances that are the backbone of the film, after all the delivery of the dialogue and the action at hand matters a lot. Saif Ali Khan gives a fun filled extended cameo, his role establishes a greater sense of pace for the narrative. It's his entry where things pick up, but it's his dissappearnace for much of the second half that bogs the picture down. Boris is funny both in Russian and India, and that's all because of a uniquely rib tickling showing by the Nawab.
Puja Gupta is wasted, she's given two half baked love angles and nothing much else. Although thank god they didn't make her end up liking any of the two by the end of the film, she stuck around because they were the remaining survivors and she didn't act like a stereotyped damsel in distress.
Anand Tiwari is superbly funny, he adds better comedic depth to his character who gets infuriating by the end of the film. Tiwari just makes the mouth gape, thanks to his comic timing and act of being the butt of all the jokes.
Vir Das as the straight man is competent, he also doesn't make that much of a showing like Puja. His acting skills however far exceed hers, and he plays it well with the restrained cool from time to time.
But the scenery chewing, scene stealer is none other than Khemu. By far one of the most overlooked actors in the past few years, his bad choice of films has kept eyes away from the fact that he's a great talent. Comedy especially this sleazy character comes naturally to him, he plays the suave man with simplicity but also amps up the wackiness to great levels. Go Goa Gone is his film and a showcase for what he can bring to the table.
The music is possibly the most funniest and wackiest you'll ever hear in Hindi cinema 2013, the likes of 'Khoon Choos Le' ('Suck my Blood') and 'Babaji ki Boti' ('Babaji's medicine AKA Weed'). Mixed with the visuals in the songs, both coming in the opening and end credits makes them something not to miss. The lyrics just match with the films dialogues.
Overall this is a film that was snarky, crackling and dynamic but unfortunately also failed to live up to its own hype. It was out of India funny, but it's really nothing new that's not been seen. Sometimes it wears its influences on its sleeve and as such feels like a copy of far superior films. Still I hope to see such innovative ideas (at least this one is in execution) for Bollywood films in the future
26. Mere Dad Ki Maruti
Director: Ashima Chibber
Cast: Saqib Saleem as Sameer, Ram Kapoor as Tej, Rhea Chakraborty as Jasleen with Prabal Panjabi as Gattu and Ravi Kisan as Pathan
Genre: Comedy
Best Scene: In the beginning when Sameer realizes he is in big trouble he reminisces how his father swears and shouts at him. Saleem gives a perfect imitation of Kapoor's Tej while facing the camera. Comedic gold.
Best Performance: Ram Kapoor as Tej
Best Dialogue: 'SAMEEERRR!!! Pathe de ulu, kidhar maar gaya'-Tej ('SAMEEERRR!!! my fool of the son, where the hell are you?!')
Just because of the way Kapoor delivers that stretched Sameer.
A film about four different friends who go through their own issues that break their innocence at the most formative age of their lives; Sixteen.
Tanisha (Gabbi) is a girl rooted in Delhi with her spinster aunt, she seeks true love but whenever she meets someone she cannot get over their imperfections. Enter older gentleman and tenant Vikram Kapoor (Sequira), through him she'll learn love but more importantly see through her own faults. Anu (Liete) is an aspiring model, at the age of sixteen she's been there done that and has no qualms about her sexual nature. Unfortunately society is blinded to the fact that she isn't just a one note person, she is headstrong, smart and more importantly caring for those who know her. Her world turns upside down when she discovers her parents open relationship, can she accept them the way they are considering the way she is or is this the breaking point of her fragile heart. Nidhi (Manwani) is the epitome of innocence at Sixteen, she knows how her friends act and react but she never follows their paths. She is waiting for the right moment to lose her virginity to her boyfriend, but when emotional blackmail takes an ugly route she decides to go ahead. Pregnant; lost, alone and ashamed, Nidhi must realize that no matter what her family is with her. Ashwin (Matthew) harbors an unrequited love for Tanisha and an unaddressable rage at his father. Being forced by his dominating father to become something his father couldn't be, when Ashwin reaches his breaking point he crosses a limit from which he can never return.
What was once the age of innocence, in these times has become the path to despair and darkness for these four youth. Together they must try to attain some semblance in life.
Essentially Sixteen is thematically tied by a powerful message, at its core the film is an analysis of the loss of innocence the youth faces at an early age in this modern world. There's no denying kids are smarter in the day and age, with the technological resources they are far able to comprehend the complexities of life. Unfortunately at the same time, they are unable to judge these complex issues and the paths they must take with ease.
A lot of the film does is try to channel the typical source of these four's issues into their parents, it's an obvious trope as a parent is responsible for the youths upbringing and the values they hold in life. But the film subverts this in an intriguing fashion, there are different types of parents. On top of that, at the end of the day the script highlights that the faults lie within the decisions of the children's not to do right by understanding their parents who themselves at least have understood their children in the most simplest form. Although in Ashwin's case, his father was a douche. Only because the script required one parent that was easily dismissible as wrong no matter how misguided or cliche he is.
Back to the message itself. The different plot points for each characters vary but are steeped well in reality. Among these stories, Tanisha's is the weakest. Hers is something very easy to relate too in terms of finding flaws in people she likes, but that's why it's through her closest (in this case Vikram) that the films point of view runs. He gets to realize the issues of this young people, issues he himself has faced. He is able to guide Tanisha, fall in love with her but make her aware of what she is getting into and also how her issues pale in comparison.
He also highlights the importance of the parents, when he decides that Nidhi's parents need to be made aware of her pregnancy and operation for abortion. We also see that he parents are there to shelter and protect her, but at the same time also have by the end enrolled her into an all girls school as a sort of punishment. Anu is also supported and supportive equally, she understands her parents decision and they understand hers to become a model despite the negativity faced when her ex releases a scandalous clip of theirs.
With Ashwin, the final act keeps him separated from the other three. It's where the story gets a bit clunky, it seems the writers had hefty material for him but rather shortened it to fit into this film. Ashwin's narrative also includes the real stereotype of an Indian parent forcing their dreams upon their children, as such it seems to be telling a story already known and not effective to change it.
The three girls are vividly complex and relatable and could have and do easily form the backbone of the film. If the script had stuck to that, it could have been far tighter and connected. From a constructive standpoint, the film jumps from scene to scene in a disjointed fashion. Writer/Director Raj Purohit and co-writer Pawan Sony are not bringing forth four distinctive stories, their narrating a fully formed picture based around four characters as such this is inexcusable. The sense of connectivity is poor, even in comparison to something as excusable as David.
All together this just puts the viewer off, and simply the larger plot of the film falls flat although Purohit is able to visually execute his message. The fact that he and Sony keep it balanced even with the unnecessary Ashwin plot, and are able to build compelling arcs for each protagonist is laudable.
Purohit also captures both the language and atmosphere of the youth spectacularly. He understand the smaller and larger issues at hand and also highlights the kind of setting and vibe these characters are into whether it be frequenting areas or music taste.
On this front, the film also hits the right note with pitch perfect casting. The supporting cast is competent, but it's the four fresh faces that steal you eyes away. Matthew is stellar, he shows a level of great maturity in the way he carries himself. His love for Tanisha is well brought out in his actions, he also gets to present a darker side with the death of his father and subsequent turn into an unwilling thief presenting a restrained edge. Unfortunately the final dramatic scene highlights his inadequacies in delivery, as he chews his words among tears and his actions.
Manwani is a bit annoying, specifically in the way she delivers her dialogue. This is all because of the sweet and babyish character she portrays, at the same time she also comes off as endearingly sweet and you believe in her right to want to keep her virginity. When she witnesses her boyfriends manipulations your cheering her not to falter. Liete produces an aura of confidence and has the arrogance up to the mark, she also produces the characters grounded attitude and liking for her friends with simple tone change.
The real mark though left is by Wamiqa Gabbi. Carrying the weaker narrative she is a mix of both Anu and Nidhi yet vastly different, she presents both the lighter crush for Kapoor with ease yet also leaves behind an air of unease within the viewer at where this relationship is going. She can also as easily make you hate her, when she points out her true feeling for Ashwin and the way she is oblivious to her own imperfections.
One of the major problems overall though, is that for a youth oriented film the music is a bit off a dud. None of the songs really hit the best note, which is sad considering how well placed they are in the narrative.
Still overall this is a very enjoyable film with a very strong and thought provoking message. It's worth a catch to teach a lesson as well as to understand a youth, so as to be able to guide them and not accuse them for their mistakes.
On a last note; I'd like to take a pot shot at the marketing team. It's disgusting to see that they white washed actor Highphill Matthew's face (who is far duskier than the girls) in order to make him look fairer. That's sick and an example of how the thought process for the larger amount of people think in the media.
27. Go Goa Gone
Director: Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K.Cast: Saif Ali Khan as Boris, Kunal Khemu as Hardik, Vir Das as Luv, Puja Gupta as Luna with Anand Tiwari as Bunny and Ross Bucharn as Nikolai
Genre: Horror/Comedy
Best Scene: Crackling chemistry and dialogue amongst Hardik and Luv as they share a join in the bathroom discussing Luv's relationship with his girlfriend. It defines the heart (no matter how inconsistent) of the film.
Best Performance: Kunal Khemu as Hardik
Best Dialogue: 'India me booth preth hote hai, yeh zombies kahan se aagaye?'-Luv ('There are only ghosts in India, where the hell did these zombies come from?')
'Globalization. Yeh firangio neh waat lagadi, pehle leke aye HIV abhi Zombies'-Hardik ('Gloablization. These foreigners fucked us over, first they brought HIV now Zombie')
When in doubt blame the (white) Man.
Pros:-A fun ride
with witty dialogues and laugh out loud scenes
-The film is fast paced with some
dazzling action moments
-Awesome easter eggs and
zombie/horror film and TV references
-Some really cool camera work with a
lush cinematography taking in the beauty and ugly of Goa
-Hilarious performances from Saif Ali
Khan, Kunal Khemu and Anand Tiwari
-Great music and background sounds
Cons: -The film
protagonists are highly unlikable and even once they develop it becomes to
quick
-Therefore the emotional scenes fail
to resonate
-The film has a deux ex machina
solution
Score: 7.2/10 (Story-6.2, Direction-7.4, Performances-7.6, Background score/soundtrack-7.5)
Favorite Rank: #12
India's first official Zombie film and that too a Zombie Comedy brought to you by the director duo of Nidimoru-Krishna (who gave us underrated gems like 99 and Shor In The City). GGG is the story of Luv (Das) and Hardik (Khemu), two loafers who constantly stay on the couch eating food, drinking beer or smoking pot. Their life takes a turn, when they decide to join their roommate Bunny (Tiwari) on an office trip to Goa. In Goa they decide to head to an island rave party held by the Russian mafia. Unfortunately for them the next morning will be hell, a Zombie infested hell. Now on the run, the trio must save their lives, hold their friendship strong and most importantly not piss off Zombie Hunter Boris (Khan).
Gone is by far one of the most entertaining and hilarious movies you'll see, mostly in its first half. There's a collection of over the top gory moments defined by some hilarious dialogue, from the one mentioned above to things such as;
'Yeah, you like it...fuck you!'-Luv, after realising his girlfriend has been meaning to dump him. After which she notices the expensive ring he was about to give her.
'You look a little desi'-Bunny ('You look a little Indian'), to Boris. 'Haan Delhi se hu benchod"-Boris, ('Ya I'm from Delhi, *bleep*'), in a complete Indian accent Boris reveals his secret
'Luna ko chor Luv...me tere liye nayi Luna lake dhonga, woh bhi aachi wali fir tu use har waqt chalana'-Hardik, ('Leave Luna...I'll get you a new Luna, one that's nice and you can ride her everytime') when Luv decides to face the Zombie danger to save Luna. In your face to the core.
Plus the dialogue is surprisingly credited to Kunal Khemu. Bonus for the underappreciated talent.
The film itself also has some laugh out loud moments both higlighted by the visual in front of us as much as the dialogue. there are also some hilarious scenes that give homage to former Zombie films;
Scenes of the lead trio arguing as to what they're actually faced with, they're idiotic brains can't contemplate whether these are Vampires, Witches, Phantoms or as they put it 'Evil Deads'.
Both Hardik and Luv making fools of themselves in front of Luna.
Hardik distracting a female Zombie, running around a tree like they
Hardik remebering the love of his life (Soha Ali Khan, Saif's sister and Khemu's girlfriend in a crazy non speaking cameo)
Scenes of references, such as where Luv alludes to the movie Shaun of The Dead without saying the name aloud. He plans that he will act like a Zombie to pass their hoard to safety, like they did in a movie.
Or a scene when Boris and Nikolai drive them to an abandoned cottage for safety. You will notice Zombies following them. Each wearing some very intresting clothing if you knwo your Zombie pop culture (one with a white shirt and red tie like Shaun, one in a hospital patients gown like Jim from 28 Days Later and one in a Sherrif's costume like Rick Grimes from the Walking Dead.
And of course the finale where the five survivors realize that the only way to stop the zombies is by pouring drugs on them.
It's a finale that's a bit overcooked. We have a long exposition scene explaining Bunny's escape from the clutches of Zombies, then to top it off our two protagonists have become heroic out of thin air and most importantly the deux ex machina solution. It really tries to tie back to the message of the film; drugs are bad, since it's the drugs that made people zombies in the first place. On top of it, the final scene reiterates the message of the film as how each of the trio explains that they learned that drugs are bad.
This also brings me to character development. Of the three leads, none of them are specifically likable. Luv is the lead protagonist and the straight man, but he's also so in tune with the wrong things that Hardik does you can't begin to remotely care for him. His initial scene establishes how right his own ex-girlfriend is, and him trying to change a few hours earlier doesn't make thing different.
Bunny begins as someone pitiful. Yet he's also a bit snobbish about his values compared to Luv and Hardik, still his follows them like a fool but more importantly is quick to give up in the toughest situation and willing to blame (although it is partially their fault) Luv and Hardik.
Finally Hardik's Hardik, he's a chauvinist pig with a really despicable attitude to life. It wouldn't been a problem if these characters had developed, but they don't show any signs of this and in the end seemingly are heroic in nature. They unfairly try to gain the audiences backing and sympathy, and their issues as well victories only slightly resonate thanks to how their relationship as a whole is established and developed. After all these are characters easy to relate to, due in most part to their friendship.
The directors however add a lot of sensation to the picture. The camera work captures both the lush and grime of Goa with ease. Elements such as blood splattered introductions to characters like Boris or titles for Luna, make the film have a unique feel.
While a bit downgraded, the make up and visual effects for the zombies are good enough and give it a bit off that low budget horror comedic touch. Unintended, but somehow the right effect for the film.
In truth it's the performances that are the backbone of the film, after all the delivery of the dialogue and the action at hand matters a lot. Saif Ali Khan gives a fun filled extended cameo, his role establishes a greater sense of pace for the narrative. It's his entry where things pick up, but it's his dissappearnace for much of the second half that bogs the picture down. Boris is funny both in Russian and India, and that's all because of a uniquely rib tickling showing by the Nawab.
Puja Gupta is wasted, she's given two half baked love angles and nothing much else. Although thank god they didn't make her end up liking any of the two by the end of the film, she stuck around because they were the remaining survivors and she didn't act like a stereotyped damsel in distress.
Anand Tiwari is superbly funny, he adds better comedic depth to his character who gets infuriating by the end of the film. Tiwari just makes the mouth gape, thanks to his comic timing and act of being the butt of all the jokes.
Vir Das as the straight man is competent, he also doesn't make that much of a showing like Puja. His acting skills however far exceed hers, and he plays it well with the restrained cool from time to time.
But the scenery chewing, scene stealer is none other than Khemu. By far one of the most overlooked actors in the past few years, his bad choice of films has kept eyes away from the fact that he's a great talent. Comedy especially this sleazy character comes naturally to him, he plays the suave man with simplicity but also amps up the wackiness to great levels. Go Goa Gone is his film and a showcase for what he can bring to the table.
The music is possibly the most funniest and wackiest you'll ever hear in Hindi cinema 2013, the likes of 'Khoon Choos Le' ('Suck my Blood') and 'Babaji ki Boti' ('Babaji's medicine AKA Weed'). Mixed with the visuals in the songs, both coming in the opening and end credits makes them something not to miss. The lyrics just match with the films dialogues.
Overall this is a film that was snarky, crackling and dynamic but unfortunately also failed to live up to its own hype. It was out of India funny, but it's really nothing new that's not been seen. Sometimes it wears its influences on its sleeve and as such feels like a copy of far superior films. Still I hope to see such innovative ideas (at least this one is in execution) for Bollywood films in the future
26. Mere Dad Ki Maruti
Director: Ashima ChibberCast: Saqib Saleem as Sameer, Ram Kapoor as Tej, Rhea Chakraborty as Jasleen with Prabal Panjabi as Gattu and Ravi Kisan as Pathan
Genre: Comedy
Best Scene: In the beginning when Sameer realizes he is in big trouble he reminisces how his father swears and shouts at him. Saleem gives a perfect imitation of Kapoor's Tej while facing the camera. Comedic gold.
Best Performance: Ram Kapoor as Tej
Best Dialogue: 'SAMEEERRR!!! Pathe de ulu, kidhar maar gaya'-Tej ('SAMEEERRR!!! my fool of the son, where the hell are you?!')
Just because of the way Kapoor delivers that stretched Sameer.
Pros:-A rib tickling
film with the lead characters falling into hilarious situations and having
crackling interactions
-Some great funny punjabi style
dialogue
-Copies a few other films, but does
so in a very different and better fashion
-An unexpected twist ending with a
lot of heart
-Terrific performances especially
from Saleem and Kapoor
Cons;-Characters are
sketchily written
-After a point the constant
background music gets a bit annoying
-At points the first act and even
the second feel like a lengthy advertise for Maruti Suzuki
Score: 7.1/10 (Story-7.3, Direction-7.4, Performances-8.3, Background score/soundtrack-6.1)
Favorite Rank: #23
Favorite Rank: #23
Apart from being a lengthy advertise for Maruti Suzuki, Ashima Chibber's MDKM is also
your typical Big Fat Indian Punjabi Wedding. The Khullar House is preparing for
their only daughters wedding, and Mr. Khullar (Kapoor) has decided to gift his
son-in-law a Maruti Ertiga for the wedding. Unfortunately his idiotic yet naïve
son Sameer (Saleem) has his eyes on the car, in order to impress the so called
'Chandigarh's Shakira' Jasleen/Jazz (Chakraboraty). But what happens when
Sameer loses the car, how will he face his fathers wrath? His comedic search
for the car highlights much of the films premise.
Key word being
'comedic' here. The film is definitely one hell of a laugh riot. This is partly
due to the off beat situations the screenplay writers including Chibber put
Sameer and his friend Gattu in, in order to find the car and before that too. A
prime example being the method by which Sameer steals the car in the first
place.
A slow motion
narrated sequence. Sameer focuses on insulting his sisters dance practice for
her going to be husband. He then lands downstairs where he imitates his fathers
drunken state, his father and all his drunk uncles discuss corruption in the
most obvious fashion. Clearly just saying 'corrupt, corrupt, corrupt' a bunch
of times to make their point.
Finally getting into
the car and before he can drive off, Sameer is face to car with his drunk
father and uncle. While his father professes his LUV (Life Utility Vehicle) for
Maruti and his uncle proceeds to play the part of the stereotypically stupid Punjabi
man. Don't go on my description though, it's funnier than it reads.
It's not only the
situations though, far beyond the interactions between the characters is where
the film is at. Tej's constant berating of Sameer is fun to see, especially
when initially Sameer mimics this scene in a full on front view to the audience
giving us a direct sample of Tej before we meet him. The core adventure itself
plays between the banter between Sameer and his friend Gattu. Their loud
shouting and fast talking ways getting them into tons of trouble together.
Comedy is not the
only aspect however, the writing also has a big dose of Punjabi heart. By the climax where Tej discovers the
shenanigans the trio pulled off.
Tej simply says
'Bhaar me gayi Maruti, Maruti to me nai lata duja beta kidhar se lata me. Agli
baar aisa ko kandh karle, to apne Tej nu bhula lena' ('With hell to the Maruti,
I can get another Maruti any other time but where will I bring another son from.
If your ever in a problem like this again, then call your father, call me up.')
Sweet and simple.
But beyond that we
barely no anything about these characters. The film rolls from situation to
situation that there's hardly ever time to catch a breath even among the song
sequences, to delve more into these characters. For two hours we barely get to
know much about Sameer beyond the superficial level. His friendship with Gattu
aside, why is Sameer so infatuated by Jasleen beyond obviously her supposed hot
looks is not explored. Their romance develops awkwardly and quickly without
much say, even one song based around their first date doesn't necessarily give
much information.
From a directorial
standpoint Chibber brings all the elements together in a well thought manner.
She understands the basic concept of a Fat Indian Wedding and more importantly
the nature of Punjabi's. As the energetic song itself states 'Punjabi Di Battery
Charge rendi ye' ('Punjabi's are charged 24/7'), and she keeps this energetic
level and vibe through the runtime.
There's not one
moment where she decides to mellow down to a lower level, even in the slower
moments there's still that zing in the air for the viewer to know that anything
could get chaotic in a second. This is evident in the pre-wedding night scene
where Sameer's sister Tanvi puts on a show for her husband to be, in the most
embarrassingly provocative way as her mother obliviosuly cheers and guides her
on to the tune off 'Haayy'. The song doesn't even for a moment prevent us from
slipping a laugh.
In this Punjabi tone
factor then it's no surprise that the music is as much important to the vision
Chibber tries to form. The problem is by its climax, the blaring background
score gets tedious and loud. The repetitive lyrics of 'Punjabi Di Battery' just
stings the ears a bit. This is I catch is a bit only non-Punjabi's would be
fully unable to indulge in.
Apart from that,
what ties the film and makes into a better package are its performances. Ravi
Kisan makes an extended cameo as Pathan Bhai, a man that can supply Sameer with
the exact type of Maruti he is looking for at a cheaper price. Unfortunately it
seems the Bhojpuri icon is simply moving through the motions and phoning in the
menace his character portrays.
Chakraborty makes an
okay debut, she looks beautiful when she's supposed to and is oddly hilarious
while she flaunts her attitude. Beyond that she doesn't register much of a
presence.
The real find is one
Prabal Panjabi. He gives Gattu his goofy charm in the way in which he delivers
his dialogues and his expressions. Watch him in the scene where Sameer lies of
Gattu's poverty (when they're driving customers on a tourist Maruti, since they've
borrowed the Maruti as a decoy to satisfy Tej). His chemistry is sizzling with
Saleem, as they both play off each other very well.
Saleem himself is
great as the ironically twisted straight man. His constant memory issues allow
Saqib to craft some hilarity with the way in which his expression changes from
confusion to realization and then regret. Along with Panjabi, he creates some dynamic
spark with Kapoor who plays his father. Best of all is when Saleem imitates the
loud mout Punjabi style of Tej successfully.
But the heart and
soul of this intelligent and funny film is Ram Kapoor. He gives this film its
spine and funny bone, Kapoor's loud mouth version is booming and while we pity
Sameer for facing his father's brunt we can't help but chuckle as well for the way
in which he is berated by Tej.
But what Kapoor does
terrifically is keep this character at just a point of caricature without
turning into a full blown cartoon. It helps that in the lower toned portions,
Kapoor is able to bring himself back to restrained and simply create a real
person and father from a sketchy character. By far one of the most accomplished
TV actors of his generation, Ram Kapoor gets great scope to showcase his range
like never before.
I've spoken about
the music, apart from the aforementioned tracks there are others as well. Most
of the soundtrack is unnecessary but fine as it is, as well. Songs have that
Punjabi flavor to them which is great, unfortunately due to the use of one of
its tracks as a constant background score the others fail to be memorable.
Overall the film is
a great comedy with a, I wouldn't say unique concept; but one that is executed
far better than the films it mirrors itself from. The main reason to watch it
are its performances, Saleem is growing as a young actor supposedly made unaware
to the general public. His showing here is just a sliver of the talent he has
(another film on this list, is his baby) while Ram Kapoor is dependable as ever
in a show stealing performance. Of
course who can forget the ever lovable Prabal.
Considered to be the
Vicky Donor of the year. I beg to differ, not because Donor is a far better
film but because Chibber leaves her stamp and gives MDKM its own super
identity.
25. Gippi
Director: Sonam Nair
Cast: Riya Vij as Gurpreet Kaur/Gippi, Divya Dutta as Pappi Kaur, Taaha Shah as Arjun, Mrinal Chawla as Kabir, Doorva Tripathi as Anchal, Arbaz Kadwani as Booboo with Jayati Modi as Shamira Chauhan and Rakesh Vashisth as The Chemistry Teacher
Genre: Comedy/Coming of Age Drama
Best Scene: The extended opening sequence that establishes the world and world view of Gippi, ending with the hilarious shot of trying to fit into her school uniform
Best Performance: Riya Vij as Gippi
Best Dialogue: 'Tumhe pata bhi hai, ke maine teen saal se Ice-Cream nahi kayi hai.'-Shamira ('Do you know, I haven't had Ice-Cream in 3 years.'). In context it's really touching to hear
Director: Ayan Mukherjee
Director: Rajkumar Gupta
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Director: Atul Sabharwal
Director: Subhash Kapoor
Director: Aditya Datt
Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia
Director: Shlok Sharma (Sujata), Rohit Pandey (Mehfuz), Anirban Roy (Audacity), Siddharth Gupt (Epilogue), Neeraj Ghaywan (Shor)
Director: Avinash Kumar Singh
Director: Ashish R Shukla
Director: Maneesh Sharma
Director: Sudhir Mishra
Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Director: Mrighdeep Singh Lamba
Director: Sonam NairCast: Riya Vij as Gurpreet Kaur/Gippi, Divya Dutta as Pappi Kaur, Taaha Shah as Arjun, Mrinal Chawla as Kabir, Doorva Tripathi as Anchal, Arbaz Kadwani as Booboo with Jayati Modi as Shamira Chauhan and Rakesh Vashisth as The Chemistry Teacher
Genre: Comedy/Coming of Age Drama
Best Scene: The extended opening sequence that establishes the world and world view of Gippi, ending with the hilarious shot of trying to fit into her school uniform
Best Performance: Riya Vij as Gippi
Best Dialogue: 'Tumhe pata bhi hai, ke maine teen saal se Ice-Cream nahi kayi hai.'-Shamira ('Do you know, I haven't had Ice-Cream in 3 years.'). In context it's really touching to hear
Pros: -A fun filled
dramedy that keeps its roots realistic and neither falls into too childish or
melodramatic
-The film gives off a positively
endearing message
-Dialogues are cracking and match
the school atmosphere
-The lead character and her
relationships to the other characters are written well
-Sonam Nair writes and directs the
film, as such it is much more tighter than most picture. She easily conveys the
narrative on paper to screen forming a fluid picture
-The performances are splendid,
debutant Riya Vij handles the lead role well but most importantly Divya Dutta
shines brilliantly
-The ode to Shammi Kapoor and his
film music is used nicely...
Cons:-The film
follows quite a bit genre and type tropes for such a feature
-Besides Gippi and her mother, the
character work is a bit uneven.
Development for certain characters comes a bit too late
-The story however has a sense of
preachiness to its message
-…but for a teen drama, the music
itself isn't particularly memorable
Score: 7.3/10 (Story-7.3, Direction-7.7, Performances-8.1, Background score/soundtrack-6.1)
Favorite Rank: #21
Gippi opens with a
well enhanced shot of its somber and fresh hill station setting, before
sweeping into the room of its protagonist who begins dancing to the rocking
yesteryear song 'Piya Tu'. She is interrupted by he obviously Punjabi mother,
and goes on to have a telephone conversation with her friend about the problems
of puberty. Only to then go back and dance to the song once again with some
mighty zing. All in all it's staged to reflect the spunk and wit of this
endearing character.
Gippi is a 14 year
old girl in Shimla, living with her divorced mother and her feminine Brother.
She is a bit on the heavier side of life, and that makes things awkward for her
especially at school. When senior and her first crush Arjun breaks her heart amidst
her classmates, especially the always prim and proper Shamira; she vows to make
a change. Standing against Shamira in the elections, can Gippi follow the path
of the proverbial coming of age story without taking the wrong route?
So Gippi is both a
coming of age story within the teen/children's film sub genre, this way it
prevents the script from ever becoming full on catty and childish in a manner.
It's a simple story punctuated by its simplicity and its root filmy grounded.
The message at the
end of the day is really powerful, when I see it for the second time again I
can see how in its way it is effective. The final breakdown of Shamira is shot
with great detail and pierces the viewer with uneasy questions regarding the way
a larger society acknowledges leadership in a stereotypical manner, using these
school elections as a microcosm.
Writer/Director
Sonam Nair makes a cliché hated character endearing and brutally pitiful with
just one dialogue; 'Do you know, I haven't had ice cream in 3 years.'
Somebody please get
that stick of a poor girl Ice-Cream.
On the whole, this
is just a sample of how cracking powerful the dialogues are. Something you'll
rarely see in a coming of age story.
It's why then, that
the final sequence become clichéd and preachy but ironically fails to resolve
that lingering moment for me. Gippi
wins, but she hands her position to Shamira realizing how hard the girl has
worked and how deserving she truly is. They become friends, all is well.
But I cannot get
over the fact that in the case of being of a typical mold through societies
perceptions, Shamira is left unchanged. She shouldn't be pushed down from
leadership. Yet she isn't made to realize that her hard work is at times
directed on a superficial level, such as keeping her weight intact and being
unable to enjoy the smaller things in life.
Even then Sonam Nair
reigns in a tight ship controlling each aspect of the script and of the film as
a whole with no difficulty. It eventually results in a much better film in
visual conception than expected.
Of course I would
also have to give a shout out to the fact that she writes Gippi with a huge
heart and gives the character very realistic drama and relations to play off.
She makes her goofy, sweet and simple yet also a bit too eccentric and
misguided. In essence, she's just your average fun loving teenage girl with her
own problems of a world now she is learning more about.
It's an excellent
character arc that hits the right notes on all levels.
I'm really happy
that Dharma Productions took the shot with Sonam Nair, she would have been
stuck writing Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani if it weren't for the fact that she had a
better script by herself at hand and the drive to see it artistically
visualized. Let's face it, she could have tightened the screws on that film but
we wouldn't have gotten this laughably sweet film and character.
Of course that's not
all thanks to the writing. After his putrid turn in Luv Ka The End, Tahaa Shah
returns in this film levelheaded and restrained in showing. He doesn't get a
larger scope apart from adding to Gippi's learning curve at the crux point (his
Arjun making her realize there is nothing between them in front of her
classmates).
Other supporting
character are great, specifically Jayati Modi as Shamira in the final scene
where she gets too go beyond her one note character. Delivering the dialogue
with painful conviction.
Then there's the
ever dependable Divya Dutta who restrains a lot of the emotionally heavy
scenes. As a veteran she carries the films dramatic portions well, and plays
off well with her daughter in Gippi.
The young Riya Vij
is a terrific revelation, she is bubbly, funny and above all else gives Gippi
the charismatic charm she needs. It's a performance which sees her shoulder the
film for most of it's runtime with effortlessness. This is one of the best debuts
of the year.
In the music
department it was disappointing that track wasn't as peppy as it should be.
Apart from that I have nothing really to say.
Overall as I said
I'm happy that Sonam Nair got the shot to give us this vividly great film. As a
scriptwriter and even director, she is what to look forward too in the coming
years. It gives Hindi Cinema another terrific female director who can straddle
the line between a deep script yet a fun filled two hours at the cinema. Not to
forget that lead actor Vij is one to watch out for as well.
24. Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
Director: Ayan Mukherjee
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor as Kabir 'Bunny' Thapar, Deepika Padukone as Naina Talwar, Aditya Roy Kapur as Avinash 'Avi', Kalki Koechlin as Aditi Mehra, Kunaal Roy Kapur as Taran, Evelyn Sharma as Lara, Farooq Sheikh as Bunny's Father, Tanvi Azmi as Bunny's Step-Mother, Dolly Ahluwalia as Naina's Mother, Poorna Jagannathan as Riana with Rana Daggubati as Vikram and Madhuri Dixit as Mohini (in 'Ghagra')
Genre: Romantic/Comedy/Coming of Age Drama
Best Scene: All the song sequences and/or whenever Bunny's father and Bunny share subtle emotionally powerful moments
Best Performance: Farooq Sheikh as Bunny's Father
Best Dialogue: The whole speech about Naina that Bunny gives to her, making her realize and find her own spirit of adventure
Pros:-Naina's
character is the sort of Pov character for the first half of the film, this
causes the alteration of the trope found in many indie like romantic comedies
as Bunny becomes a 'MPDB' character.
-Although he is also a complex
character as well, even the other two Aditi and Avi
-Character back stories are greatly
established, while quickly explained so as not to bog down the narrative
-The film is shot beautifully
especially the songs, with great choreography to match
-Ayan handles multiple plot points
and storylines brilliantly, he balances them and gives each storyline time to
grow
-Some really superb performances
especially from the four leads, the four main actors have great chemistry
-Awesome and catchy music
Cons:-The major
romantic portion of the film isn't original, where as the whole story itself
isn't really unique or groundbreaking
-Dialogues aren't as memorable as
the scenes
-The film is overlong and the second
half really becomes borderline boring at times
-Mukherjee at times adds a bit off
schmaltziness and melodrama to the proceedings which doesn't really suit the
film's style, his climax is a bit too definitive and tacked on considering the
characters developed
-A few performances are annoying;
kunaal, rana and especially evelyn sharma
-Some of the songs such as Balam
Pichkari and Ghagra seem illogically placed
Score: 7.4/10 (Story-6.9, Direction-6.9, Perfromances-7.4, Background score/soundtrack-8.3)
Favorite Rank: #18
This film is an
example of me lightening up and enjoying somewhat big blockbusters that
delivered what they had well promised in terms of content and style of content.
Obviously this film doesn't deserve to be the fourth highest grossing film in
Hindi cinema. It isn't as great as director Ayan Mukherjee's previous feature
Wake Up Sid but what it is, is enjoyable.
Ayan Mukherjee
returns with Ranbir Kapoor paying homage to classic romantic films like Dilwale
Dulhaniya Le Jayenge in the contemporary romantic comedy style. YJHD is the
love story of Naina and Bunny.
Naina is a doe eyed
simple girl who has never defied her parents, and tried to be adventurous. She
gets a chance when she meets an old school mate Aditi heading on a trip with
her friends Bunny and Avinash. Naina heads
off to the tip in order to be fun one time before she settles down as a
doctor. On her trip she meets the free
spirited Bunny, and spending time with him finds herself enamored by his
presence. She falls in love, but Bunny doesn't feel the same way. He doesn't
want to be tied down, rather Bunny wishes to fly away and his dream is to
experience the world like never before.
When these friends
re-unite at Aditi's wedding, will the spark of love hit them once again and
will they finally choose a definitive road together or separate at heart break?
The film is full of
some great highs and down trodden lows.
The first half has a
very interesting framing device, we witness the films flashback through Naina's
POV. It basically reverses a common trope within romantic comedies; the Manic
Pixie Dream Girl. Basically a stock character used by writers/directors to teach
brooding/closed men the essence of life and its adventures.
So in this case for
Naina's arc, Bunny is basically her MPDB as he teaches her to enjoy the small
and fun moments in life. The ironic thing being here that Bunny wishes to
experience everything, and by the second half she is the one teaching him to
live in one moment and enjoy it to its fullest. Naina is your typical girl next
door type, she does however open up but she also understands the need to be
settled and teaches this to Bunny.
Even then Bunny
himself isn't a one-dimensional character. Alongside his friends Aditi and Avi,
he has a larger arc to follow where he is trying to experience everything he
wants to but at the cost of breaking free from his previous threads that tie
him down (though not in a negative way). Their character backstories are well
and easily explained especially the relationship between the trio, and Aditi's
unrequited love for Avinash is presented in a brilliantly subtle yet powerful
manner.
It's here that Ayan
Mukherjee excels. He balances both major plots of the film, the Naina Bunny
romance and the separation and reunion of the three friends very easily. He
gives each part time to develop and eventually come to their larger dramatic
confrontations. Mukherjee with his script and direction elevates what could
have been a distracting or half baked sub-plot regarding Avinash's disdain over
what he perceives as Bunny's betrayal very well. Slower scenes between the two
males and even with Aditi really show how strong their bond is, and how the
separation has changed the trio to something they each don't recognize whether
it be for better or worse. He also wraps
it up in a better fashion than he does the romantic plot.
The final act of the
film focuses on Bunny's growing affection towards Naina, but it doesn't feel it
could carry precedence over his own dreams. In fact Bunny is quick to highlight
that, their final confrontation and Naina's confession that she cannot let
Bunny break her heart again feels inorganic because of the quickly altered
dynamic and the dialogue (most of it which isn't very expressive) at hand.
At this point even
the homage he pays to DDLJ feel a bit contrived and somehow unnecessarily bring
with them the typical crying and melodrama. Worse is that, the solution between
Bunny and Naina it seems is resolved to quickly and feels to fairytale happy
endings type. Bunny makes a 180 degree turn on his dream and it doesn't feel
convincing enough that in reality that could happen.
It's one of the
issues with many a Bollywood film, where after all the comedy, song and dance
it's hard to know when and how to end. Mukherjee rushes things and tacks on
something that literally doesn't feel genuine. This was the same issue I had
with his first feature Wake Up Sid. Visually Mukherjee is a great director, it
just seems he makes some assumptions when it comes to putting his thoughts on
paper.
Speaking off
visuals. The cinematography of this film
is a stunner. Both the natural settings and the vibrant yet not gaudy sets are
shot and presented with mesmerizing effect. Some of the best scnes, heck the
best scenes are the song sequences where the colors all blend in an awe
inducing fashion. The costume design specifically in music numbers like
'Ghagra' and 'Badtameez Dil' are perfect.
If there's one thing
this film does well is produce a stellar soundtrack and the choreography
matches those beats with great detail and ease. Each song is better than the
next and you'll be humming these tunes for a long time.
Sorry I skipped a
beat. Let's reverse back to the performances. The cameo cast members are a real
annoyance. Rana Daggubati makes a cameo as a camera man at the wedding
interested in pursuing Naina, he is a very one note actor and even in just one
scene it heavily shows. Though I wouldn't burst on him so much.
Kunal Roy Kapur
isn't funny and his whole goofy act seems a tad bit over the top. Evelyn Sharma
just makes my blood boil (and not for the right reasons), she is simply
annoying more so than her character should be and the character itself is an
unnecessary stock type that just show the limitation of Mukherjee's writing
skills. Especially when the god awful
'Oh No…So Smart' score plays when she does something stupid.
Ranbir Kapoor is
bolstered by two great supporting members. The restrained and ever dependable
Tanvi Azmi and the clear best performer; the late great Farooq Sheikh. Sheikh's
chemistry with Ranbir provide the film with it's really emotionally connecting dramatic
scenes, and the actors prowess reflects onto Ranbir's own performance very
well.
Ranbir himself as
the leading man is great, you can see that this an easy character for him to
play and he pulls it off well.
Aditya Kapur is
destined to drink on screen and he perfects the art here once again, but mind
you he has very great dramatic portions with both his friends. Kalki I've
always maintained is a very underappreciated actor, she is competent and
praiseworthy. Especially watch her when she witnesses Avi flirting with other
women, those subtle expression changes really paint the whole picture. The trio have a great camaraderie that makes
you believe in their characters friendship.
Beyond obviously a
thespian like Farooq Sheikh, the real revelation of the film is Deepika
Padukone. I'm not clearly sure whether she has played this shy type character
cause I haven't really checked much of her filmography, but she pulls it off
well when you consider her comfort zone is the stereotypical 'party girl'
(sorry If I make the characters sound as stock types, but initially in each
film they are). She does well and goes above and beyond with her narration to
visually stimulate Naina's arc and feelings towards Bunny.
The real winner
though is her and Ranbir's chemistry. For those not in the know, the two actors
have had a tumultuous relationship of screen. Their chemistry here sparkles and
actually feels fresh. The y work of each other very well.
Overall YJHD is a
very energetic and contemporary romantic comedy. It has some cliché elements,
but the film is still fun to watch specifically when those songs pop up. It's
the epitome of a typical romantic entertainer and enjoyable experience all
round. Still I longed for Ayan Mukherjee's far superior Wake Up Sid!
23. Ghanchakkar
Director: Rajkumar Gupta
Cast: Emraan Hashmi as Sanjay Atre, Vidya Balan as Neetu Atre, Rajesh Sharma as Pandit, Namit Das as Idris with Parvin Dabas as Uttam Nagpal and Shahshank Shende as Baba
Genre: Crime Caper/Black Comedy
Best Scene: The whole climatic sequence that is a hilariously intriguing and forgivable cop out or in a positive term, subversion of tropes
Best Performance: Vidya Balan as Neetu Atre, at this point nobody can touch her
Best Dialogue: 'Kaata aur kela, ise
maarega tuh mujhe?...kele ke baare me sabse achi baat maloom hai tujhe? Ise
dohna nahi parta.'-Baba, ('A fork and a Banana?! This is what you were going to kill me with?...Do you know what the best thing about Banana as a fruit is? You don't have to clean it, to eat it.')
Santra…Santre ko bhi
dhoona nahi parta.-a memory lost dying Sanjay. ('Orange...You don't have to clean an Orange either')
Pros:-The writers
weave magic with some offbeat and quirky humor
-Character back stories and
development are kept on the backburner in favor of driving the much more
interesting plot, thus favoring the film viewing
-Really laugh out loud dialogue and
scenes
-Good performances from the lead
cast, but Balan clearly outshines all of them
-Well crafted and executed twists,
hints are also placed for the much more
attentive viewer
Cons:-The film falls
short of expectations, in order to be a much more mellow crime caper it easily
alienates the viewers from time to time
-The story has quite a few plot
holes and questionable character motives
-Even with him just focusing on
plot, Gupta indulges himself for too long in the second act simply lagging the
narrative at hand
Score: 7.5/10 (Story-7.4, Direction-7.6, Performances-8.1, Background score/soundtrack-6.9)
Favorite Rank: #10
Sanjay a lazy but
master safe cracker who lives with his Punjabi loud mouth wife Neetu, is
offered a stake in a huge heist by thieves Pandit and Idris. The offer would
leave him with no worries for the rest of his life. Together the three men pull
of the heist gaining 35 crores.
Sanjay is forced to
keep the money and lie low while the heat dies down on them. When Pandit and
Idris return to collect, Sanjay has lost his memory in an accident. Now Idris
and Pandit, suspicious of Sanjya come to stay in his house until he doesn't remember.
Is Sanjay pulling a fast one on them? Or is his memory really gone? And why is
his wife the x-factor in this equation?
Ghanchakkar was a
massive dud both commercially and critically. A lot of that I feel from a
commercial stand point boils down to the twists in the film.
No matter what
anyone says, being genuinely surprised by the proceedings on celluloid doesn't
easily make one happy especially in a film like this. There are multiple
projected plots or 'twists' waiting to be revealed. Whether it be that maybe
Sanjay hasn't lost his memory, and that he and his wife are blindsiding Idris
and Pandit. Or that maybe Neetu has taken Sanjay's money, taking advantage of
his memory and is conspiring with Sanjay's lottery winning friend Uttam.
For a matter of time
these plot points feel like they'll be clues to the massive revelations, or
maybe red herrings for an altogether shocking twist. Unfortunately or in my
case fortunately, the twist at the end is just What You See Is What You Get.
Simply saying, there
is no twist (at least not in the core narrative). Sanjay simple has lost his
memory. To some this may be a major issue and of course it's understandable
why, but it's what makes the film so fun. Sure you feel like you've wasted two
hours trying to find out whose coning who, but the big no payoff is so smart
and subverts the trope of the genre so effectively that I couldn't help but
smile.
Apart from that the
arbitrary revelation of where the money is, is laugh out loud. The subsequent
sequence where Baba (Pandit and Idris's boss) jumps back on the train to find
out Sanjay's mothers location (he had hidden the money with her all this time)
involves him slipping on a banana peel and his neck being sliced by a fork.
This is funny, just because these are the idiotic weapons Sanjay brought to the
climatic confrontation.
This may be another
reason why the film failed, it was promoted as an off the rocks zany comedy
which while when looking at Vidya Balan's Neetu is partially true due to her
gaudy dress sense and hammy performance.
But essentially the
film is a smart black comic caper. Situations that elicit laughter do so in a
very subtle manner and some even have larger pay offs.
Of course I've
already mentioned the banana and fork fiasco, there's also the fact that
Sanjay's mother always calls him when he and his wife are having dinner. She
chastises Neetu for being a poor cook and just when she's going to say
something important, Sanjay cuts her off. By the end this important is revealed
to be the location of the bag of money he has left behind, comedic genius at
best.
Smaller scenes also
work well like when Idris and Pandit forcefully make Sanjay visit a saint and
take some medicine too jog his memory, he pulls a fast one on them by shouting
how his memory is back only too laugh them off. It's as if Gupta is making fun
of those high brow Hindi films where the memory loss hero conveniently regains
his memory when he wants to. Or a scene where Sanjay is ordering wine, and he
has to step out of his house then street in order to fully be able to give the
address to the receiver on the other end.
Most hilarious are the situations of lost
memory that Sanjay has, including one during a love making scene when he is
searching for a condom and then forgets what he was looking for. It's a scene
with some rip roaring banter between the couple.
At the end all this
is funny, but it still doesn't reach the promised heights of hilarity that the
films promotion did. In fact all in all, the film is a bit too dull for its
runtime. There's no real character work in place and that's fine considering that
the movie revels in the now, and tries to be plot driven. But the second act
begins to be weighed down cause of this, it's either we've got useless
accusations between the four main characters or we've got slow moving scenes
with no real weight in them. Rajkumar Gupta indulges himself for quite too long
making a plodding screenplay visually unravel. It's hard to liken too when you
notice that Gupta is marvelous when he shifts the plot into high gear like in
the funny climax or the equally hilarious heist scene.
Obviously it doesn't
help that there are a few oddly annoying plot discrepancies. Why does Uttam run
to London when he didn't do anything wrong or how for plot convenience they had
Sanjay's mother ask him about his bag, when she could afforded to have just
kept it with her until he himself requested for it. But still these things are
just minor issues.
Off the
performances. Clearly Vidya Balan can do no wrong, she is purposely supposed to
be loud and ham it up on screen. Most critics didn't understand that. Balan is
very intricate with her Punjabi accent, she lets it flow during her dialogue
delivery bringing it in and out without letting it overpower her performance.
Emraan Hashmi
continues his streak of proving himself an actor and pulls that so confused and
bewildered expression through the films run time. In both cases, its weird how
the two excellent actors are forced to pull out conventionally bad acting
devices and mold them into something great on screen. As usual their chemistry
is crackling.
Rajesh Sharma and
Namit Das as the two supporting actors are effortless. The play the good
cop/bad cop style well between each other.
In the music, the
songs easily blend well into the score. From 'Ghanchakkar Babu' to 'Allah
Meherbaan', but the best is a opening credits cartoon strip depicting Sanjay
and Neetu's story with 'Lazy Lad'
Overall Ghanchakkar
is an enjoyable romp, only if you're willing to accept the wacky final
resolution of the film. It may at time feel like a cop out, but it punctuates
the film with a memorable point.
22. Goliyon Ki Rasleela: Ram-Leela
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Cast: Deepika Padukone as Leela Sanera, Ranveer Singh as Ram Rajari, Richa Chadda as Rasila, Supriya Pathak as Dhankor Baa, Sharad Kelkar as Kanji, Gulshan Devaiah as Bhavani, Barkha Bisht Sengupta as Kesar with Abhimanyu Singh as Meghji and Priyanaka Chopra in 'Ram Chahe Leela'
Genre: Romantic/Crime/Drama
Best Scene: The silent scene at the celebrations where both Leela and Ram meet for the first time. the soothing 'Lahu Munh Lag Gaya' plays in the background amidst the two's flirtatious actions.
Best Performance: Supriya Pathak as Dhankor Baa, bone chilling and piercing
Best Dialogue: 'Goli aur gusa sahi waqt par kaarch karna chahiye'-Dhankor Baa, chastising her nephew Bhavani. It's a moment that begins the understated arc of Bhavani's turn to a much darker man, and will come back to haunt Dhankor herself.
Pros:-From first
frame to last, the film is an energetic visual spectacle
-Some dialogues are spiced with
sexual passion and romantic intensity
-Dance choreography, cinematography,
production design, set design, costume design etc. capture the grandiose vision
of Bhansali perfectly
-Pitch perfect casting in Ranveer's
case. He matches the tempo of the film with ease. Padukone is stunner, bold and efficient. She illuminates
every scene she's in. Together their chemistry is filled with raw passion and
sexual tension
-The supporting cast is dynamic from
Abhimanyu to Gulshan and Richa to Pathak
Cons:-In the second
half the film treads familiar ground without really exploring its new equation
the writer create. In a way it wasted two acts and had to hit a roadblock on
what could have been a sensational third act
-Dialogue is rife with exposition.
It tries too hard to give meaning to the setting, which already comes off as
unrealistic
-The screenplay runs with a sense of
disconnect. Too much of the style overpowers the substance
-Character work is half hearted and
lazy. Some characters are Bhansali stock, even Leela
-Bhansali's created world and the
sense of style just makes this once again come off as another self indulgent
film of his. His team works well to create his vision, which prevents them from
forming their own artistic scope in the picture
-As a director he fails to straddle
the line between flamboyant and over the top. Songs, character /plot
development, performances and especially dialogue get to melodramatic and
kitsch
Score: 7.7/10 (Story-7.5, Direction-7.3, Performances-8.4, Background score/soundtrack-7.7)
Favorite Rank: #22
Goliyon Ki
Raasleela: Ram-Leela is a gritty Indian adaptation of the Bard's most famous
piece of literature; Romeo and Juliet. In a Gujarati village Ranjaar, there is
a brewing violent rivalry between the Rajari and Sanera clans. Among the
Rajari's is Ram, a devilishly handsome and Casanova like gentleman who believes
that the two side should make peace once and for all.
A frolic with
Sanera's head cheftians young daughter Leela turns into passionate love. With
the two clans at war and both Ram and Leela in love, can this Romeo And Juliet
story away from the bloodstained destiny that is written for them?
The answer of course
is a resounding no. After all this is Romeo and Juliet, a tale of star-crossed
lovers marred by the tragedies that befall them. Of course it's not a beat by
beat adaptation, there are liberties taken that are intriguing such as both Ram
and Leela becoming the head leaders of their clans only to have the family
solutions bogged down by dirty politics. All this makes the film interestingly
unfaithful to its source at times, yet overall very much in the same vein as
Shakespeare's play. This coming back to bite the film as there's nothing new to
take from it.
Still tonally the
film is widely different. It's vibrant, vivacious, bold and most importantly
the romantic plot at its heart is sexually charged. There's not one frame in
the film that wont stun you and not one point in the narrative that will feel
low in tempo, it keeps itself confined in a perpetual high through its
runtime.
It's no surprise
then that first the film just seems stagnant and afraid to move from its
comfort into exploring a larger character arc the script itself has
established. As I mentioned, the change where we get to see our Romeo and
Juliet lead their respective clans and fight a lost war of friendship isn't
fully taken advantage of. There's the as expected beats like the primary
villain (Bhavani) being an instigator for the resurgence of war between the two
families, and a snake too close too the ears of Leela. Of course you cannot put
this as a big letdown because you couldn't let the film run for too long.
The second flaw in
this is that like with every other Bhansali film, the style tends to overpower
the substance effectively rendering it mute and non-existent. The vibrancy of
the setting, the flamboyance of the characters and the color of the situation is
a sensory revelation but also an unnecessarily gaudy distraction.
But I'll get to
Bhansali in a while.
Dialogue wise, the
film has that Masala film feature to it with dialogues being loud and to the
point. At time a bit too much, divulging and explaining things trying to give
meaning to elements and doing the opposite instead.
There's of course
the dialogues between the lead protagonists that superbly convey the sexual
tension and vibes between the two. Where dialogue isn't necessary (specifically
in the zany first scene between Ram and Leela), the director does well to evoke
passion and exuberance.
Personally I've
always maintained my hatred for Bhansali's directing style, he tends to indulge
himself for too long and artistically just crushes the movie under his own
weight. It comes of as arrogant and ignorant on his part. The high energy
quotient here does it's best to rebuke the boring strains of time he spends
focused in the vanity of his feature, yet it still doesn't prevent you from
seeing how easily he breaks the script to his own single minded vision.
You have to laud
each and everyone of his team members, as they exert themselves in order to
bring his vision to life. Obviously he himself works hard, but apart from
really pushing his actors to give fine tuned performances he doesn’t allow
anyone especially his writers their own artistic vision. If I'm to choose
though, this would actually be my favorite Bhansali film because the masala
elements match well with the grandiose gloss of the film unlike any of his
previous works that seem overdone.
All the teams as
mentioned come together to form a singularly perfect art piece. The sets, the
costume, the music and the cinematography; all of it, is some of the best
you'll ever see in any feature. It simply epitomizes the idea of a Bollywood
film with class.
As mentioned
Bhansali is an actors director. With the supporting cast, he doesn't need to
work that hard as he is littered with immensely talented thespians. From
veteran Supriya Pathak to the quickly emerging Richa Chadda, from the
terrifically terrifying Gulshan Devaiah to the underappreciated Abhimanyu
Singh.
What Bhansali does
is get the best ever from his leading pair. He essentially creates their
chemistry with their efforts of course from ground up. You can feel that
sensation of their passionate smoldering love for each other, their sequence of
love is like poetry in motion thanks to the director and to the maturity the
actors express. You can cut the sexual tension the two performers build
together, with a knife.
Separately, Singh
channels his infamous pent up high energy in the right direction. There is no
better actor to play Ram, then Singh himself who is so jumpy in real life and
oozes charisma on screen.
Deepika Padukone
surprisingly matches his energy beat for beat. She is of course a stunner too
look at, yet at the same time her body language divulges a feistiness and also
softness to the character. She is specifically great in the scenes as the
chieftain of a clan, restrained and above else carrying herself with a sense of
the metaphorical burden on her shoulders.
This is one of the
best soundtracks of the year of course as well. Songs are all high on energy
and in a conventional context may be distractingly placed, but here just shift
the tempo within itself to another level altogether. It's a rush to see it on screen
thanks to the visually stunning form in which everything is constructed
together.
Overall this is
definitely one of Bhansali's best pieces, he does as usual overindulge himself
and the narrative is watered down for his own artistic vision to take over but
the film is too entertaining to be bothered with. Specifically watch this too
see a plethora of great actors go to work, and two young leading actors mature
their craft to a new position.
21. Aurangzeb
Director: Atul Sabharwal
Cast: Arjun Kapoor as Ajay/Vishal Singh, Prithviraj Sukumaran as ACP Arya Phogat, Sashaa Agha as Ritu, Rishi Kapoor as DCP Ravikant Phogat, Jackie Shroff as Yashwardan Singh, Swara Baskar as Suman Phogat, Sikander Kher as Inspector Dev Phogat, Amrita Puri as Neena with Tanvi Azmi and Deepti Naval
Genre: Crime/Thriller
Best Scene: When Ravikants wife awakens his inner monster, by reminding him of the struggles of their youth and the sway his power gives him and why he cannot lose it at any cost.
Best Performance: Rishi Kapoor as DCP Ravikant Phogat
Best Dialogue: 'Akhir tu nikla na, apne baap ki aualad'-Ravikant, speaking to Arya with disdain ('After all this, you proved yourself as your fathers son')
'Haan chachaji, me to aapke jaisa baan na chahata tha. Par shahyad isiliye nahi baan paya, kyuki me unka beta hu'-Arya ('Yes Uncle, I always wanted to be like you. But maybe I couldn't be, because I am my fathers son!')
Pros:-The second and
third acts are highlights. Where the second gives much needed depth with its
political subtext relative to the theme of kingship and powerplays for the
throne, the third becomes more action packed
-The film is full of style and a bit
off substance
-Motifs of brotherhood, family, power
and the larger theme of mythical sagas regarding Kingship are given good enough
depth
-Guragaon is captured in all its
glory and grime
-The director establishes the grey
shades of the world well while also straddling an ambiguous line between black
and white
-A terrific ensemble of actors. Among
the main, Amrita Puri is gleefully evil as the secondary villain. Jackie Shroff
has never been better in years.
-Of the leads, Prithvi carries the
meat of the film with brilliance. Arjun balances the range of characteristics
from wild to bold pretense to silent strength well. The real star is a
malicious and detailed Rishi Kapoor, who adds depth to his delivery and body
language
-Background score works well in
evoking drama and emotion
Cons:-The first act
is paced to quickly and compromises initial character development affecting the
whole film. Where as the climax falters with melodrama and ends up messing the
director's murky vision of the world
-Back story is established not
explored, making the viewer uninitiated
-Exposition is lazily used in the
dialogue
Score: 7.7/10 (Story-7.7, Direction-7.7, Performances-9.4, Background score/soundtrack-6.1)
Favorite Rank: #9
An all star film in
the truest sense. Aurangzeb is the story of two families, one criminal hidden
by the façade of corporate dignity and the other as criminal hiding behind the
power and dignity of the uniform of Police officers. Both clash together in an
intriguing game of politics and crime.
ACP Arya Phogat
lives in a family of cops. His father is retired after an incident in the past
that scarred him for life. Arya models himself after his corrupt uncle DCP
Ravikant Phogat. One fine day his father reveals to him a dark secret, off
another family he has.
Arya after the death
of his father meets his step mother and her son. Shocked to see that this son
Vishal is a carbon copy of notorious business man/gangster Yashvardhan Singh's
son Ajay. Ravikant decides that Vishal can be used as a double agent against
Yashvardhan, once he poses as Ajay and enters the gang like the mythical
Aurangzeb who protected the Kings throne so as to take it for himself.
This is all so that
Arya's father former tarnished name and respect can be salvage, but amidst all
this murkiness Ravikant has his own ulterior motives. When they come to the
fore how far will Ravikant go to achieve his goals, and will Arya be able to suppress
his emotions long enough to prevent him?
What Aurangzeb is,
is a highly ambitious project but a thinly layered and often inconsistently
script in tone and depth. Director Atul Sabharwal executes his vision well, but
it seems he rushed through the process of writing the film in order to see it conceptualized
on screen.
The first act is
difficult to read as it moves with feverish pace, and only lingers to establish
Arya's situation with effort. Beyond that the characterization is wafer thin
and the promoted leading protagonists in both Ajaya and Vijay are shallow in
concept and development. Basically when the foundation is weak, the structure
no matter how great is bound to topple in on itself.
Still Sabharwal gets
full marks for keeping a tight reign on things and especially providing deeper
ideologies in the second act with the political machinations at hand as well as
thrilling with an action packed final act.
All in all the
script is flimsy but the themes he highlights regarding brotherhood and family
are so convincingly powerful even though clichéd that I was enamored by this
feature. It felt as if it was an injustice when the film vanished without a
word both commercially and critically. Scene of family and the struggle for
power are one such as when Ravikant questions whether he has Aryan's loyalty or
when he reveals his actual motivations to Arya.
In that sense the
film delves on both the larger theme of
nature vs. nurture for it's three protagonists in Arya, Ajay and Vijay.
Arya in nature is a product of his innocent and honorable father, it's what
protects him from falling into the darker abyss that his uncle has fallen into
so long ago. Arya is still however corrupt because of his tutelage under his
uncle and his own father distancing himself from him. Yet a simple scene such
as the news of a child on the way is a churning wheel that lights hope into a
man under the thumb of evil without knowing it. His fathers redemption not
being the end goal for his uncle also does the work in making him realize the
true evil lurking. Finally his brother in laws cold blooded murder at the hands
is the last nail in the coffin, for him to put his own plan into motion against
Ravikant. Basically Arya chooses Nature, but that also means that he isn't an
emotional vacuum and is unable to directly and definitely (kill) his uncle.
In Ajay's case it's the question of a broken
form of Nurture. He has been left with his Father, believing his mother and
brother dead. Knowing heartbreakingly that she was running away and chose to
leave him alone. He is spoiled and as a criminals son, he himself is a
criminal. Yet when he finally confronts his mother and their shared past, his
realizations of why he was left can easily move him towards a hollow destiny.
Unfortunately his arc isn't fully explored, and begs the question as to how he
just learns to accept his mother and brother. To conclude we have to say that
maybe his time spent holed up with his mother may have had a effect basically
giving Nurture the win here.
Vishal then become
the interesting case of the lot. He doesn't come from a broken home, he knows
his father has another family but he personally has no idea of his biological
father. There is that wild and corrupt (if that's the right word) nature within
him, but more so it is kept under due to him being raised by two righteous and
honorable parents. Yet when he goes undercover, it's easy to predict that he
will have a fall from grace. A point might add that isn't fully exploited or
explored but it's okay. Vishal essentially sees the good in his father, that
has accumulated over maturity and age. He might be misguided but since we see
most of it from his POV, we also understand. In his case I'd like to think that
both sides are right and both sides win, since his nurture convinces him to
come back to save Arya from Ravikant yet it is through his nature tha the is
able to kill Ravikant and complete the task.
What this basically
points out is that no matter what side, it is what is right that will
eventually save these characters from delving into their darker sides.
I also liked the way
Sabharwal handled the female characters. Sure they were all a bit one note, but
these women were equally responsible for their counterparts motives and
decisions. Like with Lady Macbeth, it is Ravikant's wife that pushes him over
the edge. She dictates on the influences of power, which has seen Ravikant reap
a lot of benefits from. With his retirement imminent and his motivation
dwindling, she makes him realize how important to keep a grasp on power is.
It's the understated scene of the film thanks to the brilliant dialogue and
showings of course.
Ritu and Suman are
basically love interests for Vishal and Arya respectively, yet even though
their stories are half baked they are their too be that sort of reassurance
that beyond their mind games there is a life for the two leads. In Ritu's case
her death is also what pushes Vishal completely to the other side, it's what
could undo him if Sabharwal needed to see it through completely. On a small
note, I like that he's a raging mess but Sabharwal doesn't turn him into hero
mode just like that instead to save his father and escape the cops; Vishal is
forced to use his smarts. He is also still naïve in the workings of his father
and brothers grey world.
Vishal's Mother and
Neena (Yashwardan's partner and former mistress) work in parallel fashion, such
that Neena has slowly but surely weakened Yashwardan with her poisonous
thoughts and decisions. In the Mother's case, she seeps out the venom from
Ajay's life (although we don't get to see that extensively).
Of course I'd like
to point out, that when I read this what I've written; I make the script sound
smarter than it is. And that is why Aurangzeb is a disappointment of sorts,
since Sabharwal doesn't realize the potential he had with this piece.
From a technical
stand, he does well to create this world with grey textures and bright alluring
lights. The camera work captures the hustle and bustle of Gurgaon and contrasts
it well with its more serene locations. Also a nod to the editing which is crisp and slick, presenting stellar style.
But it's really the
performances for which this film should be viewed. Arjun Kapoor is promoted as
the lead for obvious reasons apart from the fact that he plays a dual role.
It's a tough act to follow from a debut, but he pulls it off with aplomb. He is
better in the character of Ajay though, because it is so close to his debut
character Parma from Ishaqzaade; volatile and violent.
Jackie Shroff after
years of dwelling in mediocrity gives something competent. Amrita Puri relishes
playing the vamp, and she does so with gleeful ease. Tanvi Azmi and Swara
Bhaskar are wasted but great in their limited roles.
As mentioned Deepti
Naval gives her full on terrific impersonation of Lady Macbeth, this one scene
shows what an accomplished actor she is and how badly she was wasted on this
feature.
Sasha Agha makes a
tepid debut and is basically a piece of furniture with no screen presence or
skill too boast of.
The real revelation
though is Prithviraj. A superstar from the South and talented performer, his
Hindi film debut in Aiyaa was restrained yet laugh out loud (at least when in
Aiyaa's dreams). Here he gets huge scope to build upon, he is the audiences POV
and he narrates with an engaging delivery. This is a man to watch out for, I'd
suggest you check him out in last years best Malyalam film Mumbai Police.
Among all of them
though the real scene stealer is a cold and calculating turn by Rishi Kapoor.
You know it's inevitable that he's going to go full blown villain, you can just
see it in his expressions and the persona his Ravikant exudes. When he kills his
own Son-In Law and then proceeds to pretend to grieve the loss, he does so with
a masterstroke of a transformation in expression and body language. This is
another gem among the many performances he has in his second innings and as a
villain for the second time in his career.
The score feels a
tad bit just there, simply nothing new to it or hard to recognize but you
cannot deny it is effective in its task. The soundtrack isn't that memorable but some of the songs work really well in context whether the titular track or 'Jigra' which gives reason to Vishal's liking towards his father.
Overall I really,
and I mean really liked Aurangzeb. I wish it could have been better than it
was, cause every repeat viewing I find something negative in it. Yet I'm also
blindly able to look past all that and focus on some sublime performances by an
all star cast. I cannot get over the small ticks that Arjun has to
differentiate between the two brothers and a star making turn by Prithviraj but
more importantly Rishi Kapoor himself. That not so young man is getting a fan
out of me.
Just so Close (20-11)
20. Jolly LLB
Director: Subhash Kapoor
Cast: Arshad Warsi as Jagdish 'Jolly' Tyagi, Boman Irani as Tejinder Rajpal, Amrita Rao as Sanhdya 'Sandhu', Saurabh Shukla as Justice Tripathi, Harsh Chhaya as Albert Pinto with Manoj Pahwa as Pratap and Sanjay Mishra as Guruji
Genre: Satire/Drama
Best Scene: Jolly seething at the berating he got from his girlfriend for being corrupted, is about to pee on a roadside wall when a poor family asks him to do it elsewhere since they sleep there. Subtle yet powerful in context of the issue of the film
Best Performance: Boman Irani as Tejinder Rajpal
Best Dialogue: 'Insaaf milta nahi, insaaf ke liye larna parta hai.'-Jolly, to a poor man who refuses to give his statement at the court.
Pros:-A great
underdog story with brilliantly written satire
-While not intricate, characters are
given specific traits that easily illicit the directors required reaction from
the viewers
-Writer/Director Subash Kapoor uses
the right dose of melodrama preventing the film's first two acts from becoming
too preachy as many such films would do
-Great performances from most of the
cast, but a superlative effort by Boman Irani
Cons:-The film takes
too much time to start off
-Mainstreaming with songs really
diminishes the viewing experience
-The romantic angle is a distraction
-Jolly's character arc is very
predictable and typical
Score: 7.9/10 (Story-8.3, Direction-8.3, Performances-8.9, Background score/soundtrack-6.1)
Favorite Rank: #15
Jolly LLB has gone
on to becoming that underappreciated gem of the year, just like its leading man
Arshad Warsi. Inspired by the 1999 Delhi Hit and Run case, Jolly LLB is the
early years story of defense lawyer Jagdish Tyagi AKA Jolly.
Unfortunately when
he loses a case due to his clients incompetence, Jolly decides to move from
Merut to Delhi in order to gain new opportunities. Instead Jolly finds himself in more trouble,
when he decides to become prosecutor and files a PIL against a hit and run case
involving tycoon Yograj Deewan's son Rahul Dewan. Rahul in a drunk state ran
over some poor people sleeping on the streets, but he was acquitted thanks to
renowned litigator Tejinder Rajpal.
Jolly who has
already taken this case just to become famous, accepts bribery. Sandhya, his
girlfriend chastises him for this act. After much deliberation, Jolly decides
to follow the path of righteousness and take apart Rajpal in order to bring
down Dewan and give justice to the dead victims.
What I really loved
about this picture was that Subash Kapoor presented his versatility as a
writer. Changing up from his dark edgy comedic vibe (presented in the sublime
Phas Gaye Re Obama) to a more lighthearted yet witty film, essentially driven
by a powerful heart at its core.
The great thing is
that he keeps a rather cliché yet easily endearing underdog story spiced with
some brilliant political and social satire all round. It's a forte of Kapoor's
who used this element in his previous film with great effect, here we see things
such as two very suspect (cause their based on real people) musicians fighting
over the same song each of them had wrote. You can notice Kapoor making fun of
all those musicians in the current stream of Bollywood that have a tendency to
steal music from around them.
Yet you might say
the scene doesn't have any connection to the core narrative, it simply
introduces us to the character of Justice Tripathi. It's one of the things that
is a major false step made by Kapoor, his satire works when it is in the
context of the narrative.
Like the
highlighting of the uneducated Lawyers in the court and etc.
Here unfortunately
along with things such as the unnecessarily derivative romantic plot and the
song sequences, not to mention the convoluted twists, Kapoor slips into a lull and basically
indulges himself for too long. His film bounds towards more of the sloppy
mainstream styles of work. It's basically a story that could have done without
the pizzazz and kitschy flamboyance.
Then again it gets
ironic how he handles the melodrama so well. He fobs the basic mainstream movie
elements but doesn't let schmaltz run roughshod over the courtroom drama.
First a thumbs up to
the research, dedication put into the design of the film. Ever since I believe
No One Killed Jessica, movies have adapted the actual reality of how Indian
courtrooms look as compared to the over the top sets you'd have in the past.
Back to the main
point. The fight for justice is never bogged down by a plethora of forced
emotions to engage the audience, scenes such as when Sandhya chastises Jolly or
when Kaul Saab slaps him for his betrayal are powerfully dramatic yet very
subtle in their message. Even when Jolly is set to piss on a roadside area, he
is asked not to do so by a poor family who normally sleeps there and you feel
those emotions and the pity for those people without being told to or pushed
towards by the writing.
It's only in the
climax where Jolly's speech tends to become a bit over dramatic and is clearly
a stereotypical ending to the film, however by then the director has clearly
earned this moment.
This would obviously
not have worked for Kapoor if it weren't for his actors. He himself keeps them
on the restrained leash, but he also provides the space necessary for them to
play their characters with ease.
Amrita Rao was a
disappointment as much as because of the shorthand she gets and the skills she
has. Her delivery is tepid and her presence unfelt. Hers and Arshad's chemistry
seems lacking.
Warsi is a supremely
talented actor and he perfectly suits this goofy underdog role, he has smart
comic timing and naturally essays the underdog role. When he needs to become
serious and powerful he evokes it with a stunning presence and powerful delivery.
Shukla is funny as
hell. He steals the few scenes he is in clearly leaving an impression. Manoj
Pahwa and Sanjay Mishra are great as ever, and as always they work best in a
tandem.
The best work
though, is a powerhouse performance by Boman Irani. He works easily well with
Warsi in their constant struggles, but underlines a terrific menace when
plotting too extort money from Dhawan's by extending the case. He also presents
an aura of arrogance that makes the audience hate him just as they should.
Overall Jolly LLB is
one of the most entertaining and slightly heartening films of the year. If your
looking for something to make you happy and feel good, this is it. I guess
that's why I can try give leeway to the mainstreaming of the film, since it defines
the message of justice better. Plus it also made it possible for Jolly LLB to
become one of the surprise box office hits of the year.
19. Table No.21
Director: Aditya Datt
Cast: Paresh Rawal as Abdul Razzaq Khan, Rajeev Khandelwal as Vivaan Agasthi, Tena Desae as Sia Agasthi with Dhruv Ganesh as Akram and Asheesh Kapur as Bittu
Genre: Thriller
Best Scene: The final big reveal
Best Performance: Paresh Rawal as Abdul Razzaq Khan
Best Dialogue: Cannot say because it's a huge spoiler
Pros:-A tightly
scripted thriller with scenes and dialogue that give perfect reasoning to the
revenge motive of the film
-A really interesting offbeat story
-The film has an impact full and
powerful message behind it
-Uses multiple types of themes
related to the thriller genre making it a well rounded narrative
-The protagonist and antagonist
switch within the twist is effective and really spices the dynamic of the film
-Some pleasing camera angles and
shots
-Scenes flow perfectly and the color
palette of past scenes really creates a great effect
-A tour de force showing by Paresh
Rawal, Desae is feverishly bold and confident where Khandelwal is commendable
as usual
Cons: -Not every
audience or critic will feel the necessity of the revenge story as effective,
and thus for them the film will fall onto itself
-At times the two leads are a bit
shaky in their roles
-The score feels a bit generic
Score: 8.0/10 (Story-8.4, Direction-8.7, Performances-8.1, Background score/soundtrack-6.7)
Favorite Rank: #16
Table No. 21 is a
reality game show of truth and dare
where the contestant has a chance to win a bumper prize money set in the
mesmerizing Fiji. Vivaan (Khandelwal) and Siya (Desae) are a struggling couple
who win free tickets to Fiji, here they meet Mr. Khan (Rawal) an eccentric man
and the host for a dangerous game show Table No. 21. When he is able to coax
the couple into playing the game, their lives take a turn for the worst as
revelations strain their relationship to breaking point. The question arises
whether this is just a dirty game, or does Khan have ulterior motives at hand?
Wow! What a message!
I'll try my best not to spoil this film because of how effectively the message
of this film hits the viewer. In all honesty it made me cry, the strength of it
and the dedication with which it's played out as well as the directors execution
just totally bowls you over.
Beyond that this is
a very tightly scripted thriller, littered with some exciting scenes shot of
course in a stunning locale. The meat of the script resides within the game
named after the films title (which also has a very intriguing link to the
overall message at hand). These tasks that the couple perform are special and
very daring and boldly pulled off. They
also help in adding layers of back-story to the two characters, and I'm not
just talking about the truth portion but shockingly the dare portions as well.
To really get what
I'm talking about, you need to see the final twist cause it's that more
effective when viewed context than heard.
I'm sorry, it's just
that the twist/message really binds this film together so much it's hard to
write without skirting past it. In truth what it really does is make this film
one of the most unique experiences you'll ever have. The writer but more so director
Aditya Datt with his execution turns the proverbial table (pun intended, heck
maybe it's symbolism intended) on the viewers.
By the end of the
film and this is a major spoiler…our protagonists, the ones whose escapades and
dalliances against this mad man we have witnessed; are turned into antagonists
in a fashion that is seamless, pitiful yet despicable. Simply and provocatively Datt and his team
reveal that no matter how small the mistakes, the repercussions can be
immense.
In this fashion,
beyond the significance of the film there is a larger subtext regarding the
case of reality TV as such. We relate to the two characters who we think
protagonists but we also slowly realize the descent their willing to go through
to win the money. In a despicable we also get to see the millions enjoying them
scrapping through the game.
What this is a funny
commentary on us as a audience, since were witnessing the same thing and
getting entertained by the film. It crafts that aura of unease and simply
points the finger at out known dirtier and vile qualities as a people. Black
humor and a fuck you to the fans in the best way possible, without obviously
disengaging us.
Beyond that the
character work is slightly limited, as mentioned we get to learn about Vivaan
and Sia through the game but apart from telling us that their broke we have no
other idea as to how low they are in life. Obviously the allure of the prize
money is also mentioned a few times to counter that argument. Khan himself is
kept enigmatic, it's symbolic of the
phrase 'The Devil you know is better than the Devil you don't'
But here in a
roundabout way Khan is both the Devil they (Vivaan and Sia) know and the devil
they don't, simply stating that no matter what evil you choose they will both
consume you and leave you an empty shell like the two 'protagonists' and the
real protagonist (not Khan) are by the end of the feature.
All this ties back
to Aditya Datt, while yes the script is deep and thought provoking. It's Datt's
execution of the film and the flow he brings to the narrative that works well
in making this film one hell of a thrill. He is indeed true star of the show,
and steers the ship forward in admirable fashion.
His cinematographer
Ravi Walia does a dazzling job as well, the tonal shift in color and mood to
the flashback scenes are handled well and easily accentuate a younger vibe
between Vivaan and Sia and their respective actors as well. Shots are well in capturing both the beauty
of Fiji and by the climax work in tandem with the action on screen, including a
scene where the camera is on worm's eye view focused on a sweating and running
Vivaan, shaking to accentuate the motion.
On a performances
stand point, Khandelwal is commednable and terrific as always. He is one TV
Star to screen star who is yet to get his due, the projects he selects are very
out of the box and versatile so if you ever catch his name on a film then go
check it out. Not only will the film be a thrill ride, but Khandelwal will give
a competent performance as usual.
Tena Desae with the
model looks could have easily just been the pretty face, but she carries
herself with utmost confidence even though the physical scenes might have not
played out really or as boldly as their visualized she evokes them with truth.
Unfortunately both players seemed out of their element towards the end and more
importantly in the flashback scenes.
The real gem though,
is another lifetime performance by Paresh Rawal. By now this man could
sleepwalk through a film and still steal the thunder of his co-stars. He is
menacing and scary early on, with a dose of his brand of comedy evident as
well. But really watch him in that climax, when he sheds his façade Rawal
channels a broken and partially guilty man through his delivery and expressions
faultlessly. This is a man that is slowly being phased out from bigger avenues
of Bollywood, and mark my words that is a mistake people are making and will
rue the day over.
Special mention for
Dhruv Ganesh as Akram who plays a very special role with all his heart.
From a musical
standpoint, as with many a thriller these days; the score seems awfully generic
and nothing to right about. The only song I remember is 'Maan Mera' which is
soulful and eases us into the dazzle of Fiji as well as the passionate romance
between Vivaan and Sia.
Overall I really
wish I could talk about the message at hand, because it deserves to be brought
light to. But that would be doing injustice to a terrific film and simply
denying the message to be powerfully ingrained into the viewers conscious.
Dynamite of a film, do not miss this.
18. Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns
Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia
Cast: Mahie Gill as Madhavi Devi AKA Biwi, Jimmy Shergill as Aditya Pratap Singh AKA Saheb, Irrfan Khan as Indrajeet Pratap Singh/Raja Bhaiya AKA The Gangster, Soha Ali Khan as Ranjana, Pravesh Rana as Param Pratap Singh with Deepraj Rana as Kanahiya and Raj Babbar as Birendra Pratap
Genre: Romantic/Crime/Drama
Best Scene: When Indrajeet takes the interview of a sleazy politician to coax information out of him, the comedy slows down the film in the right way
Best Performance: Mahie Gill as Madhvi Devi
Best Dialogue: 'Hahahaha...yeh hamesha maard kyu milte hai hume, shayaar kyu nahi milte?'-Madhavi ('Hahahaha...why do I always get the men? Why not the poets?')
Pros:-Much more
interesting, action packed and exciting film than the first
-The previous characters become more
complex and develop further
-New lead characters are also well
rounded and dynamic
-The story is much better and
includes a more spectacular dose of romance, comedy and tragedy
-Dialogue is still crisp
-Dhulia grasps the concept of old
style romanticism, but also steeps it in realism and political intrigue
-The political and social situation
are actually plausible including the old King culture influences
-Performances from cast members new
and old are terrific
-The background score is much better
than the previous film and really adds depth to the film this time round
Cons:-Once again
camera work is a bit dull and the film doesn't fully explore its setting even
the palace
-Certain continuity errors are
unexplained such as Kanahiya being alive when he died in the previous feature
-Unfortunately the same Background
score gets tedious and the soundtrack isn't that engaging either
Score: 8.1/10 (Story-9.2, Direction-8.9, Performances-9.1, Background score/soundtrack-5.2)
Favorite Rank: #25
Tigmanshu Dhulia
returns to his hinterland tale of love, lust and deceit in Saheb Biwi Aur
Gangster Returns. After learning of his wife's betrayal and affair with
gangster Lalit (Hooda) from the previous film and also being paralyzed legs
down in the climatic melee, Saheb AKA Aditya Pratap Singh (Shergill) has become
a recluse at home and ruthless away from home.
This ruthlessness
forces him to pursue his political friend Birendra Pratap's (Babbar) only
daughter Ranjana (Soha) as his wife. Enter the gangster; Indrajeet Pratap Singh
(Khan), a man in love with Ranjana and a hollow prince until he can reclaim his
heritage stolen by Aditya's ancestors.
Then there's the
ever enigmatic and manipulative Madhavi Devi AKA Saheb's Biwi (Gill), who has
fallen into a whole new level of alcohol addiction but has become an MLA
reaping the benefits of her husband's
handicap. When these four force collide in the power for war, money and
love; death, bloodshed and betrayal will follow suit.
Unlike Bullett Raja
and masala films, SBAGR comes from a place that is easily Dhulia's comfort
zone. The great thing about the script this time round is that Dhulia infuses
it with a more mainstream film, considering how Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster was his
most commercially successful feature. There's high doses of comedy, romance but
more importantly action and tragedy in the narrative.
Best of all, he is
free of the burden of the shackles (he placed in the script) of the original
film paying homage to Guru Dutt's far superior Saheb, Biwi aur Ghulam. Here he
gets to continue the story and take it into a new direction especially by infusing
more of the Northern vibe of the film setting through the aesthetic and color
palette of the film.
What's great is that
at its core, SBAGR is an exquisitely narrated saga drenched in old world
romance and political tragedy. It's the perfect blend of gangster politics with
that certain rustic flavor and also indulges in crumbling dynasties of the
royalties that ruled the land a time ago.
From this base
writers Dhulia and Akhil Yadav had created a world filled with characters that
were complex, realistic and above all entrapped by the deeper political subtext
and themes of the picture. Dhulia along with Sanjay Chauhan builds on this,
introducing new royal powers and complicated political situations through the
likes of Politician Prabhu Tiwari, to the lord Birendra Pratap and now even
Madhavi herself.
For its crux point
the script is essentially focused on methodological character exploration. From
the first to the second, our protagonist is Madhavi Devi. This is one powerful,
smart and very complex female character (highlighted because of the rarity of
great female characters in cinema). She's still a drunkard, but she has fallen
into a further state of depression. Shackled by the loveless marriage with her
husband and the need for her to remain in power. Basically Madhavi is stuck in
a rut, she was alone at the start of the first film and she has returned to the
same place. Worse is that she is now in a powerful position, but is oblivious
to her duties rather through alcohol trying to find reason but ironically being
swallowed by the loneliness further more.
This is tied to the mend in her life and pointed out well by the
aforementioned best dialogue.
When Ranjana is set
to enter her life, she is dumbstruck and once again seeks the solace she has
been denied. This brings her to Indrajeet, she uses him to play her game while
he does the same with her. As characters their sexual tension is in a bubble constantly
burst by their power-plays and Madhavi's own failing stability. It's a character you want to see saved but
one also despicable to her core. Madhavi freed from Aditya in the climax takes
her position of power seriously and ends up being the powerful person without
the binding of men in her life.
On the other front
is the titular Saheb. Now paralyzed, he has become far ruthless in order to
hide his embarrassed and (what he presumes) his weak self. You notice this in
the way he is presented as a man lying on his back, he picks his walking stick
with intent and dismay. This accentuates his terror further, specially when he
coaxes Birendra into giving Ranjana's hand to him. His manipulation of the political situations.
Then there's also the side that simply goes weak in the knees with Ranjana,
when she decides to accept her situation after learning of Indrajeet's affair
with Madhavi he is enlightened and finally moves towards being the better man.
This can also be contrasted with his personal interactions with Madhavi,
writing brings about a sense of unspoken disdain that clearly covers their
scene. His final development ties back to his right hand man Kanahiya, at this
point Aditya has succumbed to his hubris but he also sees the light deciding to
go to prison for the crimes he committed and freeing his friend of every burden
from their life together.
It's the new
characters specifically Indrajeet that get the bulk of the focus as much as the
returning lead protagonists/antagonists. His quest is where the main conflict
of the film lies, a former heir to Royal lands and rights. He seeks vengeance
for the treatment of his ancestors by the ancestors of Aditya Pratap, in both
ways Indrajeet is a plot point as well as the character that moves through the
said plot. The writing does well to add scope to the character, he is smart but
for some odd reason stoops to the level of having an affair with Madhavi to
destroy Aditya. I'll admit I didn't understand the political machinations
between him and Madhavi and how It would serve their end game. But at least
that is balanced by the comedy and romance infused in his arc, you care for at
least his quest of freeing Ranajan because Ranjana is the only likeable
character. Comedic scenes help in engaging with the development of his story
within the film. Watch out for the interaction between him and Prabhu Tiwari,
where to gain political knowledge he parades as a new reporter looking to
interview Tiwari. Tiwari gives stupid comments on his personality while also
cannot pause his laptop which is playing very loud p**n. Its laugh out loud and
adds a sense of levity to the situation. The best is that he also goes through
a compelling narrative in the finale when he loses his brother at the hands of
Aditya and is also faced with the separation from Ranjana without an
explanation. Although the final scene where he indirectly questions/blames her
for their broken relation is a bit sexist especially when you know what Ranjana
personally went through and when he knows he is partially guilty.
That brings me to
Ranjana, the final piece of the puzzle. Pursued by Aditya and loved by
Indrajeet, Ranjana is basically the only likeable character among the bunch
because she is an example of a independent and intelligent female character
brought down by the men in her life and the nature of the world she is in. She
suffers having to marry Aditya, and then witnessing the betrayal of the only
true person she cares for. She forces herself to like Aditya something I felt
the writing doesn't justify well enough, and her as mentioned final face off
with Indrajeet. She is literally slipped into an arc that breaks her piece by
piece, it's intriguing and among the moments of the two films provides us with
the only person who deserves more than she gets. Unlike with Madhavi, Ranjana
is then left with no hope and broken thanks to the men and relations that bound
her down. Eventually she has distorted into the former Madhavi herself,
presenting a vicious cycle at its forefront.
Apart from the
character work, it's the dialogue that really hits hard. Northern and fitting
to its setting and theme in accent and tone, dialogues are a cracker especially
when it comes to the declaration of confrontations. Things such as;
'Aap chahte ho na ke
ye jung ho? Jung hogi, Ghamasaan hogi; Aap ki kasam!'-Indrajeet ('You want this
war don't you? War will happen, a bloody war will happen; I promise on you!')
just presents the scale of the conflict at hand.
Of course it also
helps that the film is bolstered by great performers who can deliver with
conviction and force. Soha Ali Khan as Ranajana is competent, for a mediocre
actor she takes the arc at hand well and molds herself in the beautiful and
crumbling image of Ranjana perfectly.
Babbar is also great at straddling the line of grey shades within his
character.
Irrfan Khan as the
new addition is stellar, currently he can do no wrong and he is stupendous as
Indrajeet. He is the performer you eyes are attached to, while he definitely
doesn't get the scope like he did with Paan Singh Tomar. Dhulia gives Irrfan
the space to comprehend his own vision of Indrajeet and bring it on screen, his
nuances from twirling his mustache in a royal fashion to his sexual addiction
and infatuation over Madhavi prove what a capable actor the man is.
On the other hand
there is Jimmy Shergill, Shergill has matured as an actor. He is fine tuned and
stands well (pun intended) against the prowess of Khan, it shows how far
Shergill has come since his boyish charm days. Watch him as a raw but talented
performer against Irrfan's bone chilling turn in Haasil (another Dhulia film)
from nearly a decade ago and now see him definite and assured in SBAGR. An
underappreciated actor, an underrated character defined by a marvelous
performance.
It isn't easy
stealing the limelight from Irrfan Khan, but Mahie Gill pulls this off with
restrained and also overt brilliance. Her drunken stupor was what made the
first film legend to watch. Here she repeats the act with a much more darker
vibe, she also as sensuous as ever. Gill is slowly but surely becoming a
powerhouse actor worth watching.
Off the music I'll
once again say, Dhulia understands how his music fits to setting but what he
doesn't do is provide good music. The director doesn't realize the impact well
placed music can have on a films narrative. While the score is far better and refined
compared to the previous film, it still gets repetitive and wasn't that well
sounding in the first place. The other songs, specifically the item songs seem
oddly out of the film. These are elements you find in cheap Hindi flicks and
while suit the context, don't suit the world build around it.
Overall SBAGR isn't
Dhulia's best film. At times the director falters into mediocrity and indulging
himself with the characters for too long. The subtext may become complex to
understand but it does well to highlight the conflicts at hand. Better by a slight
margin than the first, and once again bolstered by a terrific all star cast
showing.
17. Shorts
Director: Shlok Sharma (Sujata), Rohit Pandey (Mehfuz), Anirban Roy (Audacity), Siddharth Gupt (Epilogue), Neeraj Ghaywan (Shor)
Cast: Sujata-Huma Qureshi as Sujata, Satya Anand and Aditya Kumar
Epilogue-Richa Chaddha and Arjun Srivastav
Audacity-Preeti Singh, Sankar Debnath and Kanchan Mullick
Mehfuz-Nawazzudin Siddiqui and Aditi Khanna
Shor-Ratnabali Bhattacharjee and Vineet Kumar Singh
Best Story: Mehfuz
Best Performance: Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Score: 8.2/10 (Sujata-8.2, Epilogue-7.6, Audacity-8.1, Mehfuz-8.7, Shor-8.5)
Favorite Rank: #30
The first of the two
anthology films on this years Best list and the lesser seen one.
Shorts captures
vividly different tales. I'm not particularly sure if any of the films have a
thematic link to the other.
The first Sujata is
about Sujata and the bullying and torture she faces at the hands of her
unhinged cousin. He can track her down from anywhere, and it's about her
struggle against the abuse she faces. Harrowing and thought provoking.
It's a script that
quickly establishes both situation and character yet makes it deep enough to be
compelling. The audience is easily fixated into seeing Sujata fight for her
right. When the final confrontation arrives and Sujata spills hot oil on her brother
and then bashes him to death, it is both pleasing yet disturbing to view. Huma
gives an emotionally drenched performance and you can feel both the pain and
fear in her body language. She expresses rage in the climax with sublime ease
and impact. Satya is menacing and brutal with the way he carries himself.
The second short
film is Epilogue. A one way and mostly silent romantic story. It depends on
what is a unnervingly hilarious performance and character arc for the talented
Richa Chadda. From the onset, director Siddharth Gupt does well to capture the
broken relationship and then unravels a slowly breaking character into what is
an expected yet shocking final moment. Still the film itself is the worst of
the bunch, because the external elements such as weird shots focusing on
arbitrary things or the sweeper in the couple's building seem like distracting
pieces that have a false pretense of depth to them. Maybe I didn't understand
their context to the plot.
Audacity is the
third story and possibly most enjoyable of the bunch. I highlights a
generational gap between the relationship of a father and daughter. She listens
to loud music and the father chastises her for such activities, he himself on a
daily basis has friends over makes his wife cook till she's tired and drinks
heavily. She plays an elaborate game that teaches him an effective lesson.
The intelligent
thing is that the director Anirban Roy uses comedy in an effective form to
highlight a very small yet important message of Parents trying to teach decency
to children, but at the same time being hypocritical in that manner. It's well
acted and as a whole is really refreshing just when the film begins to slip.
Love that ending and I like the fact that it was also all in Bengali, adapting
the language of the setting realistically.
Mehfuz is the
melancholy short among the feature. It's poignant and somber, with an oddly
endearing plot at heart. Still like with Audacity it crafts a change of pace
that is welcome. Unique in its concept, the story takes place in unspecified
time where violence in the city is the norm and chaos rules (it's not as
SciFi-ish as it sounds). Here at the
outskirts a man clears out dead bodies for pay. One day he notices a woman and
from there on that path of his journey takes a new direction.
A captivating
romantic tale that depends on a vividly painted and brilliantly layered
performance by Nawazuddin Siddiqui. At this conjecture, there is nothing out of
ordinary that his skills can't portray and there is definitely no wrong he can
do. Your intrigued by the concept and engaged due to his masterful work
especially his haunting eyes. The final scene where he lays next to her dead
body will irk you, mesmerize you and above else make you feel for his loss,
pain and love.
Shor is feverishly
pace especially at the point of its dialogue based climatic clash between its
protagonist. Once again in context of the larger picture, this is a great thing
since it actually ends the film on a special high. The film is basically about
a couple living together in the slums of the hustle bustle of Mumbai. The man
is jobless, emasculated but beloved by his wife. She works hard at home and
outside, facing the old world views and brunt of her mother in law. Most of her
and their earnings go into the mother's addictives. The final scene is sublime
in the sense that it sees the couple fighting and discussing their
relationship, she finally stands up to him and states she is leaving him.
It's a scene framed
brilliantly cutting between the two, where she is in a train while his foot is
stuck between the rails of the same oncoming train, it adds a very exciting
depth to the proceedings and ends wonderfully with his shoe coming off and him distraught
at the occurrences.
Vineet Singh is
turning into a fine actor and he gives a mature restrained as well as
emotionally effective performance here. However he is far outshined by
Bhattacharjee who emotes with impact and conveys the range of emotions
perfectly.
On an overall
standpoint, the narrative pacing of each films is on different levels and tone.
The placement is effective in keeping the viewer engaged. It starts with finely
building story, that has the most emotionally powerful message at its core and
then gets over with its weakest point. After which the film just snowballs into
brilliance as it picks up pace.
Overall this is a
great effort, and even though I haven't seen many anthologies apart from the
common Horror ones this one I can guarantee is one of the best you'll ever see.
16. Listen...Amaya
Director: Avinash Kumar Singh
Cast: Swara Bhaskar as Amaya, Farooq Sheikh as Jayant/Jazz, Deepti Naval as Leela, Amala Akkineni as Sujata with Siddhanth Karnick as Raghav and Oroon Das as Abhay
Genre: Romantic/Drama
Best Scene: The climatic sequence where Jayant is totally confused on where he is. Utilizing a perfect framing device.
Best Performance: Farooq Sheikh as Jayant/Jazz
Best Dialogue: Cannot really remember any particular one...sorry
Pros:-Dialogue is
normal and realistic, it's steeped in the day to day interactions of the
characters
-Characters are simplistic yet
vividly detailed and developed
-The narrative structure has a
stellar flow and continuity. In the climax, the director inserts a nice framing
method to it
-Cinematography aids the plot in
capturing Old Delhi's serene aura. Camera angles also excel in defining
character
-Farooq is a revelation, he shifts
through the characters layers with precision. Naval gives an emotionally
powerful yet restrained showing. Their chemistry was and is unbeatable. Bhaskar
stands well along the veterans while Siddhanth is stupendous especially in a
particular scene
Cons:-The film just
has a mellow tempo, its hard to get invested in
-Cheesy moments bog the script down
-Narrated sequences are oddly clunky
-Song sequences seem tonally out of
place
Score: 8.2/10 (Story-8.3, Direction-8.9, Performances-9.2, Background score/soundtrack-6.4)
Favorite Rank: #28
Listen Amaya as a
film may not be my favorite, but in a way I will really cherish it because it
was the last film of Farooq Sheikh's I saw prior to his passing away that too
the night before his untimely demise.
Set in Old Delhi,
the film follows Amaya. The only daughter of a widowed café library owner
Leela. For quite a while now Leela has been getting close to a regular customer
in Jazz, the two gelling because of their painful experiences from the past of
loved lost. Amaya begins to notice this budding romance, and their lives are
thrown into chaos when she is unwilling to accept the situation. Amidst this is
Jazz's slowly fading memory.
Listen is a very
subtle, serene and realistically depicted film. It's characters are detailed
but more importantly are real people in every sense. They talk like real people
and they have issues to confront like real people.
That's why this film
is really great because it's main plot points are not drenched in complexities,
their also not outright pointed out for the audience. Everything is
understandable without having to being dictated outright. The film follows an
easy and true to its core narrative beat that only in few moments (the oddly
placed song sequences and the inorganic narrated sequences) fall by the
wayside.
So it's really easy
to review and analyze, thank god cause my hands are getting tired. Unfortunately breezy writing style produces a
picture that is just a tad bit too
boring, it sometimes makes me question the existence of the film and the final
point it was trying to make. This considering the fact that Amaya's issues are
subjective and designated to the perspective of one person, so in effect it has
no overarching message for a type of child stuck or ignorant of this kind of
situation.
I'd like to single
out that Ms. Chamko dialogue, cause it's a sly reference to the infamous Chamko
scene from cult classic Chashme Buddoor (not the 2013 remake…don't watch that
one, cause you don't mess with classics)
Performances are
where the showcase really is. Swara Bhaskar is great as the titular character,
she gets a meatier role than usual and she plays it up surprisingly well enough
to stand along her thespian co-stars.
Deepti Naval is
great as ever, she is stupendous in being restrained while so evoking her
emotions with impact. Her chemistry with Farooq Sheikh just grows from strength
to strength, and I'm happy one of his last films saw him reunited with her.
Their a coupling that's never failed to deliver together.
Farooq Sheikh
portrays his character with detailed focus, he unravels his character with a
precision of a master artist. This is a performer who others should try
emulating in order to be the best.
I mentioned the song
sequences being oddly placed and not fitting to the context of the film.
Overall the main
thing I carry with Listen…Amaya is that it will be that special Farooq Sheikh
film for me. I'm a big fan of the HIndie talent, RIP Farooq Sheikh.
15. Prague
Director: Ashish R Shukla
Cast: Chandan Roy Sanyal as Chandan, Arfi Lamba as Arfi with Elena Kazan as Elena and Kumar Mayank as Gulshan
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Best Scene: A full blown Chandan after getting drunk at a bar and walking out with a man, beats him up out on the street in frustration over his perceived notion that Elena was cheating on him with Gulshan.
Best Performance: Chandan Roy Sanyal as Chandan
Best Dialogue: 'It was our own
people, Czech people who were running the concentration camps not the Nazi
Germans. It's a conspiracy. They wanted to get rid of the Gypsies.'-Elena
Pros:-The script
establishes character, setting and back-story seamlessly
-Dialogue adds depth and value to the
story. It's not filmy or flamboyant, just normal but meaningful
-Social subtext adds much needed
wealth to a plot focused on character exploration
-Chandan has multiple dimensions. His
character is well developed and left with an intriguing ambiguous end point
-Camera angles used form an
interesting framing device for the narrative
-Shots capture the outer and inner
sparkle of Prague and its rich history
-Lamba, Elena and the supporting cast
give great turns
-Sanyal peels the layers of his
character with great detail. He is a gem of a revelation as the leading man
-Music is suitable to the setting and
enhances its vibe
Cons:-The films
narrative structure is convoluted, it's trying too hard to be something
innovative
-The director in his part also tries
to do too much, such that the film has no focused reason to exist
Score: 8.2/10 (Story-7.7, Direction-7.2, Performances-9.1, Background score/soundtrack-8.7)
Favorite Rank: #27
One of my former
posts was about how pissed off I was that I didn't get to witness Prague in the
theaters, and I'm still pissed cause I had to watch this film in a very shoddy
print on my laptop.
Prague is the story
of Chandan, a slightly screwed in the head architect who has complexes when it
comes to the women in his life. He coaxed his friend Arfi into committing
suicide, and now Chandan sees him as a ghost. He has a friend Gulshan who
entices these problems in his love life, when he supposedly inadvertently sleeps with
Chandan's girlfriend.
The two are now
headed for Prague to complete and architectural project of theirs. There
Chandan meets mysterious Gypsy girl Elena, with a past haunting him Chandan is
unable to full passionately bring out his love for Elena. To top it off in the
enigmatic city of Prague, Chandan faces his darkest depths along with Arfi and
Gulshan.
Essentially a
powerfully conveyed psychological thriller, writer/director Ashish Shukla does
his utmost best to deconstruct the broken man that is Chandan. In an early
scene that masks both twists and the exposition well, establishes everything
the viewer needs to catch up on the character of Chandan at a surface level.
Above all it underlines the awkward yet possibly quite realistic friendship
between him and Gulshan.
Shukla makes the
character highly likable, he then reveals the first twist in the form of Arfi
actually being a ghost/figment of Chandan's imagination. This scene divulges on
the mental state of our protagonist, nothing bad but something to give us to worry
about our character.
He then goes onto
slowly peel of each of Chandan's underlying characteristics that seem to make
him into an asshole yet at the same time make him a very grey and human
character all round. From Chandan's POV we see the brilliance of Gulshan yet
also learn to despise his traits. What Shukla does superbly is execute his
twists specifically his final one, revealing the whole picture of Chandan's
character in the final scene (brilliantly timed).
Beyond this I wont
say much because, I wish to watch this film again and do in-depth analysis on
it since I haven’t understood it properly.
Ashish Shukla can be
commended for trying to earn his films title beyond setting. Elena is a
surviving gypsy who Chandan falls for, beyond the architectural idea of the
plight of the Czech people under the Nazi invasion she makes him see the hidden
picture. Beneath the surface of the script there is the political discussion
regarding the bloody history of the Czech people against the Gypsies.
It's punctuated
firmly by the powerful dialogue mentioned above.
The way the film is
shot, it creates and intriguingly vivid method for the framing device giving
insight into the flashbacks and present day while also getting into the head of
Chandan without divulging the films own secrets. Some of the camera work is stunning
when it capture the inner beauty and even darker canvas of Prague and the
character situations.
Of the performances,
Elena Kazan as Elena fares better here than she did in John Day. This is
because she gets to speak in English for most of her runtime, she comes across
as very confident and casual in her role.
Kumar Mayank
embodies Gulshan with a great screen presence, he gives off the right vibe of
an asshole yet also oozes some charming charisma. The standout is Arfie Lamba
as Arfi, particularly watch him in the suicide scene where he emotes with
passion and spirit.
Still the film
belongs to Chandan Roy Sanyal. He effectively gets into the skin of his
character, and shifts smoothly between a mentally afflicted man and a hopeless
romantic. His scenes where he presumes his been betrayed are worth watching
just because of his expressions, which also do well to bring out Chandan's
admiration and hatred for Gulshan that is a key component of the film.
Music is spiritually
fitting to the setting of Prague, obviously there's also a Bengali tune in
context with Chandan's character. All in all the score is soulful and great to
hear.
Overall this is a
very dense film that requires top notch understanding and analysis with time.
Ashish Shukla however does do too hard to make it detailed and something
unique, which it need not be beyond it's story. Like with Chandan within his
own mind, the viewer can also be easily lost due to how detailed and oddly
structured the narrative is. Still if you can understand it at a base level,
the film is highly intellectually enjoyable.
14. Shuddh Desi Romance
Director: Maneesh Sharma
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput as Raghuram, Parineeti Chopra as Gayatri, Vaani Kapoor as Tara with Rishi Kapoor as Goyal and Rajesh Sharma as Mausa Ji
Genre: Romantic/Comedy
Best Scene: The final confrontation or more discussion on the bus between Gayatri and Tara which reveals a lot about how emotionally ill equiped they are and yet makes them come off as strong individuals
Best Performance: Parineeti Chopra as Gayatri
Best Dialogue: Raghu's huge opening monologue, hilariously highlighting the hypocrisy of society
Pros:-The script is
insightful in modern relationships in traditional societies
-Main them regarding unnecessary of
Marriage and keeping honesty in relations is established well and bound by great sub-textual motifs
-Dialogue forms the backbone of the
film
-Characters feel quite real in the
way their crafted, their flawed and complex and the flaws remain even in the
ending making it realistic in process.
-The element of breaking fourth wall
is exciting on paper and to view on screen initially
-Cinematography is vivid and
expresses the right sensation
-Realism is properly established by
the director's balance of modern and old school romance elements in context
-Background score and elements also
highlight character situations by juxtaposing them
-Sushant is endearing and earnest,
Parineeti once again carries a layered character with stellar work where as
Vannu sparkles and brims full of confidence while Rishi Kapoor is ever
dependable. The chemistry is shining between the couplings
Cons:-Having the
characters break into song and dance makes it feel really fake and affects the
integrity of the script
-The Loop narrative of the picture
does make the film tiresome
-Sharma falters though to make the
picture engaging, he doesn't handle the execution of a heavy dialogue based
film well
Score: 8.3/10 (Story-9.1, Direction-7.7, Performances-8.9, Background score/soundtrack-7.6)
Favorite Rank: #14
A controversial
topic regarding live in relationships in a conservative society as such in
India. SDR is the love story of the goofy Raghu and the free spirited yet
broken Gayatri. Raghu is a tourist guide who runs away from his wedding to
Tara, because he has met Gayatri as part of his wedding procession.
He woos and becomes
the living boyfriend for Gayatri months later. When it comes to their marriage
Gayatri in fear of how Raghu ran away from Tara, decides to run away herself.
Raghu is heart broken when he comes across Tara once again, they fall in love
after she teaches him a lesson of respect.
But when Gayatri
comes back into his life, Raghu must decide to go ahead with his idea of
proposing to Tara or going back to the best chapter of his life with Gayatri.
At the core of this all is the question of the cons of marriage and the
breaking of traditional rules in the form of living in together as lovebirds.
In a nutshell,
Shuddh Desi Romance is a detailed script with extremely vivid characterization
that is partially squandered by the limitations of its director Maneesh Sharma.
Writer Jaideep Sahni
dissects the ideas at the fore with a deft touch, he creates a layered
dichotomy between a style of old school and very real romance yet and
contemporary lifestyle and though processes. Burning the stereotypically
expectancies that the couple are not truly in love but simply infatuated with
each other and in it too sleep together, just because they don't want to get
married.
It delves into
aspect of the societal views, especially those directed towards Gayatri as a
sort of floozy girl. Sahni easily juxtaposes that by the method of bringing us
closer to the characters and the complexities of life and youth that plague
them. Gayatri may fall for someone
easily yes, but when she gets into the relationship she gives it her all. This
is well laden by the fact that these characters Raghu and Gayatri are helpers
and rented procession/fake relatives of people getting married through wedding
organizer Goyal.
The framing device
of letting the three protagonists break the fourth wall is exciting, and it
helps in understanding their motives as well as their feelings towards each
other. Gayatri is shows to be resistant towards opening up to Raghu, because
she has been burned before and was witness to him leaving Tara. This in turn is
the creation of the central conflict between the pair, she is too enamored by
him (sometimes for the wrong reasons) but her qualms regarding his previous
action constantly cause a shift in decisions from telling him to stay to
telling him that they're not living together. It's a dimensional character, yet
I feel somewhere the hint of modernizing and making her independent also leaves
the male writer vulnerable in making the situations a bit sexist, as both her
and Tara's liking for Raghu doesn't come across in Raghu.
As a character Raghu
is the least developed and partially due to the way he is characterized and the
way he is seen characterized through the girls makes him unlikable. Beyond it's
also what makes him ironically engaging, his goofiness and childish naughtiness
and bounds of energy specifically make you cheer his journey but most of all
get you a tad bit satisfied when he falters due to his own mistakes. I
particularly liked his monologues, as they did well to paint the picture of the
societal hypocrisies in an overt manner fitting to character. Sample the above best quote as a reference.
It all reads back to what I've said, the use of those ideas as intelligent yet
focused towards a hollow self serving motive.
In Tara's case she
comes off as confident and head strong. Yet director Sharama does well enough
to peel these layers into presenting a woman that is as easily emotionally
affected and attached as anybody else even with her slightly closeted and airy
demeanor.
Particularly watch
the scene where she hands Gayatri a bottle of coke in the bus (after she has
seen Raghu, at this point her boyfriend kiss Gayatri).
She exclaims how
when she is confused and feeling low, a cold drink is the symbol that she
hasn't lost everything in the world, it reassures her and harkens back to the
opening shot where when left by Raghu she calmly sits down with indifference
and asks for a cold drink. A note to the audience that at least in her own
space, not everything was as well as it seemed on the surface.
The fourth important
character is Goyal. A wedding planner, he is basically the mirror for the old
world values that are at times both a hindrance yet actually something worth
learning from. He sees the two/three main protagonist skirting their relationships
and issues. He give wise advice as a sage yet is also chained down (more so by
his Business greed than tradition) by his viewpoint on marriage.
This is all thanks
to the fact that the dialogues are so well written and underlined with vital
profundity.
Of course all this
points towards the fact that the major theme is too simply talk and analyze.
It's in vein of many a superb romantic comedies such as any Woody Allen feature
of old or the Before trilogy specifically Before Sunrise. The issue is that Maneesh
Sharma for a majority of the runtime squanders that opportunity, he plays it
off as too static and isn't the rightly tooled director to elevate the script
into a perfectly unique visual experience. The fourth wall breaking scenes are
fun but they feel inorganic, since Sharma heck any mainstream or partially
mainstream Indian director is ill equipped in this area.
For something new
though it still is a good if not great effort.
There are tons of
motifs that the writer simply uses to sub textually make us understand the
characters and the world they occupy. One such thing is the use of toilets,
it's a really hilarious point that gives the characters space to both literally
and metaphorically release. Gayatri comes to smoke, but they all together find
a sort of emotional release and solitude in expressing themselves regarding
situations specifically through the toilet. It runs beyond this as a motif for
letting go of all the complexities in both a negative and positive point of
view whether it be from Gayatri/Raghu using it as a method to run away or the
two enjoying each other's company in their own little world in the song 'Tere
Mere Beech Mein'.
It's no surprise
then that the two resolve their issues and confirm their feeling outside the
toilets. At somebody else's reception the two share a binding kiss in front of
toilets which are hilariously juxtaposed by the background of wedding light
flickering (get it?! Idea).
Also that final
sequence where they both use the toilet as a getaway to run away from their own
marriage. The release the chains of society and free themselves to do what
their heart wants. To live and love together without the forced
constraints/idea of marriage at least until their ready if ever.
I also really like
the motif of repetition. Raghu both in his love life and the film in terms of
narrative moves in a circle, it gets tedious but it actually does well to bring
out the confusion at the core of the characters and their relationships. One such
scene sub textually represents this when Raghu tries to meet Tara at an airport
but is perpetually lost because she is bringing him back to the same situation
that he left her at in the start, there he is physically blocked by the staff
man moving the circularly rotating herd of trolleys.
Apart from that
there's the wonderful method by which even traditional sensibilities are
subverted to produce a realistic resolution of situations. When Tara is left at the altar, one of the
men comes running forward saying they will take her hand in marriage. It's
supposed to place question on the age old issue of women being left at the
altar as a bad sign on what is supposed to be her most important day (something
to do with outdated thoughts and a hint of misogynist values). If it were a
Bollywood movie styled situation then they would try to get her married off to
the man who put his hand up, but realistically speaking in any time or
traditional setting just like this one that man is slapped by her Uncle.
Another one would be
the final confrontation between Gayatri and Tara, after seeing them annoyingly
dote over Raghu you'd expect for them to get feisty with each other but the two
take their conversation with a levelheaded maturity yet also a seething repartee
from Tara to Gayatri over her actions. This is finished with an attempt at a
filmy sacrifice by Gayatri, rebuked by Tara's own realization of her fleeting
liking for Raghu and her more understated 'sacrifice' (it's a word I don't like
using because it's such a trope) making it more likable.
That final scene
also culminated with the writer dictating both the depth of complexities of the
female protagonists and above all their stronger mindset than the single minded
Raghu.
I think I should do
a full analysis separately since this was just all about the script.
The cinematographer
captures the culturally drenched setting of Jaipur well. I liked how the
lighting and camera effect created the aura of a small personal world of
Gayatri and Raghu's beyond societies reach. Special mention for the song
'Gulabi' that is tinted with soothing Rose Pink (Gulab) just if you didn't get
the message.
Speaking of song
sequences, the music is great. But the first song 'Tere Mere Beech Mein' is
marred by the fact that the director makes his characters break into lip
syncing song and dance, which particularly feels out of place in this
realistically written film.
On the performances
side. Rishi Kapoor is just marvelous once again, he's had one of the best if
not the best second innings I personally believe from actors of his era. He has
consistently reinvented himself, and among the more villainous fare these days
from him; this ones a gem. Kudos to Sharma for giving the man scope in playing
this oddly awesome character.
Vaani Kapoor carries
herself with unchallenged confidence and stands well in her debut against the
constantly lauded Parineeti. She is effective and embodies the character
without effort. Her delivery just helps highlight the spiciness and brashness
of her character.
Sushant gives
another great and different turn after his debut, he is a great romantic lead
and his screen presence can make you partially fall for his characters charm
against the bad qualities.
The real deal though
is Parineeti. A lot of people state she's just playing another bubbly character
like she did in her debut, I think that's mostly chalked up to the fact that
it's hard to differentiate her from her characters. The subtle performances she
puts in may be a hindrance due to perception, but by steeping herself in
realistic acting she comes off far better than those who go over the top in
providing a semblance of fabricated suspension of disbelief. Sue me if I think she's better cause she goes
a safer route.
Overall Shuddh was
one of my favorite films in a big time way because of how well written it was,
I liked trying to understand the film (I needed some help). I just wish Maneesh
Sharma had given a better effort in trying to work the narrative, rather than
embellish it with his great sense of style. Still inconsistently he does a
great job. Loved the acting of course, and I cannot get enough of this Rishi
Kapoor who has just gone from strength to strength. It also is one film that is
superior in objectively unraveling the patchy idea of marriages specifically
arranged marriages in hypocritical societies like in India.
Oh and I forgot to
mention one scene where Sharma wins me over. He juxtaposes the struggles of
Raghu and Gayatri communicating to each other (after Tara up and left) with a
runaway bride and her love trying to solve their own issue. The bride even
states that although it's her running away, it seems their struggle is more
important to talk about. But once the lover professes his love for the bride,
it shows how communication is easier than the two leads think it is.
Plus points for
having Goyal quickly and comedic ally shift towards the other couple in order
to sell his business.
13. Inkaar
Director: Sudhir Mishra
Cast: Arjun Rampal as Rahul Verma, Chitrangada Singh as Maya Luthra, Deepti Naval as Ms. Kamdar, Kanwaljeet Singh as Rahul's Father, Rehana Sultan as Maya's Mother, Vipin Sharma as Gupta, Gaurav Dwivedi as Atul with Shivani Tanksale as Nimmi with Saurabh Shukla as Rockstar
Genre: Drama/Romantic
Best Scene: The opening song sequence
Best Performance: Chitrangada Singh as Maya Luthra
Best Dialogue: Not sure cause I don't remember them
Pros:-Character work
is superb and detailed, characters are kept realistic and sides in the conflict
are balanced
-The first half is kept rife with
tension to entertain the viewers
-Mishra handles the genre change
towards the climax and all round the film very well
-He works in a lot of subtlety and
subtext to keep the film ambiguous and the audience thinking, and he is also
not too preachy about the message
-At crux points the use of full
frontal shots, effectively reel the audience in
-The editing of the film is a clear
winner and really puts the story onto screen with brilliance
-Great performances from an all star
thespian cast, Rampal plays his character with steely cool arrogance and gives
some dynamite delivery
-Rampal and Singh really have that
spicy chemistry that elevates the film from good to great
-Music is good and soulful
Cons:-The second
half begins to lag where as the finale is a bit off a letdown
-Grey shaded characters either
prevent the audience from being invested or make them choose sides, which full
degrades the writers intentions
Score: 8.4/10 (Story-7.7, Direction-9.3, Performances-9.1, Background score/soundtrack-7.4)
Favorite Rank: #29
Inkaar is easily the
most divisive film of the year because of its directors singular vision and the
promotion of a provocative subject. You can either think that Sudhir Mishra has
made a mockery of it or perceptively (key word here) broken down the elements
within sexual harassment.
Inkaar is the story
of ambitious and young Maya Luthra who breaks into the advertising industry
under the mentorship of Rahul Verma, she climbs the corporate ladder, they fall
in love and out of it. Eventually Maya files a harassment case against Rahul, and
a committee is established to get to the bottom of the matter. Whose right
whose wrong, whose lying whose not and what actually happened then forms the
crux of the plot
From the onset the
concept of the film seems very highly appealing. Office politics, sexual
harassment and the rampant misogynist attitude regarding women climbing the
corporate structure has not been done to death or done well as yet in Hindi
cinema. So it's a bit disheartening that Sudhir Mishra's Inkaar is just too
tedious and boring. What is worse it doesn't have the larger pay off at the end
and on top of it does a complete 180 regarding what were till the climax
supremely complex characters.
It's where most of
the narrative stays and thrives on; the characterization. This film in its core
concept is a somewhat skewed character study of two people very similar too
each other and the epitome of when an immovable object meets and unstoppable force.
The film places us
in the conference room where and outside element in the Mrs. Kamdar is brought
in along with a panel of the members of the office itself to discuss the case
at hand. A framing device is crafted as
a method by which each character specifically Maya and Rahul detail their story
in flashback from the very beginning of their volatile relationship to the
fateful day of the supposed harassment occurred.
First the sides of
the conflict are well defined and kept balanced yet also really on the
perceptions of each individual. The higher ups have the tendency to be a bit
out of touch, and in a bid to save their company work both lines with ease but
stick to Rahul (as he is a higher positioned and more experienced individual in
the company). Some men specifically Vipin Sharma's Gupta is unnervingly
favorable towards Rahul and also incorrect at times. Then theirs also possibly
Maya's only friend in the company who sides with her decisions and arc through
the flashback narrative.
All in all these
characters help form an opinion and understanding of back-story for Naval's Ms
Kamadar, who basically in a confined way becomes our POV into the picture. But
the main threads are of course Maya and Rahul.
Both are intricately
written, they are abundant with shades of grey. Maya as mentioned is highly
ambitious, her arc is well laid out and conceptualized by both parties. She was
a free spirited girl in a smaller advertising agency who jumped at the opportunity
to join Rahul's firm. She learns under him with conviction yet at times
frustration. She grows from strength to strength and in the process falls in
love with Rahul. You see the unfortunate yet expected sexism regarding her
position equating to her relation with Rahul, beginning to bear weight on her
and finally also a phase where she from other eyes is perceived as drunk with
power.
Rahul on the other
hand is a man partially haunted yet content with his past and relationship with
his ill Father. He is a man at the pinnacle of the company yet there is that
glint of an unsatisfied life. He is cold and merciless yet at the same time when
it comes to Maya there is this sense of heartache you see in the man thanks to
the well written script.
So when the
characters are so complicated and realistic, their motives being questionable
makes them highly disengaging. It doesn't help that the conflict at hand is
simply non-existent, there was no proper conclusive argument as to whether
sexual harassment occurred or not. This easily reprimands the character work
and takes the script down a huge notch.
What's worse is
that, the writing defines the characters well but the constrained narrative
doesn't help establish any motives worth caring for. Essentially none of the
characters specifically Maya and Rahul are likable, and neither do you feel
engaged enough to see their journey completed in a better fashion. The climatic
sequence then sees the case merely left hanging and Rahul leaving his job, it's
a complete turn and partial happy ending that is neither earned nor understood.
Mishra as the writer
fails but Mishra as the director pulls the film back from the abyss. In essence
it's not a film that is easy to comprehend.
The theme to think
about I guess is 'Perception'. A point of view depends from person to person,
and that is what Mishra tries to half heartedly explore in his script. The case
of the harassment is seen from both points by the panel including Ms. Kamdar.
It depends what side we subjectively choose to see it from, or objectively try
to analyze. The blurring of these lines comes from what side each individual is
on, to what personal relation they have with each of the two characters and
sometimes even the case of gender and gender politics history taken into
account.
This all would have
worked well if Mishra knew how to effectively end the film. But as a director
he visually creates an excellent picture that with a tighter script could have
been a masterpiece. While it was bold of him to try and leave the answer as how
each audience member perceives the situation, it still feels like a cop out
since viewers have taken out two hours to watch the film.
On a technical
front, the film is a marvel. The editing works swiftly yet flows smoothly from
scene to scene interconnecting the two sides of the story effortlessly. It's
worth watching the scenes shift from Maya's side of the story to Rahul's
especially when each of them interject on the way the other tells the flashback
stories.
I also really liked
some of the camera angles used. Specifically when he has the main protagonists
framed from a front view such that their speaking into the camera, and
basically sub-textually telling their side of the tale and asking the audience
to deliver their verdict. It reminded me of 1993 Tom Hanks and Denzel
Washington starrer Philadelphia where director Jonathan Demme used the same
trick. Of course it works effectively.
Along with that,
closely look at the opening music sequence (after the Rahul back story
flashback). It presents both him and her working together to impress a client,
establishes a tracking side by side shot contrasting their moments to the
confrontation. Along with this there's the hilarious tongue in cheek humor at
play, the advertises in the film are used powerfully to convey deeper messages.
One such is in the
same song where before the meeting of the panel, both Maya and Rahul have to
present an advertise at their clients office. It shows a man flirting with a
woman and the voiceover stating 'In life you have to try to succeed'. The man
hilariously fails and it kind of stamps on their situations from the male
perspective while boosting Maya's own confidence in a skewed way.
All in all the most
of the songs are soulful and evocative. My favorite was the rock rendition
'Kuch bhi ho sakta hai' at the party scene, because of the laugh out loud cameo
by Saurabh Shukla as a rock star.
To the performances.
The cast of talented character actors does well, I'd love to single out Vipin
Sharma for energizing the mostly hard hitting talks between the panel with his
dead pan humor and unintentional sexism. He was funny and spiteful at the same
time. Deepti Naval as usual is terrific, she masters in bringing the audience
into the feature and keeping us hooked as her POV helps breakdown the situation
for us to have a perspective as well.
Arjun Rampal has
never been better. As I mentioned earlier, 2013 in Hindi Cinema has been a year
where many actors have debunked the myth that they can't act. While he is a
somewhat deserving National Award winning actor, this is a performance where
nobody bar one special person can touch him. He is a powerhouse and it shows.
That special person
however far outshines him. This is Chitrangada's third film with director
Sudhir Mishra and she is finally given huge amount of material to wrok with,
kudos to Msihra for extracting a superb showing from her. She is a tour de
force, she's the one fighting the sexism and supposed sexual harassment yet it
never feels like she's weak. This is thanks to Singh who embellishes her
character with immense fortitude and will. This is an underappreciated actor
who will hopefully get her due in…well, due time.
Their chemistry as
leads is explosive. It's chock full of sexual tension and deeply disturbing
hatred. The two performers single handedly save the final confrontation with
their smoldering show of passion and hatred. As characters the two are the
Alphas, and the performers themselves evoke this.
Overall I did enjoy
Inkaar a bit, specifically the repartee between Maya and Rahul with each other
and against each other in present day. The issue I can see is that the film
does have that over baked or under baked style of work that Mishra is known for.
It really bogs down a visually and technically impressive piece. Still, it's
rarely that you get to see Arjun Rampal be this awesome on celluloid and you
definitely never want to miss a Chitrangada Singh performance.
12. Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Cast: Farhan Akhtar as Milkha Singh, Japtej Singh as Young Milkha Singh, Divya Dutta as Isri Kaur, Pavan Malhotra as Gurudev Singh, Yograj Singh as Ranveer Singh, Sonam Kapoor as Biro, Art Malik as Sampooran Singh, Prakash Raj as Veerapandian, Rebecca Breeds as Stella with Dalip Tahil as Jawarlal Nehru and Rakeysh Mehra as a Pilot
Genre: Sports/Biopic
Best Scene: The final race when Milkha finally lets go of his past
Best Performance: Farhan Akthar as Milkha Singh
Best Dialogue: 'Beta, tu dora nahi, tu uda hai. Aaj se duniya tumhe ek Sikh ke nahi par ek Flying Sikh ke naam se jannegi. Pakistan aapko yeh kithab dete hue fakra mehsus kaar raha hai'-Pakistan General ('Son, you didn't run today, you flew. From henceforth the world not know you as a Sikh but The Flying Sikh instead. Pakistan feels proud and honoured to bestow this title upon you')
Pros:-It's the films
second half that becomes much more entertaining and intriguing…
-Milkha's character arc is explored
in depth, the character is very complex and 3 dimensional
-The writing also brilliantly
captures Milkha and his life's essence
-Sports scenes are crafted
terrifically
-The director and his team especially
his visual effects crew's efforts in re-creating the period setting show
-The supporting cast does good,
Farhan Akthar carries the burden of the film well and keeps the audience
invested even during the film's failing points. He is the reason to watch the
film and carries 80% points of 9.3 in the overall performance department
(below). Sonam enchants the screen with her presence fitting to the character,
Dutta gives a competent performance
Cons:-…but by then
the first half has been boring and the film has overstayed its welcome
-The story is overly melodramatic
-While Milkha's deeper character
conflict is explored brilliantly, the smaller necessary sub plots unfortunately
distract because they aren't written well enough. In truth the films story is
overly ambitious
-The director is strained by
multiple plot elements and unnecessary motifs (plight of women etc.)
-Some film tricks such as extreme
close up's and slow motion are used excessively
-Dalip Tahil and some smaller cast
members are not up to mark, Dutta unfortunately is undone by the melodrama and
veers to close to overacting
-Background music tries too hard to
bring out audience emotions and remains depressingly melodramatic
Score: 8.4/10 (Story-7.2, Direction-7.7, Performances-9.6, Background score/soundtrack-9.0)
Favorite Rank: #24
Farhan Akhtar.
If there's anything
to take out from the next big biopic in Bollywood, it is the fact that Akhtar
gives one of the most emotionally enchanting leading man performances you will
see on celluloid not just in 2013.
Many people
including Nasseruddin Shah chalked it up as a physical transformation (abs and
what not) and nothing else. I disagree because you can clearly see that Akhtar
gets into the skin of the man he portrays (whether it's the real skin or a much
dramatized character of the real man, it's hard to tell) and defines all the
pain, horrors the man faced along with the love, adoration and passion he had
and got.
There was no better
performance this year then Farhan Akhtar as Milkha Singh, the flying Sikh.
BMB then is
obviously the story of renowned sportsman Milkha Singh. It is the saga of his
life (obviously dramatized for effect). His torrid past in a breaking and soon
to be partitioned India. His time as a crooked man and transformation into the
iconic sportsperson he is known as today.
One thing I can
clearly state is that BMB is overrated. As I've said before that's not
necessarily a bad thing, since it's just not as good as it's been hyped.
It's won multiple accolades apart from the
deserved Best Actor and is touted as a film that has enhanced the reputation
for biographical pictures. While from a commercial standpoint might be true,
it's just the next step after Dirty Picture (based on Silk Smitha) and Paan
Singh Tomar in the evolution of Indian Bio-Pic's.
Unfortunately it's
also a bit regressive in that nature, because it follows multiple sports
clichés as well as is tediously melodramatic. There's too much schmaltz both in
its joyous moments and somber ones. It even threatens other aspects apart of
the film apart from the screenplay.
Of course since it's
a biographical in nature, the film does well to do a detailed exploration of
the titular character. Milkha Singh is a man haunted by his violent past and
molds himself into something he did for love but someone he becomes beyond just
a man but a national icon. The writing by Prasoon Joshi does well to explore
his inner angst as well as the mans very hyper attitude and joyous take on
life.
Some scene do well
just to evoke the power of the character. Great examples are;
-The opening
tracking shot which sees Milkha examining the stadium, it introduces the viewer
the protagonist in a manner that speaks volumes of the strength of the man and
his drive to win
-A beautifully vfx
rendered shot of Milkha's first race being disrupted by his mental images of
the ghosts of his past chasing him with a chilling atmosphere. The dialogue
'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag' echoing and cutting through his soul
-The shot of a young
Milkha running barefoot on the hot terrain, amplifying the idea of his unbound
spirit
-Milkha wearing the
blazer for Indian sportsmen and looking into the mirror. Akhtar effectively
evoking the characters pride and heartfelt joy
-An injured Milkha
running with his legs bruised badly, once again just presenting the undying
ambition and drive of the man
-His hilariously
endearing pursuit of village belle Biro
-The aura of pride
and long due happiness that finally befalls on his sister when she beams with
pride as he stands having become a champion for India
-Milkha at the
realization that Biro has forcefully moved on
-His realization
that he truly can't love or be fulfilled until he doesn't get rid of the past
chasing him
-Most importantly
when Milkha reaches back home in Pakistan and flashbacks of his plight as a
child when he lays among fallen relatives and elders and he witnesses the
beheading of his father. Emotionally charged.
-Finally when Milkha
wins the final race and is anointed 'The Flying Sikh' finding a semblance of
peace
All in all, the film
has some brilliantly conveyed situations on paper and on screen. The issue is
that with an unnecessarily extended runtime, beyond Milkha's whole arc there is
nothing compelling or fitting. From a Milkha standpoint, the scope so huge and
yet so unexplored completely that Mehra and Joshi dwindling in distracting in
sub plot don't make things easier to comprehend.
I like that Mehra
tried painting a picture on the plight of women during that era. I'm not sure
if the things that happened with Milkha's sister and his love (that is if Biro
is a real character) is true, but even then it's a tad bit half baked and unnecessary
for a film requires tantamount focus on a larger topic. The three varying
romantic sub-plots are helped by the fact that they link to the characters
progression, yet they feel inorganic specifically the last two and ride an odd
stream jarring the film itself.
These pieces
together make the big mistake that I have alluded to.
The film is too
melodramatic.
You cannot give me
the excuse that, that makes it easier for it too reach a wider audience because
both as mentioned Dirty Picture and Paan Singh Tomar were solid hits without
having to degrade themselves into schlock and over the top emotion.
The director is
particular exerted by all this, trying to pull together a confused screenplay.
Worse still, the
visual elements are widely inconsistent. Most of the running scene are
thrilling to view, the audience background crafted through VFX and I think cut
shots from older tapes seem static and jarring. Some of the VFX I mentioned
before is great, but at times too much slow motion and close-ups just kill the
experience.
If there's anything
in this film that is relatively worth the hype, it's the performances. Taking
into account the making of the film, it just shows the detail that some of the
supporting cast put into their roles. Sonam Kapoor makes a sort of extended cameo,
as usual Mehra being an actors director extracts a performance that evokes the
right emotions from the audience from Sonam. She is growing from strength to
strength as an actor, this isn't her best work (that comes later on this list)
but she's competent.
The other major
actor who gains scope beyond Farhan is Divya Dutta, she is bogged down by a lot
of the melodrama but she takes that and rolls with it giving a terrific
anecdote on the plight and position of women during the era while also
supporting Akthar with stellar ease.
But as mentioned,
beyond anything else this is Farhan Akhtar's film. The transformation not just
physical that he goes through as an actor is mesmerizing, each time you are
hooked to his performance specifically the way he emotes with brilliance from
his eyes. Burning with passion (when he decides to first win before ever
falling in love again), joy (when he wears the blazer) or horror (As the past
flashes back). Key scenes just show the maturity of his work in this film.
To think just a
decade ago, he was set to make his debut as a director and five years ago he
became an actor. This is an oddly terrific second innings (if you can call it
that).
Special mention for
Japtej Singh who matches Akhtar beat for beat as the younger Milkha. He is a
revelation especially in the scene when he lies among the dead bodies, watch
his vivid and dynamic expressions convey a sadly unimaginable horror and loss
of innocence.
The music is also
superb, while it tries too hard to emotionally engage the audience at the wrong
times. Overall the soundtrack is terrific and well placed, with any Indian
sports film you need at least one energizing song to get the blood running and
this film has two super ones in 'Zinda' and the title track.
Overall a bit
schmaltzy in flavor for me and too long. Bhaag can catch some credit fro
elevating biopic's to the next level, it's no wonder it's become the new flavor
with coming soon features for Boxer Mary Kom and criminal Charles Sobraj.
Still BMB is worth
watching multiple times jus to see the layered performance and unraveling of
wide array of emotions by Farhan Akhtar. He embodies Milkha in the truest
sense.
11. Fukrey
Director: Mrighdeep Singh Lamba
Cast: Pulkit Samrat as Vikas Gulaati/Hunny, Ali Faizal as Zafar, Majot Singh as Lali, Varun Sharma as Dilip Singh/Choocha, Priya Anand as Priya, Vishaka Singh as Neetu with Richa Chadda as Bholi Punjaban and Pankaj Tripathi as Pandit
Best Scene: Whenever Choocha recollects his dream in whic he is always saving Hunny from embarrasing situations. Or whenever Lali comes out of the Gurudwara too find something of his stolen, and getting stupid answers from the same passerby.
Best Performance: Varun Sharma as Choocha
Best Dialogue: 'Bhai, kaha phsadiya
mujhe…aur tu baagh gaya laundiya ke ghaar. Yeh sahi hai!. Yaha meri raid lagadi
tumne…Jaldi aah aur ek campa ki bottle leke aiyo'-Choocha ('Dude, what the hell
have you gotten me into…you've ran off to a girls house, how convenient. And
now here I'm screwed…please come fast and bring a cola bottle while your at
it')
Pros:-A hilarious
joy ride of a narrative
-Some really funny and crisp dialogue
that highlights the Delhi setting, plus a unique quirky crux plot point
-Some neat visual elements including
a spectacularly animated opening song and ending song
-The director blends the comic caper
well with the Urbanite Delhi film style that is getting very popular
-A slew of great performances
especially from the four male leads
-A mix of some really quirky and
great music
Cons:-The stories
basic premise is a bit typical and not really original
-Character interactions, relations
and development for Zafar is sketchy and not in tone with the film
Score: 8.5/10 (Story-8.4, Direction-8.9, Performances-8.6, Background score/soundtrack-8.1)
Favorite Rank: #4
The funniest film of
the year, the out an out hilarious Fukrey is the story of four Fukreys
(slackers) who need to make something out of their lives through the most
shortcut means they can find. Meet Hunny and Choocha, they've been bunking and
failing school but are dead set on entering a college and making an impression.
They meet MCBC (get the joke?) college security guard Pandit and are told to
find a way to make enough money to pay for leaked papers for the entrance exam.
The thing is these two dudes have an odd connection. Whatever Choocha dreams at
night, Hunny breaks into a number and creates a lottery winning formula.
Along with them are
Lali, a roadside fast food owners son who needs to break away from his mundane
life and enter college to show up his snobbish ex-girlfriend while theirs the
musician Zafar, who has stuck to college beyond his years looking for that breakthrough
in music. He eventually requires money to pay for his fathers operation. With
Hunny and Choocha's plan in tow, the four find an investor in Bholi Punjaban.
But when they make a mistake, what price must they pay to repay Bholi? And how
much shenanigans will follow these on the run lazy boys?
As I said; the
funniest film of the year. This is thanks to a generic but eventually hilarious
film spiced with some tickling dialogues and wonderfully zany situations. On
top of that is a very oddly bewildering plot point about dreams.
What Fukrey boils
down to is its dialogues. They adapt the now common Delhi style of talking and
narrative formula, but do not ever become dull. Things such as;
'Yeh kambra dekh
rahe ho, hamare gaon me hamara saand ise baade kambre me gai ko pregnant karta
hai'-Pandit ('You see this room (Pandit pointing at his security office), in my
village our Bull knocks up our cows in a bigger room than this')
To which the naïve
and stupid Choocha replies with that stellar poker face
'Sahi ke rahe ho
panditji. Daddy, mummy ko yahi kehte the'-Choocha ('Your right Pandit sir. Dad
used to say the same thing to my mom'). That double meaning within that Choocha
fails to grasp is freaking funny.
A on the run Choocha
and about to be killed by Bholi's goons, he tries to get help from Lali asking
him to arrive where he is running towards. In such a stressful moment he says;
'Bhai, kaha phsadiya
mujhe…aur tu baagh gaya laundiya ke ghaar. Yeh sahi hai!. Yaha meri raid lagadi
tumne…Jaldi aah aur ek campa ki bottle leke aiyo'-Choocha ('Dude, what the hell
have you gotten me into…you've ran off to a girls house, how convenient. And
now here I'm screwed…please come fast and bring a cola bottle while your at
it')
But all this
wouldn't fit if director/writer Lamba along with Vipu Vig didn't present the
film in the most comedic sensational manner with the situations at hand.
Examples are when each and every time Lali comes out from praying for his
admission into MCBC. He notices something or the other has been stolen from his
bike, he questions the same man each time who walks past him only to be give
the most out of context and stupidest answer possible. Well ask a stupid
question and you will get a stupid answer.
He also ends up
clashing with the thief, who in turn of events has foreshadowed and projected
how truly wealthy he is. The thief in question becomes a deux ex machina point
that saves the protagonists from Panjaban's wrath along with the Delhi Police
that have constantly been on their heels.
It's here where the
film falters, between the high brow comedy and even the subtle funny moments;
the drama and romantic moments really fail to resonate. The cops motives and
the machinations planned alongside the politicians tired of Bholi's grasp on their
balls (both literally and metaphorically), is a point that simply doesn't
register well enough.
The romantic angle
between Hunny and Priya comes off as unnecessary and half baked, it's a simple
placeholder to give the star among the four his heroine.
Then there's
Zafar's, by far among the four protagonists by the end of the film the message
and reasoning around his actions is far more compelling. Making him much more
likable in the long run. Unfortunately tonally it just doesn't fit, and
constantly jars the plot.
Mrighdeep Singh
Lamba does well in forming the picture into a visually appealing package. He
neither lays on the OTT comedy too loud and thick on the audience, but also
prevents the portions of the screenplay that lag from really bringing down the
picture as a whole. What's great is that he pushes the young actors to their
limits such that their performances in turn elevate the script and the film as
a whole.
Of course the main
star, and cause his character is the cool dude is none other than Pulkit
Samrat. After his terrible showing in debut feature Bitto Boss, here Samrat is
far more confident and relaxed. He has this really energetic charismatic screen
presence that help essay the leader role better.
Manjot Singh is a
natural with some defininf moments and incredible comic timing. He gives you
some of the real subtle laughs of the film, rallying the odd repetitive sketch
(the thieving of his bike parts) around him helps because he is able to move
them with the flow of the narrative.
Ali Faizal is quite
restrained, while as mentioned his character arc is different he doesn't get
the scope that his co-stars doe but he leaves a mark. The girls; Priya Anand
and Vishaka Singh are competent but are wasted in too small roles. Pankaj
Tripathi as usual leaves a mark even with the small screen time.
Richa Chadda is
basically one of the bigger stars of the show, she is ruthless and tough. Her
delivery is as ever brilliant and her
body language conveys power and menace.
But the true find is
debutant Varun Sharma. He is a livewire, his bubbly persona really helps in
creating Choocha as a very real and dimensional being. Scenes of is one sided
infatuation with Bholi make you roll on the floor. Fits of laughter come in the
way he carries himself and delivers his specially and superbly written one
liners. The innocent poker face he pulls of from time to time is brilliant.
Watch him specifically where he falls on top of Bholi and dreams the typical
Bollywood eye contact moment with the cheesy 'ILU ILU' playing in the
background. In fact just watch him through the film.
The soundtrack is
excellent. The title track constantly blares in the background just too
highlight the four characters, in fact each song is well used as a background
score in context of what is happening in the plot from the melodious
'Ambarsariya' playing through the innocent flirtations between Priya and Hunny,
to the overt 'Jugaad' when each of the four have to find a method to pay back
Bholi.
Overall Fukrey is
definitely the most hilarious film of the year. Written superbly and executed
as wonderfully. Performed by some really talented folks among which is a
terrific find in Varun Sharma. For a debutant to come in and really just sweep
the film off the feet of his experienced co-stars, is quite applaud able. One of my really favorite films of the year.
Well that's it. Initially as you might have guessed, I decided to have all 30 films in one post. But then I thought this much tet would then take away from the top ten which is the main feature, so I wish to give those films theire own space. Plus it made me work faste rnad harder knowing that I get to write to my hearts content for the top ten films of the year.
Enjoy.
To be cont'd..
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