Udta Punjab - flying high!

Thanks to all the controversy surrounding it, Udta Punjab was assured of above average viewership ratings. Indeed I can barely type the name of the movie without feeling like I need to put a hashtag before it! However, I did wonder whether it would also manage to live up to the hype.Whether it would also be a decent watch once all the expletives were laid aside.

Short answer: it is a great watch.

Long answer follows...

Udta Punjab is not the Punjab that Bollywood has so far instilled in our collective consciousness. It is a Punjab where substance abuse is all pervasive. Where truant schoolboys are injecting deadly chemical cocktails into their veins, where genial old men who call people "puttar" deal in drugs as a family business, where the local policemen are turning a blind eye to the drug transportation for a bribe, where the politicians exchange drugs for votes. It is a truly horrific tale that shows just how deep the problem runs. And how 'say NO to drugs'was not just a slogan for the late 80's.

We are plunged right into the middle of this crisis through the four lead characters: Tommy (Shahid Kapoor) is a party-loving, coke snorting maniac of a rockstar who has lost his "mojo". His life takes a turn when he meets Alia Bhatt, a Bihari labourer who chances upon a packet of drugs in the fields where she works, setting in motion a heartbreaking chain of events for her. Sartaj (Diljit Dosanjh) is a corrupt cop who gets a wakeup call when his own brother overdoses. He then teams up with the feisty activist Doctor Preet (Kareena Kapoor Khan) in an investigation to expose the kingpins of the drug trade.

The hard-hitting and gritty nature of the movie never glamourises either drugs or the expletive laden language. The anti-drug message is loud and clear and the language is as expected from the characters. It's hard to see why this movie was about to be banned. If the situation in Punjab is not as dire, then that's great news. And if it is, then surely, highlighting it can only bring more help to eliminate the problem.

The Sartaj and Preet angle is a bit weak and the Tommy and Alia connection feels a bit forced but overall, these work well in giving a breather from the otherwise suffocating grimness. Despite the subject matter, the movie is gripping and ends on a note of strength. After a long time, I felt I saw a movie, where I didn't get bored at all and didn't now what to expect.

The acting was top notch, especially from Shahid and Alia, who have put their heart and soul into every scene. Diljit Dosanjh was refreshing and charming. His rendition of "Ïk Kudi" (sung by Tommy in the movie), was beautiful. Kareena, rather surprisingly, was a bit weak - her performance seemed inconsistent to me. One moment she is cool to the point of being smug, the next she is all excited and channelling her inner Geet (from Jab We Met). Perhaps one could have done with a little more fleshing out of the characters - a little more of Alia's backstory, a little more on Preet might have been interesting. But then again, perhaps its just as well the characters don't overshadow the real protagonist - Udta Punjab.

8.5/10

Man of Steel - the review

I have always been a huge fan of superheroes. Every superhero has an alter ego who is an ordinary man guarding from the world his extraordinary nature. I love the idea that there could be amongst us people who have special powers and who unbeknownst to anyone, help the world become a better place. It makes common everyday life that much more exciting if you think that the man passing you in the street could be a hero. Bruce Wayne, Peter Parker or Clark Kent, billionaire playboy, high school student or shy reporter, they have the potential to be a Batman, Spiderman or Superman. It is the ultimate breakdown of stereotypes.

While not all superheroes are genetically enhanced – take for example Batman or Iron Man – my favourite Superman has a whole array of biological superiorities to choose from. Super strength, speed, flight, X-ray vision, heat vision…he’s almost invincible. As a kid, I often imagined what I would do with the powers that Superman had! So when the new Superman movie, "Man of Steel", released last week, I was at the theatre as soon as possible.

"Man of Steel" is essentially an origin story for Superman. How his planet, Krypton, is on the verge of collapse because they have been harvesting the ‘core’ instead of looking to newer worlds. The mutiny it faces from General Zod (Michael Shannon) who is eventually subdued and sentenced. How Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and his wife Lara send away their only son Kal-El to Earth to save his life before their planet explodes. Kal-El is found by Jonathan (Kevin Costner) and Martha Kent (Diane Lane) and grows up as their son, Clark Kent (Henry Cavill). When we first see him, he is a troubled man moving from one odd job to another – on a fishing vessel, in a small town diner – however he never manages to fully escape his destiny saving lives even as he conceals his true identity.

When he discovers the story of his origins, he finds a new meaning in his life. His secret is shared almost from the beginning with intrepid reporter Lois Lane (Amy Adams). General Zod however manages to find him and plans to take over Earth and establish Krypton in its stead, in the process killing off all humankind. Clark knows he cannot let this happen and thereafter begins an orgy of violence with a predictable end.

Okay, so the biggest problem with Man of Steel? It tries to ‘Batman-ize’ Superman. Superman is not dark, he is not brooding, he is not a tortured soul. He is a fairly happy Kansas farm boy who is lucky to have parents who support and ground him while he uses his extra-terrestrial powers to help earthlings. His alter ego is a little extra geeky just to over-compensate for how truly awesome he is in reality! There was really no need for "Man of Steel" to attempt (and fail at) creating dark undertones for this story too. It feels very uneven and most importantly, adds nothing to the tale. Instead it detracts from what could have been a bright, positive tale like the first Spiderman movie. His superpowers are also shown as terrifying revelations and his powers a burden that his father urges him to keep secret even at the cost of losing lives.

They barely call him Superman in this one for chrissakes! 

Second, the self-indulgent special effects and the glut of fight sequences were quite off-putting after a point. There really wasn’t much that we haven’t already seen in this age of Transformers, Thor, Iron Man, Matrix, Avengers and the like. Especially towards the end, the movie felt interminable as there was encounter after encounter between Superman and the same set of villains. Every time a villain was injured, they were carried away to their ship till they came back later for a repeat showdown. The military was given a place of pride in the action sequences leading to more shouted orders and crashing helicopters and making me wonder what exactly this movie was trying to do. 

The good part about the movie? Henry Cavill as Superman. While I went with low expectations, he proved to be quite charming and not as wooden-faced as I had expected. And so much better than Brandon Routh. And…very easy on the eye!

Amy Adams was adequate though I cannot but picture her in a comic role with her retrousse nose. Russell Crowe has seen better days and Kevin Costner was irritating in his self-sacrificing role. The beautiful Diane Lane was sadly deglamourized so that Superman could comfortably have a ‘how-dare-you-threaten-my-mom’ moment with General Zod. And Michael Shannon was just not scary enough as General Zod. He might work well as a Mafia boss during the ‘30’s but not as an extra terrestrial archenemy.

All in all, the movie is watchable if you can ignore the sound and fury and focus on Clark Kent. How he runs through fire to save workers on an oil rig, how he pushes up from the ground with his fists for his first flight into the air, how he bends a fence trying to control his anger as he is taunted by bullies, how he coolly wears handcuffs to let the soldiers feel safe… How he is truly a special man.

6.5/10

Yeh Jawaani hai Deewani - the review

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani feels schizophrenic. Like the movie has a bipolar disorder. A large part of it is predictable fare- full of Bollywood clichés but there are some parts which are refreshing in their realism. In a way it is exactly what you would expect if Ayan Mukherji and Karan Johar made a movie together!

The movie’s story is pretty much what you see in the trailers – Ranbir Kapoor is Kabir a.k.a. Bunny, a youth bitten by wanderlust who wants to live every moment chasing his dreams of travelling to all corners of the world. Deepika plays Naina, a shy, geeky, ‘scholar’ type who is preparing to be a doctor.  Avi (Aditya Roy Kapur) and Aditi (Kalki Koechlin) are Bunny’s devil-may-care friends. The lives of these four intersect when Naina impulsively decides to go with them to Manali, tired of doing what is expected of her all the time. On the trip, she falls in love with the effervescent Bunny but realizing that their paths are different, she doesn’t tell him and makes her peace with it. 8 years later, the four meet again at Aditi’s wedding in Udaipur – Aditi’s wedding not to Avi as one had been half-expecting but to Taran (Kunal Roy Kapur in a delightful cameo). At this wedding, the friends clash, make up and come to different realizations about themselves and each other. Bunny has to decide whether he will continue on his chosen path or whether his dreams have now changed.

The movie has none of the subtle nuances that characterized Ayan Mukherji’s earlier work, Wake up Sid. Where that was a growing up story with a beautiful romance woven in and a very relatable set of scenarios and characters, YJHD is much more larger than life. Here you have stunning landscapes, foreign destinations, big fat Indian weddings and the usual KJo style opulence thrown in. This is a movie where the awkward, scholarly, conventional Naina wears hot pants in Manali. She is afraid of attending a party where she doesn’t know everyone but dances like a maniac during a Holi song. And yes, 8 years later she is wearing bikini cholis that look in danger of causing a wardrobe malfunction. Aditi, the tomboyish rebel eventually transforms into a girly girl who wants to have a lavish wedding (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai deja vu). Bunny, I am sorry to say, is the least endearing Ranbir character I have seen so far. He is portrayed as a selfish boy who grows into a selfish man and his decision to make some changes to his lifestyle at the end appear more a sacrifice to the demands of passing time than any real transformation

There is a strong streak of practicality in all characters in the movie – Naina accepts quite calmly that she has fallen in love but lets it go because they both want different things, Bunny understands that time is running out for him and he has to make some changes whether he likes it or not, Aditi realizes that her love for Avi is one-sided and she finds a more meaningful relationship with Kunal and Avi is okay with telling Bunny quite bluntly that they are no longer friends because he was not there for him. This is both refreshing in its honesty and also sometimes a bit depressing in its very transactional nature. Much like relationships today.

Some of the more entertaining sequences and dialogues in the movie – such as when Bunny and Avi try to wake up Aditi by singing Jumma Chumma or when Bunny spies on Kunal’s dance routine and calls him a ‘bhabhi’, or Aditi calling Bunny and Avi ‘Karan Arjun’ - do feel new and real. However there are still several times when it feels like the scenes are falling flat and the actors struggling to convey more than the material they have been given. Deepika has done a fairly good job and come a long way since her flat dialogue delivery days. Ranbir surprisingly was unexceptional and did not stand out as much as one might have expected him to. Kalki did a good job as usual and was helped by getting perhaps the most grounded and interesting character. Sometimes indeed the Aditi-Avi angle was more interesting than the Bunny-Naina one. 

The songs are a clear win for this movie - from the completely gratuitous Ghagra where Madhuri looked fantastic, to the get-up-and-dance-in-the-aisles Balam Pichkari, to the Ranbir showstopper Badtameez Dil to the liquid melody of Kabira and Ilahi.

Overall, YJHD is still a growing up story but more in the vein of an Imtiaz ‘Love Aaj Kal’ Ali than an Ayan ‘Wake up Sid’ Mukherji. Go for it to enjoy some super songs, some decent performances and some genuinely good moments. That's equal to getting a lot from Bollywood these days.

6.5/10

Barfi - the sweetest thing!

In a sense, aptly titled since the movie is as sweet and delicious as a 'barfi' (sweet dish). Barfi is the story of a deaf-mute boy who can't even pronounce his own name properly and as a result becomes 'Barfi' instead of Murphy. The movie is actually more a canvas for the vibrant painting that is Barfi's life.

Instead of dwelling on the tragic aspect of his life, Barfi grows up as a happy go lucky young man in Darjeeling. Shruti (Ileana), the Calcutta girl comes into his town and his life and he is bowled over at first sight. With him Shruti experiences a craziness and freedom that goes beyond her neatly ordered life and makes her fall in love with him. However, when it comes to taking a decision, Shruti is swayed by her mother (Roopa Ganguly) and ditches Barfi for the security offered by her fiance (Jishu Sengupta). Barfi is heartbroken but stoic. Pandemonium erupts once he needs money for his father's operation and decides to kidnap the autistic rich girl, Jhilmil (Priyanka) who he's known since childhood. Inadvertently, he becomes Jhilmil's security blanket and soon finds himself in an emotional bond that leads to surprising consequences.

The first half of the movie follows a light-hearted and often slapstick route. His interactions with the local cop (Saurabh Shukla) chasing him are especially reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin movies. In the second half the story becomes more about relationships though it never abandons its light-heartedness. Instead there are beautiful setpieces such as the one where Barfi traps fireflies in bubbles. The cinematography is excellent and highlights the subtle nuances of Barfi and Jhilmil's relationship. Both Darjeeling wrapped in mist with its steam-puffing train winding along the hillside and Calcutta of the 70's teeming with life and majestic as the Howrah Bridge despite the rain and squalor are well depicted. The music weaves mellifluously in and out of the story and sets the right tone.

Ranbir proves once again that he is arguably the finest actor of his generation. His performance is at once comic, tragic and believable. See his silent showdown with Shruti after his marriage proposal to know what I mean. Priyanka is surprisingly restrained and subtle in her role and much more likeable than when she is posturing as a diva. Ileana is pretty and adequate though she does tend to look worried for a lot of the second half. But any day a better actress than the over-hyped Diana Penty.
Anurag Basu stitches together a sensitive tale where one can understand how certain things may happen without needing to be convinced about the whys. Barfi and Jhilmil's relationship flows smoothly like the Ganges without inducing the kind of incredulity that movies like My Name is Khan threw up. The movie does seem to be about some very different ingredients - slapstick, a bit of a mystery/intrigue and a refreshing look at love - which Basu manages to turn into a very palatable dish. My only real grouse would be the total copy of a couple of scenes from The Notebook (movie starring Ryan Gosling based on book by Nicholas Sparks) which made me wonder about how much of the rest of the movie had been derived (esp. the comic sequences).

But to enjoy a lovely tale and some wonderful performances, do grab a bite of Barfi. It's pretty original for Bollywood.

8/10
 

Ishaqzaade - the review

Film and TV serial makers seem to have suddenly woken up to the charms of the Indian heartland. Ishaqzaade is based in the town of Almora in UP where everyone seems to be born trigger happy.

And if we are talking UP heartland, can elections be far behind? Zoya Qureshi (Parineeti) is the daughter of one ministerial berth hopeful while Parma Chauhan (Arjun) is the grandson of the other. They are naturally extremely hostile towards each other as they canvass for their respective parties. Parma is crude, boorish and Zoya is a slightly more refined version of the same animal. He burns down the local diesel store as punishment and she trades in her jhumkas for a pistol.
After yet another encounter, which ends with Zoya slapping Parma in front of their college mates, things take a different turn. Parma begins wooing the impulsive Zoya who falls for him and secretly marries him too. The story takes a twist here just before the intermission.

After a fairly interesting and fast paced first half, the curse of the second half strikes. The story degenerates into a mish-mash of conventional love story, communalism and honour killings. Parma's character easily seems to swing between conflicting extremes while Zoya's capitulation seems terribly stupid. The director seems suddenly unsure about which thread to follow and how to proceed logically. The tone of the movie veers between amusing and 'dead' serious leaving one confused about what to feel. Quite a waste of solid potential.

The acting was adequate with Arjun Kapoor almost pulling off an Abhishek in Yuva. Parineeti's acting is very good of course but the I-am-a-spunky-babe acting in her second outing too is repetitive.

Be warned: the 'Pareshan' song will stick in your head.

6/10

Mausam - review

Hmm...where do I begin? Mausam moves back and forth across so many time periods that it has left one quite confused. Pankaj Kapur's directorial venture is an ambitious one.It spans across continents and across crucial points in India's modern history. It is supposed to be a grand love story that triumphs over the ravages of time. It even includes the Indian Air Force in an attempt to give its hero (and the director's son) that dash of gentlemanly machismo. In trying to be so much, it unfortunately ends up being too little.

Starting off in 1992 in the small village of Mallukot in Punjab, we are introduced to Punjabi munda Harry aka Harinder Singh (Shahid) who soon falls for the new belle in town, Kashmiri Muslim Aayat (Sonam). Before the two can quite finish accepting their love, Aayat is packed off to Mumbai due to the Babri Masjid incident. Don't ask me why. Aayat seems to do a whole lot of really unnecessary gallivanting all over the world so that the plot can move. Harry meanwhile becomes an IAF pilot. The lovers next meet after 7 years in, of all places, Edinburgh in Scotland. Here the shy, demure Aayat is learning ballet apparently and Harry is on some pilot exchange programme (!) Things go better this time and the love story progresses smoothly. But before harry can formally ask for Aayat's hand in marriage, the Kargil war begins and he has to fly out. Like, immediately. Without so much as a 'goodbye and here's my address/phone no'.

And so they pine away and try in various annoyingly vague ways to get in touch with each other. Some minor misunderstandings later, they encounter each other in Ahmedabad now just in time to get trapped in the communal riots. Thankfully for us, they get through this experience agreeing to wed and stay happily ever after. I really don't think I could have tolerated one more moronic separation.

Frankly, Mausam is a letdown. It's movie with the seed of a great idea (a love story set against the backdrop of recent history) and simply amazing cinematography. But it is far too contrived to strike a chord with the audience. The history seems forced, the lovers separation seems unnecessary, Aayat's travel seems inexplicable since they keep putting her out of Harry's reach. The direction itself feels uneven. The first part in Punjab in natural and sets a nice tone despite again, unnecessary setpieces. The visuals are consistently brilliant and there is poetry in the way the lovers interact. In the Scotland part of the tale, the poetry still remains but becomes caught up in the forced storyline. This also around the time that Shahid begins to get on your nerves. Just when I am thinking how cute he is and how competently he is acting, he goes into his OTT impersonation of how he thinks a fighter pilot should be. That's grim, unsmiling and bordering on rude.

After Scotland, in the second half, it was all mayhem, people went back and forth from India to Scotland. Switzerland and even America were there somewhere in the fray. Shahid flits between 1999 and 2001 (necessary so that the WTC disaster can be shown). The climax was the last straw. People laughed. Yes really. The hero saves the girl, a horse and a child as a riots rage around them! I mean, it was Such a 1980s potboiler finish that one could be pardoned for thinking that this was a separate movie than the one we began watching. Maybe Shahid felt he had to take this chance to show off all his acting chops. Sad.

Points mainly for beautiful visuals and some good music. Okay and also because Shahid was cute in parts. Sonam btw, was pretty and faintly ditzy - much better than one could have hoped for.

4/10

Mere Brother ki Dulhan - review

'Abandon all logic ye who enter here' - this should be put up at the multiplex gates me thinks. It's a sign of the times that I go to watch movies these days with remarkably low expectations. Its the only way that one can still hope to be pleasantly surprised and get some value for money. Mere Brother ki Dulhan (MBKD) is a mindless, somewhat hypocritical romp through Delhi, Agra in the company of some beautiful people.

The story starts with Luv (Ali Zafar) breaking up with his girlfriend in London. Somewhat to my mystification, he then proceeds to tell his brother Kush (Imran Khan) in India to find a girl for him since he plans to get married very soon. Kush soon realises this is not so simple when he meets several psychotic families with eligible daughters. Finally he chances upon Dimple (Katrina Kaif) who he recalls as a wild child he had known briefly in college. He is impressed by her free-spirited ways, she manages to convince him that she is now suitably ready for an arranged marriage with a London based, good-looking, pound rich man like his brother. While both families get ready with marriage preparations and before Luv can set foot in India, Kush and Dimple have hit it off. From thereon its a short step to finally accepting that they love each other and devising plot after plot to cut out Luv and get hitched to Kush.

The USP of the film are of course its fresh-faced actors. Katrina has made a career out of just looking super pretty. Here, to give her due credit she does give her all to a characterization quite removed from the plastic doll act she is so comfortable with. Imran Khan is cute and insipid as always. It is frankly amazing to see how even Ali Zafar or Katrina have more screen impact than him. See the "Madhubala" song and you will know what I mean. Imran is much better than his Jaane tu... days where only his eyebrows did all the acting. But he is still a long way from being a dashing leading man. Ali Zafar is promising but his acting also seemed to be on a different key - sort of felt as though he was about to spout some romantic Urdu poetry any minute.

The part that gets me irritated if I stop to think about it, is the sheer hypocrisy of the characters. Dimple, a bohemian chick who has even been arrested for holding concerts near the Taj Mahal, is deeply Westernised in her behaviour, admits unabashedly that she is okay with an arranged marriage with a 'package' deal. She interacts with her prospective husband only about once over the web before agreeing. And this way she makes her parents happy and secures her future. The respective sets of parents are from the IFS and from the Army. They are shown to be almost moronically outdated in the way they keep worrying about "badnaami" in the community. The movie is pathetic in its attempt to be modern (with a heroine who gets drunk and loves trouble for the sake of it) and at the same time struggling to depict its essential Indianness (arranged marriage, log kya kahenge syndrome). This is a fine balance not easily achieved. It is inspired by the DDLJ's and Jab we Met's of the world to which almost all movies make a passing nod. In fact I am quite tired of seeing faintly outrageous bubbly heroines in the manner of Geet - Tanu Weds Manu or MBKD, its all a takeoff on Kareena.

Which brings me to the thought of how different the movie would have felt if it had a Kareena, a Shah Rukh, even a Ranbir. Still one must accept what one gets and enjoy the pretty faces and fairly good catchy music. Ignore half-baked plots, uneven acting and mediocre direction. Timepass for the weekend.

5/10

Zindagi na Milegi Dobara - the review

Well, yes, it does sort of remind you of 'Dil Chahta Hai'. I mean a movie about 3 guys riding in a car is bound to. Especially when one of the guys directed the earlier cult film. But ZNMD is essentially a road trip movie. A great way to showcase the beauty of Spain and indulgently pay tribute to that old adage 'boys will be boys.'

ZNMD is geared towards providing you vicarious thrills. You watch this movie not for its story or plot structure but for the experience it provides. The way it takes you along on a journey through sun drenched Spain - with its vibrant countryside, its quaint villas, its energetic dances and exotic women. You fall in with Arjun (Hrithik), Kabir (Abhay) and Imran (Farhan) as they pursue one adventure after another - from deep sea diving, to sky diving, to running with the bulls - in a bid to recapture something they have lost in the routine of daily life.

Arjun is a grim hotshot financial broker who has lost sight of the simpler pleasures of life in his bid to make as much money as possible before the age of 40. Kabir the prankster is engaged to Natasha (Kalki) and unsure about whether he wants to marry her. Imran is the perennial smartass who is in search of his biological father. When the three friends reconnect over a trip to Spain they realise what is really important to them in life. Arjun learns to relax and let his hair down as he falls for the free spirited diving instructor Laila (Katrina Kaif). Kabir is forced to accept that his relationship with Natasha is stifling him and Imran realises that his biological father is his father in name only. As they travel through Spain, each thrill seeking sport proposed by one of the trio leads to epiphany for another.

ZNMD is all about Carpe Diem or Seizing the day before it is too late. A feel good philosophy if ever there was one. Thanks to its beautiful locales and beautiful people spiced up with some smart lines and good music, ZNMD is also a feel good movie. So well done Zoya Akhtar. Luck by Chance was more original and realistic but like your brother, you know how to put old wine in a new bottle.

7/10

Pirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides

Last movie seen in theatre. Not as good as earlier movies.

Chemistry between Johnny and Penny non-existent.

Surprisingly, missed Keira and Orlando Bloom angle.

Even Jack Sparrow can get a bit tiresome if he doesn't get smart lines and moves.

Best sequence that of mermaids attacking in the night. Only part of the movie really living up to the franchise's rep.

The King's Speech - review

I saw The King’s Speech a day after I saw Black Swan. The contrast between the two was stark. While Black Swan was a twisted tale of paranoia, The King’s Speech was much more mainstream in championing the cause of the underdog. The underdog in this case was, of course, King George VI of the United Kingdom.

Essentially a ‘poor little rich boy’ kind of a story, here we have a king struggling to overcome his speech defect. His predicament is accentuated because he has to give an oration that will motivate his subjects at the beginning of World War II. Albert (Colin Firth) is a second son and thus not in direct line to the throne. He is also somewhat shy and afflicted with a stammer that frustrates and infuriates him. After his hectoring father George V dies, his elder brother Edward becomes king. Edward is in love with American socialite Wallis Simpson and wants to marry her. However she is a two time divorcee and the King being Head of the Church cannot marry her. As a consequence, Edward takes the momentous decision of abdicating the throne in order to marry her. And his younger brother Albert finds himself a reluctant monarch.

Albert has tried many treatments to get rid of his stammer – including the humiliating experience of trying to speak with marbles in his mouth – but they don’t seem to work. Eventually, with his supportive wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) by his side he reaches the doorstep of an Australian speech defect therapist, Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). Logue’s somewhat unconventional and progressive methods (no smoking, getting to the root cause of the stammer) first annoy ‘Bertie’ (as Logue insists on calling Albert) and then convince him. With the title of King George VI burdening him, Albert relies even more heavily on Logue to help him address his nation convincingly upon the September 1939 declaration of war with Germany. After his radio speech, as Logue watches, the King steps onto the balcony of the palace with his family, where thousands of people assembled for the speech applaud him.

Colin Firth gives a sterling performance as the beleaguered king who struggles to articulate his thoughts. His painful struggles to pronounce even simple words manage to strike a chord and elevate what could have been a trivial issue. An Oscar well deserved. Geoffrey Rush is assured as always in his portrayal of the unorthodox Logue. Helena Bonham Carter is also good and the relation between the King and his wife is tender and touching. In contrast to this, Edward the elder brother and Wallis Simpson are quite clearly painted as villains of the piece.

An inspirational movie that shows that nobody is too big to suffer and no problem too small to be of consequence. An easy watch though maybe a little too prolonged in places because one already knows how its going to end. On a happy note of course. The struggle is always more meaningful when one emerges victorious.

8/10

Black Swan - the review

Black Swan is a mesmerizing and disturbing insight into the life and mind of an obsessive ballerina. An unlikely juxtaposition of the bright with the dark, beautiful art with a bloody underbelly.

Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) is the ballerina working for a ballet company that plans to stage a “visceral and real” production of ‘Swan Lake’. She eventually gets the coveted role of the Swan Queen beating off fierce competition. While the ballet director Thomas (Vincent Cassel) is confident she can portray the fragile White Swan, her performance as the seductive Black Swan is not impressive enough.

Nina is a frigid, fragile perfectionist who cannot lose control enough to be truly superb. Her manic obsession with her craft and her paranoia about losing the part lead to a gradual erosion of her ability to distinguish reality from delusion. Add to this a psychopathic mother (Barbara Hershey) who partly pushes her daughter to fulfill her unrealized ambitions and at the same time deeply resents her budding success. She treats Nina as a small child and it is scary to see Nina in her room surrounded by soft toys as her mother puts her to bed. At work she stays aloof from the other performers and is at a loss how to tackle the demanding director. She feels that she is not good enough and she cannot please him with her ballet even when he manipulates her sexually. For a while it appears she can be friends with the feisty and free-spirited new ballerina Lily (Mila Kunis) who takes her one night on a trippy nightclub ride. However soon she is seeing Lily as a competitor out to grab her prized role.

Nina’s struggle to break free of her unnatural lifestyle and her mother’s control , to perform the perfect White and Black Swan creates a dichotomy that splits her. She sees mirror images, doppelgangers everywhere. It culminates in a tumultuous and phantasmagoric opening night performance where she ‘becomes’ the Black Swan in her own mind. While her performance is a roaring success, her mind disintegrates almost completely. She feels feathers sprout out of her shoulders and sees enemies out to steal her part. In fighting her inner demons, Nina stabs herself in the process. We leave Nina as she lies in a pool of blood with the appreciation of the audience ringing in her ears.

Director Darren Aronofsky has created a movie that takes one right into the mind of the tortured protagonist, a movie that preys on you long after you have seen it. Here beauty is brittle and pain and paranoia a reality. There are gruesome scenes aplenty and ballet is a hard taskmaster that makes one bleed. Literally. There are also a few somewhat unnecessary sexcapades –perhaps to reinforce Nina’s stunted development there also. The director confines us in the same schizophrenic hell as his ballerina.

Natalie Portman, who won the Oscar for this role, throws herself into the role of the obsessed ballerina. She's fragile and harsh, strong yet weak, unsure yet confident, light and dark. Her performance is convincing and captivating.

For a movie that draws you into its dark spaces and takes you on a mind-bending ride, 7/10.

7 Khoon Maaf - review

Susanna Anna Marie Johannes has a problem - 'duniya ke saare galat aadmi uski kismat mein likhe the'. And she is a survivor who would rather kill her wayward husbands rather than leave them. So you have Priyanka Chopra giving it her all as the tormented Susanna whose hope for a lasting love withers with age. Husband after husband proves undeserving of her love and is summarily disposed of.

At a young age she marries the older Major Edwin Rodrigues (Neil Nitin Mukesh) who stifles her spirit with his insane jealousy and egotism. Next in line is rockstar Jimmy Stetson aka Jamshed Rathore (John Abraham) who woos her with his guitar but falls quickly to drug addiction. Poet Wasiullah aka Musafir (Irfan Khan) appears to be a harbour for peaceful love but turns out to be a sadomasochist.

By now Susanna is middle aged and a more than a little disillusioned but this doesn't stop the long list of men wanting to marry her. Russian spy/scientist Nicolai Vronski courts her with 'shudh' Hindi and Bollywood dialogues till she agrees to marry him. Only to realise that he is duping her and is already married. To stave off a police investigation, Susanna is forced to marry the exploitative and horny Inspector Keemat Lal (Annu Kapoor). He is sent to meet his maker at the earliest opportunity. The elderly grieving black widow is now tortured enough to make a suicide attempt. In this she is thwarted by Dr. Madhusudan Tarafdar (Naseeruddin Shah) who is a comforting mix of allopathy, naturopathy and spirituality rolled into one. That is until he tries to kill Susanna for her money. Susanna replies with a game of Russian Roulette revealing her frustration with her own accursed life and Tarafdar joins the other husbands. By now unable to handle so much pain, Susanna burns down her house and is believed to be dead herself.
Susanna's story is told through the eyes of the young orphan boy, Arun, who she brings up in her household and who eventually becomes a Forensic scientist (Vivaan Shah) seeking to confirm her death. His love for and worshipful obsession with her leads him to Pondicherry where he finds Susanna alive and well and about to be a 'bride' for the seventh time...

Vishal Bharadwaj's latest offering is based on a short story by Ruskin Bond titled "Susanna's Seven husbands" and to give the devil his due, Vishal again tries something different with his black-widow story. There is a lot of detailing like topical references to Babri Masjid dispute, the Berlin Wall coming down, the IC 814 hijacking, shootouts at Mumbai etc. to show the passage of time. The curiosity value for the audience is in figuring out why and how the next husband will be bumped off. The devices range from panthers, to pistols, to even Viagra! Priyanka Chopra puts in a very commendable performance and is undoubtedly one of the finer actresses of her generation (just imagine Katrina trying to pull off something like this and you will know what I mean). Among the husbands, Irfan and Naseer stand out with their assured presence despite being just a part of a much larger whole. Ruskin Bond himself has a cameo in the movie. As does Konkona Sen Sharma in yet another unaffected and endearing performance. Usha Uthup however is completely wasted in her role as Susanna's macabre maid.

The movie however, is just not engrossing enough. The first half is especially tedious with long winded and unnecessary sequences like the fight between the Major and Gunga the servant and Jimmy's raucous songs. The actual killing of the husbands is also hardly shown and is more often done by her servants than by Susanna herself.
Bharadwaj's big problem here is that the transition from the pages of a book to the big screen does not happen smoothly. One is constantly left wondering how much better it would have been to read the story to experience its darkness and hidden spaces better. Watching the dimly lit sequences, the Greek chorus like characters of Susanna's servants who help her with each crime, Arun the sly kid whose love for Susanna borders on Oedipal and Susanna herself who appears to have an Elektra complex make one feel like maybe a play would have worked better than a movie. The need to justify Susanna's actions in true Hindi cinema tradition also feels forced. I wonder what the movie would have been like if she were to gleefully dispose of her husbands rather than make it seem like a painful duty.

Falling into the grey area between 'artsy' and mainstream cinema does not work so well this time. When the movie ended the confusion of the audience was almost palpable.
So am left wishing for a more tightly knit script, sharper dialogues and better makeup for Priyanka (who looks hideous in most scenes).

Rating: 5/10

Band, Baaja, Baarat - the review

The big, fat Indian wedding is always a fascinating subject for Bollywood. Yashraj makes this their subject this time in 'Band Baaja Baarat' (henceforth BBB for obvious reasons). Despite having lavish North Indian weddings as the backdrop it is a small budget film (no Swiss locales), with a newcomer in the lead (no big names) and a story centred around the middle-class (no swish set). But even so, or maybe because of it, the movie works as a light-hearted weekend watch.

So meet Shruti (Anushka Sharma) a no-nonsense 20 year old girl from a middle class Delhi household. Her goal in life is to setup her own wedding planning "bijness" called "Shaadi Mubarak". She is determined to make a success of it before appeasing her parents and settling down herself.

A chance meeting at a wedding (what else) with Bittoo Sharma (Ranveer Singh) takes her plans forward. He is a the son of a Saharanpur farmer who has no goals in life besides chasing girls, gatecrashing weddings and generally having a good time before he is forced to return to the fields of UP. He is as unmotivated as she is motivated.
He tries to hit on Shruti but when Shruti makes it clear that she is not interested, he decides to do the next best thing and becomes her "binness partner" to avoid going back home.

The rules of the game are clearly specified by Shruti: "Jisse vyapaar karo, usse kabhi na pyaar karo" (Don't mix business with pleasure). But of course the audience knows that rules are meant to be broken. Shruti and Bittoo's business does well and their friendship grows. Bittoo proves to be invaluable to the set-up and shows much dedication to his job. They clearly make a good team and the future looks promising. The move from Janakpuri to Sainik Farms begins to happen.

However their grand plans derail when they end up spending the night together. While Shruti wakes up with the realization that she loves Bitto, he panics at the idea of getting involved emotionally. Before long, the Shruti-Bittoo partnership ends acrimoniously. She throws him out and he starts his own company, "Happy Wedding" to compete. However, soon it is clear that their magic was in their team and they begin to lose money and run from creditors. When a business magnate insists that they join hands if they want to plan his daughter's wedding, Shruti and Bittoo come together for one final gig to solve their financial problems. Needless to say that Bittoo realizes he's being an idiot and wins back Shruti so that their Shaadi Mubarak can take place.

The chemistry between the lead pair keeps the film alive - whether they are mouthing quick repartees or hurling abuses at each other. In terms of characterisation also, the level-headed and responsible Shruti is a perfect foil for the impulsive, street-smart Bittoo. The middle class Delhi setting of the story is realistic and believable and adds to the element of interest. The dialogues are sharp and snappy with no unnecessary drama and keeping the characters in mind. Songs are catchy as well especially "Aenvi, aenvi".

Anushka Sharma impresses in her third celluloid outing much more than she did in the first two. She fits the role to a T and shows off her acting chops as the spirited Shruti. Ranveer Singh makes a very assured debut and is clearly a total package. With his craggy looks, he suits the role of the uncouth, happy-go-lucky hero whose poor mastery over English does not come in the way of his running a successful "binness". One hopes to see more of him.

All in all a surprisingly feel-good, fun movie. 8/10.

Endhiran a.k.a. Robot

Finally experienced the Endhiran (released as The Robot in Hindi) phenomenon. I say 'experienced' because that is what the movie has become of course, thanks to Rajnikanth's overwhelming presence and the crores spent on never-before seen special effects. Amid media reports about fans queuing up for shows at 4 a.m., Rajni cutouts being felicitated with garlands and milk and simply countless Rajni jokes, the movie quickly became one of the biggest grossers in recent times.

I was in Chennai recently and decided to go watch it at a local PVR multiplex. The multiplex was packed despite the movie having released more than a month back. However, the crowds were largely calm other the odd whistle, spontaneous applause or two. Perhaps I should have chosen a standalone theatre to capture exactly how Rajni induces mass hysteria.

The story deals with what happens when man plays god. Rajni plays Dr. Vaseegaran, a scientist who invents a robot named Chitti in his own image (Rajni again). In his efforts to make the robot more perfect and hence secure approval from his peers, he invests it with human emotions thereby paving the road to hell. Chitti falls in love with Vaseegaran's fiance, Sana (Aishwarya Rai). When implanted with a 'destruction program' by Vaseegaran's competitor and one-time mentor Dr. Bohra (Danny Denzongpa), he goes on a bloody rampage to secure Sana and take over the city with an army of lookalike robots.

Endhiran is a movie that works on several levels. While it is easy to see it as a merely a vehicle to showcase and cash in on Rajni's popularity, it also serves as an allegory mirroring the relation between God and Man. How god created man in his own image, how emotions are a necessary evil that perfect and corrupt us at the same time. One can sense both Vaseegaran's pain at the way his prized creation has turned on him and sense Chitti's frustration at being denied love because he is after all a machine.

The special effects are spectacular with Rajnikanth as a robot now being legitimately able to do, in the name of science, all the stunts he did in the name of style in his other movies. And more. Yes, its over the top and yes, its illogical. But watch this with less cynicism and more of an open mind and you might just enjoy it.

Dabangg - naam aisa toh movie kaisa!

A movie that deliberately tries to be a takeoff on Westerns, typical Bollywood masala movies and Rajni style over-the-top potboilers at the same time, should definitely be called Dabangg (Fearless)! This time bomb succeeds to a large extent due to one man – Salman Khan as Inspector Chulbul Pandey who uses his quirks and eccentric acting to great effect. Leave your finer sensibilities at home and you are sure to enjoy this movie.

“Dil se bulbul aur dimag se dabangg” – that’s Inspector Chulbul Pandey for you in this crazy ride through UP heartland. He is the "Robinhood Pandey" of the masses, the apparently corrupt cop with a heart of gold. He beats up goons with flamboyance, in action scenes that look like they are straight out of a video game. But what sets Chulbul apart is how he breaks into a jig in the middle of one such encounter when a cellphone starts playing a song from ‘Wanted’. He is also the loving son to his mother (Dimple Kapadia) and the ignored son of his arrogant stepfather (Vinod Khanna). His relations with “mand-buddhi” step-brother Makkhi (Arbaaz) are not too pleasant either. On his knuckle-cracking way he falls in love with the beautiful village belle, Rajo (Sonakshi Sinha) and almost bullies and hustles her into marrying him. On the other side of the fence we have Chhedi Singh (that’s Sonu Sood and really, who thought up the character’s names in this movie!) – evil doer and aspiring political party leader who’s always practising his smiles before the camera.

Chulbul Pandey works not despite, but because of Salman’s swagger. His major attitude and his corny one-liners are designed to draw a “seeti” from the audience. Salman looks fresh (and interested) after a long time. He delivers outrageous punchlines, beats up goons and romances his lady love with an equal mixture of in-your-face style and pelvic thrusts. It is hard to imagine anyone else pulling off this “sanki” (eccentric) character so well. Sonakshi Sinha makes an assured debut. She is beautiful and has good screen presence – making her presence felt in what is essentially Salman’s show. She fares better than Arbaaz who bumbles his way through even in his own home production. Sonu Sood is good and perhaps an underrated actor. What people like Vinod Khanna, Dimple Kapadia, Mahesh Manjrekar, Om Puri and Anupam Kher are doing in this movie was a mystery to me since their roles did not warrant the use of their talent. Especially Om Puri and Anupam Kher’s roles were just like bit parts that anyone could have performed.

Director Abhinav Kashyap’s debut venture faces limitations in the form of a weak script and perhaps loses the plot in trying to be too many things at the same time. On one hand it is a no-holds-barred comic spoof type and on the other it still tries to be serious enough for son-avenging-mother’s-death type cinema. This attempt to straddle different spaces makes the narrative somewhat disjointed and one is not quite sure what to focus on – Chulbul’s dysfunctional family, his relationship with his father, his pursuit of Rajo, the political machinations in the state or the conflict with Chhedi Singh. Finally one has to decide to just forget everyone else and go with what Chulbul Pandey says and does – that’s the only way to enjoy the mayhem. Don't question the sudden change of heart of Vinod Khanna's character or the chances of Rajo reciprocating the love of a terror like Chulbul. The movie is also quite crass in several instances so be warned. From toilet humour to sexual innuendo, this has it all. They are gunning for every kind of audience and they go forth with all guns blazing.

The songs are quite good especially ‘Tere mast mast do nain’ if you can get over Salman’s bizarre dance moves which look like something he thought up himself. ‘Munni badnaam hui’ is off course the chartbuster to dance to if you want to let your hair down and go crazy.

Watch it to have a laugh with your friends. And watch it to understand that you may like him, you may hate him, but you can’t ignore Salman Khan.

For providing some good timepass of the kind that we more often look down upon, this one gets a 7/10.

Lafangey Parindey - the review

Lafangey Parindey - such a strange name. Like the director couldn't decide which word he liked better and decided to go with both. The movie is literally about Lafangey (or Rascals) and figuratively about Parindey (or Birds). The Lafangey are One Shot Nandu (Neil Nitin Mukesh) and his sidekicks who spend their time pumping iron in some Wadi in Mumbai. Pinky Palkar (Deepika Padukone) symbolises Parindey with her aspirations of leaving behind the wadi life and moving up in life with her dancing skills.

As Nandu tries to flee after helping out in a goon's murder, he rams his car into Pinky who loses her eyesight as a result. To assuage his guilt, Nandu teaches her to cope with her blindness and she teaches him to skate and dance. Quite naturally, the feisty Pinky and the taciturn Nandu fall in love. They are all set to compete in "India's got Talent" when trouble rears its ugly head in paradise.

The movie is a good watch and the fast pace of the narrative helps. More than anything, the backdrop of the story with its lower class setting, its tomboyish, aggressive heroine and its local tapori boxing hero hold one's interest. It is a visual relief after all the beauty and gloss that mainstream Bollywood throws at you.
The thing is, that this is the kind of movie that can never really aim to be a blockbuster with its limited scope and premise. Its almost as if the creators thought Deepika and Neil would look great dancing together on skates and made up the rest of the story from there. Its lead actors are also not talented enough to elevate the film above the subject.

Deepika though much improved, continues to find it difficult to establish a connect with the audience. Her dialogues often fall flat to the floor and stay there. She does look the part to a T though. Neil Nitin Mukesh looks hot as the local boxer but sadly his contribution stops there. He is unable to bring any kind of nuance to his role and simply goes through the motions. He also seems too refined and soft spoken at times to be really convincing as the tough talking action hero. Many models have started acting. Maybe Neil can now start the opposite trend. He looks so much better than he acts.

The climax of the movie is also very weak. Shiamak Davar, Juhi Chawla and Javed Jaffrey are brought on as judges of "India's got Talent" and don't have a single line of dialogue to mouth after the all-important final performance! They just wipe their tears! I mean come on! The ease with which the cops capitulate is also completely absurd. Director Pradeep Sarkar seems to lose the plot towards the end. In fact he could have had a better plot. To his credit, he never dips into the melodrama so readily available when you have a blind heroine and a hero who gets beaten up for a living. Huge really when you think that this guy made the totally bullshit Laaga Chunri mein Daaga - a regressive melodrama if ever there was one.

So coming back to Lafangey Parindey. I liked the fast pace, I liked the restraint (coming from Yash Raj that too!), I liked the characterisation, I liked the setting and I liked Nandu and Pinky's love story. So a 6.5/10.

Go watch this movie if you have the time. Go with no high expectations and it will entertain you.