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2011-11-15T16:29:00.001-08:00

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Oh My Friend

2011-11-13T23:42:00.001-08:00

Actors: Siddharth, Shruti Hassan, Navdeep, Hansika Motwani, Tanikella Bharani

Genre: Romance/ Drama

Rating: 2.5/5

Oscar Wilde once said “Between men and women there is no friendship possible. There is passion, enmity, worship, love, but no friendship.” This is widely considered true, but the plot of this film, penned by Venu Sriram is based completely against this tenet. Chandu and Siri are childhood friends who go on to find partners Ritu and Uday respectively. But Ritu and Uday are flabbergasted by Siri and Chandu’s friendship, their transparency and that they are priority to each other. The story is overall about misunderstandings and reconciliations.

PERFORMANCES:

Siddharth hasn’t aged at all in the last decade and this helps him look and play Chandu with a lot of ease. Youthful charisma intact, his mannerisms and language (as a 25 year old may be) are very today, and given his flair for reel emotional outbursts and romance, matches expectations. Siddharth may not have had to do any homework for this role, but learning to hold and play the guitar better would have helped (a la Rockstar’s Ranbir Kapoor) push his dominance. Shruti Hassan plays Siri, and has shown considerable improvement from AOD in emoting and using body language to accentuate her importance in a scene. Her plusses would be her non-native charm, her unconventional looks (remindful of her mom Sarika), her dancing ability, and her singing (yes she was the female voice in the Sri Chaitanya song). All her negatives must bow down to her intermittent hamming in the Telangana accent and the occassional ‘samputha bidda’ which just don’t connect with the audiences.

Hansika Motwani plays Ritu, and Chandu’s romantic interest. Hansika has grown horizontally considerably and any GreatAndhra-ish adjectives don’t hold true. Ritu is a sidelined character in Chandu’s life, playing second fiddle to a more important character Siri. Hansika is given considerably less screen time and is expected to show her frustration over Chandu prioritizing Siri, and Haniska does not pass the litmus test, with various reasons to blame including direction. If it worsens the case anymore Hansika does not look eye candy either. Navdeep has a stronger screen presence than Siddharth. There. I said it. Expected to play second fiddle to Chandu, Navdeep as Uday does a good job of convincingly raising questions, displaying possessiveness, and playing well the guy you almost want to hate. Tanikella Bharani plays Chandu’s abrasive dad (who is but nice to others), runs a middle-class family, and is broad minded towards relationships. This character unfolds gradually to show one shade after another, and nothing negative. The character is very relatable and Tanikella is a perfect fit.

DIRECTION, SCREENPLAY, CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Nothing about the film spells it is the brainchild of a debutante, that of Director Venu Sriram. This type of plot is not novel, but the treatment of detail along with the screenplay, also by Venu, is what sets this film apart. The progression of the plot is very predictable. Venu is able to extract decent performances overall and use ordinary story elements and almost no props to weave a story replete with many nuances, not all of them boring. If there could be any improvement, it would be depth in character/role development within the plot, without which the screenplay also could take a beating, and it does. Friendships and relationships established, there is not much to extrapolate. So to the common viewer, the screenplay would seem circuitous, slow and unnecessarily dragging. The abrupt pre-climax helps to raise viewer curiosity but the climax is not poignant enough to impress.

Cinematography by Vijay Ckakravarthy, coupled with production values of Dil Raju’s enterprise is meritorious. Close ups are definitely better shot and much better in quality in comparison to scenes with all four characters. Shots of the city roads are not very convincing and easily identifiable as being from a film set. The art direction is nothing ornate but Vijay has made use of locations like a middle class home, a school, a bookstore, Hyderabad flyovers, parks, and especially the resort in Kerala. If anything, Vijay could be better at shooting Chandu’s on stage performances, where he could also capture the crowds better. Too much focus on Chandu when it’s actually a band competition spoils the purpose of the scene.

Why 2.5/5
If you can ignore flaws like Chandu’s random split-second decision leading to a preclimax when Uday refuses to marry Siri, or Chandu being asked to join a band as a lead guitarist but he quickly also becomes the lead singer(?!), or Chandu playing an acoustic guitar when the music is that from an electric guitar, etc.; you may not question other issues with the plot or its progression either. The plusses in the movie are performances of the actors and Venu’s ability to build a house of cards, but then again. The negatives are not really so, as much it is about lack of experience in direction, screenplay and cinematography. Venu Sriram, Dil Raju and team deserve credit for keeping OMF real, and short of God. The movie mainly underscores man-woman friendship, and leaves you with thoughts worth pondering on.

Rockstar

2011-11-12T03:41:00.001-08:00

Actors: Ranbir Kapoor, Nargis Fakhri, Kumud Mishra, Piyush Mishra
Genre: Drama
Rating: 3.5/5

“Sheher mein hoon main tere, aake mujhe mil toh le; Dena na tu kuch magar, aake mera dil toh tu lele jaana”, sings Ranbir somewhere in the movie. These lines explain the protagonist’s mood, his want and also the soul of this film. The plot of this film, written by Imtiaz Ali is about a Jatt lad Janardhan aka JJ aka Jordan (Ranbir Kapoor) hailing from Delhi, who makes it big as a Rockstar. The story is not so much about Jordan’s rise to fame as much it is about a Rockstar’s mental turmoil, the ebbs and tides in his life that come with his longing for Heer Kaul (Nargis Fakhri), his friend from college, who he eventually develops feelings towards, and after she enters into wedlock. This kind of work is innate to Imtiaz Ali, where characters meet, and realizations about their feelings happen at a later time; but the script is fresh in that it uses the backdrop of a public figure’s life and is outside the mundane.

PERFORMANCES:

Jordan’s role had two main facets – agony and felicity, both emotions pretty much sourced off his relationship with Heer. Ranbir Kapoor has been able to pull both emotions off with ease, and also convincingly brings out an artiste's whimsical nature that comes with the flip of a switch. Theoretically speaking, he could not have done this role any better. If there could be anymore justice, it would require Imtiaz to go off on a tangent to develop Jordan’s role further but it was not necessary. Ranbir’s Hindi accent as a Jatt boy, his initial friendship with Heer, and more importantly as a Rockstar performing on stage are exemplary attributes of his character. Specifics like holding the guitar right, simple basics like knowing when to play tablature versus chords (as and how music transitions progress), and holding chords correctly are some noticeable plusses, that other B-town actors regularly fail to improvise on. Romance comes very easily to Ranbir and he scores big on being able to charm his lady love on screen, and by also being witty. Nargis Fakhri has debuted opposite an actor who has tried out a variety of roles, and it must have been a challenge to grab eyeballs in any shot. Minimal makeup saves her, but her anglicized Hindi, her inability to cry when required most, and more importantly expressing sadness are clearly her shortcomings. What Nargis did best was to lie down on a bed to play a patient suffering from Born Marrow Applasia. While Ranbir leaves an indelible impression, Nargis is not irreplaceable, but surely will win some male fans.

Piyush Mishra as Dhingra, an executive at a record-label company plays a stereotyped character- grouchy, miserly and demanding. His accent is his asset and he uses it convincingly to support his short role. Piyush Mishra as Khatana Bhai provides slight comical detours with his quips. He also plays JJ's mentor, and to the effect that Jordan really comes to be because of Khatana Bhai’s “Jab tak taqleef nao ho na life mein, tab tak koi bada nai banta!”. Khatana is interjected in the storyline at various junctures to transition Jordan from lover to Rockstar (and thus the screenplay), who would transition back after the act. Piyush is probably remindful of some real life characters (read well-wishers) we may know.

DIRECTION, SCREENPLAY, CINEMATOGRAPHY & EDITING:

Although Imtiaz has written scripts earlier in which the lovers separate, gloom descends, and only for them to meet again, this story has some twists. Director Imtiaz has treaded on a practical path, and nowhere does the direction of the story seem flimsy. The first part of the movie sets a good pace with scenes from the who of Jordan, the present, to the how, leading to his past. Imtiaz has done a great balancing act of strongly etching the private life of a public figure. The second half is considerably slow, with most of the content on the storyboard by intermission. It drags mainly because of the repetitive nature of the screenplay by Imtiaz. More depth in storyline could have possibly helped, but it seemed like Imtiaz wanted the emotional connect between the two characters shoulder the second half altogether and of course, it falls short. If you can ingore that the title is a mashup of 2 logos, AC DC's and video game Rockband's, the police chase in Prague that is unresolved, and presence of some native Bollywood love story elements, it’s a brave effort by Imtiaz for stitching together a wonderful range of musical elements and emotions together.

Cinematography by Anil Mehta is mostly documentary-ish for scenes shot in India, and very rich with scenes shot abroad (Prague, etc). But the visual appeal of snow capped mountains of Kashmir take the cake. Anil has shown great skill in sensitively capturing the intimacy between Jordan and Heer. The stage show scenes, the crowds are adequately captured to prove on celluloid the magnitude of popularity of an artiste called Jordan, which was critical to the storyline. Editing by Aarti Bajaj is greatly in sync with Director Imtiaz’s vision. From a viewer’s standpoint, every single minute of the experience is entertaining. If anything, the slow screenplay in the second half could be shaken up a bit, but this would not be Aarti’s role. So from a content-parsing standpoint, Aarti has ensured that every reel made sense, and it sure does.

MUSIC:

This is the heart of the film. Music by A.R.Rahman helps propel the story too. The music is a lot of fusion, with quite a bit of European flavour – primarily German and Russian. Then there’s some amazing guitar solos, and great percussions to certify Jordan as a Rock artiste. Mohit Chauhan has lent his voice for Jordan, and boy, is it a silk route! Lyrics by Irshad Kamil are key too because that’s where Jordan’s emotions really are, and he does a fantastic job of matching mood of the tune to the lyrics (unlike some songs where Eg. the mood of the tune is high-spirited but the singer is crying out). The lyrics could even be a monologue, but Rahman's tunes add the magical touch. Without a question, his tunes complement the direction of the film, and Jordan’s emotional state. If it has not grown on you, give it more time.

WHY 3.5/5:

The good: Ranbir Kapoor’s performance; the music; screenplay in first half; the editing; the cinematography

The bad: A could-have-been better Nargis Fakhri; a slow second half

Ra.One

2011-10-28T02:18:00.000-07:00

Actors: Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Master Armaan Verma

Rating: 2/5
Genre: Sci-Fi/Action

Thelead pair, the mega bucks, the first trailer, record number ofshowings, the 3D format, the SFX, Akon, Thalaivar’s guest appearance,and SRK’s marketing blitz must all add to the hype and curiosity. But the same potpourri is a recipe for failure when not cooked right. The plot written by Anubhav Sinha is about victory of good over evil. NerdyShekhar Subramaniam (SRK) is a video game designer based in London withwife Sonia (Kareena Kapoor) and son Prateek (Master Armaan), who doesnot think highly of his father. So Shekhar’s idea to impress his son isto develop a new video game (a la Kinect). The bad character from thegame Ra.One wants to avenge losing (in the game) to Prateek playingG.One aka Good One, in the game. Things turn topsy-turvy when bothcharacters jump out of the video game with Ra.One (Arjun Rampal)hounding Prateek, and G.One (SRK) playing protector.

PERFORMANCES:

AsShekhar, SRK is not commendable. South Indian accent and mannerisms isnot SRK’s cup of tea and must strongly be advised against repeating it.The wig doesn’t help either. Although Shekhar’s chemistry with Sonia isdry, his relationship with Prateek is very well portrayed. As G.One,SRK is classier, younger, muscular and actually looks like a superhero.G.One emoting, being an automaton and especially after an ‘emotion mere syntax mein nahi hai’,is implausible and is clearly a scripting error. The best part aboutG.One is his athletic vibe, and it is refreshing to watch SRK performstunts. VFX is just a tool, but the ropes are tied to a real person andG.One does so much more than just punch the bad guy. Kareena as Soniais eye candy chammak challo and looked too young to play soccermom. Kareena shares great chemistry with G.One. Eh?! OK so I have tofizzle it out for you to let some logic in. Shekhar dies, and so.

ArjunRampal as Ra.One has limited appeal. His chiseled look, his suit, hisstunts are greatly in tune with sci-fi villains of today. AlthoughShekhar’s villain is intended to be stronger than the hero, Arjun’sscreentime is low, and as Ra.One does not induce fear and/orexcitement. If anything, Arjun’s action is commendable in the climax.Master Armaan (yep it’s not a girl) plays tween Prateek, who is geekyenough to read video game program code(!). Prateek starts to respecthis father only after his untimely death, and by hanging out withG.One. His role was etched to highlight the relationship between afather and son, and Prateek does a decent job.

DIRECTION, SCREENPLAY & CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Beingable to handle a bunch of weighty elements called out in the beginningof the review takes a lot of spunk. Moreso for the film producer tohand over the reins to a Director whose filmography comprised 2 semisci-fi flicks that were duds. A bold decision to cast Anubhav Sinha as Director backfiresin all aspects, who has crumbled unable to use brand SRK and othervaluable resources to narrate what could have otherwise been a superbstory. The story is flawed, its not stressed enough how characters comeout of and go back into the video game; how Ra.One is interested infighting the player and not G.One; how Kareena is able to easily copewith Shekhar’s death and is able to move on and develops feelings forG.One; how G.One is able to emote; the list is virtually endless. Yesit’s a superhero flick with nearly no holds barred, but logic and flowhelps enhance viewing experience. G.One shows up right before theintermission and he’s only there to protect Prateek and Sonia. VFX isused in controlled proportions and there are very specific instanceswhere it is commendable. Sequences that could be awe inspiring aredampened due to westerlies like T2, Spiderman, Iron Man, etc.

Apart from the loose plot, the screenplay by Anubhav Sinha, Kanika Dhillon, MushtaqSheikh, and David Benullo is a complete let down. Once the expectation is established that one solid fight between G.One and Ra.One ismandatory, scenes in the interim are jumbled up without any definitivemeaning and probably with a sole focus to showcase VFX expertise wherepossible. It would have really worked in the film's favour should G.One do more superhero than just talk. The action in general is limited and the train scene isstretched beyond need. During the initial squabble between G.One andRa.One, there is no reason why they would both throw cars up in theair, which don’t hurt either. There's some unwanted comedy like G.Onecatching a bullet fired at him, up his nostril beating Dharamji's act, but still! Cinematography byNicola Pecorini and V. Manikandan is commendable and all characterslook their best. Used in coordination with VFX, this film is definitelya breakthrough in homebred Indian sci-fi cinema. Specially in theaction sequences, the bike crashing, the bus accident, the trainsequence, the collapse of the terminus etc are good examples. Editing by Sanjay Sharma and Martin Walsh iswhat’s the word, ah yes, shitty. There is a lot of chaff that wasincluded purely to thrill certain audience pockets (read children), butthe content is simply outweighed by poor chaperoning.

MUSIC:

It’sa commonly observed relation in Hindi cinema that good movies tend tohave good music. Vishal – Shekhar’s music hasn’t caught on, except acouple of songs – Chammak Challo and Dildara. Ofcourse the music wasn’t intended to propel the story, but it doesn’twork as a great departure from the bad screenplay either. Backgroundscore by the same duo with contribution from the PraguePhilharmonic Orchestra is catchy and does add excitement to those fewscenes where G.One does spring into action action.

WHY 2/5:

The good: Afuturistic concept although not stitched together correctly. SRK andKareena Kapoor. The VFX. The background score.Potential for part 2. Red Chillies’ production values.
The bad: Direction. Screenplay. Editing. Much hard work in the wrong areas.

Aarakshan

2011-08-17T20:01:00.000-07:00

Actors: Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Manoj Bajpai, Deepika Padukone, Prateik

Genre: Drama
Rating: 3.5/5

“Bhool gaye ki jab mauka mila tha to hum jaise ne is desh ka samvidhaan likh dala”, said Deepak referring to Dr. B R Ambedkar, Principal Architect of the Constitution of India. Talk about B R Ambedkar and there be no reference to reservation system in India? Nahi ho sakta. Aarakshan in Hindi means just that. The story by Prakash Jha and Anjum Rajabali starts off on this hot topic, but the meat really is commercialization of education in India. The plot set in 2008, talks about the changes that are brought about in a Professor’s life on challenging his peer on their sin of ‘selling education’ outside of the institution they teach at. Jobs lost, media fed and egos hurt, rest of the story is about the victory of ideals (like equality, free knowledge) over flaky and the incongruous.

PERFORMANCES:

Amitabh Bachchan as Prof Prabhakar Anand is sometimes remindful of Narayan Shankar of Mohabbatein. His authoritative baritone, articulate enunciation, command over Hindi, and gait of a strict administrator at the helm of affairs of an educational organization is picture perfect. The patient teacher in action (teaching) strengthen Bachchan's impression on the viewer as the perfect choice for the role. The character's histrionics are minimal, but his personality is heightened in every scene through others' performances and other cinematic elements that share screen-time with him. Saif Ali Khan as junior lecturer Deepak Kumar, Prof. Anand’s protégé and more relevantly a Dalit individual, has undertaken a new challenge as an individual belonging to the lower middle class. Saif as Deepak is not a romantic, and has fire in his belly for the cause of education and more importantly for upliftment of the downtrodden. Clearly, Saif has underplayed his charm and what comes to the fore is an able individual who likes to be in the shadow of his master to give preference to greater good over personal empowerment.

A scaled down version of Mr. Potter, empowered by prejudice against Prof. Anand, Manoj Bajpai as Mithilesh Singh does enough for the viewer to loathe him by the end of the film. As a self-controlled personality with political influence, how Mithilesh uses his guile to satiate his greed for money and power is core to this role. If anything, what’s not forgettable about Manoj’s act are his facial expressions and his Hindi diction (and the local dialect), second only to Bachchan’s. Deepika Padukone as Poorbi is central to many relationships – a college student and friend, a lover, a daughter, etc but her position does little to move the story forward. Deepika’s abilities have been circumvented by the plot’s focus on Prof. Anand and Mithilesh Singh. Prateik as Sushant, a wealthy student has very average screen presence. In terms of impact, Munna of Dhobi Ghat totally pwns Sushant.

DIRECTION, SCREENPLAY & CINEMATOGRAPHY:

The direction of a film depends on a lot of things – the title, to begin with. Director Prakash Jha could have set better expectations for the viewer by not calling the film ‘Aarakshan’, which it is evidently not about. Coming straight to Prakash’s real craft, the film aims at some unreal solutions to some of India’s real problems owing to commercialization of education system. Clearly establishing goals to be achieved by Prof Anand by end of the movie - to reclaim their property usurped by Mithilesh’s ‘tutorial empire’ and his position in the society, there is enough material justifying evolution of Prof Anand’s character, and the time is also used to bring out the vile Mithilesh Singh in parallel. The performances, the storyline, the visuals, the audio, the screen time have blended correctly to keep the viewer engaged. What’s not convincing is the turn of events in the climax, which doesn’t draw specific boundaries. Barring the tactical goals that are achieved, the ending really does not highlight if college (STM) benefited, or if the society did (outside of STM). Fate of KK tutorials belonging to Mithilesh Singh is not clear either.

The film had potential to take off in many tangents given the strong character impressions right at the beginning, but Prakash has ensured the film focuses on events that arise from a showdown of the saintly and the culpable. Screenplay by Jha and Rajabali does not spawn many offshoots to the storyline. The story has right cast-size, with one event leading into another. It is evident that concerted effort had been put keep the goal in sight always. In light of the larger problem (haves vs have nots), the entire issue of reservation could have been done away with, and so the initial few scenes that focus on the OBC reservation increase to 27% etc don’t help the story at all. Cinematography by Sachin Krishn is remindful of his other work with the same team, in Rajeenti, but comparatively of lower caliber this time. Shot in Madhya Pradesh, the tabelas, the green fields, the attires, have been majorly used to bring about the Bhopal in the story, while, it is a bigger city than what has been showcased. Deepak Kumar’s basti was clearly a film set and the make-believe gapes at the viewer. Although, what Sachin has managed to do well is capture emotions and gestures of the two main characters, Prof Anand and Mithilesh Singh, that add to the excitement of what’s next.

MUSIC:

Like most Prakash Jha films, the album music is meant to be enjoyed outside of the theater, but I am not sure I will. Music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is average with Accha Lagta Hai being the big number. If album music was not propelling the story, background music by Wayne Sharpe was. To an extent. Too western for a film with rustic appeal, there are sonatas with violins and piano when Prof. Anand is walking dejected in the rain. Too heavy for the scene and given its extrinsic nature, the composition takes away the feel of the scene. Background music changes our perception and how! Although certain other portions like crowds amassing to support the protagonists have been complemented well by the background sound.

Why 3.5/5:
The good: Performances by Amitabh Bachchan and Manoj Bajpai. The storyline and screenplay. No distracters like full songs or item numbers. The message conveyed in a cryptic way albeit, that education has to be available to everyone without discrimination. The not-so-good: The title. Unwanted storyline on caste reservation. Average production values leading to average cinematography. Average background music. Average performance by Prateik. A climax that potentially discredits a 2 hour plot development. Aarakshan is an interesting take on lives of a few strong characters. Wantedly or unwantedly, it seeks to preach and does leave the viewer thinking about some relevant issues that do need to be addressed in India.

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

2011-07-18T15:05:00.000-07:00

Actors: Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Abhay Deol, Katrina Kaif, Kalki Koechlin

Genre: Dramedy
Rating: 3.5/5

"Hawa ke jhokon ke jaise azad hain hum; Tum ek dariya ke jaise lehron mein behna seekho
Har ek lamhe se tum milo kholey apni baahein; Har ek pal ek naya samaa dekhi yeh nigaahein.
Jo apni aankhon mein hairaniyaan leke chal rahe ho, toh zinda ho tum
Dilon mein tum apni betaabiyan leke chal rahe ho, toh zinda ho tum"

Live it up, the poem said; and as the title suggests Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is a message oriented film in the garb of what seems like a desi Hangover. So there, it definitely is not a laugh riot. The story by Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti is about three bachelors heading to Spain on a bachelor party-trip, being boys and but mainly, getting in touch with their inner souls to realize their needs. Abhay Deol is the groom-to-be, and Kalki plays his would-be. Hrithik plays a corporate slave based in London who lives money. Farhan is an Advertising Copywriter who has just learnt of his real biological father based in Spain. Beginning their road trip in Spain amidst old issues, mundane lives, but primarily under the stress of unanswered questions and fear of the unknown – to each their own, the troika knows to have fun (under the watchful eyes of the censor board) whilst catering to their ridiculous pact – each individual to choose an adventure sport that the other two will take part in. What comes of it is a sense of being and inner peace, and an attitude that helps let yourself go.

PERFORMANCES: The lead characters are very well-etched and as how one would be perceived in real life based on their profession, their social standing. Hrithik Roshan as Arjun, a London based Financial Broker is an emotional person on the inside, with an exterior toughened by the past. He is determined to remain committed to his passion – get rich. Hrithik’s not-so-often-seen cocky, presumptuous and patronizing avatar is new and very convincing. Of course, there are other tones to Arjun’s character – a romantic, a dancer, a connoisseur, a party boy, and most importantly, a caring friend – but all this, Hrithik does with ease. What stands out is Arjun few minutes in, after the road trip begins, the rude guy. Farhan Akhtar does something new this time as Imraan, and is somewhat reminiscent of the Karthik Calling Karthik dude. This Advertising Copywriter based in Delhi is the happy-go-lucky guy among the three, and probably the most emotional of all three. Farhan’s body language is modest, probably owing to Imraan’s character. Imraan is not a hero, he is definitely not the story’s anchor, but Farhan must be credited for keeping it real, for playing protagonist in brief silent lapses.

Abhay Deol as the groom-to-be and as a rich Mumbai based Architect is perfect for how Kabir conducts himself. Well-mannered, soft and generally concerned about others’ well-being (most visible trait), Kabir the fiancé is a stronger impression than Kabir the friend. Abhay is popularly known for his performances as a carefree character, but Kabir is somewhat new, if not remindful of his character in Manorama. Kabir is the only other from-your-life type of character. Not the last and not the least, enter Laila whose motto in life is Carpe Diem. Katrina plays this London-based fashion student and part-time diving instructor. Even with minimal make up, Katrina looks stunning and manages to grab eyeballs among a bevy of male stars who are pretty good at acting/emoting. Zesty is Laila’s middle-name, and in a certain way, she helps the story progress and for the characters to show their other shades. Kalki as Natasha probably has one of the more clearly defined characters. Natasha is Kabir’s would-be, an interior designer by profession with a taste for mostly finer things. Kalki, with her unconventional looks suits the character well. As the hypersensitive and possessive fiancée, Natasha is a character most guys would love to hate and Kalki does just that by playing the character to the hilt. Suffice it to say the three male stars have equal screen-time and similar presence.

DIRECTION, SCREENPLAY & CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Director Zoya Akhtar has already proved her mettle in directing a multi-starrer, but ZNMD takes her a notch higher for stitching together an emotional tale, while keeping the script lite. This film primarily has a class appeal, and charms the youth. Not idealistic at all, the story does not make any overtures to grow every single character through echelons of time. Zoya ensures ZNMD comes across as a slice-in-a-life type of a film, and nothing more. Ascertaining characters must have been the primary challenge and establishing their professions helped. Zoya’s research and attention to detail is very impressive, be it Spanish culture specifics like the language, La Tomatina, San Fermin, or even Farhan’s Google search page being the local site. References to jokes that youth of today may crack like pronunciation mistakes of their teachers/lecturers, recollecting the old Doordarshan TV channel theme. But there are areas that Zoya does not convince us. For example, Imraan going after his new-found father bit is the most unwanted portion of this film, without any good coming of it. On a broader scope although it is a big personal issue for any normal being, it doesn’t fit into the story very well. Second, it’s a little confusing why all three take up their own individual adventure challenges in the same trip – must have been reserved for each of their bachelor trips. But overall, Zoya helps the story progress continually without any script errors.

Screenplay by writers Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti. Some of the heavier moments are not enacted, but are corroborated by poetry (in Farhan’s voice), and by song sequences. The screenplay is also heavily supported by the performances. Although, it feels if the characters were happier, there would be better and sprightly screenplay, but guess the characters had to be one specific way only to transform eventually. Dialogue is very contemporary, easy to understand and relate with. The scenes flow in a logical sequence; with the only goal to help the characters find happiness within them. Cinematography by Zoya camp member Carlos Catalan (also DOP of Luck by Chance) is very refreshing. Visuals not seen before in Hindi cinema are one reason. And yes, there are the hyped up lip-locks. Even if Kalki-Abhay had not confessed, theirs is absolutely ignoreable. Hrithik-Katrina’s happens in a jiffy and is nothing murderous. Sorry if I fizzled it out for you, but I’d expect the result to match the hype. Carlos does make the scene appear natural and in good taste. The colors- the blue roadster, the Spanish countryside, the snorkeling/diving session, the skydiving, the waters, La Tomatina, Running of the bulls, horses galloping on ranches along the highway, the cobblestone streets, liquor bars and the road trip iself are adequately captured to give a sneak peak into the Spanish pedestrian.

MUSIC: Shankar Ehsaan Loy have provided musical score. The songs don’t themselves propel the story but are a decent diversion. There are many Spanish sounds (accoustic guitar, most prominently), a flamenco song ‘Senorita’ which has been sung by the trio, pretty well actually. The mood of all songs is focused on the positive; seem to convey the same message – ZNMD. Music does not hog any limelight in the film, but the background music by the same folks (SEL) is probably the better product in comparison with songs, with some acoustic guitars and especially because the script feel is light although the underscoring theme is philosophy.

Why 3.5/5:
ZNMD focuses on the message and does not get lost in what could have been a mish-mash of love stories, weddings, bachelor party humour, and lot more. The message is underlined progressively through screenplay - appreciating relationships, and doing what you like. There is good amount of humour, the classy feel, the bachelor holiday in Spain, enjoying the local culture, the moments, the intermittent poetry during brief silences, the jealous would-be, the lively new woman in your life, a loving Spanish girl with you can’t converse with, a country’s natural landscapes and the coastline, the natural progression of the relationships, and the performances help add up to 3.5. The negatives are – an unwanted detour like the newly discovered biological father, the average music and possibly the crabby lives of the three main characters, when they set out. But overall, it is a film that is not preachy yet does just that, helps you know that never again is there going to be another you!

Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Diaries)

2011-01-23T08:42:00.000-08:00

Actors: Aamir Khan, Prateik Babbar, Monica Dogre, Kriti Malhotra

Genre: Drama
Rating: 4/5

They say the dhobi knows everyone’s secrets because he’s the one washing all dirty linen! In this film, a dhobi forms the nexus between two main characters in the story, why “Dhobi Ghat”. Sorta. How about a Dhobi Ghat where clothes from all over the city congregate, like a city where many lives meet, affect a change, and get affected as well – all four characters? Sounds like the right metaphor. Also presenting the fifth character, Mumbai! In new and non-Bollywood light. The four main characters: Munna (Prateik Babbar), a dhobi, Arun (Aamir Khan), a painter, a loner, Shai (Monica Dogra), a semi-pro photographer on a vacation in Mumbai, Yasmin (Kriti Malhotra), a recently-married girl, new to Mumbai.

How Munna connects the dots, how the four characters evolve and sporadically intersect, infatuations and revelations developed, is the pith. Dhobi Ghat is unconventional, non-dramatic, and runs heavily on feelings - subtle and not an emotional dump. If emotions form the meat of the story, progression of the plot is the soul. I would rather hold my horses by not divulging the plot details penned by Kiran Rao, and let you affirm after watching.

PERFORMANCES:

Prateik Babbar as Munna is the ‘hero’ of DG. No feats really, except radiating talent, nice and bright, while a parallel story was being chaperoned by a luminary like none other than Aamir Khan. Prateik has played the role of a slum-dweller to the hilt. Be it lifestyle, Mumbai slang, embarrassments while confronting the urbane, low-brow humour, and most importantly his relationship with the chic Shai (Monica), all relatable. Modestly built as a shy character, how he slowly gains a friend in Shai, develops a crush, evokes emotion in her by just being around is exemplary. Moving on, Aamir Khan is a rare actor who can hold his own strongly in a bevy of strong characterizations (Eg. Andaz Apna Apna, Rang De Basanti, Taare Zameen Par, etc). Arun is not the cynosure of the film, yet Aamir intelligently uses his screen-time tantamount to others’, to limn out intensity, hollowness, guilt, curiosity, voyeur, disquiet, embarrassment, pedestrian emotions, yet making them appear fresh and bewitching. Much unto himself, Arun does not indulge in soliloquies but Aamir manages to use his expressions and screen-presence well coupled with a dynamic screenplay to help out. In just two adjectives, Aamir as Arun is indispensable and storybook-like.

Monica Dogra as Shai is a type of character the younger Indian audiences may be familiar with. Super-convincing as a US-based ‘NRI’ with a *thing* for all things Indian (mostly the downtrodden), speaking Hindi peppered with an Americanized accent, Monica as Shai is commendable. Shai’s character had two main attributes - pursue photography as a serious hobby, build camaraderie with Munna, and Monica is remindful of a character some of us may probably know in our own lives. A character much defined by Munna’s world, Monica could have done a better job of alluring attention, but that’s just my interpretation of Shai. Next, Kriti Malhotra plays Yasmin, a shy, newly-married girl who is excited about sharing the ongoings with her folks back home. Yasmin is perhaps a peripheral element of DG, but how Yasmin and Arun form a bond in the movie is not everyone’s guess, and is one of the most beautifully thought-out portions. Largely though, Yasmin’s character helps change the mood of the movie eventually.

DIRECTION, SCREENPLAY & CINEMATOGRAPHY:

That debutante Director Kiran Rao may be under the tutelage of a film institution like Aamir Khan may have had something to do with the final product, is fast-food opinion. Agreed Aamir Khan is a perfectionist but his body of work up until now, treatment of plot in any of his movies, photography and screenplay have been significantly mainstream. With DG, Kiran has clearly brought about a new flavour for each of aforementioned talent. Beyond doubt. Taking an ‘artsy’ plot, a slice of life concept (in Kiran’s own words), orthodox and the mundane, to tell a story by conjoining lives loosely by a thread of emotions, thus making the latter the star of the movie – this itself is Kiran’s greatest contribution to DG. While, something of a taboo yet the very common human attribute of voyeurism is given limelight, is also common to the four characters. The direction of the story was largely dependent on how each character peels each layer off of them, to analogize unwarrantedly, like an onion – building four characters all in 100 minutes of runtime! Kiran has made sure that when one story was turning a new page, the other did too parallelly, maintaining the overall feel. Nothing about DG is over the top, Kiran makes your imagination run wild, letting you draw conclusions at times. In this context of letting you make your own interpretation, there are no loopholes one can really look for.

Screenplay by Kiran seems slightly under-paced, because seen from a cinematic POV, the film is documentary-ish and does not lollop headily towards a definitive climax. But there is a turn of events, and characters change course. Using the facial expressions, locations, and background music to generate a mood for a frame to delicately reveal a character’s many colours, could have been Kiran’s prerogative, why the screenplay was probably downplayed. Visuals like Arun’s silent and old lady neighbor, Shai’s maid brining chai for Munna in a steel tumbler and for Shai in a porcelain cup, a shy Marathi middle-class lady being videoed Yasmin, etc are some tenuous examples to keep it real yet corroborative. Cinematography by Tushar Kanti Ray is insightful, profound, and to me, game-changing. This, by simply using commonplace visuals that most of us are familiar with, to set the mood for a scene or to re-assure that everything’s within bounds of the everyday. Examples mentioned few sentences ago may give you a better idea. Most of the shots are rich with detail; add great conviction to the film’s rustic feel. All in all, the cinematography gleams bright at you, waiting to be interpreted.

MUSIC:

Gustavo Santaolalla provides the musical retreat. The background tunes are intense, range from Oscar Lopez-like Spanish guitar solos to Hindustani Classical music to Jazz and such other contemporary forms. The background music forms an integral part of DG, adding to the narration (substituting at times!), taking the viewer through highs and lows of emotion. Overall, it has urban feel, is very worldspace-like and is much different from regular Bollywood.

Why 4/5:

This film will most certainly polarize the audience – you will either like it or you won’t, no middle ground. Simply because of its innate non-commercial yet global feel, Dhobi Ghat will be approved much more easily by cerebral and the reasoning than the paisa-vasool enthusiasts. While everything else gets a positive rating – Direction, Performances, Cinematography, Background Music and Screenplay; factors like documentary style of filming with quite a focus on the ordinary, nothing over the top, no cliché, and no definitive milestone to achieve through the story and its esoteric nature may seem to go against (certain) viewers. There are no logical loopholes, except would have personally loved to see some more facets added to Shai and Yasmin. Go watch if you like soft films, or purely to check out Mumbai that hasn’t been showcased so far.

Anaganaga O Dheerudu

2011-01-16T17:26:00.000-08:00

Actors: Siddharth, Shruti Haasan, Lakshmi Manchu, Baby Harshita

Genre: Fantasy, Adventure

Rating: 3/5

Just a day before the day I watched this movie, I was furiously ranting how Telugu cinema is losing its charm for typecast content and delivery. You can read it here. I did enter the movie hall to watch "AOD", rather skeptically. I knew all along that Disney was a stakeholder, and my hopes had been high, even though. Now, I am not going ballistic when I say AOD has pushed the envelope a considerable distance! The envelope had a message for me: to take down my post on the other blog, Tollywood had arrived! At a time when Bollywood is promising a visual extravaganza with a Ra.One, something Kollywood already fortified through an Edhiran, AOD stands tall as a beacon of hope for Tollywood’s decorous future.

AOD works within realms of a model Disney fairytale. A warrior, his lover, a (vulnerable) child with magical powers, and an evil witch all come together to tell a tale written by Choudekar Haricharan, replete with magic, action, mystery, drama. And how can I miss, the real star of the movie are some surprisingly cool visuals. Most of you can already picture the movie start-to-end, but suffice it to say that the impressive visuals need to be experienced to qualify, or to discuss. You’ve not seen it until you’ve seen it!

PERFORMANCES:

Siddharth as the blind Yodha seems to have tried really hard to fit the character. While he certainly displays his forte playing loverboy, he does fall short a bit in action sequences. His attire and body language doesn't help him become macho on-screen. For a Disney adventure full of impossible stunts, how some or most of them were managed minus visual effects are anyone’s guess – ropes and such. He doesn’t look as lean; I suspect the metal armour may have had a role to play. Siddharth’s Telugu diction has been improving consistently and he does well with archaic Telugu with lengthy dialogue too. His best (after romance) is the subtlety with which he played blind. All in all, Yodha is certainly not the center of attention of AOD. Shruti Haasan as the damsel in distress has had little to contribute from a story-momentum perspective. Armed with many seductive glances, Priya is conceived with many nuances of romancing Yodha mostly, gradually moving to the sidelines. While her dancing ability is commendable, her discomfort facing the camera (directly) is clearly visible

Lakshmi Manchu as evil Irendri is the surprise package of AOD. With little experience in front of the camera (India and abroad), Lakshmi as Irendri is perfect to the T. Quite possibly due to Irendri’s character being etched so well or simply owing to Lakshmi’s talents, the two are inseparable. The eccentricities of an evil character, a full spectrum of emotions – happiness, sadness, wickedness, arrogance, anger are in full view during Irendri’s screentime. Baby Harshita as Moksha forms the centerpiece of AOD keeping all story-elements together at all time. Moksha’s attire or characterization is very ordinary, and Baby Harshita’s performance does not stand out. But more importantly, Harshita’s confidence in front of the camera is worth noticing.

DIRECTION, SCREENPLAY, CINEMATOGRAPHY & VISUAL EFFECTS:

With Director Prakash Rao in tow, AOD caters to a wide audience base (young, old, urban, mass, and families too). Maintaining the feel of a magnum opus from Disney, a tale of adventure backed by musical grandeur and superlative graphics may just match most of your expectations. The story has few unwanted contours, possibly to showcase graphical expertise, but nothing over the top to bore you out. With not many loopholes to plug (given the nature of the plot and everything goes), the treatment has been grand for the most part except that the focus was much on graphics than building strong characterizations (except Irendri’s). Screenplay by Prakash too must have been a challenge, since there was an added element of visual effects to enhance each frame; decisions like using good imagery versus eye-popping images, etc. Prakash's imagination of delicate details is just one form of testament to his creative talents. If I were to have it my way for Prakash do just one thing better, it’s the climax. Will let you watch and agree.

Cinematography by Soundar Rajan. The camera angles were particularly important for AOD, be it indoors or outdoors, a beach or a forest, a mountain or fort, a large durbar set or an intimate bedroom – the visuals have a lot of detail, many, many design patterns, effigies, piquant colours, and most importantly, expressions (esp of Lakshmi Manchu). The outdoor locales have a vanilla feel in comparison with indoor sets, etc which could have been improved. Visual effects have been done by an award-winning studio, Firefly, with a repertoire of great work behind them. Serpentine-themed thrill sequences, weird-looking flying creatures, stunts, magic and much more. Woven intricately using detailed graphic designs, artsy sets, ethic clothing, and more importantly good make-up, this section is easily the star of this film, without which a concept like AOD could not be pulled off.

ALBUM MUSIC & BACKGROUND SCORE:
M. M. Keeravani, Salim-Sulaiman, Koti, Mickey J Meyer have provided a harmonic support just as grandiose as the movie itself. A couple of romantic numbers lead the pack with the theme music underscoring most of the movie. The background score and the theme by Salim - Sulaiman is really a treat and helps solidify the mood and intent of every scene. Just like in other Disney movies, whether walking through a cave escaping from the enemies, a mischief being played, Yodha trying to charm Deepa, or an evil Irendri plotting her next wicked move, Salim – Sulaiman’s soundtrack only make our perception richer, almost making you witness the happenings for real.

Why 3/5:

Plusses: Great visual effects, background musical score, album music, good performances, cinematography and art direction, Siddharth’s charming ways, and Lakshmi Manchu’s performance.
Negatives: Crests and troughs in the quality of visuals (inconsistency), poor characterizations (look and feel, depth), story momentum, Siddharth doesn’t fully qualify as an action hero.

All in all, AOD is a fairytale that has been told a zillion times, yet gets you glued simply because of the nitty-gritty if not the grandeur.

Ragada

2010-12-27T17:28:00.000-08:00

Actors: Akkineni Nagarjuna, Anushka, Priyamani, Brahmanandam, Pradeep Rawat

Genre: Mass, Masala

Rating: 2/5

Nag’s self-introduction all-through was “Ooru Kadapa, Nachhithe cheruku gada lekapothe ragada”. For those who still are not sure what to expect from this film, genre type above Mass and Masala should ring a bell. Without feeling the necessity to define the genre type, the plot of the story is about a Kadapa dude Satya (a 50 going on 30 Nagarjuna) coming to the *city* (Hyderabad) to take care of a big goon by systematically eliminating his three main henchmen. As you know but would like to read, in this process, Satya falls in love with Shirisha (Anushka) and *also* Ashtalakshmi (Priyamani) who are also connected to this web. Imagine a revenge angle, a foster mother and sister, many unwarranted murders or fight sequences, songs, etc. If you could think up all this on your own, I understand. No credit to the writer, irrespective.

PERFORMANCES:

Nag looks incredibly younger (helps the role), and although this type of role is a dead horse in Telugu cinema, it builds into the versatility of one of Tollywood’s great actors of this era. His command over Kadapa slang, his body language, action scenes all reflect his experience. For a movie in the genre, hamming is a plus and Nag has comfortably stood in this zone, mouthing overbearing dialogue, gunning down people at the drop of a hat, behaving brashly, etc. All of these attributes in excess, it helps build the character of Satya, which is Ragada’s core requirement. It’s a different thing altogether that Ragada as a concept appeals to few only. Anushka and Priyamani are merely eye-candy and if it is of your interest, there is more skin show by the latter. At the same talent level almost, Anushka as Shirisha and Priyamani as Ashtalakshmi share good on-screen chemistry with Nag. Their range of emotions is pretty limited as well, so a new parameter is necessary to measure the real reason why an actresses is even present, *cuteness* that is. Not a formal term yet, both ladies measure up well, say 7/10.

Brahmanandam as ‘Brahmam from Khammam’ is the comic relief and his on-screen entry commanded more claps and whistles than any other actor. But there are limitations – old jokes, slapping others to elicit laughs, broken English, and minor tussels with the protagonist over their opposite. This workable formula would fail miserably as a stand-alone, but is unintentional relief in purview of the entire film. Pradeep Rawat as Peddanna does the same thing over again, the role of a menacing goon/politician who needs to eliminate anyone treading into his zone or even vaguely challenges his power. Pradeep’s Telugu hasn’t improved, but he has built the character well (out of experience), scaring people away over phone and his angry outbursts. Not his very best, but cannot think of another actor to replace Pradeep either.

DIRECTION, SCREENPLAY, CINEMATOGRAPHY& MUSIC:

There is one revenge element and a small surprise element, all adding up the protagonist’s talents. Those are the only two areas Director and Screenwriter Veeru Potla could have shown any creativity within bounds of this time-tested script. Sure enough, the story has good direction and brings in diversions at appropriate times. The other skill though of screenwriting is clearly not Veeru’s virtue where there is much monotony, unwanted violence, unwanted song sequences. Imperative possibly, and some of this is got to do with the genre as well – Mass & Masala. Cinematography for this genre of film making has already reached epic proportions. Sarvesh Murari does a fine job, especially in action sequences. Other notable specifics are song videos and close-ups when one character is warning the other, which happens almost in every other scene. The close-ups are much appreciable, and Sarvesh has worked well with the light department (seems like) to highlight the glamour quotient of the leading actresses and the man himself, Nag. Music by Thaman, just an FYI. Not worth peanuts.

Why 2/5:

As explained throughout, Ragada is a formula film with very little happening from the story’s standpoint. The Direction and Screenplay is mediocre. The only positive things about the movie are the performances. You could venture and try watching Ragada if you are a fan of the actors, or the genre at large.

Manmadhan Ambu

2010-12-27T15:15:00.000-08:00

Actors: Kamal Haasan, R Madhavan, Trisha Krishnan, Sangeetha

Genre: Rom-com

Rating: 3/5

Like most rom-coms Manmadhan Ambu does not hold many surprises, no doubt about that. Since story is not the USP, it’s anyone’s guess the focus elements would be the starcast (their performances), the screenplay and more importantly humour, given the genre. Based across different European travel destinations, the plot written by Kamal Hassan is about a South Indian actress, Ambu (Trisha) on a cruise-holiday with her childhood pal Deepa (Sangeetha) and her kids. While, her hammered-forever lover and ‘tusiness bycoon’ Madan (Madhavan) funds the *European holiday* of Major Mannar (Kamal Hassan) to spy on Ambu’s movements and report any infidelity. Mannar’s interest in the deal is to be able to fund his friend Rajan’s (Ramesh Aravind) cancer treatment. Madan breaches the deal, so the rest of the story is about Mannar manipulating the situation for further monetary benefit, and eventually winning Ambu’s companionship.

PERFORMANCES:

Per popular reports, in any movie Ulaga Nayagan takes centerstage, stubbing out every other cast member, correct? Wrong. For once, Kamal Haasan is not the cynosure. Mannar may have come easy to Kamal, no specific mannerisms, a cool composed middle-aged man having a way with women, executing a *plan*, basically trying to set things straight. Kamal has done this umpteen times, does not fail at all in delivering laughs, jerking out tears, make you smile at his wits, teach a thing or two about chauvinism and romance, including how to look young(er). The portion of Kamal Kavithai recital by Kamal to Trisha observes a woman’s perception of the ideal man. Find the poem and its English translation here. Kamal may not be that guy in real life, but he does make you sit up and take notice how this 50-year-old does everything he does, with élan. Madhavan has shared screen time with Kamal earlier too. Some may feel that the role of Madan may have gotten relegated to a second fiddle. This is simply owing to the nature of Madan’s character and potentially due to the ideal male’s image for Indian cine-goers. Madhavan plays Madan’s character well, who is mostly in an inebriated condition, lugging around, talking under influence, and such related behavior. Madan is kinda, sorta the rich, bad guy who’s breaches Mannar’s trust, Ambu’s trust and an immature lover needing his mother to validate most of his decisions, but Madhavan makes sure he does not look like a villain.Madhavan has taken care so the performance does not appear clichéd, yet maintains his characteristic city-boy charm.

Trisha was literally herself and could not have done Ambu’s role any better. She was able to cruise through the role, and as usual gets credit for her glamour and for her flirtatious glances. Ambu’s chemistry with Mannar is definitely more palpable, while it must have been some work for Trisha (also supported by the script) to justify Ambu’s relationship with Madan, her changing chemistry with him, give and take over time to seamlessly transition into Mannar’s lover. Trisha must also get brownie points for her role as a childhood friend of Deepa’s (Sangeetha), how they interact as two girl pals, how she behaves with Deepa’s kids and trying to portray how simple an actress’s personal life can be, devoid of public attention in a foreign country. If there could have been any improvement, it should have been about pulling out some more drone out of Ambu’s life, who was possibly designed that way, yet. Most of K S Ravikumar’s films have a married woman adding the humour element in equal proportions as the male protagonist, and not necessarily their opposite. Sangeetha plays that woman, Deepa, a divorced mother of two who is rich, and a friend of Ambu’s. She is shrewd, and knows how to move things around. Sangeetha must get credit for driving the chunk of trademark humour we expect in Kamal’s movies, especially in the second half of the film. Clearly a supporting but very likeable character, Sangeetha as Deepa has displayed abilities of humour, oomph, audacity, and glib, and rationally leaves a strong impression on the viewer, as an important character.

DIRECTION, SCREENPLAY & CINEMATOGRAPHY & MUSIC:

Direction and Screenplay by K S Ravikumar are average by his own standards. The reason possibly is his challenge, to manage two ends of the story, Rajan in Chennai and Mannar on the cruise with Trisha; abridge both stories while keeping it entertaining all the while. The roles could have been stronger, but there are elements of reality like a dying friend needing money, Mannar losing his wife, Madan and Ambu’s relationship issues, etc. Such sequences can potentially change the mood of the scenes. These may have worked negatively against Ravi. Cinematography by newcomer Manush Nandan is average too. The European locales haven’t been captured as beautifully the could have been. The scenes appear crowded but Manush has been extremely good with capturing nature shots (greenery, waters, open skies, etc). The song video ‘Neela Vanam’ with -motion going backward but Kamal singing forward is uniquely done. Music by Devi Sri Prasad has certainly not struck gold. Mostly dappankuthu music with some classy percussions, the tunes are not an instant attraction, or so I would think. Neela Vaanam and Kamal Kavithai are interesting renditions, and may find a safe place in our minds.

Why 3/5:

Overall, the film lacks freshness. The performances are good, but the characterization for any individual swivels from a happy person to a sad person and back. The characters are not surreal at all for a movie, working negatively for the feel of the movie. The Direction and Screenplay fall short, the music is pretty average too. The main incentive to watch a *timepass* movie like this would be to watch your favourite stars do their thing, or to cruise through a smooth movie, if really not about having a great time.

Brindaavanam

2010-10-26T16:06:00.000-07:00

Actors: NTRJr., Kajal, Samantha, Prakash Raj, Srihari, Bramhanandam

Genre: Family Drama/Comedy

Rating: 3/5

Like his on-screen contemporaries he didn’t mince words while painting a self-portrait with a ‘City nunchi vachhadu soft gaa lover boy la kanipistunnadu anukuntunnaru emo; Character kottaga vundi ani try chesa, Lopala orginal alage vundi, danini bayatiki teste rachha raachhey’. This was NTR Junior’s way of hinting what to expect, not just from his role, also the movie as a whole. ‘Brindaavanam’ is where Lord Krishna spent his childhood in happiness, according to Indian Hindu mythology. Ideal is not ideal until its achieved; when happiness is ‘realized’, when problems are overcome, when failure turns to success. Nothing experimental, the subject deals with a rich boy NTR Junior, at the behest of his girlfriend Samantha’s request, poses as Kajal’s boyfriend to make her dysfunctional family (based in Rayalaseema) believe she’s not interested in any other proposal. Rest of the movie is about NTR bringing the family together. Much about family values and relationships, some philosophy, mainly about building a happy world; that’s where Brundavanam begins and that’s where it ends.

PERFORMANCES:

Celebrated widely as a mass-hero, NTR Junior has deliberately attempted an image makeover, and a softer Krish is largely in tune with the opening quote. For the most part, he plays an obedient youth lecturing elders on importance of earning a worthy livelihood, building the safety-net of a well-knit family and keeping up one’s spirit. Notably, his body language is not ruffian and has a classy feel - hands constantly in his trouser pockets, etc. Choreography overall is just about average and does not do enough justice to his talents. Kajal Agarwal as Bhanu plays a timid and a slightly asocial character. She has exceptionally imbibed and portrayed the characteristics of a traditional Teluginti aada-paduchu. Perpetually low voice tone, attending to elders cautiously, langa-vonis, minimal makeup (but professionally manicured fingernails forever o_O), etc are worth noticing. Samantha is more of a glamour element, adds enough oomph in considerably less screentime, compared to Kajal. Holistically speaking, her role is not meaty enough for her talents. The two ladies have brought to the table all they could but they are not memorable performances; the unique requirement of the story (like most Tollywood movies, to highlight the male character) puts them where I did.

Srihari and Prakash Raj play head-of-the-family type characters, also heading two nearby villages, where residents fight their rivals (denizens of the other village, duh!), because it’s their bounden duty to support and fight a familial issue between two airheads who share the same father (Kota Srinivas Rao) but different mothers. Srihari and Prakash Raj have lived these characters earlier, and mix terrorizing facial expressions, emotional euphoria, voice modulations, eye contact, almost in comparable measures with each other to push forward their roles. For the star comedian Brahmanandam, I will suffice it to say he gets his due for being an actor who receives applause, smiles and laughter even before he could say a word and he delivers well, although the characterization is not very memorable.

DIRECTION, SCREENPLAY, CINEMATOGRAPHY, MUSIC:

If you expected this Rayalaseema setting to have Tata Sumos being blowed up, villagers ready to be up in arms against ‘rivals’ at the drop of a hat, and many action scenes, you are right. The mass element checked, there’s enough stress on family ties, etc. Not very tear-jerking, Director Vamsi Paidipally has hadnled the subject and emotions maturely. Kudos to him for navigating through a known story, yet through a combination of actors not tried before, with a challenge of trying something new with NTR Jr., and not just shaving off his moustache. The flow in the story is logical for the most part and for the larger-than-life experience Telugu cinema promises; there are no gotcha moments really. Screenplay, also by Vamsi is gripping; he provides the right hooks at the right times to let the story start swinging in a different direction through introduction of new characters, unexpected dialogues, changing the emotional tone, visuals, violent outbursts, you name it. Cinematography by Chota K Naidu blends excellently into this village drama. The specially erected ‘home’ set, with blue walls [!] passes off too, thanks to Chota’s art. Music by Thaman does not exactly break through the glass ceiling. For the most past it suits a mass taste; except a song or two (Eyi Raja, Mojjarey notable).

Why 3/5:

The good: Story’s universal appeal highlighting cultural values. Good performances. Good Screenplay and Direction by an amateur. The bad: No big surprises, age-old storyline and treatment, many what-the-fish moments for the 21^st century, impractical ending.

Mahesh Khaleja

2010-10-08T16:36:00.000-07:00

Actors: Mahesh Babu, Anushka Shetty, Prakash Raj

Genre: Action-Comedy (Tollywood Masala)Rating: 2/5

‘Evadu kodithe thimma tirigi brain block avuddho vaade Raju gaadu.’ Raju opined it’s the brain, while popular Pandu (Pokiri) had always preferred the mind. Same thing really, you say? Well then, in context of this analogy there are no surprises with Mahesh Babu’s characterization, except one. He also played God [:O].The story by Trivikram Srinivas has all those elements you expect in a mass movie, but with a death-by-randomness first half and a quicker-than-Ferrari second half which is about a taxi driver Raju played by Mahesh Babu (yes the character's name is not Mahesh), who takes upon himself to save a village of dying residents because they have declared him shiznit. Raju acknowledges the vox populi err, the sycophancy, but keeps it honest. In a span of few days, he is able to dig out the reason for the deaths and also fights the bad guys to finally save the village.

Performances:

It always amazes me how a dude with chocolate-boy looks plays an action hero! Don’t bother, it’s rhetorical. Mahesh sure does his thing as Raju, killing 200 goons, flaunting arrogance for no apparent reason, frustrating the main villain who gives a rat's ass about authorities, and padagottifying a pretty dame by being an ass. Whatay! Mahesh lacks comic timing and loses out big-time in this department. Raju is an inconsistent mashup of an Athadu, and a less-sarcastic Jalsa - doer, both Trivikram’s creations. A lot of his hand gestures seemed deliberate and just for kicks; his charm although, will rub off on the more sensitive fans, read girls. Anushka (as Subbu) plays a hit-or-miss character like rest of the cast, except she features tangibly in all of the 5-6 ‘music videos’, which were otherwise ignorable. She did let the boy-gang crack jokes on her thighs calling them ‘solid’ which confused me, they are sexayy indeed! Comic relief through Sunil, Bramhi Ali, and D. Subramanyam is haphazard and less-gratifying. Shafi and Rao Ramesh as villagers have stood out and deserve critical acclaim for bringing expressions of real-life eccentricities to celluloid smoothly.

Direction, Screenplay, Cinematography, Dialogues:

The complexity of ideating the comeback vehicle of a big Tollywood star is conspicuous, given the challenge of ‘maintaining his image’. As Director, Trivikram hasn’t left out any ingredient in this ‘recipe’, but the quantities are disproportionate. Trivikram, who has a flair for comedy, has tried something different – placed the onus completely on Mahesh, without relying on the regular comics, making them obsolete. If that was the whole point, Mahesh’s entry scene (the whole wham-bam first time he appears) was not capitalized upon, and is only so impressive as his bike without the headlight housing. The flimsy plot overall loses ground very soon, so the shaky plot on which all else rest, fumble badly. A bad plot could have been saved by good screenplay (also by Trivikram). Using flashback or a parallel story are good mechanisms to engage the audience, but too much focus on Mahesh spoils the flow. The first half is really slow and tries hard to garner viewer’s attention, but the screenplay does not to latch on or build upon, passing the burden to the second half, which is replete with too much detail suddenly unfolding. Many sequences are unjustified – Raju murdering scores to secure water in Rajasthan(!), how he lands back in AP from Rajasthan, etc.

Cinematography by Yash Bhatt is very mainstream. Clearly agendized to captivate mass-audiences, this movie has all elements of a Tollywood potboiler. Same rich villain (yes, a rich Prakash Raj), bimbo of a girlfriend, a big house, a sidekick, car blasts, a cocky hero killing 10 goons in one go, adey egiri egiri thanadam – all captured how a Tollywood fan would expect. The deserts are fresh visuals, although. Dialogues are Trivikram’s forte, and most of the characters seemed to get it right. The language is massy (in excess of paaradobbuthas) with some overboard snarling, but colloquial overall. Comedians don’t exactly miss the train. Eg. Hostage Raghu Babu alleviating hostage Subbaraju's fear on seeing a coconut in Mahesh’s hand, by saying – ‘Bhayapadaku, vaallu kobbarikaya ni pagalakotti bellam kalupukoni thintaaru, anthe’. Or a goon asked by Tanikella to start fighting, innocently replying ‘Chai taaguthunna saar’, etc are subtle yet impressionably funny scenes.

Why 2/5:
Idey ekkuva. The Good: Performances are overbearing, yet watchable. Impossible stunts. The entertainment factor is not zero. The bad: Unaesthetic screenplay and direction. Mahesh overshadowing regular comedians. This movie is for Mahesh Babu fan clubs only.

Enthiran (The Robot)

2010-10-01T18:12:00.000-07:00

Actors: Rajnikanth, Aishwarya Rai, Danny Denzongpa

Genre: Sci-fi

Rating: 4/5

Scene: Rajni as Dr. Vaseegaran introduces Chitti the Robot to an audience of scientists.

Scientist: Kadavul irukaara? (Does God exist?)

Robot: Kadavul na yaaru? (Who is God?)

Scientist: Namla ellam padaithavar Kadavul (We are all creations of God)

Robot: Enna padaithavar Dr.Vaseegaran. Appo, kadavul irukaar (Dr. Vaseegaran created me. So, God exists)

A thunderous applause ensued in the movie theater; hooting and whistles persisted for the next 30 seconds. If anything, you would watch this movie to witness the frenzy of Thalaivar’s die-hard fans, exulting with pride upon being presented with tokens of Rajni’s eulogy one after another.

Quick facts: (1) Thalaivar – Superstar Rajnkanth’s moniker, meaning ‘Leader’ (2) Filmmaker Shankar is known for directing films with record-breaking budgets and his filmography has never registered a dud (3) The soundtrack and music are by the most expensive Indian Music Director, the Mozart of Madras, A R Rahman (4) The highest paid Indian actress, former Miss World, Aishwarya Rai is part of this bandwagon (5) While on the top dollar note, Rajni is the second highest paid actor in Asia after Jackie Chan (per current trade reports). (6) Enthiran is Asia’s most expensive film till date, at ~Rs. 170 cr.

Are we in Utopia yet? It’s OK don’t play skeptic now, I am not going to pull the plug on you. Enthiran rocks the box office Rajni- hard by measuring up well, while deemed ‘highly ambitious’ for Indian style, standards and history of movie-making, limited audience, mega-budget, and a heavily-hyped project that was delivered in 2250 prints all over the world. As is clear from the title, the plot of Enthiran revolves around a Robot ‘Chitti’ (played by Rajni) that is designed by Dr. Vaseegaran (Rajni again). The humanoid is the most advanced robot of any type; is able to read, observe, understand, learn and apply (or imitate) any form of verb. Examples of verbs (present participle) – running, dancing, driving, fighting. The most important of all, emoting, cooks the meat and potatoes of Enthiran. You may assume a negative angle when you’d see Danny Denzongpa’s name feature in the cast. Not giving away much, watch the movie to find out how a scientist, his fiancé, a robot that can emote, a rival scientist all fit together to tell a story.

Performances:

“Yevarum Uzhaicha Uyarnthidalam Endru Yeduthu Katruvathu Cinema Thaan

Adhuku Yaar Inga Saatchina Ada Vera Yaaru Namma Thalaivar Thaan”

(Cinema shows you can make it big by working hard; who else but our own Thalaivar is an example). ‘Cinema Cinema’ lyrics, from the movie Kuselan, based on stardom.

Very few entertainers command standing ovation at the beginning of their performance. Let alone the fact this was on a movie screen and not live. Rajni as Dr. Vaseegara is a subdued character in the movie, letting Chitti's character hog most of the limelight. Rajni, through Chitti brings back some of his famous screen mannerisms, most notably his laughter, his gait and his signature standing pose with one leg crossed. Arguably, Chitti is the more charming personality and compares well with a lot Rajni has done in the past – comedy, action, romance, you name it. A chunk of Chuck Norris jokes have been attributed to Rajni owing to his ‘invincible’ image, but Director Shankar made it all reasonable by conceptualizing Chitti, who does everything we have joked about. Rajni as Chitti has adapted the restricted body movements of a Robot well. The man sports a wig, wears make up and fits perfectly into the protagonist’s character in a Sci-fi movie. There are numerous moments he’ll make you forget he is a 60 year old playing a character at least 20 years younger.

Aishwarya Rai (Ash) as Sana seemed alright for a change, and does not get lost in the Rajni mania. Any other actress in her place would look terrible when Thalai grabs most of the eyeballs in the audience. Sana in Chitti’s words - ‘Manishan padachaduliye urupadi aana vishayam, onnu naa, innonnu nee’ (To list everything beneficial man studied, one is me and other being you), and Ash is the glamour quotient as you may imagine. Her dance moves are gracefully choreographed, she does not ham so much and presents herself charismatically, yet doing the usual. Danny Denzongpa as Dr. Bohra, paints a good image of some of the Hollywood Sci-fi villains we have seen in the last 5 years. His lip-sync is evidently dysfunctional, however, his hand gestures and expressions more than make up for it.

Direction, Screenplay, Editing:

Shankar has delved into a challenging project with very unique attributes – a cult star, a subject of tomorrow, visual effects par excellence, technical artistes of great repute, and to add, production values that yesterday did not witness. All credits in this section including scripting go to Shankar, except Editing. Shankar, over the years has dealt with subjects that directly affected the society, primarily modeling the male protagonist as the game-changer. While his earlier works have been somewhat preachy, Endhiran scores big on keeping it real, letting the hero operate within the system and not above. While, the plot also aims at entertainment and this is achieved through some of Chitti’s gimmicks, comic acts and most importantly through special effects. Converting a dream on paper to celluloid reality is an arduous task, especially when Shankar's role was to extract the best from the best.

Although this seems like a subject focusing on the urban class, the humour is universal. When Chitti is watching a mosquito bite Sana, you would expect him to thwart it with a Kosubat and be done. But there is a whole comedy scene on the interaction between Thalai and mosquitoes named Cholera Jasmine, Dengue Lakshmi, etc. Sensibilities like these make Shankar reach out to a wide audience base. Shankar seems to have employed elaborate research on the technical know-how, and otherwise ignorable specifics like Robot's melting skin when it catches fire, Robot programming itself, Robot functioning through stored electric charge, etc. and other such, if ignored, would be found in Readers-don’t-digest columns months later. Screenplay is (chrono)logical, except there is a lot to digest, so if any, I would have wanted to cut down on few special effects and mini action sequences to reduce running time. Editing by Anthony Gonsalves is slick, keeps you hooked. If that proves he has done a good job, imagine the amount of work in front of him, having to choose from a wide array of options in form of special effects.

VFX, Cinematography, Art design:

The best part of the movie after Thalaivar himself, the visual effects, have been done by Stan Winston Studio. Endhiran is not India’s response to Avatar, not yet. But it is a bold step in the right direction having employed experienced Hollywood artistes with a Terminator 2, a Jurassic Park, and suchlike behind their back. How they make you feel normal about two Rajnis in the same frame, making one dance like Prabhu Deva, while keeping you guessing if its really Rajni, and the formations scene in the end makes me want to enter their minds to see how graphically and geometrically they think. Great teamwork is seen at play between DOP R Rathnavelu, Art Direction team led by Sabu Cyril and the VFX team. The elaborate sets are worth noticing and must easily cost a bomb each – be it outdoor or indoor – grandiose is the word. Shankar seems to have a fixation to picturize Ash in all 7 wonders of the world, which changed recently adding Machu Picchu amongst others, and what do you know! How all the sets and outdoors are captured on camera, and vividly remain in your mind is Rathnavelu’s art and he proves himself yet again.

Music:

If A R Rahman sneezed, would it be musical too? Not sure. But unlike earlier associations, A R Rahman has used less of Superstar's flavour and rather fit the album into the contemporary style he practices today. The music album is not a craze yet, but its apt to say it grows on you. Background music is ARR’s bigger contribution to Endhiran. Very astutely written octaves, amazing sound design, and world-class artistes recording in 3 cities (Chennai, Mumbai and London), ARR ensures the music enriches your experience. Sometimes operatic, sometimes comical, mostly flamboyant – much like the movie itself.

Why 4/5:

I take away because 1 point because Rajni’s age shows, and would have preferred shorter run time, with reduced action sequences. The good part being the ensemble, the performances, the technical aspects, a good subject, great special effects, great direction and most important of all, Rajni himself! Watch it simply because the man proves yet again why they call him Thalaivar!

Komaram Puli

2010-09-25T17:43:00.000-07:00

Actors: Pawan Kalyan, Nikesha Patel, Manoj Bajpai

Genre: Action Drama

Rating: 2/5

Paari po. Povaa? Nee karma. S J Suryah apparently also approached Bollywood actors before finalizing on Pawan Kalyan. Puli is once-in-a-decade type of a movie which has nothing good going for it, faces distinct hurdles and some shamefully late realization by the stakeholders that its not a good project to be associated with, and due to obligations, manage to bail it out before an unforgiving audience which has not spared the best. Mithun Chakraborty could have done it and raked in more moolah than Pawan Kalyan.

The plot of Komaram Puli has been penned by S J Suryah. Yes the same guy responsible for Pawan Kalyan’s career high-point Khushi. Unless you knew already, you are welcome. Puli (Pawan Kalyan), a Police Officer in AP saves the Indian Prime Minister while on a trip abroad from 8 suicide bombers, single-handedly since local intelligence doesn’t give a shit about a foreign VVIP's security (apparently). It's anyone guess that a felicitation function follows for Puli. But it's not even the Editor's guess that, tortured by Puli’s lecture on society’s problems and duties that a Police Officer must perform, the PM grants Puli his wish to head a semi-autonomous agency functioning within State Police (!) that has access to NASA-level resources to solve criminal cases. Puli confused me by doubling as a activist more than a Police officer, always lecturing on humanity, responsibilities, in the media glare perennially, much more than his leadership. Puli, who owns a palatial home overlooking the entire city of Hyderabad, uses his 'connections' with the PM to set up telephone booth-hotlines for the common man to call Puli’s team in case a problem arises that won’t be solved through slacking police officers. The 'hotline' functions with a 1 Rupee coin (or similar) only, though - make your own jokes.

Solving issues like bribery, while also lecturing police officers who procrastinate, Puli chances upon the case of a missing Police Officer Hussain, which leads him to a rich industrialist Al Saleem (Manoj Bajpai). It’s eventually revealed Al Saleem is an affiliate of a most-wanted criminal by name Nixon. There’s some flashback involving his mother (Saranya) whose husband is killed by Saleem in the past, which Puli does not know of. In the interim there’s the love angle; random TV viewer Madhu (Nikesha Patel) falls in love with him and eventually manages to marry him. While the viewer is made overwhelmed with Star Trek grade of events, some innocent people characters are killed, and it’s revealed that Nixon was a crucial member of Puli’s team right from its genesis, and some photos lead to visual proof of alliance between Nixon and Saleem. Puli’s mother and wife are held hostage by Saleem in hope that Puli would let go of this case. With a hidden cam, Puli relays his entire conversation with Saleem who cynically recaps all criminal acts he has done so far including the murder of his dad and the murder attempt on the PM. Cut to the chase, final scene, Puli rips apart the right leg of Saleem with his bare hands.

PERFORMANCES:

Pawan Kalyan lapped up a script that most actors refused, possibly because it had many, many bhashanamulu, potentially trying to pave his way with the masses for an ensuing political career if Chiranjeevi’s PRP party were to see any success. Objectively speaking, action is PK’s forte and he has shined amazingly well with his stunts, except for scenes where almost became Spiderman jumping building terraces multiple yards away, running on terraces for kilometers, hanging upside down on cranes, and thwarting attacks on a car carrying the PM in Malaysia. Pawan looks fit, but a lot of contribution that Pawan brought to Puli was potentially based on the script. Pawan is known for his signature (typecast, if you will) cool-guy image with a natural flair for action and good fashion sense. His dialogue delivery is political-speech like (remindful of Sai Kumar many a time) and a total thumbs down. PK was never a great dancer anyway, but an analogy for his inability and discomfort is that of a shy audience member pulled onto stage in a jiffy to join an already-performing dance troupe. For a public image that PK carries and characters PK does well, the characterization is a total mismatch. Fundamentally, PK does not pull it off.

As happens to most female leads in Indian cinema, Saranya, who is past her prime, plays mother to an actor she could have potentially acted opposite to. Too much hamming in Puli, her performance was much better in Nayagan (1987). Nikesha Patel’s got some skimpy clothing going on and is the lead in now-proverbial nadumu scene for a PK starrer. Manoj Bajpai as the imbalanced Al Saleem is impeccable. His freaky mood swings, neurotic behavior peppered with irritation and anger simply based on others’ mannerisms more than what they say, is simply worth noticing. Although, Manoj too also fell prey to the typecast style statement of Tollywood villains of this millennium – living abroad travelling in limos, or surrounded by calendar models on yachts, in a white suit, white hair held back by hairspray and oversized goggles which are probably picked off Sultan Bazaar in Hyderabad. The rant is endless. Ali is probably PK’s lucky charm, but a film like Puli does not deserve to be saved.

DIRECTION, CINEMATOGRAPHY, EDITING, SCREENPLAY:

Majority of plastic awards for Puli must go to S J Suryah, first for spawning a lousy script; then for being a screenwriter and effectively negating the meaning of screenplay; and most of all, for underperforming his most important duty, that of a Director. The biggest loser though, is the plot which cascades into a bad screenplay. Lot of untimed events, irrelevant sequences, superfluous dialogue, and overacting characters seal the coffin perfectly. Unintentionally funny scenes will keep you entertained till no end. It’s hard to perceive that a profoundly conceptualized film like Khushi and a dud like Puli have been pulled together by the same person.

Cinematography by Binod Pradhan is better in non-action sequences. Action sequences are well-crafted in the second half of the movie. VFX, right in the first scene (an action scene) are rib-tickling if not gripping, and Balayya-esque to be precise. Editing by V T Vijayan cannot be faulted with, simply given his repertoire. I would have wanted to be in the same room as Vijayan when he took first look at this defective piece of work. One scene where I would expect justice is when Madhu is lying down on a living-room table at home with blood oozing from her cut-throat and everyone’s sitting around her. Puli does not inquire if medical help was sought, instead falls for the dubious act, and ties the mangalsootram around her neck to call her Mrs. Puli. Very sad. Music by A R Rahman is alright, as usual very different from his other compositions, but not exceptional. Music rating – 3/5.

Why 2/5:

There are only negatives to talk about, right from background support to acting. Pawan Kalyan’s performance is inconsistent, but the second half is better, more watchable and more remindful of masala cinema of the recent past. Could go lower on the rating, but there are some commendable elements – which are lost in the magnanimity of flaws above.

Verdict: If you have reached this point, then one, either you really like reading my reviews, or two, you really are expecting a lot from this movie irrespective of word on the street. If former, I heart you. If latter, God cannot save you, too.