Long long time before Bhiku Mhatre said Mumbai ka Don kaun in Satya and Malik from Company played dirty games to ‘dhanda hai par ganda hai’, there was a man called Vijay Dinanath Chauhan(VDC), who ruled Bombay. But for him ruling Bombay was not important, his sights, vision & energies were occupied to one small village called Mandwa. I don’t know if it even exists but his energies were channelized to conquer that place for a promise that he had given to his mother and thereby starts a fascinating crime and relationship journey into the minds of characters in this movie.

When Hindi movies were making a transition from the rotten eighties to the early nineties; even Amitabh Bachchan(AB) had a torrid time with disasters like Toofan, Jaadugar & Ganga Jamuna Saraswati. The only glimpse of hope for fans was AB initiating an actor-director combo with Mukul S. Anand.

I had a special regard and liking for Mukul Anand only because of one film called Insaaf, which leaves for a detailed post some other day, but it was the first time AB came out of his comfort zone to act with a director who was hailed as a whiz kid in those times (Sanjay Gupta had this tag from media in initial days & has failed spectacularly till now).

The major intention of writing this post about Agneepath came when I saw the first trailer of the remade version. Even though I am no seasoned blogger or a film critic I had to write this as a fan boy from my growing years where I always admired movies and an individual from an era who experienced Agneepath in its glamour awesomeness.

Going ahead I will mention some scenes and analyse all memorable characters from the movie along with VDC’s relation and love/hate affair on screen with them. It is more than a possibility of VDC in being in all those scenes as that’s the beauty & glory of this cult masterpiece. Dharma Productions will do more than good if the emotional core is maintained and all characters are half decent as its original, though it seems a tough ask.

Young Vijay Dinanath Chauhan(Master Manjunath): Hindi cinema is galore with irritating child artists and only a handful few films show them in a convincing manner. But VDC was no ordinary child and when an elder protagonist of the same character is so explosive, the child artist should match up to it. Master Manjunath is as much responsible for making VDC who he is right from its inception and there are two scenes of absolute determined intensity which says it all.

(a)  When young VDC carries the body of his father on a cart with Kancha Cheena’s car passing by to splash the dirt on his face followed by an oath while leave Mandwa, “Nahin…main yeh gaon kabhi nahi bhoolunga…..Ek din yeh gaon maa ko zarur doonga.” And

(b)  After burning a petrol pump of Kancha Cheena showing a glimpse of a huge transformation in morals as a young VDC while in interrogation with Inspector Gaitonde, he breathes fire to lines “Aur woh kya tha jo mere Maa ke saath hua tha, woh jurm nahi tha….Report karne ka tha…kiya…woh bhi kiya maine…par kya kiya tum logo ne…kuch nahi…is liye main kiya…JALA DALA…JALA DALA petrol pump ko” to AB right across in your face after that, you know a legendary character is born.

Commisioner Gaitonde(Vikram Gokhale): VDC probably remains one of the rare screen acts where he shares a love-hate relationship with most characters around and Commisoner Gaitonde is one of them. Vikram Gokhale played it with controlled restraint and remains one of better characters though even now Hindi cinema has not utilised his potential fully. There are many scenes where they confront each other but the most memorable has to be:

Where VDC goes to Gaitonde’s house to brief him about an impending danger with the dialogues followed, which are very relevant the most even now.

“Kehne ko yeh sheher hai…Sirf kehne ko..Par idhar jungle ka kanoon chalta hai maloom..Cheenti ko Bisturiya kha jaata hai..Bisturiya ko mendak..Mendak ko saanp nigal jaata hai..Nevla saanp ko maarta hai..Bhediya nevle ka khoon chus leta hai..Sher bhediye ko chaba jata hai..Idhar har taqatwar apne se kam ko maarkar jeeta hai”, an edgy scene with remarkable dialogue delivery.

Terylene(Sharat Saxena)/Usman(Avtar Gill)/Anna Shetty(Deepak Shirke)/ Hasmukh: These are the men who take VDC under their wings from an early age and have some substantial influence on his character but as VDC backs out for further business expansion with drugs and asks for the top seat, they gun for his life and are reminded of one of the earlier take on him by Anna Shetty,”Dekho…Socho…Yeh ladka ek chingari hai…Kal bada bankar sabko zinda jala diya toh kya karenge.” Moments of pure adrenaline and tense culminate whenever they confront which include scenes where:

(a)  VDC goes to meet his ex boses, there is a hush silence in room as he enters with all the telephones ringing frantically and the ensuing scene that follows later.

(b) “Vijay Chauhan ka behen ko uthakar le gaya..uthakar le gaya..” Mukul Anand takes heroism to another level when VDC runs through a claustrophobic hutment locale replete with mucky and muddy surrounding to enter the area where Anna Shetty has abducted his sister. It is an epic action scene in true sense which is a zenith of achievement in gangster films.

Nathu Kaka(Tinnu Anand) & Dinkar Rao(Goga Kapoor): The good & bad side of Mandwa, as both characters are situated there. Tinnu Anand as a foul mouthed drunkard and a supporter of VDC, delivers a loud and perfect performance while Goga Kapoor being one of the past nemesis gets his moment of glory when VDC says “Hawa tez chalta hai Dinkar Rao..Topi sambhalo..Udd jayega”

Krishnan Iyyer M.A(Mithun Chakraborty): The only positive male character apart from Master Dinanath Chauhan(Alok Nath) & Commissioner Gaitonde, Krishnan Iyyer is a Nariyal Paaniwala playing  a good soul who saves VDC from the brink of death during an encounter with his bosses. Earning immense respect from VDC and his mother, Krishnan Iyyer is promoted as a bodyguard to his sister Shiksha(Neelam).

Playing a South Indian with immaculate precision, Mithun is a delight to watch and brings in much needed warmth and light moments for this power packed vendetta film. The remake does not feature him and seems a smart move by the makers for it is too huge a shoe to fill without being ridiculed.

Suhasini Chauhan(Rohini Hattangady): Rarely has Indian Cinema depicted a mother-son relationship with so much volatility and high tension where every dialogue is dipped in acid to create a blood boiling effect. Agneepath remains one of the rare films where a mother-son relation is complex without any sugar coated moments as has been the history of Hindi cinema. Rohini Hattangady in which is her best role till date gives a knockout performance matching AB in every scene. ‘Maa k haath ka bana hua gaajar ka halwa’ was replaced with striking effect in ‘Apne haath dho le Vijay’; as VDC is invited home after his health recuperates from the attack leading to heavy discomfort. The climax where she says ‘Mera beta Gunda nahi hai’ can choke you for its poignancy.

Kaancha Cheena(Danny Dengzongpa): “Kaanch ke mahal mein rehne wala Kaancha Seth”. How often do you find an antagonist who is as powerful as the protagonist when it comes to clash of the titans? Kancha Cheena is a fitting persona laced with style and an aura to match up with VDC and they both scorch the scene whenever confronted which takes approximately 77 mins for the first duel, but the kind of scene that ensues is unparalleled in cinematic history. One of the most iconic villains of Indian cinema Danny played the role to such perfection that it seems impossible to visualise anybody here. Seems the new version has purposefully opted a gimmicky approach in giving Sanjay Dutt a giant presence and it will be interesting how he enacts.

Vijay Dinanath Chauhan as Amitabh Bachchan:  What can one say about such a legendary character which has not been said, discussed and emulated before. AB celebrates this role and was born to play it with so much of pain, turmoil and rage. Heroes in Hindi cinema irrespective of their background are supposed to get out of sync in some aspects but AB has the distinct advantage of playing some parts which remains true to the character; VDC being one of them. AB as the hero doesn’t dance neither he goes romantic and remains a man possessed with fury right from his entry, mouthing the now famous dialogues to the final moments and it is to his credit that we don’t mention him as a performer but VDC as a character for this particular film.

The entire walk along with his mom during the end till he breathes his last in her lap, calls for thunderous applause. Any actor could have made that scene look like a ham fest but AB demonstrates why he will remain best in the business and VDC achieving legendary status.

Apart from Mukul S.Anand if there is one person in the crew who deserves maximum applause it has to be Kader Khan. The dialogues are one of the best I have heard in Hindi Cinema and clearly a case of characters delivering it with classic effect.

The movie has some inspired source from Scarface along with its background score too, but those were minor glitches apart from Neelam & Madhavi as the sister & wife in Vijay’s life which are important characters but not well fleshed. Other supporting cast include Sudhir Pandey as a corrupt cop, Bob Christo as Gora and Archana Puran Singh being a moll to Danny who leave a mark. Even the songs composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal are just a hindrance to the proceedings with no great tunes to boast of and only Bappa Moriya being situational.

The team of Karan Malhotra & Karan Johar has a huge and mammoth task cut out when Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt, Rishi Kapoor, Zareena Wahab and Priyanka Chopra reprise roles for the new addition and only few days will decide if the path of fire that they took will be crossed or they will burn themselves in the road along.

Whatsoever maybe the fate of its new version, but the legend of Vijay Dinanath Chauhan will always be remembered and cherished in years to come for one and the only one; Amitabh Bachchan. My respect and admiration for him with a standing ovation.

Tu na thamega kabhi, tu na mudega kabhi, tu na rukega kabhi,
Kar shapath, Kar shapath, Kar shapath,
Agneepath, Agneepath, Agneepath.

Ye Mahan Drushya hain,
Chal raha Manushya hain,
Ashru, Sweth, Rakta se Latpath Latpath Latpath..
Agneepath, Agneepath, Agneepath.

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Yaraana-one of my friday syndrome viewings @ Apsara Theatre,Coimbatore

While we have cases of single screen cinemas closing down like Krishna Talkies at Kalyan ( Thane District ) recently, we also sometimes get to hear of surprises. One such recent example is the erstwhile Prabhat Talkies at Thane being re-opened as a swanky single screen-Gold Cinema, which aims to provide multiplex comfort to the single screen audience. In the first part of my single screen cinema series, I had written about Priya Cinema, Kolkata and now this time I head south, all the way to Coimbatore. Well for the sake of those who aren’t familiar with Coimbatore, let me tell you that it’s one of the best cities in South India and of course a fairly cosmopolitan city with a good mix of educational institutions and industries.

Well of course I’m here to talk about cinema and theatres, so let me start off by telling you all that Coimbatore generally has had a tradition of good theatres and cineplexes which play the regular Tamil,English,Hindi & Malayalam movies. In fact Delite Theatre ( the erstwhile Variety Hall Cinema ) in Coimbatore bears the distinction of being the 1st ever cinema hall in the whole of South India.Apsara Theatre has been one such single screen theatre which has been popular over the years and has been a favorite haunt of mine at various periods. The theatre which was located at Dr.Nanjappa Road, Gandhipuram has an interesting history in terms of the movies played over there.

Operational since the late 1970’s the theatre started off primarily screening Hindi andEnglish Movies with the odd Tamil movies also getting released in between. This trend continued till the mid 80’s. Suddenly the flow of Hindi movie releases stopped and then the theatre started playing soft porn movies and the only exceptions in this period were the Jackie Chan & Jet Li movies as the theatre had started building up a good fan base for these movies. The only other theatre in town competing for the martial arts movies was Maruti in R.S.Puram. So due to the advent of soft porn and action movies the family audience started staying away from the theatre. Many a times over the years the management tried to unsuccessfully restore the pride of the old days and the two main attempts made were in the early 90’s when you had a spate of Hindi releases like Dil,Hum,Saajan etc followed by the mid 90’s with Jeet,Yaarana etc.

But what the management lacked was patience. Since they had lost considerable family audiences, to bring them back in hordes required consistency in screening the right kind of movies (Hindi). But what happened was that usually seeing the crowd not really matching up to their expectation they would revert back to playing soft porn movies in between to make up some collection and so they could never really bring back the family crowd in its entirety. But every cloud has a silver lining and Apsara Theatre too received a shot in the arm during Diwali in 1997. Surprisingly they managed to screen Dil To Pagal Hai. With DTPH they managed to bring in initially the college crowd and eventually the family crowd. This time they realized that they needed to be patient and consistent and thus brought out a steady stream of Hindi releases. So a year down the line for Diwali in 1998, as they screened Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, they had firmly established their status as a premium Hindi movie releasing theatre. From then on they never had to look back in terms of changing the kind of movies to be released.

So why am I writing specifically about Apsara and not about any other theatre in Coimbatore? Well not only is the history mentioned earlier so interesting, I have also had a lot of interesting experiences over there over the years. The theatre in itself had an awesome structure and of course one of the largest parking spaces that I have seen across theatres in India. But on the day KKHH released in 1998 there was a near stampede at night as people rushed to get in after a long wait outside the gates. On that day even the large parking space seemed to look insufficient . The theatre also boasted of one of the largest balcony areas among theatres in India both in terms of space as well as the number of seats ( 500 +) . In fact the theatre’s structure had an odd incline in such a way that if you are sitting in one of the top rows of the balcony, you actually are looking down at the screen (the screen would be below eye level). Aurora Cinema at Matunga,Mumbai is another place which has a similar balcony feature ( screen below eye level if you are sitting in the top rows of the balcony ).

Another odd factor about the theatre has been its pricing. On various occasions the theatre was found to be the highest priced theatre in town. In the mid 1990’s when soft porn movies were still being played there, an Indo U.S co-production called Divine Lovers released there. Now for those unaware, Divine Lovers was an English movie set in India ( directed by B.Subash of Disco Dancer fame )with a reincarnation theme and did very well in India especially in the South. At that time while tickets in all the other good theatres in the city were priced at around Rs.25, in case of Apsara it was at Rs.35. One particular Friday I was shocked to see an ad in the newspaper, the ad was of Apsara theatre and it boldly said ‘on the occasion of the successful completion of 75 days of Divine Lovers, we are pleased to inform our patrons that we have now reduced our ticket prices, so now come and enjoy the movie once again.’ The ticket prices were reduced from 35 to 25.

Again when the AIADMK Government in T.N in the early 2000’s introduced flexi pricing of tickets ( in the first 2 weeks of release the theatres could charge a premium for the tickets and then revert back to original rates from the 3rd week onwards), Apsara was quick to take advantage of the situation. The theatre management felt that they had a loyal audience for the movies who wouldn’t mind paying a premium and so while the rest of the theatres charged around 40-50 for a balcony, the ticket rates in Apsara were at Rs.70 in the first 2 weeks of a movie’s release. This trend continued for quite some time till the DMK came to power in 2006 & decided to remove the flexi pricing system. I remember watching a lot of Hindi movies while in school like Hum,Ghayal,Dil etc over here. While in college a lot of ‘engrossing’ movies were also seen over here. Again with Hindi movies coming back in circulation there with DTPH, it became a popular place to go on dates. On many an occasion during the night show one would normally find most of my college friends over here (most of them drunk of course ) and since my folks were elsewhere I would also be there almost every week. So be it a Kareeb, Major Saab, Gharwali Baharwali etc I would be there for almost all movies.

I then moved out of Coimbatore after college and after a long time happened to get posted there on work in 2004-05 and again relived a lot of old memories. This time around I hardly had company as most of my old friends were no more in town and I was staying alone. So visiting Apsara Theatre became a regular weekend routine. Be it a Bunty aur Babli, No Entry, Page 3, Dus etc, I would be there as a regular bhakt visiting his favourite temple. It so happened that when Iqbal released to rave reviews I happened to be in Hyderabad for the weekend and somehow could not watch the movie there. I did not worry because I expected the movie to be playing in Apsara and so when I was back in town on Monday morning I was happy to know that I was right. On the way from the airport to my residence I was then dismayed to know that the movie was running only in the noon show and the afternoon show slots.

Now with the weekend already over I was feeling bad as I wondered what to do. That’s when the passion for cinema gained control over me. I actually ended up going straight from home to Apsara and watching Iqbal in the noon show and then going to work after lunch. Such was the attraction that the theatre had for me. Well in the journey of life, I relocated again but still tried to follow up and know what’s playing there once in a while. Some time later to my shock I got to know that like a lot of other single screen theatres across the country, Apsara too closed down in 2006/07. Initially some people would say they would be opening soon as a renovated single screen/multiplex while others mentioned that there is a family dispute still going on. But now its just the memory associated with the iconic structure in the minds of people like me that still keeps the place alive.

Some of my other favorite theatres in Coimbatore are the twin theatres of V.R.Complex-Central and Kanakadhara, Carnatic Cinema, K.G.Cinemas and Maruti. While Maruti has completely been going downhill over the last few years, the others are doing quite well. Before Apsara closed down, V.R.Complex had been closed for a while and now the twin theatres are rocking along, big time. They were the first to introduce 3D projection in Coimbatore with Avatar  and have gone in for a completely revamped look as well. K.G.Cinemas is now part of Reliance’s Big Cinemas and Carnatic Cinema continues to be the single screen of choice for Hindi,English and Malayalam movies. Incidentally there are hardly any single screens around in the city as most of them have turned the multiplex/cineplex route. With more multiplex players like Maharaja,Sathyam Cinemas, Fun Cinemas etc entering the city,the audience is spoiled for choice no doubt but somehow the old charm of single screens seems to be slowly vanishing in the textile city.

Note- This was originally written some time in early 2009 and recently re-edited again. I will now be moving on to Chennai for my next post in this series to cover one of my favorite single screens. This is part of the endeavor to cover single screens from across the Country.

Puri Jagannath has recently changed his style of working a little and this is apt illustrated by the fact that he completed Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap in just a few months, from conception to finish. So while he announced that Businessman would also be completed similarly in a few months it was met with skepticism since big hero Telugu movies are known to take ages to get completed. Also Mahesh Babu in particular is known to be very particular with how his film shapes out and hence his projects in the past have suffered from a lot of delays- Mahesh Khaleja is a good example to illustrate the same. However Puri and Mahesh did go on to keep up their word and completed Businessman in a few months to ensure that it made it to theatres for Sankranti. Just like Pongal is a big festive period for new releases in Tamil Nadu, it’s the same in case of Andhra Pradesh with respect to Sankranti.

Originally meant to release on 11^th January, it finally released on 13^th and got a one day head start over Venkatesh’s Bodyguard, which released the next day i.e 14^th January. The show that I went for was in a multiplex (PVR Cinemas) but the housefull audience reminded me more of the single screen audience of A.P. So here I go with my thoughts on the film-

1. If Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap begins with Puri thanking Amitabh Bachchan for doing the film, in Businessman you have Puri thanking RGV for providing inspiration to make the film . And then there’s a voice over which says that while the film is based in Mumbai most characters speak in Telugu for ‘our’ convenience. And I smiled, for it could go anywhere from here on.
2. A film need not have a plot to bring in the audience and Businessman is ample proof of the same. What is the film all about? Mahesh Babu plays Vijay Surya who comes to Mumbai and slowly but smartly becomes Surya Bhai in record time. This is the time when the Mumbai Police Commissioner (Nasser) proudly announces that there is no underworld/mafia in the city anymore. But Surya is on a mission- a mission to revive the mafia and run it as a business entity.
3. Being a film with a popular hero there has to be a romantic track as well and here Surya falls for Chitra (Kajal Aggarwal) and there are some tried and tested ways of developing the romance between them. Mahesh Babu/Surya keeps telling Kajal/Chitra that he loves her & she keeps telling him that she hates him. But the duets in exotic locales continue to happen. After all the music director Thaman.S needs to contribute too right?
4. The film is being highlighted for its ‘unconventional plot’ and the dialogues. Sure the concept of wanting to corporatize crime/mafia sounds fine and the dialogues are razor sharp indeed. But what surprises you initially tends to get repetitive after a while as everybody seems to be forever angry in the film, especially Mahesh Babu.
5. Having a superstar play the hero in your film is a great feeling for any producer and director. And if the actor happens to have an arresting screen presence it only makes the feeling even headier. Granted Mahesh Babu can hold our attention with his very presence and dialogue delivery but does that mean that you need to have him in more than 80 % of the total frames in the film?
6. Getting a new face to play the role of the Heroine’s friend isn’t a bad idea at all. But the least that you can do is to ensure that you don’t get in someone who ends up actually irritating with her over the top acting and dialogue delivery.
7. 

   Kajal Aggarwal with Mahesh Babu

   Actors like Sayaji Shinde, Prakash Raj and Subbaraju continue getting typecast in Telugu Cinema. Businessman continues this tradition very successfully . What directors like Puri fail to understand is that there is no novelty factor to their films when the audience gets to see talented actors being used for doing repetitive stuff.

8. A veteran Bollywood actor like Raza Murad gets a reasonably decent cameo in the film. But pray why have his voice dubbed by someone else when the character anyway is speaking mainly in Hindi in the film? I am particularly baffled about the same since we’ve always known Raza Murad for his rich baritone voice. Alas even the end credits do injustice to him by listing him as ‘Raj Murad’ instead of Raza Murad, so much for sensitivity.
9. While the 1^st half still keeps you going, you are holding your breath and hoping that the 2^nd half actually will elevate the film. Nothing of that sort actually happens and you continue to get an overdose of the same thing. When Mahesh Babu actually tells Prakash Raj that this wasn’t really all about personal revenge, then you don’t know whether to applaud or laugh.
10. Shweta Bhardwaj appears in an item number ‘We Want Bad Boys’ and that may be an attraction for the front bench audience. But with cleavage shots getting blurred anyways (and mind you this is an A rated film) even the fun is actually lost.
11. Initially I felt happy that there was no unwanted comedy track as most Telugu films have multiple comedians in spite of the script not demanding it. But later on it dawned on me that when you have the hero hogging most of the screen time it wouldn’t have anyways been possible to have comedy stars in action.
12. Brahmaji plays Mahesh Babu’s friend and features in most of the initial scenes only to fade away into the corner.
13. When the edit credit rolls I can’t ignore the irony as Puri comes up with a message “thank you for watching the movie”. While this is usually there in all Puri Jagannath films, here it’s really ironical as the joke is definitely on us for witnessing this ‘grand spectacle’.
14. What makes it even funnier is seeing Mahesh and Puri croon the Businessman theme as the end credits roll and you are faced with the barrage of punch dialogues all over again. Sample this –“if your target is 10 miles, aim for the 11^th mile”.
15. On a parting note I’d like to ask Puri and Jagan what was all the anger on screen for?  :)

You might agree, disagree or plainly remain unaffected after reading this but nevertheless it would be fun to know your take on the movie and on my post as well.

As a parting note here’s a look at some of the “punch dialogues” from the film

I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.
Voltaire

Few years ago, it would have been impossible to have a interaction of this kind among movie lovers; this has been possible only due to internet and the freedom it offers to people to share their thoughts in a way that could reach to more people across globe at same time. This website, Madaboutmoviez.com (MAM ) is a product of this structure.

At MAM, you can talk about all kinds of movies be it a latest Hindi release like Players, old classics like Shaan, undiscovered gems like Kondura, B grade Cult like Chandal, Hollywood Neo Noir thriller Drive, European films like John Rabe, NorthFace  or even regional films like a Mounaguru in Tamil,Dookudu in Telugu etc.

Our aim has always been to encourage people to talk about various kinds of cinema,and most importantly cinema they enjoy,giving them their freedom of Expression.

As you will see we are sporting a ribbon of STOP SOPA,as we believe it attacks this freedom of expression on the internet.

Please click here to find out more why implementation of SOPA-PIPA is bad.Check out this Video to know more

This film is the result of rare, unmediated access, travelling widely in the valley and into the mind of the Kashmiri. According to Ashvin Kumar ‘Inshallah, Kashmir: Living Terror’ answers comprehensively the question, often asked in exasperation by those who live in the rest-of-India, ‘what the hell is it that the Kashmiris want? In a bold move Ashvin Kumar has decided to enable viewers to watch the complete film online  for 24 hours, starting from 12 a.m on 26th January,2012 ( India’s Republic Day ). For now you can now watch the first 7 minutes of the film-

Now that the audio release has happened let’s throw some light on the album and look at each of its compositions-

Idhazhin Oram- The Innocence of Love- The album kicks off with this number written by Aisharwya Dhanush (the only track written by her, the rest being written by Dhanush himself) and the lyrics go in flow with the music comfortably. Beginning slightly cautiously the number soon picks up tempo and is sung with remarkable confidence by Ajeesh and he’s supported with back-up vocals by Anirudh and Aishwarya Dhanush. Some interesting use of instruments towards the latter half of the song also works in favour of the composition.

Kannazhaga – The Kiss of Love- There are love ballads floating all around us and yet only some of them manage to make us float along with the ballad. This is one such number sung admirably by Shruti Hassan and Dhanush surprisingly matches her, note by note, word by word. Use of the guitar right at the start is aptly complimented by the vocals that follow. The lyrics by Dhanush would make any romantic sway with the flow and deserve special mention-

“Ithazhum ithazhum inaiyatumae,Puthithaai padigal illai
Imaigal muzhgi aruginil vaa,Ethirthu ethuvum illai”

(Let the lips unite, there are no new steps, close your eyes and come closer, there’s nothing opposing you)

Check out the song here-

Come On Girls – The Celebration of Love- Now this one has an interesting use of instruments and some really funny lyrics thrown in. The ‘la la la la’ bit in the interlude works superbly. Vocals by Nadisha Thomas, Maalavika Manoj and Anirudh definitely do justice to this one. This sounds like another dedication to the soup boys by Dhanush

Nee Paartha Vizhigal – The Touch of Love- Another romantic track, this time with Vijay Yesudas and Shweta Mohan handling the vocals, there’s a slight hangover of Kannazhaga to start with. But the song does slowly establish itself and the lyrics by Dhanush are easy on the ears indeed. Here’s hoping that the picturisation of the song also enables it to stand out against the rest of the tracks, especially Kannazhaga.

A Life Full of Love – Theme Music- Anirudh is in fine form here with this instrumental piece that’s a delight to the ears. It would be interesting to see how the placement of the same works in the film.

The Rhythm of Love – Theme Music- Navin Iyer on the flute more than does justice to the orchestration and this theme music is in sharp contrast to the previous one ( A Life Full of Love ), a very vivacious piece which works quite well too.

Po Nee Po – The Pain of Love- A wonderful song that talks about pain and anguish connected with what else but love is rendered by someone who is slowly making his mark with such songs, Mohit Chauhan. After Rockstar Mohit gets to flex his vocals this time in Tamil here for a song that does more than justice to his range. And check out the magical lyrics by Dhanush-

“Thaniyaaga thavikindraen,Thunaivendam anbae po
Pinamaaga nadakindraen,Uyir vendam dhooram po”

(Pining alone, don’t need your company,go my love, walking like a corpse, life- I don’t want you, go away far )

Check out the song here-

Po Nee Po Remix- The Scream of Love- A fast paced, charged up version of Po Nee Po, this one is sung by Sathya Prakash and Harish Swaminathan. Anirudh’s music has enough variations which almost make this sound as a different song by itself.

Theme of 3- Mandolin Seenu and company are in super form here as they bring in a complete country western touch to this piece.

Why this Kolaveri Di- What more can one say about a song that has revolutionized regional film music and literally elevated Dhanush and Anirudh on the National platform? That the rest of the album doesn’t let down this iconic track is a fitting enough tribute I guess.

To summarize it’s certainly to be noted that Anirudh Ravichander makes a smashing debut with the music of 3. Touted as a valentine weekend release for 2012, it’s the music of 3 that is really setting the ball rolling for Tamil film music in 2012. Here’s hoping that this is just the beginning for Anirudh and that the film more than does justice to the songs.

Do check out the teaser trailer of the film as well –

Gautham Vasudev Menon

But once the lead pair of Prateik Babbar and Amy Jackson was confirmed, doubts started setting in. Will Prateik match upto Simbu who had clearly put in a wonderful restrained performance as Karthik? While Amy Jackson had earned accolades for her debut in Madharasapattinam (Tamil), she had played a British National over there. So here it made people wonder why GVM had chosen her to play a Malayali i.e Jessie. When the initial promo was unveiled all hell seemed to break loose with a lot of fears suddenly looming large, especially with the tiny segment of Hosanna that one could take away from the promo.

Still we waited & waited patiently till the music was finally released against the backdrop of the Taj recently. Now that a lot of us have heard the songs finally how do they measure against ARR’s recent works & most importantly how do they measure against the compositions of VTV? Well if you are curious enough then let me take you through the tracks of Ekk Deewana Tha, one after the other.

Kya Hai Mohabbat- This song sung by ARR himself is an original and wasn’t there in the Tamil and Telugu versions. A love ballad as the words indicate it’s at best a half decent start to the album. Most ARR compositions sung by the maestro himself are usually infectious enough but sadly this one lacks that vital element- zing.“Mohabbat mein sab kuch hasein lagta hai kyon, sitam jo karein dilnashi to lagta hai kyon” lyrics by Javed Akhtar over here seem to go in sync with the song and the end result is more of a monotonous stream of questions on love. But like some of ARR’s compositions we can probably expect it to grow on us with more repeated hearing.

Dost Hai- This is a variation of “Kannukul Kannai” ( as the eye of the eye ) from VTV and is a good variation indeed. A full on hi-hop number, it helps that Naresh Iyer the singer of the original version is the singer here as well. With added vocals by Jaspreet Jasz and Arya and also featuring additional arrangements by Sachin-Jigar, this is a nice sing along track, that’s as good as the original number if not better.

Aaromale- If Hosanna on one hand was the most infectious number from VTV’s soundtrack then Aaromale was probably the knockout number. A song completely sung in Malayalam in both VTV and YMC, a lot of credit for the song goes to Alphonse Joseph for the high octane vocals and Kaithapram Namboothiri’s lyrics. In the Hindi version while ARR has utilized Alphonse Joseph again, there are 2 issues with the song- 1. While Alphonse is at his wonderful best again while doing the Aaromale chant, he seems to be slightly sounding uncomfortable mouthing the Hindi lyrics and 2.the lyrics by themselves are surprisingly silly especially the background chant. Sample this “Shubh shubh ghadi shubh hai lagan, shubh shubh sajni ka jeevan,rom rom lage sukh chandan, som som rahe tera darpan” . If that isn’t enough then how about “Priyadarshini, swarn hansini, sun le, mann pukare,doobenge donon hi inme”. Only Javed Saab can probably explain the rationale behind these lines. As someone asked me earlier, in this era of Kolaveri why would you shy away from trying out a Malayalam song in its entirety which has already worked for you before?

Broken Promises – If Aaromale was a letdown then ARR more than makes it up with this variant of Aaromale with the voice of Shreya Ghoshal more than doing justice to the wonderful composition. Basically more of a humming/chant, this one clearly is a standout track from the album. I am very curious to know if this will feature in the movie and if it does then I hope GVM has done justice to this lovely World class rendition. This version also featured in the collector’s edition pack of VTV.

Hosanna- The number that was most looked forward to along with Aaromale, this one actually starts off pretty well and in almost identical fashion to the original composition. Suzanne D’Mello breezes through with her humming after Leon D’Souza’s start (Dil hote jo mere seene mein do, doosra dil bhi main tumhe deta todne ko) which is a slightly cheesy take on the original Tamil lyrics – “Yenn Idhayam…udaithaai norungavey, Yenn maru idhayam,tharuven nee udaikavey” ( loosely translated as “my heart if broken into pieces by you, I’ll give you my other heart for you to break” ). The attempt is just to re-create the same meaning & doesn’t carry the same impact.However the actual problem begins only with the start of the English rap portion. While the Tamil/Telugu versions had Blaaze rendering it, here it seems to be done probably by Leon himself and it doesn’t carry the same impact. Also ARR has definitely gone wrong in choosing Leon in place of Vijay Prakash who had done a far better job in the original.

Phoolon Jaisi Ladki- The Hindi version of Omana Penne, this one has pedestrian lyrics by Javed Akhtar. Sample these- “Phoolon jaisi hai yeh ladki,hai yeh ladki pariyon jaisi hai na, who ho ho… bholi bholi khoyi khoyi hirni si,hai yeh ladki,komal-komal si ladki,sundar ladki nazuk nazuk yeh ladki”, need I say more?And Clinton Cerejo is no match for Benny Dayal who by far excels in the original. The only saving grace is the fact the female accompanying voice and the corresponding Malayalam lyrics (written and sung by Kalyani Menon) have been thankfully retained.

Sharminda Hoon- A soulful ballad which worked majorly in the original version (Mannipaaya) thanks to the superlative lyrics by Thamarai, Sharminda Hoon begins very badly. The introductory lines sung by Madhushree “ Main ik lehar hoon jo samay ki nadi se, bas tumse milne kinaare thi aayi, magar jo bhi ho, har ik lehar ko mit jaana hai,nadi mein hi jaake” seem to be a desperate attempt to replicate the original introductory lines ( Kadalinil meenagha,irundhval naan, unakkena karai thaandi vandhaval-thaan,thudithirunthen, tharainilehnthen… thirumbivitten yen kadalidame.. loosely translated as “As the fish in the sea who crossed the shore for you,squirmed around and struggled and then returned to my love itself” ). Replace the imagery of the fish in the original with that of a wave in the Hindi version and you’ll get what I mean. Vocals by ARR himself and Madhushree do make an impact after the weak start and salvage the song to an extent.

Sunlo Zara- A pop number this one works quite well and is as good as the original (Anbil Avan i.e He in love). Sung with gusto by Rashid Ali, Shreya Ghoshal and Timmy, this one is a feel good, foot tapping number. The percussions that feature in between have been completely re-arranged and add to the zing.Good work indeed by ARR.

Zohra Jabeen- This is a takeoff on the title song in the Tamil original and the vocals by Karthik had more than done justice to ARR’s wonderful composition. Here we have Javed Ali trying his bit and he does more than a fantastic job over here. While the attempt has been to maintain the same somber mood over with this composition (similar to the original), thankfully the lyrics haven’t been force fed here and actually seem to work pretty well.

“Jaane yeh kaisi kashish hai, ik pal mein gaya dil yun paas tumhare

toot ke girte jai jaise zameen par,aksar raaton mein sitaare”

This one is definitely one of the highlights of the album, no doubt about it.

Moments in Kerala- This instrumental piece featuring a solo violin by Prabhakar against the strains of ARR’s tune with some faint chorus vocals in the background is soothing and a good compliment to the album.

Jessie’s Land- This instrumental piece features Megha humming parts from the songs of the album, most prominent being Hosanna and Sharminda Hoon. This one again did feature in the collector’s edition pack of VTV.

Jessie’s Driving Me Crazy- Featuring some heavy duty instrumentals and vocals by Sanjeev Thomas and Timmy, this one is a decent enough track to round up the album.

On an overall note Ekk Deewana Tha is a very inconsistent album with Broken Promises (female version of Aaromale ) and Zohra Jabeen being standout efforts and with some hummable tracks like Dost Hai and Sunlo Zara. But it’s a missed opportunity as what should have been standout numbers (considering the original) like Hosanna, Aaromale (male version), Phoolon Jaisi Ladki majorly disappoint. Here’s hoping that at least GVM weaves his magic on screen with the picturisation of the songs.

Why make an indie film with such a concept?

How did the idea come to you?
All my batch mates are software engineers, so obviously I was familiar with their mannerism and lifestyle. I used to hear lots of stories about their office life. Sometimes I was also jealous of them, cos they had money, free travel, perks, sodexo pass, etc etc. But I never thought I would make a film about them. So, once I was traveling in a train, I saw couple of very polished and savvy IT guys boarding the train in Yelhanka station. They looked very sophisticated, urbane and spoke very elegantly. They were going to Hyderabad to attend a colleague’s marriage. After a couple of minutes, all of them gathered in my cabin and suddenly out of the blue they started talking in a local Hyderabadi urdu slang. I burst into laughter seeing their complete transformation. That’s when I realize that they come from different backgrounds and from different parts of the country and try to live completely different life in a city like Bangalore. That’s when the title struck me, Software Hardware Kya Yaaron, a film on software engineers.

How did you raise the money?
It was a crazy idea and I was sure that it will not be possible to get funding from conventional producers and through conventional ways. So, what I did was, I convinced some of my batch mates, who were software engineers to invest a small amount each in the film. When I got good response from them, I made a proposal and forwarded to lot of people. It took couple of months, but in the end I found around 15 people who loved the concept and were ready to take the risk. Since it was small amount for each individual, they weren’t skeptical of losing the money either.

How did you go about in terms of managing the casting?
Casting has been the toughest part of the whole production. We needed 15 actors from completely different ethnic & cultural backgrounds, like one hyderabadi, one from telangana region, two tamilians, one northeast, one malayali, one begali, one Kannadiga, two Marathi speaking actors, one American and two Japanese actors and so on. In a city like Bangalore, where the movie industry is not that well established, getting so many actors for much lesser remuneration was a herculean task. We held auditions in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai. The auditions were not encouraging at all. First of all the name “Kya Yaaron” sounded like a C grade underground film and when we said that the pay is less, not many people turned up for auditions. We managed to get actors through reference.

Getting two Japanese actors was tough one. After searching for 2 months, going through all the Japanese Consulates and Japanese companies, we managed to get a Japanese couple from Bangalore, who could at least speak out few lines without looking at the paper. We conducted workshops and trained them for couple of days and in the end they managed it really well.

What were the difficulties faced while filming?
 The biggest challenge was to make the film in Bangalore.
1. It was difficult to find a crew, cast and qualified technicians for independent films. There are hardly any indie films being made in Bangalore, that too in English, so we had to start form the scratch. I have been conducting filmmaking workshops since 2008 in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. I have been touch with some of the students who got into filmmaking full time. I chose the best among them, formed a team and trained them.
2. Now the industry union rules are not feasible for indie films. When we started looking for technicians, make up artists, caterers, lightmen etc, they had a completely insane union rules which suited only the big budget mainstream Kannada films. It is impossible to make guerilla films complying with those rules. So we made the film outside the union jurisdiction. We took people who were working/operating completely outside the union.
3. People as such weren’t cooperative. When we approached people for locations, they were very very apprehensive about giving their space for movie shoots. Each one of them had a very bad experience with the Kannada industry. Somehow people here are not that open towards filmmaking.

Pls share some technical details about the film:
We shot the film on Canon Mk 5D, with minimalistic lights. We worked on the strengths of 5D and did not try anything beyond it’s limits. Since most of the shoot was indoors, we shot with few Kino flows and couple of home made lights.
We had made our own DIY stuff like Dolly and Jimmy jib which we used in some of the shots. Since most of the equipments was ours, we didn’t have to depend on vendors.
Except for the director, this is a debut film for all the actors and most of the technicians.
15 actors, DOP, production designer, costume designer, production manager, assistant directors, editor and music composer are making their debut with this film.

Here is the trailer of the film-

Hope to keep all of you updated further on the journey of ‘Software Hardware….Kya Yaaron’

Note- Rabi Kisku is a graduate engineer from IIT-Madras but instead of working in the area of technology he decided to follow his passion & turned an indie filmmaker instead.His first film “Silicon Jungle”  was one of the first few films to be shot on digital and screened through digital projection in 2006.Software Hardware….Kya Yaaron is his 2nd feature film. 

ANOTHER EARTH- I watched this at MAMI accidentally, this is the debut movie of Director Mike Cahill and starring writer Brit Marling. It is one of the best sci-fi films in recent years, made on limited budget, but that does not in any way compromise the production quality of the film. Once again it proves that movies do not need big budget but vision and narration which has to be original and refreshing. Another Earth ends with a climax which leaves you spellbound.This makes it to my must watch movies of this year.

MICHAEL- This is one of the most subtle films on a topic which if directed by another director would have been melodramatic or preachy. Michael Fuith as the lead delivers a brilliant performance of the year.Based on a real event , this is gripping and haunting at the same time.Do read about how Markus Schleinzer directed this movie and his reason to do so.

The  ARTIST- This has been the talk of the town, this French silent film in b/w on Hollywood’s silent era, about a fading star who has lost  his glory due to advent of talkies, and much more. This is a  movie you would love to watch again and again.

Incendies - A movie about discovery of the roots,family and discovering themselves in a war torn country, Lebanon undertaken by a twin brother-sister. This French-Canadian film, Incendies was Canada’s official entry for the 2011 Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film.

Poetry- This South Korean movie won the Best Screenplay award at 2010 Cannes Film Festival.This is about a sixty year old grandmother living with her grandson.She discovers that she is suffering from first stage of Alzheimer’s disease and that her grandson may have committed a heinous crime and she would need 5 million dollars to save him. Between all these conflicts, she enrolls herself in poetry class to pursue her passion of writing. This bittersweet tale is written and directed by Chang-dong Lee who has given us earlier films such as Peppermint Candy and Secret Sunshine.

Drive- This is one film which I did not like at first, thanks to Indian Censors who massacred the movie with cuts.2011 surely can be said as the year of Ryan Gosling, with his unnamed auto mechanic cum Hollywood stunt driver act who moonlights as getaway crime driver.This noir thriller directed by Nicolas Winding Refn also has this year’s best Soundtrack too.Click here to see one of my favourite scene from this movie.

The Girl In Yellow Boots-Many may not agree that this the best to come out from Anurag Kashyap, who is now synonymous with any thing anti-Bollywood.I feel we are wrong in placing too much hope on one man alone.Do not go and watch it for the script, go for characters. As we follow Ruth’s Journey in India, her search for her father creates a lasting impression in our minds.The other reason for this one being in the list is because it will give a lot of  boost and inspiration to a lot of filmmakers to shoot digitally.

A Separation-This is the kind of film which leaves it’s impression for days. This is Iran’s Official entry for Oscar in 2012.This also swept all major awards at Berlin Festival which includes Golden Bear for best film and the two Silver Bears for its ensemble cast of male and female actors. The Movie begins with a wife requesting for divorce with her husband, but it is much more than that. Told in thriller style it explores various issues of modern day Iran, which includes religion, class divide and legal system. Only one word to Describe this- STUNNING.

Tree of Life- This had such a limited release in Mumbai, that even Lady Dabangg had more screens than this .Terrence Malick is one of those directors who are gifted by gods of cinema to us,so that he can relish us with his movies. Wish he would make more movies and not take such long breaks.

I Saw the Devil-When it comes to depicting violence on screen the Koreans seem to have decided not to disappoint us.This film was stuck with the Korean Censor Board for it’s violent scenes and it’s a delight for torture porn fans. As the movie progresses and lines blur you are left thinking who is right and wrong, with a villain so coldblooded , this cat and mouse thriller is not for weak hearts.

Tyrannosaur-Set in a British suburb, this one is disturbing, cinematic genius and same time thought provoking.Aided brilliantly by Peter Mullan,who  brings out the character alive, it deals with rage and how it regulates our life if unchecked.Also do check out Paddy Considine talking about the short Dog Altogether in 2005, which led to this feature film.

Hope 2012 brings you all good luck and good movies at the Cinemas.

Cast:  Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Boman Irani,Om Puri

Directed  by Farhan Akhtar

Music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy

It was back in 2006 that Farhan Akhtar came up with a remake for the Amitabh hit, Don, which according to me, was just a gimmick to sell off a climax which Akhtar Jr. presumed to be a smart one. Not many agreed with Farhan back then, but everyone did seem keen to have the director and his star Shahrukh back for a Don sequel to set things right.

Don 2, therefore, is not only a much anticipated sequel, but also a film which many would believe would be the perfect Xmas gift to an industry that is still waiting for that big hit that would please the fans and the critics alike.

The story picks up nearly five years after the events of the earlier film, where the dreaded ‘Don’ (Shahrukh Khan) finds himself in a tricky position. Not only is he still on the ‘Most Wanted’ List of the international police, he is also put up on the ‘Want Him Dead’ list by the rest of the mafia cartels as well. So our man decides that he needs to scheme out a plan, just enough to get rid of both these problems, and be rich (and also something that would make audiences interested in a sequel)!

So Farhan Akhtar inserts the character of Don into a bank heist scenario. Don decides to infiltrate a top bank in Germany and for this he manages to assemble a team which includes his old foe Vardhan (Boman Irani), his kitty bombshell Ayesha (Lara Dutta), a system hacker Sameer  (Kunal Kapoor), and a bunch of goons headed by Jabbar (Nawwab Shah).

Let  the mission begin. And the mission gets interesting because hot on their heels are the cops fromIndia– ‘junglee billi’ Roma (Priyanka Chopra), her doting colleague Arjun (Sahil Shroff) and the now retired Inspector Malick (Om Puri).

Hence Farhan, who goes about essentially making a sequel about a mafia king on the run, is content to settle in for a standard bank heist thriller, eventually over cooking it to the point of a hostage action. This genre defying stunt is not always a bad thing, if handled deftly. However Akhtar fails to do that with this sequel.

Neither the writers (the trio of Farhan Akhtar, Ameet Mehta, Amrish Shah) nor the viewers are sure as to what to make of the title character. Blurring the lines of the protagonist and the antagonist, we have to root for a narcissistic bad boy. Except for the fact that it is played by the popular King Khan, there ain’t much redeeming qualities about the man. We are asked to accept that he is the best because he keeps talking and singing praises of his every move, his every tactic, his every thought!

Don’s so-called brilliant plans include getting his rival out of prison to retrieve a hidden key, which would eventually enable him to blackmail a leading bank official. This would further assist him in getting the details of an object that he intends to steal from the bank, only to blast his way through with the help of his team, with bombs, guns and detonators. All this, after sneaking into the bank using hi-tech hacking techniques. Does it all make sense? Probably not, but you don’t ask questions to the Don – for is not he the man with the plan?

Farhan Akhtar uses techniques and gadgets used and abused by the Bonds and Ethan Hunts of the celluloid. While they have gone about raising the bar with each installment, Farhan Akhtar and SRK seem to be still trying to catch up with them. So essentially everything that Bollywood tries to do with Don, Hollywoodhas already done that. But we still try, and the audience has to give in to that. So even if they pull in a face mask stunt (to insert a top star cameo), we are not to raise our reservations on how they got the voice and physical attributes to change as well, right? I thought so too!

We could do away with logic if it was meant to be a fun ride. But unfortunately they do not play it out on that tone either. Things are seriously and blandly played out for most of the first half, and never do we think that Don is any Danny Ocean having fun while he pulls off a near impossible heist. Instead, we are limited to some one-liners from Khan which he presumes is witty.

The second half does get interesting when you realize that that there are going to be glitches in the plan. However the cops step in, and you realize that Akhtar is just tactically dragging us with one excuse or the other, to the inevasible climax (much like the original). If only it was smart as he think it is!

The humour here is unintentional, and you get plenty of that in the second half. The cops in the film takes centre stage to blurt out absurd dialogues one after that other. Some of the ones that Om Puri and Priyanka deliver would have you chuckling away. You also  get this feeling that Farhan Akhtar was busy holidaying somewhere in Spain every time Priyanka steps in with her lame ‘kick ass cop’ act.

The film obviously works on how much of Shahrukh one can endure. You do realize that there is no attempt at getting into the skin of any character here. Shahrukh would go about hamming away, grinding his teeth, pulling off a swaggering walk while seemingly sneering away at his own punch dialogues. He seems content doing it all, even pit stopping for a romantic lover boy act amidst blazing guns, as if throwing in a combo offer for his female fans. How sweet!

Looking at how Priyanka has handled the character of Roma, you know why the cops are unable to track down a criminal like Don over the years. She plays it like a rookie college dropout rather than the chief investigating officer that she is supposed to be. Boman Irani and Om Puri, despite being bundles of talents, are made to play out caricatures. Kunal is just about ok , whereas Lara Dutta manages to impress in the little scenes that she gets to chew on. Sadly, the writers were unable to find a fitting slot for her in the script.

Farhan Akhtar is undoubtedly a fine director if you go by his works in his debut Dil Chahta Hai and his follow up Lakshya. However he seems wanting when it comes to the action genre and it clearly is highlighted in the Don original and in this sequel too. Focusing on a slick treatment, the film lacks any emotional core, and ends up a hollow but impressive looking assignment. With the entire Germany at his disposal, cinematography from Jason West (Rock on) is noteworthy, gloss and gleam intact. And as for action sequences, effort has been made to make them stand out from the rest of them. It is a different matter though that there is a mechanical feel to the way it is staged out. The music does not have much of a role to play, and thankfully, the narration does not stop for songs.

Don 2, ultimately, is a disappointment because despite the workings of a top notch action thriller, the script fails to live it up. Moreover, it is unfortunate to see a director like Farhan Akhtar settling in for a safe way out. Though I would not go to the extent of saying Don’t to Don 2, it is advisable to keep your expectations low – pretty low!

Rating:  2.5  / 5

-Joxily John

Another curse which I feel we are facing is most of our audience are not exposed to Indian Cinema and it is just Bollywood that comes to their mind. No point in blaming them for it is our fault that we do not market our films properly, but then we as a nation sent Jeans for Oscars, isn’t it?

Film as dream, film as music. No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls- Bergman, Ingmar.

I am going to share with you two films, which as Bergman quoted went into dark rooms of my soul- first one of which is a Marathi Film Vihir and other being Gandu a Bengali film.

Remember me.

I will be with you in the grave

On the night you leave behind

Your shop and your family.

When you hear my soft voice

echoing in your tomb,

you will realize

that you were never hidden from my eyes.

I am the pure awareness within your heart,

with you during joy and celebration,

suffering and despair.

A Poem by Rumi

Vihir (Well) a Marathi film directed by Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni; when released ran just for a week and was not supported by any promotions even though it was produced by AB Corp ltd.

The movie opens with a sequence where 2 cousins are playing hide and seek with Umesh not wasting any time to establish the protagonists of this movie. The elder one has given his SSC exam and he shares a wonderful camaraderie with his younger cousin in 9^th grade and lives in the city, established by exchange of letters between them. We realize how the elder cousin is trying to find out what life means, while the younger one is in awe of his cousin brother.

There is one scene in the beginning of the movie, where the elder brother explains the scene at an examination hall and for anyone who has given their SSC exam from Maharashtra board, it’s easily identifiable.

But then this movie is not about cousins, it is about life and death; how both play hide and seek with each other.

                              Life and death are balanced on the edge of a razor.

The movie shifts its action towards marriage, that of Nachiket (Elder Cousin) and Sameer (Younger Cousin)’s younger aunt’s wedding. Mind you this is a true Indian family, unlike the Rajshri productions and YRF movies where everyone is happy and enjoying marriage with no tension about money or family politics. The family is marred with problems like shortage of funds for marriage, a wastrel uncle and fights over family property. This is where Nachiket cannot fathom that the world is not what it seems. As he is tired of the fights, failure at understanding the dark side of life. He explains this to his cousin, in a letter how the school does a mockery of proverbs by writing it everywhere but without bothering to inculcate the values. As he says for a student in India it just 3 choices Arts, Science and Commerce. Meanwhile Sameer looks upon Nachiket for guidance, but then when they talk which is the highlight of the film, you realize the gap between their ideas.

Sameer is unable to understand the shift in his elder brother’s behavior. But then as I mentioned, this movie is about life and death and how death strikes. Now Sameer has to confront death in his life and rest of its story being about how he learns life, meets people who change his perception towards it and finally discovering the bond between him and Nachiket again.

I would not be exaggerating if this is one of the best films ever made in Marathi cinema and one of the best Indian film from last decade.This is a movie, which has to be savored for its moments, as rarely do we see Indian filmmakers rising above mediocrity and giving such gems.

Sudhir Palanse’s camerawork is top notch; it looks so effortless the way he captures Maharashtra beautifully. Girish Kulkarni and Satee Bhave deserve full credit for writing such a heartwarming story of life and death while Umesh Kulkarni is one of the directors whom I can say will take us to road of Global Cinema. Madan Deodhar (Sameer) & Alok Rajwade (Nachiket) were brilliant in their portrayal of respective characters with such fine restraint and wish they could get more roles.

Gandu thankfully and hopefully will break all those stereotypes and it may give birth to change in filmmaking.

Gandu is directed by Kaushik Mukherjee, aka Q. Let me say beforehand Gandu is not any new kind of filmmaking if you follow Japanese or Korean Movies, but is trendsetting and it takes a lot of courage to produce and direct such a film in India.

Gandu (Asshole) is living with his mother in Kolkata, in what seems is the house provided by her lover Dasbabu. The relationship between them seems to be based on lust rather than love and Gandu always steals money from the wallet of Dasbabu, to buy cigarettes and lottery ticket, while Dasbabu is having sex with his mother. He expresses his anger towards society with his Rap, unlike Bollywood where Rap begins and ends with baby.

We follow Gandu everywhere, while he is surfing porn on cyber, while writing rap, masturbating when watching porn, his inability to hit back Rickshaw and how he boils in his rage. Therein lays a difference to understand the character, share his frustration and disappointment without even a single dialogue, bringing out the beauty of such film making.

One of the highlight of this movie is when Gandu befriends Rickshaw; a fanatic fan of Bruce lee, like Tamilians are of Rajni. It is at this time that the visuals and chemistry between actors, music and everything emerges into one providing a bit of comic relief.

The movie falters when director Q enters the scene for it hampers the hyper kinetic energy of this chaotic movie. Although going by the flow of story it makes perfect sense and the only few minutes of colour in this movie is as entertaining as the rest of the movie.

This may not be a path breaking for those who follow International Cinema, neither does director Q claim it, but is one of those movie that should not only be read about too. A chaotic, visually orgasmic, poetry in motion and sometimes confused with its lead character, make this a must watch.

Concluding, I would like to add a cliché that do yourself a favour and watch this; one may like it or hate it, but nobody will come out of this unaffected.

I was only 5 years old when I first heard the songs and dialogues of Tridev but from a very early time this movie has had a special place in my heart. And later on thanks to Tridev, also came to know of the whiz kid director, Mr Rajiv Rai.

Tridev (1989)

The Dvd of Tridev which I proudly possess gives an interesting translation for its great opening monologue by Naseerudin Shah. And it goes like this:

“Paap se dharti fati…fati…
(The Earth is torn by lawlessness…sorry no subs for the echo effect  )

Adharm se aasmaan…..aasmaan……
(Heavens are cleaved by wrong …..  )

Atyaachaar se kaapi insaaniyat……
(Humanity is trembling with atrocities…shudder  )

Raaj kar rahey Haivaan……
(The reign of Satan prevails  )

Jinki hogi taakat Apoorv
(Those who have infinite strength….. And not Apoorva Agnihotri)

Jinka hoga nishaana abhed
(Those who target unflinchingly)

Jo karenege unkaa sarvanaash
(Those who will destroy them(The paapis that is) )

Woh kehlaayenge
(They will be called…..)

Tridev…..Tridev……Tridev…..
(Trinity….Trinity….Trinity….Hell yeah… Trinity it is )”

80’s was a time when the torture club was at it’s peak. Almost every other film had the same elements (desh ke dushman, idealistic cops,  damsels in distress,  clash of good vs evil etc.)

Tridev also had a very similar skeletal. Tridev or the trinity of Sunny Deol, Jackie Shroff and Naseeruddin Shahh represented the modern day Avatar of Brahma , Vishnu and Mahesh who intended to wipe out crime in their own unique way after being disillusioned with the system.

But its execution made all the difference, all thanks to Rajiv Rai. He exactly knew how to mix and match all these elements in the right amount so as not to give viewers a feeling of nausea(Something which most of the movies during 80’s excelled in.)

He always directed his films with a lot of style and panache. At heart  he was a true blue  masala film maker, but his execution and direction made his films a cut above the rest. The story, screenplay , editing was often tight andd it didn’t let a sense of boredom or restlessness creep in the viewer’s mind.

And due to almost same reason Rai’s movies are still mostly watchable. Despite having some cliched elements in his films, it stood apart from the usual rut of Bollywood.

Rajiv Rai also had a knack for creating some great baddies and giving them unique names. Every film of his had an assortment of a such villains. Be it Don(Dilip Tahil) and Dunhill, Goga and Ganga(Tej Sapru and Dan Dhanoa), the mute Raghav(Rajesh Vivek), The evil mantri (Raza Murad) or the legendary Bhairav Singh/ Bhujang (Amrish Puri) .

Each and every character was unique and mostly a memorable creation. The transformation of Bhairav Singh to Bhujang is done in an amazingly quick way. Remember a wicked signature tune for Bhujang ??

His other hukum ka ikka or trump card was  dialogue writer Late KK Singh who came up with the Paap se dharti phati monologue and other gems. A good thing about Rai’s movies was that it was very fast paced and there would hardly be a dull moment in any of his films.

Tridev went on to become a box office smash and put Rajiv Rai right on top of the league. How can one forget Viju Shah ?? Viju Shah gave some of his best scores for Rai’s films. Officially Kalyanji-Anandji were credited as composers for Tridev but it was Viju Shah who went on to garner great attention as he was the music arranger for Tridev.

Who can forget the songs of the film such as ‘Oye Oye’ , ‘Gali gali mein phirta hai’ , ‘Raat Bhar jaam se jaam takrayega’ & so on.

Due to Oye Oye, Viju Shah became popular and formed a special jodi with Rai from Tridev onwards.

Tridev also marked a beginning of the long association between Rajiv Rai & Naseeruddin Shah who had an important presence in almost every Rajiv Rai film thereafter.

All said and done Tridev was and still is a truly a kickass entertaining masala film.

Yudh (1985)

I happened to see Yudh much later after I saw Tridev and came to know even later on that this was actually the debut film of Rajiv Rai.

Again the film had a very typical storyline where two brothers are separated at birth only to meet years later under different circumstances. But, Rai adds a unique twist to the proceedings thereby elevating it above the other lost and found flicks. Rai’s stylish direction can be sampled in the opening scene of the movie which involves a looting of cash van of a bank. This scene is executed quite stylishly for a film in that era.

Rajiv Rai never lost sense of the story and screenplay even while making a mass friendly entertainer. This separated him from other regulars like Shibu Mitra’s, B. Subhash’s, T. Rama Rao’s of 80′s.

Yudhh had a great cast of Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor, Pran,Nutan and Danny etc.  Danny plays the villain Gama Mateen with a lip smacking relish. Notice that Gama Mateen is always accompanied by four suited booted accomplices. So cliched, yet so much fun. Also this was the film which had Anil Kapoor’s iconic line Jhakkas!!!! Truly paisa vasool stuff i say 

Vishwatma (1991)

Rai followed the super success of Tridev with Vishwatma. The male starcast was the same with an addition of Chunkey Pandey instead of Jackie Shroff.

In terms of story line it was similar to Tridev. With only difference being the desh ke dushman(Again Amrish puri and gang) creating havoc in India from foreign shores. In other terms, it was like an unofficial sequel to Tridev.

But the superb songs and dozen odd interesting characters still made it enjoyable. Be it Ajgar Juraat ( Amrish Puri), Mahesh Anand (Rajnath), the Nilu brothers or Blue panther gang or a crazy Tapaswi Gunjal(Gulshan Grover) speaking in chaste hindi. Kiran Kumar also gleefully hams in a cameo as Naagdansh. No one can forget the song ‘Saat samundar par’ which still continues to be a rage in all discs, clubs, weddings, parties and so on.

But this film failed at the box office; perhaps the fact that it had a slight hangover of Tridev to an extent maybe caused its failure or audiences were expecting even more from Rai, in terms of entertainment. Whatever may be the case, one can’t deny that it was a wholly entertaining movie with the all cliches intact.

Mohra (1994)

Leaving behind the failure of Vishwatma,  Rai returned with a bang with Mohra. This time he opted for a mostly new cast of Akshay Kumar, Raveena Tandon and Suniel Shetty and Naseeruddin Shah still stayed put. Paresh Rawal, Sadashiv Amrapurkar also pitched in great supporting acts.

It seemed like a routine film centered around the clash of good and evil . But it was a taut & well layered thriller which completely shocks the viewer during it’s culmination.

The film also had some great numbers such as “Tu Cheez badi hai mast mast”, ‘Tip tip barsa paani’, ‘Na kajre ki dhaar’ amongst others.

It also had an ensemble of some of the greatest bad ass characters ever witnessed on screen. Such as Tyson “Dirty Mind” (Gulshan Grover), Jibran(Raza Murad), Irfan (Tej Sapru ) and the meanest of them all Jindal.  When the twist in the tale is revealed in the end it completely makes you jump out of your seat. Total Kickass stuff I say.  Mohra also proved to be one of the early hits of Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty’s careers.

Gupt (1997)

Undoubtedly Gupt  was the best film of Rajiv Rai . It gave suspense thrillers a completely new dimension. And changed the way suspense thrillers were made in Bollywood.  Honestly, It just doesn’t get better than this .

This is how ideally a murder mystery should be.  Filled with half a dozen suspicious and shady characters. Prem Chopra, Sharat Saxena, Dilip Tahil , Raza Murad etc. Remember Tej Sapru’s Danda Kar Doonga(whatever that meant) act ?? Each character shadier than the other. The needle of suspicion points equally towards everyone but the climax is a real shocker when the killer’s identity is revealed.

Of course equal credit must also be given to Shabbir Boxwala, who has co written the script along with Rai for Gupt, Mohra amongst others. The subplot involving all the baddies who are admitted to the same hospital after getting bashed up one by one by Bobby Deol was funny enough. Gupt turned out to be yet another massive hit by Rai. It also gave Bobby Deol’s career a much needed shot in the arm. It’s been 14 years since Gupt released and I am yet to see a murder mystery which has been better than Gupt in the last decade or so.

But enormous success also meant enormous troubles for Rajiv Rai. An attack on his life by the underworld forced him to flee India and settle at London for quite some time.

When Rajiv Rai returned with “Pyar, Ishq aur Mohabbat” in 2001, I was zapped like many other fans. Romance was a genre which Rai wasnt adept with at all and even though the film had some good songs By Viju Shah, it never became a crowd favourite .The cast was a flop actors reunion (Suniel Shetty, Aftab, Keerthi Reddy, Monica Bedi, Isha Koppikar) and it was the debut film of Arjun Rampal (shudders). Bad acting, dialogues and a lousy script killed this film at the Box office.

Rai then came up with Asambhav in 2004. A lavishly mounted thriller much like Tridev, Vishwatma ; it had a slick look, great visuals, some good music  but a messed up screenplay. This film also had many bad guys but unlike a Tridev or Mohra, Rai just could not get it right with this film. Needless to say the film tanked at the B.O .

A year or two ago it was rumoured that Rai had approached Akshay Kumar for a film. But the project fell through when Kumar quoted a huge fee . It was then reported that Rai had approached Aamir Khan for the same movie. And Aamir Khan had shown quite an interest in it. Since then but there has been no update about this project.If this news is true, it will be great to watch this unique actor-director jodi.

Like  many people even I want to see Rajiv Rai back in action. If not, then we can always watch the umpteen re-runs of his movies on Zee cinema and cherish those memoires and be happy, always remembering him for his true blue masala blockbuster films.

I really cringe when every other Bollywood film maker today claims his film to be a throwback to the masala films of yore. Perhaps they should take a crash course from Rai to know what it is to make a good enjoyable entertaining movie. Amen to that.

(Note: This post was earlier published in PFC and has bee re-edited here)

Na Dukh Hai Na Sukh Hai

Na Din Na Duniya

Na Insaan Na Bhagwan

Sirf Main,Main,Main.

ROMANCING WITH LIFE

This is an autobiography written by the debonair and evergreen Dev Anand. One of  the prime reasons I am discussing this book here is that as per my knowledge this is the first time that a Bollywood lead hero has written his own autobiography.

The first time I was introduced to Dev Anand on screen to be precise was on Black & White T.V. and VCR with Hare Rama Hare Krishna, in the early 90’s which was apparently his last commercial hit film? Anyway coming back to the book, it begins with a chapter informing us how Dev Anand ‘s real name is Dharam Dev, and not DevDutt as mentioned in media and websites, how his father used to call him Dev-‘’aan’’ etc.

The book does not divulge much about Dev’s childhood; it just gives us a few glimpses of his childhood. Oh! Yes he mentions Usha, the girl he had a crush on during his college days. The next few chapters describe how he came to Bombay with only thirty rupees in pocket and worked with Military Censor office, and impersonating  Hollywood Stars  to impress his female colleagues etc.

Dev describes in detail how he lost his virginity, and for some time I thought I was reading a Khuswant Singh book. Dev also discusses his love affair with Suraiya ,who was nicknamed her in reciprocation she used to call him Steve. Although Dev discusses his affair,  he does not elaborate it  after a point. we are also enlightened about how he fell in love with Mona(Kalpana Karthik) and secretly married her during the shooting of Taxi Driver. But after this chapter Dev does not write about his relationship with her after marriage except for two or three incidents revolving her. Dev also describes how he met Zeenat Amaan at a party and was smitten by her charm and beauty. He was really heart broken when she signed Raj Kapoor’s movie Satyam Shivam Sundaram.

Dev also writes about the political state of affairs of our Nation, and how it affected him. He celebrated independence over a mug of beer. Ample description had been given for the difficulties he faced with Congress Government, refusing to toe the government line. A chapter has been dedicated which he  mentions his failure to launch a political party and his meeting with V.K.Krishna Menon after his fall from grace.

Dev describe this in such words in the book “Fame, power and money are the three factors that make you great in the eyes of world. The moment these desert you, you are like a particle of dust under one’s feet.’’

His  disillusionment with the current political situation in India,lead him  to make Mr.Prime Minister(The Film). The book also in brief mentions his relationship with  brother Chetan, who was his icon and how later on creative differences cropped up between them. It is palpable from the book, that he was also close to Goldie and his death in a way affected him a lot.

My grumble with the book is that most of the time it mentions films that are produced by Navketan Banner or those that Dev directed or produced. It would have been great if he also had written about movies like Johnny Mera Naam,Joshilay etc.

The Navketan and Dev Anand’s films have been tantamount with great music, though he does fleetingly mention S.D.Burman,R.D.Burman and Kishore Kumar, I would love to read more about them. Even Guru Dutt, is mentioned in general and not more than 20 lines are devoted to him.

Yes, the book  gets repetitive after sometime, with Dev visiting places and finding starlets for his next movie. It is written keeping in mind the romantic figure of Dev Anand and by the of it At we come to know how Dev is still a star and rules hearts of young girls even today. I guess for a film star to be fixated with one’s own image is okay, but it becomes plain as the nose on your face when you read stuff  like how Dev tries to maintain his image,  and mentions that he went to London for simple surgery, so that fans could not know that their icon was in poor health. Some of the pages found me laughing though I guess that was unintentional from Dev’s part like when he says Censor was a film which the masses could not appreciate. (Censor was the film, in which Govinda performs Bollywood Jhatka during Oscar Cermony.) He also mentions that Awwal Number was ahead of time, and the concept was much appreciated in the Oscar winning Lagaan.

If you believe what is written in book, then you will think Dev had a great life with no difficulties, but alas that may not be the case .But then it is the spirit of Dev Anand, which even makes debacles in his life look like foundation for success.

‘’Main Zindagi ka Saath Nibhata chala gaya,Har fiqr ko dhuye mein udata chala Gaya’’ comes to my mind as Dev Anand ends the book by telling us ‘’This is a beautiful world’’.

P.S-This is an re-edited post, which I had written in PFC on books about Indian Cinema.

Mayakkam Enna (why this dizziness?) from here on ME, the latest film from Selvaraghavan is a quickie in terms of the time taken to complete the project. After losing out on Kamal Haasan’s Viswaroopam and then dropping his plans to make Irandam Ulagam with Dhanush and Andrea, Selva started working on ME with Dhanush and Richa Gangopadhyay. Richa had already started getting noticed with her Telugu films like Leader, Nagavalli, Mirapakaya and ME marks her entry into Tamil Cinema. Apart from the lead pair nothing much was known about the film except the reports that claimed Dhanush to be sporting 4 different looks in the film, something which was noticed when the trailer was released.

The audio launch happened at Radio Mirchi’s Chennai station and the songs composed by G.V.Prakash Kumar and written by Selvaraghavan and Dhanush themselves have been climbing the popularity charts ever since. Following initial plans of releasing for Diwali better sense prevailed upon the team and the film finally opened this week (released on 25th November) and I was all the more enthused for the same. In the last one week prior to the release there was hardly any promotion done by the producers-Gemini Film Circuit, because that was almost single handedly taken care of by one man- Dhanush.

I’m sure by now each & every one of us know how the ‘Why this Kolaveri Di’ phenomena took us by storm recently. The song that’s still being discussed everywhere ensured that the spotlight remained on Dhanush. Considering this in hindsight it seems like a wonderful decision by the producers of ME to piggyback on the Kolaveri wave and not go out of the way for a last minute promotional drive for ME. For the first time even fellow critics outside South India seemed to take notice of a Dhanush film during the release ( thanks to Aadukalam’s spree of National Awards and Kolaveri, Dhanush is now under the National radar ).

If one were to talk about the basic plot of ME it’s pretty simple. Karthik (Dhanush) is  passionate about photography and dreams of being a great wildlife photographer. His idol is the famous wildlife photographer,Madhesh ( Ravi Prakash ) whom Karthik wants to work along with. Apart from photography Karthik’s life revolves around his friends and sister. One day his best friend Sunder introduces Yamini, his girlfriend to the gang. Karthik and Yamini do not stand each other initially, but fate draws them together slowly. The story takes its own turn in the form of Madhesh making an entry into the life of Karthik once again, taking them all of guard.

Mentioning anything further about the plot isn’t what anyone should ideally do while writing on a film like ME. What I will certainly do from here on is to let you know what I felt while I watching the film and what I’m still thinking about, nearly 2 days after having the watched the film. The film has a crackling 1st half and much of it is do with the way that the narrative moves in its own characteristic way. There is no mass hero like entry for Dhanush ( shots of him waking up after a booze session at night on the verandah of his house would hardly qualify for one anyways )and there’s no unnecessary detailing of any of the characters.

*SpoilerAlert*

You always get the inkling that something is amiss and something soon is going to happen, but still when it happens it does take you by surprise. Karthik’s passion for photography and his feelings for Yamini both co-exist in their own strange ways, just as his bonding with his sister and friends. Even by that respect the relationship or the start of it between Karthik and Yamini is wonderfully depicted. And some of the moments really stand out by themselves against the backdrop. Like for example during Valentine’s Day celebration when Sunder slumps onto the shoulders of Karthik and Yamini and exclaims-“my girlfriend, my best friend” and the subsequent reaction from Karthik and Yamini is something that’s certainly not routinely seen.

The narrative strangely shifts gears completely in the 2^nd half throwing you off balance. Things for the 1^st half an hour or so seem to be happening too much by convenience and you really start wondering if this film is also going to be suffering from the ‘2^nd half syndrome’. Just as we started drifting away further, Selva, the magician pulls of a trick from his hat and brings in some order again into the show. Much of the act from thereon is interesting in its own way. Though completely different from the style and approach shown in the 1^st half, this part of the 2^nd half has its own charm and certainly does manage to keep you hooked to the proceedings.

While one may question Yamini’s change of persona, it is indeed amazing to see the way she stands as a pillar behind Karthik who by now has moved on to become extremely unpredictable as a character. With the movie then proceeding in an altogether different course the ending is something that takes one by surprise again. I’ve been sitting and thinking for long as to what was on Selva’s mind while he conceptualized the 2^nd half and I have come up with a few answers for my own questions.

Ok so why is the 2^nd half suddenly focusing too much on the status of the relationship between Karthik and Yamini and on the direction it should take? Well I guess this is where Selva clearly felt he needed to break the connect or the momentum that he had established or made us get used to in the 1^st half. Agreed that it was risky since the 1^st half had a certain zing to itself but then for the change in the scenario that Selva wanted us to get exposed to, probably he didn’t have any other go but to allow the 1^st 30 odd minutes of the 2^nd half to drift off course.

One can always argue whether this was the best thing to have happened but at least this does look logical to me when I think of it the way I’ve described. Why does the film’s focus seemingly alter some 30 odd minutes into the 2^nd half? Well this is where Selva reminds us that its Karthik’s passion that is the more important element & all other things are merely meant to aid the same. Looking at this perspective I’m sure the film’s turnaround works a lot more for me.

And pray why does the film end on a surprisingly tame note when most of us would have been expecting something really introspective and different? This was the question that disturbed me the most & to be honest one of the main reasons for delaying the process of writing this post. And I guess this where Selvaraghavan has scored a victory of sorts. So it seems to appear like he’s thrown a deliberate googly,almost as if to tease us since we probably didn’t predict this at all.If this is true then I’d certainly say that I’ll buy the need and the reason to bring this into effect.

There are so many interesting moments in the 2nd half as well. Like the scene when both Karthik and Sunder break down at Sunder’s home and Sunder’s father patiently offers a drink to both of them,one by one. Or take the scene which brings a turnaround to the story where both Karthik is all emotional in front of Yamini who is sweeping the blood stains on the floor and Yamini conveys her anger without even speaking a single word-brilliant.

*End of Spoilers*

At the end as much as this is a director’s film, the credit for making the film look convincing enough needs to be equally shared with Dhanush as well. The film offers ample scope for Dhanush to perform and he grabs it with both his hands. As Karthik he gets to portray different shades and emotions throughout the film and the character ends up being so unpredictable that this in itself is a victory of sorts for the film. And whatever be the look/getup or the character’s situation, Dhanush does ensure that he makes it look convincing enough.

Richa Gangopadhyay is a surprise element indeed and she does justice to both the different stages her character undergoes through the film. A big credit for this also goes to her dubbing done by Deepa Venkat. For a film centred around a photographer, the cinematography is expected to be good and here Ramji doesn’t disappoint. He’s able to bring out the various changes in hues,moods and emotions in the film very clearly and its almost as if he’s filmed it through the eyes of Karthik in most places.

G.V.Prakash Kumar’s music is very good both in terms of the BGM which is rocking and also the songs which are a major draw for the film. The lyrics by Selvaraghavan and Dhanush certainly complement the tunes. While ‘Voda Voda Voda’ ( sung by Dhanush ) is almost an anthem of sorts now , the others like ‘Naan Sonnadhum Mazhai Vandhicha’ ( sung by Naresh Iyer & Saindhavi ), ‘Kadhal En Kadhal’ ( sung by Dhanush and Selvarghavan ) are equally good if not better.

At the end the movie ends up a bit uneven with some questions answered,some unanswered. But one thing for sure is that the film disturbs you & makes you think about it long after you’ve watched it. It’s not the best from Selvaraghavan, but does leave an impression no doubt.

Here’s the video of the Voda Voda Voda song for those who haven’t seen it yet-

Panjaa has been directed by Vishnu Vardhan and this is is first telugu film. He is best known for his Tamil Film Billa.He re-unites with Yuvan Shankar Raja as music director for this film, along with editor Sreekar Prasad. The action is choreographed by Shyam Kaushal, a welcome break from Peter Hein. The movie also stars Jackie Shroff,Atul Kulkarni, Sarah Jane Dias and Anjali  Lavania.Here’s a look at the trailer of the film.

The trailer looks promising with stylish shots, which we usually identify with Vishnu Vardhan’s movies.The movie opens in India on Dec 9th.

Its time for Regional Cinema to finally take a bow.While the OST of films like Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa have in the recent past managed to get noticed across the Country, generally regional films and their music do not really transcend to a Pan Indian audience. Of course there is an occasional “ Appadi Podu” ( from Gilli ) or “Aa Ante Amalapuram” ( from Arya ) which are still popular even today in far off Mumbai.But with the upcoming Tamil movie 3 directed by Aisharwaya Dhanush and starring her husband Dhanush & Shruti Hassan in the lead,things have completely reached new levels of reach & recognition.

3 is a film which has music by newcomer Anirudh and a special promo video of one of the songs from the film ‘ Why this Kolaveri Di?’  ( Kolaveri= murderous rage ) has become a rage on the internet in less than 2 days of its presence on the World Wide Web. In a special promotional drive Sony Music has come up with a brainwave i.e to showcase the song and the video shows Dhanush singing the song and also has him jamming informally with Aishwarya, Shruti Hassan and Anirudh. With 5 lakh + hits in about 2 days, the power of the internet is being fully harnessed by the team of 3. Dhanush and Anirudh seem to have a winner on their hands all right.

Dhanush seems to have had a blast while singing this number and I’m sure anyone and everyone will agree with me on seeing the video. 3 is likely for release in January 2012 and the teaser trailer of the film will be released in theatres along with Dhanush’s Mayakkam Enna which releases on Nov 25^th. We at MAM will showcase it indeed and till then enjoy this video and yeah “ Why this Kolaveri Di”?

And now with the song everywhere around you, be it the internet, FM Radio, News Channels and even MTV here are the lyrics for all of you to sing along

Yo boys I am sing song

soup song

flop song

Why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri i

Why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di
rhythm correct

Why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di
maintain this

Why this kolaveri…aaa…di

distance la moonu moonu 

moon-u  color-u  white-u

white background night-u night-u

night-u color-u black-u

Why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di

Why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di

white skin-u girl-u girl-u

girl-u heart-u black-u

eyes-u eyes-u meet-u meet-u

my future dark

Why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di

Why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di

maama notes eduthuko

apdiye kaila snacks eduthuko
pa pa paan pa pa paan pa pa paa pa pa paan
sariyaa vaasi

super mama ready

ready oneee twooo three four

whaa wat a change over mama

ok mama now tune change

kaila glass

only english.. 

hand la glass-u

glass la scotch-u

eyes-u full-aa tear-u

empty life-u

girl-u come-u

life reverse gear-u

lovvu lovvu 

oh my lovvu

you showed me bouv-u

cow-u cow-u holy cow-u

i want u hear now-u

god i m dying now-u

she is happy how-u

this song for soup boys-u

we dont have choice-u

why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di

why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di

why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di

why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di

flop song

And now after rocking the entire Nation with Kolaveri Di, Dhanush is now out with his tribute to Sachin Tendulkar with a music video for Boost. The song is written,sung & composed by Dhanush and the music video also features Anushka,the well known Telugu&Tamil actress.

Check out the video-

http://youtu.be/mURXPSD2Q10

Going by visuals shown in the Promo, it seems faithful to the original and the only difference I saw was a love making scene. It is also surprising they have retained Aromale, which was a Malayalam song in both the previous versions.

Considering Gautham’s hindi debut Rehna Hai Tera Dil Main, did not do well at B.O, but has gone on to do extremely well in T.V. and Video circuit, and with ARR’S music along with Prateik this is a film to look forward to.

What Bhupen mama means to us, the people of Assam in particular, is impossible to explain in words… As a friend was suggesting the other day, perhaps the nearest analogy could be the influence of Rabindranath Tagore on the people of Bengal – when Tagore was alive, that is… When we received the news of Bhupen mama’s demise after a prolonged illness, we were on our way for a hike to a fort near the hill station of Lonavala. Below the starlight sky up atop the fort, as we were chatting and re-living the moments we had shared with the master weaver of words and melody, one of our ‘honorary Assamese’ friend  commented –‘right now we are doing something he would have surely approved off… he was so full of life!’ ‘Lust for life’ perhaps will be a phrase that describes Bhupen mama the best… Even in 85 years of age, he would discuss with us about making a film together… And to live till he is 100, to complete his unfinished work… Remember vividly the day he came to record the title poem of our bi-lingual film, ‘as the River flows’/ ‘Ekhon nedheka nadir xhipare…’ After recording the Assamese version of the poem, initially he was not exactly happy with how his recitation of the Hindi version was shaping up… and like a small child, was requesting us to give him a little more time to prepare…promising, ‘soon you will find my Hindi to be even better than that of Raj Kapoor…’ Remember vividly the time when we went to meet him on his last birthday at the ICU section of the hospital, where he was undergoing treatment for the past few months. He was too weak even to open his eyes, but when we requested him to come over to our home to have another meal with fish tenga, he nodded with a smile… one promise which he couldn’t keep… Money never featured in Bhupen mama’s sphere.

People close to him jokes about Bhupen mama giving his domestic help Rs 50/- to get 2 kg of fish till recently, unmindful of the fact that was the price of fish more than two decades ago… Mr. Kamal Kataky, who played guitar with him in his public performances for last three decades or so besides doubling as his de-facto manager, had narrated an incident when we went to pay our respect to the departed maestro in Mumbai’s Kokilaben Ambani Hospital. Sometime in the beginning of this century, Bhupen mama was invited for performing in a function almost at the India- Myanmar border, organised by a minister of the Assam govt. At the end of the function, the minister handed over some money in an envelope to Kamal Kataky. As it appeared like a bad manner to count the money right in front of the minister, Kamal  kept the envelope with him – only to discover latter that it amounts to just Rs 10,000/-! The sum was not enough even to cover their vehicle hiring costs!! When Bhupen Mama got to know of the amount, his first reaction was whether the minister paid them more or less – so clueless he was about financial dealings!! And his immediate next reaction was, ‘let’s consider it to be another free performance that we have done Kamal…we won’t discuss about it ever again.’ ‘Mriyuo tu eta xilpa, Jibonor kathin xilat kota ek nirllubh bhaskarya!’ – couplet penned by one of Assam’s premier poet, Hiren Bhattacharya. Roughly translated, ’death is also an art, a stark sculpture carved on the hard rock of life…’ It would be difficult to find an Assamese youth who has not quoted this couplet sometime during his/her romantic college life.

I was no exception… However, I understood the true meanings of the lines only on the night of 7^th November. I was awake till the wee hours of morning watching TV, looking at the endless emergence of people on the streets of Guwahati. They had come to visit the departed magician, whose body was kept in Guwahati’s historic Judges Field for the people to pay their homage…  Initially the body was to be kept there for 12 hours before the funeral pyre scheduled for next morning. But, one could have never imagined what was to follow! People from all walks of life cutting across the barrier of cast, creed and age- came over from all across the country (and abroad) to pay their  reverence…the queue stretched up to 10 kms and more, continued throughout the night… the govt. was forced to push back the funeral by a day…Yet, after more than 36 hours when the body was finally taken out for the last rights,  countless number of people   were still pouring  in  to pay their  respect to the departing soul of Bhupen mama …Doubt whether any artists at any corner of the world had experience such a spontaneous outburst of public adoration! At his death, Bhupen mama succeeded in bringing people from all walks of life together, cutting across all the man made boundaries… a dream which he dreamt of throughout his musical life, which was spread over 7 decades …Truly, can there be a greater ‘art’?? On the title poem of ‘as the River flows’, which has been one of his last work, he spoke as the voice of the river Brahmaputra  – I know long ago the River used to speak. but when he realised every drop of pain flows above horizon of words he surrendered to silence… – as the funeral fire was embracing the body of Bhupen mama, I could almost hear the great River  weep, silently… I told him not to. Because, legends never die…they just turn into folklore…

Bidyut  

I was in a Shamiana Screening at Blue Frog, where I saw their monthly newsletter. It contained the advertisement and call for entries for their Short Film Festival – ‘Re Think India’, organised in association with NGO ‘Citizens for Peace’. It said that R. Balki, Asutosh Gowariker and Rahul Dholakia would judge the films. Frankly, I was extremely tempted by the names of judges, and hoped to meet them on the final day of prize distribution. Any kind of tips/comments from them was the major impetus that made me jump into the competition and start making. Though that did not happen and neither did I get a scope to interact with the special guest on the D-Day (Nandita Das), the process of making and submitting Neighbour itself turned out to be so enriching, that I didn’t seem to care about these aspects.

As I mentioned earlier, I was literally scribbling and scraping notes to come out with an idea to shoot Neighbour. From a story on terrorism to an animation film called “Vegetable Tray”, I thought anything and everything random. I really can’t pin point the moment I decided to make Neighbour, but I guess somewhere in my subconscious mind, it was always there. Living independently in a place like Mumbai, one understands the importance of this even more. Because here, your neighbour can actually fill up a lot of void that the lack of a family brings in. Moreover, I always wanted to explore the man-woman relationship, something that’s not romantic – to show that a man and a woman can be friends. LOOT had suffered because of its dialogues and I was partly responsible for it. So, while shooting Neighbour, I decided we would not have dialogues at all this time. And I strongly believe a drop of tear, a shyly stolen smile, a look of support or a sigh of hope express so much that words fall grossly insufficient in comparison. But the twist in the tale was, if I really had to pull that off – I needed more competent actors than I had for LOOT.

The search started soon and I posted details on Filmwallahs (I sincerely thank Anirudh Chawla for putting up all my posts) and Hoonur. I got a few calls on the first day itself. And the first caller ended up being my lead actress for Neighbour. Preeti sent her profile soon, and it was pretty impressive. She looked good, hosted shows and acted in some TV soaps. She sent pictures and Youtube links of all those – and I was almost certain to cast her. Though I got a few more calls, but none of the other female candidates were really suitable. At this point, I must mention that I had an ex-colleague (Nayana D’Costa) in mind when I wrote the script of Neighbour but she had date issues!! Actually, she could spare time only on weekends and I was shooting this on a Tuesday. So… But Preeti more or less lived up to the expectations I had.

The tougher task this time was choosing the right guy. I had few candidates who called, met, auditioned but I zeroed on Jitin Gulati (who messaged me through the reference of a friend Nikesh) because he again seemed to fit the bill perfectly. He is good looking, has done a host of commercials and even acted in a renowned short film Amen, where he matched up to the prowess of popular TV actor Karan Mehra’s acting skills.

At this time, I must mention one of the most important persons of Neighbour team – my batch-mate from MBA, dear friend, current flat-mate and producer of Neighbour – Praveen Dhawan (henceforth referred to as PD). PD stepped in as the producer on his own and rendered unconditional and inexorable support. Though I was keen on casting Jitin, PD was not too sure coz according to him, Jitin looked too much of a model to fit the guy next door. It was during this time that Jitin himself opted out of Neighbour, 3 days before the shoot and leaving me in deep sea. On Saturday evening, I messaged one of the guys who had sent his profile Hussein and asked him for an audition. I had the audition of other chaps, and though I had them as back-up, I was never too impressed them. And as if in a script written by destiny, Hussein seemed an even better fit than Jitin. Not only did he portray namaaz convincingly (I was too scared to have any discrepancy to show a religious process inaccurately, that too the opening scene of my film), but also he had the boy-next-door charm mixed with confidence that the character needed to exude.

My friend Abhimanyu came in for a brief appearance as Preeti’s husband, and I must thank him for sparing his time for the small part. And there was Tiffany Kane! Yes, I always thought of having a foreigner as the Muslim guy’s wife but had given up hopes on finding one. I changed the character into an Indian Christian girl, but how my international actress from Florida came in, couldn’t have been without a divine intervention, or should I say Neighbourly intervention – details on this later.

In the meanwhile, there was another major person who came on team – my gaalibaaz, gussewaali, US educated, Sardarni DOP Tejasvi Bhalla, also through Filmwallahs. As if nothing could be uneventful, my first conversation with her was amusing in its own right. She called up at a time when my cell phone was thriving with poor network connection. And it took me 3 minutes to figure out that she wanted to work as DOP. I guessed possibly everything – acting, scripting, editing but not cinematography. She later confessed that she had cursed me several times during those 3 minutes. When I finally realised, she sent me her showreel. Frankly, I was not very impressed with the thing but something in me told that a lady DOP would be best for the project because they can add depth to emotions and work without complains even under crunch situations. So, I chose her over a more qualified cinematographer. And did my gamble pay off? Yes, TB was an asset. She came from Pune, stayed on her own, shot the film, put in her creative tips, even helped me in edit touch up later on – all that by charging a token amount of 500 bucks, because her ideology says free work is never professional. Girl, if you are reading this, you outdid your previous works with Neighbour.

Akshay Ware came in as Assistant Director cum Cinematographer through a friend’s reference, also called Akshay (Patil), and I must say Maharashtrian guys with name Akshay (or at least the ones I know) are super hard working. He helped TB and me, did floor work, took production still and even chipped in for a crucial cameo.

With my cast, script and crew finalised, the next step was to finalise technicians at low cost. I was absolutely certain I cannot do this on a high budget and yet I was bent on having high-end quality.  I needed a Canon 5D mark II because I needed high definition video. On the top of that, I decided to shoot it in black and white because colours would have killed the emotions. So, the aspect of light and shadow became even more crucial, and sufficient lights were needed to support my visuals, all at a low cost. And the market-rates people were pitching gave me multiple heart attacks. I think Shah Rukh was right when he said (or rather when he copied from Paulo Coelho) that when we want something passionately, the entire world actually conspires to make it happen for us.

Manish Chanana, who had once shot a corporate video for PD’s office and had not been in contact for 2 years, responded to our first call and put in his brother’s reference and I got my camera (with assistant) at 60% of only camera hire charge and lights at god knows what discount. Shit, I just realised I am yet to give Manish a treat!! My light supplier – Rafik bhai of Golden Lights gave up after an hour of haggling and said, ‘I cannot haggle with you. After all, you are a GUPTA.” Yogendra Mane or as I call him Yogi bhai knew me as the friend of his girlfriend. We had not met, not even spoken over phone. And he is a busy guy, a regular production manager for Marathi films. When I was certain I won’t get a make-up artist with 2k, Riddhi (my friend) called him up and he arranged one for me, that too at a price 25% lesser than the budget. Prakashji and Vinod did a brilliant job in the small time I gave them to do their job. And if you thought the affordability was the only criterion where I succeeded, I must tell you that my entire crew was super co-operative. I will tell you why.

When, on the D-Day, my lights camera and cast arrived (well, my heroine arrived late), the society president of our worn out dilapidated building said he won’t allow the lights to come up, lest the prop on stairs get dislocated. And our landlady only added voice to him. Just imagine my peril, having made bookings of 8k, I was there without permission to shoot in the home I live. And that’s when our NEIGHBOUR stepped in. Rani Aunty – she is the world’s best neighbour. I still remember it was one week after I had stepped into this apartment that I was greeted with Malaria, and aunty took utmost care of my health till I could gather enough strength to catch a flight to Kolkata.

When my land-lady had withdrawn support, Rani Aunty called up the society president and said, ‘they are shooting in my home and I gave them permission.’ She is an angel in disguise. And we actually shot 50% of the film in her flat. . Oh, by the way, Tiffany (my international actress from Florida) is Aunty’s would be daughter-in-law. Tiffany had come to Mumbai at that time to visit India and accompany her fiancée on the home-country visit. So, after all this, you know why I said with ‘NEIGHBOUR-ly’ intervention.

Why I said my crew were co-operative is because they stood by PD and me as we (especially PD) tried to solve this issue, and they didn’t charge me a penny for the 1.5 hour of extra shoot in addition to the 12 hour shift.

We shot fanatically and as usual, I lost track of time. We had our lunch at 4-30, 3 mins tea break at 7, and went on shooting from 9:30am to 11pm. PD meanwhile got some Subs for the cast which I ended up eating at midnight (might I add that all I had since 8 in the morning till that midnight Sub were 2 cups of tea, 1 glass of Mirinda and 8 Classic Milds). But, when I saw the exported video on the laptop, I turned to PD and said, ‘this is my most mature work till today. Now I am feeling hungry and thirsty.’ That’s when I had the Sub followed by 3 pegs of Old Monk and half a glass Kingfisher Premium.

Somdeb Chatterjee (Mama) has the unique talent of designing music for my films only by reading a script, without looking at the scenes. And he used his magical skills yet again. Anyone who has seen the film has complimented his work – the music is top notch. Niladri helped me with the edit, when I landed in Kolkata 3 days later.

And when it was all done, I got my first hug of appreciation from my sister-in-law. She was disappointed when she saw LOOT and so her compliment meant a lot to me. In fact, everyone in my family loved the film. My mother, who is otherwise not an ardent support of my film-making passion, for practical reasons only, said “you have improved a lot”. And I was in tears.

After all this, any prize seemed negligible. Of course the feeling was ephemeral. I have always been competitive and Neighbour couldn’t have been an exception. I did end up winning 2^nd prize at Re-Think India, but I enjoyed the free beer and snacks as much as I enjoyed the award. Possibly, it sank in the next day onwards that this was my first award for a film. Here, I must thank Priyesha Nair of CFP for being supportive in the re-editing (our film had crossed the stipulated time limit by more than 2 mins).

I like recollecting Neighbour as an emotional catharsis, might be too strong a term but applicable nonetheless. Not only was I trying to be technically precise and dealing with human emotions like despair, hope and friendship, but also it was also about portraying people as I see them – an extremely delicate subject to handle. Besides evolving as a storyteller, Neighbour also taught that trusting someone blindly is sometimes not bad at all. I met most of my unit over Facebook and hardly knew them before the shoot and they all put in their best efforts to make the film as well as we could. They all were from different religions, cultures and backgrounds. Despite my initial hesitation about working with people I didn’t know (especially because the shoot was in my home), they made me come out of the scepticism and for that, I would be perennially thankful.

I don’t know if Neighbour would prove out to be a milestone for me in any which way. I doubt something like that would happen but I believe it happened because it had to happen. I would want to say that, contrary to the popular belief, people in Mumbai are not just about money. People here support an earnest effort and passion. If LOOT increased my technical know-how and made me face the flak at the same time, I can proudly say that making NEIGHBOUR has made me an evolved human being – someone who looks at the world with far less prejudices that he used to a year back.

Neighbour made it to the Finalist of 4^th Advantage India Short Film Festival, organised by 1takemedia, and is in the running for WLC Media’s festival (the results for which have been due for long). I am keen on participating in other festivals in due time and win a few awards J. But what I hope the most is to generate certain credibility to arrange funds for my next short film – my dream project “The Rain Still Remains.” It is a script I have worked for 3 years and everybody seemed to have loved it till now. But the estimated budget is the reason why it has been on hold for so long. I hope TRSR gets made soon, for that may define my creative capabilities. Possibly if it gets done, I can write another equally long post on its making.

If you have read till here, thanks so much. Even the perseverance to bear my blabbering means a lot. Please wish me luck for TRSR and if anyone knows a producer who can fund a short film – partly or wholly, please let me know, hahaha!!!

In the meanwhile do check out Neighbour, and let me know your valuable feedback-

Cheers

Souvik

Keeping all these things in mind what would be the kind of expectations that one would ideally have from the film? Let me tell you what I had kept in mind before watching the film-

1. Since the film is in the superhero/sci-fi mould it should boast of some really good VFX, something that’s probably way better than what’s been attempted in Indian Cinema ( with probably Endhiran/Robot being the only exception )
2. The narrative should hold my attention (irrespective of whether it’s an emotional track or an action segment going on) at any point of the film.
3. The songs should be well picturised, choreographed and should not pop up abruptly.
4. The whole Ra.One vs G.One sequences should carry reasonable punch.
5. Kareena should certainly look hot ( going by the promos  )
6. As the 1^st half gets over one needs to look forward eagerly to the rest of the movie.
7. The cameo by Rajnikanth should be a “whistle podu” moment
8. SRK shouldn’t make a mockery of being a South Indian ( wishful thinking )
9. Arjun Rampal should really do justice to the role of Ra.One, after all how many villains are lucky enough to get a movie named after them.
10. It shouldn’t be all machine and virtual world, there should be a human element- emotional connect established as well somewhere with the film.

There is a scene in one of my all-time favourite movies Luck By Chance, towards climax when Karan Johar narrates an anecdote to Farhan Akhtar, about how  SRK got Baazigaar because other established stars refused to do it.

Surprisingly it is Baazigaar which started the trend of Diwali movies, which if you look at is not your typical family Bollywood movie.Naysayers can say anything but you have to give marks to SRK for choosing roles which were shunned by stars and acting in it so superbly that people rooted for the villain and not hero as in case of Darr.Then later on came DDLJ, again a Diwali release which catapulted him into big league and he became numero uno  of Hindi Cinema.But then success comes with heavy price, people try to play safe. It was heartwarming to see him produce Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, which highlighted News Channel Media Frenzy which I felt was one of the reasons for the failure of the film as people had not experienced in 2000 the Sansani and breaking news every minute by 24/7 news channel. As producer I felt he tried to break boundaries with Paheli and Asoka which also turned out to be duds. As an actor in recent years for every Rab ne bana de Jodi he has acted in Swades and Chak De India which he has carried of elegantly as he has done in those arm stretching roles acting as Rahul and Raj.

This movie ( Ra.One ) has been in news for quite some time, firstly it was Shankar who was supposed to direct SRK in his magnum opus Robot, but then creative differences between them lead to Shankar making India’s expensive film Robot, with Rajnikanth. I was excited to watch what SRK will deliver when he takes on the mantle as producer again.Bollywood’s attempt at Superhero films in the past has produced results like Shiva Ka Insaaf, Ajooba or Krissh which were third rate quality of cinema. Firstly most of our Hero’s in our films are superheroes who can dance,  fight and bash 100 people and dodge bullets without any superpowers.Secondly when Hollywood makes Superhero movie, it is based on comics which have been there for years together and the readers have grown up with it, they know the strength, weakness of hero, in case of Hindi Movies which is not possible to create such fan connect in short time.

Here is the reason why Endhiran scores over other films.Shankar instead of creating superhero, went into opposite direction and created a villain which we all loved. In fact even Krissh had Koi Mil Gaya as a background,even Rakesh Roshan spent entire first half on building the superhero ante by showing how the underdog simpleton Krissh how is taken for ride, while nothing of this sort happens in Ra.One. In fact there is no underdog in this movie. In some scene he is a bumbling father who works in a gaming company which is located somewhere in London, I guess it must be in South Hall considering all of them are Indians ( Dalip Tahir in a wig makes an entry to a launch event along with two females who are dressed as pole dancers  J ) I never understood why our filmmakers can’t get certain things right like what do people wear in office. One more thing which amazed me even though SRK is working in gaming industry he is out of sync with what teens like, considering teens are is his consumers I found it odd. I guess SRK is in time wrap when he thinks speaking south Indian accent will get claps, it has been done to death, surely South Indian audience will laugh when he utters all those dialogues in Tamil, not with SRK but at him for getting it all wrong.

While his wife played by Kareena Kapoor (Sonia) is a Punjabi (yeah SRK also borrowed a bit from 2 states too ) is working on thesis of Indian abuses which is very children friendly movie I say.Shekhar wants his son to be proud of him, to think of him as Daddy cool, he even dresses up like M.J to impress him, its altogether another matter there are many new artist who are current favourite among teens. In between of these south Indian accents he also doles out some cool advice you know this are supposed to be cool, because SRK drops his south Indian accent and goes into Rahul mode doling out advice. According to his son’s wishes he creates a game in which it would be impossible to defeat villain ,his son is happy, biwjiee is happy and so its time to Shake booty song time, you are left wondering why would a character which had south Indian accent starts to sing in accent which is Senegalese.

But then all the hell breaks loose, his son Pratik plays against Ra.One, I thought it was weird considering if he liked villains he would play as Ra.One and not his nemesis, but then it is different issue. Other thing which I disliked very much and they wasted precious time and reel was explaining the rules of the game, in a very verbose and uninspired animation, when this could be explained later on via dialogues. Coming back to story Ra.One comes out of the game to kill Lucifer which is Pratik’s virtual name, considering the name of the movie is RA.1, I was anticipating the introduction of this villain would give goosebumps, I still remember the way Mogambo was introduced in MR.India, but here less said the better, on his way Ra.One kills Shekhar and the Chinese in the office. While it is believed that Shekhar has died in car accident , no one bothers to find out why his Chinese colleague does not comes to his funeral in fact nobody goes to office or is in office considering it is the night before the launch of the game. Pratik guess that Ra.One is out of the game and he goes to his dad’s office which is after the period of mourning, his funeral and nobody seems to have gone to office till then, not even Dalip the boss. The rest of the story shows how G.One SRK in latex suit and gelled hair confronts Ra.One and does he succeed.

In order to emphasize that SRK here is south Indian and not Rahul or Raj as he has played in countless movies we have him uttering Aiyyo and speaking Tamil in a way which even Thala does not speak and of course he is South Indian so he has to eat curd with noodles, he pronounces keys as kiss and brings in stereotypical jokes. Then there are gay jokes like when a gay licks his lips after seeing SRK’s pierced nipple. Then we have pelvic thrusts, boob grabbing all in the name of comedy, when this is supposed to be kids movie, I am surprised the censor board passed it with U certificate. Then 3 Chinese babes who are named Iski Lee, Uski Lee & Sabki Lee. A Chinese guy who is called Jackie Chan all this are supposed to make us laugh. The Rajnikanth Scene is where people had reserved their whistles and claps but then there was no need of that scene and the hideous quality of makeup done on Rajni left me cringing. While Rajni comes in Chitti Avatar, he is addressed as Rajni-Superstar by Kareena, wish they could at leastget that right and made her call him Chitti, as this unwanted scene kind of pays homage to Robot.Shahana Goswami is wasted.

The music by Vishal-Shekhar is just about average, Criminal is supported by Kareena’s hemline while Chammak Chalo by her cleavage and actually it is Arjun Rampal who is masquerading as Kareena this was ultimate blow to my wet dreams.

Coming to action sequence, not one of them is original. The chase sequence in London, not for a moment I as an audience was engrossed, I wonder after such a long chase and car blowing in air neither media nor Police of London seems to come into picture this in time when west is in Paranoid mode. For the train sequence in pre-climax, if you have seen the trailers you have seen most of tithe climax inspired by Mortal Kombat is such a big letdown. Its altogether another matter that you do not feel for any of the character.Compared to climax of Robot whereas audience you were mesmerized by villain’s power and you wanted Rajni and Ash to escape, similarly in climax of Krissh you wanted him to beat the pulp of Naserudin Shah, here it is just level1, level 2 and we do not care because neither the father-son angle is properly established, nor the romance between SRK-Kareena is established.

I always thought superhero always saved the world, but here it is just about protecting Kareena and her Son. Two things I fail to grasp why they shift to India, doesn’t the Son have school to attend and at end of the climax why do they go back to London and most importantly was the game console or Arcade?

Another important questions which are left unanswered how do RA,1 and G.1 get their power in outside world. What are they are they robots, or Mannequins which the film makers think no need to explain? G,one is what I call masala superhero because he can do everything infact even Rajni needs to charged in Robot. Who controls G.One the player or does it have it’s own artificial Intelligence because in pre-interval chase sequence he fights on his own against Ra.One while after interval there is a scene which shows the child playing Ra.one game and G.One is controlled by his motions. Above all villains have a motto &  want something in case of Mogabmo he wanted to destroy India and rule over it, here this guy is just pissed over a kid, so what will he do after killing the kid ?go back to game?

When Srk said this film would make Indians proud, I was excepting something innovative not world class effects, but original story , no pathbreaking but enough to captivate along with dance and song with logic, but sadly to except logic or story from this film is not the choice given to audience.

Till Bollywood comes with good sci-fi I prefer Endhiran.

Note- This is a re-edited version of the original post written during Diwali’11.

Here’s a link to the video where Martin is talking about his movie, Taxi Driver

and part two of the video

SHE MONKEYS (APFLICKORNA)

Dir.: Lisa Aschan

MARGIN CALL

Dir.: J. C. Chandor

THE ARTIST

Dir.: Michel Hazanavicius

MICHAEL

Dir.: Markus Schleinzer

THE WHISTLEBLOWER

Dir.: Larysa Kondracki

JESUS HENRY CHRIST

Dir.: Dennis Lee

ARMADILLO

Dir.: Janus Metz Pedersen

ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA (BIR ZAMANLAR ANADOLU’DA)

Dir.: Nuri Bilge Ceylan

TABLOID

Dir.: Errol Morris

ANOTHER EARTH

Dir.: Mike Cahill

Rockstar was in news quite early when UTV was supposed to produce it with John Abraham as its lead, but neither did take off nor Imtiaz Ali was a hotshot director as he is today after Jab We Met and Love Aaj Kal. The only great feature being ARR would be music composer but that seemed uncertain after Pritam gave music to Ali’s earlier ventures, so this collaboration was awaited with bated breath just because of its theme which is Devdas meets Rockstar, Ranbir Kapoor as its main lead and expectations of a full blown musical.

Now as the music is out and after countless repeated hearings, ARR shows us who is boss when it comes to his department and a very special mention and applause to Irshad Kamil whose lyrics are truly imaginative.

Jolting down my thoughts on the soundtrack as per listing on CD and a very personal take on it.

Phir se udd chala[Mohit Chauhan]: Mohit Chauhan who has an astonishing 9 tracks with himself, a rarity in these days as a single voice for the main protagonist and a first for ARR as far as I recollect, kick starts the proceedings of an aspiring individual who wants to dream and fly. With a very catchy hymn at start and complimenting lyrics; this song on an early morning can do wonders for anyone’s confidence. Especially note the way it progresses after 2:30 and you know who is in control.

Jo Bhi Main[Mohit Chauhan]: The first song promo that came and was very much sure that we  were all in store for a musical orgasm. Soft rock combined with a feel of live audience and words like ‘’Jo bhi main kehna chahoon, barbaad kare alfaaz’’; this composition will be heard in years to come irrespective of the movie’s fate.

Katiya Karoon[Harshdeep Kaur Additional Vocals by Sapna Awasthi]: A Punjabi number which seems a permanent fixture as per Imtiaz Ali’s past efforts at filmmaking, you can feel ARR and his stamp exactly at 2:59 where we know it’s a collaborative effort. Harshdeep Kaur gives it her best shot and would love to hear her voice more in future projects.

Kun Faaya Kun[A R Rahman, Mohit Chauhan, Javed Ali]: “Kadam bada le, Hadhon ko mita le, Aaja Khaalipann mein peeka ghar tera” with lyrics like these and a call to the almighty ARR, Mohit & Javed Ali achieve a song which can put you on a divine trance and seems the character goes through a range of emotions in his life to seek this especially after Mohit Chauhan enters into fray. Nobody can match ARR in these songs and is an absolute favourite of this album.

Sheher Mein[Mohit Chauhan, Karthik]: Surprise!!!!Surprise!!!!  The protagonist seems to have got a break in recording his first number but in disagreement to the way and advice it must have been rendered. It requires a genius to make a song enjoyable which seems more of a word play and some dialogues in between to bring a smile. “Chitti daali thi aaunga main tere ghar, mail bhi kiya tha tere id par” will always linger after this song gets over.

Hawa Hawa[Mohit Chauhan, Additional Vocals by Vivian Chaix, Tanvi Shah, Suvi Suresh, Shalini]: Musically enriching with Latin/Spanish/European sounds; this is a super experimental track but on some repeated hearing will transform you in its imagery with closed eyes; bringing an operatic feel. There is a tale being narrated about a Queen and her expression to free herself which is so beautifully orchestrated; you can feel the hard work which went behind this song.

Aur Ho[Mohit Chauhan, Alma Ferovic]: In its first hearing it gives a feel of Mera Yaar Mila De from Saathiya, but once you hear in its entirety; this is one song which suffocates your feelings of hurt/helplessness/anxiety and a haunting assault on your senses. Irshad Kamil deserves all praises for some great lyrics and will find a lot of appreciation as days progress.

Tango for Taj: An instrumental which just adds more value to an already power packed soundtrack. Always been a great admirer of such gems in ARR albums for few in contemporary composers even give background score to their own films.

Tum Ko[Kavita Subramanium]: Kavita Subramanium(Krishnamurthy) makes comeback with a song which is the female version of Tum Ho(Mohit Chauhan) with pain stroking sarangi and tabla given for good effect. Brings certain nostalgic feel when Kavita was a more prominent singer though; I have my apprehensions on its running time in the movie.

The Dichotomy of Fame [Feat Balesh on Shehnai & Kabuli on Guitars]: Jugalbandi between 2 artistes and which is well we will see last of Shammi Kapoor on screen as this musical piece plays from your one ear to other if given minute attention and can be more enjoyed on screen too. A good headphone can stimulate your mood for this instrumental.

Naadan Parindey[A R Rahman, Mohit Chauhan]: ‘’Sau dard badan pe pheley hain, har karam ke kapde maile hain’; ARR sings it with so much pathos that your knees go weak to return to your roots, old self, pure love with some exquisite guitar work. Completely spellbound with this song and is an emotional journey of anyone who has lost touch with himself. Sure to win all hearts of genuine music lovers. “Kyun desh videsh phire maara, Yun haal behaal thaka haara. Kyun desh videsh phire maara, tu raat beraat ka banjaara.” Awesome in one word.

Tum Ho[Mohit Chauhan, Suzanne D’mello]: A very soft number which has some real haunting back vocals by Suzanne D’Mello . Don’t agree with a lot of critics as being a leftover to past numbers by ARR which seems more as a case of not feeling the intensity and missing out on little nuances, maybe because of the times we are living in.”Khud ko main haar gaya hoon, tumko main jeeta hoon.” Soulful is the word here.

Saadda Haq[Mohit Chauhan]: Now it’s time to let go your rage in a song which is well turning out to be an anthem of gigantic proportions. With some terrific rebellious words, kick ass guitar by Orianthi and energetic vocals from Mohit Chauhan, this song is attitude personified. Hindi cinema never had a rock number this electrifying and “Main Khuda” from PAANCH is the only one I distinctly remember. Palangtod chartbuster.

Meeting Place: Ranbir Kapoor verses a short line by poet Rumi and you can expect where this movie is heading in its climax which goes by “Pata hai…..Yahan se bahut door…..Galat aur sahi ke paar…..Ek maidaan hai…..Main wahan miloonga tujhe.” I am sold here itself for the movie.

Once in a while comes a soundtrack which makes you excited, pumped , liberated and blows your theory about how a single person in all these 20 years have raised a bar for consistent quality music. A R Rahman take a bow, RESPECT in bold.

Last but not least I am grateful to Shivani, Sid, Indro and my lovable Meetusaki without whom my aspiration on writing a musical review would have been incomplete as I share some beautiful memories corresponding with the music of this film.

Eagerly awaiting for the movie just because of its music and will be a treat if sound recording is in 7.1 surround to have an audio-visual treat at multiplexes. Till then just immerse yourself.