Perspective

Surfeit

2010-01-05T09:38:00.000-08:00

Now and then
When I think of you
I think of the now
And I think of the then

Your lush pink lips that were
Look a shade darker these days
Your dulcet voice that was
Sounds a few pitches sharper today

I wonder about the how
And I wonder about the when
When I think of the now
And when I think of the then

I cannot laugh
At your jokes anymore
Because I already have
Many times before

You look the same
You are the same her
I am sure you are
But more than you ever were

That which was victory
Is defeat today
That which was love
Is surfeit today.

Wake Up SId - * * * * *

2009-10-02T06:55:00.000-07:00

Yes, I woke up too - from the slumber that the last few Bollywood flicks have put me to. Wake up Sid is the saving grace for all the shitty movies that Bollywood has been churning out, week after week.

So what is so different about the cliched 'rich dad's spoilt son realizes his calling in life' theme that has been already used in movies like Lakshya? Its execution. The simplicity of the movie is its biggest strength. There is no fusillade of emotions that we are so used to in such romantic flicks. There are no big gestures here. Every emotion is so underplayed and subtle that you find it unreally real.

Ranbir Kapoor brilliantly portrays the role of a rich spolit kid who has so far had everything on a platter, until a certain series of events gives him a reality check. No he doesn't wake up one day and decides to make it on his own. There is no precipitous transformation. The metamorphosis from a rich spoilt kid to a responsible one is so gradual and subtle that you only notice it when it has finally happened. Towards the end when Sid decides to move back to his house, a flustered Konkona Sen gives him another of her sermons on his immaturity and juvenility. It is only then that you question "Who is the real Kid now?"

With the expectation that Konkana Sen would steal all the stage presence, I was pleasantly shocked. Ranbir Kapoor is the real star here and Konkona has given him all his space, for once, maintaining a low profile. For the first time in recent times, a character emerges out of Indian cinema in the form of Sid. His conspicuous backpack that he carries everywhere, his laptop, his toon print t-shirts, playful banters with his friends, his aggressive outbursts - all of these elicit an uncanny familiarity with Sid, at the end of the modest 2.5hrs,something that even a 25 hrs of "What's your Raashee?" cannot engender for Harman Bawaja. Bombay is the second lead in this movie. It forms an important backdrop in this simple story.The movie covers all popular hangout places in the city. The movie is a treat for all Bombayites.

To top it all, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's brilliant soundtracks and background scores perfectly compliment the screenplay.

Disclaimer for Raj Tjackeray : This is a personal blog. I hope I will not have to apologize for calling the city Bombay, like Karan Johar had to :-).

Love Aaj Kal - * *

2009-08-01T01:43:00.000-07:00

Love Aaj Kal is a brilliant idea implemented brilliantly wrong. Surprisingly, the better known reviewers seemed to have liked the movie a lot, what with the 4 stars that they have so generously bestowed on the movie. Now I know why ‘paid previews’ are so named.

The idea to depict how ‘Love Aaj’ is different yet so similar to ‘Love Kal’ was brilliant in itself and had endless possibilities, most of which Imtiaz didn’t exploit. What should have been a seamless screenplay of scenes between yesterday and today, was a shoddy series of events in random months with absolutely no continuity.

First blunder that Imtiaz made was casting Deepika Padukone. She is a glam doll, and literally so. She is a looker but doll-like-inexpressive at the same time. She could have potentially become an international supermodel or a successful sportsperson like her Dad, but she chose the wrong career (like so many of us). In Love Aaj Kal she could have looked credible as a fresco artist with all the sophistication that she exudes, but ONLY if she had no dialogues. She has a bad diction, bad dialogue delivery and absolutely zilch character in the movie. While Saif tries his best to elicit emotions out of her, Deepika is unmoved in her facial expressions. Even when he travels a thousand miles to Delhi to surprise her, Deepika looks at him - still point blank. Till the very end, the love between them looks ungenuine for the lack of chemistry. Saif on the other hand does a pretty good job especially as the Sardar in ‘Kal Ka Love’. He looks authentic in such unsophisticated roles (Omkara et al). The new actress is good too. I don’t know why Rahul Khanna agreed to let this movie be his comeback. His role has no scope.

The music is one of the better parts of the movie, trust Pritam with that. He can belt out hits after hits - call it remixing, outright plagiarization or any other name.

The film is a disappointment. Not expected from the maker of Jab We Met. Please give me something better than Dev D. I am still waiting.

New York or Old Yolk - * *

2009-06-26T23:57:00.000-07:00

I patiently wait three weeks for the next Bollywood flick to release. And, unluckily for me,'New York' gets the honour to be that flick. Not that I was being unreasonably demanding, that too with the best of the non-acting lot in it, definitely not. But 'New York' was just that bare minimum level that every Bollywood film strives to reach.

As the movie progressed, I was reminded of several other movies. The underlying theme of racial prejudice was heavily influenced by the critically acclaimed Khuda Kay Liye and the 'cop frisking Katrina' scene, a rip off from Crash. The first half is how Kuch Kuch Hota Hai would look if it had been shot in a foreign locale. In KKHH however, Shahrukh looked credible as the college stud. John playing chess under a tree, and a dozen firangs watching in awe, was as unconvincing as it can get.

However, even with such a weak script, the screenplay is what keeps the movie going. You are almost always glued, just hoping that something else would happen, apart from the expressionless faces of the talented trio. But no surprises till the very end. Although it was tough competition, the award for the keeping a straight face for maximum screen time goes to John. Katrina, as always, does a pretty good job of looking pretty. Neil Nitin Mukesh shows streaks of brilliance in a couple of scenes, especially in the FBI interrogation, minus the conspicuous pink lip glossed lips. I am sure John was secretly hoping that he would be nominated for the National awards for his prison cell antiques. But the director very cleverly kept his face covered for the entire sequence. I would still give John credit for the vigorous movements of his body.

Bollywood cinematography is coming of age. Although a little late, our cinematographers are trying their hands at psychedelic effects. In New York, the cinematographer has done a brilliant job in the prison scene and the swimming pool scene.

The music was the best part of the movie. Apart from the catchy tunes and amazing lyrics, the songs were strategically placed and helped to take the movie forward. The first song - "the friendship song", the second song - "oh she doesn't love me" song, and the third - "shit they raped me, and I am going to get back at them" song, all helped to not take more time to complete the excruciatingly long movie. Watch New York only for the simple reason that there are no other Bollywood movies to watch this week.

Delhi 6 - Disappointing - * * *

2009-02-20T08:49:00.000-08:00

To all those going for Delhi 6, expecting to witness the chemistry between “Massakali” –Sonam Kapoor and “Burger Chaap” – Junior Bacchhan, the trailers pretty much show all that there is. Delhi 6 is not a sweet romantic movie that the trailers mislead us into believing. It is satirical, symbolic, metaphoric but NOT romantic. Another bit of information – Sonam and Abhishek are only the second leads. The lead role is played by ‘Kala Bandar’.

The movie has a striking resemblance to Swades - When Roshan (AB) comes to drop his ailing grandmother, he realizes that there is more to India than he ever thought. As he starts to assimilate the Indian culture, he becomes a part of it. He also encounters the dark side - differences because of caste and religion, stone-age superstitions, undue pressure on girls to get married etc. He tries to be a part of the solution but faces resistance from every quarter. He is confused about his identity, and about whether to go back or stay on. Falling in love with Bittu(Sonam K) makes the decision even harder. But everything falls into place in the end. But unlike Swades, Delhi 6 hardly shows any scenes between Sonam and AB, that it almost seems a little forced when Roshan(AB) confesses that he is madly in love with(Bittu). Mehra uses most of the screen time in ‘Ram Lila’ and ‘Kala Bandar’. As the movie progresses, it metaphorically draws a parallel between incidents in the movie and Ram Lila. Similarly, Kala Bandar is used as a metaphor to showcase the dark side in all of us. One of the characters, supposedly demented, uses a mirror to symbolically show that there is God in all of us. There is a song that shows a mixed US and Chandni Chowk setting to metaphorically depict the identity crisis that Abhishek is going through. These metaphors and symbols are cleverly thought of. However, by constantly using them throughout the movie and with so many of them, Rakesh loses touch with reality. Only metaphors remain.

Rakesh uses a lot of screen time to meticulously delineate all the characters in the movie, all except that of Sonam and AB. There is a funny inspector Ranvijay, a demented Gobar, two brothers who are not in talking terms, their respective families, a certain untouchable Jalebi, Suresh the charlatan and several others. Although these characters take the movie forward, they do not leave any screen time for the characters of Abhishek and Sonam.

Rahman’s unreal music and Prasoon Joshi’s fancy lyrics enliven the first half. But having exhausted almost all songs, the second half stretches and drags for the lack of periodic Rahman interventions. It’s amazing what a Rahman can do to a movie. The movie probably has the best cinematography in recent times. The camera moves with as much ease as “Massakali” (Bittu) does in the streets of Chandni Chowk , or Abhishek jumps from one building to another. The interior shots of the galis and nukkads of Chandni Chowk bring a life into the whole setting so much so that it becomes an integral character in the movie.

The ending is probably the worst part of the movie. With a momentary heaven scene with Amitabh, and then Junior AB waking from the dead, Rakesh cannot get any worse.
And thus the viewer leaves the theatre with the shoddy ending imprinted fresh in the top layers of his mind, probably not even remembering the few good parts in the movie.

If you had a crazy week,and wanted to go for a light romantic movie with your better half, Delhi 6 is not for you. However if you are ready to rack your brain trying to link metaphors and symbols and then derive satisfaction out of doing so, Delhi 6 is watchable, at least once.

Film Review - Billoo * *

2009-02-13T14:25:00.000-08:00

Billoo is a story of how the underdog finally emerges victorious against all odds, just like Slumdog was. Only that Slumdog was far superior in all respects. Billoo on the other hand is a very shoddily made movie.

Priyadarshan uses one his favorite recipes – humor in the rural setting. This is a recipe that he has very effectively used in his previous movies –Malaamaal Weekly and Hulchul. As the movie progresses and the same characters start emerging one after the other, you almost feel a sense of Déjà vu. It’s not long before you realize that this is probably the same village and the same people that you have seen in Maalamal Weekly.Sadly the setting is the best part.

The movie is a depiction of how a village is crazily waiting to meet their superstar and how they can do anything to achieve this. It is but difficult to stretch such a weak script for three hours. Pritam’s peppy item numbers featuring Kareena, Deepika and Priyanka help the pace of the movie. They are a welcome break from the permutations and combinations of antics that the villagers adopt to appease Billoo into getting them to meet Sahil. Priyadarshan is really brave to have stretched this for three whole hours. The movie seems to have been made within a really short span. Even the lip-syncing hasn’t been done well. Unexpectedly for a Priyadarshan movie, the dialogues aren’t funny either. Rajpal Yadav who’s playing a writer and the guy who is playing the hotel manager are irritating. The part where the hotel manager meets Shahrukh for the first time and the part where he wastes an eternity saying the same dialogue, get on your nerves.

In spite of the fact that he is playing himself, Shahrukh’s acting is disappointing to say the least. He uses the movie to get the point across to Akshay that he is the real King of Bollywood. The movie shows his poster amongst that of Gods (the hardliners are rightly protesting), of the village painted with posters of all his hit movies, villagers worshipping his poster and a full song describing how he is a superstar. He flagrantly cracks jokes about Akshay. I hope Akshay watches this, or Sharukh’s effort will go a waste for the audiences will hardly come. I hope noone kills me for saying this, but the kids who’ve played Billoo’s son and daughter have done a better job than Shahrukh. Irrfan Khan is just the same - no good no bad. He does the same acting and the same stammering act in every movie, so one can hardly comment. Lara looks authentic as a village woman.

All in all, Billoo is a no-effort movie, made to earn some quick bucks. For me, not even a one time watch.

Bowled over by Dev D * * * * *

2009-02-08T09:59:00.000-08:00

I could never agree on a youth icon, when the seasonal polls for the 'Youth icon of the year' flashed on TV channels. I've always had doubts and no answers. But I just got my answer for this year, even before the polls - Anurag Kashyap, maker of Dev D, and no doubts.

What would a film-maker who has had three bordering-on-the-art films, all of which did miserably on the box-office, do on his next film? If he has been lucky enough to have got the finances for the next film, I am sure that the last thing he would do is make a remake of a classic that has been already remade more than five (or more?) times and by some of the best considered directors, the last one having been made as less as six years back. But Mr. Kashyap does everything that has never been done, and more. In spite of the Box-Office collections of Black Friday, Paanch and No smoking, Kashyap goes on to make an even more unconventional and outrageously bold movie.

An adaptation is one’s take on someone else’s work and not a similar work. Dev D is the first true adaptation of Sarat Chandra’s Devdas. All the others have just been minor tweaks in the original story and setting. For instance Banshali’s Devdas has the same Bengali Zamindari setting as the book and similar delineations of characters, except may be Sarat Chandra didn’t conceive of a Devdas who is obnoxiously loud and speaks in poetry, and who spills more than he drinks.

Anurag’s Devdas is set in a modern setting, replete with emotions that every youth can identify with. His version has Paro obliging Dev by sending him nude photographs. It has Paro cycling through a field with a rolled-up mattress so that she can make out in broad daylight. It has no emotional drama, only Emosional Atyyachar. The music is so outrageously original that it’s probably created a new genre for itself. Coming to the cinematography, especially in the scenes where Dev is soaked with alcohol, the hazy-camera-effect is psychedelic. Playing Chandramukhi is a school going teenage girl, who embroiled in an mms scandal, turns to prostitution. How orginal is that! The story is the same and yet everything is so different about this movie.

Anurag didn’t indulge in any of the publicity stunts that have become a ritual with Indian directors. No glossy previews, no actor interviews and no fancy haircut for the ticket sellers. So sure was he about his masterpiece. Kashyap has got balls of gold and I pray that for once the Indian audience doesn't do what it did to Swades, for it may force Kashyap to leave direction just like Swades made Shahrukh leave acting forever.

This is probably one film that really deserves to go to the Oscars. Though set in a cosmopolitan setting, the movie narrates one of the greatest Indian classics in real style.It depicts today’s India and is probably a better window to our country than Slumdog Millionaire which does nothing but reinforces the Gora’s image of a poverty ridden country. If this movie doesn’t do well commercially, there is no hope for Indian cinema. It will be the end of the beginning that has come with directors like Anurag Kashyap.

One-Time-Watch

2008-12-16T05:28:00.000-08:00

There is this oft repeated cliche that movies should be a reflection of real life. And ironically, oft repeated cliches are often nothing more than just that.

Having watched so many movies since childhood, Hollywood and Bollywood alike, I learnt the golden rule, and at quite an early stage - Never compare the two. They both cater to different needs of the audience and in that way we Indians are lucky to have a choice. While there is the typical Hollywood flick, light years ahead in terms of cinematography, screenplay, story and other such technical details, there is the typical Bollywood film that is capable of evoking a myriad of vicarious thrills, all in a 3-hr sitting. It is capable of transporting you to a different world from your oh-so-monotonous life and this can sometimes be at the expense of logic and common sense. But nobody seems to mind. The Indian audience has over the years learnt to overlook obvious logical flaws. No wonder that the Indian director so casually uses his right to 'cinematic liberty'. The question however is, whether the constant and increasing use of this liberty has led to the degradation of the quality of our films.

I often find myself saying that I liked a movie, not because I found it exceptional, but because the movie had stood up to my expectation and sometimes even surpassed it. The scary part is that my expectation was not substantial at the first place. Having seen my expectation take a battering so often in the past, I have been lowering it gradually over the years and unconsciously. I am sure that I am speaking the minds of others too when I say this.

The last when I made extraordinary concessions to like a movie was when I watched Aditya Chopra's 'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi'. Some concessions that I made -

1) Taani is incapable of comprehending 'Raj' and 'Surinder' to be one and the same. May be because she is a dumb Punjabi kudi.
2) Soori is spontaneously funny and well dressed when he is playing Raj. So he is not boring by default but it is a choice that he makes.
3) “Hum hain raahi pyaar ke, phir milenge, chalte chalte” is obviously funny! And the song doesn't bear any resemblance with "Dhoom Taana",Om Shanti Om.
4) "Mein duniya ki sabse achhi patni ban ke dikhaoongi" and "Mein tum ko kabhi pyar nahi kar paoongi" obviously aren't contradictory statements. Which wife has ever loved her husband?
5) Taani is so effectively portrayed as an innocent Punjabi girl -
One day she is ready to elope with Raj, so effectively living up to her promise of being the best wife in the world. The other day she is touching Soori's feet. She is amazingly steady with her decisions. She can do stunts with the bike that even John cannot do.

This list of concessions was a little longer than the one that I had to make for the last movie that I hated myself for liking - Dostana. And sadly the list has been growing.

Our growing tendency of making concessions for Bollywood flicks explains the phenomenal success of mindless movies like 'Heyy Babyy', 'Singh is King', 'Jannat' et al this year. When we so casually use the 'one-time-watch' phrase, do we really mean it or is it our guilt of having spent a portion of our hard earned money and time on that movie.

The Rare 'Ones'

2008-10-02T10:27:00.000-07:00

I have to cross the Dadar railway over-bridge to get to office everyday. Even if one is not traveling by the train, he must carry a ticket to use the over-bridge. So to save myself from the misery of standing in long queues, I bought myself a month's pass that cost me 200 bucks, but only to later realize the futility of doing so.Not once in the entire month did anyone check my pass and expectedly so, in that man-deluge during rush hour. Even if a ticket checker did stand on one of the ends of the bridge, he would only be able to check a 'one in seven'. Again if I assumed that I did get checked once in a month(even though I didn't in the first month), it would be approximately a '1 in 200' event((1/7)x(1/30)). This is a term that we Risk Professionals use for something that has a 0.005 probability of happening, something that is really rare.

Only one month into my new job as a Risk Manager, I decided to apply a smattering of Risk Management into my daily life. I decided not to buy the monthly pass this month. A '1 in 200' meant that I would have to pay a fine of Rs 200 in a 200 day period, definitely cheaper than the prospect of buying a monthly Rs 200 pass.

First day into the month of my risk experiment, as I was hurriedly walking towards the east end of the bridge(late for office, as always) I noticed a ticket checker. So the day turned out to be the 'one' of my 'one in thirty'. But I still pinned hope on my 'one in seven'. Why would the ticket checker stop me, an office goer, of all the other shady people walking beside me? Instead of walking back towards the west end, I moved ahead with a confident gait, and with an even slower pace then I usually walked. But I guess my expression betrayed my gait and the ticket checker showed his hand, signaling me to stop, and letting the other co-ambulators go without any check. What ensued is anybody's guess.

Who would have thought that the very first day of my risk experiment would turn out to be the '1' in my '1 in 200'. And did I have the risk appetite to check if the next 199 days were indeed the risk free 199 they were supposed to be? No, I had had enough. As they rightly say - 'Don't bring home your office work'. The very next day I got myself the month's pass.

The Happyness of Pursuit

2008-06-15T06:08:00.000-07:00

Aditi wasn't the prettiest in our class. She couldn't be. Why else would I be the first one to have a crush on her, when there were a couple of other girls who had half a dozen guys swooning over them. But she certainly had something about her. If it was the way she giggled at the silliest of jokes, or the way she could be so dumb sometimes that it was almost cute, or the way she got so tongue tied when asked questions by any teacher, I wouldn't know. I was only thirteen. All I knew was that I was in love with her, and head over heels.

The first advice that I can give a teenager in love is to keep his feelings to himself, unless of course, if he wants to lose whatever little chance he has of talking to that girl. And I speak from experience. Yes, I told my best friend. And he told his. This continued till the next best friend happened to be Aditi herself. We stopped talking. What other option did we have, to save ourselves from the misery of brutal teenage teasing! Yes, and another piece of advice to all those friends who think that they are acting as 'catalysts of love' between two people, by indulging in such meaningless gibing, it would instead help if you didn't.

Aditi, obviously, didn't reciprocate my feelings. Or else, the word would have got around, just like it did the first time. Here I was, only thirteen, and already feeling the pangs of rejection. Maybe if I had a chance of interacting with her for a longer time, I would have worked my charm on her. But that's only speculation. The truth was that I spent the next five years still loving her, and the love only got stronger with time. This was not because she was getting prettier or cuter by the day. When you do not get a thing that you want, you want it even more. This vicious cycle continues. This is how my harmless crush took the form of a full blown epic.

My tenacity yielded results, though only five years later. From sources close to her, I was informed that Aditi would acknowledge in the affirmative, if I proposed my love to her. So I did. And so did she, accept it, just as her friends had so subtly hinted. Obviously there was no explanation for this sudden turn of feelings. Why would someone who had no feelings whatsoever for four whole years, suddenly start feeling something for a person! The possibility that she yielded more out of pity than out of genuine love, crossed my mind often. However I didn't care the least bit, as long as I had a chance to hang out with her. I had spent the last five years cherishing whatever few times I got to speak to her, thrice out of academic compulsion, because she was my project partner, and four other times on her birthday each. Why on earth would I miss this god sent opportunity, brooding over 'possibilities'!

We were hardly a couple. We never did things that couples do. We never said the 'three words' to each other. But we enjoyed each other's company. I might sound presumptuous when I speak for her too, but from the way she laughed at my jokes, at least I would like to believe so. More than a couple, we were committed friends. There was only one month before school ended and we had to make up for lost time. We spent whatever free time we had, talking, and getting to know each other better. It was almost as if we were officially a couple, so that we could be normal friends to each other, mostly it is the other way round.

Even now, seven years later, when I think of the single biggest achievement of my life, getting Aditi to say 'Yes', would be it. The five years of relentless pursuit, the sadistic pleasure that I derived from it, and finally the happiness when she relented, made this an experience of a lifetime. When most of the guys my age were busy chasing one girl after another, facing one rejection one after another, I stuck to one. I felt a certain sense of integrity, a feeling of being true to myself, this not meaning that the other guys were depraved or something. Maybe I didn't have the innocent impulsiveness that a teenager my age is expected to have, but I did realize the 'The Happyness of Pursuit'.

Why don't Indian marriages fail?

2008-02-11T05:32:00.000-08:00

How many of your friends' parents have had failed marriages? I pose this rhetorical question for the lack of statistics, as a way to convince you, how we are a country where marriages are forever. Compare this with the west, where marriage is just the beginning to an uncertain relationship, and one that fails more often than not. But why?
It would be naive to oversimplify matters, and ascribe this to one particular reason. However, clearly the main reason lies in the way we have been brought up. Let me elucidate.
A majority of us have never gotten into relationships. Not because we don't want to. But because we've had hardly had the opportunity to interact with someone so much so that we get into one. This, because of the stigma that Indians still associate with such an interaction. This might sound ridiculous to the lucky few who do not belong to such an unfortunate lot. But I have excluded such few people from my discussion for the sake of generalization. Yeah, so getting back to the point. As a result, the girl/boy that I marry is the first one that I've ever had the opportunity to get into a relationship with. Now comes the interesting part. Because of the sheer lack of the experience and emotional maturity that comes with indulging into relationships, I have no benchmarks. I have no expectations. I do not need "space". I cannot say that he/she is better or worse than the last one I had. I adjust to his/her shortcomings thinking that these are but inevitable. I've never shared my love with anyone. So the storehouse of love that has been created, I give all to him/her. Nobody has ever loved and cared for me this way, I am not used to such treatment. And so he/she becomes my soul-mate, someone without whom, I cannot think to live without. As a result, even if I somehow do manage to get into one relationship at some stage in my life, it probably culminates into an eternal marriage.
This is why these relationships work so well. Coming to think of it, the walls that our society has created between the two sexes, has worked in its own favor.