Kahaani

Rating: 8
Release Date: 9th March, 2012
Time: ~120 minutes
Director & Writer : Sujoy Ghosh; Co-Writer: Advaita Kala; Music : Vishal-Shekhar
Starring: Vidya Balan, Parambrata Chatterjee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Darshan Jariwala

This one breaks quite a few ‘rules’. It’s a woman-centric film, it’s a drama, no lip synch songs, no fancy locales, choosing instead one of the most dilapidated cities in India, Kolkata for all its scenes. And yet, it works and how.

A pregnant lady (Vidya), has come all the way from London, in search of her missing husband. A helpful cop. Secrets, shadowy organizations, contract killers. Just someone who doesn’t want to be found or is there more to it ?

The storyline is quite simple and to the directors credit he resists all temptation to add more characters, more twists, relying instead on crisp editing to keep it taut and letting the uniqueness of Kolkata almost become another actor in this fast unfolding drama.

Beyond the yellow Ambassador taxis & the white uniformed cops, it brings out nuances about the city. The innate helpfulness. The soft-spokenness. The neighbourhood teastalls. The respect accorded to women (probably the safest place for the fairer sex amongst the 4 metros ?), the old world charm. The trams and the metro. The ubiquitous Rabindrasangeet. And of course, the Durga Puja, the pandals and the magical, transformed city Kolkata becomes during those few days every year.

Vidya & the fine character actors don’t put a foot wrong. Even the ones with bit roles. The cop who first files her missing persons report (and later begs her to fix his noisy error-prone computer). He also has the funniest line in the film ‘I’ve been trying for 30 years aur yeh do saal mein kar ke chala gaya’. The receptionist at the zero star Mona Lisa guest house who insists on calling his NRI guest ‘your majesty’. The running water boy who is inseperable from his transistor. Special mention for Parambrata, who I think matched Vidya expression for expression and had a pleasant appeal about him. Would want more cops looking & behaving like him.

The plot is interesting, enough twists and turns thrown in to keep it pacy, many layers, each peeling off at suitably placed intervals. Want to say more but wont for fear of giving it away. We spent the ride home, from the multiplex, trying to think of flaws in the storyline. We’re still thinking. Are probably going to watch it again to test various theories. Its that kind of a film…

The Iron Lady

Rating: 4
Release Date: 2nd March, 2012 (in India)
Time: 105 minutes
Director: Phyllida Lloyd; Writer: Abi Morgan; Music : Thomas Newman
Starring: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbrent, Anthony Head, Richard E Grant, Alexandra Roach, Harry Lloyd

If I was watching a movie about the first woman PM of the Western world, the person who broke the trade unions, defied Europe, fought a war over Falklands and helped dismantle the Eastern Bloc, I would want the movie to focus on things I don’t already know. What in her upbringing, her circumstances, put the steel in her ? The ability to take tough calls, unwaveringly, unhesitatingly. And to know more about the unseen side, the personal side of the above events – what was her thought process, what opposition did she face, what were the circumstances leading to things coming to a head ?

However, this film, for some strange reason, decides to focus more on the Old Mrs Thatcher (MT), who is suffering from memory loss, who is still mourning for her husband, missing her wayward son and is a shadow of the person who transformed a nation. It merely skims past the above historic events, showing them in an extremely shallow fashion, and at the end we are left none the wiser…

Meryl Streep is brilliant, but when has she not been so ? Even fluffy films like ‘Its Complicated’ and ‘Julie & Julia’ show us how lucky we are to have this chameleonic performer in our midst and in this she seems to get the mannerisms of MT bang on. Jim Broadbent is very good as you would expect. And there are no other characters really shown or built in the film.

The Falklands, for instance, is the only situation which is shown in some detail. The opposition within her cabinet. The debate with the American secretary. It was interesting for the brief while it lasted. However what made her reputation was facing up to the trade unions. This gets just a few mentions in the film.. The IRA, apart from a couple of bombings shown, gets zero screen time. Her role with the end of the Cold War (it was after all the Soviets who gave her the titular sobriquet) almost zero.

Even on the personal side, while it hints at some minor discord between her husband and herself, and an issue with her daughter and a much bigger one with her son, it is again just the briefest of glimpses with no depth at all.

Misplaced focus. Its sad that the brilliance of the film poster doesn’t translate into celluloid. Instead of feeling awe for her, her leadership, her style, we instead feel depressed for the withering impact of age on her. Would rather have seen the inspirational side of her. The side that earned her the nickname, Iron Lady.

Paan Singh Tomar

Rating: 7
Release Date: 2nd March, 2012
Time: 135 minutes
Director & Writer: Tigmanshu Dhulia; Music : Abhishek Ray
Starring : Irrfan, Mahie Gill, Zakir Hussain, Vipin Sharma, Imran Hasnee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Rajendra Gupta

Stop me when you think you’ve seen or heard it before. We in India treat our sporting heroes badly. If you’re poor, God help you because the system wont. Might is right, especially in villages. Our policemen are steeped in corruption, the court system inefficient. Justice delayed is justice denied. Ultimately, after a point trying the right way, you have no option left but to resort to violence.

The fact that, despite knowing all of the above, despite knowing where the story is heading, you still are engaged for 2 hours is a tribute to a fantastic performance by Irrfan, a very good ensemble cast, very funny dialogue and crisp editing.

Paan Singh Tomar, an army recruit, was naturally gifted as an athlete. He decided to join sports as the meager rations of the military men could not satisfy his voracious appetite. He wins many races, sets many records and then to solve a land dispute in his village, he takes premature retirement. Ultimately, the same dispute escalates, makes him take up arms and rebel against the system.

The setting, in the feared ravines of Chambal, with villages, along the UP and MP border. The rustic lingo and the one liners. The whole sequence involving the journalist. The deadpan delivery of Irrfan. His mannerisms and eccentricities. The omnipresent spectre of violence in that belt. Its an environment that really works, a setting that is rich and unusual enough to make you follow what is happening on screen.

I wish the second half was shorter. I wish it was all not so predictable. I wish things unfolded differently. I wish

One of the most telling dialogues in the film is the difference between a dacoit and a rebel. The system labels you a dacoit. But in reality you are a rebel, a product & outcome of the very same failed system. Paan Singh Tomar, after this film, stands taller in my eyes and that’s where the success of this film lies.

London Paris New York

Rating: 7
Release Date: 2nd March, 2012
Time: 100 minutes
Director & Writer: Anu Menon; Music : Ali Zafar
Starring : Ali Zafar; Aditi Rao Hydari

This movie is conversational, engaging, fresh. Has passion, love, romance. And the concomitant heartbreak, drama, betrayal. Is inspired by several English films of its ilk, Before Sunrise, When Harry Met Sally, Blue Valentine, to name a few. But, if you notice the absence of inverted commas in the inspired, it sets its own firm clear path in that genre, which is fairly bold in the Hindi film scene. I mean, people here actually talk to each other before falling in love !

Aditi & Ali meet as they land at Heathrow. She is a Tam Brahm from Mumbai on her way to NY to study politics, wants to make a difference to the world, supports causes, works for NGOs, is full of trivia which borders from knowledgeable to flaky and comes across as serious yet vulnerable at the same time.

He’s a Punjabi, comes from a rich, dysfunctional, possessive family with his parents still not over the death of his elder brother many years ago, is in London to study film making, is cocky, spoilt, doesn’t think too much of money as he has shovelfuls, is a bit of a drama queen (not sure whether nautanki sounds better ?) and a charmer.

Sparks fly on their one day together in London and the story, with a gap of a few years, moves to Paris and then a few more years later to New York with the characters evolving, changing persona as they move over time and cities.

Critical for any romance is for us to connect with the lead actors. Ali, being naturally effusive, brings that element of zest and fun to his role, his sense of humour deserting him but briefly. Aditi, is a revelation, handling a complex character well, looking cute in London, hot in Paris and warm in NY.

Couple of songs stand out, the photography is excellent and the movie is crisp, short and sweet, not deviating from its main storyline for an instant. There is a certain languidness in the first half, moments when you wonder if the story is progressing. Or wish things moved faster. Am also not sure I agree completely with the end but its not a major issue.

This film is for those who prefer to cook on slow heat vs those desirous of the instant gratification of microwave cooking. Its designed more to make you smile than laugh out loud. I enjoyed it and look forward to more from the debutant director.

(In the interest of full disclosure, have to share that the makers are friends and I have read the script at inception stage. Plus have been told that if I don’t say good things certain body parts will go missing and am not sure they were joking when they said that)

The Artist

Rating : 9/10
Release Date : 24th February, 2012 (India)
Time : 100 minutes
Director & Writer : Michel Hazanavicius; Music : Ludovic Bource
Starring : Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, James Cromwell, John Goodman

How do we deal with change ? Do we embrace it, resist it, ignore it ? And what about when we realize we are wrong ? Are we big enough to correct ourself or do we let our ego and pride get in the way ?

Fascinating questions, raised provocatively by a beautiful film and left elegantly upto us to answer as we deem fit.

Jean Dujardin is a big star of the silent movies era. He is also a nice person and seems to get along with everyone, except his wife. He dances well, has a charming air about him, has a great sense of humour and generally everything is going as great as it possibly could. He accidentally meets Berenice, helps her get a role as an extra and is nice to her. She has a crush on him but is not able to express her feelings directly. And then talking movies arrive. And things change…

The film is so amazingly well put together, so well shot, there are sequences which make you want to stand up and applaud much as you would applaud a painting that connects with you. The scene when Berenice enters his dressing room and caresses his suit. When he pours his drink over his reflection in the glass table. When he stands in front of the shop window in front of a suit.

There is a poignancy in the movie, a degree of romanticism that runs throughout the film. All actors excel in their performances. Jean is perfect, embodying the old world charm of that era. Berenice is amazing as the peppy, full of life person who takes to talkies like a fish to water. James Cromwell and John Goodman complete the cast with great acting in their pivotal roles. And special mention of the dog who plays a meaty role well, pun intended.

The minimalism of being a silent film and black and white seems to enhance the other senses – you notice the expressions, the photography, the little details and the excellent background score even more. It’s the perfect way to showcase a movie about the silent era, bringing back that charm and nostalgia as you watch events unfold. An unmissable film.

Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya

Rating : 6/10
Release Date : 24th February, 2012 (India)
Time : 130 minutes
Director : Mandeep Kumar; Writer : Abhijeet Sandhu; Music : Sachin-Jigar
Starring : Ritesh & Genelia Deshmukh, Tinnu Anand, Om Puri

A rare Hindi film where the second half is better than the first. Some genuinely nice moments are interspersed amidst a slightly stretched storyline, some awkward songs and a predictable first half.

Rickshaw driver Ritesh is a good buoy. Genelia,who hilariously interviews a classic Alpha Punjabi male while skeet shooting, is not. Rebelling against her fathers wish to get her married off early to the above prize chump, when the opportunity presents itself she stages a ‘kidnapping’ with the bewildered Ritesh and runs away.

The first half is the now often seen bubbly, sprightly girl paired with the quiet, decent guy. It began to wear thin after a while and I feared the worst during the intermission, but that’s when the second half took a far more pleasant, surprising turn.

Ritesh & Genelia essay roles that they’ve each done many times before. He is always the straight laced guy. And she always packed with that little extra fizz. The only novelty here is seeing them heretogether & that too almost immediately after their marriage. So I guess saying ‘the lead pair has no chemistry’ is ruled out. Tinnu Anand plays the long suffering father well. But the show stealer is Om Puri who plays his role with panache. Dialogues like ‘paanch lakh aur bada do’, ‘naye kism ki angrezi’ flow easily & naturally from him.

The continuity guy had a few off days during the film – several mistakes. Apart from ‘O re piya’, none of the other songs worked. There is a certain sequence (the ring scene) lifted straight from an English film. And I think there is an intrinsic struggle throughout on whether to stay real or to get filmy.

However, when you walk out of the hall, it’s the delightful moments that linger with you. I’m probably being slightly generous in my rating here but as my wife said, Thank God, it wasn’t yet another of those mindless, slapstick variety that passes today in the name of comedy.

Moneyball

Rating : 7/10
Release Date : 24th February, 2012 (India)
Time : 133 minutes
Director : Bennet Miller; Writers : Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin based on the book by Michael Lewis ‘Moneyball : The Art of Winning an Unfair Game’; Music : Mychael Danna
Starring : Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Phillip Seymour Hoffman

"Okay. People who run ball clubs, they think in terms of buying players. Your goal shouldn't be to buy players, your goal should be to buy wins. And in order to buy wins, you need to buy runs. You're trying to replace Johnny Damon. The Boston Red Sox see Johnny Damon and they see a star who's worth seven and half million dollars a year. When I see Johnny Damon, what I see is... is... an imperfect understanding of where runs come from. The guy's got a great glove. He's a decent leadoff hitter. He can steal bases. But is he worth the seven and half million dollars a year that the Boston Red Sox are paying him? No. No"

I wonder when they will begin to buy IPL teams this way was one of the many thoughts in my head as I left the hall. It’s a true story and once again proves that neccessity is the mother of invention.

Brad Pitt is a failed baseball player and currently heading the Oakland Athletics. As he so eloquently puts it “there are rich teams and poor teams, then theres fifty feet of crap, then there is us”. He is referring to his annual spending budget on players. His is miniscule compared to the top teams and not only that, even his best players are being sold to make money. He is not going to be able to put together a competitive team for the year, given his budget.

Billy Beane: Would you rather get one shot in the head or five in the chest and bleed to death?
Peter Brand: Are those my only two options?

Along comes Jonah Hill, who comes up with a new, fiercely statistical way of looking at players, ignoring the conventional wisdom of scouts, managers, coaches, journalists and the entire establishment. He and Brad proceed to put together a team that has the support of no one, does miserably at first but then proceeds to go on an unprecedented winning run.

It’s a really thought provoking film and its principles can be applied to many fields, not just sport. Anyone who has done research or looked at statistics will know that the conclusion lies in how its interpreted and that can vary quite dramatically from person to person. So to find that quite a few players are undervalued because of the way we humans evaluate athletes is not altogether surprising. We judge based on looks, build, hair, recent form, our own preferences of playing style etc instead of focusing ruthlessly on the numbers, a kind of results per dollar spent kind of metric.

Scott Hatteberg: [Responding to being asked to play first base for the Oakland A's] I've only ever played catcher.
Billy Beane: It's not that hard, Scott. Tell him, Wash.
Ron Washington: It's incredibly hard.

Interweaving a human angle into the story, with Brad Pitts own failures as a player haunting him, his superstitions, his daughter, his personal style, his inability to deal with the obstinate coach (Hoffman) who refuses to buy into his methods make the film a gripping one. And the wry sense of humour that pervades the film helps a lot as does the diffident nature of Jonah Hill’s character and the way Brad and Jonah interact throughout the story.

Today moneyball, the system developed by the Oakland A’s is used in most league teams. What is surprising is that its not used in more business areas…food for thought…

“I know you've taken it in the teeth out there, but the first guy through the wall. It always gets bloody, always. It's the threat of not just the way of doing business, but in their minds it's threatening the game. But really what it's threatening is their livelihoods, it's threatening their jobs, it's threatening the way that they do things. And every time that happens, whether it's the government or a way of doing business or whatever it is, the people are holding the reins, have their hands on the switch. They go bat shit crazy.”

PS : I saw this movie during the MAMI festival last year but omitted to write the review then so its been a while…