How To Train Your Dragon

Rating : 7/10
Release Date : 26th March, 2010
Time : 98 minutes
Directors & Co-Writers : Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders; Writers : William Davies & Cressinda Cowell (based on her novel); Music : John Powell
Starring : (Voices) Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrerra, Christopher

There can be few whackier films than this one. The opening statement from the title character, Hiccup, sets up the story…

“This is Berk. It's twelve days north of Hopeless and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death. It's located solidly on the Meridian of Misery. My village. In a word? Sturdy, and it's been here for seven generations, but every single building is new. We have fishing, hunting, and a charming view of the sunset. The only problems are the pests. You see, most places have mice or mosquitoes. We have... dragons”


Hiccup is the little pipsqueak son of the huge red bearded Viking leader, Stoick. He is the bane of the village, very un-viking in his looks and demeanour, shunned by elders and his own age group kids. He dreams of slaying a dragon but is clear that the axe / sword and other Viking weapons of choice wont do. He builds a contraption and attempts to shoot one down. And then life is never the same again.



The dialogue and sense of humour is excellent throughout. For example, their teacher, Gobber’s, unconventional method of teaching his young pupils on how to slay dragons ‘on the job’ leads to one comic situation after another. Hiccup’s crush on Astrid, another pupil, also has far-reaching consequences. The way Hiccup is always run down by everyone also makes for funny moments. Sample this…

Gobber: If you ever want to get out there to fight dragons... You need to stop all... this.
Hiccup: But... you just pointed to all of me.
Gobber: Yes... That's it... Stop being all of you!

The animation is outstanding, great stuff from Dreamworks, colourful, bright, vibrant and in parts, awe-inspiring. And each of the characters is beautifully built, understandable and interesting in their own right. The great thing on top is that there are subtle messages throughout the film on how to bring up kids, what goes on in their heads etc, which is far more preferable vs being beaten on the head with messages akin to a sledgehammer as done in most Hindi films (incl the most recent travesty named Paathshaala).



I think I’ll close with the self-mocking way Hiccup talks about how his Dad treats him…
Hiccup: And when he does, its always with this disappointed scowl, like someone skimmed on the meat in his sandwich.
[Imitating his dad with a Scottish accent]
Hiccup: "Excuse me, barmaid! I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring! I ordered an extra-large boy with beefy arms, extra guts and glory on the side. This here, this is a talking fish-bone!"

Paathshaala

Rating : 2/10
Release Date : 16th April, 2010
Time : 135 minutes
Director : Milind Ukey; Writer : Ahmed Khan; Music : Hanif Sheikh
Starring : Shahid Kapoor, Ayesha Takia, Nana Patekar, Saurabh Shukla, Sushant Singh

Sitting on a slab of ice for 30 minutes or a hot metal pipe for 15 or a bed of nails for 5 minutes. All are roughly equally painful as watching Paathshaala. Maybe that was their intent, their way of teaching us Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.


The film is ostensibly about the commercialisation of the education system. So we have a venerable principal (Nana Patekar) who is grumpy, instils fear in teachers and students alike. We have very wooden characters in the form of teachers / students. And we have a new, sickly sweet teacher (Shahid) who charms one and all. And then for reasons unknown to them, Nana gives in to crass commercialism, starts overcharging parents, making the students undergo humiliation after humiliation, all in the name of making more money. What is happening ? How will the situation resolve itself ?


The lack of intelligence demonstrated by the makers in terms of putting together a coherent script / story makes it impossible for any good to come out of this effort. What they show is so far removed from reality, that you keep sinking lower and lower in your seat. Even the acting is bad, Shahid sporting basically Look A and Look B, as depicted in the photographs in this review. Since none of the actions of any of the characters makes sense, even seasoned actors like Saurabh Shukla, Sushant Singh look hammy.

I actually saw this film in a youth lounge. Which is what the afternoon screening in the multiplex seemed to have become, as kids with high disposable incomes chose this as the best way to beat the summer. About 20% disappeared midway, I guess preferring the heat to the film. And the rest of us, I guess, just weren’t brave enough !

Prince : Its Showtime

Rating : 3/10
Release Date : 9th April, 2010
Time : 137 minutes
Director : Kookie V Gulati; Writer : Shiraz Ahmed; Music : Sachin Gupta
Starring : Vivek Oberoi, Nandana Sen, Aruna Shields, Neeru Singh, Isaiah, Dalip Tahil, Sanjay Kapoor, Mayur Puri

I’ve seen mosquito nets with fewer holes than the script here. The characters are insipid, including a heroine with a severe lip synch problem, a villain with a snarl and a prosthetic arm and CBI agents who seem to be brain dead. I wanted to say that this film is juvenile, made for fifteen year olds, but then I realized I knew a few very smart early teen kids.

Its all about a thief, Prince, supposedly the world’s coolest & most professional (their words, not mine) and a coin which contains a memory chip that can scan / transfer / store a persons memory. Prince’s memory has been erased, so he now has no recollection of anything (shouldn't this make him like a baby, with even no motor skills ?). There is, however, a succession of women who claim to be his girlfriend, Maya. And a succession of people who want the coin. Which he doesn’t remember where he kept.


More than the chip, I would like the bullet repellent that Prince seems to possess. His Plan A for the opening heist involved him going in to the toilet, in disguise, in a very heavily guarded facility, coming out as another person yet no closed circuit camera picking that up. Plan B involved him running 50 metres in the open with many security guards firing at him but of course, jaako raakhe saaiyan maar sake na koi. Even later, people keep shooting at him with fancy automatic weapons, while he runs or motorbikes in the open yet none strikes him. When one finally does sneak through , he gets thrown backwards about 50 metres…backwards, not forward…Actually, all this wouldn’t matter, as logic takes a backseat even in Bond movies, but then it begs a tight, witty script or a charming, lovable central lead.


We get Vivek Oberoi. Who seems to equate facial contortions to acting. Who inspires as much empathy as the 7th robot in the 9th row in I-Robot. And mouths lines like ‘I’m in. Its time to win’ or ‘Its showtime’…

Someone seems to have forgotten that all the stunts, exploding cars, skimpily clad women and the black leather threads amount to nothing if there isn’t a cohesive story or charming lead to hold it all together…In Race, we felt for Saif. Here we feel for no one. This missile is very badly misdirected…

Athithi : Tum Kab Jaoge

Rating : 4/10
Release Date : 5th Mar, 2010
Time : 150 minutes
Director & Writer : Ashwn Dheer; Music : Pritam
Starring : Ajay Devgn, Konkona Sen Sharma, Paresh Rawal

This is a one joke movie and like any joke, the laughs start to wear thin after a while and when the joke is repeated too often. There are some nice moments, some genuinely funny stuff, but too little and too far apart.


Ajay Devgn and Konkona have never had guests of the staying variety at their home. Their son doesn’t even know what guest means. Into their life walks in Paresh Rawal. The relationship between him and Ajay is distant at best, but he walks in and turns their life upside down. Koko and Ajay have to move out of their room so that he can have the AC, he wakes them up by gargling loudly early morning, he insists on full meals, cooked by her (and only after she has a bath), he farts copiously, causes problems in Ajay’s work, ruins the relationship between Koko’s boss and her. In short he’s their worst nightmare. What will happen next ?

The film never really builds momentum of any sort, going sentimental at times and comic at others. The same jokes are repeated ad nauseum. It just never really rises above mediocrity.

What I did like was the small part about culture, the relationship shown between Paresh and the kid, where Paresh imparts to him some knowledge about our scriptures, deities, heritage, rituals etc. In todays nuclear family age, our culture is probably the biggest casualty and kids don’t get enough of their grandparents and vice versa. I wish there was more of this in the film.


There are some funny moments – Paresh’s aarti is set to a v familiar non-devotional tune, his way of tipping people, the conversation between the police officer and Ajay / Koko about guests were all enjoyable but not enough to sustain a two and a half hour film.

They were trying to sell the film as being Hrishikesh Mukherjee-esque. Nice try but no cigar….

It's Complicated

Rating : 8/10
Release Date : Dec, 2009
Time : 120 minutes
Director & Writer : Nancy Meyers; Music : Heitor Pereira, Hans Zimmer
Starring : Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, John Krasinski, Lake Bell, Mary Kay Place, Rita Wilson, Alexandra Wentworth, Hunter Parish

It’s a tribute to a very tight script, wonderfully built characters and some very funny touches that make this bittersweet film about the angst of divorce and reunification, a true treat to watch.


Ten years after their divorce, both Meryl Streep and Alex Baldwin find themselves confronted by the prospect of getting together again. Alex is currently married to a Spanish hottie, several years younger than him, complete with a five year old son from her previous life. And Meryl has now grown comfortable with the idea of being single, and is devoted to her three kids, all grown up, with one graduating and another about to get married.

So, as the title suggests, when after many goblets of wine later, they meet and chat and then proceed to sleep together, it sparks a chain of events that are hilarious, real and sweet all at the same time.

Alec Baldwin is shown to be a nice, bumbling, enthusiastic, error prone guy. He’s got a zest for life, for the good things in life and above all a great sex drive for a man his age. Meryl Streep, is now running a successful enterprise, is a great cook, has good friends, manages her kids well and is finally settling in. Even doing some long overdue renovations to her house and getting the kitchen she always wanted. And the architect for the kitchen is Steve Martin, who’s himself divorced, still recovering, and seems to anticipate Meryl’s every architectural need very well. The kids have their own issues, they’re still adjusting to the divorce, their own lives and like most divorced kids would be really happy if their parents got together again. The eldest daughter is about to get married in fact, to John Krasinksi and there are some hilarious situations he is put through as well.


I think the crowning glory of the movie is the scene involving a skype conversation between Steve and Meryl. It was hysterical. Most of the dialogue carries a delicious double entendre ‘I’m married to a five year old and Pedro’ from Alec Baldwin. Or ‘I have an ex with benefits’ from Meryl. Or ‘Fun is not overrated’ from I forget whom. There is a sequence surrounding hash which was brilliant. There are no bad guys, no squirmy situations Its all so naturally, so engagingly done, you forget you’re in a movie.

Meryl continues to amaze me – she fits into each of her roles so convincingly, its hard to imagine her as anyone else. In Julie & Julia she was this eccentric cook. Here, slightly giddy, slightly fun, slightly prone to self-doubt, with her hair all golden and loose around her shoulders, its easy to forget she’s 60 or thereabouts.
Alec makes you love him even though you know he’s cheating. Its his joie de vivre, his ‘I love life’ attitude which is infectious. Steve Martin for a change is understated, no over the top antics a la Pink Panther or Father of the Bride but a person who is still tender from his divorce of over two years, listening to car self-help tapes about breaking up and not entirely sure where he’s going in his personal life.


Beautiful people, beautiful music, beautiful settings, biting dialogue. Really, what more can you ask for ?

Teen Patti

Rating : 3/10
Release Date : 26th Feb, 2010
Time : 142 minutes
Director : Leena Yadav; Writer : Shivkumar Subramaniam & Leena Yadav; Music : Salim Merchant
Starring : Amitabh Bachchan, Madhavan, Ben Kingsley, Dhruv Ganesh, Shraddha Kapoor, Siddharth Kher, Vaibhav Talwar

The film is about a mathematics professor (Amitabh), who realises he can predict the winner in teen patti, based on his theory of probability. He strings together an assistant prof, some students and soon they start playing for real, in all sorts of seedy joints, with all sorts of shady type guys (Ajay Devgn, Jackie Shroff, Mahesh Manjrekar, Tinnu Anand etc). However, everything isn’t rosy and someone begins to blackmail them. How things progress is the rest of the movie.


Someone here got very excited by Indianizing ‘21’ (an ordinary film in itself, BTW) and roping in Amitabh Bachcahn & Ben Kingsley, so much so that they forgot about the basics.

Blackjack can be played by counting cards / applying rules of probability. Teen Patti or Flash cannot. Full stop. Can explain at length in the comments section if anyone so desires – it has to do with visibility of your opponents cards, shuffling etc.


The rationale for playing in seedy joints and not on the internet, which is where it started for Amitabh, is never understood or explained.


They also forgot to build the characters. We didn’t really care for anyone and all I know after watching them for 140 minutes are one word descriptions. There was one guy who was nervy type, another who was highly strung, the asst prof who was greedy and a female character who was, well, just silly. Even Amitabh’s character is not fully understood – whats he like, whats he up to, why is explained only partially.

The songs are awful with the exception of ‘Niyat’ and my appreciation of this one is not driven by the music alone.

All the hype, the clever marketing (they did a really good job here) cannot mask a soul-less, plot-less film with a farcical ending and a lot of wasted talent. One to avoid.

Karthik Calling Karthik

Rating : 5/10
Release Date : 26th Feb, 2010
Time : 155 minutes
Director & Writer : Vijay Lalwani; Music : Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy
Starring : Farhan Akhtar, Deepika Padukone, Shifaali Shah, Ram Kapoor, Vipin Sharma, Vivan BhatenaAm trying unsuccessfully to think of any other art form (apart from books), where a bad ending can spoil the entire performance. Coz that’s what happened here. Very good performances from foxy Farhan & the delectably dimpled Deepika and some excellent humour gets almost completely wiped out by an end that makes you feel limp as you walk out of the hall.


Karthik (Farhan) is a loser. Tormented by guilt over his brothers death when he was a kid. Stuck in a demeaning job under a demanding, abusive boss. Hounded by his landlord. Unable to even tell Shonali (Deepkia), who works in the same office, what he feels for her (he’s written hundreds of emails to her but they’re all in the drafts folder). In fact, she doesn’t even know that he exists. Then, one day, when things around him seem to have reached their nadir, he gets a phone call.


The caller claims he is also Karthik. Has the same voice. Knows his innermost secrets. And promises to help turn things around. And he does. He injects confidence into Karthik, changes his look, instils in him a jaunty swagger. And makes him successful in his job, with the landlord and also with Shonali. The caller calls everyday at 5am. Asks for nothing. But there is one condition – Karthik shouldn’t tell anyone else about the call. But Deepika doesn’t want any secrets in their relationship. Who is the caller ? What will happen ?


The lead pair and the sense of humour is what keeps you glued to the screen, for the highly enjoyable first half anyways. Farhan alternates between wimpish doormat and a cavalier, confident character with ease. Deepika has never looked as lovely and yet so accessible – no dolling up here, no Armani’s – just a very good looking girl who works in your office. And just wants a guy who’ll be straight with her. Both seem to have fun with each other too – their sense of humour exemplified by the way he asks her out for coffee (the best one being the wada pao message on the photocopier – wish I’d thought of that in my courting days) or how she responds when asked ‘yeh kya hai’ after one drink too many. Both manage to keep a straight face consistently so it adds to the fun.


Farhan & Riteish’s (the producers) movies always have good music and excellent contemporary styling and this one is no exception, a v nice background score being hummable and enjoyable while the transformed Farhan gets this really cool pad, threads and office.


I wish they’d thought of another, less predictable, more innovative and less flawed ending (my wife actually came up with one that wasn’t too bad). I wish when we walked out of the hall we did so peppy, upbeat like most of the first half. I also found an issue with the transformation of Farhan – I found it too easy. Life never is. And a sense of humour can be the toughest thing to acquire. Yet Farhan seems to acquire it almost magically. I wish the message of the film had not got confused and instead had been ‘stand up for yourself’. As someone in the hall sniggered at the end ‘moral of the story : never tell women the truth’. The film brought this upon itself.

Up In The Air

Rating : 8/10
Release Date : 23rd Dec, 2009
Time : 109 minutes
Director & Co-writer : Jason Reitman; Co-Writer : Sheldon Turner; Music : Rolfe Kent
Starring : George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman, Danny McBride, Melanie Lynskey
I could’ve been George Clooney. His character, Ryan, in Up In The Air, I mean, not in real life (I wish !). All frequent air travellers will identify with the comfort of business class travel, the familiarity that awaits us when we take to the skies, the rhythms that guide us as before and after the journey. The film evocatively, delightfully and touchingly lets us travel with Ryan, get inside his head and judge for ourselves would we want to be him…


Ryan spent 43 miserable days last year staying at home. The rest of the time he was comfortable in his preferred environment, travelling his preferred airline, staying in his preferred hotels and driving his preferred Rent a Car. He has priority cards for all of the three and life would be very inconvenient if he couldn’t jump the queue, or get the special treatment he’s accustomed to. He fires people for a living. Walks into an office where he knows no one. And tells them they’re not needed anymore. He does this with a degree of honesty and a touch of bull-shit / spiel. At conferences he delivers a talk that he has patented, about a backpack. Which reflects his policy in life. Of carrying no baggage – no relationships, no commitments, no emotional baggage. No clutter.


Into this peaceful, content life, enter two women. He bumps into one, Alex (Vera Farmiga in the role of her life), in the bar of a hotel. She can match Ryan status card for status card. She travels like him, their schedules enough to test the programming algorithms of most PDA’s. She seems to be like him and seems happy to be with him. Make love, conversation, sms, talk on the phone without asking any questions. Ryan seems to be happier when she is around.


The other woman is Natalie. Young, bright, sincere. She works in Ryan’s office. She wants to introduce firing through videoconferencing. Save the enormous travel cost. She really believes it can work. Ryan’s boss seems to think so too. And grounds all his people. Ryan protests, insisting that Natalie doesn’t know what firing is about. That it cant be done via VC. He’s then told to take Natalie around, teach her how to fire. And then they’ll decide. So now he’s kind of stuck with her. And she’s not used to travelling.

Ryan’s life is about to change…big time…or is it ?

The movie works at several levels.


Depicting the beauty of air travel. The processes. The ways frequent travellers do it vs the occasionals. Till today, despite the many miles I’ve clocked, I still feel awe at watching an airplane take off. A big steel bird, weighing several tons. Ferrying people to & fro. Routinely, comfortably. This film captures this experience beautifully.


Its simple humour. From the flight attendants ‘would you like cancer?’ to the Maestro vs Hertz debate. From the discussion on ‘why do men love to put their name on things’ to the ‘flexibility’ of Alex. The honeymoon cutout. Little incidents dotted all over the film. Natalie telling her boyfriend over the phone that Ryan is older, she doesn’t think of him that way. Prompting a quick look in the mirror by Ryan. Etc etc.

It raises several broader questions. The nesting urge and how some men fight it or aren’t suited for it. The boredom of frequent travel. The empty hotel room after a long day. The lack of a familiar face in an unknown town. The refuge of drinks. The whole question of ‘why do kids love athletes?’. The cold ruthlessness of laying people off. The impersonality of it all, of such a job.


George Clooney is in top form in the film. Is likeable, smiling, understandable. Simple, uncomplicated. Looks and feels touchably real. Guy next door, not the Martini model or Mr Danny Ocean. Vera Farmiga looks every part the traveller having a fling. Looks lovely, desirable. The perfect antidote to every travellers boredom. Anna Kendrick stands out for her sincerity and her earnestness. Ill at ease at first, slowly gaining confidence. Peppered with self-doubt throughout as she tells people they’re not needed anymore.

The background music is excellent. Sets the tone for much of the film. The cinematography outstanding. Shooting cities from 30,000 ft up in the air can truly provide different perspectives. And even the most concrete of urban jungles can acquire a strange beauty from up there.

One of the ways I judge a film is how quickly do I want to show it / recommend the film to my wife. Loved ones. Family. Friends. And get their reactions. I cant wait with this one. It’s a must watch. Amazingly layered. Made for multiple viewing.

Click

Rating : 1/10
Release Date : 19Feb, 2010
Time : 125 minutes
Director: Sangeeth Sivan; Writer : Harish Nair; Music : Shamir Tandon
Starring : Shreyas Talpade, Sada, Sneha Ullal, Rehan Khan, Chunky Pandey

There was a serious debate internally about whether to give this film zero or one. Very generously, have been nice and given it 1/10. Hammy, terrible, amateurish, jerky acting and a juvenile, pathetic plot give me no scope to go higher. I have no explanation on why I stayed till the end – most other people in the hall exercised their democratic rights and walked out halfway or even earlier.

Maharathi

Rating : 5/10
Release Date : Dec, 2008
Time : 120 minutes
Director: Shivam Nair; Writer : Uttam Gada (based on Gujarati play of the same name by Pasresh Rawal); Music : Shibani Kashyap
Starring : Paresh Rawal, Neha Dhupia, Naseeruddin Shah, Boman Irani, Om Puri, Tara Sharma

The fatal flaw in this film is that we dont like, identify or understand any of the characters. Else it has an interesting plot, middling to good dialogue, a decent dash of humour, a stellar cast and enough twists and turns to keep us interested till the end.


A smalltime conman (Paresh Rawal) is befriended by a rich ex-film producer (Naseeruddin Shah) in gratitude for saving his life. He is given a job as a driver and room to stay in the outhouse. All this despite severe opposition to this by the producers lovely, desirable, young wife (Neha Dhupia). And healthy scepticism by the trusted lawyer friend (Boman Irani). Naseer is no longer rich now but has a huge insurance policy on himself. 24 crores. Enough to make anyone dishonest… death, deceit and intrigue follow very quickly….


Somehow, it didn’t fit all together all that well. No glaring loopholes in the plot but still didn’t make complete sense when it ends, seems too pat…the combined acting talents of the excellent cast help keep you engrossed. But it seems to lack magic or spark or zest. Something to make the movie come alive.

This one disappeared with hardly a trace. Deserved a bit better, probably, but only just…

My Name Is Khan

Rating : 5/10
Release Date : 12th Feb, 2010
Time : ~160 minutes
Director: Karan Johar; Writer : Shibani Bathija; Music : Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Starring : Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, Yuvaan Makar, Sonya Jahan, Jimmy Shergill, Pravin Dabas, Arjun Mathur, Vinay Pathak, Zarina Wahab,Sugandha Garg, Arif Zakaria, SM Zaheer, Katie Keane, Kenton Duty, Benny Nieves, Christopher Duncan

A noble message, a simple point about how not every Muslim is a terrorist is stretched, dragged and repeated over 160 minutes, till the point we really stop caring. Shahrukh acts very well (though not worthy of hyperbole), Kajol is very good, better than a lot of the heroines currently out there, there is an eye-catching performance by Sonya Jahan as SRK’s sister-in-law and a nice cameo by Yuvaan as Kajol’s son. But in the second half, the film seems to lose its plot, becoming melodramatic, emotionally manipulative and totally unrealistic.



SRK plays Rizvan Khan, an autistic child, loved and adored by his mom (Zarina Wahab), who also teaches him valuable lessons about humanity, such as the all important “there are only two kinds of people in the world, good and bad. Nothing else matters”.
After her death, Rizvan goes to the USA to his resentful brother, Zakhir (Jimmy Shergill), who’s always grudged the attention lavished on Rizvan. His wife (Sonya) however, is affectionate and caring, making sure he settles in properly. When Rizvan, after an interesting courtship, decides to get married to Mandira (Kajol), a single mom with a 7 yr old son, Zakhir promptly severs relationship with him as she’s a Hindu. Then 9/11 happens and their world is never the same again.

Even though there is a sense of foreboding throughout the film, the first half is nicely balanced and enjoyable. Moments of humour, the courtship, Rizvan’s innocence and endearing ability make us sail through. The second half ruined the film for me, I actually thought it had ended at least thrice before it actually did and towards the end Rizvan almost becomes a superhero, an icon of sorts, doing incredible things and almost becoming a typical Bollywood hero


I wish Karan had made this film only for the international audience. He would have kept it much tighter then, not populated the film with numerous characters and sub-plots which were not really essential to main plot line. The central message of the film then would’ve truly flowered and the performances of the central characters stood out even more. There is an example of that in the film, one relationship that did touch me and it was shown without any histrionics, was the one between Kajol’s family and her white American neighbours…it was kept simple and totally real and hence was all the more enjoyable.

My abiding memory of the USA, esp in visits after 9/11, is of the number of flags that cropped up in every home and office and you were almost a traitor if you didn’t join in. How good-natured folk became tense and suspicious. How the Asian community was targeted in several places. And how this has still not completely gone away. So while I’ve no disagreement with the films intent, I do feel it could’ve been delivered in simpler and better fashion…