Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu

Rating : 5/10
Release Date : 10th February, 2012
Time : 110 minutes
Director : Shakun Batra; Writers : Shakun Batra, Ayesha Devitre; Music : Amit Trivedi
Starring : Imran Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Boman Irani, Ratna Pathak Shah, Ram Kapoor, Zenobia Shroff, Rajesh Khattar, Dana Lewis

‘Arre darna kya, just tickle his balls’

This is a film which tries to be in the cute space and suceeds to an extent but its biggest flaw is its lead pair, who, though good on their own, do not work as a pair at all. It also follows a reasonably predictable path, with a sense of déjà vu as you watch events unfold as it feels like you’ve seen it all before.

‘Baby, don’t swallow, chew your food 32 times’

Imran is dominated by his parents, hilariously played by Boman & Ratna, and leads a fairly regulated and uptight life which takes a turn for the worse when he loses his job. He meets a stranger, Kareena, who is completely the opposite, happy, bubbly, impulsive. One drunken night later they are married. And that’s when the fun begins. Or does it ?

‘Chopsticks main kya kharabi hai’

A mish mash of various films, Hollywood & Bollywood, there are some surprises, some interesting characters (Kareena’s father & grandmother, Imran’s mother), some funny dialogue but overall it remains flat. Most hilarious sequence for me was Imran’s date with the girl of his parents choice.

‘Sher se kya poochna kitni baar shikar kiya hai’

It’s a romance, its sweet, has its share of moments of fun & frothiness. However, whether he looks tiny in front of her or she looks too old for him is semantics. They don’t look like a pair & the thought of falling in love seems odd, implausible. I was in a minority in the hall but I actually liked the ending, unusual in Hindi films. With all the other trappings of Dharma Productions (the slickness, the songs, the locales), am sure it will appeal to the group that looks for entertainment around Valentines Day.

Agneepath

Rating : 6/10
Release Date : 26th January, 2012
Time : ~155 minutes
Director : Karan Malhotra; Writers : Karan Malhotra, Illa Dutta Bedi based on the film of the same name by Mukul Anand; Music : Ajay Atul
Starring : Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt, Rishi Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Zarina Wahab, Om Puri, Zarina Wahab, Kanika Tiwari, Arish Bhiwandiwala, Chetan Pandit

The story is built on the simplest of emotions, revenge. A young boy loses his father in the most horrific of circumstances, strung up on the flimsiest of evidence in his own village. For the next fifteen years the boy is driven purely by, focused solely on vengeance. Even at the cost of separation from his young sister & mother, who doesn’t approve of his methods.

I enjoyed parts of this film.

The first half was slick, fast moving. It seemed the hero was not just using brawn but was also playing Machiavillean politics in Mumbai’s gang wars.

I got the stylisation.
The way the grimy city of Mumbai is depicted, replete with art deco slums.
Or the tiny island of Mandwa, with picture perfect views
The way colour is shown to splash during Ganpati. And the entire city is lit up & everyone turns up in their finery during the festival period.

The way Sanjay Dutt is made to look, oozing menace from every bald pore (though found his dialogue caricature-ish).
The way Rishi Kapoor is given the Muslim makeover, hennaed hair, stubble et all.
I liked Priyanka’s brief role, understood in part her relationship with our hero, the man for whom love is always secondary.
I really liked Hrithik. With all his Greek God looks, finely sculpted body, there always does seem to be a little boy somewhere around him. He can be intense in one scene, all anger and bloodshed yet look extremely vulnerable the next, misty eyed and aching for a loving touch.

What I didn’t get was the overall story. The end left me disappointed.
So what was the grand master plan for the revenge, the one he’d been cooking for fifteen years ? The way things panned out, it couldn’t have been how he conceived or wanted it to be ?
What was his relationship with the one honest cop in the system, Om Puri ? Why was he willing to ruin everything to protect him ? And vice versa.
The way he eventually went about things, the entire bit about the gang wars, the part since he had grown up, seemed unnecessary.
And I don’t get how our heroes seem to transform into superheroes. Most men would die or be close to it when they’ve had butcher knives poked in and out, been shot at or been tossed about like rag dolls. Our heroes seem to simply draw strength from such experiences.

Its grim, colourful, larger than life, tragic, touching and brawny at the same time. Watchable. But I guess I was hoping for something more, an extra layer beyond the blood thirst.

PS : slightly shamefully, for someone who confesses to be a hardcore AB fan, I don’t remember much of the original Agneepath. All I can plead in my defense is that its his earlier work that I am more enamoured by and can describe scene by scene. Be that as it may, am unable to compare the two.

Descendants

Rating : 8/10
Release Date : 26th January, 2012
Time : 115 minutes
Director : Alexander Payne; Writers : Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings; Music : Dondi Bastone
Starring : George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Nick Krause, Mathew Lillard, Patricia Hastie, Beau Bridges, Judy Greer
George Clooney has a lot on his plate. His legal work, which he seems to take very seriously. His wife, who is in coma after a tragic speed boating accident. His younger daughter, who is in trouble at school and with some friends after some inappropriate remarks. His rebellious elder daughter, who’s in rehab, and doesn’t seem to enjoy being with the family. Some friends who turn out to be more his wife’s friends than his. And to top it all, he is a descendant of the Hawaiian royal family, the sole trustee of a large chunk of pristine land worth a fortune, and has to decide what to do with it while cousins with dollar signs in their eyes & the whole of Hawaii hover mercilessly around.

Its slow moving but what unfolds is a simple, touching, heart warming, histrionics free story. Lots to pick up on, if you read between the lines. What kind of upbringing do we want for our kids, what kind of inheritance do we want to leave for them ? How would we cope with betrayal ? Or loss ? How some women always remain daddy’s girl… Moments of humour are provided by the elder daughter’s Neandethral-esque boyfriend and the interactions with George’s father in law. The music is excellent, ethnic and enhances the film’s flavour.

I was transfixed by George Clooney. He seems to do such a wide variety of roles with ease, including being a pin up boy, a classic lead in the conventional sense. Yet he brings none of that to his persona when playing this very ordinary character, beset by ordinary problems. Barring of course the knotty land inheritance issue.

His elder daughter, played by Shailene, gets her part just right, 2 parts rebel, 2 parts concerned daughter and 1 part in need of comforting herself. The younger daughter is also able to cope with her character which needs cuteness, innocence and young adulthood in equal measure.

There is something charming about this film. Its about the common man, who has a shot at being very rich. About a husband who is wracked by guilt and betrayal within the cold embers of a dying marriage. About a father who is worried how he’s going to cope with two daughters. The last frame of the film was deeply reassuring for me. The way I would want it to be.

Good Night; Good Morning

Rating : 7/10 Release Date : 20th January, 2012 Time : 81 minutes Director : Sudhish Kamath; Writers : Sudhish Kamath & Shilpa Rathnam; Music : Gregory Generet Starring : Manu Narayan, Seema Rahmani, Vasant J Santosham, Raja Sen An unsuccessful pick up attempt in a New York hotel bar. An eight hour layover between flights. Drinks. Some drugs. New Year Eve. And a phone call that lasts through the night. Its witty, its romantic, its poignant, its rambling, its plagued by all the ills of a long mobile phone conversation (loss of signal, battery dying out) and most of all, it’s a very unusual yet plausible situation.

Manu, after being brushed off at a bar, is sufficiently intrigued to give Seema a call. She is in between flights and sufficiently at loose ends (and not sleepy) to be able to respond to such a call without calling the cops. The ensuing exchange extends to all possible topics, including simple ones like ‘whats your name’, ‘what do you do’, ‘what are your favourite fruits’ to more complicated ones like Bollywood, relationship with parents, girls, guys, past affairs and future prospects.

I liked the way the characters were built. Manu’s liking for melons (and face-saving knowledge of all their varieties), his inability to forget his past, his comfort in being a geek. Seema speaks like a lawyer, is aggressive, cant stand Bollywood stereotypes and is very comfortable talking about sex / nudity. In fact, even teases Manu for being unable to.

Both come across as self assured yet vulnerable. Romantic yet pragmatic. Funny yet empathetic. I liked the way Vasant & Raja provide some comic relief. Or some of the ‘imaginary sequences’ provide some relief to the conversation.

Possibly, there is a romantic inside all of us. A rebelliousness against being single. A desire to find ‘the one’. And, of course, the desire to be happy. Good Night, Good Morning, in part, explores all these aspects & desires and does it well. An interesting debut from Sudhish, look forward to more from him.

Sherlock Holmes : A Game of Shadows

Rating : 10/10
Release Date : 30th December, 2011
Time : 129 minutes
Director : Guy Ritchie; Writer : Michele & Kieran Mulroney (based on characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle); Music : Hans Zimmer
Starring : Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Jared Harris, Noomi Rapace, Stephen Fry, Rachel Mc Adams, Kelly Reilly

A cracking story, crackling performances, the spirit of Conan Doyle’s memorable characters, a sequel that takes off from the last film left off and takes it forward. In the immortal words of the sleuth, the game is truly afoot…

Unlike most thrillers, here we know who the villain is. We’re just not sure what he’s upto or how. How an assassination in India is linked to a bombing in Strasbourg, to a murder of a renowned doctor in London. This duel between Moriarity and Sherlock is epic, carefully constructed, full of mutual respect and admiration, encompassing several cities and very hard to describe further without giving it away. I simply loved the fact that it stayed true to the ethos, the essence of the characters created by the author and even incorporated a couple of crucial scenes from a particular story.


Mycroft Holmes also makes an appearance. A gypsy woman enthrals. A sharpshooter. A Cossack assassin. An anarchist who seems to have found his higher purpose. Another who feels trapped in a deal with the devil. Mary Watson, who’s planned honeymoon in Brighton, doesn’t quite seem to go as desired.

Most fascinating of all, is the relationship between Holmes and Watson. Giving Watson a spine, a purpose, removing him from Holmes’ shadow and breathing some life into him is perhaps the biggest masterstroke by Guy Ritchie and his merry men. Holmes continuing opposition to Watson’s impending marriage, his attempts to constantly involve him in his investigations is equalled only by Watson’s firm rejection of the former and only semi-reluctant acceptance of the latter. Even Moriarity is not quite sure of what to make of Watson.


Their repartee lights up an otherwise dark film, played out in the shadows (as the title suggests) or at night. Jokes fly thick and fast, whether verbal or written. ‘Come if convenient. If inconvenient, come all the same’ or ‘how many times are you going to kill Gladstone ?’ or the masterpiece ‘Did you just kill my wife ?’; ‘I timed it perfectly’.

Cinematically, the film is a visual delight ! Simple sequences are given an interesting camera perspective. A chase sequence through the woods is slowed down to enhance the thrill. Sparks, the workings of inner mechanisms, the clinking of wheels, gears meshing are all used to accentuate an action and create an optical thrill of something otherwise routine. Tight editing ensures your interest doesn’t flag for even a second. The soundtrack runs through your head hours after you’ve left the hall. And the device used in the previous film, of Holmes forseeing the entire sequence of events before their execution, is used a few times in this film to spectacular effect, yet with enough twists (‘breakfast is served’) to not let it get it repetitive.



Guy Ritchie, I have loved each one of your three previous films (the first one having spawned a thousand imitations) but this one, more than any other. And the last second of this film, the last action, the mere addition of an interjection, says / explains why.

There is a freshness about characters that I have known since childhood. A reinterpretation without taking away their endearing qualities. A modernisation without taking away the period. An idea that is executed in the best way possible, with a cast that is picture perfect. The standing ovation by the audience in the show we attended said it all…

The Dirty Picture

Rating : 7/10
Release Date : 2nd December, 2011
Time : 144 minutes
Director : Milan Luthria; Writer : Rajat Arora; Music : Vishal-Shekhar
Starring : Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah, Emraan Hashmi, Tusshar Kapoor, Rajesh Sharma, Anju Mahendru

“Hero ho ya villain, har kahani ki vamp sirf main hoon”


The story is quite well known. Vidya Balan wants to be a film actress. At any cost. Gets her chance and grabs it with both hands, pun intended. She encounters the mega star of the era and her childhood crush, Naseeruddin Shah. Goes for him, ensuring her rapid rise to stardom, along the way making a few enemies like Emraan Hashmi, a director who wants to make meaningful cinema and stay clear of item numbers etc. However, after an incident involving Naseer’s wife, she decides to go for his younger brother, the diffident, underconfident Tusshar.

“Public kahin aur khujlana chahti hai aur tu unka dimag khujlane main laga hai”


A mix of booze, arrogance, unprofessionalism, wayward ways, the passage of time, the addition of a few kilos on the waistline and the entry of new girls soon sees the demise of her popularity and we watch her struggle to cope with the new reality in most of the second half.

“Dikh raha hai kitne mazdooron ne kaam kiya hai is khet main”


Its time to pay homage to a few masterstrokes by the film-makers of The Dirty Picture. First is the name itself, adding at least a couple of crores to the box office intake. Next is the casting, brilliant for its choice of unusual suspects – right from Vidya for the lead role of a bare-all vamp, Naseer for the role of a lecherous superstar and Emraan for the role of a director who hates smut. In the film itself, what stands out is the dialogue, which is pithy, punchy, raunchy, laden with double entendre and very funny. And the way the story is told, with enough smattering of South Indian film ethnicity yet being almost universal in its essential outline, is also commendable

“Kya tum ne suna nahi ? Maine 500 ladkiyon ke saath ‘tuning’ ki hui hai !”
“Par kya aapne ek hi ladki ke saath 500 baar ‘tuning’ ki hai ?”



The film was too long. By the time the interval happened, I had genuinely thought that they were (like Dhobi Ghat or Delhi Belly) going to go ahead without a halftime. The end also prolongs, and maybe chopping off 20 minutes could’ve made it a better film. Apart from the sensational ‘Ooh La La, Ooh La La’, the other songs struggle to hold their own, the one with the dance off, in the second half being possibly the worst in terms of musical aesthetics and necessity in storyline.

“Jab devi swayam saamne prakat ho, to mandir ko kya dekhna”



The film is illuminated though by its performances, each of the actors deliver in their roles. Vidya never looked so young (first half) or so carefree (all of the film), doing the matka / jhatkas and short hemlines, low necklines with élan and surprising comfort. Naseer shows once more how he is one of the best chameleons of our time, behaving just as you would expect a superstar to behave. Special mention for Rajesh Sharma, the producer who ‘finds’ and names Vidya, he gives a great performance (as always, as in Khosla Ka Ghosla, NOKJ amongst others).

“Raat ko to 12 baje ki suiyon ki tarah chipke rahte ho, aur din main 6 baje ki tarah, bilkul alag”


Its not all about titillation. There are several interesting comments about the film world. The sycophancy and ‘respect’ accorded to the megastars, the arrogance that success breeds, the illusionary comfort that addictive substances bring when alone (cigarettes, booze etc) and also how success is only temporary and in the bad times the only thing that can tide you over is your behaviour in the good times. There is a story here, an interesting one, one which describes the hypocricy of our wealthy elite well. As Naseer comments in the film ‘jab kapde utarne lagte hain, to sab se zyada maza to sharifon ko hi aata hai’.

“Teri biwi tere bare main theek hi kehti hai, ‘Holi khelne ka shauk hai, par pichkari main dum nahin hai’”