Peepli Live! August 15, 2010
Posted by Sai in Hindi, Movies, Reviews.Tags: 2010, Aamir Khan Productions, Anusha Rizvi, Bollywood, farmer suicides, Hindi, Movie, Natha, Peepli Live, Review
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While some early reviews would have me believe that this film is some sort of masterpiece, it isn’t quite so. Taking off on an interesting premise based on farmer suicides in India, the film manages to touch on quite a few aspects but where it succeeds most is in depicting the media circus. Debutant writer-director Anusha Rizvi manages to lampoon round-the-clock television news coverage in numerous scenes (most strikingly through one reporter’s in-depth coverage of the main protagonist Natha’s feces) more effectively than a film like Ram Gopal Varma’s Rann.
The film is filled with entertaining moments, many stemming from irony. However, the levity that dominates the film makes it hard to connect on an emotional level with a tragic situation. What could have been a thought-provoking take ends up just managing to bring attention to the issue. I was more moved by a single scene in Ashutosh Gowariker’s Swades depicting the plight of a poor farmer than this film in its entirety.
But maybe that was what Rizvi and producer Aamir Khan had aimed for. In that case, they’ve succeeded in delivering a nice little film here. Devoid of usual commercial elements, Peepli Live still manages to be an entertaining outing at the movies with a novel plot, a realistic setting that is captured quite nicely and some natural performances from mainly unknown actors (except for Raghubir Yadav and Naseeruddin Shah, whose shoes could have been easily filled by someone else).
Greek Gods 101 April 7, 2010
Posted by Shujath in Articles, English, Movies, Reviews.Tags: 2010, Alexa Davalos, Alexandra Daddario, blockbuster, Catherine Keener, Chris Columbus, Clash of the Titans, Film, Gemma Aterton, Hades, Kraken, Liam Neeson, Logan Lerman, Louis Leterrier, Medusa, Movie, Percy Jackson, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Poseidon, Ralph Fiennes, Review, Sam Worthington, Sean Bean, The Lightning Thief, Uma Thurman, Zeus
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It’s just three months into the year and we already have a couple of flicks based on Greek Gods. Are they the new successors to vampires and zombies? The box office performances of both have been encouraging but the films themselves haven’t found much appreciation to establish a genre.
The first one – Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief has (justifiably) been labeled as Harry Potter’s poor cousin. The HP films have set such high standards for fantasy flicks featuring teenagers that it is tough to watch any film in the genre without comparing it to the former. The Lightning Thief is definitely a well made film with the right mix of action, humor and VFX yet not great enough to warrant sequels (they are definitely being planned for sure). I’ve always found the Greek pantheon of deities extremely confusing. But they are a staple part of pop culture – especially in film and literature, so a film like this was to me a perfect initiation into that world.
Watching Clash of the Titans earlier this week, I felt quite at home with the characters but the film itself turned out be a bland CGI extravaganza. Even earlier, the promos didn’t excite me – I was just drawn in due to the hype surrounding it. The local posters were embellished with the funny sounding “From the Hero of Avatar” tag-line which nevertheless seemed to have been successful in drawing huge crowds. I watched the 2-D version but I don’t think I missed much….since the 3D post-conversion process has drawn huge flak from prominent folks recently.
Between the two films, I’d easily pick Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief over Clash of the Titans. In any case, if you’ve seen the trailer of COTT you’ve pretty much seen the entire movie.
Varudu April 5, 2010
Posted by Shujath in Movies, Reviews, Telugu.Tags: 2010, Allu Arjun, Arya, Ashish Vidhyarthi, Bhanushree Mehra, Chiranjeevi, Film, Gunasekhar, Mani Sharma, Movie, Naresh, Review, Set Piece, Suhasini, Telugu, Tollywood, Tradition, Varudu, Wedding
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Do you want to know the secret of a successful marriage?
Do you want to know the secret of successful progeny?
Do you want to know the secret of a successful society?
Do you want to know the secret of a successful world?
Varudu answers it all and much more! Now, you might wonder why I’d write any further about such a groundbreaking film since it would obviously involve giving away spoilers. Well…the catch is that watching this movie comes with the risk of acute brain damage (temporary only…I hope!). I was able to confirm this condition in me because at one point in the movie I was actually cheering for the villain to sleep with the kidnapped bride and put our “Varudu” to a gruesome death. (There’s another part of me which says it’s a pretty reasonable wish and maybe my mind is alright after all – but let’s leave it at that for now).
If you’ve now decided you’d rather not watch the movie – here come the spoilers. The secret to all types of “success” mentioned above is the “Traditional Telugu 5-day Wedding Ritual”. Now, if you are really dumb to doubt something like that, Varudu even provides a scientific explanation to skeptics in one instance. Here it comes – It has been scientifically proved that putting Jeelakarra-Bellam (Cumin Seeds and Jaggery) on each other’s heads activates the “pathways of attraction” in the cerebral cortex of the people involved which results in them falling for each other instantly.
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(BTW, that was a two minute silence in memory of Science). In case you didn’t notice, with this film Gunasekhar successfully completes his trilogy of CGI-blunders (Remember Arjun and Sainikudu?). Maybe I am being a bit too harsh here. But someone loved the climax of Wolverine so much that they didn’t have any trouble composing shots of CGI Nuclear Power Plants with a CGI Kalyana Mandapam in a CGI countryside.
Varudu also boasts of the worst ever performance by a leading man. I’ve always admired Allu Arjun for his smart choice of films and the characters he plays – where his limited acting abilities fit in so perfectly; no wonder he reigns supreme over everyone else when it comes to the success rate of his films. In this film, the first thing which puts you off is his horrible diction. Also, in a lot of places he sports this obnoxious expression of smugness – which is a combination of a regular blush + “Wow…I am so stylish but see how I can still uphold and follow old traditions”. No wonder then…I was cheering for Arya!
Love Sex aur Dhokha March 22, 2010
Posted by Shujath in Articles, Hindi, Movies, Reviews.Tags: 2010, 3-in-1, Bollywood, Camera Footage, Caste, Censor, Dibakar Banerjee, Grindhouse, Hidden Camera, Love Sex aur Dhokha, LSD, Movies, Review, Sting Operation
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After being successfully deployed in Hollywood Horror flicks (and firmly embarked on the path of overkill), the lost-footage-from-camera genre finally makes its debut in Bollywood – and a smashing one at that. And no….this isn’t about any unknown entity spooking you out in the end but a grindhouse format 3-movies-in-1 tale of Love, Sex and Dhokha.
More in line with his last film, rather than the plot or even the format – the beauty about LSD are the wonderful characters created by Banerjee (equally well performed by all the actors). The plot hardly qualifies to be called a thriller but it is just too engrossing to take your eyes off it even for a minute. The way the three stories are interlinked is also great. LSD is truly path-breaking cinema and Dibakar Banerjee is a genius….period.
But beware… if you are planning the watch the movie only for the much publicized “scandalous scenes” you’ll be really pissed (like I noticed a lot of people were).
PS: The end credits which come in with the title track were cut-off at the edges of the screen. At first I thought, it was some issue with the projection system but when that effect was visible simultaneously at all parts of the screen….it seemed like a deliberate grindhouse effect. Somehow, that seemed lame in an otherwise great flick.
My Name is Khan March 12, 2010
Posted by Shujath in Hindi, Movies, Reviews.Tags: 2010, 9/11, blockbuster, DVD, Film, Hindi, Jimmy Shergill, Kajol, Karan Johar, MNIK, Movie, My Name is Khan, Review, Shah Rukh Khan, Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Shibani Bhatija, Sonya Jehan, terrorism, Zarina Wahab
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Along with rom-coms, movies with the backdrop of “terrorism” have in general been on my must-not-watch list – I hate both genres for similar reasons….unbearable cliches to be exact. Though Karan Johar has not lost his knack to entertain his second directorial foray into “serious” cinema slowly and regrettably turns laughable and cringeworthy like his previous flick. MNIK is still a very watchable film purely because of Shah Rukh Khan but his magic too wears out towards the end.
When I saw the first look of the film a couple of months back, the fact that the story and screenplay are credited to a certain Ms. Shibani Bhatija made the alarm bells in my head work overtime. In the past even seasoned film-makers who have handled “terrorism” haven’t moved beyond the stereotypes so it is wrong to expect K Jo-Shibani to do something groundbreaking. Surprisingly, the protagonist’s condition is not used to manipulate the audience and that’s just the one commendable aspect of the film. There are also a few well crafted moments when the film has to say something about discrimination but mostly goes overboard.
Most people have gone way out praising the movie – at least during the time of its release but now that the film has been reduced to a “medium hit” from “blockbuster” you know better. Still, watch MNIK for Khan.
Sai and Shujath talk Cinema 