NEWTON
A young, idealistic protagonist, a greedy, corrupt
system……..he refuses to accept defeat, the system won’t let him win…….he
finally gives in....
Yawn….so what’s new? Maybe nothing at all. However, this
done-to-death plot is made watchable by the presence of some seriously talented
actors. Other than that, “Newton” has no “substance”, for the lack of a better
word.
Rajkummar Rao, plays the title role with aplomb – as the
rookie eager beaver electoral officer, determined to do what is expected of him
at all costs, he excels. Ably supported by veterans like Raghubir Yadav and
Pankaj Trivedi, it would be fair to say that the film’s saving grace is it’s
cast – they effortlessly carry the film through on their shoulders.
The film opens with an electoral candidate being bumped off
by assailants, presumably Maoists, somewhere in a forest. We are told there is
a wealth of minerals and natural resources present in and around the same area.
Nutan Kumar aka Newton Kumar, accepts a polling officer’s
post where no one else wants to go – election duty somewhere deep in the
jungles of Chhattisgarh. There is the threat of Maoists, who’ve warned the
villagers (all 74 of them) against casting their vote. The frustrated
Commandant (Pankaj Trivedi is superb) of the security outpost thinks the
elections are a waste of time, tries to thwart Newton’s attempts to conduct a
free and fair election by telling him to stay put and he will “have the polling
done”. Refusing to take “No” for an answer, Newton and his team march into the
jungle, accompanied the reluctant Commandant and his security forces. Though
dissuaded at every step of the way by the Commandant, Newton tries to go by the
book. They set up the polling station at a desolate looking, abandoned village,
and begin their long wait for the voters to show up. However, just as nothing
seems forthcoming, a call from the local police chief galvanizes the security
forces into action. A foreign news correspondent is on her way, and Indian
democracy, of which the polling process is an important cog in the wheel, must
be showcased. The villagers are hounded out to the polling station. Newton, in
all earnestness, explains the importance of the ballot to the villagers. What
follows is a farcical look at the election process – the forest dwellers have
little or no idea about the voting process, much less the electronic voting
machines. Their only queries are about “who will pay us a good price for tendu
leaves?” “how much money will get for our vote?”. Very effective use of dark
humour here – enough to make the thinking viewer shift uncomfortably in his/
her seat – true reflection of grim reality. Maybe that’s why the film was
classified under the “Comedy” genre….
The foreign correspondent gets her story, goes back happy.
Newton and his team wait for the rest of the voters, when suddenly, shots ring
out and the Commandant issues orders to the electoral team to pack up and leave
with an armed escort. On his way back, they encounter four villagers who claim
they’ve come to cast their vote and Newton smells a rat. He grabs a gun,
threatens the security team and ensures the villagers cast their vote. A
stickler for rules, he also waits till 3pm to declare the election process
closed. The security men in turn, vent their ire on him and fisticuffs follow.
Turns out the shooting was stage managed by the Commandant to close out the
polling.
The next thing we see is Newton at a desk job, with his neck
in a brace and then visuals of mining and earthmovers at work. The conclusion?
Not much left to imagination, really….the protagonist, intimidated by an inept,
corrupt system, quietly accepts defeat and the inevitable exploitation of
Mother Earth by unscrupulous politicians continues unabated…
Ok….so….a somewhat defeatist and a not so happy ending……..and
maybe the film would be better titled “A Day in the Life of Newton Kumar”
because that is what it is….
But “Newton”, such as it is, is not totally undeserving of
accolades. The actors do a fine job of their assigned roles – Rajkummar Rao has
arrived in the world of offbeat cinema. Mercifully, he isn’t aspiring to the
stereotypical hero roles and knows where his strengths lie. Raghubir Yadav
lives upto expectations, the supporting cast is adequate, the forest dwellers
look authentic……kudos to director Amit Masurkar for that! Also, the film boasts
of a strong narrative – at no point does the pace slacken, the viewer is kept
guessing about what happens next and thankfully, the film doesn’t drag on
endlessly for hours.
If the film set out to make a definitive statement on the
Indian electoral process or lack of it, it falls flat on that count. What’s
refreshing is the honest attempt at using dark humour, somewhat on the lines of
“Jaane bhi do Yaaron”…..
Not a film that everyone will find watchable, though…..
LA LA LAND
And the Oscar goes to……La La Land! And the Oscar goes to……La
La Land! And the Oscar goes to……La La Land!
Films in the genre of “musical” are few and far in between
these days but did “La La Land” really merit six Academy Awards is the question.
The film has great songs, great music, so no surprise really that it picked up
Awards for those and other technical categories but Best Actress? Best
Director? Emma Stone’s name will now be mentioned in the same breath as Meryl
Streep and Shirley MacClaine? And Damien Chazelle will take his place among
Spielberg, Bertolucci, Coppola?? We must be running out of choices….
Alright, so that was unkind…let’s do an apples to apples
comparison…take that delightful 2002 musical “Chicago” for instance – same
genre, right? Think Catherine Zeta Jones’s portrayal of the spunky Velma Kelly
– now that was Oscar material…
Ok, that was unkind too, so let’s not even compare La La
Land to another film.
The story goes thus – set in Hollywood, Los Angeles (where
else?) a struggling actress, Mia (Emma Stone) who works as a barista meets an
aspiring jazz pianist Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) by chance. She is drawn to his
music and he barely acknowledges her presence. They meet again and despite a
strong undercurrent of attraction, they remain in denial.
Mia is doing the rounds of casting agents, is increasingly
frustrated by one unsuccessful audition after another. Sebastian is a purist;
he refuses to play what’s demanded of him and ends up getting fired often. He nurses ambitions of owning his own jazz
bar some day.
A few more meetings and a couple of songs later, these two
kindred souls are, of course, in love. They move in together, Sebastian tells
Mia to stop auditioning and write. She works on a one woman play, while he
takes up an offer to play with a band, despite his misgivings about their style
of music. The band is successful and even though Mia accuses him of having
given upon his dreams, Sebastian continues playing with them.
Mia’s play opens to a near empty house. Sebastian doesn’t show up because of a prior
commitment, Mia raves and rants about how she isn’t cut out for acting and goes
back to her home in Boulder City. As things turn out, a casting agent who was
in the audience is impressed with Mia and wants her to audition. Sebastian, the
bearer of this good news, drives all the way to Boulder City, convinces her to
come and audition. She’s selected for the role and voila! she’s on her way to
becoming an actress! You’d be forgiven for thinking all’s well that ends well
but no. In a last ditch attempt to introduce a twist into this otherwise
hackneyed, run of the mill story, the director (yes, the same guy who won “Best
Director”) seems to have a brainwave. He must’ve decided that a “happily ever
after” ending may not exactly send the audience into raptures. So, fast forward
to five years later….. Mia is a now successful actress, married, and has a
daughter. Her husband takes her out one evening to a jazz club, which she
discovers is owned by, who else but Sebastian! All so predictable! They cant
take their eyes off each other while he plays the same music that he did when
they first met. Lots of what-might’ve-been scenes later, Mia leaves the club
with her husband, not before stopping to smile at Sebastian.
Well, I’d be surprised if that sent the audiences into
raptures but yes, it might have them scratching their heads about why Mia and
Sebastian split up. Some things are best left to imagination.
The lead pair is quite well suited romantically – they’re
young and look like they are recklessly in love. Ryan Gosling is not bad,
dances well. Emma Stone tries her best to emote with goggle eyes and a cutesy
lisp, doesn’t quite make the cut though.
There is so much fluff that you can’t even empathize with
the lead characters – they are after all, representative of all the wannabes
who come to Hollywood everyday, with their dreams in tow, hoping to make it.
At best, “La La Land” is, what it set out to be – a breezy
little, candy floss musical.
And of the Oscars? The lesser said, the better…..to think
that at one point of time, they were awarded to films like “Schindler’s List”
and “The English Patient”….
RAEES
There are films which have
immortalized actors essaying the title role.
Unfortunately for Shah Rukh Khan,
his “Devdas” couldn’t hold a candle to the great thespian Dilip Kumar’s
portrayal of that character and “Raees”, too, may well occupy the bottom rung
of his oeuvre!
A powerful subject, a storyline
with immense potential and a superstar do not necessarily make a great film.
“Raees” is a throwback to the “angry young man” films of yore, where the hero
must single handed, beat up a slew of villains to pulp and emerge unscathed.
Some of the fight sequences are downright gory – where Raees takes on the
baddies in a slaughter house and uses a goat’s dismembered head to sock one of
them in the jaw!
Set somewhere in Gujarat during
the 1980s when prohibition was in full force, Raees (Shah Rukh Khan) grows up
in the thick of the illegal bootlegging business. He starts out by smuggling
hooch for Jairaj Seth (Atul Kulkarni) in his school satchel. Driven by ambition
and his own set of somewhat warped principles, Raees rises to become a kind of
Robin Hood – he runs his own liquor business, has the cops and politicians on
the take and fights for the underdog - till he meets his nemesis – police
officer Majmudar (Nawazuddin Siddique), who makes it his life’s mission to see
the end of Raees. The usual intervention by politicians follows, and Majmudar
is served transfer orders but he keeps coming back like a bad penny, undeterred
in his mission.
When Raees’s dream project of
building houses for the poor meets with an unexpected obstacle, he is morally
obligated to return the money taken as advance from people. In order to so, he
agrees to smuggle gold for Moosa Bhai (Narendra Jha) in Mumbai. He unwittingly
smuggles RDX with the gold and the very same RDX is used to trigger blasts in
North India, killing innocent people. Raees is shattered on learning he has
unknowingly aided the smuggling of explosives into the country. He finishes off
Moosa Bhai and decides to turn himself in – remember the eager beaver cop
Majmudar is still waiting around the corner? And predictably, Majmudar finishes
him off in a staged encounter.
Oh…and somewhere in the film,
Raees romances and marries Aasiya (Mahirah Khan – as wooden as they come),
contests and wins the state election while in jail – this bit is conveniently
brushed aside, Raees’ s politician avatar is left to the audience’s imagination
– he is shown merrily attending to his liquor business, surely an elected
representative of the people has some duties to the state? Another glaring
loophole – Raees is diagnosed with myopia during his childhood and is shown
wearing spectacles through the film. Yet, he manages to spot a sniper on a
roof, several yards away, from the ground, while taking a part in a Muharram
procession with no glasses on!!
There might be one reason to
watch Raees though – if you are a die hard SRK fan and nothing can shake your
faith, watch it for him – Shah Rukh Khan has never looked better. It’s obvious
he’s worked hard on his body – all too evident in the bare torso Muharram
procession scene – rippling muscles, six pack and all that. With his surma
lined, smoldering eyes and beard, he is pure testosterone! Full marks to
whoever did his wardrobe for the film, he carries off the Pathan suits to a T.
As an actor matures in age, his
body of work ought to evolve, there has to be that one role in his repertoire
that merits the description “unforgettable” or “iconic”. Sadly, Raees regresses
to making an angry young man out of SRK, nothing more.
I thought we were done with such
films….
KAHAANI 2 – DURGA RANI SINGH
Points to bear in mind before you
watch “Kahaani 2 – Durga Rani Singh” – It is not a sequel to “Kahaani” (Ho
hum…..we know that already, don’t we?), do not carry expectations over from
“Kahaani” to “Kahaani 2..” (you might be disappointed) AND you would be
forgiven if you feel like getting up and giving Vidya Balan a standing ovation during
the film (notwithstanding the fact that you stood to attention when the
national anthem played before the movie began). But, sorry about digressing,
more on Vidya Balan later…..
In the sleepy town of Chandan
Nagar somewhere in West Bengal, lives Vidya Sinha (VB), a single mother with
her wheel chair bound daughter, Minnie. Vidya’s sole mission in life is to save
enough to be able to take Minnie to the USA for treatment on the hope that a
surgery might help her walk again. Mother and daughter live in their own little
world, which revolves around each other and Vidya works diligently towards
scrimping and saving money, until one fine day, Minnie disappears, and Vidya
receives a ransom message on her phone. As she is on her way to meet the
kidnapper, Vidya is knocked down unconscious by an oncoming car. From here on,
a slew of characters start to pop in, one after another. As Vidya lies in a
coma, the cop in charge of the accident case Inderjit Singh (Arjun Rampal)
recognizes her – only thing is, she’s not Vidya Sinha but Durga Rani Singh,
wanted on counts of kidnapping and murder.
From here on, the plot thickens and slowly starts to unwind – who is
Durga Rani Singh, why is she now Vidya Sinha, is she really a murderer, etc,
etc….
“Kahaani 2” takes off well, shows
promise. But however, what begins as an edge- of- the- seat, nail biting
thriller, somehow doesn’t sustain after the intermission. The first half is as
engrossing as it can be, just when you start to sympathize with Vidya, the
double identity question is introduced and you start to wonder….the second half
though, just doesn’t hold it all together. There is, for instance, the angle of
Durga Rani Singh and Inderjit Singh having been man and wife at some point in
the distant past – absolutely unnecessary and doesn’t serve any purpose in the
story.
In what might perhaps be a path
breaker, “Kahaani 2” also speaks out aloud about the very disturbing issue of
child sexual abuse - how the predator is often a family member, the extent to
which the family would go to hush things up. The scene where Vidya attempts to
get Minnie talking about “unwanted touch” gave me goose bumps!
There are a few common elements
between “Kahaani” and “Kahaani 2”(not unexpected , given it’s the same
director). Carried over from it’s predecessor, there is a bumbling senior cop
and a good hearted, sympathetic junior cop in the picture. If we had a cold blooded, harmless looking
assassin in “Kahaani’, we have an equally cold blooded, corrupt, blade wielding
cop in “Kahaani 2”. If Vidya Balan delivered a power packed performance in
“Kahaani”, she packs a bigger punch in “Kahaani 2” – she is quite simply,
outstanding. Going by the norms defined for today’s heroines, she is at least
25 pounds overweight and in a completely deglamourized avatar but boy, is she
the thinking man’s actress or what! She
proves, beyond all doubt, that she is completely capable of carrying the entire
film on her shoulders. The rest of the cast is, at best, adequate – Arjun
Rampal, just goes through the motions, Jugal Hansraj (a far cry from his
“Masoom” days!) looks sinister enough as the predator-uncle.
All in all, “Kahaani 2” is an
example of a gripping, taut thriller whose pace suddenly slackens for no
apparent reason and sadly, loses its way….and if the inevitable comparisons
must be drawn, “Kahaani”, with it’s unexpected twist at the end comes out a
winner, no such saving grace for “Kahaani 2”, I’m afraid….
AE DIL HAIN MUSHKIL
Really….what was Karan Johar
thinking of? Or maybe he wasn’t thinking at all….
Mush like “Kuch kuch hota hain”?
Watchable….A tear jerker like “Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham” ? Ok, still
bearable…. A “Kabhi Alvida na Kehna”? Honest, at least, considering a subject
like infidelity …but “Ae Dil Hain Mushkil..”
? Come on, Mr. Johar…..maybe you could use a vacation….
So, we have the free spirited
Alizeh Khan (Anushka Sharma) who runs into aspiring singer & poor little
rich boy Ayan Sanger at a disco in London. They try to make out –
unsuccessfully though, as it turns out poor little rich boy cant even kiss
properly, and so, Ms. Free Spirit decides he must be taken in hand and taught
some of life’s lessons. She tells him his singing sucks and has no feeling or
depth or whatever. She also confides that she’s been nursing a broken heart as
she was once in love with a DJ - Ali.
Ayan’s in a live in relationship
with Lisa (Lisa Haydon) and Alizeh’s now engaged to Dr. Faisal. All that
notwithstanding, the four hang out together, double date and so on, till Dr.
Faisal gets completely enamored by Lisa and the two are caught in the act.
Alizeh and Ayan find themselves single
again. The two take off for France on a holiday and yes, the relationship is
strictly platonic as the holiday is meant to recover (?) from the trauma of
losing their respective partners. DJ Ali suddenly appears out of the blue and
all of a sudden, the oh-so-sure of herself Alizeh’s all in a tizzy – she can’t
think straight. The next thing we know she’s in Lucknow, preparing to marry DJ
Ali. Our poor little rich boy is ofcourse, invited to the wedding and Presto!
It dawns on him that Alizeh is the woman of his dreams and he cant sit by and
watch her marry DJ Ali, and so he must leave…
However, he wastes no time
whatsoever as he runs into Saba (Aishwarya Rai) – she is older, as beautiful as
they come and is, ahem, an Urdu poetess residing in Vienna! Ayan follows her to
Vienna and before you know it, they start living in. Alizeh, in the meanwhile
is tailing hubby DJ Ali on all his gigs. Ayan and Alizeh stay in touch and Ayan
makes juvenile, almost comical attempts at trying to make her jealous by
sending her pics of his current gorgeous girlfriend! Oh yes, somewhere in
between all this, lest we, the audience, forget his singing aspirations, he
also starts belting out Sufi numbers on the streets of Vienna and instant
stardom follows! Just when everything seems hunky dory, Ms. Rai chucks him out,
quite unceremoniously one night (yes, thanks to Alizeh). Our poor little rich
boy, now with two heart breaks, is again at a loose end. Fast forward to a
couple of years - Ayan runs into DJ Ali– who reveals that Alizeh and he are
divorced. Predictably, Ayan wastes no time in trying to chase down Alizeh in
London and she, ofcourse, just shows up. Just when you heave a sigh of relief
that the movie is about to end, the director has the last laugh. The film drags
for another 30-40 minutes – you see, Alizeh is stricken with cancer and has few
months to go and so, our hero weeps buckets and tries to make the best of it by
just being with her. Ofcourse, again all strictly platonic as she confesses
that she can never feel “woh waala
pyaar” for him. Alizeh passes on and Ayan is supposed to have made it big in
the music world – the film opens with him being interviewed and closes on the
same note.
It’s hard to put down what the
film lacks – just too many things to list. It’s tedious, meanders all over the
place without purpose. Depth? None whatsoever…all the characters are completely
devoid of it and I don’t mean the free spiritedness- bordering-on-promiscuity attitude
that the current generation is shown to have. Even that doesn’t quite come
across convincingly…..yes, it’s refreshing that there is no moralizing at least
(thank god for small mercies!). As expected, all the characters have plenty of
money and have nothing better to do than dress in designer togs and have a good
time! And if you think this review is long winded or protracted, wait till you
see the film……
PINK
So, the age old questions again –
if a woman in a short dress accepts a drink from a man she has met for the
first time, can it be construed that she wants to sleep with him? When she says
“No”, is it a given that she means “Yes” and gives the man the right to violate
her? Naturally, if women want to stay
safe, then they must dress appropriately and behave decently, you can’t blame
the man for taking liberties with her, can you? Why do such women “go looking
for trouble” anyway, shouldn’t they just stay home on a weekend?
Sadly, a majority of average
Indians are very likely to answer “Yes” to the above questions. Of course, men
will be men. It’s a man’s world after
all. Why, isn’t that exactly what we tell our daughters too?
“Pink” is a brave, sincere
attempt at finding the answers to these uncomfortable questions.
Set in present times, the lives
of three independent working girls (Meenal, Falak and Andrea) are thrown into a
tizzy, after one of them, Meenal, in
self defense, smashes a bottle on the head of her would-be rapist, causing him
serious injury. As luck would have it, he turns out to be the nephew of a local
politician. What follows is anybody’s guess- the girls are in turn, stalked,
threatened, abducted and molested. Systematic character assassination follows,
causing one of them to lose her job. Trying to file a police report only worsens
things – the girls are dissuaded by the keepers of the law at first and are
told to make peace with perpetrators.
Throw in a corrupt cop, a couple of “eye witnesses” who can be bought
off and Meenal finds herself in jail, arrested for solicitation and attempt to
murder.
Enter Deepak Sehgal, the neighbor
and good Samaritan lawyer who is jerked out of his stupor and self inflicted
retirement on seeing the turmoil created in the girls’ lives. He volunteers to
be their defense counsel and after a long and dramatic trial, the baddies get
their just desserts and the girls go free.
What the movie perhaps lacks is
“punch” but it makes up in terms of acting. Kirti Kulhari and Andrea as Falak
and Andrea are both good but Taapsee Pannu impresses as Meenal. She is gutsy,
willing to put up a fight but as the system begins to get the better of her,
she is traumatized and on the verge of defeat. AB as Deepak Sehgal literally,
“does justice” to the role – he is like a spectre in most of the first half,
appearing when least expected, almost creeps the girls out at times. He sits
hunched up in court, gives the impression of being lost in thought, has to be
prompted for answers at times. In a departure from his signature baritone, he
mouths his dialogues in a raspy tone, some of which is difficult to catch.
The court scenes are tense,
dramatic without being over the top, in a way, reminiscent of the scenes in the
1991 film “The Accused”. Hard hitting and frightening real, they gave me goose
bumps at times. Here, Taapsee excels –
she very convincingly portrays a whole gamut of emotions - she is outraged,
angry, defiant, even vulnerable. It’s a shockingly real picture of how our
judiciary functions, of how a woman’s character is defined by the whether or
not she has a drink, by the way she smiles and talks with the opposite sex, by
her dress etc. Apparently, the film has also made an impact in creating
awareness about legal rights such as a “Zero FIR” wherein an FIR can be filed
in any police station, irrespective of whether the crime comes under that
police station’s jurisdiction or not. Also, that a bail plea for a woman can be
heard at a judges residence when courts are closed for the weekend. Kudos to
the director’s social conscience. Worth a watch – it’s not easy to make a film
that raises questions and takes an objective view. All this without being
moralizing. And yes, no idea what the title was meant to signify.
UDTHA PUNJAB
Wonder what all that brouhaha
that the Censor Board kicked up was about? “Udta Punjab” is grim, hard hitting
and reflective of reality….substance abuse is a serious problem today, so what
was the Censor Board trying to keep under wraps?
Yes, the language is abusive.
Yes, there are explicit scenes of youngsters “shooting up”. But Udta Punjab
does not sermonise; it’s a wholehearted, honest attempt at – (1) shedding light
on problem of drug abuse and (2) unravelling the whole demand & supply
trail.
A slew of characters come
together in the film– there is Tommy Singh, the “Gabru” – a washed out pop singer,
whose career is on the verge of collapse. Shahid Kapoor is brilliant as Tommy -
he is manic and has the overall crazed appearance of a cocaine junkie. An idealistic doctor who works in drug rehab
(Kareena Kapoor is efficient & looks lovely, despite no make up and simple
outfits), a cop who’s on the take (Diljit Dosanjh- very impressive indeed) and
has a change of heart when he discovers
his younger brother is an addict
and the surprise package of the film – Alia Bhatt! All Alia bashers
(including self) can eat their words! As
the gutsy Bihari farmhand, she, literally, packs a punch – when her naïve
attempt at trying to make some cash from selling a heroin packet that she
stumbles upon by chance goes horribly wrong, she fights back, refuses to give into
her tormentors, doesn’t shy away from revealing the gory details of how she was
raped to Tommy (the scene where these two meet accidentally, is wonderfully
picturized – a meeting between two strangers turns cathartic and they almost
develop empathy for each other).
The doctor and the cop begin an
investigation (predictably, a cutesy romance begins to blossom between the two)
and the usual politician – cops- drug peddler nexus is revealed. They are on
the verge of making public a whole lot of incriminating evidence when a tragic,
freak incident claims the doctor’s life. The powers that be and the drug mafia
capture the cop and the evidence. The cop then dispenses his own brand of
vigilante justice and the climax has lots of guns firing, bodies dropping like
flies. Tommy Singh proves there is some good in him after all, by rescuing Alia
and the kingpin – an aspiring politician is brought to book.
No “...and they lived happily
ever after....” ending here, Udta Punjab takes a long, hard look at the
horrific problem of drug abuse, at the very real problem of drug trafficking
across the country’s borders. With dialogues in more Punjabi than Hindi, the
subtitles are a help. The actors are tailor made for their roles, not one is a
let down. It’s stark, it shakes you up, gives you some insight into the
magnitude of the drug problem. Definitely worth a watch.
CHALK AND DUSTER
A novel theme, a promising start
and just when you begin to think it’s too good to be true, Chalk n Duster
falters, loses it’s way and stumbles to the finish. But yes, full marks to the
producers and the director for attempting to tackle a subject like the
education system and it’s present day ills.
So we have Kanthaben High School
where everything is near perfect – dedicated teachers, happy students and a
school principal who is loved by all. The only blot on this idyllic landscape
is the school supervisor (a garishly painted Divya Dutta) and her side kick –
they are uniformly detested by the staff for their highhandedness but are
somehow kept in check by the principal.
Enter the foreign educated son of
the school board’s chairman. Sonny boy has big plans for the school, and
unashamedly declares education is the best business. All perfectly in synch
with the school supervisor’s evil designs – together they plot and conspire and
the next thing you know is, school supervisor has usurped the principal’s
chair, hiked the schools fees and is hell bent on making the staff’s lives
miserable. But sonny boy and evil supervisor-turned-principal get a little more
than what they bargained for when they take on the duo of the dedicated math
teacher, Vidya Sawant, who is fired for her unorthodox teaching methods (the
ever versatile Shabana Azmi) and the bubbly science teacher Jyothi
Thakur(played by a beautifully aging Juhi Chawla).
Vidya suffers a heart attack and
is hospitalized. The chairman of a rival school’s board leaks the news to the
media and the story gets splashed everywhere, thanks to the feisty reporter in
charge(Richa Chadda). A fervent appeal on TV by Jyothi about “Dronacharya
needing his Arjun” evokes strong passion in the student community and all of
Vidya’s ex students rally around. Predictably, Vidya comes through an
angioplasty and the hospital bills are waived off.
All good so far, the movie chugs
along pretty well till an unbelievable turn of events….a KBC-type quiz game is
set up to decide the fate of the Vidya- Jyothi duo! The grand prize is Rs. 5
crores, an apology from the management and re-instatement, if the duo get all
the answers right or else the duo will never get to work as teachers again.
Really?? How puerile can one get! The audience so loves a happy ending, and
hence what follows is anyone’s guess!
Except for this rather juvenile
twist, the movie would’ve been a must watch – the lead actors do their job with
aplomb, the character actors like the art & craft teacher (Upasna Singh
-delightful) are competent enough. Let’s give the director his due though –
better handling of the second half would’ve been desirable but the movie is definitely
worth a watch - lump-in-throat & memories of your favourite teacher
guaranteed !
WAZIR
“Wazir” can best be described as
an opportunity lost. An interesting story line done in by a haphazard narrative
and poor direction.
After having avenged the death of
his daughter, our hero Danish Ali (Farhan Akhtar), who is estranged from his
wife and on the brink of suicide, is saved by an individual Omkarnath Dhar
(Amitabh Bacchhan), who appears mysteriously out of nowhere.
The protagonist then unwittingly
becomes a pawn in the hands of the Baadshah (Dhar aka Panditji), who befriends
him, lends him a shoulder to cry on, attempts a reconciliation with the wife
etc. He plays right into Panditji’s hands when the truth pops up suddenly one
day – that Panditji too, like himself, is seeking revenge for his only
daughter’s tragic and unexplained death. The baddie in question is Qureshi- a
terrorist of Kashmir origin masquerading as a politician turned Union Minister.
Panditji, being a double amputee and wheelchair bound, has his limitations and
so turns to Danish, who makes a few laughably amateurish attempts at digging
out the truth.
Predictably, the big shot
politician who must save himself and his career, will leave no stone unturned.
So, wham! - emerges “Wazir”(played by a sadistic looking Neil Nitin Mukesh),
sent to silence the Baadshah. It’s curtains for Panditji and Danish, by now,
having lost all clarity of thought except to find the shadowy Wazir and avenge
Panditji’s death (making, yes, right, three attempts at revenge, in all), sets
out to find Qureshi in Kashmir. Guns blaze away and a few action packed scenes
later, Qureshi is put down by Danish,
despite his protestations that he doesn’t know any Wazir. But yes, Qureshi did
murder Panditji’s daughter so Danish is justified in killing Qureshi anyway.
And Wazir? Wazir who..??
Somewhere in the background,
parallels are continually drawn with the game of chess and about how we are all
pawns in God’s scheme of things etc.The truth dawns on Danish and he realizes
he’s been checkmated. Of course, there’s nothing to be done now but reconcile
with the wife (Aditi Rao Hydari, who stares wide eyed mostly and looks
ethereally lovely).
“Wazir” is like a Snow Globe –
once shaken, all the snowflakes are expected to settle by themselves, with no
semblance of order. What could have potentially been a taut, engrossing film is
killed by inept handling . Two talented actors wasted though AB is himself,
efficient as always, Farhan Akhtar is wooden at times.
The genre says “Thriller”…..
“Thriller”?? Don’t think so….. Michael Jackson did better in his time….
MASAAN
“A picture is worth a thousand
words” – when they said “picture”, did they mean “movie”, I wonder…
Because that’s what “Masaan”
embodies….a simple tale beautifully woven with no histrionics, set against the
backdrop of Benaras.
Two stories, disconnected from
each other, run parallel – A girl whose life takes a bizarre turn by a strange
twist of fate, a pair of young lovers whose plans of a future together are
abruptly nipped in the bud by a tragic accident. Quiet flows the holy Ganga,
mute witness to the gamut of emotions that the two protagonists go through.
Ultimately, it is the Ganga which brings these two strangers together, just
when they seeking to rebuild their individual lives and move on.
Poignant in parts, hard hitting and raw in
others, “Masaan” revives your faith in the fine craft of story telling –
perhaps it isn’t dead after all. Director Neeraj Ghaywan has done an exemplary
job of telling it like it is, he appears to have also pulled off a casting coup
of sorts – every actor is tailor made for the role. Sanjay Mishra is simply
outstanding as the angst ridden father, Richa Chadda is quietly brilliant –
fine piece of restrained acting as the girl struggling against all odds to get
her life back on track, but displays strength of character.
A must watch for all those who
appreciate “good” cinema, devoid of the present day embellishments of opulent
sets, elaborate song and dance sequences and theatrics. Sad that it didn't
garner enough appreciation in India but won rave reviews at film festivals
abroad….
SHAANDAAR
There are simply no words to
describe this excuse for a film – perhaps plain dumb would be close enough.
Throw in a slew of characters, completely disconnected sequences, some songs,
exotic locations, spare no expense with the sets and you have “Shaandaar”.
The story (if one can call it
that) goes thus- a business family where the eldest son (Pankaj Kapoor) has a
dark secret – the adopted daughter he’s been raising, alongside their
biological one, is, in fact his own. The family is on the verge of bankruptcy
& it’s kept under wraps. The matriarch (Sushma Sheth, hideous and loosely
inspired by Cruella DeVille of 101 Dalmations) decides to forge a marriage
alliance with the Fundwanis in an effort
to revive the family fortunes. The obese elder daughter is to be married off
the Fundwani junior , who is solely obsessed with his 8 and a half abs pack.
What’s not known is that Fundwanis are bankrupt themselves & Fundwani
Senior (Sanjay Kapoor, who must be having a mid life crisis, to have done,
possibly, the worst role of his lifetime)is hoping to boost his sagging fortune
too.
Destination wedding at a castle
somewhere in England and enter the wedding planner (Shahid Kapoor), who falls
hook, line and sinker for the adopted younger daughter (Alia Bhatt) – she is
spunky, an insomniac, swims in the nude at night and whoops for joy on finding
out she’s illegitimate and not adopted. Somewhere along the line, the wedding
planner cures her insomnia, both the parties find out about the state of each other’s finances, the matriarch dies a
freak death and fat bride decides she’d rather be fat and happy than fat and
unhappy. Wedding called off, the matriarch is given a most undignified farewell
where her wheelchair catches fire (with her in it) and the nice guys fly away
in a plane.
Ruled by crass humour, a plethora
of characters who don’t know why they are there and loud over-the-top acting,
it’s hard to be believe this is the same film maker who gave us “Queen”. Boy!
What a come down! We all have our moments, I suppose. Pity that the powerhouse
father-son combo of Pankaj-Shahid Kapoor is so totally wasted on a film like
this!
TALVAAR
Based on the real life Aarushi
Talwar murder case of 2008, full marks to Meghna Gulzar for making an honest
attempt at unraveling the truth, with being overtly melodramatic.
A pretty, young girl and the
family’s man servant are found murdered. The subsequent mishandling of the case
by the local constabulary – portrayed as absolute buffoons, gloriously inept
–where the crime scene isn’t even cordoned off, ensures all crucial first hand
evidence is compromised. No forensic investigation is conducted on the girl’s
body, thanks to the bumbling, paan-chewing Inspector in charge, who even
dismisses the blood found on the terrace door as colour! Without a shred of
evidence and no vital clues, the cops, in a hurry to conclude, throw up wild
conjectures of “honour killing”, Aarushi’s “promiscuity”, tales of “wife
swapping” etc and the parents are hurriedly arrested for the murder.
Enter CBI (CDI, in the film). The
officer -in-charge (Irrfan Khan, in his usual precision driven performance
mould ) is somehow not convinced of the parents’ guilt, digs for the truth,
pulls up the police inspector in charge for contaminating the crime scene and
finally presents his case – the family’s man servant’s cronies were guilty of both murders. A change of guard within the CBI ensures
Irrfan Khan is taken off the case, over allegations of “coerced confessions”. A
new officer is assigned and Presto! the old honour- killing – parents- guilt
story surfaces again. With the two theories being poles apart and the crucial
first hand evidence however, having been destroyed; the case is closed for lack
of conclusive evidence. The courts and the victim’s father both refuse to
accept the case as closed and in a bizarre twist of fate, the parents are
convicted.
“Talvar” is not a “whodunit”,
rather it highlights the huge gaping holes in the investigation process, the
apathy of the cops and how, thanks to the press, the case became the most
talked about murder case of 2008. In parts, it leans towards sympathy for the
parents and yes, it is difficult not to empathize with Konkona Sen Sharma’s
restrained portrayal of the grieving mother, wracked by anguish.
Did the powers-that-be, to
safeguard their own image, hurriedly foist the murder charge on the parents?
What about the initial investigation that was botched up by the worst possible
handling of crime scene? Would a normal teenage daughter of upwardly mobile
parents indulge in an affair with a middle aged man servant just to get back at
her parents? These are the disturbing, unanswered questions that “Talvar”
raises, besides touching on the chilling possibility that the killer may still
be at large. Maybe till justice is served in the Aarushi murder case, “Talvar”
will continue to dangle like the proverbial “Sword of Damocles” over our heads.
Worth a watch, this one.
DILDHADAKNE DO
Zoya Akhtar makes a valiant
attempt to strip the veneer off the lives of the well heeled. So, we have the
Mehras, who, despite everything, must keep up appearances. A cruise to
"celebrate" their 30th wedding anniversary is organised. Throw in an
assortment of relatives, high society friends who cant stand the sight of each
other, tell the story through the eyes of the family pet and viola! lots of dil
dhadakna happens!!
The head of the dysfunctional
Mehra family (Anil Kapoor, who can still make the dil go dhadak), is hoping to
revive his sagging fortunes by getting his son married off to the Sood family
heiress. He pops anti anxiety pills, works out and has a roving eye. Shefali
Shah (good, measured acting by her) as his wife, miserable but wears the mask,
nevertheless & looks like she's about to have a nervous breakdown. Their
talented daughter, Ayesha (Priyanka Chopra), who's stuck in a crumbling
marriage and the wimpy son (Ranveer Singh) who hasn't the gall to stand up to
his dad but loses his heart, oh, so predictably, to the ship's cabaret artiste
(Anushka). More hearts are set aflutter when Ayesha's former lover (Farhan
Akhtar) makes an unexpected appearance.
The senior Mehra has an attack of
indigestion/ flatulence, mistaken for a heart attack, causing the family some
anxious moments (yes, more dil dhadakna). Facts are laid bare, everyone comes
clean, yelling and accusations follow. Daughter Ayesha decides to get divorced
and sonny boy tells daddy dearest about his complete lack of interest in the
family business. Son-in-law (Rahul Bose) & his hypochondriac mom are told
to disembark.
The whole family (dog included)
stands behind sonny boy in his quest for
the cabaret dancer, who's been fired from the job and has been told to get off
the ship. Mom-son, dad-daughter all hug each other and presto! we are family,a
la Karan Johar!
Beautiful locales in Turkey and
the ocean are captured in the film. What's refreshing is the total lack of
histrionics & over the top acting, even in the melodramatic scenes. But for
all the dil dhadakna, the film somehow doesn't tug at the heart strings. Take a
dekko, if you want to be nice to Zoya Akhtar.....
I, for one, am going to watch my
mouth and actions before my dog hereafter .....
PIKU
Utterly delightful!! Lively
performance by Ms. Padukone as the spirited, independent, dutiful to the point
of seeming vulnerable at times Piku, balanced by Irfan Khan's measured acting.
Lovely little cameo by Mousumi Chatterjee but the crowning glory is the one
& only AB as the cantankerous, demanding, hypochondriac father. Only he
could've pulled it off - with his perfect Bengali accented English dialogue
delivery, he proves yet again why he is one of the greatest actors India's ever
produced. Shit happens - inevitable that,but only Shoojit Sircar perhaps could
make a film centred around an individual's bowel movements without being
gross......
