HeadleyLamarr Reviews

Mumbai Diaries (2010)

Dhobi Ghat - baby steps into into the 20th century!

[6/10 · 27 January 2011]

Hindi cinema, particularly that called Bollywood cinema, is often a pastiche of snippets and vignettes from cinema all over the world. And the influences are usually aged and not modern. Thus Life in a Metro, the film that could almost be Dhobi Ghat if minimalized, took an entire sequence in its interconnecting stories from the Billy Wilder 1960 film The Apartment, but wove in a few other tales around the trysting place to modernize the whole. Others did not care as much - Tees Maar Khan went right to deSica's 1966 film After the Fox and simply added in a few extreme characters and item songs to season the tale for Indian palates.

Now Kiran Rao has dared to drag Hindi cinema into the 20th century by making Dhobi Ghat. Simply for that attempt to move beyond the set narrative based films we should commend her. However, these are still baby steps and a large distance remains to be traversed. The influence of world cinema is very strong on Dhobi Ghat. The set of interconnecting stories shifting and reforming like dynamic puzzle pieces around a teeming city, and the pensive mood set by the reclusive artist as he broods over video-taped letters he finds, makes it easy to spot the unmistakable Wong Kar Wai influence. In 1994 Kar Wai made Chungking Express, a story of two love-lorn policemen, unconnected tales, except for the city they were in, and the fact that both had lost love. There too the mood was pensive, dreamy, and whole film an artist's palette of color, mood and motion. Of course more recently Inarritu has taken interconnecting stories to a different level, starting with Amores Perros. The stories intersect usually triggered by some violent or catastrophic event, something that has no doubt influenced Kiran Rao. Skirting city centric films like Paris Je T'Aime, which somehow tried to connect 20 stories set in the real star of the film, Paris, she makes Mumbai an almost living breathing entity without glorifying it in any way. This is a scary Mumbai, where the watchman does not know what happened to a past tenant and (without spoilers given away) that seems almost unbelievable, there are drug wars and killings, and good looking men pimp their looks for money.

The package is let down by some amateurish writing that is riddled with coincidences, and some miscasting that drags down the effort. There are too many coincident meetings in the metropolis, making the very point about a large teeming heartless city quite pointless. The one dhobi connects all the dots, and everyone can see everyone else from an apartment window or doorway. The dialogs are stilted, and equally jarring when Monica Dogra talks in her Firangi Hindi accent about Dakshini Asia, or Aamir talks in English about his city, his muse, whore. The star of the show is Kriti Malhotra as Yasmeen. Starting out bubbly and vivacious, she goes slowly into fade mode, presaged by her fading into the light in the Elephanta caves (?). Parteik has tremendous screen presence, and Kiran manages to extract much more out of him as the beefed up star wannabe dhobi than Abbas Tyrewala ever could as the artistic self absorbed brat in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. He does have problems with dialog delivery, but who cares when he can smile that, or look so vulnerable. Monica Dogra fits the role but does not add much to it, weighed down as she is by that awful Hindi accent and a monotonous dialog delivery in Hindi. Aamir is the most misfit of all four lead actors. His straining to underplay his role is palpable, forehead veins popping, crooked smile firmly in place. Even he settles in gradually, though is never completely comfortable in this film. Much has been made of the background score - but no one mentions the tracks by Begum Akhtar and Siddheshwari Devi that sublimely elevate the mood.

Kiran Rao is a fresh new talent, and to be applauded for trying something different. Now she needs to make all the pieces fit, and give the whole her own stamp - then perhaps we will be looking at great cinema, but we are far from that yet.

True Grit (2010)

A Western with a difference – True Grit

[9/10 · 14 December 2010]

What would a normal 14 year old in the late 1800s do upon finding out her father was murdered by a scoundrel and a thief? Mattie Ross (played by Hailee Steinfeld) is no ordinary 14 year old. She takes the train into Fort Smith to deal with her father's body and stays back – determined to avenge his death. A poised and fearless young woman (having run out of money, she spends the night at the undertaker's with 4 dead bodies!) with rapier sharp wits, she manages to recoup some of the money owed her father. Mattie also finds out that US Marshall Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) is her man for tracking the murderer Tom Cheney who has fled into the Indian Territory. One eyed, overweight, aging and permanently drunk and disheveled Cogburn is Mattie's choice, she tells him, because she has heard he has TRUE GRIT and never lets go of a fugitive. Rooster agrees to take on the mission for $100, and after trying to evade Mattie by sneaking out ahead of her, allows her to come along when she catches up with him. They are joined by Texas Ranger LeBoef (Matt Damon) who is also hunting Tom Cheney, for a senator's murder in Texas. The grit and patience of each of the three fellow travelers is severely tested along this journey into the wilderness and we see the men gaining a grudging respect for the young girl as she more than holds her own on the trail. The ending is more true to the book than it was in the 1969 version of the film. This Coen brothers' adaptation of the book by Charles Portis is a somber tale that lacks some of the humor and crackling interactions we saw between the leads in the 1969 film. But it also has much less of the coyness and sugar that came in ample measure in the older version. The role of Rooster Cogburn won John Wayne his only Oscar and a memorable role it was! In the 2010 adaptation Jeff Bridges is as good as he can get, which is pretty darn good, but somehow the telling falls just short of all time greatness.

The show is stolen by Hailee Steinfeld – she has a poise and innocent charm coupled with a fierce determination, that makes her one of the more memorable characters in recent films. Matt Damn is more than adequate as a stiff necked Texas Ranger, who slowly goes from boorish to serious and dependable. Jeff Bridges is great as Rooster Cogburn, "a one eyed fat drunk man who cannot shoot straight anymore", because he does show true grit and more, a strong sense of justice and an innate nobleness. John Wayne's iconic persona was utilized fully in the 1969 film by Hathaway, and here the Coen brothers find a persona that matches the Duke's in stature. Bridges brings a loose limbed laziness to his Cogburn, and yet manages, even at his most whiskey soaked moments, to convey a sense of urgency and sharp wit that is required to make the character work.

The film is wonderfully shot on location in Texas with sweeping vistas, bleak forests in fall and winter, and seemingly endless plains. The Coen Brothers go fully mainstream in this film, finally producing one that has the violence mostly reined in (well some guys do die and fingers are chopped off too), and none of the language or situations containing being anything less than family friendly. But what makes this a winner is the remarkable young woman on a quest to see a criminal brought to justice. No simpering miss, she stands tall among leading ladies, as a sharp witted and brave character, honorable and just with all the good qualities that we often find lacking in the world today.

This one is a certified winner and not to be missed.

Trishul (1978)

Bachchan at what he does best!

[8/10 · 24 July 2008]

Trishul has a better cast than Kaala Patthar, but IMO the latter is the better film. Yes, Trishul has Sanjeev and when did he ever fail to satisfy? But his character is most undeveloped in my opinion. In the beginning it is clear that he loves Waheeda, is forced by his mother to marry the rich man's daughter, is torn when she announces she is expecting his child - so he is not all bad. But would just that one act of weak caving-in make him more and more extreme in his dealing with people? No fault at Sanjeev's door, he did a very good job with the material given him. Rakhi was just there, Sachin and his lady, not needed other than to stage a coup against the patriarch. Shashi was quite good, as was Hema - their love story was convincing. Amitabh yet again stole the show with his simmering rage and outrage at the abandonment of his mother. The fight scenes were so real, but the story was somewhat predictable. This one, like Kaala Patthar, was also mostly focused on the story and did not rely on too much romance or songs.

One thing I like about these oldies from Yash Chopra is the very matter-of-fact dealing between the sexes. In Kaala Patthar Shashi invites Parveen to stay with him after she is thrown out, tells her he lives by himself, and without any coyness she accepts. In Deewar the relationship between Amitabh and Parveen is most matter-of-fact. In Trishul the same goes for the relationship between Waheeda and Sanjeev. And these were educated people, not from the lower strata - yet they did not have the prudishness one sees on display in modern fare.

Kaala Patthar (1979)

Cowardice, self-disgust and redemption

[8/10 · 22 July 2008]

I thought it was an Indianized version of Lord Jim, which was itself based on the true story of the abandonment of a ship called PATNA! In Lord Jim too the protagonist lives with the fact of his own cowardice and eventually redeems himself by taking on ugly forces that prey on the poor and weak. Kaala Paththar had two other men in the story - and followed the usual 70s/80s cliché of the man with the criminal background having to die in the end. But it was also quite uncliched in having no overt romantic track between Shashi and Parveen Babi, and a very quiet connection between Amitabh and Rakhi. Rakhi never enunciated well in Hindi and it got worse in moments of agitation. Here she did not have to speak much and was OK. I always liked Neetu Singh and she was good in this one too. Shatru was never a favorite but he was quite restrained here IMO. For a film from the 70s, this was indeed quite a different one and I enjoyed it. Amitabh was excellent as the coward, then the slowly burning up with self-disgust man, and finally as the hero. The mine disaster was well shot and the dark and claustrophobic kind of picturization made is seem realistic. There were not really many songs to disrupt the narrative - another unique feature for a film of its time. Fr instance, no sad number with wailing violins as the hero sits and stares at the stars and broods over his past! I gave it 8/10.

The Season (1975)

Love, fate, regret and redemption!

[10/10 · 18 June 2008]

I managed to catch two gems recently. The first one was over 3 days while I worked out. Maybe the installment approach allowed me to ponder on this film and love it all over again. In Mausam, Sanjeev Kumar rocked as the young doctor-in-training, and then as the older man who comes back to Darjeeling to relive his memories. Gulzar kept many things shrouded in mystery and so many things completely understated - I was so glad he chose to not insult the viewers' intelligence with needless explanations along the way. We never found out if Sanjeev came back to Darjeeling for any other motive than R and R. We were never told if the young Sharmila actually "fell" for this older man or it was pure gratitude, since she knew who he was all along! The flashbacks were kept to a minimum and even the minor characters like Om Shivpuri, Dina Pathak and Agha were so perfect in their roles. Sanjeev was pitch perfect, playing men that were 20 years apart in age, just by subtle changes in body language and some gray hair! And in a surprising twist all the intensity, regrets and anger were portrayed by the older man. Sharmila was excellent in the mother daughter roles, although clearly outclassed by Sanjeev. And the divine music - Dil Dhoondhta Hai Phir Wohi Fursat Ke Raat Din. A perfect 10 from me for this perfect film.

Masoom (1983)

The children will set them free!

[10/10 · 18 June 2008]

I wanted to acquaint a young niece with the song Lakdi Ki Kaathi - so we ended up watching Masoom. Here Naseer and Shabana vied for equal honors - he as the "weak philandering and then unable to stand up for what is right" man, she as the hurt and retaliating spouse. Caught in the mix were three children. This was probably the first realistic portrayal of children in Hindi cinema. Urmila Matondkar as the older sister, I forget the name of younger and cute as a button sister, but of course the unforgettable kid was Jugal Hansraj - oh that Masoomiyat was to die for. As the wife was building wall upon wall between herself and the husband, the kids were breaking barriers and bonding as only children can. Shabana - she was a goddess fighting for the rights of her family with not one false note in the entire film. Naseer had just the right amount of weakness and regret to tell you that he was a man with clay feet. Sayeed Jaffrey was a tiny bit loud but then he was supposed to be a loud Punjabi type. These people lived in real houses in a real city and went to work and shopped and played just like us. Masoom had excellent music too - Huzoor is Kadar, Lakdi Ki Kaathi, Tujhse Naaraz Nahin. A perfect 10 from me for this perfect film.

Sarkar Raj (2008)

Ignore the eyeballs and go for the eardrums!

[5/10 · 18 June 2008]

I managed to catch RGV's latest magnum opus. Some thoughts that i penned as I saw the film:

1. There is darkness everywhere in the Nagre household, broken by tiny shafts of light - this place really needs a power plant.

2. Aishwarya is the CEO of the Shepherd Power plant and her adoring looks directed at Nagre senior and junior are really befitting a steely eyed executive.

3. Govindaa Govindaa Govindaaaaaa X 1000 and I am 20 minutes into the film. When Govindaaa stops there are chants of Saam Daam Dand Bhed to fill in the silences.

4. Aishwarya starts calling Abhishek Tum about 10 minutes into the film, and then in a very wifely way asks if she can go to that XXXXXwadi with him!!

5. The Nagres do not take Ghoos (bribes), apparently are not in any kind of salaried office but maintain a huge household with an entourage of staff.

6. The women make puris and sheera all the time. Not Aishwarya though - she wears pants!

7. Amitabh talks as though there is another chamber in his mouth through which every word and sound percolates before coming out - Khilaf is Khunluff, Janta is Jundu.

8. There is a very endearing moment with a little girl throwing color at him.

9. Govindaaaa and Saam Daam are replaced by Jheeni Jheeni as Aishwarya looks adoringly at Abhishek for more time.

BAS, BAS before the Govindaaas start up all over again, I have to stop watching this dark noisy film that is going nowhere.

I wonder who wrote the dialogs for Ramu. Now I know why Raja Sen said they were not talking they were "Dialoguing"!!

Ande Tode Bagair Omlette Nahin Banta. Jazbaat Zindagi Mein Bhaari Padte Hain Sab Kuch Niji Hai, Sab Kuch As in everything is personal

Anita Mujhe Jo Sahi Lagta Hai Main Wohi Karta Hoon

Mujhe Koi Mazaa Nahin Aata hai Ki Main Aise Jiyoon, Dushmani Mol loon, Biwi Ko Kho Doon, Bhai Ko Maar Doon!!

And the long pauses between dialogs punctuated with the ubiquitous Govindaaa, Govindaaaa! Then Big B spent 20 minutes explaining the TWIST in the story to us.

I have to be thankful to the noisy background score for one thing. I forget if it was Govindaaa or Saam Daam that was loudly playing over Aish's screaming as you know who died. So we were spared the HDDCS like screaming moments.

Big B was decent at moments, but he has chosen a really weird nasal echoing intonation for his dialog delivery. Aish was a complete cardboard cutout, as in she has nothing to do. If you like burnt sienna, ochre and muddy brown tones throughout then you would love the way the film is shot, because those are colors in every frame with the only light being on certain faces. For a serious film the villains are extreme caricatures. But above all it is a rather boring tale that left me completely un-engaged.

Khoya Khoya Chand (2007)

Kahani Kho Gayi

[6/10 · 3 June 2008]

Expectations that were never met - that is the sad story of Khoya Khoya Chand. Who would think that the man who gave us the mesmerizing Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi would now try to foist this film on us? This is a story of a greedy grabbing star actor, Rajat Kapoor, playing yet again an oily villainous type, the vulnerable and abused actress, Soha Ali Khan playing Nikhat, the dreamy idealistic poet, Shiny Ahuja playing the novelist/script writer. There are casting couches, there is crude (sorry, blunt) language, there is simulated sex with lots of oohing and aahing while clothes do not come off, and there are interminable scenes of films being shot. But somewhere along the line the filmmakers lose the plot and forget that in this collage of events they are also obligated to have a thread of a story. There is the thinnest of tales and unengaging at that.

The movie is visually stunning, an excellent period piece, also interesting for how it hints at real life stories like Guru Dutt and Waheeda and those countless women who were sent to earn a living in the biz at a very young age. The direction is sub-par, in the multitude of bodies milling about the key elements are never really isolated well enough, and the leads are quite wooden most of the time. Rajat Kapoor is great, as is Vinay Pathak. Sonia is quite good too. But Soha and Shiny disappoint hugely. In the hands of a more experienced pair of actors this could have risen to greater heights. As is, this is no Kagaz Ke Phool, but rather Kahan Hai Phool.

The music is mediocre (except the title number) and the sound is one of the most annoying parts of the film. The director wanted realism in the form of the hustle and bustle of a real set, but what we get is a background of cacophony in every scene, so much so that it is hard to hear what is going on. The story moves in fits and starts. The leading lady suddenly develops a hole in her heart, and the director has to go on blogs to tell us that the final shot is her orgasm! What the fish? Then we are told the rest of the tale in a written narrative - as if we cared by then what happened to this tepid tale.

In the Name of God (2007)

A sledgehammer approach!

[6/10 · 3 June 2008]

Finally caught the film and now I am wondering what the fuss was all about. If there was ever a film made for NRP (as in Non-resident Pakistanis or NRM - NR Muslims), and overseas audiences, this is it. The story is most mundane and boring in how every stereotype is exploited to the hilt - the cohabiting with a Englishwoman Muslim father who is still adamant that his daughter marry in the faith(shades of East is East), the non-religious seculars, the religious fanatics, the stupid or ignorant (where is Pakistan) Americans, the "establishment" demons. The story moves from country to country without really changing in its feel - except the village in Afghanistan everything else has such a sameness to it. Compare this to that other overseas "Indian" film, Namesake to see what I mean. When Mira takes you from NY to India you are in India with a bang!

The acting is most mediocre - the British Muslim father was decent - he too was like the Rajat Kapoor villain (Monsoon Wedding), creepy but so very real and not an out and out demon. The leading lady is like our countless model turned actress ladies, and has as little to offer by way of charm or talent. The heartthrob from Pakistan, Shaan, is flat and mostly uninteresting. Plus he says the most ridiculous lines in the film - "Taj? We built it you know. We also ruled India for hundreds of years!" "What do you mean?" "I mean the Muslims!" I guess the Indian Muslims do not exist or their effort in Taj building and ruling India is negligible. He follows this up with "Pakistani music" in the form of a full raga saregamapa classical number - I am prompted to say to him and the makers "We invented that you know - the Hindu musicians that is!" Naseeruddin Shah has a brief (6 minutes or so), effective role - but that is small satisfaction in a 2hr 45 min film.

The production values are on a rather small scale - but I have no real quibble with that. But why go from London to Lahore but still not really give us a feel for Lahore? Ditto with Chicago! In a film that talks incessantly about whether or not music is prohibited in the Quran, where two brothers are musicians, and one goes to music academy, the music numbers are mundane. I was amused at the fact that the MOST appealing music was a record that Naseeruddin Shah was playing - it was an oldie from KL Saigal "Kyun Mujhse Khafa Hai Tu Kya Maine Kiya Hai, Duniya Ko Khushi Aur Mujhe Rona Diya Hai!!" And do not get me started on the torture sequence - it seems inspired by 12 Monkeys type fare with fat women in masks and weird wiry men with wire rimmed glasses.

I'll be generous and give it a 6/10 for trying..

The Terrorist (1998)

Life and death

[8/10 · 1 June 2008]

The Terrorist by Santosh Sivan I finally caught this film, but unfortunately not on a big screen. It is the story of a teenage girl, Malli, who is part of a gang of LTTE fighters. Her family, including a famous "soldier" brother, have been killed in the civil unrest and she is an orphan who was brought up in the camp. The commander needs a volunteer for a suicide mission to kill a famous personality in Tamil Nadu. He asks for and gets many volunteers, but eventually picks Malli and sends her off through the jungles to board a ferry to India. In the jungle she is guided by the child-man, Lotus, and then put on the ferry. She lands up in TN and rooms in a house belonging to an old couple. The lady is in a coma since her son "went away" and the husband looks after her. The landlord bonds with Malli while she prepares for her lethal mission with single minded focus. Events happen around her that recall some of her past and the present merges with it for an interesting finish to the story.

The cinematography is simply stunning. The locales are lush, real, and every drop of water and ripple in the river is in intense focus the entire time. It is almost as though the focus is so sharp that you are kept on edge from the pain of it. The characters are well etched for the most part. I did have some issues with the way the story was written and I will talk of that in the context of the characters. Sivan direction's keeps the pace brisk and the transitions from event to event, including the very emotional flashback sequence, are fluid and deft.

The central character is Malli - she is the mainstay of the film and on screen for 90% of the run time. Ayesha Dharkar portrays Malli by as a wide-eyed, innocent looking, but brutal "soldier" who succumbs to emotions one time, as seen in those flashbacks. She identifies with the cause and can see the emptiness and pain in Lotus' life. But once she is asked to pretend an ordinary life with the landlord and his comatose wife her focus begins to slip. The ordinariness of that life, the pictures n the son's bedroom, the staring comatose wife, the neighborhood children running to school, all jar her complacent soldier attitude. Without giving away any spoilers, in the end Malli has to decide if she will choose life or death, and Ayesha is able to show the inner turmoil very well. Lotus is played by Vishwas as the most complex mixed up character in the film. This child-man is rough and tough, but also extremely vulnerable inside and easily shocked by Malli's actions. He is heartbroken when he realizes that Malli is just like those others and cannot be his lost family for him. That brings me to the landlord. I found him the most confusing and poorly written character and it was this that single handedly brought the film down a couple of notches for me. The character was decently acted - but incongruous for the setting. None of his actions or words made sense in the milieu where he existed. That made the finale unreal too.

But this flaw notwithstanding, I really think The Terrorist was a fine film, lushly beautiful, soulful, and ably carried on the young shoulders of Ayesha Dharkar. 8/10

Saawariya (2007)

Where is the soul?

[5/10 · 27 May 2008]

I finally saw all of Saawariya and I think it is one of SLB's weakest films, even weaker than Black. I give it a 5/10. My problem - it is supposed to be a dreamy romance, but there is absolutely NO ROMANCE in the film, either between Raj and Sakina or Sakina and Imam. It is kind of sad that the only connection that seems tangible is between GulabJi and Raj - two "friends". This makes the film incredibly boring. The sets were oppressive and the lighting instead of being moody was just plain gloomy. I have a feeling that perhaps a little more Salman could have livened up the proceedings, but he was hardly there. Sonam cannot act and looks decent only from certain angles. Ranbir was charming in a few moments but he is made to be deliberately goofy and silly. And the huge RK hangover is abhorrent and manipulative in the film. That song with the white clad men dancing in weird poses reminded me of Khwaja mere khwaja from Jodhaa Akbar!!

I think the standout was Rani and the irritants were Zohra Sehgal, Sonam and the random hookers and men in white. Ranbir was a neutral factor and Salman hardly there. White Nights is a brilliant film, full of a certain mood and darkness, in a rather large setting. So a comparison with Saawariya is inevitable. But while the acting in WN is superb and the film is infused with soul, Saawariya is a strange unsatisfying concoction that fails to appeal at any level.

Page 3 (2005)

Brave but flawed

[8/10 · 22 May 2008]

Madhur Bhandarkar directs this film that is supposed to expose the lifestyle of the rich and famous while also providing a commentary on the integrity of journalism today.

Celebrities party endlessly, they like to be seen at these parties, and to get due exposure in the media. In fact the film would have us believe that this exposure MAKES celebrities out of socialites and the newspapers have a huge hand in this. IMO there is much more synergy between the celebrities and media and it is a "I need you, you need me" kind of relationship. However, the media needs celebrities more and not vice versa. Anyhow, in this milieu of constant partying is thrown the social column (page 3 of the newspaper) reporter Konkana Sen Sharma. She is shown as this celebrity maker, very popular at the social gatherings. She has a good friend in the gay Abhijeet and in the struggling model Rohit (Bikram Saluja). She rooms with an air-hostess – the sassy Pearl (Sandhya Mridul), and a struggling actress - Gayatri (Tara Sharma). The editor of the newspaper is Boman Irani and a firebrand crime beat reporter is played by Atul Kulkarni. The movie has almost too many plot diversions and characters but does work at a certain level. The rich are shown to be rotten to the core for the most part, the movie biz shown to be sleazy to the max with casting couch scenarios, exploitation of power, hunger for media exposure. Into all this is layered in homosexuality, a homosexual encounter that seems to not have much to do with the story or plot, rampant drug use, pedophilia, police "encounter" deaths. In light of all this Pearl's desire to have a super rich husband, a socialite daughter indulging in a sexual encounter in a car, the bitching women, all seem benign ills.

The film has absolutely excellent acting by Konkana Sen Sharma, Atul Kulkarni has almost no role – a pity in my opinion. But the supporting cast is more than competent (Boman Irani is very good). This is what saves the film for me. Mr. Bhandarkar bites off way more than he can chew or process onto celluloid and turns the film into a free for all bash. I wish he had focused on one or two aspects of societal ills and explored them more effectively. He berates societal exploitation yet himself exploits all the masala ingredients needed for a film to be successful. We have an item number in the framework of a Bollywood theme party, the drugged out kids dance a perfectly choreographed dance to a Western beat. I hope the next one from Madhur Bhandarkar dares to ditch even more of the Hindi film stereotyped ingredients. The film is a brave (albeit flawed) effort, certainly worth a watch.

Before the Rains (2007)

Rains and Dust

[6/10 · 18 May 2008]

I had to hunt down where this film was playing - it was 70 miles away and I took a road trip to go catch it. The reviews have been so good, it is made by Sivan, has Nandita Das AND Rahul Bose so it seemed well worth the effort. Unfortunately I feel really let down by the film. It seems specifically made to cater to a Western audience and is less Indian than Darjeeling Limited! Sivan tells an engaging enough tale that the 90+ minutes do not hang heavy on your hands but the characters are not well etched at all. I went in expecting an Indian Ink (Stoppard) or a Passage to India (EM Forster), at the very least I was hoping for a Heat and Dust, but this is lower than that Ruth Praver Jhabvala fare.

Nandita Das plays Sajani, a woman who works as maidservant to the Moores family headed by Linus Roache as Henry Moores. While the wife (Jennifer Ehle) and son are away, Henry gets into an adulterous love affair with Sajani. With the help of TK, a local village man who is English educated, Henry is trying to build a road to improve the spice trade. Sajani is married to a brutish fellow, he does find out and all hell breaks loose. There is the obligatory tragic ending but you watch it from the outside with clinical detachment. The white man is a spineless fellow, the white woman a large hearted up-standing woman (like the white women in Lagaan, RDB).

Nandita Das has a meaningless role that she cannot sink her teeth into, Rahul Bose is equally wasted in the role of a man who is neither fish nor fowl, but caught between two cultures. So much could have been made of this character. Linus Roach plays the gutless white man exceedingly well, you hate him and yet you also know where he is coming from. Jennifer Ehle is wonderful in a small role as the woman full of empathy.

What Sivan does best is showcase the canvas, the photography is absolutely stunning. The locales are full of magic and every shimmering dew drop, the frog jumping into the pond, the mist rising from the tree tops, is all magically captured by his lens. Where he loses out is in etching the characters better, and having more to the story itself. This is a thin tale. He also fails at extracting the best from his stellar cast. Western audiences will love this tale of "forbidden love" - parts of it more graphically shown than we are used to seeing, the spineless British man, the Indian man learning the gentleman's game from the gentleman Henry, and in fact out-gentlemaning Henry in the end. I am sure they will also find most interesting some of the bizarre and arcane rituals that the "tribals' were practicing! I am disappointed because this one could have been so much more.

Race (I) (2008)

Race away as fast as you can!

[3/10 · 10 May 2008]

I have thankfully dumped the RAM and this film is out of my memory banks. It was truly awful. I will get flak for this, but I think for all its flaws, clichés and silliness, Dhoom 2 was a better film than Race. Even Aish and Bipasha in their tiny clothes cannot compare to what these women were wearing. I'd rather not have plot twists that are stupid and about as twisted as a straw, where the hero is killed off in the first hour and so on and so forth, where cars drive on two wheels as though they are doggies getting ready to do their business at a lamp-post. It is easier to swallow Hritik shooting out of a sewer with his clothes changed and hair style intact! Why? Because I do not expect some masterpiece of acting from that bunch. Then you have Saif and Akshaye and they deliver a Race. I have new found respect for Dhoom 2 ;-) And do not talk about the music - Kiss me kiss me, touch me touch me; move your body like a snake charmer; and other stuff in that vein. To match these atrocious lyrics the women all gyrated as though on a potter's wheel and wore super tiny slutty clothes. Supposedly there were carnal moments in the film - not as far as I could tell. But I saw lots of tacky moments. This has to be the most wannabe film I have seen in a while. Why Saif why? Akshaye - Yeh Tumhe Kya Ho Gaya Hai? As for Anil Kapoor - as they say phirst impreson iz lasht impreson, and phirst impreson waz bad.

Iron Man (2008)

Righteous Flight!

[9/10 · 8 May 2008]

Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is a modern day DaVinci, tinkering with his gadgets while his weapons company happily builds and supplies the most modern and devastating of killing machines to the highest bidder. And he is a playboy to boot, ignoring the ever faithful Pepper Potts (Gwenyth Paltrow), and flitting from babe to babe. Then the unthinkable happens - he is shot up with shrapnel, kidnapped, and confronted with the cost of his company's business ventures. He needs a battery powered magnetic device in his chest to keep the shrapnel from entering his heart and is forced by his kidnappers to build a destruction device. But what emerges is a breathtaking Iron Man!! Of course there are whys and buts when he gets back. And since he is a Marvel comics character he has to undo all the wrong his company had been doing. There is a baddie who is bigger than the Iron man. Many breathtaking flights and shoot-ups later, good does triumphs over evil and all is well with the world!

Iron Man works because of Robert Downey Jr. He injects just the right amount of wryness, urbanity and mischief into the role to make the Iron man much more than a mere superhero. Gwenyth is decent in a small and undetailed role. Jeff Bridges is very great in a larger than life role. After many a superhero film that failed to click we finally have a worthy successor to Batman Begins. Yet another superhero has arrived - welcome!

Tashan (2008)

Trash(y) 'Un? NOT! (revised review)

[7/10 · 2 May 2008]

If there was any doubt after Dhoom 2 that Yash Raj films was in a steep downward spiral, that has now been removed. Tashan is as low as it can get. IMDb does not allow rating lower than 1 - otherwise I suspect this one would be in the negative column.

The story/plot - the threadbare plot boasts of a couple of twists that are laughable, and in fact it is all ishtyle (if you think tacky is the new ishtyle) and lacks any substance whatsoever. If there ever was supposed to be any connection between the events unfolding on screen (why eggzactly was Bhaiyyaji learning Einglis?), it was unclear and to tell you the truth I did not care! The dialogs were nightmarish - even Bhiayyaji's Hinglish became painful and incoherent as Anil Kapoor valiantly tried to stay in the mode.

The acting - oh well, who cares, it was all about ishtyle anyway. So let us just discuss that. Bhaiyyji (Anil Kapoor) had a certain ishtyle as the villain of old tradishun, Akki was the usual Ishtyle of the tasteless Tradishun (that was actually the only effective ishtyle in this film), Saif had the pathetic Ishtyle of a "cool dude" who sports a droopy mustache (now how many cool dudes can do that?), and Kareena had the size zero figure ishtyle - sadly the size zero removed all the b (as in booty) from her assets - minus boobs and butt she was almost androgynous. Oh, I should mention that none of these Ishtylish folks actually acted.

The music was ONLY thing that was worth mention in this film. Songs are catchy, and the picturization of Dil Dance Maare was interesting. For the rest - the story was unhappily chugging along when BOOM there was an unconnected song and dance routine.

The last 20 minutes took the film to a new nadir, unimaginable depths of dross. I HOPE AND PRAY THAT THIS FILM BOMBS. I have nothing against the studio or the cast (in fact I quite like Saif and Kareena), but if this film works then action movies will never be the same again and I will have to stop watching Hindi cinema that is action oriented. Seems a bit harsh but my mind is still reeling from the fact that hundreds of men with machine guns could not take out 3 people, these hundreds miraculously lost their guns, then there was hand to hand combat of the martial arts kind, there was a flame thrower, and it all culminated in a very big water hose and a jet ski doing a dry run! I thought Hritik's shooting out of the gutter act was bad and now I have been proved so completely wrong.

Trashun is one pathetic piece of trash that needs to be swept out and sent to a landfill immediately. I CANNOT BELIEVE I WROTE THAT!!!

I had the good fortune to view this one again on DVD - I humbly wish to revise my opinion.

We have a film that is truly unique in concept, shows small time people realistically, and even does a pretty good job of showing their ambitions and yearning to be "superior" - just like Jarj Bus! There is the excitement of a heist or sorts, chases galore, a pretend romance, and a real one that started during childhood (Devdas anyone?), a baddie villain, and cop who is sort of villainous, and lots and lots of action. Add to this the fact that we have one of the best roles ever done by a major superstar - yes Akshay Kumar. Kya entry Thi Aur Kya finish! We have a heroine who looks great and is full of guts and gumption - she will avenge the wrongs done to her family and she needs no one to help her do that, and she will put scruples aside just like a man! We have 3 lead men and the most amazingly different item song in Dil Dance Maare. What went wrong? My initial take on the film was that it was complete Bakwaas (watching films online does NOT help). But it was still strangely attractive to me and I broke down and got the DVD. Wah Bhai Wah. Music rocks, Akshay delivers his life's best acting, Kareena looks yummy (except in that size zero bikini), Saif is adequate. Anil Kapoor is one negative - he speaks Bhaiyya speak well early on, but gets totally incoherent as the film proceeds, and I think the audience was not ready for the spoof filled action sequences.

This is one film that deserves a look - for Akshay, for Kareena, for Dil Dance Maare, and Falak Tak (magical moments on screen) and for the streets of Kanpur and Akshay's entry. The best performance by any lead actor this year. You can fast forward Chaliya and Dil Haara but the rest is very very watchable. I hope the makers do not take the film's failure as a huge negative signal - Tashan was ahead of its time and will end up as a cult film of sorts.

1971 (2007)

Unsung heroes

[8/10 · 1 May 2008]

Amrit Sagar has crafted 1971 straight from the heart. It is the story of about 50 POWs captured by Pakistan and never released despite a prisoner exchange after the 1971 war. The tale is told from the perspective of the POWs and is a story of the escape attempt made by 6 of them so that the truth can be revealed to India and to the world. The events shown in the film may never have happened, but the question of these unaccounted for soldiers persists and is sufficient motivation for this rousing tale.

Manoj Bajpai plays Major Suraj Singh of the Rajputana rifles in a role that was tailor made for his excellent histrionic abilities. He has a loyal cohort of soldiers who will lay their life down for him. Upon discovering that they have been moved from prison to a new camp to escape detection by a Red Cross delegation, the gang plans a daring escape. The events that unfold will keep you on the edge of your seat. Bravery, self-sacrifice, extreme bravado and even foolhardiness come into play as the small band tries to escape through the countryside and high altitude snow-covered passes. This part of the tale stirs up the blood but the expected ending (the fate of these soldiers is still unknown in real life) is a bit of a downer. The Pakistani military is also realistically shown to be a mix of the usual rabid, pragmatic, patriotic and intelligent soldiers. Deepak Dobriyal shines as one of the soldiers but no one turns in a bad performance and the film is of very high quality.

In my opinion the best war film ever is still Chetan Anand's Haqeekat, but 1971 comes close in realism, quality, and the ability to tug at emotions. A must watch.

U Me Aur Hum (2008)

Marital advice - lite!

[5/10 · 18 April 2008]

A story with a message - BUT the message is simplistically simple, the love story is INSPIRED by a few films (Notebook, 50 first dates etc.) and banal, and the dialogs are horrendous. I think a Kajol or Ajay fan can see it (I did). Ajay made this one so it feels exactly like the summary he wrote for IMDb – and that summary was worse than a grade school summary of a book or film. Even the tag line is lifted from the amazing Painted Veil. Unfortunately none of the quality of that marital strife film rubs off on U Me Aur Hum.

I really like Kajol, and thought she looked very good in the first half of K3G (a film I quite dislike) but then they choose to make her haggard in the second half and she has kept that look. What is with all that dark dark eye makeup? Does she want to become the Rekha of her time? There were a few moments when she looked great, but most of the time she was OTT with white lipstick and big black mascara. Ajay just looked dour most of the time and it did not help that the extreme closeup photography enhanced every blackhead, every pore, every wrinkle in the faces of the couple.

A couple of scenes engaged me, but the dialogs were bad beyond belief. The kid has to be named with an F, so F U dash dash E R is a great name? A long winded dialog about 'cutting the arm off' was so stupid I thought at first that I didn't get some profound statement that was being made. Ajay was great in HDDCS - he would say "You know something? Never mind!" and I loved him for that. But this is carrying a great dialog to silly extremes (repeated 100 times in UMAH) without the catch line, which was NEVER MIND and suited the character of Vanraj!

I can hum Dil Dhakda hai - so maybe one song was OK. But the lyrics for all the songs were horrific – here is a sample of lyrics from Dhakda hai! Dil laaya hoon, tang do khunti pe, sapnon mein aajaana, raat ko hoon duty pe!! That Phatte number was simply atrocious in lyrics, melody and choreography. The Saiyyan song - that was the most inappropriate insertion of a song into a situation EVER!

In summary, U Me Aur Hum is a most banal film. With a silly bottom line - if you love you wife/(mother/father) do not send them to an institution when they get Alzheimers or start failing. Forget the fact that most people cannot send them to that 5 star type facility she went to, and for others sending them to any kind of facility is not a financial option. The tragedy of the disease was never really explored was it? For that we still have to look to Maine Gandhi ko Nahin Maara.

As for the marital advice - I've seen better from Dear Abby.

Mithya (2008)

Johnny Gaddaar it ain't!

[7/10 · 16 April 2008]

I compare Johnny Gaddaar(JG) and Mithya thus: Neha Dhupia and Rimi Sen were equal in their characters and how they engaged. Then Mithya had Suhasini Mulay as the mother while JG had Rasika Joshi - Mulay was better than Joshi. But JG had the ace in the hole Ashwini Khalsekar while Mithya had that woman who played the wife - round goes to Khalsekar - she was brilliant in JG. The other cast - Ranvir was better than Neil by quite a bit, but I will take Dharam over Naseer Bhai this time, and the rest of the gang was much much better in JG.

JG had rocking music, I do not recall if Mithya had much of anything - round to JG. JG also had better dialogs, better situations. Even though both were howdunits and not whodunits, JG never lost the plot and stayed consistently within the genre in a most engaging way. Mithya veered from black comedy, to family drama, to tragedy to a philosophical treatise. The consistent and relentless nature of JG was a huge plus.

Now comes the plot/story itself. Both films drew heavily on action/thriller cinema of the 60s and 70s. But JG was most innovative in the plot as it also was going for a pulp fiction kind of feel. Mithya took the story of Chandra Barot's Don, and percolated it through many different genres to prepare this pastiche. I found it decent, but in the end unengaging and a little confused. JG is worth many a repeat watch, this one ain't. I am sorry to see this film do better than JG at the box office - JG was the winner IMHO.

Khakee (2004)

Well done Mr. Santoshi!

[8/10 · 13 April 2008]

I love Rajkumar Santoshi's Andaz Apna Apna - it is my favorite comedy. But I have not found a lot to like in what I saw of Hall Bol and all of Legend of Bhagat Singh. I finally saw Khakee and found it quite riveting. It was a taut action packed thriller, smart, and with a couple of decent twists - kind of what RACE might have wanted to be. But as it lacked cheapness - be it in the innuendo or the slutty female quotient, I found much to like here. In fact the film boasted of a fine performance from Amitabh, Akki was decent, Ajay was very good - after a long time I saw him in a convincing role that he played extremely well. Aish was OK - a bit weak IMO, except in the last 5 or so minutes. I think she could not decide how to act in the film - the innocent or the siren. Tusshar was OK, the rest of the supporting cast was excellent including Atul Kulkarni, Tanuja and Jaya Prada. The film did not need any songs at all. Mind you I did not mind the relief they provided from the tension that was escalating in the film, but they were NOT needed and were not that great.

Yes it was the same old story of corruption at the highest levels, but it was revealed slowly and the film did not beat it to death. The atmosphere or danger and menace was well developed and the action sequences were quite realistic.

Kala Pani (1958)

You have to love Madhubala!

[8/10 · 7 April 2008]

And Dev and Nalini Jaywant. This was a classic tale of a young man who discovers his father has been sentenced to life imprisonment (Kala Pani) for a murder he did not commit, and vows to get justice for his family. There is a mysterious murderer, a secret that has been hidden for 15 years, a conniving lawyer, a self-less (most Chandramukhi like, in fact better than Vyjayanthi) prostitute, a newspaper reporter (a beautiful and talented woman in the 1950s? GASP!) who falls for our hero, and their quest for the truth. I loved this story. Madhubala as the reporter and Nalini Jaywant as the fallen woman were excellent. Dev was Dev - irrepressible and charming as hell. There was a trio of comedians - but Mukri as the Shayar and Agha as the hotel waiter were never slapstick, rather they were necessary to move the story along. Music was soulful - Sachin Burman created some great tunes. Notable were Achcha ji main Haari Chalo Maan Jaao Naa, Hum Bekhudi Mein Tumko Pukare Chale Gaye, Nazar Laagi Raja tore bangle par. This one is worth watching and keeping. Navketan pictures (Dev Anand production) knew how to make good films.

Namastey London (2007)

These duffer dubbed actors!

[6/10 · 31 March 2008]

This film was supposed to be a balanced take on the NRI. But it was as silly as any other film that has showed NRIs in a bad light. Katrina Kaif plays Jazz, a British born white-wannabe. Her voice is dubbed and the Hindi is spoken with a strange Martian accent, the English in a FOB faux American accent. Neither language is enunciated clearly and I was left with the feeling that maybe she was deaf person who had just learnt to speak - kind of like Marlee Matlin in Children of a Lesser God! Akshay Kumar was his usual annoying self, here through no fault of his own but rather due to very poor writing he ends up as a pretend Punjabi from Hicksville. When he laughs he is OK, but when he cries you want to cry in pain from the hideous acting job. His behavior is irrational - if he wants Jazz to love him for himself then why does he speak to her in English as he is leaving? And that is what makes her change her mind? So this is yet another vilification of the NRIs as ridiculous, vain, self-centered, shallow people! Upen Patel was most pathetic, Rishi Kapoor did a decent job, rest of the cast kind of muddled along. Music was strangely unappealing to me. And the members of the cast that played the Britishers were atrocious - ruling the heap was the Charlie Brown fellow. If the NRIs were somewhat spared the Brits were soundly vilified and slammed as religious bigots and racists. 1947 is long gone guys, it is time to move along!

Parwana (1971)

A fine Howdunit!

[8/10 · 30 March 2008]

I may have seen this film ages ago but seeing clips in Johnny Gaddaar reminded me that I needed to revisit the film. The film was an early career venture for Navin Nischol and Amitabh. Navin was cute, romanced the girl (Yogita Bali - was she a bit squint eyed?), got all the song numbers, and Big B played the sensitive introverted artist who secretly loves the girl but cannot have her. But seeing her with Navin twists the knife of jealousy deeper and deeper in until he decides that all is fair in love and war and declares a most insidious war. Yogita was OK, Om Prakash was a complete natural as ever, and Shotgun Sinha over-acted like hell in a cameo court scene. There was an obligatory item number from Helen. Oh - Kaifi Azmi wrote the lyrics and they were mostly mundane. Two songs were decent - Yun Na Sharma, Phaila De Apni Gori Gori Baahen and Simti Si Sharmai Si Kis Duniya Se tum Aayi ho.

The film had a very B-grade feel to it but the plot was extremely innovative - no wonder Sriram Raghavan got inspired! Navin Nischol was like a lost kid and it was hard to get too involved in the lovers played by him and Yogita. Amitabh was intense all the way through and had flashes of brilliance in the film. But it was the 70s and his negative role had to have redemption at the end. There might have been some problem with the way the character of Kumar developed because while the film was most interesting and engaging throughout I felt a clinical detachment from the players as I watched it. I think this was not very much like Jewel Thief and Johnny Mera Naam, instead of a whodunit suspenseful tale this was a Howdunit and very unique for its time. Worth a watch for the plot and for seeing the beginnings of Big B.

Chupke Chupke (1975)

A botanical farce!

[8/10 · 28 March 2008]

The wikipedia defines FARCE thus: A farce is a comedy written for the stage or film which aims to entertain the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humor of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include sexual innuendo and word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases, culminating in an ending which often involves an elaborate chase scene.

Was it Hrishi Da's intention to create a farce in Chupke Chupke? The situation was unlikely, the set-up improbable, there was mistaken identity, lots of verbal humor in many different languages, there was sexual innuendo and some quite explicit goings on for a Hrishikesh film. In fact except for the chase seen all other elements were in place.

A few things that I found particularly hilarious: 1. The fixation on the Jeeja Saali relationship.

2. The hilarious use of Botany - and particularly Corolla! LOL! Jaya wanted the Botany Prof to teach her about the corolla, and it took him all night to study that up! And everyone would walk about with a flower in their hand.

3. The students who were most fascinated by corollas and by the handsome professor were ALL women. Was this Hrishi Da's wink wink nudge nudge at Botany being a pursuit for women? In fact a classy British store has a women's cardigan line called BOTANY! 4. Dharm was simply awesome. "Main jab ghabra jaata hoon to haklaata hoon, aur haklaata hoon to Urdu bolne lagta hoon!' His comic timing was perfect.

5. Amitabh was excellent too - his over-hyped nervous impersonator who studies up corollas all night and then starts off in a booming Shakespearean mode "There are ten types of.." only to be cut off by Jaya as she tell him she studied that part already! The film ended on a slightly unsatisfactory note but I don't know how else it could have culminated. All in all I gave it a 8/10, a lot of laughs and fine acting by the lead due. The ladies did very well too.

My Brother... Nikhil (2005)

A sister's love

[8/10 · 4 March 2008]

MBN was a simple straight forward from the heart film about the love between siblings - told from the POV of Anu (Juhi Chawla) whose state champion swimmer brother Nikhil (Sanjay Suri) becomes HIV positive. Yes there was the usual over-emotionalism associated with a dying loved one, but still this was a rather restrained film. I liked Lillette Dubey in the role of the mother who loves her son but also her husband, and the conflict within and without her that causes the parents to abandon Nikhil is well portrayed. Victor Bannerjee was believable for me as the hardliner father whose dreams are shattered and who cannot face the shame of having a son with "that disease". I think there were a few places where MBN strayed from the message a tiny bit. It was brave to show that Nikhil had a boy friend - the logical conclusion would be that the HIV infection came from this association, but then the BF is shown to not be +ve. This "excuses" the homosexuality from any "blame". From that point on, the association between Nihkil and his BF is most underplayed to further remove that factor from the equation. Perhaps the point was that it does not matter how it happens, but once it does then do not shun these people. However, I felt that maybe a stronger message could have come from the homosexual nature of their relationship being responsible.

The acting was very good all around, special honors go to Juhi for an excellent performance. Sanjay Suri was competent throughout, and then excellent in the end moments. Music was real and emotional. A nice effort by Onir.