Tag Archives: Bollywood

Drishyam (2015)

Image August 11, 2015 jcisnowjs 1 Comment

: Drishyam (2015)

Story of a film is its first Hero, and movies in which this first hero is strong; they are a winner. Drishyam is one such movie. It has a very good and story line, which will grasp your every thought and make you wonder; what will happen next.

This is a story where you know the crime; you know the person who has committed it; you know the victim; you know everything except what will happen next. Is it possible to cover a crime so cleverly? That too by a person who can hardly be considered a literate? Moreover, hide a crime co efficiently that a hard-hitting IG of Police couldn’t bring the culprit to justice?

Impressive.

But, wait. Did I say story is Hero here? But this story is taken/inspired from someone else. Drishyam, 2015 Hindi Movie is based on 2013, Mohanlal starer, Malyalam movie, with the same name.

Wait, that’s not all.

Even that story is inspired by a 2005 Novel by Keigo Higashino, named ‘The Devotion Of Suspect X‘.

Great. So this novel was the real hero.

Leaving all the inspiration behind, Drishyam, 2015 movie is directed by Nishikant kamat; and stars Ajay Devgan and Tabu in the lead roles. Shriya Saran and Rajat Kapoor plays important supporting cast.

I don’t want to reveal much of the story, just that Ajay Devgan who was living peacefully with his wife Shriya and two girls; falls into a crime trap to protect his family; while Tabu is the one who is fighting to bring justice to the killers of his only son. She is a mother who has lost his kid and don’t even know how or why; and she is the IG of Police who has to uncover the mystery of this crime.

Both the lead actors, Ajay and Tabu has performed excellently. Tabu is always a treat to watch and Ajay puts fiery depth in his roles where he has to show more from his eyes and not his muscles.

There are although some silly little-little moments which make you just say, ‘why did you just ruin this movie’?

Ajay Devgan is shown as a calm and composed person, throughout the movie. Problem is one fine day you come to your home and see your family has killed a young boy, and still you are calm. That is too much. There was no change of expression. No fear in Ajay’s eyes. He started plotting to cover the crime from the very moment he see it.

Tabu is introduced as a tough Police woman till she realize that her only son might be dead. Understandable, she is a mother who has lost her son, and she shows that emotion beautifully. Problem is she never comes back. From there on she is just shown clinging to her husband Rajat Kapoor. Even when she is interrogating Ajay’s family, and almost beating them to death; she is not that fiery self. She didn’t lose control even when she came to know for sure that her son is murdered by the person standing right in front of her.

What I missed was some face to face conflict between Ajay and Tabu. This kind of never happened. She never confronts Ajay directly much. She did plead to his wife, relating to her as a mother. This was weak and doesn’t go well with her character. Overall it felt like that screenplay writer forgot that they wanted Tabu’s character to be a strong and tough woman.

It was a good movie to watch. Afterall you rarely see this kind of fast paced thrillers in Indian cinema. My opinion – do watch it, but if you have watched Mohanlal starer, Drishyam, than give this one a break.

Movies

Tanu Weds Manu Returns

Image May 26, 2015 jcisnowjs Leave a comment

“Kangana tera swagger Lakh ka re”….. Looks like it’s that time when Bollywood heroines have decided to not only play strong female lead roles but also turn them into blockbusters; be it Anushka’s ‘NH10’, or ‘Piku’ from Deepika, and now the masterpiece by Kangana in ‘Tanu Weds Manu Returns‘.

Big cheers for the girls!!!!

Tanu Weds Manu Returns, is a comedy drama sequel of 2011’s ‘Tanu Weds Manu’, directed by Anand L. Rai. He has earlier directed the first film too along with highly appreciated ‘Raanjhanaa’. This one is also one of his best work.

Tanu Weds Manu Returns (TWMR), stars Kangana and Madhavan in lead roles. Other characters who have continued their roles from the original, are, Jimmy Shergill as Raja Awasthi, Pappi Ji played by Deepak Dobriyal, and, Payal played by Swara Bhaskar. New characters introduced in the sequel includes Zeeshan Ayub as chintu, and Rajesh Sharma as Datto’s brother.

Kangana has played two roles in this movie, one is of Tanuja(Tanu) Trivedi, a feisty Kanpur girl who is appropriately called batman by neighborhood, now married to a soft-spoken doctor from London.

Another role is of Datto (Kusum), who is an equally fiery girl from Jhajjar, Haryana; an athlete with a typical haryanvi accent and determination to do something to be proud of.

Story starts where most of the Bollywood stories ends, that is, marriage. It’s been 4 years since Tanu and Manu get married to each other and now living their boring life in London. It becomes so hard for Tanu to deal with her monotonous life that she decides to leave her husband in a mental asylum and come back to Kanpur, her hometown. Divorce proceedings starts and so start Tanu’s involvement with her ex lovers from rickshaw puller deepak to Raja Awasthi.

While Tanu is busy meeting his exes, Manu meets second Tanu – Datto. A haryanvi athlete who looks like Tanu, except for her big teeth, short hair and full on jhajjar personality. With Datto around, Manu started reliving his days when he had fallen in love with Tanu, only to realize that he actually loves Datto and wants to marry her. What happens next? Well, watch the movie, believe me you will not get disappointed.

What makes this film stand out is its perfect star cast. Everyone fits so perfectly in every role that you can not imagine anyone else. Everyone has acted so beautifully that you can not think of them outside their characters, ever. Specially Pappi Ji. Deepak Dobriyal has made Pappi ji a legend with his baraati dance and apt one liners. He is the perfect side kick. Kudos to that person who have written Pappi’s dialogues. He was the most funny and lovable character of the movie.

Same goes for Chintu, who was a new entry in TWMR. One of the best dialogue of the film comes from his mouth, when he tell Jimmy that he is a shoulder for girls to cry on and later be used. Jimmy Shergill has always proved his mantle in every film of his, here however he didn’t have much to do. But, he always look stylish and handsome to me. Swara bhaskar has also done justice with her role. I really liked the scene where she mimics Datto. All these theater artists, they are like a boon to Indian cinema.

Madhavan is madhavan, a gold hearted, good-looking, simple, plain, and soft-spoken common man, who wants to live a simple life. He has portrayed this character with such an ease that it looks like piece of cake. He is astonishing in his dialogue delivery and more so when he is expressing himself without saying anything.

Coming to the soul of this movie – Kangana. Just to give you an idea of what kind of performer she is, someone in the hall asked quietly to his neighbor, these two are the same girls? Same heroine?, referring to Tanu and Datto. She has played two totally different characters so distinctively that you forgot that she is the same person. They are totally different. From the walk to talk. Just to be more filmy, both have a different swagger. Kangana is a marvelous actress. She is talented, beautiful and a risk taker. She is what we need, and Indian film industry should respect this talent.

It’s not like that this film has no flaws. Most annoying was the introductory scene from mental asylum. Seriously, how can that be possible? Film’s climax is also a bit cringe worthy. It has more to do with our society which treat marriages as ‘7 janam ka rishtaa’, forever kind of things. It looked like in the end, filmmakers did not want to take the risk.

But, beauty of this movie is that you will forget about all these small glitches in the mayhem of natural performances, fast paced storyline and apt dialogues. One of my best scene from the movie was when Tanu disrespect Datto for her looks and small town mannerism; and Datto replies back with pride telling her that she is a state level athlete who is taken admission on her merit basis and she is a self-made girl and proud of it.

Overall, watch this movie because it’s very rare that you will see effortless beauty of every actor synchronized together in a single movie. Watch it for its actors. Watch it for Kangana.

You are The Queen Kangana(jcisnowjs.wordpress.com)

Life

Killing ‘Nirbhaya’ Once Again

Image March 6, 2015 jcisnowjs Leave a comment

A feeble attempt by the Indian government to save tourism in India or just to prove that no matter who rules the government, its mindset is always the same – and that is to ban everything which raises questions.

By putting ban on ‘India’s Daughter‘ documentary which was based on the December, 2012 brutal rape of a medical student; Indian Government has once again raped and killed so many ‘Nirbhayas’, all over again. This government has snatched their right of freedom by muting their voice.

‘India’s Daughter’ is a documentary directed by ‘Leslee Udwin‘ for BBC. Film was based on the most historic and revolting incident happened in India in recent times – Rape of a girl.

Study suggests that every 20 minutes one rape takes place in India, then what was different about this rape.

Their was no difference. None. It was just a Rape. Just a Rape. Nothing new. Nothing new in India. Just another day. Just another girl.

A young girl who wanted to be a doctor, ‘Jyoti Singh‘, my namesake, who was returning around 8-9 pm with her friend, after watching a movie; took a bus; where 6 men (I don’t know whether to call them men, or monsters; will just call them rapists), rapists, raped her, beat her almost to death, and then throw her out of a moving bus along with her friend, to die in cold December night on Delhi‘s streets.

It was so brutal that her whole intestines were out of her body. She has bite marks all over her. She was beaten with iron rods and was gang raped with rapists taking turns in mutilating her.

It was then in 2012, when whole India cried and revolted for this brave girl; who despite of her trauma and serious medical conditions, detailed her ordeal to police to help them catch the culprits. She wanted justice and was served some partial judgment too, when court ordered death for 5 rapists, excluding one juvenile. She died. Her rapists are still alive and gloating.

What this documentary ‘India’s Daughter‘, has shown is a rapist, and his lawyer, saying what actually most of Indian Men still thinks – that, it is a Girl’s fault if she is Raped.

If a girl is out at night/evening, precisely after 6:30, or if she is with a male friend, or if she is a girl; she needs to be Raped and Killed….. so, she can learn a valuable lesson. A lesson that a defense lawyer very proudly says, that In great Indian culture, there is no place for women. A woman is like flower or diamond, and if diamond is on the road, dogs will take it. Another one says, if her daughter or sister will have premarital sex/love affair, he will burn her in front of whole family.

They don’t even flinch, while saying these things. I don’t flinch either.

If you are a woman brought up in India, you will realize that what they are saying is actually you have heard whole your life.

“Don’t go out. It’s evening now.”

“Who is calling you? Is it a male? You will not have phone anymore.”

“Why you have male friends? You are not supposed to have any male friends.”

“No skirts.”

“You want to watch a movie. Go with your husband, when you get married.”

“In our family, girls don’t go out on college trips.”

“Why you were talking to neighborhood boy?”

“We would prefer to kill you than marry you to your choice of husband.”

“You love someone. You are a slut.”

India is a patriarchal society, heavily. So much, that even the old generation women there thinks that all such thing are right. A girl should know her place, and her place is in kitchen only. Mindset of a society can not change in a single day, but there was a chance for the Indian Government to put forward a Rapists viewpoint and show to society, if you also think like him – then you are also a Rapist.

It does not matter if you have raped a woman or not, if you still think that all such statements are right, then you are a Rapist.

You have raped a woman of her freedom, of her right.

Her right of being a human being, just like you are.

She is a human, a person. She is not your property.

You can not question her.

You can not blame her for what you did to her.

You can not mute her.

You can not.

Because she is a person.

Stop your boys, not your girls. Make India a safe, not only for tourists, but for all.

What Kind of Government We Want?(jcisnowjs.wordpress.com)
India says it will act against BBC for airing banned film(thehimalayantimes.com)
BBC Documentary Nirbhaya India’s Daughter(kanthalaraghu.com)

Movies

Tuesday Talkies – Badlapur – Heroism Redefined

Image March 3, 2015 jcisnowjs Leave a comment

: Badlapur – Heroism Redefined

It’s rare to see a Bollywood movie which is full of all filmy masala and still goes way out of normal league to offer something fresh and praise worthy; Badlapur is one such delicacy.

Badlapur is an Indian crime based thriller movie, directed by Sriram Raghavan. This movie stars Varun Dhawan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the lead roles, while Huma Qureshi, Yami Gautam, Divya Datya, Vinay Pathak, and Radhika Apte play unforgettable supporting character roles in the movie.

Before I start talking about this movie, let me remind you that director Sriram Raghavan, has earlier given ‘Ek Hasina Thi‘, ‘Johny Gaddar‘, and ‘Agent Vinod‘. All these films were a treat to watch with their magnificent story telling and fast pace. Same I was expecting from Badlapur, and it did deliver, more than what was expected.

Story starts when Liak (Nawazuddin) and Harman (Vinay Pathak), while fleeing after robbing a bank, kill a mother and her son. Harman manages to evade police while Liak get arrested for robbery and murder. Raghu’s (Varun Dhawan) is shattered to pieces to learn that it was his wife and little boy who died in this freaky turn of events, his life is turned upside down; more so, as only one culprit is arrested. His life’s sole goal is now to search Harman and take his revenge. He started by hiring a private detective and then by taking matters in his own hands, by harassing and torturing Liak’s girlfriend, Jhimli. Liak however, tries every trick he has to get out of prison but fails. He completes his sentence in hope of finally getting out one day and taking his share of loot money from Harman, and living a happy life with Jhimli thereafter.

Now, if this has been any ordinary revenge story, Liak would have breakout from Jail and met Harman, where in the climax scene, Raghu would have killed both completing his revenge. But, no. It’s not at all an ordinary story.

Every scene is unpredictable and unprecedented. At the end you realize that revenge is left far behind and this movie has gone much deeper than mere vengeance. Instead it shows you how we humans change with every situation in our lives. There is no hero after all; and there is no villain.

We all are same. What defines us is our actions, our motives even when backed by a good intentions; no longer matters once you cross that fine line between morally correct and right justice.

High point of Badlapur are its characters, each well-defined; and the actors who have portrayed them so realistically. Every character be it small like a private detective or big like Liak, is written beautifully. Special mention to Radhika Apte for that one scene of losing her inhibitions. She has done it with such realism that it makes you shudder. Divya and Huma have done their role beautifully.

Varun has come out as a big winner with showcasing his vast range of emotions, going from a love struck, sweet husband and father, to a barbaric and brutal revenge seeking grown man. But, if there is anyone who has empowered himself as the King of acting through this film, it is Nawazuddin.

Nawazuddin is excellent as Liak. He is a liar, a petty thief, a crook, a cunning accomplice, and a killer; but still you like him. You feel for him. He has different shades to his character. He is a son to his mother, a lover to his girlfriend, a loyal friend to his friend, a joker within his circle, and a murderer for Raghu. In every such role, he is perfect. He looks the role he is playing. He is the one, who leaves an impact on you, even after the film is over. If not for anything else, you need to watch this movie for nawazuddin.

This movie, Badlapur, is extraordinary, because you will not realize when you start rooting for the villain, Liak. When you start hating actions of your Hero, Raghu. A line is crossed somewhere and now there is no difference, or rather, there is a change in paradigm. Roles are reversed.

This is when you want to clap for this new era of Indian Cinema. Cheers!!!

Reasons to watch the film Badlapur.(tanceweb.com)
Nawazuddin Siddiqui looking to ‘dance around tress’(freepressjournal.in)
Tuesday Talkies – Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania(jcisnowjs.wordpress.com)
Tuesday Talkies – Oculus(jcisnowjs.wordpress.com)
Tuesday Talkies – PK – Is it a Waste of Time?(jcisnowjs.wordpress.com)

Movies

Tuesday Talkies – Shamitabh

Image February 17, 2015 jcisnowjs Leave a comment

Amitabh Bachchan, who doesn’t know what a powerful artist he is…. Artist and not actor, because I think he is not merely an actor, he has proven himself to be much more than that. He is Art.

When you are making a movie to accentuate every aspect of this superstar; its bound to raise expectations to an overflowing level. But, alas, the movie ‘Shamitabh’ rests on a much below ground than is expected.

Shamitabh, is a drama Indian Film, which is a loose satire on Indian Film industry. This movie is written and directed by the talented, R. Balki, who has earlier made films like ‘Paa‘, ‘Cheeni Kum‘, and ‘English Vinglish‘; all near about close to masterpieces in themselves.

Shamitabh stars Amitabh Bachchan, Dhanush and Akshara Hassan in lead roles. As a matter of fact title of the movie – Shamitabh, is taken from lead actors names; SH from DhanuSH, and AMITABH from Amitabh Bachchan off-course; making it Shamitabh; which Dhanush cleverly explains in the movie as ‘sh..sh….. as in Silent Amitabh. Silent as in mute…. dumb; which is Dhanush, playing a dumb movie buff, whose sole objective is to become a movie star.

Lets delve into story of Shamitabh. Dhanush, is a mute, who wants to be a Hero. Despite his disability, he is positive that his talent is much extraordinary to be wasted in a small village, driving a local bus. Come first opportunity and he runs to Mumbai, the dream city for movie buffs. He gatecrashes studios, vanity vans of actors, and, every possible place where he could meet his favorite directors/producers. On one such attempt, he strikes a gold, when he comes across Akshara; an assistant director; who sees potential in his talent and tries to help him.

How can you become a Hero, when you cannot speak? Comes science and technology. Although the technological solution shown in this movie seems absurd at first, but you will easily ignore this feeling and move in with the flow of movie. Now, Dhanush can speak; but, he can speak only borrowed speech from someone else. After searching a lot for a perfect voice for Dhanush, they come across, one drunk homeless guy – Amitabh, who was also an unsuccessful struggling actor.

Contract is signed, and now, Dhanush is speaking in Amitabh’s voice. Whatever Amitabh speaks, comes out of Dhanush’s mouth. Dhanush is complete, his talent is complete. He even changes his name to ‘Shamitabh’, Silent Amitabh. Shamitabh rose above all and becomes a superstar. While Dhanush is riding the wave of success, his voice, Amitabh is in the background, treated as a valet to the superstar Shamitabh.

Ego game starts between the two. Amitabh of the belief that it is his voice which is the real power in Shamitabh’s success; while Dhanush believing that it his talent and his acting which is terrific on its own and voice of Amitabh is just an add-on to Shamitabh’s whole persona; and there is nothing more to it. Ego clashes; they fight; they demean each other; they repulse; and they go separate ways to figure out who the real Shamitabh is, actually.

Whole concept of this movie is excellent and unique, and with a star cast as powerful as this movie has; there is nothing topping it. It is the best recipe for a masterpiece movie. But, is it a masterpiece?

NO.

it is not. Reason being, when you are telling a story of two great Egos clashing against each other, you have to first make them great; you have to make them equally compelling forces. You have to give them equal space for growth and character development. Problem with this movie is that it is more of an Amitabh Bachchan’s movie than A Movie. Scale of affection is shifted to Amitabh’s way, by R. Balki, tilting whole movie’s direction towards shouting to everyone, how great of an actor, Amitabh Bachchan is.

Balki, you don’t have to scream. We know already.

There is an opening scene in the movie, where a young Dhanush (a child artist), enact a scene of his mother’s death. That scene is so powerful and so intense that you perceive adult Dhanush character having the same depth in his acting. But, when the time comes to showcase his acting, Balki, shows Dhanush in doing ‘Lifebuoy’ and ‘piddaly’. There is no scene as powerful as that one. Dhanush is a terrific actor and he has proved that he can act without saying a single word. If only there would be more of him in this movie.

Amitabh, as I have said in the beginning, need n introduction. He is an encyclopedia in acting. But, as too much of anything, degrade it’s value; so is the case with his presence in this movie. Balki’s fixation of keeping Amitabh in almost every scene possible has cost him making this film a phenomenon. Too many scenes of drunk Amitabh….. repetitive dialogues and references. Dull. 😦

Akshara is awesome. She has the looks and talent both, from her gifted parents, Kamal Hassan and Sarika. She has stood out in this movie on her own. She looks beautiful and elegant and portrays a strong character. All her scenes are wonderful; specially the ones with Dhanush alone, they are so funny and satire is bang on. Way to go girl!!!

Second half of Shamitabh, is terrible, dulling the movie. Editing is bogus. Direction is confusing and scenes are predictable and too long. Sometimes when you try to over simplify something; you confuse it and make it more complex. Balki has done the same with this movie. If only he could have thought of his audience as intelligent enough to grasp the essence of the film, without detailing every stupid scene for whole half hour; it could have been a better crisp yet critically magnificent film. Here to oversimplification …..