Friday, September 26, 2008

Mumbai Meri jaan: deserves applause!



I was surprised to find that this movie has been written about quite emphatically on IMDB. I thought I may be one of the very few who loved it (as it doesn't fall in the commercial bracket)...for the simplicity and honesty with which it has been made.

All the characters in the movie are very well thought about. The main character of the movie has to be Paresh Rawal's and believe me, he is in his finest touch here! This has to be rated as one of his best, falling only next to Hera Pheri... Let it be his dialogue delivery or his portrayal of an apathetic constable who has surrendered to the ways of life, he has done it so beautifully that I think he deserves a national award for it!
His dialogues although funny, reflect the point of view of a common man so very well. The one that I cannot forget is when he says, "meri tho zindagi guzar gayi, tum apni jawani mein kuch alag karneka sochogey ke nahi"... with the kind of honesty that only he can express...

KK's character has been explored very well too. The sequence where he finds fault in Muslims even when they listen to "desh bhakti" song reveals how deep rooted and how blind the hatred can get. (I could relate to that dialogue really well. It actually made me laugh...I've heard my dad say that so many times...Only if I can make him watch this movie..!)

The way Soha's plight (a reporter in the shoes of a common-man) has been portrayed is really praise worthy. It shows the insensitivity of our media and to what extent they can go in the name of TRP.
Madhavan does well as a common man who 'thinks' he can bring about a difference...
And of course, Irfan Khan is excellent in the role of a poor tamilian 'lost' in Mumbai!
Although there are so many characters in the movie, you'll never once feel that any of them are a misfit. They all have been thoroughly explored.

There hasn't been such a good movie made in Bollywood for a long time with such thorough characterization of true to life characters. This movie is one of the latest classics and I think every Indian should watch it. Although Mumbaikars would instantly feel at home, it is relevant to the rest of the country as well and every Indian will be able to relate to it. And with all the bomb blasts around us, the timing of the movie has been immaculate.

It is one of those movies that will stay with you long enough after you have left the theater. And the way it ends, you can only smile about it. And if you are as touched as I am, you wouldn't mind standing and applauding for it either.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Sarkar Raj: almost a let down...



Sarkar, the first one in the series didn't impress me much. So I wasn't expecting this one to be any better. And I was almost proven right...

The first half was a major let down. I got an impression that Ramu was yet to get out of Aag's hangover. The movie was lacking in so many ways...overly loud background score, hollow characters, badly written screenplay, unconvincing acting(by Abhishek) and poor direction!
I wonder what the personal conversations between Abhishek and Aishwarya were supposed to be for! There was hardly any chemistry there... it was as though she was speaking to a robot who has no feelings but just pre-fed data in its memory, fitted with a poor processor, pausing to answer every time she says something to him!

And the background score 'deserves' a special mention! It was so gaudy, it looked as if it was competing hard with the plot in trying to grab the audience's attention! After every dialog you hear the background score blasting out of no where , trying to make sure you do not think of what the dialogue was supposed to mean!

That was the first half... But then, it does end on a promising note...And that's when I think the movie actually starts...

The second half does live up to the promise, though.
Ramu pulls off a stunt that I don't think many other director's would have dared to. That's when you finally realize that you are watching RGV's movie - Bollywood's Martin Scorsese - who is supposed to be a master in this genre. And that's when you know why he is considered a master.

I feel he has been let down by Abhishek. He just doesn't live up to the standards he set in Guru. Here his character is so much like Ajay Devgan's in Company and Abhishek doesn't even come halfway close when it comes to performance. He seems lacking in most of the departments, be it looks, dressing, body language or dialogue delivery. He is required to portray a character who knows what he is doing and is in control of the proceedings. He isn't wee bit convincing and he looks anything but in control!

But Amitabh is just the opposite... he blows you over with his performance. He just plays it to perfection. Less said the better. It needs to be seen to be believed. His fans are going to cherish this role of his. And if at all the movie goes on to be a hit, it'll only be because of him. He shows he is still THE Sarkar when it comes to acting! He is the only saving grace. (All those protests against him in Mumbai might just come to a halt after this convincing act of his for the goodwill of Maharastra! ;-) )

Aishwarya doesn't have much to do. But what ever little requires to be done, she does it well. She still looks pretty good, BTW!
But the way her character takes shape in the second half wasn't convincing. It was obvious that it was done just to have her in the forthcoming movies in the series.

Ramu does go wrong again... but it must be admitted that he finally manages to get back his touch, although late in the movie. He had a promising plot to play with, which could have been portrayed way better.
The last half hour which is by far the best part of the movie, he sort of makes up for it... but it might just be little late....or who knows...it might save the movie for him as well!

Monday, January 7, 2008

Sydney Test: Indian team will be remembered for their cricketing spirit




All is fair in love and war they say. If not war, this poor display of sportsmanship by the Australians can probably be attributed to love…love for the record of highest consecutive wins!

This isn’t the kind of Cricket expected from the world’s best team and definitely not the kind of Cricket we are used to watching in the Border-Gavaskar series, which has given the world some of the most hard-fought Test matches of highest quality in recent times.

That said I’m not sure to what extent the Australian players need to be blamed. Most of the players in world Cricket do appeal wrongly in the heat of the situation. And I guess the Australians were more excited this time around as they were on their way to equal the previous record of 16 consecutive wins.
And very few players in world Cricket when they have nicked the ball walk without waiting for umpire’s decision. Even some of our most senior players don’t do so.
So I don’t think the Australians can entirely be blamed for it…although I do agree they didn’t play with the right spirit and they got away with it quite easily.

By all means it is the umpires' responsibility to make sure that they don’t give in to the emotions of the players and make sure the decisions given are fair. But in this case, the decisions were anything but fair, most of them biased in favor of Australia.
Seems they were trying to rule out any possibility of an Indian win or even a draw…and looked to make sure Australia wins.
They showed height of indifference when Clark/Pointing was consulted on whether the catch was taken rather than referring it to the third umpire… Of course, the limits were already crossed when even the third umpire had erred the first day!

I think India should play the remaining matches only if the offending umpires are fired for the rest of the series. And they should present a strong case in front of the ICC to declare the match unofficial.

On the other hand, it was really heartening to see India come back so strongly and dominate the match to a good extent after such a bad performance in the first test.
The class of Laxman, the fluency of Ganguly, the maturity of Sachin and the genius of Anil Kumble… it was all so good to watch.
Indians thoroughly deserved to win this one… and by no standard did they deserve to lose!
It was extremely disappointing to see them lose… and very sad to see Kumble walk back helplessly in the end after having put in such a gallant performance with the bat.

Overall, Indians definitely showed great character. The easiest thing for them would have been to walk out of the match with all those decisions going against them. But they ignored all that and still showed a spirited display and almost saved the match…
Australians on the other hand showed poor cricketing spirit overall, and by filing a case against Harbhajan, they have proved to be poor hosts as well.

Sydney test will be remembered for all the wrong reasons, and Indian team I’m sure will be remembered as the one having played with the true spirit!