MADRAS CAFE : Movie Review

Madras Cafe is a sinewy and riveting espionage thriller that entertains without having to play to the gallery. The main highlight of this flick is that it draws upon actual events that are still fresh in the nation’s collective memory and crafts a compelling and fast-paced political drama. Heightened realism is a means to achieve a synthesis of fantasy and history in this deftly scripted semi-fictional account of the processes leading to Rajiv Gandhi's tragic assassination in 1991. There are no heroes and villains here as Shoojit Sircar is clearly not interested in turning the film into an oversimplified, hackneyed good versus evil yarn. Gritty, sombre and largely understated, Shoojit Sircar’s offering stands out in its purposefulness and honesty of intent. Yes, he weaves bits of fiction into historical developments, but for the most part, he tells the story as it is, eschewing the temptation to be diplomatic or deliberately abstract or apologetic. The deft mix of facts and fiction makes the movie a hugely satisfying experience. Shoojit Sircar takes a historical actuality and along with screenplay writers Somnath Dey and Shubendu Bhattacharya weaves a captivating and compelling screenplay around it. Madras Cafe exposes the culture of violence that every nation bears, in which the only people who suffer are the commoners who seek only peace and happiness from their lives. Madras Cafe is an undeniably impressive and well-thought out flick, that reveals a lot of lesser-known facts about the Sri Lankan War and the pathetic plight of the Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka during the 80s.

SCRIPT & SCREENPLAY                          :          The trenchant script, co-written by Somnath Dey and Shubendu Bhattacharya, attempts and succeeds in building the same spiral of pseudo-history that Oliver Stone built in "JFK". The story hinges on a conspiracy theory that links the assassination of a pacifist ex-Prime Minister to the machinations of giant corporations and foreign agencies out to destabilise the subcontinent. Movie also attempts a risky tightrope walk between staying true to recent geopolitical history and the need to serve up an imagined, dramatised spy story and succeeds on both counts. At no point does Madras Cafe appear to be in danger of losing its balance and plummeting into a void. Its muscles stem primarily from its steadfast eschewal of narrative conventions that are a part and parcel of spy thrillers. For one, the male protagonist is no superhero primed to perform acts of logic-defying bravado. The only ‘grand’ statement of intent that he is allowed to make is, “I will do it my way”. It turns out that it easier said than done for he is in a game that is controlled by forces and agencies that are far bigger than him.
Coming to the storyline, Madras Cafe starts with the protagonist Vikram Singh (John Abraham) in a shocking and unrecognisable state of a drunkard, who was once the special Indian RAW officer. Singh narrates the story of the horrific experience that he had undergone, after he was appointed by RAW Officials (Siddharth Basu as the RAW chief, Piyush Pandey as the Cabinet Secretary) to conduct covert operations in Sri Lanka shortly after the Indian Peace Keeping Force was forced to withdraw. The instructions given to him are to track down the activities of LTA Boss Anna Bhaskkaran (Ajay Ratnam).  Once in war zone, Vikram  reports to his superior Bala (Prakash Belawadi) and also bumps into London based war correspondent Jaya (Nargis Fakhri). What follows is Vikram's close encounter with gun-toting extremists who view themselves as revolutionaries and he finds himself on a ground where treachery is rife with danger lurking at every corner with violence erupting without any warning. Worst of all, in the shadows, it is difficult to tell friend from foe. 

STARCAST                                    :           Casting director of this movie i.e. Jogi  deserves applause for choosing the right actors as every actor seems to take a cue from the vast resources of authenticity at their disposal. One other aspect is that makers have not used established and mainstream actors in the ensemble roles which has given a raw kind of feel to the characters. This could well be John Abraham’s coming of age role. Wooden yes, but he fits in to the narrative with minimal fuss, neither dominating the proceeding, nor getting overwhelmed by the weight of the script. Troubled and brooding, angry and helpless, frustrated yet committed to duty — he plays it all with uncharacteristic maturity. Even Nargis Fakhri, so self-consciously affected as Ranbir Kapoor's doomed soul-mate in "Rockstar", nails her war correspondent's part with her radiant presence. Rashi Khanna as John's wife has a short role to play but has essayed her character with aplomb.Specially riveting is Prakash Belawade as John's senior associate, who seems to drink hard to escape from the enormity of his compromise. His expressions, body language and dialect are a treat to watch. And, how can i forget to mention Siddhartha Basu, our old quiz master of Doordarshan days who has played character of RAW chief in the most subtle and convincing manner. Even, Piyush Pandey with his trademark royal moustache has played his character with ease. Ajay Ratnam as Anna has looked convincing in his role of LTA chief.

TECHNICAL FINESSE                     :         Madras Cafe takes pride in its technical brilliance. The soundtrack is exceptionally honest. Shantanu Moitra's background music underscores every scene without hammering in the emotions. Plenty of the credit for the tonal correctness of the narrative must go to Kamaljeet Negi's brilliantly unadorned cinematography, which locks in on stunning visuals of violence and espionage-related action without falling into the mistake of making the frames look prettier than the grim situation that they are meant to capture. Traveling through the seas, the shots around the jungles, aerial shots are all mind-blowing. Editor Chandrashekhar Prajapati imbues a documentary style mood to the footage. But the sense of cinematic expansiveness is retained in the way the camera moves through the characters' restless lives, searching for positions of comfort in a situation laden with desperate anxiety. As a director Shoojit Sircar hits the right strides, and blends fact and fiction with great narrative aplomb and visual flair. He constructs an account of what might have happened in the last two and a half years leading up to the elimination of an Indian political leader by the world’s first-ever human bomb. He restructures the civil war in Sri Lanka with authenticity, portraying the rebels and diplomats and also depicting India's involvement in the conflict that had ramifications on India. As a matter of fact, the storyteller tries to be as neutral as possible while narrating the tale and that's what makes the effort so credible and convincing. Soojit remarkably keeps the texture, tone of this film undisturbed till the end..no songs, romance and unwanted stuffs.. the characters look, location, art work is bang on target..  Additionally, Shoojit deserves brownie points for thinking beyond the stereotype, especially since he doesn't repeat himself after the immensely successful and likeable VICKY DONOR.

WOW MOMENTS                                :     From the opening scene of a brutal terror attack on a bus in Jaffna to the climactic explosion that shatters the hero’s hopes of stopping a heinous act, Madras Cafe does not let go of its grip on the audience for even a moment. So, for me each and every scene of the movie is a wow moment.

CONCLUSION                                     :       Madras Cafe stands apart from run-of-the-mill smack-downs because it does not celebrate vacuous militaristic machismo. What the film does instead is bring home the horrors of a civil war and its human ramifications. It's a film that you should watch because it gives you an insight into an exceptionally pertinent episode of history. If you are in the frame of mind to watch superior quality, sensible cinema, I would strongly recommend MADRAS CAFE to you. Try not to miss it!

 ROHIT SHARMA.

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Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara : Movie Review

It had enough going for it – a no-nonsense script, a clipped pace, punchy dialogues and spiffy cinematography – to justify its 160-minure runtime. Yet Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara! falls well short of being quite as engaging as the film that it is a sequel to despite of the fact that it starts well and shows some sparks by entertaining you in the first half. The reason is pretty obvious: the characters that Ajay Devgn and Emraan Hashmi fleshed out in Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai were infinitely more complex and nuanced. Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara!, is a raunchy playboy who transforms into a wrathful and obsessive lover. Not a diabolical underworld don by miles. There is something incongruous about a Dawood remotely akin to Rahul in Darr. That Akshay Kumar plays the role with a lot of relish does not really help. The ersatz, 1970s-style dialogue-baazi, many notches worse than those in Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai (2010), combined with script going haywire in second half—add to the banal claptrap that it is. This is done-to-noisy-death gangsterism done with heartbreaking seriousness. It takes some doing to wrap up such a time-worn love triangle into a pretence of modern storytelling. The subsequent spinoffs have gotten seriously diluted. This one is a sequel to Luthria’s 2010 film where Ajay Devgn’s imposing personality and gravelly voice had made the pale and sometime unintentionally funny proceedings bearable. This film wallows in a kind of imbecilic irreverence where the protagonists seem bold brave, sexy and even brazen but are actually cardboard versions of the triangular lovers in some earlier good triangle love stories we have seen.  But at least love triangles of the past were honest about their melodramatic intentions.  Once Upon A Time...Dobaara cloaks its outdated radical ideas in a rumbustious display of trendiness. But yes, it can be watched once for some of its witty n hard hitting dialogues & the first half which has some sparkling moments infusing good amount of entertainment. 

 

SCRIPT & SCREENPLAY                 :      The credit for the story as well as screenplay goes to Rajat Arora who won lot of hearts with his storyline as well as dialogues for The Dirty Picture n prequel to this movie i.e. Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai . The disappointment is that at no point in the story does one feel that the two rivals in love would care enough for the woman to actually put their long-nurtured bonding at stake and bay for each other’s blood. One of the two men is unable to express his feelings for the girl until it is too late; the other propositions her with as much grace as a village yokel, hurling gifts, including a penthouse on the city’s highest skyscraper, at her. What is most upsetting is how the vital lines flounder the most: unrelated inanities pop up throughout, but it is when the script actually demands a line with some heft that there is none to be found. It is as if the writers copy-paste lines from railway station shayari books whenever they can, but at times of actual dramatic punch, nothing fits. A flavour of flagrant criminality is created through back-projected nostalgia. The film opens with an archival cricket match ‘fixed’ by the all-powerful underworld don. The sequences seem more ‘fixed’ by the director than the Dubai-based ganglord would have ever imagined. Fleets of black and yellow Fiat cars ply up and down Mumbai’s roads in a show of periodicity. A wanton woman (Sophie Chowdhary, in a seductive cameo) cheats on her unsuspecting husband, making out with the dreaded don in the backroom at a noisy party.  Coming to the storyline, The survivor from the first installment is the protagonist of this film. He is now older, meaner and given to ways that are more ruthless than the ones he learnt on the way up. The coldblooded gangster, now played by Akshay Kumar, returns from an offshore location to reclaim his turf in the city of his birth. Shoaib makes a huge hoo-ha about the fact that he isn’t a hero, but a villain. His philosophy is rudimentary: good guys go to heaven; bad guys experience the bliss of paradise on earth. His methods are heavy-handed, and he delivers forceful one-liners at the drop of a hat. Some of them do come off pretty well and are certain to draw applause from Akshay Kumar fans. The conventional villain, Rawal (Mahesh Manjrekar), Shoaib’s principal underworld opponent, is reduced to playing second fiddle. The younger mobster Aslam (Imran Khan), a pre-teen biker who was picked off the mean streets by the big-talking mafia don more than a decade ago and turned into a trusted lieutenant, has grown up swearing blind allegiance to his mentor. Trouble erupts when the two men fall in love with the same girl, Jasmine Sheikh (Sonakshi Sinha), a Kashmiri lass who has come down to Mumbai to act in the movies. 

STARCAST                                                    :             This is Akshay Kumar’s film all the way – he struts around with the cocky confidence that he owns every frame. Akshay Kumar is so sleazy that he will crack you up with his dialogue delivery which is outright hilarious. Akshay lives like a king in the movie as he returns as villain after 12 years. He was last seen as the bad guy in Khiladi. Akshay brings his character alive with the dialogues and style. For a change, we enjoy watching the bad guy say lines such as 'Peene ki capacity, jeene ki strength, account ka balance aur naam ka kauff kabhi bhi kam na hona chahiye'. In the movie, Shoaib says that he is not a player, but the game itself, and here we have Akshay who is more or less the story himself.  It is for Imran Khan as Aslam in the movie playing an ambitious young lad who starts off pretty well by giving us some good action and chase in the train scene. Imran sheds his milksop lover-boy image and takes on a tougher guise for the second time in his career after Matru Ki Bijlee.., that this film could prove to be a breakthrough. He provides evidence that he can handle a wider range of roles than he is usually allowed to play. Sonakshi, too, is given generous play by the screenplay, and she measures up to the demands of the role. In this film, she is a chatterbox replete with idioticity which the director frames as naiveness. She shrieks as if possessed in the climax scene as bombards all her good, if she had done any. In short, she has not been able to live up to the expectations especially after her great performance in Lootera. There is only one solid scene that the director gave to actress Sonali Bendre and she was brilliant in it.  In few minutes, she added depth to her character and managed to convey the emotional wreckage Shoaib’s love had caused her! Mahesh Manjrekar’s buffonery was a pain in the literal sense of the word and he has been simply wasted. In the supporting cast, Pitobash as Aslam’s childhood pal Dedh Taang & Abhimanyu Singh as the tough cop stand out. Amongst the ensemble actors, Tiku Talsania, Deepraj Rana, Chetan Hansraj and Sarfaraz Khan have given a good performance.   

 TECHNICAL FINESSE                                :             The music for this flick has been composed by one of the current favorite's i.e. Pritam Da but alias he has delivered a ordinary soundtrack. But credit must go to Sandeep Shirodkar who has composed astounding background score for the movie which enlivens the proceedings. One other person who has done fabulous work and delivered the goods is, Priya Suhas (Production Designer) who has kept the aesthetics as per the era shown in the flick. It is through the lens of cinematographer Ayananka Bose that, Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara! is shot in muted hues, which captures both the street-level dread and the soaring sparkle of 1980s Bombay with consistent sharpness. The movie has been edited by Akiv Ali who has done a good job but the movie seems to drag a bit in its second half and the overall length of the movie could have been reduced from its run-time of 160 minutes. Director Milan Luthria along with his writer Rajat Arora makes it a point not to go down the path that was prevalent in Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai. This time he has focused more on the love life of the main protagonists instead of their histrionics which has resulted in making the movie kind of a potpourri. The basic flaw of Milan Luthria this time, which shakes your interest is a overly sterilised narrative that presents every hint of passion between the girl and the two men only as flights of the febrile male imagination running riot to the accompaniment of ‘romantic’ songs He opts for a more restrained approach to the rivalry between two larger-than-life gangsters over a desirable ingenue, who walks into the crossfire without ever realizing how bad things are going to get for her. What robs the film of genuine traction is that the action seems to unfold in a disinfected bubble that is out of bounds for the urban realities of the era.

WOW MOMENTS                                   :         Aslam (Imran Khan)’s friend making out with his girlfriend in the car while Aslam gives angrezi lessons to Jasmine (Sonakshi Sinha) is a nicely-conceived moment. One of the ‘jokes’ that ties Sonakshi’s character to her lover-by Imran Khan is his misuse of the word ‘intercourse’. Another scene which stands out is when there is an all-points bulletin for Shoaib's arrest, the gangster, fed up by the police, strides defiantly into a police station and is... well, utterly ignored as he stands there and walks out again.

CONCLUSION                                           :      
Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara! is equal parts a gangster flick and a love triangle. Two films for the price of one? Not quite, because neither half rises to any great heights in terms of drama. Rather sad, because there is a great deal in the film that is quite impressive, not the least among which is the fact that the storyline, despite the occasional flaccid passage, remains completely focused on the three principal characters. So, while going to watch it don't go with a mindset of expecting the same kind of fireworks that blazed across the screen in Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai, else there is a fair amount of chance that  your expectations might get doomed.

 ROHIT SHARMA.

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CHENNAI EXPRESS : MOVIE REVIEW

When Red Chillies Entertainment, UTV join hands with Rohit Shetty to helm a flick starring SRK teamed with Deepika Padukone, sparks are bound to fly high and across. It will not to be wrong to say that this is the most ambitious & talked about project of Rohit Shetty so far who has already become a name to reckon with as far as dishing entertainers is concerned. Hmmm i know u might have already read this prelude in lot of sites already, so I'll straight away begin the review. Chennai Express is a somewhat long ride that occasionally teeters on the edge of tedium, but it certainly isn’t all wrong. Parts of Chennai Express, propelled by a spirit of inspired lunacy that holds the no-holds-barred action comedy in good stead, is markedly better than the sum total of the film. But do hop aboard. This Express is designed for quite a crazy carousel. If you hang in there and do not allow the many distractions and diversions along the way throw you off track, you might actually find yourself getting into the swing of things, especially in the first half as the thunderous rhythm of the voyage does generate some genuinely funny gags. Chennai Express warms up pretty quickly and delivers exactly what you would expect from a Rohit Shetty film: runaway entertainment. Packaged with pickled precision, peppered with just the right doses of naughty jokes and precocious pranks that go well with Shah Rukh’s 40-year old brat’s act, Chennai Express is the kind of non-toxic comic entertainer where the most damaging double-entendres you’d get is a Tamil word that sounds like Angelina Jolie’s name.

STORY & SCREENPLAY                    :     The story of Chennai Express has been written by K. Subhaash  where as the screenplay has been penned by veteran Yunus Sajawal who have tried all the tricks available in the book to dish out a full fledged Tarrka kind of entertaining script. Although, the storyline is no great shakes but the delivery is always rambunctiously lively. Shah Rukh Khan is a sweetmeat trader’s beloved grandson. The grandpa dies just shy of turning 100. Rahul’s granny (Kamini Kaushal) requests the 40-year-old to fulfill the dead man’s last wish to have his ashes immersed in the sea off Rameswaram. Rahul takes the urn ostensibly on a trip to the South but connives with a couple of friends to head to Goa instead. Fate intervenes and his feigned trip on Chennai Express lasts much longer than he had bargained for. He bumps into Meena, who is being escorted back home by four beefy cousins after a failed attempt to flee her village. Rahul is caught in the game that the girl decides to play with her dad, Durgeshwara (Sathyaraj), in order to avoid marrying a hulky muscleman, Thangaballi (Nikitin Dheer). That brings me to another heap of hilarity that writers build so meticulously in the first-half. The generous outflow of Tamil that seems initially engaging (more so, since Shah Rukh shares our non-comprehension of the rapidfire Tamilian cloudburst that accompanies Deepika’s quicksilver character) begins to come in the way as the narration grows older and runs out of energy. But then there is the sprightly Deepika as the runaway Tamilian girl who piles on to the North Indian mithaiwala stranger to escape marrying the boorish fiancée back home in her village in Tamil Nadu. Also, there are some nice funny dialogues where-in Shah Rukh pokes a whole lot of good-natured fun at his now-aging lover-boy persona. There are tongue-in-cheek references to Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and several other Shah Rukh Khan films and songs including the introductory South Indian lines from the Jiya jale song in Dil Se.

STARCAST                                          :     Coming to the performances arena, both the lead protagonist and his ladylove have given their best and have undoubtedly managed to charm the audience by giving their best shot. Chennai Express promises a superstar in all his many-splendoured glory. And it delivers Shah Rukh Khan in a guise that is 75 per cent lover boy-prankster Rahul (that is what his character is predictably called) and the remaining 25 per cent a fearless ‘common man’ who musters the strength of a hundred able-bodied men when he is pushed to a corner. Chennai Express also gives Deepika Padukone a vantage seat in the best coach and she makes the most of the opportunity. As a southern mafia don’s feisty daughter, Meena, she lays it on really thick, both in terms of accent and body language. Deepika’s diction and lingo appears a tad too labored at times, but, to her credit, she gets it right consistently. The whole-hearted zeal that Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika bring to the table and the steady flow of funny one-liners serve Shetty’s purpose well, turning Chennai Express into an elopement-against-all-odds rigmarole that hits the right buttons at most turns. Amid the flying bodies and cars that the director has a penchant for, the actors make their way through the rubble largely unscathed. Most of the screen time has been shared by these two and they have not let down the proceedings even for a moment with their brilliant performances. Nikitin Dheer as Thangabali manages to catch your attention ( not only with his hulk hogan looks) but with his acting skills also as he has played the villainous character with conviction and surprisingly his stone faced expressions have worked well as per his character. Sathyaraj (Deepika's father) as Durgeshwara Azhagusundaram (Even SRK is not able to spell his name correctly throughout the movie), has played his character with aplomb and is impressive. Mukesh Tiwari as a Tamil-speaking Sikh policeman has not been able to invoke that kind of laughter which he is capable of as his character is not that strong when compared to his earlier antics as Vasooli in Shetty's Golmaal Series.  
    

TECHNICAL FINESSE                                  :    Undoubtedly, this is is Rohit Shetty's best piece of work as far as technical finesse is concerned. The music for this flick has been composed by the dynamic duo of Vishal - Shekhar who have dished out an average kind of an album which has got mix melodies. The cinematography by Dudley is immensely gratifying and his camera glides across capturing the plush and passionate moments with excellent finesse, hence giving your eyeballs lot of moments for optical enchantment. The movie has been edited by Steven H. Bernard who has done an exceptional job in maintaining the tempo of the movie throughout its run-time of 142 minutes. Rohit Shetty, who obviously does not have any patience for half measures, goes full tilt at the resources at his disposal and rustles up an action-packed culture-clash comedy that has crowd-pleaser emblazoned all over it. The director throws dollops of good-natured drollery into the thrills-and-spills blender and comes up with a movie that has all the tried-and-tested ingredients of the genre that he has made his own. Rohit Shetty is more in command of his canvas here than in his last comedy Bol Bachchan. Here the self-deprecatory laughter is good enough to raise guffaws.

WOW MOMENTS                                :        Towards the beginning of the train journey when Deepika and Shah Rukh play a kind of antakshari of Hindi film songs to put the goons off her trail is hilarious. There’s a wonderfully-shot sequence where Shah Rukh has to carry Deepika to a temple over hundreds of steps. Deepika here goes from amusement and mockery to a sense of belonging and pride in her man’s arms. It’s a moment built with care and love.

CONCLUSION                                       :      The mirthful quotient of Chennai Express lies in its  humor, wit, emotional content and superb chemistry of its lead pair which has been played with conviction. The movie has Love, action and laughs which has been cleverly packaged by Rohit Shetty in his own imitable  Ishtyle. This is a journey which can be definitely relished by the whole family comprising members of all age groups.  

ROHIT SHARMA.

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rohitreview@gmail.com

NAUGHTY JATTS : Movie Review

 NAUGHTY JATTS carries on the legacy of comic flicks being churned out by Pollywood and will entertain you to the core, provided you leave your thinking caps at home and just surrender your logical instincts while watching the movie. NJ is embellished with a taut screenplay and good performances especially for audience who relish comic cinema which is laden with genuine wit, humor & laughter which comes naturally as the screenplay progresses. On surface, this may seem like an uncomplicated story, but scratch the exterior and there's a strong undercurrent of comic elements ready to explode and engulf you. That is probably why NJ appears to exude much greater energy n exuberance than it intrinsically possesses. This movie, with its comic plot and wickedly spot-on characterizations is the kind of apt, fast paced and witty comedy which with several moments will surely make you roll with laughter in your seats. The protagonists of this flick are the kind of characters who will forever love to remain adolescents. PANKAJ BATRA & his team have fashioned a fiercely funny fable filled with loads of innocuous innuendos and the incredibly funny and sharply observed dialogues are in perfect sync with the intelligence levels of the repressed man-boys and their inability to concentrate on any event beyond a minute. NJ, wickedly moves at its own volition with a crazy pattern of comic chaos that stops being short of being anarchic due to finely tuned situational satire simulated. Exclamations are the only punctuations in this seamless comedy of courtship played at an impossibly high octave, without getting shrill.

STORY & SCREENPLAY                                           :       The credit for the story,screenplay & dialogues goes to NARESH KATHOORIA who has smartly constructed a collage of characters hell bent on a collision course.  Many of its punch lines are quite funny, and some of the desperate measures that the protagonists are compelled to take recourse in order to wriggle out of sticky situations border on the uproarious. I'll say the one of the biggest strengths of this movie has turned out to be its clever writing as erudition sits easily, spontaneously and unobtrusively on Naresh's  narration. What makes it watchable is that the humor has not been forcibly added in the form of gags but funny situations have been finely simulated which catapults the movie into a finely tuned situational comedy. The most recognizable elements of Punjabiyat are in full florid display hence making it a full on entertainer. There is nothing new in this but the sheer daftness and goofiness makes it a likable smartly paced wild ride. The best part is that the script breezes past without any major breakdowns primarily because it doesn't get too adventurous and sticks to its chosen line and to top it all, it delivers some quirky detours that are made all the more engaging due to the consistent quality of acting by most of the artistes. The basic plot of this Rom-com revolves around Simmy (Neeru Bajwa), a young bubbly girl with a strict upbringing whose dream is to become a singer one day. School friends Rocky ( Aryan Babbar) and Lalli ( Binnu Dhillon) are madly in love with her but are unable to show their feelings to her. Soon, they decide to propose Simmy but Rocky's cousin Balwinder ( Roshan Prince ) arrives from village who is a good singer & he too falls for her. Simmy decides to marry the person who wins a singing contest and the boys start to plan their own tricks to win the contest. Now, who will win Simmy's heart and who will she marry forms the rest of the plot.   

STARCAST                                                        :        Comic timing is of vital importance to this film. And every actor gets it right, dead-on sometime dead-pan.  Roshan Prince as Balwinder is so apt that it would be hard to imagine anyone else who could have essayed this character of being cute, witty, funny and strong willed too. He is simply outstanding and delivers a performance that certainly deserves an ovation. His captivating performance is sure to increase his fan following manifold. Arya Babbar is like picture-perfect and has looked every inch the character he has portrayed. While conveying his heroic side he also gives a comic interpretation to the chaos around in a charismatic way. For sure, this guy is having a blast working in Punjabi flicks and is entertaining audience to the core. Binnu Dhillon, has got the naughtiest character to play as it is through his character that most of the juvenile, sleazy humor comes. But, the ease with which he has portrayed and expressed a synthesis of the slimy and the slippery without falling out of his character is commendable. Coming to Neeru Bajwa, i can confidently say that she is the only leading lady who could have & has stood her ground against these three male protagonists with ease. She is a real talented plus charming actress and her title of being undisputed queen of Punjabi Cinema is completely justified. In fact,with this kind of talent, the day is not far when she will shine as a leading lady in Bollywood too. Karamjeet Anmol's straight faced, matter of fact style of comedy coupled with his innocent expressions is bone-tickling to the core. B.M.Sharma, has given a superlative performance as Neeru's father and his confrontations with Binnu will make you roar with laughter. He is an excellent actor who essays various characters assigned to him with complete conviction. Amongst the ensemble actors you'll find me also whom Roshan Prince approaches to understand the meaning of english words which Neeru says to him when she leaves after drinking coffee with him. 

TECHNICAL FINESSE                                             :    The music for this flick has been composed by a medley of music composers which include G.Deep, Sham Balkar, Vikram Khanjuria, Anil Sagar, Jaggi Singh and i would rate overall album as average. The man behind the lens and responsible for the visual enhancement of the movie is, cinematographer, Vineet Malhotra who has done an excellent job keeping in mind the resources available to him, considering the whole movie has been shot in and around Chandigarh. The movie has been edited by Praveen Kathikuloth who deserves an applause for maintaining the fun quotient going consistently during overall run-time of 122 minutes. Choreography by Savio barnes & Piyush Panchal is a treat to watch. Coming to the chief of crew i.e. Pankaj Batra, he has succeeded in making a movie which has got something hugely infectious about the exuberance of Punjabi youth and most of us can either relate or have seen the characters of Rocky, Lalli and Balwinder around us. Pankaj has hit the jackpot this time as the film's direction - its comic timing, on location shooting which captures Chandigarh's flavor - portrays a skillful mastery. He has extracted humor from the academically challenged boys' who are ready to go to any extent to pursue their ladylove even if it includes adapting to various fraudulent measures. One more noteworthy positive point is that Pankaj's movie doesn't take characters' contemporary courtship games into areas that would offend the moralists and hence can be hailed as family entertainer which can be relished by complete family which is rare these days.

WOW MOMENTS                                  :    Although, the movie is a non stop laughter ride full of witty moments but couple of scenes stand out. Watch out for the scene where Binnu tries to impress Neeru by his singing skills after calling her in a garden which in fact made most of audience jump around in their seats with its laughter quotient. The climax scene of the movie where the blind beggar gets caught in between the warring factions is a treat to watch. 

CONCLUSION                                              :   This movie surely pampers your funny bones and relieves you of all your stress with some brilliant performances n witty dialogues which have been knitted together to entertain you to the core. This one is just  funny enough to qualify as a LOL spree & you can go and watch with your complete family for its unlimited entertainment quotient.  

ROHIT SHARMA.

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ISSAQ : MOVIE REVIEW

 

ISSAQ is a contemporary adaptation of Romeo and Juliet set in the backdrop of Varanasi in the UP heartland,complete with naxalism, sand mining mafia and of course the timeless love story.  The director gives new skeins to William Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers and transports the duo to the holy town on the banks of the Ganges, where an unholy war is raging between two bloodthirsty clans. The movie begins with colour-saturated beginning, with everything springing up with such vividness : the picturesque Banaras, which never dims despite a million sightings : the young man, who like all young men, is desirous : the girl who has a freshness to her. And a tale which looked like Machiavellian in its Shakespearean ambition, it was clear that Issaq was going to layer the love story with high decibels, and a constant rampage of characters. But Alias ! it could not sustain the same level all through and unfortunately too many cooks spoilt the broth especially in the second half. But, still I'll commend the efforts of Manish Tiwary (Director, not to be confused with our I.B. minister) for not choosing to tamper with the original Shakespearean ending (down to the apothecary's potion working cruel deceptions on the couple's turbulent destiny), he makes radical changes in the Shakespearean play's politics. And indeed doom has seldom seemed so desirable on screen. Old Willie Boy might even exclaim at some points of the tale of the tender and the titanic, “Damn, why didn’t I think of this?”

STORY & SCREENPLAY                               :  Manish Tiwary along with two of his talented contemporaries in writing field i.e.Padmaja Thakore-Tiwary and Pawan Soni has penned down a raw, rugged and rapacious desi version of "Romeo and Juliet", which has not focused on so called commercial writing but yes have surprisingly managed to portray, our desi Juliet as a proud virgin till the end. The deviations apart, "Issaq" is a frightfully fertile film filled with images of rancour and tenderness. Writers have wasted no time in getting into the thick of Montague-Capulet feud. Here they are named the Mishras and the Kashyaps - but what's in a name? Families teeming with gun-toting leery men whose voracious appetite for killing is matched by their libidos. They have brilliantly tried to portray that Life’s most traumatic cemetery is surely the memory of pain, for it is buried but not dead. Communities have to find the spirit that can liberate them from the bonds of past anguish, to discover a future in a new perspective as Violence destroys both perpetrator and victim. Script & screenplay blends such moments of free-flowing sensitivity with the darker, murkier reality of blazing guns and furtive fornication without letting the sleaze touch the purity of the central romance. Finally, a brief of the storyline is that The Kashyaps and the Mishras are old rivals. The third beneficiary in this battle for power, money and control over local natural resources is a Maoist group led by a brutal and charismatic leader (Prashant Narayanan). Rahul Mishra falls in love with Bachchi Kashyap in an afternoon of holi hysteria. After the families discover their affair, Rahul is on the run. In pain, oppression and much melodrama, the couple waits to reunite. The tragic end is unintentionally facilitated by a levitating baba (Makarand Deshpande). There are many Benares staples, among them a white-skinned woman in awe of her spiritual guru’s puerile ideas about romantic love.

STARCAST                                                       :  The biggest asset of Issaq is its cast who have delivered impeccable performances and hence credit must be given to Romil Modi( Casting Director). Prateik Babbar's performance as a love-smitten Romeo is so apt that you tend to forgive his past embarrassing performances. There's a marked improvement in his diction delivery. The Uttar Pradesh accent does fall off. But what the heck! This Romeo is real. Amyra Dastur is a prized find. Precocious, pretty, expressive and agile, this girl is a star in her very first film. True,she does come across as slightly too 'convent' to be a Varanasi girl, but her radiant sincerity simply melts your misgivings. The surprise package has turned out to be Ravi Kishen who is simply outstanding as Amyra's protective angry violent uncle. Whenever Ravi is on screen, it's hard to look at any other actor. Rajeshwari Sachdev as Amyra's stepmom steps into a randy role with relish. She is in splendid form, bringing to her character both a sexual frankness and a moral ambivalence on which hangs the impact of the tragedy. Not to forget, Prashant Narayanan who has played the role of a naxalite to perfection and its a treat to watch this actor display his acting histrionics.  Makrand Deshpande who has essayed the role of a Sadhu virtually lights up the screen whenever he appears and brings a smile to your face. In the ensemble actors it is Neena Gupta (Amyra's Aaya), Sudhir Pandey (Amyra's father), Vineet Kumar Singh (Prateik's buddy) & Prashant Kumar (Amyra's fiancee) who have played their part with aplomb and definitely deserve a mention.

TECHNICAL FINESSE                                              :         Music for this flick has been composed by Sachin-Jigar as well as Krsna but the music which generally plays an important part in a love story has not been able to become that big a rage in case of Issaq. I'll make special mention of production designer Ashwini Shrivastav for giving Varanasi a look of lived-in and loved-in splendour.  Vishal Sinha's cinematography is plush and passionate and yet the film's visuals never topples over into the kingdom of the garish. And what visuals as he has made the desi Romeo and Juliet's turbulent togetherness an occasion for optical enchantment. Film has been edited by Manoj Kannoth who has shown his finesse and has packaged the action in run-time of 148 minutes. As a director,  Manish Tiwary knows his Shakespeare as well as he knows the rugged north Indian hinterland of blood savagery and abuses which he has showcased through this movie. Tiwary cleverly holds back the boorishness. There's little or no vulgarity and uncouthness in the script and Tiwary manages to project the perky innocence of first-love without getting over-cute, cloying or cheesy. He is definitely a good director and holds lot of promise.

WOW MOMENTS                                                    :  .Watch out for the shot of Prateik falling from the rooftop into a yellow-coloured water tank which is so brilliant that you fear the director's visual aptitude may overpower the basic plot. Also, a sequence where Amyra is being married off to the cop-suitor(Prashant Kumar) and Rajeshwari applies the haldi on her grieving stepdaughter. Watch out for Rajeshwari's expressions which within seconds go from contempt and smugness to feminine empathy and compassion.

CONCLUSION                                                         :      Issaq is truly a daring cinematic experience which is quite different from the general run of the mill kind of movies and has portrayed Love and war coming together in a passionate embrace. A sense of desperate longing runs through this adrenaline-pumping drama driven forward by a cast of actors who know there is something vital happening here.This is one of the most innovative adaptations of Romeo & Juliet shown in Bollywood and despite some shortcomings is still worth a DEKHO for who like unconventional cinema.

ROHIT SHARMA.

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D- DAY

Once again, within a short span of time i cant help myself from writing the same prelude which i wrote for movie Lootera  that D-DAY is not just a movie but an acutely accomplished work of art helmed by Nikhil Advani who has masterly crafted a great, taut thriller. The biggest compliment for NIKHIL ADVANI is that when i went to watch D-Day, i took a friend along who was very reluctant to go ( Her Viewpoint being it is gonna be full of gory violence n bloodshed like previous gangster flicks) but while coming back she was so impressed that for the first time in our movie viewing history, she was more than keen to watch this intelligent flick for the second time. Reason being we walked in to the cinema to watch a sleek, crisp gangster movie but what we came back with was experience of watching  haunting love stories, one between a mysterious Indian intelligence agent and a Pakistani whore, both wounded and scarred for life. She, in ways, that we can see and he in intangible ways. Second, between an intelligence official whose mind is going through a brutal turmoil whether he should still be Allegiant for his nation (Whose officials have already deserted & disowned him publicly) or towards his family consisting of his wife & his son. Third, where-in a female agent has to make harshest decisions & compromises in-spite of being in unblemished love with her fiancee. But pain, at the end of the day is pain and it is what binds together the whore and the ex-army man. But D-Day, has a lot more to showcase and depict with a tone of unfussy, enrapturing elan that invites us into its mindset without using any gimmicky methods of enticement. Though, a deeply patriotic movie, D-Day does not indulges in that often shown flag waving scenes on celluloid. The Indian flag makes only one guest appearance, and that too at the end. God bless Manoj Kumar.          

STORY & SCREENPLAY                                           :   D-Day narrates a story that will resonate with every Indian.The film is set against the backdrop of some of the most heinous terrorism in India over the past several years.The credit for the story goes to Nikhil Advani, Ritesh Shah and Suresh Nair who have smartly constructed a collage of characters hell bent on a collision course. Though rigorously researched the erudition sits easily, spontaneously and unobtrusively on Advani's narration. The story about India's undercover agents on a mission in Pakistan to nab and extradite India's Most Wanted is told in a tone that favors a detached distance from the proceedings while ensuring we see each character's life in prismatic close-ups. Every character in D-Day, even the dreaded Liturgical Don, named Goldman, is a prisoner of his own lost dreams and aspirations. The raw agents are thrown in our face without elaborate preamble but yet they manage to hold our attention right from the word go without any character sketching with the help of commendable screenplay and excellent technical finesse. The very talented Huma Qureshi as the RAW agent Zoya has her personal life in shambles but we never see her husband and only hear him. It is the brilliant hold and vision of Advani over the screenplay that we feel relieved to only hear her fiancee speak about their distressed relationship in the voice of talented actor Raj Kumar Yadav. In fact every character, visible or invisible, speaks to us in urgent desperate tones. And within 20 minutes of the playing time we are consumed by these doomed lives that seem to have lived on the edge forever and have nowhere to go except the abyss. The film is set against the backdrop of some of the most heinous terrorism in India over the past several years.Unfolding over a period of four days, it tells the riveting story of a group of government agents who enter Pakistan in a bid to capture the man responsible for the acts of terror, a man who has evaded justice for over two decades. The operation to nab India's most wanted man is carried by four undercover agents and is truly absorbing. Wali Khan (Irrfan Khan) is sent to Pakistan to keep an eye on Goldman (Rishi Kapoor). But Wali falls victim to to dilemma of duty Vs family, one that most undercover succumb to. Rudra Pratap Singh (Arjun Rampal) ex personnel of Indian armed forces, Zoya Rehman (Huma Qureshi) who is a RAW explosives expert and Aslam (Akash Dahiya), a pretty thief from Mumbai, are recruited by RAW and infiltrate Pakistan to join Wali and fulfil the mission - to bring Goldman back to India. On the eve of Goldman's son's wedding, the mission that will result in the downfall of the notorious don is carried out, but is it successful ? How brilliantly the climax is tied up by with surprise elements and action sequences makes D-Day an unparalleled production to watch.    

STARCAST                                                      :       Kudos to Mukesh Chabbra (Casting Director) for assembling the rightful mixture of stars and actors as per their character sketches in the screenplay. The best part is that D-Day is crammed with remarkable actors furnishing the anxious proceedings with a riveting life-like force giving impetus to the screenplay. Rishi Kapoor as the Don is like picture-perfect and has looked every inch the character he has portrayed. While conveying the sinister slimy side Rishi also gives a comic interpretation to the rotund goggled perpetrator of mayhem. For sure, this guy is having a blast at this juncture of his career and is entertaining audience to the core. The other actors too are entirely in their element. Arjun Rampal and Shruti Hassan have portrayed their tragic love story in muted mellow muffled shades. Arjun seems to have evolved with every role that he has played in his last flicks and this is perhaps what we expect from a National Award winning actor. Shruti has also managed to shine in her performance.As for Irrfan Khan, his portrayal of a man on a suicidal mission trying to hold on to the memory of his wife and son is so vivid you can just feel n touch his anguish. Huma Qureshi as the third member of of the RAW team is effortlessly appealing and effective apart from being the stunner that she is. Newcomer Sriswara is extremely credible and appealing as Irrfan's wife and newcomer Akaash Dahiya as the fourth RAW team-member is so much on the edge, you want to hold him back from toppling over. Tamil actor Nasser delivers a well measured performance as RAW chief, Ashwini Rao.

TECHNICAL FINESSE                                        :     Music for this flick has been composed by the trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy who have once again been triumphant in providing the apt musical score as per the movie's requirement. The song "Alvida"  playing in the background (when Arjun watches battered body of Shruti) is definitely one of the best heart rendering compositions.The cinematography by Tushar Kanti Ray uses cluttered garish spaces to create a sense of spiritual emptiness during times of tremendous stress and anxiety. Shot in expertly constructed brothel sets with the crowded colors of lurid sex suggesting the tragedy of lives lived in borrowed beds is something which has been masterly shot. Undoubtedly, editors of the flick Aarif Sheikh & Unni Krishnan need ovation as they have very intelligently edited a complex subject and that too without giving you a chance to blink your eye during the run-time of 154 minutes. The Direction by Nikhil Advani is unblemished in every aspect of filmmaking and the film's affinity to the business of unfinished lives gives a cutting edge to Advani's narration.Filmmakers have made films on Dawood earlier too, but they tended to loose the finesse because they gave importance to glorify the gangster rather than realistic story-telling. But none could come close to the brilliance of Nikhil's subject,vision,treatment and the purpose with which he has created this film. That's where Nikhil scores - by sticking to the theme without any deviations.His interpretation is simple and acceptable rather than being unduly drawn out or lecturing just for the heck for it.    

 WOW MOMENTS                                      :    Watch out for the climax scene where Rishi Kapoor gives a sneering contemptuous speech on the Indian government's inability to control terrorists and terrorism and featuring in reality show BIGG BOSS. The scene where we see the scarred Shruti's torture and death through eyes of Arjun Rampal as though he were present there when it happened, when he was not even there has been helmed and edited with extreme craftsmanship.   

ROHIT SHARMA.

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rohitreview@gmail.com

 

BHAG MILKHA BHAG : Movie Review

Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra‘s biopic of Milkha Singh is one of the rarest sports movies to come out of the Indian film industry in such a cinematic form. BHAAG MILKA BHAAG is neither a simple sports-to-glory tale like Chariots Of Fire and nor just a film about a sportsperson who brought big sporting glory & medals to our nation. On the contrary, it is the story of an individual's journey from nullity to pinnacles of success in a world where politics and violence are constant reminders of how little an individual's aspirations matter in the larger often murkier scheme. Rakesyh Mehra looks at this life of stunning serendipity with tremendous warmth, hope and longing. It is the kind of cinema that doesn't tempt us to share the protagonist's life with many false hopes. Who said life could ever be easy for those who aspire to fly higher than the rest ? The beautiful irony of Milkha Singh's life that this consummate biopic captures so ably, is that he really didn't aspire to anything, he ran simply because he had to. It’s a solid biopic drama one that doesn’t unnecessarily glorify its subject. Yes it shows Milkha Singh’s sporting achievements but it doesn’t portray him like a cliched cinematic hero. But apart from Rakyesh n Prasoon we must not forget one name who has made this movie a not to be missed biopic, i.e. FARHAN AKHTAR. Farhan doesn’t ‘play’ Milkha. The actor occupies Milkha’s mind body and soul and he has delivered a superlative outstanding performance n deserves an ovation.

STORY & SCREENPLAY                                      :   History is created in several ways. One of them is cinema. And if Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Bhaag Milkha Bhaag seems like a near-flawless homage to the flying spirit of India's greatest runner, it is partly because the story, so nimbly woven into a pastiche of drama, emotion, humour and pathos by story & screenplay writer Prasoon Joshi,  who shows no hurry to keep pace with the onscreen Milkha's breathless sprint.The story of super-sprinter Milkha Singh unfolds in this exceptional biopic at its own volition. The synergy in the storytelling seems subliminal. Still, we the audience, fed week after week on mediocrity masquerading as cinema, are riveted to the story of Milkha Singh for over three hours of playing time. Well, to begin with it is Milkha Singh’s own powerful life as India’s superstar sportsperson that sweeps us into the bio-pic. Milkha was so poor he couldn’t afford running shoes, and when he got them he didn’t know how to run in them. When milk was offered in the army in exchange of running practice he grabbed it (the run and the milk) with both hands.A victim of India’s brutal partition, Milkha’s story was waiting to be told. As we see it, Milkha never stopped running since the trauma of partition.The ‘run’ as a metaphor of life’s expedient circumstances, runs through the narrative.Partition plays a crucial part in defining The Flying Sikh's life, and the film alludes a significant second factor that shapes him: his trysts with women. The first half seeks to list Milkha's motivating factors to run: His first exercise where he discovers he can run; a flashback within a flashback to his childhood with his proud father; his quick, fun, simple courtship with his first love Biro (Sonam Kapoor) that first inspires him to glory. Finally an evil rival within the Services, India's champion 400m specialist, who galvanizes Milkha into running along side for national selections after assaulting and humiliating him..During a training session, he is spotted by coach played by Pawan Malhotra who discovers the athlete in him and takes him to national level. On becoming a national champion, an able trainer essayed by Yograj Singh ( Father of cricketer Yuvraj Singh ) takes him under his wings and hence begins the journey of Milkha to be known as legendary The Flying Sikh.  

STARCAST                                                           :    FARHAN AKHTAR, can not get a better award when compared to the statement of Legendary Milkha Singh himself who said that he could not hold back his tears while watching the first rushes of the movie as he could not believe he was watching Farhan on screen and not himself. Farhan Akhtar dances the Bhangra as well as any Punjabi. Actually, he doesn't dance but he just flows with the rhythm. In fact I've never seen any actor dance or even run with such rhapsodic abundance. Method acting ? Farhan as Milkha takes us beyond that level. His body language and emotion-expression as Milkha is so pitch-perfect (pun intended ) we forget this is not the real Milkha in front of our eyes. This is as real as it can get. Sonam Kapoor, who although has a short but powerful role has once again managed to impress and that too as a village belle. She is on a up-spree as this is flick has come just weeks after Raanjhanaa and in both of these flicks she has managed to floor both audience as well as critics. Divya Dutta as Milkha's sister has given an astounding performance and her expressions are as real as they can get while portraying pain as well as joy on her face. I remember her being launched as as an sultry heroine in a movie called Suraksha (1995) ,but with her hardwork & dedication she has developed into one of the finest actresses. Similarly,  Pavan Malhotra as Milkha’s coach as a Sardar G  is as usual, first-rate. Really, this actor should be doing a lot more work cause he one fine actor who manages to impress you whenever he appears in any character he portrays on-screen.Yograj Singh, who got an excellent role as Milkha's training coach, has given it his best and has managed to impress by portraying a stern and serious coach. Amongst other noticeable ensemble actors who deserve an applause are Prakash Raj, K K Raina & Dalip Tahil. So,definitely, Aadore Mukherjee Mehra & Dilip Shankar who are the casting directors of this film, deserve a big applause.

TECHNICAL FINESSE                                        :         Music for this biopic has been composed by the talented trio of Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy who deserve kudos for the excellent music compositions they have composed as it is never an easy job to compose music for a biopic They have done full justice while delivering the background music also which is absolutely in tandem with the inspiring theme of the movie. The cinematography by Binod Pradhan is Immensely gratifying as his camera glides across Milkha's inner and outer world searching for a meeting point between the two worlds through visuals that suggest a comfortable kinship between feelings and their geopolitical counter-point. We often see Milkha on screen in situations where his emotional world is manifested in the interaction with the people around him. The brilliant unsparing editor P Bharathi follows no predictable pattern which is something daring but has worked well and paid off. The film has been very stylishly cut but not at the cost of loosing that Saadgi, the innate asceticism of the sportsman-hero.One more person who deserves accolades is the costume designer of the movie who is none other than Dolly Tewari ( Mother of Vicky Donor) who is coincidentally living in my neighborhood in Chandigarh) as she has given all characters apt costumes as per that era.Director RAKEYSH OMPRAKASH MEHRA, has undoubtedly given a befitting tribute to India's super-sprinter Milkha Singh by making a cult biopic with a mix of myriad emotions that will evoke a range of emotions in your heart while watching this movie.An average director with cinematic palate and sensibilities could have easily fallen into the trap of glorifying Milkha's achievements as an athlete who has won 77 times of the 80 races that he ran. But Mehra has chosen to portray emotions over victories and hardships over glories of his protagonist to narrate an absorbing tale. There are no exaggerated dramatic flourishes here, no playing to the galleries. Unlike other period films which have conveniently and lazily restored to antiques, artifacts and vintage songs, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag simply and effortlessly emerges from the character and his milieu.


WOW MOMENTS                                       :  Watch out for a sequence where-in Farhan after loosing a qualifier goes to a washroom and repeatedly slaps himself while standing in front of a mirror for messing up on the field.Each slap makes us flinch as they don't look or seem like fake slaps. Also, the scenes depicting Milkha's rigorous training with his coach have been picturised with utmost perfection and are a treat to watch.

CONCLUSION                                            :   All in all, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is certainly a movie worth watching for many reasons. The movie makes an earnest attempt to tell a biopic in an engaging and the most sincere way it could have been told. Although its a bit long long having a run-time of close 200 minutes but you get truly inspired to see Milkha take those giant leaps of faith to win the race of his life.

ROHIT SHARMA.

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rohitreview@gmail.com