Kahaani - Movie Review (4****)

Vidya Balan - The contemporary Hindi cinema, my generation, we Indians should be proud to have her amongst us. After Parineeta, Bhool Bhulaiyya, Ishqiya; Vidya Balan delivers yet another power packed performance that catapults her even further from the already astronomical heights she has achieved. I haven't seen Dirty Picture, so I am not commenting on it.

Kahaani is a thriller so well made and delivered that one keeps thinking about it even 24 hrs later.

With a movie of this type, it is difficult to write anything without giving away something. So let me stick to praising the stuff. The script is amazing, actors are excellent - yes the supporting cast around Vidya is very very good. They make the movie come alive. Especially the new actor playing Sub-Inspector Rana. The direction is flawless.

It is a perfect edge-of-the-seat thriller that makes you guess till the last scene. And Kolkata is beautiful. We have seen Mumbai, Delhi, Punjab and other places. This movie creates a great background of the City of joy. The music is also very nice.

Coming to Vidya Balan. She creates brilliant layers in the woman in distress. Her pregnant looks, slow walking, vulnerability are all endearing. In fact, she comes out even better than she was in Ishqiya.

Does the movie drag? No. Does it get over sentimental? No. Does it give you scope to complain? Not me at least. In its 2 hrs and few minutes, it is a tight tight thriller.

Its an excellent movie that you should not miss. Go go to the nearest cinema before someone spills the story to you!

4 out of 4 stars on my scale.

The trailer here:

Paan Singh Tomar - Movie Review

We saw a late night show for Paan Singh Tomar.I knew the broad storyline of the movie. My expectation was a movie that justifies the banditization of a sportsperson.

But the movie is much more than that. A quick brief about the story. Paan Singh Tomar was a Indian Jawan and an athlete who was a national champion, record holder, represented India in Asian Games and in International Defence Athletics. After retiring, his families land issues caused him to take up arms and become a dacoit.

Simple story that was oft repeated in what were Mithun or Dharmendra's movies in 80s. But Paan Singh Tomar is a different movie. What makes it different - Irfan Khan. The man assumes the character as if is Tomar and no one else.His athletic image and built in the first half. His pursuit of running and running fast. And his love for his family is endearing.

The second half where he becomes a dacoit is also quite good. There is no justification for his conversion. Yet you feel for the character. That is Irfan Khan's accomplishment. He builds the character with panache.

The photography is excellent, especially the scenes of Chambal river and the shootouts.

What is a drag is the climax. While it is a drag, the movie ends abruptly. Thats the only grudge I have. All in all, brilliant movie. Go watch it for Irfan Khan.

Yes and at the end, I agree with the director - spare a thought for our sportspeople who sacrifice so much of their life to bring glory to India. Yet ours is a country which is so selfish it quickly forgets this sacrifice. We have seen this happen time and again. Let us hope that such movies help change this sad state of affairs...

Luck runs out and history comes back....

Sri Lanka won against Aussies yesterday. India has lost its chance to the Finals in the Australian Tri-series. So luck has run out eventually. Or the law of averages has caught up.

This time the discussion of points table, net run rates, 3 possibilities etc... made me nostalgic. This is a hark back from the late 80s and most of the 90s. Our team then used to end up in this situation quite often.

I mean things used to be so funny, the newspaper would read something like this:

"To qualify, India needs Zimbabwe to beat Australia in league A matches. In league B, South Africa needs to beat Namibia to ensure that the overall net run rate of Zimbabwe puts it on the 4th position ahead of Australia. In case of Australia winning, the net run rate of its winning should be lower than 0.436 to ensure that India still has a chance of making it to the next round. In that case though, South Africa should win by a net run rate of at least 3.14159265.

With a number so unique many Indian fans are first running around the ground perimeter followed by the running from the perimeter to the pitch and back. However, because the grounds are generally oval in shape, they are able to achieve a ratio of either 2.96845 or 3.32338. This has put them in a worry on what exactly the outcome would be....."

OK, the second paragraph was a little exaggerated. But I am sure the first paragraph reads much like it used to read back then....

Till the next series, lets pray our players get all the team spirit back and form back and get back to winning more by practice than by luck.

Adios!