Dangal - Stunning, brilliant and soul-stirring!

"The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war." - Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf.

The trailer made sure that we view Dangal in the first week of release itself. Haanikarak bapu and his dhaakad chhoriyaan tell a story so stunning, that you are moved!

The story begins with one Mahavir Singh Phogat from a village in Haryana, who is one of many Indian sportsmen who has accepted defeat at the hands of family responsibility and reality of sportsperson's future. Despite being skilled and dedicated, he accepts a life where he does a 9 to 6 job. He hopes that his yet to be born son will get him and India a gold medal in wrestling. His hopes are dashed when he has 4 daughters in a row.

A physical fight between his daughters and a village boy opens his eyes. He becomes their wrestling coach. He changes their lifestyle, kills their dreams of normal life, kills their childhood, by imposing rigorous discipline on them. A loving and quiet father transforms into a possessed and fiery tyrant.

SPOILER ALERT! 

The girls see the light when one of their friend tells how girls are mistreated as a burden and the responsibility shirked off at first possible opportunity like child marriage. That transforms the girls too.

Rest, as they say, is history. The story speaks about the tension, the sacrifice and the dedication that champions are made of.

To overcome odds, Mahavir keeps increasing the stakes, like making his girls wrestle with male wrestlers. Like taking on entire society by training his girls.

I am reminded of the chapter "10,000 hours rule" from Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers. An outlier these girls are, their father only creates those 10,000 hours for them.

The movie never lets you off the intense vise-like grip of the wrestlers in the movie. The father, played by Aamir Khan, Geeta Phogat, played by Fatima Sana Shaikh and Babita Phogat, played by Sanya Malhotra, are brilliant. So are those playing side roles of Sakshi Tanwar as mother, Girish Kulkarni (as the jealous and bureaucratic coach) and their first cousin (I don't know his name).

And don't forget, the kids who played Geeta and Babita. They are mesmerizing.

In short, the movie is brilliant. Take your kids for sure, for they need to know what perseverance is. In Sanskrit, तपश्चर्या !

Baba Rancho's words in 3 Idiots resonate , "Don't worry about success, just ensure excellence!"

Do see this song.... This, the real Mahavir Singh Phogat, the Haanikarak Bapu transformed and revolutionized our nation by training his daughters and inspiring thousand more Geeta and Babitas!

Its a true story of Geeta Phogat and Babita Phogat.

English Vinglish & My love for Food!

We saw the delightful English Vinglish yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it. Sridevi's Shashi Godbole and her English class is a fantastic tale with the moral that no odd is bigger than your will! The movie was worth every penny and the best part is that it is 100% family viewing affair.

That said, I loved the supporting star cast of the movie - most of them, Mehdi Nebbou, the silent Frenchman whose yearning for Shashi starts growing on you, the viewer.

Now there is a fine discussion between Shashi and Laurent where they say something of this sort:

Laurent: Food is art.
Shashi: When a man cooks, it is art. When a woman cooks, it is her work / duty.
Laurent: No no no... you cook, you make other people happy. This is worship. This is art. Prayer.

It is better viewed on the screen than me describing it here. It is a fine discussion on how we all should view the person cooking for us - your mother, your wife, the cook, the vada pav waala....whoever. I have never heard a more intelligent discussion on food in Hindi cinema.

I am absolutely loving the way Indian cinema is moving. English Vinglish is another example of this sophistication that is coming our way.

Barfi!++ : Loving where Indian cinema is going!

Having seen Barfi! and being completely charmed by the lovely fairy tale of Barfi, Jhilmil and Shruti, I refuse to fall into the debate whether this should have gone to Oscars or not.

For me and for us Indians, I do not think it should matter. What should matter is where our cinema is going! After the rubbish we saw coming in the 1980s, some limited risk taking in the 1990s, some more boldness is portraying stories in the 2000s, we have now reached a wonderful point where some excellent movies are being produced.

I have written this earlier too, Hindi cinema is undergoing a wonderful transformation that needs to be appreciated, applauded and encouraged.

Now Barfi! may have picked up some scenes, but the way the story is told, the cinematography, the music and the actors, they all show what can be achieved. The audience is entranced by this team. And this has been happening at a very good frequency. In fact that is what is making us spend reasonable sums at the movie halls.

In general, this bodes well for Hindi cinema viewers.

Now the point of Oscars, sure they should award an original movie over one which may have redone some scenes. But the way movies are made today, we need not worry too much.

Before you go, here enjoy this lovely lovely song from Barfi!

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...

Luv Kusa - Movie Review

Indian film industry is moving up the technical ladder and nothing makes it more evident than the animation movies. What started with Hanuman is now been taken up by other movies and Luv-Kusa is a welcome addition.

The movie about Lord Rama's son is impressive in using animation, music, creativity and yet sticking to the Grand Epic of Ramayana. With the focus on Luv Kusa, the movie also continues the original question that Ramayana asks about Rama - Was he right in asking Sita to leave?

The movie begins with Lakshman leaving Sita in the forest. Luv Kusa are born to her and they grow up as talented children. Especially mentionable is the Ramayana recited by the young princes to their father (they still don't know Rama is their father).

The final confrontation between the sons and father is also good though it could have been better. All in all, the movie is excellent and, we as the audience should encourage these movies by seeing more of them. And that was the sad thing today as there were only a few occupied seats in the theater today.

3.5 out of 5 stars for Luv Kusa.

Lafangey Parindey - Movie Review

Lafangey Parindey is a nice entertaining movie. It begins well and by midway you are immersed in it. The pace and the grip slackens in the second half. While the movie ends ok but I certainly missed a well-rounded climax.

Neil Nitin Mukesh is a kick-boxing champion and aspiring to be don Nandu. Pinky(Deepika) is a skate-dancer and aspiring to win a talent show. They are neighbours from same Mumbai locality.

Nandu is out with a local don on a hit, it goes wrong and they speed away. Pinky's world crashes when she is hit by a car and she is blinded. Nandu is on the wheel when he hits Pinky.The local don takes the blame for hit but cops sense someone else was there. Meanwhile, Nandu's guilt forces him to use his blindfolded fight skills in reviving the dancer within Pinky.

Such movies dont have great surprises in end, else they wont work in India.The movie is nice but the end left me a little disappointed. It could have been better. While Neil and Deepika are good, the supporting cast is great. The music is good.

All in all decent one time watch. A pukka Hindi masala movie.

Ishqiya - Movie Review

What a movie! There was a time when I used wonder what ails our industry to have some nice classy movies? What does Hollywood eat to make stuff like Blood Simple or Usual Suspects or LA Confidential? Well, time has come that Bollywood has started making intense, interesting and intriguing movies. And yes, Indian cinema is getting all these elements in a single movie.

The movie begins with an accident in which Vidya Balan gets widowed when her criminal husband dies. In a different town, Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi run away from a big goon with his money. They plan to escape to Nepal with the money.

They had once helped Vidya Balan's husband and so reach at her place with the intent of getting help in their plans. The goon traces them there and gives them few days to return money.

Now things start unfolding in a manner they both had not imagined. Both Shah and Warsi start falling for Vidya Balan. And she is much more than what she seems.

What happens? Well I suggest you see the movie to find out.

The dialogues are funny, witty and add to the intrigue. The songs are brilliant. Background music has lot of stuff that reminds of Western classics. Acting wise, Vidya Balan is great! She never seems overawed by Naseeruddin or Arshad. They both are great as well. The best part is the plot and the direction.

Welcome to the new Indian cinema. Enjoy!

4* out of 5*.

Rann - Movie Review

Rann is an OK watch. It is not bad but not great either. Ram Gopal Verma is in his element in places but is generally not able to decide when to stop. So Rann comes out as a drawn out, at times weary movie.

The story begins with Harshvardhan Malik (Big B) as a reputed journalist and the head of a channel. The channel is facing problems of falling viewership. His son (Jay played by Sudeep) and others in team are trying to convince him to change somewhat to ensure higher TRP. 

There is a spy in his team who seems to be leaking vital information to his biggest competitor, Mohnish Bahl. Then there is the politics of the land where Huda and Pande are the leaders. 

Big B breaks a big story and causes a political earthquake. His TV viewership shoots up. But there is a problem of which Big B is not aware. Riteish Deshmukh joins Big B as a fresh recruit with all the idealistic thoughts. He suspects something and investigates.

There is not much of suspense but I will not reveal more of the story.  There is the climax which is very long. The movie could have stopped a good 20 minutes before it actually did. The climax scene has Big B speaking long sentences that are made of good 30-35 words. The dialogue writer I think must have used every word in Hindi language in that ramble.

Who shines? Sudeep and his girlfriend are very good. Probably the most complete characterizations in the movie. Big B is quite flat - may be a problem the way script is written. It is good to watch Riteish in a different, more serious role. But he too wears just one expression throughout. Mohnish Bahl, Suchitra Krishnamurty, Rajat Kapoor are all ok in their roles. Gul Panag is unnecessary in the film. 

There is nothing that we don't know. Nothing that is stunning. And in the climax, Ramu takes the easy way out. When deciding between glory as a good analyst of human psyche and possible box office success, Ramu has opted for the latter.

All in all, see the movie if you don't have anything else to do. Else wait for it to come on TV.

3* out of 5*.

3 Idiots - Movie Review

3 Idiots - Raju Hirani and Aamir Khan's new offering is a good movie.

It is light, entertaining and gives the right messages. In some sense, it is also one of the many forms in which art in our country is trying to convey the change in people's mindset.

The movie begins with 2 friends trying to meet their third one who has been missing for some time. And then the story moves back in time when they meet first time. Three engineering hostel roomies - Farhan Qureshi, Raju Rastogi and Ranchhoddas Chanchad become best friends during their studies.

The gag fest begins there. Non-stop. Some of them outrageous, some picked from many of the jokes / anecdotes - of these some are contemporary and some very old. At times, you laugh (and really loudly) and at times you can only smile. But the good part is that the message is always delivered.

There is that element of suspense built up in the middle of the story that is good. But the climax feels contrived and, therefore, slightly stretched.

Aamir is good but his role, as an all-knowing, cannot do anything wrong fellow, seems stretched after some time. Madhavan seems wasted in a rather small role. Boman continues his only-needs-change-of-heart villainy.

Who shines? Sherman Joshi in a more sensitive role, Kareen Kapoor in a small but great role and their Uganda-born Pondicherry educated enamored-with-marks classmate (I don't know the actor's name).

The movie has some fantastic campus scenes, great dialogues and locales.  Raju Hirani continues his mission of spreading the right messages. This certainly looks in line with the earlier Munnabhai episodes. All-in-all, good watch.



Added later to post
The movie has elements of various sources from around the world. The ones I see obvious connections to - Earlier Munnabhai episodes, Taare Zameen Par, Kite Runner (the book), Forrest Gump

Movie Review - All The Best

***&1/2 out of 5*

All the Best is everything you want to end a perfect weekend. The only prerequisite for enjoying this movie - keep your brain outside the cinema hall.

Back in mid-90s when Ajay Devgan was new and was mostly doing forgettable action movies - critics used to pan him at will. One newspaper had called him "oily and retarded" (To be  precise it was "tupkat mandabuddhi chehryacha" in Marathi). Devgan over last 10 years or so has been consistently proving why he should be considered one of the better actors in the industry. This is one more comic addition to those good roles.

The movie is fun. Ajay Devgan (sans the 'a' in last name) plays Prem Chopra and Fardeen Khan - Veer Kapoor they are friends and both are subprime loan cases. However their creditor is a local goon (played by Johnny Lever). Bipasha Basu (as Janhavi) and Mugdha Godse (as Vidya) are their respective lead actresses. Their subprime situation leads to Prem Chopra giving extremely creative ideas to Veer on how to get money from his rich elder brother (Sanjay Dutt playing Dharam) from Africa. These creative ideas lead to confusion that make elder brother think Bipasha is Vidya. The whole movie is on this confusion.

The gags are in dialogues, sight gags, references and every other possible way. That said the jokes are not repetitive, they keep you interested and they don't make you wait long for the next joke.

Ajay Devgn reaffirms why he is a good actor. Almost half the movie is poking fun at his character. Sanjay Dutt, Bipasha are great. Fardeen has increased his expressions to more than 2 and that is encouraging. Johnny Lever is looking better with his translator sidekick. BTW, I loved Sanjay Mishra nicknamed RGV :D  who mimics Pran in the entire movie. He with Atul Parchure are awesome. And finally the ultimate Mallu accent from Ashwini Kalsekar is zimbly awzum.

Endpiece - The experience in this movie and mirth levels in the theatre reminded me of Andaz Apna Apna that I had seen back in 1994.

Kaminey - Movie Review

Kaminey is awesome! That is my 1 word review.
***** (out of 5*)

I know it is a bit late but it would be incorrect to not praise Vishal Bharadwaj for this one more gem. Indian cinema is coming of age. A thriller that matches any other from any part of the world.

Bharadwaj does not take the easy way out (the one typically used in Hindi double role movies) of the brave guy replacing the simple one. He makes sure he does not go that way by fimply creating a fituation where one pronounfef 'fa' af 'fa' and the other s....s....stammers. So no chance of swaps.

I am not going to say much about the movie. You folks go and watch it in a movie theater that has a good sound system. The music, the chases, the songs, the dialogue, everything....everything is top class. The background of rain, the gaps in story left for you to fill in your mind and many such things are new to our cinema and they work well. The director is respecting you.

Shahid is fantastic as the crazy derby gambler Charlie who cannot fay 'fa' and Guddu as the stammering NGO worker. Priyanka Chopra is mindblowing as the Marathi mulgi Sweety. She spouts fire ...literally. Her Marathi is almost impeccable. There are those loud and mean Bengali brothers, much feared Tashi, 2 crooked cops and other kamineys who are all very good in those characters.

One character that stands out is Bhope Bhau by Amol Gupte.

Though there are a lot of good scenes in Kaminey, I loved the hotel chase and the final climax. The dialogue during the climax are the most enjoyable ones.

When I saw movies like Shawshank Redemption and Usual Suspects, I always felt that our movie makers should also make similar stuff that is original. Well then...here is Vishal Bharadwaj's Kaminey for you.

Marketing insights summary

My friend Paddy has been writing some very interesting marketing related articles. Easy reading and great summary of about all of our marketing subjects. And no exams at the end :D

Know your audience

Consumer Insight

Credit Cards

- Sid

Love Aaj Kal - Movie Review

** (out of 5*)

Love Aaj Kal is an interesting experiment. Unfortunately, it is just that...an experiment and mostly a boring one. It is nowhere close to the fire that Jab We Met was.

At the beginning, we know that Meera and Jay have broken up. There is a collage of scenes that form the mystery element of the movie. But then as we learn more and more about Meer and Jay, we feel it is all superficial. Sure they are not committed to each other but still have feelings for each other. This does not come out. After that we see many scenes interwoven in 2 time periods which is good if they are handled well. They are sudden and disrupt the flow of movie.

What stands out in this movie is the story of Veer Singh and Harleen Kaur. The story exudes passion, something of the type of Amitabh's Jay and Jaya Bhaduri's Radha of Sholay. With her quiet presence, terse one liners and stunning simplicity, young Harleen steals away our hearts. Veer, with his Pratigya, patience and building maturity makes a place for himself.

But, overall Imtiaz Ali and his editor have created such a mish mash of scenes and have tried to pace it so much that we somehow do not connect to the main characters - Jay and Meera. And isn't that the crux of any good romantic movie?

Now to the actors. Deepika Padukone is completely flat and boring in her acting. What happened to the Shanti of Om Shanti Om? Her acting was flat in Bachna Aye Haseeno and I did not dare to see Chandni Chowk to China.

Saif Ali Khan's one liners, gibberish and confusion as Jay is heart warming but the serious scenes again miss to connect with the viewers. Veer is great...Saif is good in intense scenes (like Omkara). Rishi Kapoor is mind blowing. I am a big fan of Rishi and feel he has always been under-appreciated by everyone. The new girl, Giselle, as Harleen is excellent. Lastly, why waste someone as wonderful as Rahul Khanna?

All in all, a good movie if you have nothing else to do. Perhaps Imtiaz should try to show us the complete story of Veer and Harleen next time. BTW, songs are good but are mostly placed in wrong places and break the movies continuity...except the last one that is ;)

- Sid

New York Movie Review

Living alone in a city is boring and so 2 sad and lonely souls went to see New York in its Saturday matinee show.

In a nutshell, New York is brilliant with its weaknesses.

The movie begins with Hollywood movie style FBI raids where Omar (Neil Nitin Mukesh) is detained for possessing weapons. An Asian FBI officer (Irfan Khan) plays a good-cop and bad cop to extract the truth from Omar. Omar is made to tell the history about his friends Sam (John Abraham) and Maya (Katrina Kaif). We find, very interestingly, how Omar, Sam and Maya become friends. The story moves ahead to reveal deeper relations.

Then starts the real story. Sam is a suspect and FBI wants Omar to help them. Omar, pressurised and threatened, agrees and tries to re-enter Sam and Maya's life.

I am going to stop telling the story here. The movie is a mix of drama and thriller.

The movie is a poignant story of what Asians of certain faith went through after the horrific 9/11 attacks. The way it is told is what is new about this movie. Our Bollywood cinema is learning new things and new directors are willing to cross the traditional boundaries of thoughts.

Neil Nitin Mukesh is great, but John Abraham is excellent. I have seen him in other movies where I always thought he was superficial. He was fantastic in this movie. Irfan Khan is as usual with his blend of seriousness and humour. But the crown of acting in this movie goes to Katrina Kaif. She is brilliant. It is amazing to see an actress shed her glamour quotient and enter the territory of deep and sensitive acting. I am impressed with the way she has improved over the years after everyone had called her another glamour girl.

The first person narrative, the editing, direction and acting are all amazing. Keeping songs in background is an achievement considering how our directors fall to peer pressure and insert songs in places that break a movie's continuity.

Finally, I felt the climax was slightly slack. It could have been more tightly handled. I am not suggesting anything is wrong, it was good, just that it should have been handled in a better way.

All in all, brilliant work! Go see it in the nearest movie theater.

Aamir at IIMA

Hey!

I could say hi to Aamir Khan at IIMA. Here is his pic that I took when he was leaving. Was happy to have my family here when he visited - they could catch a glimpse of the much respected actor.

Stardom is so tough to manage...Aamir had a huge security, folks were saying hi, he was polite enough to say hi to them yet he had to keep moving on because I am sure he had a flight to catch or another festival to attend somewhere in the country.

Honour to see an admired star on our campus!

- sid

2 thumbs down to Hindi movie horrors

In this running around behind a million assignments and reports, I took out 5 minutes to see a relatively old Hindi song where the hero and the heroine disguise themselves and sing the final song of the movie in the middle of the villain's den....but the villain does not recognize them...the entire audience does but the villain who has built his empire of smuggled diamonds cannot recognize them....

who do these directors think we are? this is insulting audience intelligence at the highest level...


ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....................!

3 Cheers to Hindi Social Melodrama!

I was seeing Saaheb, an old Indian movie starring Utpal Dutt, Anil Kapoor, Raakhi Gulzaar and others. I had seen it many years ago when I was in school. This is a typical family melodrama with a joint family on the verge of break up.

This revisit to this movie probably 16-18 years later just made me realize some things that made such movies great viewing. I saw a small piece where Anil Kapoor fails in his exam and he returns home depressed late in the evening. Utpal Dutt, his father is waiting – I expected a shouting scene where the father goes on saying things that he should not.

Instead, the scene was so sensitive and delicate that I almost choked. The scene was a mature dialogue portraying a worried father communicating his worry and apprehension to a responsible but intellectually weak son. Some movies should be rated as “Can be seen by U but understood by A”. A 12-year old can not understand this...no way.

It is astonishing to realize what these fantastic actors can do to a scene. Utpal Dutt talking 2 or 3 simple lines to Anil Kapoor was just amazing.

Three cheers to Hindi Social MeloDrama....!