Radio

Most of you probably would never consider watching a Himesh movie. But if you decide to, I would suggest you give Radio a try. Not because he has really improved as an actor – he isn’t anywhere close. But this movie is overall entertaining, its completely set in young sensibilities (coffee, facebook etc) and is in a way pleasing on the eyes (the two leading ladies ofcourse)

Debutant director Ishaan Trivedi has a lot of ideas, but he hasn’t got the execution down to a pat yet. The story he narrates is very in our times – a young couple divorced but still friends, attraction towards someone at work and commitment issues. He chooses to go with chapter-wise screenplay (reminiscent of Pyar Ke Side Effects) and goes back-and-forth a couple of times – which is part of why the movie appears refreshing. Non linear timelines or chapter-wise narration aren’t new things – but are pleasantly executed in Radio. Especially check the chapter names.

But the main reason you should watch Radio is our man Himesh Reshammiya. While he isn’t dancing or judo-kicking villains this time, he has some of the funniest one-liners of the year. Delivered seriously, ofcourse. So, while the movie for the most part, is very sorted out, few of his dialogues that are so incredible cheesy and banal that you cant help but burst out laughing. It’s a case of so-bad-its-good, but only for certain one-liners. It helps keeps the mood cheery through the movie. If the director wasn’t a debutant, I might have even considered it was a deliberate ploy.

The leading ladies – Shenaz and newcomer Sonal Sehgal – do their job well. Come to think of it, doing well against Himesh shouldn’t be that much hard work, but hey they suit the roles. Shenaz is perfect in the role of vivacious RJ Shanaya, and Sonal does reasonably as the somewhat immature Pooja. Have to put in a word of praise for the stylist – all the three leads look very trendy and smart, without trying too hard to be cool and casual. Same applies to the workplace – its what you would expect a radio station to be. Believable.

Then there is Paresh Rawal in the role of Jhandu Lal, a bakra caller. He has a couple of random scenes but they are all good fun – all calls ending with “saale #%^&@*” !!

If the same movie had been made with better actor/s, it would probably have been a good romantic movie. The idea and execution is refreshing & realistic – and music is one of Himesh’s better works. The storyline is not without its faults – and the parents are over-the-top – but like Wake Up Sid, the freshness of it all makes you overlook those niggles. Himesh provides the not-intended comic effect – and frankly I liked the movie as it is. There, I said it. I would recommend you check Radio out and make your own opinion.


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A Christmas Carol

The Disney version of one of the most famous christmas stories, A Christmas Carol was perhaps released a bit too early to cash in on the festive season. I watched it on Thanksgiving Day though, so there was some holiday spirit. Made with motion capture and in 3D, the visual quality of the movie is terrific – the animations having a wonderful life-like quality and you easily forget you aren’t watching a movie with regular actors. But unlike Disney regulars, this movie has a few scenes which are quite scary – I am afraid the kids might take home a few nightmares after this movie.

The story hasn’t been tampered with much – on the christmas eve of 1842, miser Ebenezer Scrooge’s dead partner Marley visits him and foretells the arrival of three ghosts – of Christmas Past, Present and Future. The three ghosts show Scrooge his past, present and what could happen in the future – making him see the error of his ways. The visualization of the ghosts ofcourse has been adapted – which is where the movie becomes a little un-Disney.

The Good
Visuals are great, and appear even better if watched in 3D – but it’s not a necessarily-3D-movie. Meaning you would enjoy the movie almost as much without 3D. The motion capture technology enhances the facial expressions and body movements, so Scrooge’s frightened face looks just like an actual old man’s. But then, coming from Robert Zemeckis (maker of Back to Future, Forest Gump, Cast Away & Beowulf), technical perfection is to be expected.

The screenplay is tight – there is no slack anywhere once the ghosts appear – and on the whole it is quite thrilling. But even with this fast screenplay, the moments of tenderness in clerk Cratchit’s family or Scrooge’s nephew Fred’s toast are unmistakable and lend this movie its soul.

Scrooge’s voice is almost unrecognizable as Jim Carrey’s – and other big names like Colin Firth, Gary Oldman & Robin Penn Wright make up the rest of the cast.

The Bad
The appearance of the final ghost is a little over-the-top frankly. Looking like the grim reaper and chasing Scrooge around in London in a carriage drawn by fiery-eyed-black-horses, it caused me to jump a couple of times. Accustomed to sugar-coated Disney movies where bad things are masked in a lot of funny gags, this was a little too grim. I don’t think this Disney movie is going to be too popular with the kids

Though its an animated version of a traditional christmas tale, it lacks the joyfulness and happy nature of Disney classics like Tarzan or Mulan. While A Christmas Carol too ends on a happy note, the overall mood and cinematography of 19th century London is certainly dark. A grown up and mature Disney movie, you might call it. Its definitely worth a watch, but I cant help wishing for a more feel-good holiday movie.


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Fa Yeung Nin Wa : In the Mood for Love

In the Mood for Love is not a new movie – it was released way back in 2000. And it was nominated for the Palme d'Or (best movie) at Cannes that year and won Best Actor there. The director Wong Kar-Wai is one of the more acclaimed current directors in Hong Kong. The reason I am reviewing it now is that it is being shown as part of the Palador Film Festival* - which is showcasing some great world cinema for Indian audiences. Currently in Bombay, only Fun Cinemas in Andheri and Eros Cinema in town are screening these movies every week.

Somewhat true to perception – some of these movies are not for general consumption. I’d say watch In the Mood for Love only if you are bored with the format of mainstream Hindi and English movies. It brings a very different take on movies with it - the use of lighting, repetitive use of certain camera angles frequently and portrayal of other characters by the two lead characters. Production wise, it appears frugal as most of the movie is in a couple of cramped rooms and a lonely street corner – but apparently it took 15 months to shoot.

The movie is about two couples who move into two neighbouring apartments on the same day – a reporter Mr Chow & his wife in one and a shipping clerk Mrs. Chan and her husband in the other. We know something is a little amiss when neither Mr Chan nor Mrs Chow’s face is shown. They are always shown from their back or their voice is heard from behind the camera. Mr Chan travels for weeks for his business and Mrs Chow works late night shifts as a receptionist – leaving the respective spouses alone in their rooms and frequenting the neighbourhood noodle place for dinner. The twist comes when they realize their spouses are cheating on them – and their loneliness acknowledges each other.

The treatment of the story is very unconventional with the story moving ahead in fits and starts - sometimes just languidly watching the rain fall or making perfect smoke rings in the air. The story is set in 1962 and in quite a rundown part of Hong Kong. Nothing like the gleaming metropolis of today. And even there, minimalism in everything – the simple 4-5 sets, the limited characters (the Chans’ landlord Mrs Suen & their cook, Mrs. Chan’s boss Mr Ho and Chow’s friend Ping), the minimal dialogue and the repeated background score. I recognized the famous Spanish song Quizás, Quizás, Quizás playing a couple of times (Spanish original of Perhaps Perhaps, the title track of BBC comedy series Coupling)

What I remember most about the movie are the lead characters enacting the hypothetical interaction of their spouses – it takes a few moments for it to sink in that it was a rehearsal and not the real thing. And it will happen again and you still wouldn’t be able to catch it.

Don’t watch it for ‘timepass’ - as they call it in Bombay – its not one. It’s a completely different genre of cinema and you will appreciate it more if you have a wider view of movies than hero-meets-girl-and-they-fall-in-love-despite-differences. You can call it an acquired taste if you like



* If you are interested in such movies, you might want to check Reeload ( http://www.reeload.net/) , the movie club hosting these shows. They are offering free dvds and workshops with filmmakers etc on membership. Its not mandatory to be a member to watch these shows

Disclaimer – I am not a member of this club and I paid full price for my tickets :)
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Kurbaan

One of the slickest looking movies to come out of Bollywood this year, Kurbaan is worth a watch just for its high quality visuals. Rensil D’Silva and his team will wow you by their sheer technical brilliance - I cant remember the last time frames of any movie looked so good. And designer Aki Narula’s wardrobe and overall look for Kareena adds a lot to the beauty of the movie – deep kohl lined eyes and rich Indian clothes (without a single hot pants or low-cut top).

Kareena gives one of her better performances as Avantika, even though she has very limited dialogues and screentime. Her eyes speak for her as she goes through emotions from amusement to happiness to despair and sorrow. She reminds us why she is one of the best actresses around today. And she completely outshines Saif in the second half, where he appears to be rolling through the scenes without much effort. However Saif is in his own territory in the first half, where he is the suave, confident dude who is trying to sweep Avantika off her feet. Their chemistry is sparkling and it is not very difficult to guess that they are a real-life couple.

Kurbaan is a love story of Ehsaan (Saif) and Avantika (Kareena) set in a background of muslim terrorism. Avantika is a professor of psychology in NY university, but she is teaching in Delhi university for a semester because her dad is recovering from a stroke in Delhi. There she bumps into Ehsaan Khan, a new professor at the college and soon they fall in love. However, she gets an ultimatum to return to NY for the next semester and Ehsaan agrees to go with her to the US – after marriage. And so they land up in New York.

And all this happens in the first 15 min of the movie!

The Good
Throughout the first half of the movie, pace is quick – almost frenetic. You get the feeling you are watching a thriller rather than a love story. The background score of the movie enhances that edgy feeling. And most importantly, logic is not sacrificed as most of the characters in the movie are more realistic – and not caricaturish. What they say or do makes sense – like the FBI is not just composed of muslim-hating officers.

Acting was a positive surprise – especially from Vivek Oberoi. He was much better than I remembered, and Kiron Kher does the Afghani accent exceedingly well.
And a trivial positive - when the police try to defuse a bomb, the wrong wire is cut and things go kaboom. Not like other movies where invariably, the correct wire is cut.

The Bad
Post-intermission, the movie slows down quite a bit, but the biggest failure of the movie is its climax. The screenplay abandons all pretence of logic or reason and its all senti-drama. Kareena does very well in the acting department, but Saif just sleepwalks through the role here. Given that there were lot of expectations from his negative or ‘grey’ character’, Saif fails to get you to sympathize in Ehsaan.

Kurbaan is a more realistic movie that New York or Fanaa – but its not a Khuda Kay Liye either. What works for it is superb production values and the chemistry between its lead-actors – the spark between them is quite visible. But it is let down by the Bollywood philosophy of love above everything else. It would easily qualify for 4 stars, were I to consider only the first half. However, it loses its way significantly in the second half and the stretched climax leaves a bad taste in your mouth.


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Surrogates

Thankfully, from now onto the end of the year, there are good big-budget Hindi movies bunched up for release on every weekend. Hollywood hasn’t been scrimping on the big budget movies exactly, but they have been really disappointing so far. But if the last 2-3 weeks are any indication, we can look forward to getting some “good” Hollywood movies as well. In the last 3 weeks, I have seen Away We Go, Orphan, Up, Inglourious Basterds, The Time Traveler’s Wife and Surrogates. And all of them have been great movies !! And even after watching so many movies, I missed some pretty good ones like Vicky Christina Barcelona, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, My Sister’s Keeper, Taking Woodstock and The Duchess.

Unfortunately, some work pressure and a little ill-timed fever has meant that I couldn’t write reviews for all of them. I will try to clear the backlog as much as I can.
I chose Surrogates now because this movie impacted me more than the others – in a similar way that District 9 did – in that it made science fiction plausible. The scenario painted in the movie 15 years from now feels rather believable and that’s what made me like this movie a lot to begin with.

The Plot
Scientists make a breakthrough in prosthetics – they manage to tap into brain signals to control movements of artificial limbs for the disabled. Soon, its possible to control a full humanoid robot with your brain and people start to use their surrogates – as these robots are called – to go about their daily lives while they remain at home. It results in significant cut down in crime and there hasn’t been a single murder in years - till now, when someone murders two surrogates. FBI agent Greer (Bruce Willis) has to venture into the real world for the first time in years and finds out that there is much more than what meets the eye

The Good
The realism of the scenario of people using surrogates is the one which makes this movie a great watch. If you think about it, it just makes a lot of sense to let a robot do all your activities while you physically lie on a couch with a visor on your eyes. And you can make your surrogate resemble yourself, yet have the muscular physique or a size zero figure (as your inclination might be). Ofcourse, you can also avoid the stench of sweat in public transport, communicable diseases, muggings and all other unpleasant things. And as can be expected – there are small groups of dissenters who abhor the idea of using surrogates. They are confined to ‘reservations’ in all the major cities, which resemble the ghettos you might see today.

The story itself is a good whodunit for the first part but the identity of the villain is a let down. But the twist regarding The Prophet is awesome though. With such an interesting premise, it would seem the makers didn’t think the entire story through with the same intensity. They could have made the story delve more into the effects of living your life like a video game – because even if your surrogate is destroyed, it doesn’t harm you at all and you can just buy one off the shelf and continue your life.

Ofcourse, there is Bruce Willis – when he is there, you expect some action - and he kicks ass as usual. But this is not a full-on-action Bruce Willis regular. There are just two chase sequences and the first one is rather enjoyable.

The Bad
Greer’s relationship with his wife is supposed to be a sideplot which tries to portray the complications arising out of dependence on surrogates. But it fails miserably and the makers never quite explain why he cant just walk into her room and yank her visor off !!

But most importantly, right at the very end, after the villain has been unmasked and everything is saved, the makers take a very childish stand in dealing with the surrogates phenomena. After such a though provoking premise and first half, the ending was just too banal. You know this could have been such a great movie if someone rewrote the last 20 min of the movie. And its for that Surrogates gets just a 3 star.


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The Ugly Truth

Do you want to know The Ugly Truth ?
Push-up bras can work wonders !! Ok that’s not what the movie is about, but you do have to marvel at the results they produce …

The Ugly Truth is not too far off though – it’s a risqué comedy about the battle of sexes – with enough sexist humor for you to wonder why it didn’t have an ‘A’ rating. But then it is also supremely entertaining movie for it. Gerard Butler shows he has great comic timing in him apart from his uber-manly persona and Katherine Heigl is damn good as an anally-retentive control freak.

Abby (Katherine) just cant stand the sight of Mike (Gerard), who’s been signed up to boost the ratings of her morning show. Mike’s segment is titled The Ugly Truth where he cynically analyzes relationship dynamics between men and women – and Abby sees herself going to ‘broadcasting hell’ because of him. However, Butler bets Abby that he can help her get her man of her dreams – her new neighbour – if she does exactly what he says.

And I really shouldn’t have to tell you what happens next. Slightly predictable, but with great performances, and some very raunchy laughs. Just watch out for the dinner scene with the panties. The movie is your regular sweet romantic comedy with a slightly tangy coating – good for a change - and equally enjoyable for both sexes. So all the boyfriends/husbands – you wont be bored when you accompany your partner to this movie. And girls you dig romantic comedies like these anyway, right ??


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The Taking of Pelham 123

When you see a movie has Denzel Washington as its leading man, you know the movie usually be a notch above the others. Maybe because he is good at choosing scripts or just that he is good at his work – but I cant remember him in a really trite movie. The same holds true to some extent with John Travolta, though he seems to prefer stylish movies a bit more – which makes him the perfect villain.

The Taking of Pelham 123 benefits enormously from the performance of its two leading men as there isn’t anyone else in the movie to mention. Except ofcourse, the mayor of New York City (James Gandolfini) who is the butt of a lot of jokes. The script of the movie is tight and the pace relentless – keeping you gripped all through the movie.

Walter Garber (Denzel Washington) is a high official in the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) who is under investigation for kickbacks in the purchase of new subway trains. He has been demoted to the desk as a dispatcher at the subway command centre, pending the investigation. And his boss is pretty convinced of his guilt, although nothing has been proven. Ryder (John Travolta) is an ex-con who decides to hijack a subway train – Pelham 123 – and demands $10 million within an hour before he starts executing his hostages. And he makes these demands through the dispatchers desk – which happens to be Garber’s.

Ryder takes a liking to Garber and demands that he communicate only with him –putting Garber’s honesty further under question. From then on, it’s the radio conversations between Garber and Ryder which drive the movie further – as well as being the movie’s brightest spot. Tony Scott’s editing is slick and adds to the suspense as the hour creeps along. The mayor provides the comic relief and the scene with the media is quite funny.

The best point in the movie is the confrontation of Ryder and Garber over the subway radio, regarding Garber’s alleged bribes. And the worst point is also a confrontation of Ryder and Garber, but this time face-to-face on Brooklyn Bridge, in the climax of the movie. Wish they had thought of a better ending

Tony Scott has produced quite a gripping thriller, which involves you right through to the end. It only fails in being slightly predictable about its ending – it would have gotten an extra star if it had surprised at the end. But still a good watch


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Chi Bi : Red Cliff

Imagine the battle scenes of 300 set in the beautiful landscapes of Lord of the Rings – that’s the simplest description I can give about this epic Chinese movie. Loosely based on the actual historical battle at Red Cliff, it depicts the fight between a tyrannical Prime Minister Cao Cao and his million strong army against the 50,000 soldiers of Zhou Yu and Liu Bei. Staying true to Sun Tzu’s Art of War philosophy, the battle is as much about strategy as its about actual fighting – and it’s the battle of the master strategists on both sides that makes this movie special

After a period of civil war, Cao Cao has grown to be the Prime Minister by defeating all the warlords and the weak Han emperor is just a puppet in his hands. The only two challenges to his authority are Liu Bei and Sun Quan in Southern Territories. After a short battle, Liu Bei’s forces are routed and he is forced to retreat further south to Sun Quan’s territories where they team up to fight Cao Cao together. Red Cliff is the camp on the river Yangtze where Sun Quan’s armies are stationed under the Viceroy Zhou Yu and this becomes the scene of one of the biggest battles of the Three Kingdoms as Cao Cao lays siege on Red Cliff.

This movie was actually released in two parts in 2008 and 2009 in East Asia (something like Kill Bill), yet for the rest of the world, the five hour extravaganza was shortened to a two and a half hour movie. So bear with it if some scenes appear a bit disconnected from the previous ones.

With John Woo at the helm of things, visuals and special effects are spectacular. The beauty of the Yangtze valley is especially breathtaking. And you are going to get 300 deja vu in the combat scenes. But what you remember most about the movie is the white robed Zhuge Liang and his stratagems. Master strategist to Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang has the ability to read weather patterns and he uses it to maximum effect in the game of wits with Cao Cao. He works closely with Zhou Yu, a capable strategist himself. However, the fact that Zhuge Liang never actually fights makes his character all the more memorable.

However, the movie is not without its demerits. In halving the movie, effort has been made to minimize the effect on the continuity in the movie, but it has resulted in some characters completely losing their backgrounds etc – so most of the important general’s just don’t do anything apart from fighting spectacularly. The other unpalatable bit were the women in the movie – princess Sun and Zhou Yu’s wife Xiao Qiao. Both their parts are a bit far fetched and the movie probably would have done better without the man-wife scenes between Zhou Yu and Xiao Qiao. However, maybe it’s a cultural thing that we don’t get … like the tea drinking !! I really don’t know if drinking tea was a metaphor for sex or something !

John Woo attempts a epic cinematic version of the historical battle and for the most part succeeds in keeping a audience involved. However, the build up to the final battle royale, in typical of Chinese movies, is a bit slow and the ones with short attention span should probably give this movie a miss. The ones that do watch it are rewarded with some spectacular battle scenes on the river and a slightly disappointing climax. If you do watch the movie, you will probably agree that women were just not needed in the movie …. especially in the climax. But even with the failings, a recommended watch on the big screen


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Fast & Furious

Apologies to everyone for not posting in a while - had gone home for a week. But then couldnt have been at a better time - since there are no new movies being released :)

Although confusingly titled, this is actually the 4th iteration of the Fast & Furious franchise – and dare say, they have finally gotten their act together. Most of the people I know (including myself) kinda enjoyed the original, but were totally put off by the sequels. This one gets back to the original formula with the original cast – Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez – and has a semblance of a story line to link together the car chases.

Talking of which, Fast and Furious opens with a cool truck heist scene that sets the furious tone – Dom (Vin Diesel) & Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) along with a new crew are hijacking trucks for a living in the Dominican Republic. But almost immediately, actions moves back to California, where Letty gets murdered by a drug lord – and Dom swears revenge on her grave. Meanwhile Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker) is back in the FBI on the trail of the same drug lord. So its but natural that their paths cross …

Dom and O’Connor continue off from the original movie – their interaction has the same combative yet humourous undertones. Vin Diesel delivers his punchlines with the same stoic face – but then you don’t goto this movie for the acting, do you ? You watch this movie for the races. Thankfully, director Justin Lin knows just how to – the races are superbly picturized, with that sensation of high speed all pervasive. The tunnel sequences, with its claustrophobic dimensions, add to the excitement and each of the car chases keep you on the edge of your seat.

The script nicely balances the car scenes with the story – and it feels more an action thriller rather than just a car video game – till the climax scene, where logic takes the back seat and its all engines revving and tires burning. I am rather partial to cars and bikes, so I really enjoyed the movie but I can say with confidence that anyone who found the original Fast and Furious an ok timepass would be pleasantly surprised with this one.


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The Stoneman Murders

For a long time I thought The Stoneman Murders was a investigative documentary of some sort by NDTV – because I always saw the ads only on the news channels. And the ads only showed some guy shrouded in a blanket, about to smash someone with a big stone. It was only later that I saw Kay Kay Menon and Arbaaz Khan in the promos and realized it was a proper movie.

But the big question about each movie - is it a proper/watchable movie ?
Answer - Hell yeah !! It might be small budget and without any catchy item songs (there is one mandatory dance-bar song, but its eminently forgettable) – but it’s a very involving and riveting thriller. Ofcourse, it manages to trip itself up when it uncovers the mystery man – it’s a time honored hindi movie tradition (Raaz etc) after all !! But since it’s the last 10 minutes of the movie, you can easily skip that part in your mind and remember its engrossing moments.

As the movie title and the trailers announce – its about the gruesome Stoneman (or ‘Pattharmaar’) serial killings in Bombay in 1983 – whose identity remains a mystery till date. According to google, this is the only serial-killer case in India that was never solved – not even a definitive arrest !! Director Manish Gupta claims that there was no way a crime like this was unsolved – there must have been a massive coverup afterwards. Now I am not in a position to verify if this is just a publicity gimmick or he actually believes that – but it definitely adds to the enjoyment of the movie.
The Stoneman Murders has Kay Kay Menon playing inspector Sanjay - his now-regular characterization of a man with an inflated self-belief, aggression and a liking for violence (Sarkar, Mumbai Meri Jaan, Life in a Metro, Via Darjeeling and many more). I guess it goes without saying that he does that role pretty well. The movie begins with inspector Sanjay getting suspended from the police force for a accidental custodial death, right when the Stoneman kills his first victim. As the bodies pile up, he gets permission from a sympathetic senior Satam (Vikram Gokhale) to pursue a secret parallel investigation on his own. Sanjay latches on to the thin hope that cracking the case before the police department does, might be his only chance of getting back into the force ... and mobilizes his underground network of informers for clues. But the killer doesn’t give himself up easily and that is what the story is all about.

With a perfect accompanying background score that heightens the terse moments and shot mostly at nighttime Mumbai streets, The Stoneman Murders is a very intelligent cat-and-mouse game between the renegade cop and the mystery killer. The director/script-writer have come up with a very realistic & engrossing story – and I cant tell you more about the narrative without giving away some of the mystery. There are scary moments throughout the movie, and there were times I forgot to chew the popcorn in my mouth as I cringed inwardly about the gory death awaiting the pavement-dweller.

However, the director cant match this suspense buildup with the final expose of the Stoneman – and the identity of the killer is rather underwhelming. That spoils what is otherwise a perfect suspense movie. But even with the stinky ending, The Stoneman Murders is entertaining as hell, especially at just 1 hour 40 min runtime and hence deserves a


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Burn After Reading

I think the movie can be pretty well summed up in a line from the movie itself – “Christ, what a cluster-fuck !!”

Burn After Reading has a bevy of stars – George Clooney, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton & Frances McDormand – and one goofy storyline. The movie begins in the CIA office in Washington, where an analyst Osborne Cox (John Malkovich), explodes in rage on being demoted by his boss. He prefers to quit rather than accept a demotion and storms out ranting that he will write a tell-all memoirs. We come to know he might have an drinking problem ….

His wife Katie (Tilda Swinton) is a pediatrician who’s not so impressed by her husband’s activities, especially his latest one. She is having a fling with a married US Marshal Henry Pfarrer (George Clooney), who is a compulsive womanizer. Unrelated to them (atleast in the beginning) are two Hardbodies gym trainers Linda (Frances McDormand) and Chad (Brad Pitt) – and their boss Ted (Richard Jenkins). Linda thinks she desperately needs cosmetic surgery as she is getting old and Chad (who is the male equivalent of a blonde) is good friend of hers. The gym boss Ted has a major crush on Linda, but she never gives him any consideration.

The story begins when Chad discovers a CD full of Osborne’s memoirs in the gym’s ladies locker room floor. Linda and Chad are convinced they have a goldmine of classified information on their hands and hatch a plan to demand $50,000 for returning the CD. When Osborne gets the extortion call, he is enraged and flatly refuses to pay – threatening them with Official Secrets Act and Federal crimes etc. And from here the script just takes off …

This movie is less about the story and more about the characters. All the characters are complete oddballs – the paranoid Pfarrer, the enraged Osborne, the stupid but optimistic Linda, the harebrained Chad - and they make the movie rather quirky. Pfarrer is the most interesting character by far – his philandering, his paranoia about being followed – and especially his pastime of making mechanical devices in his basement (you gotta see it to believe it). But I think Brad Pitt steals the acting honors in this movie with his bimbo-brained act.

I would classify this as a goofy spy movie – but a very smart one - far removed from the Austin Powers’ kind. The comedy is much more mature and black, there is nothing at stake (like WMDs or billions of dollars in other spy movie spoofs) – just people convinced about their own superiority in some quirky situations. Ofcourse, coming from Coen Brothers*, violence is not far away and it suddenly explodes in the narrative, when you least expect it. The running time is just 95 minutes and final scene in the movie is by far the best I have seen in sometime – even though it doesn’t cleanly tie all ends up.



* The Coen Brothers – Joel and Ethan Coen – are a celebrated director duo and their last release ‘No Country For Old Men’ won the best picture Oscar.
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Dil Kabaddi

Imagine Irfan Khan wearing a g-string and a sports bra !!

Grossed out :D ? Don’t worry, they don’t show him in it :)

Just an indicator of the level of openness we have come to accept in hindi movies. Even 5 years ago, talk like this would have gotten movie posters burnt etc. But now its quite cool to talk about spicing up your sex life with such ideas. Ofcourse the g-string idea itself is quite stupid :)

Dil Kabaddi is a take on modern-day urban relationships - with Rahul Bose & Konkona Sensharma and Irfan Khan & Soha Ali Khan playing couples – who are outwardly happily married, but troubled inside. The movie claims to be a fun take on marital (and extramarital) affairs – and especially the trailers of the movie promise a lot of debauchery and goofing around.

So does Dil Kabaddi deliver ?

Yes – but not quite.

The story begins with Samit (Irfan Khan) and Mita (Soha Ali Khan) fighting on their way to meeting Rishi (Rahul Bose) and Simi (Konkona Sensharma). We come to know of Samit’s … err … overenthusiasm for all matters sexual and Soha Ali Khan’s preference for romance and ‘huggy-huggy’ at night – among other things. And they proceed to calmly inform Rishi and Simi that they are separating and Samit is moving out of the house.

And so begins the fun for Samit as he moves in with his ‘aerobics instructor’ Kaya (Payal Rohtagi) the very next day. Mita takes things hard at first but then Simi introduces her to Veer (Rahul Khanna), and they hit it off as well.
These events have their effect on Rishi and Simi who question their own status quo and start considering other people surreptitiously. Ofcourse, what happens next is for you to watch and find out.

All the four major characters are deeply flawed – Rishi a little less than the others – but flawed nevertheless. However, because of Samit’s over-the-top actions, his and Mita’s story doesn’t seem quite realistic while Rishi & Simi’s story seems more plausible. Among the other characters, special mention has to be made of Payal Rohtagi. She is depicted as a caricature, but even then she is so loud and screechy, it becomes a pain to watch her in the latter half in the movie. Her only highlight in the movie is her scene with Rahul Khanna. The other cool character not mentioned so far is Simi’s ex-boyfriend (cant remember his name). Bucking the trend of showing exes as losers (like in Jab We Met), this guy is shown as quite cool and forms a very important link in the narrative.

The chemistry between both the couples is very good and I personally found Soha Ali Khan quite attractive for the first time (and kinda hot, though there is no skin show). And though Irfan Khan gets a lot of wacky humour scenes, I found the scenes between Rahul Bose and Konkona more enjoyable – and Rahul Bose is right in his element.

The movie ends with a unexpected twist and is liberally strewn with gags and sexual jokes. Yet somewhere along, the director loses the balance between realistic and ridiculous fun - and somewhat disconnects with the audience. Like Pyaar Ke Side Effects, you will enjoy this movie just a little bit more if you are married or have had a significant other for sometime. Overall Dil Kabaddi is a lot of fun, but just not quite satisfying.


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Auf der Anderen Seite : The Edge of Heaven

After being fed movies like Kidnap and Bachna Ae Haseeno for most of the year, when you suddenly get a choice of a movie like The Edge of Heaven, most of us choose to pass up on it. The reason is not difficult to fathom - we are so used to dumbed-down movies with predictable plot lines and happy endings (ALMOST all of them still have happy endings – an Aamir or Mumbai Meri Jaan is still the exception) that, in our minds we are all afraid that we wouldn’t be able to comprehend a meaningful movie – or that it would be too much effort.

I myself admit I too belong to the same lazy group – but the few times that I do make an effort to go and watch such a movie – the experience is very satisfying.
The highlight of Fatih Akin’s The Edge of Heaven is its simplicity – the director doesn’t use any stylized sequences (like some big Hollywood directors) – or go for elaborate visuals at exotic locations. He narrates his story in a simple visual style – yet the story itself has such character that it lingers in your mind long after you have exited the hall – like a good wine.

The story unfolds in layers – starting with a Turkish migrant Ali, who lives in Bremen and his son Nejat, who is a professor in Hamburg University. Ali, bored with his retired life, meets a prostitute Yeter - and asks her to move in with him. However, fate alters the best laid plans of men (this is THE recurring theme of the movie) and things don’t quite work out as planned. Nejat heads out to Istanbul to search for Yeter’s daughter Ayten (who doesn’t know about her mom’s livelihood – she thinks Yeter is a shoemaker) but fate intervenes again. Ayten is a member of a partisan student movement and is on the run from the Istanbul police – she goes to Bremen looking for her mom, the shoemaker. There she meets and befriends a German girl Lotte who helps her out.

It’s a story of how the lives of six characters – Ali, Nejat, Yeter, Ayten, Lotte and Lotte’s mom Susanne – intertwine with each other. The narrative happens in a very subtle fashion – and the characters criss-cross each other with minimum fuss (no drum rolls or lengthy face-closeups). Performance wise, none of the 6 is a standout – in this movie, the story is the king. But nevertheless all of them do their job competently.

Ofcourse, coming from a good filmmaker – you can never guess whats going to come next. Even when he announces like a chapter - ‘Yeter’s Death’ - you cannot predict how it is going to come. Or rather, he throws you off the track with some very convincing red herrings.

Negatives ? Well the movie is a little slow I guess.

In the end – everything comes down to the climax - how does he end the story? And he does it in the same way as he has made the rest of the movie - with extreme simplicity. And the way the story ends – you are again beaten by the director in the guessing game. Make no mistake, the story ends properly, with no loose ends – but its just not the ending you were imagining it would be.


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Welcome to Sajjanpur

The trailers for the movie were quite polarising - some absolutely hated them and some couldnt wait to watch the movie (I was part of the former group). So went to the movie with low expectations. And I will say this - dont judge the movie by its trailers.

The movie is about Mahadev, the only educated youth in the village of Sajjanpur - who earns his living by writing and reading letters for the uneducated villagers. And he just doesnt write letters as narrated by his customers - he puts his heart into it - and writes as his emotions dictate.

The movie has a lot of hilarity in the first half - in a rustic manner - whick unlike the morbid Omkara, is of very light and refreshing kind. The entire first part of the movie, the director spends in etching out the characters, and every character has his own link to Mahadev.

The actual story begins in the second part, and the movie slows down a bit. But the ending is scripted nicely and the you come out of the theatre feeling good. This movie has one clear weakpoint - the songs. This movie definitely doesnt need dream sequences - one song in the titles was good enough - and the song Sitaram is pretty catchy as well. The director also fails to capitalize on the chemistry between Ila Arun and Divya Dutta - their sequences are very good and he should have given them more screen time. Amrita Rao does pretty decently but the best is Shreyas - he has a great comic timing and he carries the movie with him.

All in all, a very fresh and light-hearted movie from a veteran director


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Mumbai Meri Jaan

A very well made movie intertwining five different stories - in the buildup and aftermath of the Mumbai train blasts.

The director has chosen very interesting premises instead of regular-joe characters - a policeman about to retire in seven days, a environmentally conscious corporate warrior who chooses to travel by train instead of a car, a rising TV reporter, a bottom-of-the-pyramid coffee seller and a muslim-hating out-of-work youth.

Needless to say each of them are impacted by the blasts - but the director has very cleverly varied the WAY each of the characters has been affected. And his take on the ridiculousness of news channels provides a welcome humorous break

In the end, all the different stories' come together meaningfully and when it finished, the audience decided to give it a big ovation - but I dont agree. I think its a good movie - there is nothing obviously wrong about it, but then there is nothing that makes it a great or a memorable one either. I felt that emotional impact was missing - like its soul wasnt strong enough ...


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Bachna Ae Haseeno

Pretty cheesy movie - shot in excellent locales and a very good looking cast. If you like romantic movies, you will like it - otherwise, there are better ways to spend your money.

Among the pairs, Ranbir and Deepika kind of disappoint - their story in the end is the weakest point in the whole movie. Songs are very hummable. Bipasha looks hot (though its become her ONLY look nowadays) and Ranbir looks good too. Cant decide on Minisha Lamba and Deepika was looking good, but I felt as if she was a little soulless ...

Kunal Kapoor puts in a very good cameo - made me think that he CAN act ...
The scene stealer was Ranbir's buddy Hiten Paintal though ... provided some great laughs

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