Kameenapan

If I had to the rate the movie on it’s style, I would say we have a winner.

If I had to rate the movie on performances, I would say we have something to rave about.

If I had to like a movie based on the fact that Shahid’s puberty season is finally over, I would say “This was it!”

But then that’s not why we watch movies, or do we?

Was there a point, a purpose, a message or at least a story line. I missed it, or probably I am ignoring the fact that we have started making movies which are hybrid rip offs of probably a “Snatch” and a “Pulp Fiction”. But seriously if it was that, where was the style in the words. There was no dialogue like “I have to go powder my nose.” or “Are you taking the piss?” that would have caught one’s attention and would go on to become a lingo that the kids would use.

Moving onto the movie, Guddu and sweetie love each other but it’s not a love story. Guddu has a twin brother Charlie, they don’t love each other, but that’s not the story either. Then there are some gangsters, politicians, policemen and drugs in the middle but that didn’t appeal to me either. I don’t want to ruin the non-existent plot any further, so I would leave that to your pea-sized imagination.

The music though excellent, promises only 4 songs in the film. You make a bollywood movie and you have excellent music backing you up, why not go all the way!

Talking about the performances, the boy has matured and is a man now. Shahid has arrived and that is great news. Would Kareena chew her nails when she watches the movie? Let’s hope some good comes out of it, and Bebo realises her mistake. But then she has Pataudi junior’s shoulder. Or does she?

Priyanka  has already proved her acting abilities to the world in Fashion and she steps up in this one. A small and a powerful performance is what I can say. A simple girl on the outside and fireball on the inside, finally intelligent actresses like these have started to display the true face of young Indian women. Yes! They do have sex in college, they do use protection and they do make mistakes.

Speaking about kissing controversies, there was no hype around the Shahid-Priyanka smooch and it turned out to be the hottest one in 2009.

Vishal Bharadwaj is truly talented and that comes out in almost every scene. Everything starting from the performances, to the music, to the direction, and the cinematography is pretty decent in their line, but the combination basically misses the punch!

 

The most tastefully shot scene is in black and white and comes in the end. Do watch out for it and share your perspective with your comments.

Maybe it’s the overhype or maybe it’s the dearth of great cinema, Kaminay falls below our expectations.

Angels and Demons

First things first, it’s too late to be reviewing this movie. In spite of the “blessed” strikes, Angels and demons has come far from it’s release.It maybe late for a review but it’s never too late for a perspective.

I never managed reading both the Dan Brown sellers. I saw both the movies. The first one made less sense to me. Maybe it was horrid or maybe it was ignorance. I don’t plan on talking or blaming it. Dan Brown has been often regarded as a “beach read” author – the kinds who churns out a higher concept, slightish adventures that could help you pass a 7 hour flight. Take for example, Angels and Demons the film has everything from the plot, to the the writing, to the history, to the direction, to the performances – executed to utter competence.

The plot : Angels and Demons has the returning Tom Hanks as the symbologist Robert Langdon. He is called upon by the Vatican to investigate the kidnapping of four roman cardinals who turned missing during the vote in of a new pope. A bomb well not exactly a bomb but antimatter with a standard battery life has been planted somewhere in the Vatican city and it is up to Langdon, a female scientist Vittoria and the priest Camerlengo Patrick McKenna to figure out clues and find the bomb in order to save the cardinals and Vatican city. It is a race against time and orthodox tradition. The plot points towards the ancient sect Illuminati, a group of academics and intellectuals who has an age old feud with the Catholic church.

That’s what I want to talk about more than the movie, the age old fight between science and religion. Have they started to co-exist? There are a few theories and few answers to everything. There is no proof although. It is true that majority of people now embrace both science and religion. They seem to use different parts of their minds for each of these, with no or hardly any interconnection between these parts. At least we no more associate bad weather, illness to curses; or earthquakes, storms and eclipses to angry gods.

The conflict has been there right from the 16th century. Both theologians and scientists presume different things and continue to think the way they do. Laplace, dedicated his entire life to finding answers and died exclaiming : “What we know is nothing, what we don’t is immense!”

The truths hidden are greater than our being, generations have passed by and the answers are still not clear. What I have learnt over the years is wisdom in this sentence : “God helps those who help themselves.” I remember my sister praying for 2 hours before every exam…she was never helping herself that day. But till day, she claims that the prayers were answered. My mom is a strong believer in the almighty, the puja in my house has every idol right from all the Hindu gods to Gurunanak and also Jesus. I have wondered if her prayers have any significance, but then who am I to question her faith. My husband dwindles in his belief, I see him praying but never in a temple, but then faith continues to govern our lives.

There has always been a divide and the two groups never saw eye to eye. In the seventeenth century, Galileo stood trial, was found guilty and spent the last eight years of his life in house arrest over the issue of geo centrism. When Darwin's Origin of Species was published, people were divided among those who supported evolution and those who opposed it. Heated and sometimes hostile debates were commonplace. Even today the controversy continues. A Brief History of time is an attempt to explain a range of subjects in Cosmology, including the Big bang, black holes, and light cones to the non specialist leader. Its main goal is to give an overview of the subject but, unusual for a popular science book, it also attempts to explain some complex mathematics. There are no conclusions but it comes very close to answering the so called questions.

I have seen one miracle in my life which is probably to personal to pen down. But that made me realize that if nothing else, we got to keep the faith. If nothing else, we need to bow are head and if nothing else there is no point in the arrogance since there is so much we don’t even know.

I have no ways of structuring this article. It seems as confused as my mind is and as strong as my faith is.

Coming back to the movie, it’s definitely something worth seeing. It is a treasure hunt that takes place in the Vatican and that’s what makes it so enthralling. The performances are strong and the actors remain true to their characters. Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and disturbing images, Angels and demons has surpassed it’s prequel. A must watch, I say.

Hello??!!

After watching the movie, yes I am talking about "Hello" I was in the mood to write a hate mail to one of the most promising Indian authors. On second thoughts, I decided to go public and spread the joy.

The movie is based on Chetan bhagat's popular book : One night at the call center.

The only thing screwed up in the book was the end. That's alright, I am not good with ends either. An afterthought to his last two novels always makes you wonder "Why would he do that to the end?!"

However in case of the movie, everything from the first frame to the last frame was screwed up. They screwed up the characterization, the plot, the setting and not to forget the end...of course! It's sad, more so unfair to drag the "significant mine" to such movies....just for my undying love for Chetan's writing. He was thoroughly bored, and was sms'ing his pals during the 3 hour ordeal.

What went wrong?
Well everything....

a). Salman Khan plays the role of Chetan in the book. I mean... HELLO?!
He even had to do a cheap thrust number to save the movie. Sorry, but topless Salman doesn't work anymore.

b). Katrina plays the role of story teller in a language she cannot speak.Thats right,Hindi.
Luckily her voice is dubbed, but please check out the wardrobe malfunction Kaif goes through. Not to forget, she vanishes into thin air.Literally.

What a beautiful edit of the book..I can bet on my life...that the end couldn't have been more messed up. I mean...you have to give it to them...for that.

c). They work in a call center that has just 5 employees who are the central characters of a movie. The director could have easily shot the movie in a real call center, however he preferred to shoot it in the most pseudo setting.

d). The call with god... Lesser said...the better.

e). The characterization is very weak, for eg. Radhika bounces back after her tragedy and starts takings calls, etc etc. None of the characters were built as well as they were in the book, and the wadrobe doesn't do well for them either.

f). The songs are too boring and of no significance.

g). The love angle between Shyam and Priyanka isn't even built up, and moreover Gul Panaag laughs like a horse.

There are so many more....and it's already started to disgust me.
I think it was Atul Agnihotri's experiment which trust me has failed. It was very sweet of Salman and the entire Khan clan to help out his directorial venture.

Should we write off this director?
Yes we should, Atul you couldn't make it as an actor...you wouldn't probably make it as a director as well.

The only good part about the movie :
Oh yea..It does exist.
Sharman who played the role of Shyam, a very promising actor and has done a decent job.
Vroom played by Sohail Khan...Now Sohail is funny and he proved it in the short cameo he played in a recent film "Jaane Tu..."

But ALAS! they really couldn't save the film either...
Indian cinema has found a good story teller for fresh scripts. But he needs to chose the director sensibly.

Well luckily, Five point someone is being recreated in the IIM B Campus and is being directed by Raj Hirani. Hope lives.