1. I tend to avoid watching movies in movie halls because the idea of so many strangers sitting in one dark cramped room on seats designed for discomfort, eating huge portions of junk food and arching their necks to stare at a bright screen scares me. If and when I go, it’s usually a date or else a gang of friends (i.e. occasions when ‘watching the movie‘ is a secondary activity.)
2. Yes yes, I am ‘that’ guy – the one who loves chatting with friends during a movie. I find it urgent to express my sarcastic views then and there, often sending out an infectious laughter. I don’t understand why some people think watching a movie is like going to a crematorium – no smile, no talk, just focus on the only source of light in the dark room…. and uh, yes, not laugh at my mediocre jokes.
3. I strongly believe that mainstream movies (Bollywood masala in particular) are made for people with double digit IQ’s. Missing few minutes is not going to matter at all, (at least to people who understood what I just said)
4. I love the system in the movie halls in India (atleast in Mumbai, I don’t know other cities) – tickets have seat numbers. If I plan and book in advance, I should have the right to choose my seat in advance. Else it feels like I am boarding an unreserved compartment of a railway train or an air deccan flight… people jostle to grab good seats 30 minutes before the movie starts and the guy who planned this looks like a fool.
5. The first thing I check is signs marked ‘EXIT’ (and show it to my friends who laugh it off.) The last thing I wanna do in a crisis situation is to squander time searching for one.
6. I don’t understand why people zealously overpay for poor quality goods, such as food. And what exactly makes everyone hungry once they enter the confined room? Its a matter of 2-3 hours, comeon! Often the cumulative sound of people munching and slurping their food is higher than the dolby digital movie sound, not to mention the annoying smell that lingers in the hall until your nose is immune to it.
7. Dolby digital (and other fancy) sound systems does NOT mean ‘excessively loud volume.’ After the movie people usually emerge out screaming and yelling at each other because the noise music has deafened their ear drums.
8. I giggle when (other) people fart in closed and confined places. I have a fantasy for people who eat onion rings dipped in garlic sauce and then watch the movie with an open mouth. I secretly wish that some slimy bug with four hundred legs would slither into that opening. Seriously, the stench kills the most adorable deospray and I feel like burrying my nose in my (or my neighbor’s) armpits but then that would seem perverted.
9. I don’t understand the craze for watching a movie on the first day paying double the price. I prefer weekday evenings when the prices are half and guess what, its the same stuff on screen!
10. I would gladly pay more to have separate arm-rests for each chair. Some people have hairy, sweaty arms, no?

I have a feeling that hardcore movie buffs hate me now…. no, no, don’t hate me puhleezzz See I wrote few movie reviews too!

I’m tagging.. umm… let me think. Oh, if you like it, take it up voluntarily
cheers!

Om Shanti Om, directed by Farah Khan, stars Shahrukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in the lead roles as the protaganists while Shreyas Talpade and Arjun Rampal feature in supporting roles. It is a typical yes-nonsense Bollywood masala movie. It is also the kind of movie that I seldom watch.

If you want to watch this movie, there are three prerequisites. First, you need a gang of noisy and enthusiastic friends who scream, sing and dance along with the movie. Second, you need to leave your left brain behind (you know, the one which thinks logically). Finally, you must not expect to learn a thing or two from the movie – thats because you won’t, there is nothing to take home.

The movie promises total fun, as it transitions swiftly from Bolywood in 70′s to Bollywood now. Kiran Kher’s deliberate melodramatic scenes and SRK+Shreyas’s retro outfits combine with some smacking satire on the movies of those times to make an interesting watch. There’s lot of talk about Shahrukh’s six pack, and he flaunts them in the only totally un-required song (making it uglier) – but then thats Bollywood.

One of the best parts of the movie was the Filmfare awards ceremony – with all the nominations and announcement of awards. The other astonishing part was the item song with several filmstars – present and past. As a MBA student who finds it difficult to schedule a meeting of 8 people at the same time, same place, I wonder how this was done.

On a side note, this movie makes the de-Sankritization of Hindi movies complete. Increasingly the movies are filled with English, or, Urdu words, that often leave me wondering with what the guy on screen just said. Ah…

Highly recommended watch. Never believed a reincarnation story could be that entertaining

अनेक पुरस्कारांनी नावाजलेल्या, प्रेक्षक आणि समीक्षकांच्या प्रशंसेस पात्र ठरलेल्या तसेच राष्ट्रीय व आंतरराष्ट्रीय पातळीवर गौरविलेल्या “डोंबिवली फास्ट’ या चित्रपटाने आपल्या शिरपेचात आणखी एक मानाचा तुरा खोवला आहे. ….
आज जाहीर झालेल्या राष्ट्रीय पुरस्कारांमध्ये सर्वोत्कृष्ट प्रादेशिक चित्रपटाचा (मराठी) बहुमान त्याने मिळविला. स्वदेशी एण्टरटेन्मेंट प्रस्तुत समीर गायकवाडनिर्मित आणि निशिकांत कामत दिग्दर्शित या चित्रपटाने चांगले यश मिळविले होते.

तुम्ही हा चित्रपट पाहीला नसेल तर लगेच् बघा, चुकवू नेये असा चित्रपट आहे. माधव आपटे ही व्यक्ति चित्रपटात तुमच्या-आमच्यातली आजवर लपून रहीलेली एक गडद रंग छटा सादर करते. माधव आपटे – एक सामान्य माणूस. बॅंकेत चांगल्या पदावर नोकरी, बायको, दोन मुलं, संसार सुखाने करावा, अशी इच्छा मनात, पण तत्त्वं सांभाळताना त्याची कसरत व्हायची…. अतीशय छान परीक्षण येथे वाचा.

खरंच… खुप काळानंतर मला उत्तम कथा, सादरीकरण व छायाचित्रण या चित्रपटात बघायला मिळालं. कथेचा वेग योग्य तर आहेच्, पण त्याच् बरोबर कलाकारांची भूमिका ही अप्रतीम. शेवट जरा विचित्र वाटला, पण तरी बराच वास्तववादी आहे.

[tag]Dombivli[/tag] Fast is a [tag]Marathi[/tag] [tag]movie[/tag] that was made in 2005. It is the story of Madhav Apte, a middle-class Marathi man who lives in Dombivli, a suburb some 50km away from Mumbai. He is a man with principles, who has a simple aim in life – to support his family and keep them happy. Madhav is troubled by the endless struggle and the problems that surround him. Suburban trains in Mumbai are referred to by their destination and speed. [tag]Dombivli Fast[/tag] thus indicates a local train that originates / terminates in Dombivli and stops at select stations (hence the word ‘fast’).

The film has won a string of domestic and international award, latest being the National award for best picture. The movie is based on a storyline that people of Mumbai can instantly identify with.

Marathi director Nishikant Kamath is making his Tamil debut by remaking this movie(starring R. Madhavan and Sangeetha) – Evano Oruvan

I remember watching the movie in a house-full hall. Even after the movie ended, people just sat there, in silence… it is a story that everyone can associate themselves with.

Dombivli is my hometown by the way.

आता प्रश्न होता तो एक बकरा शोधण्याचा. एकट्याने पिक्चर बघणं मला विचित्र वाटतं, म्हणुन मी नेहमीच्या गिर्हाईकांना फोन करू लागलो. अगदी वाईट परीस्थीतीत मी त्याचं तिकीट स्पॉन्सर करण्याची सोय केली होती. एक तासात एक मित्र हा (फालतू) चित्रपट बघण्यास तैयार झाला. या वरून तुम्हाला कळलं असेल की मी किती चांगला सेल्समन आहे!

पिक्चर चालू होउन अर्धा तास झाला तरी मला आशा होती की पुढे काहेतरी चांगलं असेल. माझा मित्र शेजारी बसून माझ्यावर शाब्दिक मारा करत होता. मी त्याला समजावत होतो की ही नोर्मल मार्केटींग स्ट्रॅटजी आहे. मी कधीच् पिक्चर अर्धवट सोडून गेलो नव्हतो, पण आज रेकॉर्ड ब्रेक करायची ईच्छा होत होती. नावावरूनच् कळायला हवं होतं. टप्याटप्यावर टुकार संभाण, बुड नसलेली कथा, पाचकळ विनोद व एकंदरीत तिसर्या प्रतीचा चित्रपट. पैसे घेउनही कुणी हा चित्रपट बघु नये ही विनंती.

मराठी चित्रपटांची दयनीय आवस्था बघून मला फार वाईट वाटलं. खालच्या दराचे चित्रपट बनविण्यापेक्षा काही न बनवलेलं बरं, असं मला वाटतं…

Now the detailed movie review.

Casting was simply great. Dolores Umbridge was perfectly bitchy and was immediately ‘hate-able’, particularly her smirk. Luna Lovegood’s weird character was played nicely and she was always shown in a higher contrast than the others, so she really ‘stood out’. I especially loved the way she said “We trust you Harry” apart from her other dialogs. The third character I absolutely loved was Bellatrix Lestrange. In the little part she was shown, she did a remarkable job. Of course, Lord Voldemort, Severus Snape, Harry Potter, [tag]Hermoine[/tag] Granger, Ronald [tag]Weasley[/tag], Ginny and the Weasley brothers were good. Dumbeldore was even worse than he was in part 4. Fortunately, he was kept out most of the times.

The movie is perfectly paced. I can imagine the challenge the director must have faced to convert the exhaustive book into a two hour twenty minute movie. Compared to the shoddy work in part four (Goblet of Fire), this part was way better.

Special effects are notable. First, when the Weasley twins create havoc using fireworks and second during the final fight between Dumbeldore and [tag]Voldemort[/tag]. The last scenes could perhaps have been longer, but I think the important elements of the fight were appropriately covered.

For those of you who have absolutely no clue about what I am talking, here is a short summary. This Harry Potter and the order of phoenix’ is the fifth movie in J. K. [tag]Rowling[/tag]’s Harry Potter series (seventh book – ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ is due in few days). Anyway, in this book, Harry Potter, a 14 year old wizard boy who survived the attack of Voldemort the dark lord, starts seeing images that Voldemort is planting in his mind. The whole story revolves around a prophecy that Voldemort wants, but cannot get. Meanwhile, in the school where Harry is studying gets a new headmaster Umbridge, a nasty representative of the Ministry of Magic. She imposes restrictions on the school, and Harry along with a bunch of trusted friends forms what he calls ‘Dumbeldore’s Army’, where he teaches his friends ‘defense against dark arts’. In the climax scene, there is a long fight between the dark forces and the rest of the wizards, including an incredible Harry Potter-[tag]Dumbeldore[/tag] vs Voldemort battle.

If you still can’t make sense of what I am saying, I really suggest that you grab a book and read it.

अब जो किये हो दाता ऐसा ना की जो,
अगले जनम मोहे बिटिया ना की जो ।

(What you have done this time, oh Lord, please don’t repeat
Don’t make me a girl in my next birth.)

Young Amiran from Faizabad witnesses a बिदाई (departure/sendoff) of the bride to her husband’s house after her marriage. Watching the grief stricken family of the bride she tells her mother that she will never go away after marriage.

Indeed, Ameeran, barely in her teens is sold off by a criminal to the bazaar of Lucknow where she is inducted into a कोठा (House of entertainers) managed by Khannum Jaan ([tag]Shabana Azmi[/tag]). Khannum gives Ameeran a new name – ‘Umrao’. Umrao is trained in traditional dance and given education in literature and शायरी ([tag]Urdu[/tag] poetry). She grows up to become Umrao Jaan ([tag]Aishwarya Rai[/tag]), a beautiful woman perfectly skilled in dance and poetry. She is not a conventional prostitute, but is groomed specially to entertain rich and high class men (Nawabs). In very her first मुजरा (dance presentation), she enthralls the entire Lucknow city by her beauty and thus becomes the most sought after tawayaaf.

Nawab Sultan ([tag]Abhishek Bacchan[/tag]) who has a penchant for ghazals, is instantly drawn towards Umrao jaan, while Umrao falls in love with him at the first sight. They connect instantly and take vows never to separate from each other. Alas Nawab Sultan’s father is unhappy with his relationship and disowns him. Thus, unable to ‘pay’ for the expensive services of Umrao, Khannum asks him to leave. This is where the tragic story begins. There’s a lot more I’m not writing here.

And now some opinions.

Aishwarya Rai is very gorgeous indeed. She can perform the classical dances gracefully, deliver dialogs seamlessly and express the feelings beautifully. Her eyes are alive and her gestures are rich and perfect. Compared to this, Abhishek Bacchan is a mess. Never does he look anything close to his role of an elegant prince. Sunil Shetty is apt for his short appearance as a dacoit. Shabana Azmi is always a reliable actress. She is a class apart from the mainstream Bolywood filmstars, and that is evident.

The movie is directed quite well overall. The urgency of situation during the 1875 uprising, the pain felt by Umrao jaan when Nawab Sultan calls her unfaithful, and such emotional moments are remarkably portrayed. However, there are excessive number of songs and unwanted scenes in the movie that gives the viewer a feeling that the movie will never end. Director [tag]J. P. Dutta[/tag] could have edited the movie to a crisp two or two-and-half hours instead of making it three days hours long. Anu Malik, the music director has failed to create any good music, which could have made watching the movie a slightly less boring experience. All the songs sound mundane and there are too many of them scattered in the movie.

The movie is full of shayri’s and elegant dialogs. The use of Urdu is impressive, but sometimes excessive. They could have provided subtitles in Hindi or English to make understanding easier! But at the same time, one line of poetry conveys message worth reels of dialogs and this is a striking achievement. Also, I liked the flash-back concept of story telling. It distinctly highlights the striking contrast of Umrao jaan at old age and during her glory days.

I haven’t seen the earlier make of the movie by Muzaffar Ali. But I strongly feel that if a movie is going to be remade, it should be edited to suit present-day. If the new movie is simply a copy paste of the old one, nobody is going to like it. Had there been some originality with the adaptation of the same story to contemporary times, it would have been much more enjoyable and appealing to the fans.

This folk song however kept lingering in my head for a couple of days…

अब जो किये हो दाता ऐसा ना किजो,
अगले जनम मोहे बिटिया ना किजो ।
कैसा नसीबा जगमें हर बिटिया पाये,
अपना जिन्हे समझत है पर वो पराये,
बाबूल का अंगना छूटे, मैया का अचरा,
भोली चिडिया पाये बस एक पिंजडा,
फिर भी ये सब समझावे तडपा ना की जो,
अगले जनम मोहे बिटिया ना की जो
जो अब किये हो दाता ऐसा ना की जो ।

This keenly anticipated movie, released on July 28th, is an adaptation of Shakespere’s not-so-famous play [tag]Othello[/tag]. Directed by the talented [tag]Vishal Bharadwaj[/tag], the plot develops in the heartland of Indian politics – Uttar Pradesh. The movie is shot primarily at Wai, Maharashtra and has picturesque scenes, esp the temple of coronation.

The movie is based on the directionless, caste ridden political wars in UP, however this issue is not highlighted explicitly. It also takes a solemn note the male chauvinistic attitude which culminates into the movie climax. Suspicion and jealousy are the prime drivers behind the storyline and the plot, which is a shocker at times. There are vivid scenes of violence and sensual portrayal of love and lust.

Things look slow and routine in the early parts of the movie, with abductions and killings – nothing that we are not used to seeing in movies. Soon, the story leads the curious viewer into a messy affair of rustic cow-belt political gang wars where [tag]Ajay Devgan[/tag] (as Omkara or Omi) and his two trusted aides [tag]Saif Ali Khan[/tag] (as Langda Tyagi) and [tag]Vivek Oberoi[/tag] (as Kesu Firangi) work for Omkara’s political mentor Nasseruddin Shah (Bhaisaab). Creeping into this macho cauldron is a tender love story between Omkara and [tag]Kareena Kapoor[/tag] (Dolly). The other women – [tag]Konkona Sen Sharma[/tag] (Indu) and [tag]Bipasha Basu[/tag] (Billo) have significant roles to play.

The story really begins when Omkara appoints Kesu as his chief lieutenant (bahubali) instead of Langda. Langda swears to ruin Kesu and plots strategies to isolate and destroy Kesu. This process culminates into a tragedy at the end of the movie, something that is unusual to happen in [tag]Hindi movies[/tag], and that’s what gives the ‘it’s different’ feel about Omkara.

Director Bharadwaj has extracted the best out of all the characters. Ajay Devgan and Konkona Sen are at their usual best and for the first time I think, Kareena Kapoor has performed a mature role. However Saif Ali Khan steals the award, for his expressions and body language are simply outstanding; notably the at the appointment ceremony. Bharadwaj’s music and background is apt and blends perfectly with the scenes.

Omkara has a very strong character but apparently cannot see shades of grey. His leadership and authority is rightly assumed but could have been dealt with better. I feel Ajay Devgan was under utilized. Also, Bipasha Basu is better suited for sophisticated movies.

Overall I would strongly recommend the movie. It is one of the finest adaptations of contemporary society and has a straightforward, but powerful storyline and characters. This movie has all a rare combination of elements – drama, romance, emotions, songs and dance – working in fine balance with each other. All human emotions – love, hate, jealousy, joy, mistrust, determination, etc are superbly portrayed A welcome break from the conventions, the movie has motivated me to read Shakespeare’s Othello. Don’t miss it.

Have you seen the trailer? Well I think that’s sufficient. The plot is woven as if the trailer was made before the movie. Expect no more action scenes other than the shown in the trailer. Brandon Routh, (as Clark Kent) the new Superman returns to Earth after spending five years looking for his home planet Krypton. Immediately, he saves his sweetheart Kate Bosworth (as Lois Lane) in some great mid-air action that redefines Newton’s laws. 5 years back, newswoman Lois was pissed off at Superman for leaving (her) abruptly and she’d writtn an award winning article “Why the world doesn’t need superman”. Suddenly, (her) hero is back.

Meanwhile Kevin Spacey (as Lex Luthor), the villan is free from jail and has discovered the supposedly unguarded wealth of Kryptonian knowledge. He intends to ‘grow’ new land on earth by displacing present continents and killing billions of people in the process. He does manage to grow lands of dark ice, and the idea of civilization on that land looks preposterous. Predictably, Superman fights the villians, lifts the whole island and launches it away into space.

The movie should have ended there, but the director chose to be theatrical. Krypton elements from the island he just lifted have affected him and he comes crashing down to earth. They treat him in a hospital, but what really cures him is a tender kiss from Lois and another peck from his son. There are plenty of such melodramatic and overdone romantic scenes which at times make you wonder if the movie is called Superman or Loverman.

Superman Returns is a disappointment, especially when Spiderman and Batman sequels have done really well. The only thing I liked is superman’s blue eyes and Lois’s soft lips.

Krrish

Krish: The Indian superhero

Rakesh Roshan directed “Krrish” stars his son Hritik Roshan (as Krishna Rohit Mehra) and Priyanka Chopra (as Priya). Nasseruddin Shah (as Siddhant Aryan) plays the villain. In this movie, which is a sequel to the erstwhile superhit movie “Koi Mil Gaya”, Krrish is shown as the son of Rohit Mehra and inherits the alien powers that his father possesses (minus the mental underdevelopment).

I don’t know why the director has projected Krrish as “Superhero of a third world country”. He is so poor that he can’t afford a zipper on his costume, or a razor to shave his stubble. His powers don’t give him the ability to fly or spin a web or resist bullet shots. All he does is take really long jumps while he ‘runs in air’ with facial expressions akin to that of an ‘angry man’ of the 80’s who is about to say ‘kutte…’.

Superhero Krrish is present in the movie only for about 40 minutes. For the initial 2 hours, he is just Krishna, the lover boy who goes to Singapore to meet Priya, after falling in love with her when she was holidaying in India. Add to this the cheap humor, terrible music, silly songs and absurd dance sequences and you’d guess it has typical elements of hindi movie.

Several brands have sponsored the movie and they are endorsed every now and then. Roshan has continued his age old Bournvita, but now additionally there is Navaratna, Lays, Hero Honda, Samsung, Fairever and so on. Have you ever seen Siyaram’s travel bus or anyone pouring spoons of Tide detergent to wash a bucketful of clothes?

Wait a minute, there’s still some hope. Director Roshan has spent lavishly on technology, probably for the first time in Hindi cinema. Some effects in the action scenes are awesome, though not breathtaking. Even the story is kind of ‘visionary’!

I believe the sequel (Krrish II) will be better if he focuses more on superhero qualities and technology instead of second grade elements of Hindi movies.

To conclude: Neither movie is must-watch. They are rather watch-once-only type.