Monday, December 26, 2016

CityLights(2014): Rajkumar Rao leaves his impact as a common man.

The year was 2014, when I heard one of my friends singing a very beautiful song "Muskuraane ki wajjah tum ho..." But I had no idea about this song until I watched it on TV. Obviously, the song had to be beautiful as it was work of a soulful voice of Arijit Singh.
The video promised me of a very touching and sensible movie. So, I finally, decided to watch it. I was surprised to see that it was production of Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt in association with Fox Star Studios for it appeared to be effort of a veteran producer like Anurag Kashyap. But the plot of the movie has already been cooked in 2013 in the name of Metro Manila, a British produced crime-drama filmEven then the direction matters, which was a great effort by Hasnal Mehta. It was Mehta, who made this movie look different from other Bhatt movies like Murder, Jism, Raaz and likes.
The story is about life of a poor farmer and his family, which moves to Mumbai in search for livelihood, who is trapped by tragedy due to his innocence. 
Now, I begin to talk about the actors. The common man of
our story Deepak (Rajkumar Rao) really looks like a common man in the need of livelihood. Rao is versatile, it is proved by his acting in the movie.
Patralekha and Manav Kaul are also good at their parts. But they are overshadowed by Rao in terms of performance. 
Even though this movie is a remake, I am sure that the team behind Metro Manila would be proud to see such masterpiece.
At last, I would appreciate what I noticed that Vishesh Films (production house of Bhatts) has probably, first time acknowledged the fact about an official remake.

Friday, December 23, 2016

Pink: True Colour of Our Society

I have already been fan of Madras Cafe (2013) and Piku (2015), which have three things in common - great actors, interesting plot and great producer director Shoojit Sirkar. I expected more from him this year and I was not disappointed. 
Though, I am quite late to post this review, I had to do it. Pink is the movie that deserves accolades not only nationally but also internationally. This movie is not just a piece of art but a masterpiece uncovering the truth of Indian society and its attitude towards power, women and us taking them guilty for even their loss. 
The movie stars Amitabh Bachchan, Tapsi Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, Andrea Tariang and Angad Bedi in lead roles. Tapsi and her friends who share an apartment, are framed in a criminal prosecution for ateempting to murder Angad Bedi and soliciting for prostitution.
However, reality is dark and the arguments of prosecution is even darker. The only ray of hope is defence lawyer Amitabh Bachchan.
I would suggest to watch this movie for those who haven't watched it yet. If you want to ignore hipocricy of our society then it's other thing. Otherwise, one would love to watch the real courtroom drama in this movie. 
There is nothing more to say but more to watch and appreciate this. 

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Force 2: Actions, Stunts and Entertainment.

Hello Friends, I am back with my posts on movie review. The recent movie I watched is Abinay Deo directed Force 2. Nobody but its trailer and its theme forced me watch the combined force of John and Sonakshi against the baby villain Tahir. The movie is dedicated to RAW agents who sacrificed their lives knowing no border and no limits to their jurisdiction, but whose sacrifice remains unacknowledged. 
Well, the movie is a complete action pack, John playing a Mumbai based-cop and Sonakshi a RAW agent. Right from the beginning, the movie keeps the audience thrilled and bound to postpone the nature's call. 
Also the audience was waiting for the stunts of John like lifting a Mercedes E 240 (might be John wanted to be sure whether his gym exercises are worth it).

Reasons to watch Force:

Well the reason is not just one. First, Indian audience expects three things from a typical Indian movie- entertainment, entertainment and entertainment (3Es). But this movie is more than 3Es. 
Secondly, the fact shown about service of covert agents of a secret services agency are true to the extent of the clause of plausible deniability of field agents of RAW is concerned. 
One can enjoy the movie without any yawning moments. Stunts were great, though I would not be surprised if it comes that some of them were Hollywood inspired. Even Tahir Raj Bhasin was good in his part.
Lastly, the backbone of an action-thriller is reason for revenge and Force 2 does not lack in that.

Flaws I analysed:

First things first, Sonakshi as a RAW agent was like Trump for President-ship of USA. I mean how can a RAW agent easily jump to the conclusion that one is mole without applying his (here her) mind. John and Sonakshi working together were like a Mumbai based cop surpasses an RAW agent.
Some of the facts shown about working of RAW undermine such agency. 
Stunts shown are entertaining but sometimes these are excess. One such stunt being the grabbing the Mercedes from back.
Those who want just entertainment, they must watch it in the multiplexes. But those who think this movie to be at par with Baby (2015) and Madras Cafe (2013), they are mistaken. This is the movie that tries to prove that John is James Bond in the making.
But the song Rang Laal which comes at the end of the movie gives it a perfect ending. This song is made for a complete Indian patriot. 

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Simply Unparalleled: Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro

Pavan Malhotra, the name that many of us might not have heard yet. But we know the face of person playing role of Tiger Memon in Anurag Kashyap directed Black Friday. 
There are many such names like Makrand Deshpande, Ashutosh Gowariker, Rajendra Gupta, Neelima Azeem, Vikram Gokhale, Surekha Sikri, Nishigandha and many others. 
These are not the famous stars of Indian cinema industry but these actors know the true art of this industry. At international stage, these actors represent India. They are not Salmans or Akshays of India but they are Big Bs of their art. If you have to believe my words, you should switch to parallel cinema- a product of real talent and a process of real talent. It uncovers the reality of issues in India.
One such gem of parallel cinema is Saeed Akhtar Mirza directed Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro (1989) with Pavan Malhotra as lead actor.
The movie depicts the period of the Hindutva mobilization of 1980s, the consequent  explosive communal conflict and impact on lives of young Muslims, represented by a working class Muslim family in Mumbai. Saleem Pasha (Pavan himself) is a small-time thief and goonda and lives with his family in a shady neighborhood, where illegal activities are order of the day.
The film bagged the 37th National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi in 1989 and 1990 National Film Award for Best Cinematography.

Sunday, July 10, 2016

Fan: SRK proves why you should be his fan.

Every person is inspired by an icon or role model, whether in politics, economics or in entertainment domain. Some of them only follow such icons, others love their inspiration. But there evolved a new category of mass who revere their inspirations. At last there is another category of persons, who can prove to be a die-hard fan and if time comes they can prove to be deadly for their icon 
It is in the last category that we can classify Gaurav Chandna, I mean a fan of Aryan Khanna, a famous actor in Indian cinema industry. The most interesting thing is about what Chandna does to meet Khanna and what he does to realise what Khanna did wrong. The entire movie is centered at the grueling efforts by Chandna to meet him, rather hug him and more than that, it reveals how deadly a fan could be for a celebrity.
By the way, the Khanna and Chandna both are none other than SRK himself. And I bet, after watching the thrill-packed Fan, you will find the answer why SRK has a bigger fan following than his rivals. For me the reason is not Khanna but it is Chandna.
The movie is full of thrill and till the climax I found it hard to believe that SRK is both the celebrity and the fan. Not only the physical appearance but also the body language and tone of both the characters put you in suspense and compel us to ask "how the hell can he be both simultaneously?"
Truly this movie gives a wings of hope for SRK fans make them forgive and forget SRK of Dilwale (2015).