Raees

IN mirroring the contradictions in our country, Ritesh Sidhwani compromises his senses and intelligence as he obsesses over them in his film called Raees. I guess even I was not in my senses when I chose to watch this film. Shah Rukh Khan should stick to romantic hero roles, as he is somewhat bearable there. The role of a business urchin turning into a big time politician god father and savior of the oppressed is not at all convincing. Though he expands his chest and shoulders to look broad and big in the film and though the camera tries hard to make him look so, his short height and small frame make him look tiny in front of his fellow goons. Especially, as this film tries hard to capitalize on Shah Rukh’s equity, he could’ve taken advise from friend Aamir and bulked up in few weeks. Or maybe he tried and that’s the best he could do.

The film confuses and bores you for it has no agenda. A failed attempt to make another bhai film who rises up from the poor gallis of remote India to make it big as a savior of the needy. He creates an illegal business,  thulps goons in a city of his choice, kills at will and helps the same people whom he is slowly killing. He acts God during difficult times, but has no problems creating a small country of sorts of his own people harming the others who he doesn’t know. Of course there is the idealist cop with superman instincts and drive to save the day, Nawazuddin did his job but it didn’t help because the story and direction were of no consequence. The camera loves Mahira Khan but she is an extended version of Khairat from popular tv series Who Humsafar Tha with similar language and dialogue delivery. Following the formula of a Hindi film, songs play abruptly, there is lot of dhishum dhishum and people are shot randomly. This entire film rests on Shah Rukh Khan and one line which the writer is very proud of.

Rating – 0.5 / 5

Dangal

I went for this “greatest film of the year”, 100 crore earning, Aamir Khan magical wonder with great expectations. Alas, with nothing coming back as I wondered what the fuss was all about. Hadn’t there been other great films with brilliant storytelling and awesome themes, this film would definitely been another perfectionist Aamir Khan’s great creations. But I hate to say this about my favorite Indian actor that he has been beaten fair and square by films that have jolted, molded and recreated Hindi cinema this year. 

It’s another real life story about a sport prodigy who hailed from a tiny village and went through the struggle to make it big and make India proud. The only difference was that here a woman breaks the gender norm and stereotype of culture to emerge victorious fueling feminist sentiment and firing oppressed, suppressed angry Indian goddesses. But wait, hasn’t that already been done ? So what ? We watch it again. The scenes were causing a déjà vu continuously. Aamir Khan, you have fierce competition. It’s no longer just the Khans, but a whole bunch of artists, doing some brilliant work. Great performances by Fatima and Sanya.

The wrestling fights were fantastic shwoing lot of technicalities of the sport. The duels were gripping, adding some salt to the repetitive porridge.  I have great respect for the achievements of the Phogat sisters, and am proud of them. But this film does not live upto the hype it has created. Maybe Aamir could have been more creative in the making of the film instead of using his talent in promoting it.

Rating: 3/5

BEFIKRE

Confusing, mindless, misplaced eroticism and clueless, Befikre will leave a question mark on your face at the end. The story line is wayward and irrelevant. I was lost several times during this film. The present scene doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the previous one. Its like watching many short irrelevant clips continuously. The director makes up for the disconnections by the exotic locales of Paris, copious exposures of beautiful bodies of the leads, continuous yet passionless on screen smooching scenes and a constant undertone of sex. 

Ranvir Singh looks good on the screen and knows his act very well now. He sells himself in the film convincingly, inspite of an irrelevant script. That is definitely appreciable. But his role is the same, the one of the alpha male, cocky, hypersexual and a text book Casanova. Vaani Kapoor doesn’t look natural. She has that quality of the NRI returned to India to try her hand in Bollywood with discomfort with the Hindi language. The usual and clichéd Indian nostalgia in a foreign land shows up again as her parents refer to Indian customs, traditions and food. Ranvir is constantly cracking jokes trying to prove the character’s overdose of testosterone.  Most of those jokes have either been repeated or not funny. 

A borrowed idea from Hollywood and desperate attempt to make it relevant to the Indians by shoving titillating erotic and sexual frames, this film  will leave you lost and imbalanced. The only thing good about this film are two songs which are worth listening to, more than once.

Rating – 1 /5 

Kahaani 2

I wonder why this film got mediocre reviews from many sources. Kahaani 2 lives up to the Kahaani franchisee with a gripping story and strong narrative. I always feel that a film should tell you a story. This film is all about a best laid plot and wonderful execution in the direction. A story which has so many facets and they all come together to make an interesting watch. The characters are complete, the acting is mature and the script lives up to the originality of this story. 

A victim of sexual abuse decides to save another from the same peril. The effects of sexual abuse can be far reaching and sometimes can drive the life of the abused. Foregoing her personal life, Durga decides to honor her conscious and save a girl child from the dark black hole of molestation. This conviction gives us to a story acted out to perfection by Vidya Balan. Though the second half is predictable, the direction and the story keep you hooked. 

The clarity and confidence of Vidya's acting are the jewels in the crown of this story. Arjun Rampal surprised me, for I was contemplating a boring, passionless act by him. He has given a very convincing performance and shows promise. The direction and cinematography match to the theme and intensity of the plot making this film a great watch.

Rating : 4/5  

Dear Zindagi

Dear Zindagi will resonate with the name Alia Bhat. She is the centre of the film and how? All of 23 Alia gives a pleasant yet gripping performance which flows through like the ripples created when you throw a stone in the pond. The ripples spread throughout the water body creating a beautiful visual effect of concentric circles that soothes your senses. We all feel incomplete in our relationships with parents which eventually have an impact on other relationships. The parent child relationship is the core of all our relationships and the rest of our relationships through our life are dependent on how strong, weak, fulfilled or unfulfilled our relationship was with our parents.

            Gauri narrates this story of any ordinary person in an extraordinary way through Kiara’s life. She relates the relationships of Kiara (Alia) with her parents and the aftermath of the incidents in her childhood. How the need for love and unfulfilled emotions of a small child show up in her connections with other human beings after growing up. How all of us carry heavy baggage of the mistakes our parents made into most of our adult life and how by letting it go we can create new dimensions in all of our relationships. It reminds me of a phenomenal program I participated in, which transformed my life. The program made me feel light though I weigh over 80 kgs. I won’t elaborate more for it is a different topic.

                                        

              Coming back to the film, the simple dialogues, casual acting of the youth in the film and the story line give a sense of comfort and can be related to easily. Shah Rukh overacts again or maybe it’s just his style. He holds back a bit too much as he delivers philosophical gyan which are highly intonated and pronounced in British accent. Am sure at least a few of those wise quotes are his own creations. The film tends to get boring but the strength of the story and scene sequences pull you through the life of Koko. A good watch if you don’t mind a laid back and casual experience. But if you are looking for drama and action then you should think again.

Rating – 3 /5 

Ventilator (Marathi)

An emotionally charged film, Ventilator, at the heart of it, is a film about the father and son relationship. And over that relationship are the rest of the relationships wound as extensions, which happens in most Indian families. The typical nuances and behavior of the near, distant, urban, rural, close and estranged relatives of us Indians has been brought to fore in a light, comical and entertaining fashion. The characters are fully developed and matured giving each actor a complete script to perform to her best. Rajesh Mapuskar has written a great story digging deep into the thought, emotions and behavior of any Indian family. Men in our or any culture, for that matter, do not express their fondness for each other. This complicates the father and son relationship to a point of suffering for which, many times, both of them are responsible. This film is able to expose that underlying tension, misunderstandings and wordlessness of this relationship in a way that will leave you emotional and tearful. And this entire baggage that most of us carry throughout our lives, attains nirvana when either of them is on the verge of being lost or already lost. The feelings and emotions drain you out in those difficult moments and relax you after the tide has passed.  Death in the family often transforms you in a way to maturity and wisdom. And with the blessings of Lord Ganesh this film will surely move you and hopefully encourage you to tell your father that you love him. A must watch film with brilliant performances by each and every actor especially Jitendra Joshi and Satish Aalekar who stood out.

Rock On 2

I wasn’t sure if I will watch this film and still can’t believe I watched it. A senseless film trying very hard to cash on its previous success, which I believe was a failure in the first place. The makers are living in a bubble thinking that it was a cult film and that anything to do with rock music can be a revolution of sorts. Are they trying to capitalize on the hippie movement of the 70’s which signified freedom pf thought and expression through the most creative rock n roll music ? If so then where is the effing music ? There are hardly any songs or music, let alone rock music. A remote lead on the guitar in some corner of a miserable song is supposed to be rock music to which the dumb kids are shown to be grooving?  IS it about a social cause that music is helping to revive? Is it about a dead man who committed suicide because his talent was not recognized? Is it about a group of musicians trying to get back to doing what they love to do the most? Is it about a girl whose father is denying her self-expression? What is this film about? I did not quite get it. Whatever happened to the dialogues? There is no script. Arjun Rampal is repulsive.

Nonsense! Don’t waste your time.