4 Idiots...

The day we went to see the movie 3 Idiots, we became the four idiots. We booked our ticket at one cinema house and in the morning went to another. And by the time we realised our mistake and reached the correct cinema house, we had missed one scene.

3 Idiots...

It has been the trend since 2007. Towards the end of the year Aamir Khan comes out with his movie, and no matter how many hits have been there in that year, you enter the New Year thinking of his movie and his movie only. 2007 was TZP, the next year came Ghajini, and now it is 3 Idiots. 3 Idiots definitely takes over from earlier Raju Hirani movies like Munnabhai MBBS and Lage raho Munnabhai. It has the feel-good factor, reminds us of everything good in the people around us and inspires us to look at life from a different perspective. The movie too emphasises on male bonding, even as the protagonists’ love affair is taken care of. The most distinctive thing about 3Idiots is that apart from all the hirani effects, it has the luxury of having Aamir Khan in it.

Raju (Sharman Joshi), Farhan (Madhavan) and Rancho(AK) are hostel roomies at Imperial College of Engineering. Rancho is a guy who thinks out of the box. Machines are a passion for him. He takes on everything and everybody who comes his way. Raju hails from a poor family, a bright student and Farhan is an aspiring photographer. Rancho falls in love with Piya (Kareena) who happens to be the daughter of their Director Mr Sahasrabudhe, played to more than perfection by Bomen Irani.

The first half of the movie belongs to Aamir Khan. He outshines everyone in the movie. He perfects the character of Rancho, in his actions, reactions and body language. The acting skills of Bomen Irani are unquestionable as proved again in the movie. Madhavan and Sharman play the perfect side-kicks and walks away with some of the best moments in the movie. The scene where Madhavan asks his father permission for pursuing his passion in photography is definitely one of the best. Kareena kapoor has nothing much to do as an actress, but brings in some romance into this otherwise male dominated movie.

Remember the days when people went for ‘jaadu ki jhappis’ after Munnabhai MBBS, or the days when ‘Gandhigiri’ became teh fad of the day. 3 idiots also leave you with a thought to ponder on. ‘All izz well’. Utter this mantra and you can bring in chamatkar. 3 idiots is a movie with a heart. It makes you think, it inspires you and it entertains you like nothing else does.

The only drawback in 3 idiots is that in spite of having a gem of a script, the writers didn’t bother to remove those jokes which are not original. We have heard those from different sources and at different occasions. Take for example, the scene in which the three friends make sure that the exam invigilator does not know them by name or roll number before mixing their answer sheets in to his bundle. Or the scene, where rancho asks his professor why can’t we use pencils in outer space, instead of having spent a humongous amount of money to invent a pen. These are all scenes which we have earlier seen or heard. But even then, these scenes are funny and you laugh your heart out. And the success of the script lies in exactly that. It keeps us indulged.

I will go with 4 out of 5 for raj Kumar hiranis 3 Idiots. How much this movie does justice to Chetan Bhagats Five Point Someone is something I need to find out. Though, I missed thh opening scene, I came out of the cinema a much happier person. As someone said, All izz well that ends well.

Out of this world...

The moment I came out of the cinema after watching Avatar, I said to my friend, “holy shit!, we are back on earth!”. That is the kind of experience I have been through for 2 hour 45 minutes odd, watching Avatar. By and large, this is THE most awaited movie of the year. And guess what our wait does not go in vain. Avatar is once in 10 years movie.
The story is as simple as a bollywood romantic masala flick. Rich hero, poor heroine, the rich father attacks the poor heroines family and our hero rescues the heroine and her poor family. Now, how many times have you seen such a storyline in a movie? But avatar is all different. James Cameron has just extrapolated this simple story which anybody can digest. Only thing, he made it humans and aliens -Humans (rich hero and his family) and the Na’vi tribe of Pandora (Poor heroine and family).
The movie set in the year 2154, is about how humans attack the planet of Pandora for mining out a mineral called the unobtaininum. As human beings cannot breathe in Pandora, they send out their Avatars, remotely controlled by them, who mingles with the Na’avi tribe. The protagonist is one such Avatar. Jake Sully is sent to Pandora and soon gets emotionally attached and falls in love with the tribe and helps them out against the human conquest.
The movie has got everything in it. Romance, action, war, drama, special effects, animation, 3D- all at the very best. All credit goes to Cameron for conceptualising and bringing everything imaginable on screen.
Well, I don’t believe that any movie can be given a rating of 5 out of 5. Nothing can be perfect. I would go with a 4.9 out of 5 and a recommended watch/collector’s item stamp for James Cameron’s Avatar. Go watch it, and make sure you watch it in 3D.

@ the movies this week…

They say perfect planning prevents poor performance (PPPPP). As far as a movie is concerned, planning would mean a perfect script. That is exactly the winner this week at the box office. Two major releases this week, Kaminey and Before the Rains are wonderfully written movies and that is half the job done.

Kaminey

Vishal Bhardwaj’s Kaminey is a movie where the direction, the script and the performances stands tall. The movie is a mix of comedy, drama, romance and action. Add to it some bollywood masala, some fabulous music and what you get is an excellent piece of movie making, which Vishal has excelled in time and again.

Guddu and Charlie are identical twins and each of them has a speech disability. Charlie has a lisp and Guddu stammers. Charlie is a small time bookie and dreams of making big money through some ‘chota fhortcut’. Guddu works for an NGO and has impregnated the local gangster’s sister. Charlie gets a guitar which has got cocaine worth 10 crores which he sees as his path to fulfill his dreams. Guddu lands himself into trouble when the gangster learns about his affair with Sweety. How the two brothers find their way out of the double trouble is worth watching.

Similar to other Vishal Bhardwaj movies, most of the shots in Kaminey are dark. Rarely would you find a scene in broad daylight. The background music and the songs of this movie are really good and keeps the mood alive.

Shahid Kapur as Guddu and Charlie has done more than justice to the characters. He has proved his acting skills again and again, but this ought to be one his most memorable movies. Similarly for Priyanka Chopra, Sweety will be one her best ever performance. Amole Gupte as the local gangster is the surprise package and an outstanding performance.

The thing bad about Kaminey is the climax. It an utter chaos as groups and groups of people come in rushing to claim the coke-guitar. It was really a disappointment to see such a trivial ending to a more serious movie. 3.5 stars for Vishal Bhardwaj’s Kaminey.

Before the rains

If it was the script that scored for Kaminey, then it is the cinematography for Santhosh Sivan's Before the Rains. This guy can do wonders with the camera.

Based on an Israeli short film, it the sweet story of a village set in the 1930s. Harry Moores is a British planter whose dream is to build a road to his spice plantation uphill, before the rains come. He is helped by TK Neelan, who is an educated villager who can use his influence over the villagers to work for him. Harry has a secret love affair with his beautiful house help Sajaani.

All hell breaks loose when her husband comes to know of this. Harry sends her away from the village with the help of TK to avoid the anger of the villagers. But she comes back and on being disowned by Harry shoots herself. Harry and TK throw her dead body into the river. Now, it is up to the loyal TK to hide it from the villagers. But is it his loyalty or is it his love for his village that ultimately wins is for you to find out.

Santhosh Sivan's cinematography is definitely the high point of this movie. Rahul Bose as TK is an excellent choice as the English speaking villager, though not very convincing at places where he has to deliver Malayalam dialogues. Nandita Das fits perfectly to the role of the house maid. The foreign actors come up with a commendable performance. The Malayalam actors Lal, Tilakan and Indrajit portray their characters very effortlessly.

I would give 4 out of 5 for this excellent movie. A real collector’s item.

Love Aaj Kal is Unconvincing

Imtiaz Ali's LAK which released in movies this week is a cool and breezy and heard-so-many-times love story. However, the script is so weak, that the movie needs to fall up on the acting skills of Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone and their chemistry to keep us interested.

Jai and Meera are two career oriented people who date each other for a year before they decide to break up. It takes one more partner for each of them and another year before they realize that they are so deep down into each other that they cannot have a long-distance-relationship.

Another love story which runs parallel to this is between Veer Singh (Rishi Kapoor) and Harleen (Unknown). This is the love of yesteryears which sounds 'illogical' to Jai.

The best thing about LAK is the performance of the lead actors. Saif has essayed the I've-never-figured-out-what-love-is role umpteen times, that he has perfected the character. His portrayal of Jai is flawless and is the highlight of the movie. Saif's portrayal of the younger Veer is as good as any of his best performances. The clear distinction he brings about to the two characters is worth mentioning. Deepika affirms her place as the actress to look out for in Indian Cinema. She is too good in most of the scenes, especially the one in which she gets drunk and returns home with Saif.

The disappointing factor in LAK is the writing. Nothing is so strong or convincing in the movie. Neither the love stories nor the emotions and not even the pace at which the story moves. Before you realize what’s happening, Meera gets married and breaks up with her husband.

I would go with 2 stars out of 5, for LAK, 1 for the movie and 1 for the performance of the leading pair.

New York – Worth the Wait…

New York which was released after a two month long lull of movies at the multiplexes is worth the wait. It is relevant, intriguing and a recommended watch. The issue it raises is that of the physical and mental torture by the FBI on innocent Asians in America, who were later freed on account of lack of evidence.

The movie begins with FBI arresting Omar (Niel Nithin Mukesh), as they found AK-47s in his taxi. They want him to give information on his college friend Sam (John Abraham) who is a terror suspect. Confident that Sam isn’t into terrorism, he accepts the spy-work and goes back into Sam and his wife Maya’s (Katrina Kaif) life. Omar slowly reveals some shocking truths about Sam and Maya. Roshan (Irfan Khan) is the FBI agent who is in charge of this undercover operation.

The movie has got a point to make and it does that very easily. It brings in to picture, the idea that those who fight terrorism are themselves the ones who foster that. Irfan Khan is excellent as the FBI agent. Niel Nithin Mukesh tries to emote in some of the scenes and at times with success. John and Katrina , as usual will get the credits for their looks rather than acting.

Director Kabir Khan takes the credit for the wonderful treatment of this script. Sans those typical filmi masalas, New York is a recommended watch and a very good movie. I give it a 3 out of 5 for the commendable effort.

Everything happens for the good

This is a story I heard from someone, don’t exactly remember the guy, but the story continues to remain in my memory and have found myself retelling this at various places, on various occasions and to various people.

“Everything happens for the good “

Once there was a king, who had a very wise minister. One fine morning, as the king was cutting apples, he accidently bruised his fingers.

“Aahhrrgg “, he screamed. The minister, who heard his screams came in, gave the first aid while saying “Everything happens for the good”.

“How dare you say that!!!” the king fumed. “Soldiers, arrest this arrogant man. Put him behind bars.” The minister obliged, smiling and didn’t forget to say “Everything happens for the good”.
Later that day, the king and his close men went hunting. They went inside the forest, deep into it, so far they went into the forest, that they lost their way. The king and 5 of his men were estranged from the rest of the group.

Now, it so happened that these men were in that part of the forest which were inhabited by cannibals. The cannibals caught these men and as the night set in they prepared for dinner. They examined each one of them and took him inside the kitchen to be cut and eaten.

As they were examining, the cannibals noticed that the king had a bruise on his finger. “We don’t eat people who have wounds. Set this man free”, ordered the cannibal chieftain.

After many hours of walking through the dense forest, the king finally found his group who were searching for him. And they reached the palace soon enough.

“What my minister told this morning was true!” the king thought to himself. “Everything happens for the good. If I hadn’t cut my finger this morning, the cannibals would have eaten me!”

He ordered his soldiers to release the minister. The minister was released and brought before the king. “I would like to say sorry for what I did this morning. You were right. But tell me one thing. Even when you were imprisoned you said everything happens for the good. What did that imprisonment bring you?

The minister replied, “If I hadn’t been imprisoned I would also have accompanied you to the forest and the cannibals would have eaten me. “

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Now, how many of you believe that? “Everything happens for the good”?

13 B - Too long for a scary movie…

13 B is a mystery film, far from a horror flick. It stretches for almost 3 hours and bores you like a tele serial. I must say, post interval the film is far more interesting. Madhavan puts in a commendable performance. But there is hardly anything scary about the movie.

Two brothers along with their families move into their new apartment, 13B. Soon, the younger brother, played by Madhavan, notices strange things happening to him. The elevator does not work when he is the only one inside; his camera phone shows up distorted pictures of his when taken from inside the house; and now the big one, a tele-serial which is available only at this apartment and which has characters similar to the ones in his family. He takes the help of his friend to unfold the mystery around the serial. And then there is this blind neighbor who walks around with his pet dog.

13 B is not a bad movie, but it leaves some questions unanswered. If the elevator cannot take him up to the 13th floor, why couldn’t have he gone to the 12th and then taken the stairs? How come that the hero is the only one noticing the similarities between the TV serial and their real life, though it’s the women in the family who are addicted to it ?(Dumb ??) What happens to the blind neighbor towards the end? Was this character brought in, only for the dog walking with him? And the songs were absolutely unnecessary.

Rating : 2/5