Vidhu Vinod Chopra Retrospective – March 30th to April 4th – Listing for Mumbai

A festival of Vidhu Vinod Chopra films is happening from 29^th march to 4^th April. The listing is out on www.pvrcinemas.com but to help you make your choice easier i am listing it here film wise for the Mumbai filmy junta. I am listing only a few films out of the entire list and have deliberately left out 3 idiots and Lage Raho Munnabhai while I sulk on the non inclusion of Khamosh.

Parinda:

Pvr Oberoi – Sunday – 2.45pm

Monday – 10pm

Tuesday – 5.15pm

Pvr Juhu –   Friday – 3pm

Sunday – 1.50pm

Tuesday – 10.45am

Pvr Mulund – Saturday – 11.30am

Sunday – 10pm

Monday – 11.30am

Wednesday – 2.45pm

Pvr Phoenix -Friday – 2.45pm

Sunday – 5.15pm

Monday – 10pm

Tuesday – 11.30am

1942 a love story:

Pvr oberoi – Saturday – 5pm

Sunday – 11.30am

Pvr juhu –   Friday – 11.55am

Monday – 4.10pm and 10.30pm

Pvr mulund – Tuesday – 5pm

Wednesday – 11.30am

Pvr phoenix – Friday – 11.30am

Mission Kashmir:

Pvr oberoi – Saturday – 11am

Pvr juhu – Monday – 10.10am

Pvr mulund – Tuesday – 11am

Kareeb:

Pvr oberoi – Friday – 1.30pm

Saturday – 2pm

Tuesday – 12noon

Wednesday – 1.30pm

Pvr juhu –   Saturday – 1.10pm

Sunday – 10.50am

Monday – 1.10pm

Pvr mulund – Friday – 1.30pm

Tuesday – 2pm

Pvr phoenix – Saturday – 1.30pm

Sunday – 12noon

Wednesday – 1.30pm

Eklavya – the royal guard:

 Pvr oberoi – Friday – 11.15am

Sunday – 8.20pm

Monday – 11.30am

Wednesday – 11.15am

Pvr juhu –   Friday – 8pm

Saturday – 11am

Tuesday – 4.45pm

Pvr mulund – Friday – 11.15am

Saturday – 5.30pm

Sunday – 11.30am

Monday – 5.30pm

Pvr phoenix –Friday – 8.20pm

Saturday – 11.15am

Monday – 11.30a

Tuesday – 5.30pm

How I fucked up my sabbatical…or did I?

How I fucked up my sabbatical…or did I?.

How I fucked up my sabbatical…or did I?

Part 1

 In March 2010 I went on a self imposed sabbatical. As I write this it’s been 2 years and in these two years every person I met who was stuck in a job and wanted to break free and do what he/she wants to do said things like “ I am so jealous of you”, “I envy your life”, “ wish I could do this”. In this 3 part series I will try and make sense of my sabbatical. Hopefully it will serve as a reflection for me and a warning for those who wish to go on a sabbatical.

 The prologue

 October 2009

 In October 2009 my wife Nayana and I went on a trip to Mcleodganj. The uncertainty of whether the division I was working with will shut down or stay afloat was getting to me. I wanted to escape. While on our trek to Triund I got a call from my office. “The division is shutting down”. I kept the phone and looked around me. The sight was breathtaking, so was the trek. We were in a happy space of mind. We laughed over the situation and continued trekking. I was to be jobless soon and Nayana had just finished the project she was working on & there was nothing else lined up for her. Wait! Time to take you to a flashback.

 Ek saal pehle…

 September 2008

 After working in the media for almost 12 years covering dubbing,production and promos finally I was in the movie business when I joined zee motion pictures in September 2008 as Creative Supervisor Marketing. The first film I was working on was called Oh My God! And then… dhadaam! My ‘oh my god!’ moment happened. I met with an accident. I got hit by truck on the highway and now when I look back and connect the dots this also happened in October.  With my right hand and right leg fractured for a month all I did was watch movies and reflect on my life gone by. It might sound cheesy but I believe I am living a second life post October 2008. Never felt so close to death. When I got back to work our next film after Oh My God was Anurag Kashyap’s Gulaal. Right in the beginning of my doosra jeevan I got to work on a film whose director’s work I admired from the time I had heard the soundtrack of Paanch the underground cult film of it’s time.

 2009

Personal and professional life was on a roll. Zee motion pictures moved to a new office. Nayana and me bought a house and shifted in August. And then… October 2009 arrived.

 Flashback over

 With 3 months salary paid for, instead of looking out for another job I decided to go on a self imposed sabbatical. The big reason was to write a script and get a movie made. thus began the story of How I fucked up my sabbatical…did I?

Movie Review – The Hunger Games

Movie Review – The Hunger Games.

Movie Review – The Hunger Games

Hungry for more

The Hunger Games is the film version of the best selling novel by Suzanne Collins. Written for the young adult/tweenagers it fills the gap created after the astounding success of the Twilight series. Suzanne seems clearly inspired by the addictive madness for reality shows. The big question in my mind was what kind of message are we giving out to the tweenagers with a series that is about killing each other to survive?

What’s it about? – It is set in the future where there is a clear divide between the rich and poor. The rich resides in a place called the Capitol and the poor in 12 districts. According to a pact the Capitol selects one boy and one girl from every district and they have to fight each other for a reality show called The Hunger Games. In the 74^th edition of this game they get a first volunteer in Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) who goes in place of her younger sister along with Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) and thus begins the Game.

How is it? – Good but…

My take – Thankfully this film is not boring and irritating like the Twilight series and Jennifer Lawrence is the main reason for that. She holds your attention with her performance and her beauty. She is a magnetic performer. For the kids obsessed with fashion the Capitol looks like there is a fashion week going on forever. It felt straight out of The Fifth Element. Woody Harrelson as the mentor looked liked a version of Sunny Deol’s Damini act. Sadly the film takes too much time to reach the start of the games and the games once it begins provides little thrills and is mostly about Katniss running and trying to survive. The climax shot in almost darkness was a complete let down. Also the hint of a love triangle is in the ‘trying to emulate twilight’ zone but falls flat thanks to the two leading men. The film ends up keeping you engaged and interested but doesn’t connect to you emotionally and you come out feeling indifferent but still glued in enough for the next installment.

Word of mouth – watch it for the visual spectacle and Jennifer Lawrence.

Rating – ** 1/2

Ticket meter – Worth 200 bucks

first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com

Movie Review – Agent Vinod

Agent Vinod = Audio Visual

 

In Sriram we trust I said even though the trailers and promos left me a little disappointed but with Jhonny Gaddar he has raised the bar so high for himself where thrillers are concerned that the least you expect from him is a good intelligent thriller.

 

What’s it about? – Jumping from one location to another Agent Vinod ( Saif Ali Khan) has to stop a nuclear blast but before that he has to find out what 242 is and then what is bluebird?.

 

How is it? – Fail as a thriller. Good as an Audio Visual.

 

My Take – I remember once seeing a clip of an old and black white film in a film appreciation class where the use of editing was deconstructed in a scene in which a man and a woman over a bet are speeding on a road near the cliff. After watching the scene once we saw it again without sound and counted the cuts. In that counting of cuts we went through the experience of how rhythm, thrill and suspense are created on the edit table. While watching this film that scene kept coming back to my mind because most of the action sequences are designed, cut and shot in a way which we have seen before in countless number of movies and that I think is the big reason why the film fails in providing the thrills. Agent Vinod follows the template of a Bourne/Bond film but offers zero thrills. By casting Prem Chopra and Gulshan Grover as caricature of themselves we can’t get serious about the plot even if we want to. The icing on the cake is B.P.Singh and his howlarious dialogue delivery. Every time he spoke I felt like I was watching the late night home shopping network spot. Also thanks to his performance the secret of who A.C.P Pradyuman copies is finally revealed. Since the story and it’s telling failed to engage me I spent my time enjoying the beautiful locations and the awesome back ground score. Especially the use of songs like rakamma , dost dost na raha,meri jaanmainekaha and aasman mein hai khuda aur zameen pe hum. Sriram Raghavan succeeds in crafting a good audio visual but falls flat on his face in making a big budget action thriller. Saif is having fun with his role but Adil Hussain comes across more cooler than him. thehigh pointfor me was the scene before raabta when Saif tells Kareena why he became a spy  and the way the song is used.

 

Final few words –   In Sriram we still trust but we don’t trust this Agent Vinod.

 

Rating – ** ½

 

Ticket Meter – worth 200 bucks.

first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com

Movie Review – London Paris New York

LPNY = ARHAZ

 Do you believe in love at first sight?

 Do you believe that two people can meet exactly 3 times in a span of 7 years and still be in love?

 Do you like conversation films in which the leads talk talk and talk?

 Do you like Ali Zafar and Aditi Rao Hydari or any one of them?

 Do you like movies that get over in less than 2 hours?

 Are you a travel buff who likes to see places in movies and focus on the name of the Café/ street/shop if the movies fails to interest you?

 If the answers to all of the above or at least a majority of theme is YES then this movie is made for you.

 What’s it about? – Boy (Ali Zafar) and girl (Aditi Rao Hydari) meet and spend a day inLondon. Boy and girl meet and spend a night inParis. Boy and girl meet and spend a night inNew York. Spread over 7 years it’s a 3 day story of the Boy and Girl falling in love.

 How is it? – Theek hai

 Why? – I have a huge crush on Aditi so for me just watching her on screen made the film work but her character didn’t work.  If not for Aditi playing Lalitha I would have come out tearing my hair. On the other hand Ali Zafar’s character Nikhil is more endearing and his complexes are more real. And with the emotional outburst scene in the end Ali Zafar just owned the film. That scene was the only emotional connect I had with the film. The film is well shot but doesn’t use the places enough to impress a travel buff like me. Anu Menon’s direction flows smoothly with an easy going breezy vibe and just for going against the tide and casting the leads she deserves full marks . Thehree si and Voh Dekhnay mein are the only songs that work well on the screen but Vo Dekhnay is butchered on the edit table. The editing of all the songs except Thehree Si put me off the music of the film.

 Final few words: LPNY is easy on the eyes and the ears. What else do you want in a conversation film?

 Rating: ** ½

 Ticket Meter: Worth 150 bucks.

first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com

Movie Review – Paan Singh Tomar

Salute to the Subedaar

I heard about Tighmanshu Dhulia in 1994 when I read that he was the Casting Director for Bandit Queen. This term was completely new for the Hindi film industry in those days. Then I heard the term again when I Saw The Warrior (One of Irrfan’s brilliant performance not seen by many) at a festival and then came Haasil. After coming out of Haasil I became a fan of Irrfan Khan and Tighmanshu Dhulia. As an actor/director team they had raised the bar so high with Haasil that it took almost 9 years for the team to match that film and probably go one up on it. (I’ll let the 2^nd viewing decide that).

What’s it about? – Paan Singh Tomar stumbles into sports that too Steeple Chase because he learns that you get to eat well there. This biopic tracks his journey from being national champion to a rebel (I chose not to call him a dacoit).

How is it? – Mast Mast Watch

Why? – The film has a power packed ensemble of actors but Irrfan just steals the limelight from everyone. Paan Singh Tomar’s soul will bless him for playing this role with such intensity. He has literally given his khoon pasina for this role. Two scenes are my absolute favorites. One in which he gets a pack of ice cream from his superior and the other brilliant shot of him looking at his son in the army uniform walking away while he is a bandit on the run. It’s like looking at the past you loved so much and wondering what did you do wrong to get a present like this.

Tigmanshu Dhulia is finally in a space of film making which he knows well and it shows in every scene of the film. I am praying that he drops the idea of making Sahib Biwi Gangster sequel and picks up another interesting subject to make. It is so good to see a Hindi film that tells a story of our country, our people whereas every Friday most film makers are concentrating on setting the story abroad and flying us into exotic locales in an attempt to justify the cost of a ticket price.

Aseem Mishra’s cinematography makes me want to do a Paan Singh Tomar tour of the places it was shot at. Aarti Bajaj works in making it slick and edgy but also at some places it didn’t work where I was expecting a little stay on the shot/scene like the two scenes I mentioned above. The only thing I missed is a powerful soundtrack and a soul stirring back ground score. But there is so much going for the film that sab kuch maaf hai. When was the last time a Hindi film made you go in for repeat viewing? Paan Singh Tomar is that kind of film.

Final Few Words – Paan Singh Tomar is a biopic in a hurry. Perfect for a generation that has short attention spans and gets bored easily. If you watch a film at night and wake up thinking about it the film has worked.

Rating – **** (Very Good)

Ticket Meter – Worth 250/- bucks.

first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com