History and India: A Country Not Respecting Its Heroes Deserves Its Villains

History and India: A Country Not Respecting Its Heroes Deserves Its Villains: A community, a state or a nation that does not respect its history will never be taken seriously and will remain a third world country forever.

Chloe and Theo

Director:  Ezna Sands

Script:     Ezna Sands

Length of Movie: 1 hour 10 minutes.

Starring:  Dakota Johnson, Theo Ikkumaq, Mira Sorvino, Andre DeShields, & Ashley Springer.

Plot Synopsis:  An Eskimo, or an Innuit as Theo calls himself lands in New York to deliver a message from his elders.  That the world must change its ways or be prepared to face the wrath of the sun.  He runs into Chloe, a vagabond, who has been living on the streets of New York.  The honesty and innocence of Theo leads Chloe and her friends to help him deliver the message.  They initially planning on going to UN and addressing the world leaders there, but things don't go as planned.  However, Theo's message does finally get delivered and we get to watch a sweet movie which leaves us with an ache in the heart.

Ant-Man

The superhero genre has been following a fixed template as far as story is concerned.  It is usually a good guy whose heart is in the right place getting some sort of super power through gadgets, through insect bits, nuclear blasts, lightening strike etc etc. In some cases, a personal tragedy becomes a life long obsession to fight criminals and correct all the wrongs of the world.  Usually because of the tragic background or seriousness of the story, humor does not play a big part in the story line and with Marvel and DC queuing up to unload their superheroes onto the silver screen, the theme of most of these movies appears cliched and to the general viewer as same.

Enter Ant-Man,  a superhero who shrinks.  The premise itself seems far from intimidating, it rather looks funny, but trust good actors, good script and a good director, Ant-Man is a rather entertaining watch.  With Paul Rudd as Ant-Man and Michael Doughlas as his mentor and scientist, the movie is a must watch for fans of this genre....

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

I accidentally came upon this movie, thanks to my friend Solvin.  Cowboy movies have never attracted me and the only cowboy I have watched and enjoyed is Woody of Toy story.  The Good, the bad, and the ugly (TG, TB, TU) is a very stylish Spaghetti Western Film directed by Sergio Leone.  In fact it is part of a trilogy, which is considered a classic in this genre of film making.

(TG, TB, TU) is the story of three prize fighters/bounty hunters, who are ruthless in their own ways, but whose paths cross in the hunt for buried confederate gold.  The Good is Blondie (Clint Eastwood), the bad is Tuco (Eli Wallach), and the ugly is Angel eyes (Lee Van Cleef).  The background score is terrific and the theme music appears quite familiar (thanks to copycats in Bollywood).  A must watch if you haven't watched already.

Man of Tai Chi

Directed by : Keanu Reeves

Script:  Michael G Kooney

Length of movie: 105 minutes

THE PLOT: ****CONTAINS SPOILERS (JUST SKIP DOWN TO “MY VIEWS” TO AVOID SPOILERS)

The movie opens with a fight unto death going at an undisclosed location.  The fighter overpowers his opponent, but refuses to land the killer blow.  A masked man comes and kills the wounded opponent.  Simultaneously, Hong Kong Police raid the place but find no one. The dead body of the fighter who refused to kill is found.  It turns out that he had informed the police prior to coming, but turning informant had cost his life.

The masked man is Donaka Mark (Keanu Reeves).   He is running this illegal fight unto death clubs and filming & beaming it world wide.  

Enter Tiger Chen (Chen Hu), student of Lin Kong Tai Chi style.  His master manages a temple which has a lineage of 600 years.  Tai Chi is usually not considered  as a martial art and Tiger Chen is out to prove this wrong.  While practicing with his master who attacks him with a spear, Tiger after defending for quite some time, breaks the spear.  His master deplores him for this move and tells that he could have just deflected the spear instead of breaking it, but tiger says that why deflect when he has the power to break it.  Master retorts that breaking signifies power, but no control and it is control what a martial art student should strive for.  Tiger disagrees.  The master is wary of this trait of Tiger and his inability to distinguish between power and control.  He predicts that this will lead Tiger through a different path.  He needs to do more contemplation &meditation.  Tiger observes that no meditation or contemplation is needed.  He feels power will ultimately leads to control.  His master disagrees, and says, that is an illusion.

Tiger works as a delivery man and also fights in local competitions to prove that Tai Chi is no less martial than other styles.  Donaka Mark spots Tiger in a fight & sees potential in him.  They start to monitor & record all his activities, even tapping his phone.  Tiger gets a job offer from Donaka and when he goes for interview, he is told that all he has to do is fight and he will get paid for that.  Tiger refuses to fight for money, but Donaka asks him to reconsider his decision and gives him his card to call back.  Tiger’s Temple gets demolition orders due to some safety violations. Civic authorities are going to build something else there.  Tiger gets to know from his girlfriend that they can get a stay order if they let the temple be declared Heritage Property, but all the related maneuvers will cost money.  Tiger decides to fight for money and calls Donaka.  Tiger defeats the opponent, collect money and saves the temple.  But this leads to other fights and more fights.  Ultimately, Tiger becomes ruthless fighter.

The police officer, Sun Jing (Karen Mok) headed the police raid shown in the beginning is still following Donaka.  She spots Tiger with Donaka & assumes correctly that he is the new fighter.  She meets Tiger and tries to dissuade him, but he feigns ignorance & tells he is just working as security for Donaka.

Tiger’s aggressive behavior disqualifies him from a tournament & also leads to his Temple’s petition of heritage being rejected as Tiger’s action have brought disrepute to Tai Chi.  Tiger asks Donaka for a fight to quell his rage and to his own bewilderment attacks the opponent straight into the eyes, blinding him.  However, he does not kill his opponent, and this riles up Donaka.   Donaka walks in, wearing a mask and kills the opponent, but chides Tiger.  As he sits quietly with his bloodied hands, Tiger realizes that he has changed a lot and regrets.  He informs Donaka that he won’t fight anymore.  Donaka says that Tiger has no option but to fight.

Tiger informs the officer Sun Jing (Karen Mok) about the fighting going on.  As Tiger is always under surveillance, Donaka immediately knows about his betrayal.  In the next fight unto death, Tiger’s opponent is an Indonesian artist Gilang Sanjaya (Iko uwais – Pencak Silat style), but Tiger refuses to fight him and turns to Donaka and says I will fight you.  Sujoy tries to hit him, but tiger escapes and keeps on running round and round to buy time.  The police arrives and arrest everybody except Donaka.  Donaka threatens tiger before leaving saying “you owe me a life.”

Tiger goes to his temple where Donaka appears and they fight.  After being wounded by Donaka’s knife, Tiger uses a force, which he had never used before.  This force is not depending on power, it is more based on his will, and thus he realizes what his Master had told him earlier.  The move throws Donaka backwards and he starts vomiting blood.  Before dying, he tells Tiger that he knew Tiger was special.

The movie ends as the The temple gets the heritage status and Tiger telling his his girlfriend about his  plans to start a  training school for Tai Chi.

My views:  Chen Hu, who plays tiger is superb in action sequences.  Some of the moves have really got that wow factor.  Keanu Reeves as the villain is convincing, but his fight with Tiger in the Temple in the end was a bit of dampener. Karen Mok as the lady cop pursuing the case is superb. Overall, if you love watching martial arts movie, don’t forget to add this one to your “must watch list.”

Note:  This movie is inspired from the life of Keanu Reeves' stuntman friend Tiger Chen.
           This movie marks the directional debut of Keanu Reeves.

The Raid : Redemption

The Raid: Redemption

Director:  Gareth Evans

Script:  Gareth Evans

Writer:  Gareth Evans

Actors:  Iko Uwais

Genre: Martial Arts (Indonesian)

Plot:  An elite force consisting of 20 cops raids a building which is the HQ of a drug overlord.   The force divides itself into 2 teams and goes up.  By the time they reach 5^th floor, someone raises alarm.  On the PA system, the boss asks his tenants (who are mostly mobsters & crooks), to kill the policemen & claim permanent residence on the flat.   The police team is ambushed and lose most of the team members.   The commander of this mission gets a jolt when he is told that since this a secret mission, they won’t get any reinforcements, and they are on their own.  Rama (Iko Uwais), a rookie member of this team and an expert fighter in Pencak Silat, an Umbrella term for Indonesian Martial arts, wants to be back with his family for the anticipated birth of his first child.  He must fight his way out of the enemy citadel.

My views:  If you love martial arts movies, and on screen violence is okay with you, then go for it.  You will enjoy the fights choreographed with exhilarating background score.  Iko Uwais is very good as the indefatigable Rama.

Prisoners

Prisoners is an investigation thriller directed by Denis Villeneuve, which tells the story of sudden disappearance of 2 girls on the Thanks giving day & subsequent investigation.

 

Keller Dovar  (HughJackman) visits his neighbor’s (The Birches) house on the eve of Thanksgiving day along with his family.  His daughter and neighbor's daughter go out on some pretext and just disappear.  The police is informed & David Loki (JakeGylenhaal) is assigned to the case.  The only lead available is the presence and subsequent absence of a Recreational Vehicle in front of the house from where the girls went missing.

The driver of the RV, a guy named Alex Jones is arrested.  However, upon interrogation, Loki concludes that Alex is innocent, as he has an IQ of a 10 year old.  Keller counters this argument saying how can one with IQ of a 10-year-old drive an RV and be eligible for driving license.  Keller confronts Alex while he is leaving police custody & a brief scuffle ensues.  In the melee that follows, Keller hears Alex saying “They did not cry when I left them.”   Keller is convinced of Alex’s involvement now, but Alex does not repeat this statement in front of the police & his aunt who was present at the time of scuffle negates Keller’s claims and says that her nephew did not say anything to Keller.

The police is convinced that Keller is stressed because of his daughter’s disappearance and therefore must have made up the statement.  Officer Loki while combing the perimeter houses, tracks a Father who has drinking problem and who has a dead body in his cellar.  Father killed this man, who claims to be waging a war against God by kidnapping children.  The dead body is wearing a maze pendant.

Meanwhile, convinced of Alex’s involvement in kidnapping of two girls, Keller kidnaps Alex and keeps him in his dilapidated property.  He tortures him, but is still not able to get anything.

Detective Loki tracks another suspicious looking guy from a candle night vigil in remembrance of the two missing girls.  His image is circulated & residents are asked to contact Detective Loki with any sightings.   Loki finds out that Alex is missing and suspects Keller’s involvement.  Meanwhile, Keller’s lets the The Birches know about Alex’s confinement.  Though, they do not agree with Keller’s method, they chose to keep mum.

Detective Loki gets a lead about the suspect from candle night vigil.  An attendant from a departmental store calls & informs him that this guy comes occasionally to her store and buys children’s clothes.  Loki asks her to keep eyes open and call him back immediately on further sightings.

Loki finds out the dilapidated property of Keller & is just about to bust the place where Alex is confined, when he gets a call from the Departmental store attendant.   The suspect has been sighted again and is finally tracked using car license number.  He is one Bob Taylor.  His house is searched, but no bodies are found.  Only, bloodied clothes of both girls are discovered.   In police custody, he is found humming to himself & drawing a maze. 

At the same time, Alex tells Keller that he is actually not Alex and that the girls are in the maze.  Keller goes to Alex’s house to get more information from his aunt.  He casually mentions “maze” to solicit information but Alex’s aunt says Alex never talked much & feigns ignorance.

Bob Taylor commits suicide in police custody, but Joy Birch, the other girl who was kidnapped is found.  She has been heavily drugged, but somehow managed to sneak out.  On opening her eyes, she only manages to say to Keller, “ You were there.”  Keller understands what she is hinting & runs out.  The police try to unsuccessfully stop him.   Loki believes he is going to his dilapidated building property & reaches there only to find out Alex in the confinement.

Keller, in the meantime, goes to Alex’s house.  The girls all the time were drugged and held prisoners there and that is what Joy Birch meant when she said “You were there.”  Alex’s aunt understands that her game is up and she tells Keller the truth.  She & her husband were devout, but after losing their only child to cancer, lost faith.  Kidnapping & killing children, was for them, a revenge, a war against God.  Alex was the first child they kidnapped but could not kill him.  Bob Taylor also was one of their victims who survived.   Alex’s Aunt shoots Keller in the leg and puts him in a covered pit under the garage.  Keller totters about in darkness and discovers his daughter’s whistle.

Loki comes to Alex’s house to inform aunt about Alex’s whereabouts.   He discovers that Alex’s uncle’s photograph has a maze pendant.  He draws out his gun and interrupts the aunt while she is injecting Keller’s daughter with poison.  He fatally shots her and is also shot at.  He rushes Keller’s daughter to emergency ward.

Both girls come and visit Loki in his bed to say thanks.  Keller is still missing.  Keller’s wife asks Loki whether Keller will be convicted if he ever shows up, Loki answers in affirmative.  

It is night time, and Loki is at Alex’s house.  The excavation team are reluctant to work further because of snowing.  Loki hears a whistle and at first dismisses it.  Then he hears persistent whistle in the direction of the garage & the movie concludes.

MY VIEWS:  Hugh Jackman as Keller, the kidnapped girl’s father is as good as always, but for me, the scene stealer was Jake Gylenhaal (David Loki).  He breathes life into the character of David Loki as a dedicated Police Detective.   The investigation styles of both Keller & Loki are quite contrasting.  Keller is searching for his daughter, whereas for Loki, it is just another case.  Loki is working in Police Department, so he has to follow all the procedures & protocols, whereas Keller is a free bird.   For Loki, the investigation is double tough, because for him, everybody including Keller is a suspect.   However, in the end, both Keller & Loki were wrong in their assumptions.  Keller was quite confident of the guilt of Alex, where as   Loki thought Bob Taylor was the kidnapper.  However, both Alex & Bob were themselves victims of child abuse.  Overall, a good thriller, which will keep one engrossed till the end. 

About Time

Time travel is a fascinating concept.  A singular power it is, with world changing consequences, that is, if one is endowed with it.

About Time tells the story of Lake family, where the male members have got this ability to travel back in time.  This gives them ability to rectify any mistakes they have committed in the past.  They cannot go back beyond the period of their birth.  All they need is to find a cupboard or any such dark secluded spot, get in, and with clenched fist and closed eyes, they can will themselves to any particular point of time in their life past.  However, the caveat is, while travelling to the past, there is risk to their present.  So, when the past is altered, the ramifications will be felt in their present times.

Tim Lake, (Domhnall Gleeson) the protagonist gets to know this secret from his father (Bill Nighy) after returning dejected from a new year party.  Rest of the movie revolves around how Tim uses this power to help himself as well as those around him.  His lady love, Mary, is played by RachelMcAdams.  Richard Curtis is the director & writer of this movie.  This is the first time I am seeing his movie and love the way he has plied his craft.

I love the movies where a story is being narrated by the protagonist himself.  It brings in a certain amount of empathy or credibility to the story, after all aren’t we hearing it straight from the horse’s mouth.
Even while flirting with time travel, this basically remains a rom-com movie and a British  one at that.  Definitely a must watch if you like light hearted romantic comedies.

The Croods: In search of Tomorrow !

Breaking Barriers !

I have faced some flak for my Facebook posts questioning the gods and religions. I was in a little bit of dilemma about the 'hurting the sentiments' part of the story, though I had no doubts about my convictions. Then I watched "The Croods", a movie as endearing and funny as it is enlightening.

This Dreamworks 3D animation movie is all about a family of 'Cave Man' [Neanderthal Man] Grug and his family. Just because a lot of families were killed in different circumstances, the Dad puts enormous restrictions on the movements of this family and believes 'his rules' alone can save his family and he steadfastly holds on to his beliefs.

The Croods family consists of Grug, his wife Ugga, Eep the 'curious' daughter, Thunk, the dimwit son, Sandy, the always hungry little daughter and Gran, the mother-in-law with a funny bone.

Eep, his teenage daughter is curious and wants to see the world. But she is restrained by her family. 'Curiosity', the Dad says is what killed the bear and others. But the little creature is too restless and goes out to explore and meets an extremely exciting guy called Guy and thus the roller-coaster ride begins.

I wouldn't divulge any more details than this but would like to say, "This is one wonderful journey of discovery of the world beyond us and a world within us". Guy, who comes across as a more evolved species [Homo sepiens] and hence evokes dislike, hatred and disdain from the Croods. But how he manages to break the barriers and how Grug manages to see the light is what makes the 98 minutes of sheer beautiful journey worth.

The best part I liked about the movies is there are no gods, no religions and no blaming or praising the supernatural. Just a journey of learning for the primitive human. We all have traveled a lot of distance from the caves and the fears that plagued the cavemen. But during the journey, we created our own new set of rules and decided to live within the darkness of those rules. This movie should be seen as an eye opener to those who are worried about rules, the gods and religions and religious sentiments.

Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders have given us a simply beautiful movie with some pleasing animation and 3D visuals, though people should refrain from comparing the movie with 'Avatar'. In terms of content, "The Croods" is miles ahead though it doesn't match the technical brilliance of the mega-hit 'Avatar. The BGM is brilliant and so is the camera-work.

The action sequences, the hunting for the giant eggs and the earth-quake scenes are all brilliantly crafted. But more than any of the technical aspects, "The Croods" becomes a must watch for the absolutely marvelous journey of learning it presents.

This is all about the evolution of the human species in search of knowledge that is represented by the 'Light' they chase and which they call "Tomorrow". The journey doesn't end where the movies does, we are continuing that !

My Opinion: Brilliant and a Must Watch: **** Stars !

Kai Po Che [Brothers for Life]: Makes the 'Cut' !

I always believed "Dil Chahta Hai" was a Cult Classic and it gave us a new genre of movies about friendship and male bonding. Many movies have come since but only "3 Idiots" and "Zindagi Naa Milegi Dobaara" made it to the list of my all time favorites. Having Chetan Bhagat minus the "3 Idiots" controversy meant "Kai Po Che" was a must watch even before I had read reviews. It did prove a worthy successor to the illustrious movies mentioned.

"Kai Po Che" means "I have Cut" in Gujarati and that is a popular expression used during the iconic 'kite game' that is famous in the state and beyond. The movie deals with male bonding, ambition and lack of it, religious tensions and love with a precocious lead girl.

"Kai Po Che" tells the story of Ishaan Patel [Sushant Singh Rajput], Omi aka Omkar Shastri [Amit Sadh] and Govind [Rajkumar Yadav]. The story as we all know is based on Chetan Bhagat's "The 3 Mistakes of My Life" and the script is credited to Bhagat, Pubali Chaudhuri, Supratik Sen and Director Abhishek Kapoor of "Rock On" fame, another male bonding movie that will be remembered for long.

The 3 lead actors bring alive the friendship, affection, anger, anguish and then repentance alive through the 127 minutes of running time. Digvijay Deshmukh as the super talented six hitting "Ali" steals the show with an amazing performance. Amrita Puri as Vidya, Ishaan's sister and Govind's beau is cute and bold. She looks the teenager she is supposed to be when she is actually close to 30. Rest of the cast is absolutely perfect including Manav Kaul as the menacing Bittu Mama.

The movie chronicles the Gujarat earth quake and then the Godhra and Gujarat riots and how it affects the lives of the 3 protagonists with Cricket playing the fourth protagonist. Authentic chronicling of Cricket events and using Ishaan's passion to nurture Ali at any cost, the movie never allows for a moment of boredom.

Be it the earth quake or the riots, "Kai Po Che" doesn't become judgmental or go over the top like some movies like "Parzania" did. It just becomes part of the narrative and we are thankfully spared from any kind of preaching.  The climax is both feel good as well as touching with some kind of poetic justice meted out to both "Ali" and his mentor "Ishaan" !

Amit Trivedi's music and Anay Goswami's cinematography is top-notch. The lighting has been used to absolutely fantastic effect. Deepa Bhatia's editing is razor sharp, especially the Cricket scenes. The cover drive shown in the climax is an absolute delight and shows the hard work of the team to attain perfection.

My Opinion: Definitely a worthy successor to the iconic movies like "Dil Chahta Hai", "3 Idiots" and "ZNMD". Go for it if you already haven't !

Special 26 is Truly Special !

When a first time Director makes a movie like "A Wednesday", he will forever be burdened by the weight of expectations. His second movie will face the same fate as an Amitabh Bachchan's son or Sachin Tendulkar's son faces. Unless of course, he can better himself. Neeraj Pandey's "Special 26" released with similar background. Does it work ? Has Pandey bettered himself ? read on...

First of all what is NOT so Special about the movie...

01] Kajal Aggarwal: Not her fault. Catering to so called mass effects, her role is unnecessarily extended like a rubber-band. It actually pulls the movie down by a few notches.

02] Songs: Seriously whoever conceived songs in this kind of a movie needs a proper scolding. They act like bumps in the road during a thrilling ride.

03] Peter England: Not the fault of the Company. We just get a glimpse of a Peter England in a story happening in 1987. A minor flaw, but all the same a flaw.

04] Sunil Gavaskar: Well, what was he doing on TV, playing a Cricket match in Sharjah in late 1987 ? He had actually retired from Cricket on 17 March 1987, a day before the movie begins !

And now, what is Special about it ?

05] Neeraj Pandey: He has exceeded himself. A superb second film to follow up a first one. An extremely well researched movie with very few glitches.

06] Anupam Kher: Lost somewhere in the Indra Kumar - Ashok Thakeria kind of buffoonery, this giant of an actor of "Saaransh" fame is the highlight of the movie. In a role that demands him to be serious and scared while making us giggle, Kher is pure delight. So are the names of his count-less children.

07] Manoj Bajpai: One of the finest actors of this generation got his due mostly in Prakash Jha movies. Here, he is at his best as the honest and somewhat arrogant CBI Officer Wasim Khan. One of his better movies !

08] Akshay Kumar: His best role and movie in a long time. Period !

09] Jimmy Shergill: One more under-rated actor gets a fabulous role as Inspector Ranveer Singh and he has done complete justice.

10] 100 Rupees and honesty: Good to see 100 Rupee note getting respect. The thug returning the officer's honestly earned 100 rupees shows the values people had in that era. Even the kids don't have respect for either 100 rupees or honesty these days.

11] Divya Dutta: "Sirjee, Asli kaam toh yeh log karte hain". In spite of looking older, this lady entertains with her comic act.

12] Kajal Aggarwal: Her role was extended unnecessarily in not her fault. The young lady looks beautiful in 80s style costumes and emotes well.

13] CBI: Central Bank of India... How many people really know the real expansion ?

14] Black Money: Hiding money in the Pooja room, inside the bed and in car seats was fashionable those days. Amitabh Bachchan always managed to find it if he was playing Inspector and invariably managed to escape with it if he was the "Don" !

15] The Phone: The huge black phones with 4 or 5 digit numbers and the cord-less connection phones as large as the dumb bells are sheer nostalgia.

16] Hello: The old style phone tapping was in currency during this period and this has been shown to help crack the case. Zail Singh once blamed Rajiv Gandhi of tapping his phone. Ironically these two begin the proceedings in the movie.

17] Cars: Old cars, Ambassador, Maruti, Padmini, Fiat and not a single new generation car on the roads makes it look absolutely authentic. So is the Connaught Place of the yore. A lot of meticulous work has gone into this. Appreciated !

18] Humor: Extremely subtle. So subtle, most people would miss it if not attentive. A subordinate officer clad in Lord Shiva's getup [under cover], walks past a serious discussion between Bajpai and Shergill, casually greeting them with a "Good Morning, Sir". This is serious comedy !

19] English: "I want to do my Country". This is not the pretentious "Don't angry me" or "Child in the arm pit" stuff. This is real English spoken in India in 1987 and even today !

20] Chulloo Bhar Paani: I don't know how many times this dialogue has been used in Hindi cinema. But I bet it can't be bettered after Manoj Bajpai's Classic act in the climax. The actor turns even the trivial into a classic.

21] Minister: Ministers those days did fear the CBI even though it was post Indira Gandhi era. The guts shown by P. K. Sharma when he slaps the Minister defines the mood of the movie.

22] Dialogues: Neerak Pandey's dialogues are just point blank. The seriousness, humor and timing all are just perfect and are made worthy of a long stay in our minds by some extremely good actors.

23] Rajesh Sharma: as Jogindar, one of the 4 in the gang is life-like. He lives the role. We don't see any 'acting' !

24] Kishore Kadam: As Iqbal, the fourth in the gang is another competent actor.

25] Illustrated Weekly of India: Long dead papers and magazines like Dharmyug come to life adding to the nostalgic value. Old is truly Gold !

26] The heist: Finally, after such duds like "Thees Maar Khan", we get to see an extremely competent 'heist' movie in Indian cinema. A genuinely delightful climax adds to the brand-value !

My Opinion: An extremely well made movie with some forgivable glitches. Would have been much better without the songs and with lesser of Kajal Aggarwal. Yet, this one is Special and is a must watch !

Kadal : All at Sea !

Mani Ratnam's "Kadal" [Sea] is a long [2:44 hours] walk on a beautiful beach infested with the good, the bad and the ugly people. But unfortunately it never ventures into the deeper oceans of the mind and stays superficial till the end.

The story credited to Jeyamohan and Mani is about the triumph of good over evil. It takes the beaten and rocky path and lets both the youngsters [Gautham Karthik and Thulasi Nair] down. Only good thing is a strong come back by Aravind Swamy as Fr. Sam.

Arjun's role is extremely poorly written and the reason for his claims to be the Satan remains unsubstantiated. Why does he foster so much of hatred remains a mystery. But he still manages to pack power into his performance.

Gautham Karthik is intense, gawky and suits the role to the tee. Thulasi Nair is supposed to be an angelic figure. Somehow the charm is missing in spite of an earnest performance by the little girl.

As a generation, our taste in cinema was redefined by Mani Ratnam with movies like "Geethanjali", "Anjali", "Nayagan" "Thalapathi" and "Roja". The usual Mani ingredients like the shadow and lights play, the black and white backgrounds and the omnipresent rain grace "Kadal" too. But somehow, the soul is missing. Even "Ravan" had more soul than this movie.

For me, Mani playing safe is Mani having lost the confidence. Why should he resort to a theme any new-comer Director would have handled beats me. Was it to launch two star-kids ? But given their pedigree, they too deserved better.

With all this rant, I must add, the movie is technically brilliant with international quality camera-work and some breath-taking shots of the sea. But the content never ventures beyond the ankle deep waters. A. R. Rahaman's music is good but this must rank as his most ordinary score in a Mani Ratnam movie.

So here are the main reasons why was I disappointed by Mani Ratnam's "Kadal"

Logic in movies is not always a prerequisite of a commercial Cinema. But, Mani making such blatant mistakes like...

1] Not a shred of justification for the extremely hostile and wicked "Satan" nature of Bergmans [Arjun] !

2] Father Sam [Aravind Swamy] gets punished depending on just one woman's word. No investigation was done about those dressing materials, blood on the beach and the boat and other tell-tale evidences of the existence of Begrmans in the boat. No effort at all was made by the Church to find out the truth of a reputed Priest from a very rich family. No Church in the world would sit quiet ! Under which law was he imprisoned for 4 years ? This is a HUGE GAPING hole in the plot that can't be glossed over.

3] In spite of some magnificent shots of the 'Sea' and the Cyclone, Mani never tries to delve deeper into Psyche of either Father Sam or Bergmans at any point. Why ? Instead of wasting time on those boy taking the girl on boat scenes, he could have tried to enter a little deeper into these characters !

4] Thomas' [Gautham Karthik] affection or devotion for Chetti [Ponvannan] in spite of consistent rejection and humiliation is tough to understand. He harbors enormous grudge for everyone with no reason often but continues to adore the person he believes to be his 'Father' !

5] Telling us Beatrice is like a kid in her mind is one thing. But making her look convincing is other. Mani made "Geethanjali" [Girija Shettar] extremely ethereal yet convincing in "Geethanjali" / "Ithaythe Thirudaadai". Young Thulasi Nair suffers not because she is deficient but the characterization has let her down. Sad !

These are 5 of the many reasons I felt let down by "Kadal". I never felt the thrill of a ride into the "Sea". It was all shallow throughout but for technical brilliance !

Expectation is a beast that bites from both ends. Damned expectations; this would have been a damn good movie from any other Director. Overall, I was all at "Sea" and Disappointed with one more below par movie from an Icon we have venerated. But, Dear Mani Ratnam, I still believe in you and hope your next movie will take you back to where you belong; at the top !

Race-2 Oblivion !

At one point in Abbas-Mustan's Race-2, Aditya Panscholi says, "Shroud of Turin hasn't been stolen even in Hollywood movies and you people are planning on that". They aspire to out-do Hollywood. Do they succeed ? Read on...

A Race is all about numbers and count downs. The Race begins with a count down, but when it ends, it is the 1, 2, 3 that matters. After making an 'Iconic' first part almost half decade ago, Abbas-Mustan return with a sequel with some old and some new characters and same old style of "Style over Substance" kind of film-making !

So let us begin the count down in terms of performance from 10/10 downwards...

10] Shah Rukh Khan: Well, we all know he isn't there in this movie and is busy sobbing about his Muslim identity being a disadvantage in India. But, SRK gave Abbas - Mustan duo their best movie to date and I doubt if they can better "Baazigar" !

09] Saif Ali Khan: It is safe to say he carried the film on his shoulders like John Abraham carried Typhoon. He looks stylish, intense, intelligent and does an encore of Race-1.

08] Akshaye Khanna: Well again, his absence is felt. Tough to replace him and since he is the second on the list of missing people, he still figures high on my list.

07] Anil Kapoor: The wicked but good RD gets wickeder but not better. The actor is an icon when it comes to over the top comedy and tongue in cheek one-liners.

06] John Abraham: He is a handsome hulk and he and we all know that. No big deal. But in a role that deals with big deals, John at times tends to 'Ham'. The problem also is with us. Race-2 is NOT Dhoom-1 for John Abraham.

05] Amisha Patel: I thought Sameera Reddy couldn't be replaced for the stupidity she oozed in first part. As Cherry, Amisha manages to look and talk immensely stupid. But she is so fit and prim at 37, her curves distract us from her stupidity !

04] Deepika Padukone: She looks seductive, melancholic, happy and sad alternatively without much relevance to the going on in the movie. But her legs save her from becoming a total disaster. Tough for her considering she has to replace Bipasha Basu who gave her best performance in the prequel.

03] Aditya Panscholi: He looks more like a middle-aged failing businessman on a forced holiday with his bitch of a wife rather than the all powerful Don he is supposed to be. Miscast I must say.

02] Jacqueline Fernandez: If Amisha tries hard to look stupid, Jacqueline tries hard to look intelligent. Amisha succeeds but Jacqueline fails. Poorly written role; can't blame the young lady. How we miss Katrina Kaif !

01] Race-2: With expectations as high as we had, Race-2 fails to reach 10% of the thrills the prequel afforded in spite of the bigger money, bigger canvas and casinos.

00] Abbas-Mustan: Though it may sound harsh, this is disappointing from the duo who have thrived on thrillers. With all the budget and best of the star-cast at disposal, they forgot something; a good story with a tight plot and something new.

Too much of style and feminine Anatomy and very little substance and Chemistry between the lead actors lets Race-2 down. Diehard fans of Abbas-Mustan style of movie might enjoy this. But unless they bring in some new dimension to their movies, the duo might soon fade away. This might be the beginning of their "Race 2 Oblivion"

Second Hand Lions

This is a feel good movie about a kid, Walter who is left at a ranch by his mother to spend time with her great uncles, fraternal twins Garth and Hub.  Garth and Hub are eccentrics and their relatives believe they have huge amount of wealth stowed away somewhere in their ancient house.  Walter's mother Mae intends him to locate this place so that they can get away with the money, buy a house and settle down.

Walter is a lonely kid, who knows his mother is a liar and therefore does not believe her.  In fact he doesn't easily believe anyone as all he heard from his childhood is lies from his mother.  The eccentric grand uncles take a liking for Walter and Walter gets from Garth and Hub what he never got from his own mother, affection and a stable home.

The movie provides many light moments mainly due to the eccentric nature of the uncles such as shooting at salesman, ordering anything from a glider to a yacht or even a lion to keep on their ranch.  The performance of the trio, that is Walter (Haley Joe Osment), Garth (Michael Kane) and Hub (Robert Duvall) raises the movie to a different level altogether.  Definitely a must watch movie.   

Ek Tha Tiger

Bollywood does not make much movies on espionage, Agent Vinod and Ek Tha Tiger (ETT) are only 2 agent movies to come out of Bollywood in recent times.

Agent Tiger is a RAW agent who falls in love with a Pakistani ISI agent Zoya (Katrina) whom he meets during a mission.  Both of them decide to stick together even as ISI and RAW tries to capture them.   Girish Karnad plays the role of Shenoy, Tiger's Boss, and Ranvir Shorey is Gopi, Tiger's friend and colleague.

The movie is not a full blooded agent movie, but then we do not make such movies here, do we? ;).....One thought that kept me amused was about Jason Bourne, the amnesic agent from Bourne Series, poor Bourne, if only he had been an ISI or RAW agent, he would have surely been able to survive with his gal and live happily ever after as these two agencies are quite lenient (read fools/idiots/nincompoops - at least that is what ETT makes us believe)  towards absconding agents.

Overall it offers what an average Salman Khan fan would love to watch i.e. some comedy, good stunts, with scenes shot in Iraq, Istanbul and Cuba, and as the story moves at a fast pace, it is an interesting watch,  and a must watch if  you are a Salman Khan fan.  

Talaash: In Search of what lies within !

Let me begin with the pledge not to disclose the climax of Reema Kagti's "Talaash". I shall not ! Reviewing a movie as complex as "Talaash" is a tough job. It is a Suspense Thriller, a Psy-Fi Drama, a Supernatural Thriller, a Family Movie about relations and a first of it's kind in Indian cinema when it comes to the professional touch.

Let me not bother about the story at all because I want people to watch it and understand. Let me deal with characters instead as I would prefer to do most of the times.

Aamir Khan is Inspector Shekawat, a disturbed soul carrying the guilt of seeing his 8 year old son drown to death for which he holds himself responsible. He can't sleep and he talks to himself and people find him weird. But he believes his wife is suffering from depression and needs treatment and insists on her getting treated. He sees his own guilt reflected in the eyes of his wife [Rani Mukherjee] and their marriage is slowly and steadily collapsing. Aamir is absolute topnotch.

Rani Mukherjee plays Roshni Shekhawat, the mourning mother worried about her sleepless husband. She finds solace in a soothsayer Freny [Shernaz Patel] who brings her in contact with her dead son. The husband hates this and this further complicates the matter. A deglamorized Rani is as good as she always is.

Kareena Kapoor is Rosy, the most brilliant part of the movie. As the gorgeous and mysterious hooker spouting philosophy, she has reached the peak of her career. She bewitches the viewer and leads Shekhawat through the trail of an extremely difficult case declared to be open and shut accident case.

There are a host of characters who contribute to the narrative. But Nawazuddin Siddiqui playing Tehmoor is absolutely brilliant. He is the highlight of the movie. Raj Kumar Yadav is efficient as Aamir's understudy. Every single actor including the old lady walking through crowded South Mumbai roads looks the part. Well, even the dog in the opening sequence is brilliant.

It all begins with the "Accidental" death of a Bollywood Star Arman Kapoor [Vivaan Bhatena] and the investigation into the high profile case. The screen-play credited to Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar keeps dropping enough hints throughout to keep us guessing. Dialogues credited to Farhan Akhtar and Anurag Kashyap are simply straight and real time.

Ram Sampat's music is just right for the kind of movie this is. Editing [Anand Subaya] is of international standards. Quality of production and technical aspects are brilliant. On the whole, "Talaash" looks like a Hollywood thriller made in Hindi.

The flip side of the whole affair is Reema Kagti has left a lot for the viewers to think, imagine and correlate. The climax is not the kind of "Dhamaaka" the Indian audience loves where the "Hero" solves the mystery, throws a few punches and punchlines and walks in slow motion to a thundering applause. This is all about "search for what is within". Though I may not agree with the soothsayer and Rani talking to dead son parts, those parts have been shot brilliantly and don't jar.

My Opinion: Compulsorily take your brains to watch this one. If you're not following every moment with an analytical mind, you'll perhaps miss the plot and then feel bored. As I left the hall with the satisfaction of having watched one of the finest thrillers made in Indian cinema, I heard some people complaining about having wasted over 2 hours in "Talaash" of a "Laash" !

The 22/7 about "Life of Pi"

Let me begin with disclaimer: I haven't read the novel "Life of Pi" and hence am not enamored by it like some of my friends were, when I went to watch the movie. I went because they said it is great. So here is what I felt...

The Catch 22...

1] Hollywood is Hollywood: Amazing picturization.

2] Animals: How do they get them to perform ?

3] Tabu: Am I happy to see her ?

4] Adil Hussain: Where was he before English Vinglish unleashed him like never before ?

5] Suraj Sharma: Had problems with his assignments at school. But, boy ! He's done a magnificent job with this one !

6] CG: Computer graphics are of the highest order.

7] The Pacific: Becomes a character in the movie. If Water World bored us, this one gives hope...

8] Hope: An amazing feeling that keeps us alive, shown in the best ever manner !

9] Irrfan Khan: I am a Fan of this Khan !

10] Yann Martel: What a novel it must be, one for my kart !

11] Ang Lee: Amazing ability to get into the story.

12] Characterization and continuity: How Pi and the Tiger look progressively emaciated through the journey is handled with amazing care.

13] Story inside the story: The second story told by Pi to convince the Japanese officials is quite symbolic of the animal instincts inside us !

14] Mathematics: For someone who loves Maths, I loved the name Pi and the evolution of Pi.

15] Determination: To get rid of the tag "Pissing", the little boy shows the determination to write the value of "Pi" or 22/7 that covers 3 black boards. That determination is what saves him in the end !

16] Bonding: How the boy decides to develop a bonding with the tiger and trains him is shown very well.

17] Orange Juice: What a cute 'Mother' Pi found for him self in his 'other' story.

18] Narration: Irrfan Khan's very Indian narration with occasional accent augurs well.

19] Carnivorous island: Almost 'Avatar' like floating island shown in 2 beautiful shades of day and night. Symbolic of the good and bad.

20] Thunderstorm: A fantastic picturization of nature's wrath and how it plays.

21] Piscine Molitor: The most beautiful swimming pool in the world after which the protagonist was named.

22] Richard Parker: What a magnificent creature this Royal Bengal Tiger is !

And the 7 I didn't catch...

1] Patel family speaking Tamil is something I don't know, even if they live in Pondichery, I can't really understand that !

2] Religions: Well, the author must have wanted to strike a balance between all religions and thus Pi Patel follows all religions and believes in all Gods as if those 33 crore gods his original religion foisted on him weren't enough.

3] Animals have souls but not emotions: Tell that to your dog and see how bad he'll feel. I know they have emotions and have seen that !

4] Tee shirts: Pi Patel is seen wearing some tee shirts which were not really existing in India of 1970s. A little bit of goof up there ?

5] God: If god is the one who saved Pi Patel, then god is the one who killed his family and many more. Why did god do that ? I have yet to find an answer to this question even in real life !

6] Anandi: Sravanthi Sainath has such gorgeous eyes, I would've preferred to drown in them if I were Pi Patel. That would've saved him from a lot of suffering during his ordeal. But there is very little of those beautiful pair of eyes.

7] 3D effects: Perhaps I was looking for "Pi in the Sky" but I was disappointed by the lack of 3D effects in certain places in the movie.

But 22 out-weighs 7 by 3.1428571428571 times !

A beautiful cinematic experience nevertheless and is strongly recommended for family viewing !

Ayaalum Njanum Thammil [Between him and me]

Ironic it is for sure that Prithwiraj has decided to move to Bollywood. We saw him in the moronic "Ayya" with over the top and also downhill Rani Mukherjee and then we see him in fantastic form with the equally magnificent Prathap Pothan in Lal Jose directed "Ayaalum Njanum Thammil" [Between him and me].

Lal Jose seems to be in a mood to explore the medical field. If he dealt with the extravagant young Oncologist learning his lessons in life in "Diamond Necklace", here we have an irresponsible spoilt brat of a young Doctor going through the travails of life to turn into a great Cardiac Surgeon.Well, I am not complaining because he has given us a beautiful movie that makes us sit up, take notice, enjoy, think and then return with the pleasant feeling of having seen an earnest movie. 

The story revolves around the coming of age of Dr. Ravi Tharakan [Prithwiraj] with the able guidance of an upright and dedicated senior Doctor Samuel [Prathap Pothan]. I wouldn't like to deal with the story and spoil the thrill because I want everyone to watch this movie.

The story is narrated in multiple flashbacks with flashbacks inside flashbacks causing a little bit of a problem early in the first half. But things move smoothly, once we realize the technique. The lighting sometimes gets ridiculously dim and from a Doctor's point of view, I wouldn't accept that. But otherwise, Lal Jose has done his homework thoroughly and deserves all the credit for handling the technical aspects and medical language very well.

The camera work, music and back ground score gel very well with the mood of the movie though the movie could have done very well without songs. Munnar becomes an independent character in the movie. It was only a background for song and dance sequences in most movies hitherto. The silent breeze, the noisy wind, the unpredictable rains and the fog are used with stunning effect to suit the different moods of the character of Dr. Tharakan. And in the climax, we see a pleasant and contented Dr. Tharakan ruminating over the place that made him what he is !

Narein as Ravi's close buddy Vivek, Rima Kallinkal as the lady who puts together the jigsaw puzzle of the story and Ramya Nambeesan as his conscientious colleague have given wonderful performances. Kalabhavan Mani too has given a very good account of himself. Samvritha Sunil as Dr. Tharakan's junior and girlfriend is a little subdued. Sukumari as head-nurse and Salim Kumar as the Cirrhosis patient making a living thanks to his disease are good too.

But the movie belongs to Prathap Pothan and Prithwiraj and both have given stupendous performances. It is as if each has brought out the best from the other and in that sense, the title works beautifully. It is truly between these two. I'd be disappointed if Prithwiraj doesn't win the State Award for best actor for 2012. Well, tough competition for Lal [Ozhimuri] there. He also deserves at least a nomination for the best actor at national awards. Same for Prathap Pothan.

My Opinion: A wonderful movie and a must watch for all Malayalees who love their language and their cinema !

Post Script: I end this piece from where I began. 

Dear Prithwiraj, it is understandable you are quite peeved with the enormous negative vibes, hate campaign and bad press you have received in your home state. But the truth is you will be a misfit in Bollywood and Malayalam cinema needs you as much as you need Malayalam cinema. Public memory is fickle and nobody or nothing can suppress your talent if you continue to work in movies like this. Stay back !