Transformers - Wasteformers


As I lay deep in thought on my recliner ,wondering the frequency at which I have been goin to theatres and the more I would in the imminent future a sudden thought of no-nonsense movies yet stuck me. I have been pretty pleased with my movie selection over the past 2 months or so be it goin to theatres or renting dvd's. Well if I were to go by my picks forever I might just bite my tongue for lack of discretion, which by the way I have after tonight's most insensible and shittest movie I have seen. 'Transformers'. No words to describe the hatred I have developed towards Michael Bay. Seriously Steven Spielberg's banner ,though not his directorial venture, ought to have been thought better. If I were to watch this movie some 20 years back, back in the days of He-Man I would have had my money on He Man cartoons still. Such is the quality of this movie. Special effects apart the movie is just a waste of time. The dialogues are inexplicably bad. Scenes like the introduction of Magnytron (some crap) saying " I am Magnytron with its posture " are just beyond my digestion. And the conclusive elocution by Octotron (not sure) was bringing out the lack of maturity in the director. Though one might argue for its effects and 'the made to look good music' it might just steal the show among the kids for a while. A man with perfect senses would despise this 'over usage of money' completely. The intended comedy at regular intervals, Shia's performance, the hot Megan Fox were the only exceptions from an otherwise awful movie. I never in the past had felt so funnier after watching a movie when people started clapping in the theater. Though this particular version of ET movies was thought out differently (atleast thought so b4 watchin it) sparring the ugly aliens it might have just been better off with some thought to the dialogues. Seriously the storyline would not have been that bad afterall. The dialogues were so badly written that even a boy scout could have done a better job. It was a shocker and clearly lacked application. The next time I get onto one of the big construction machines for my testing all I would think of is changing to a robot. Bull shit. I wish I had my eclipse turned into a Ferrari. That was the only positive thought I drew from this otherwise bullshit of a movie. Please do not waste $8 or watever the money is.

SIVAJI-THE BOSS - Rajni ,the KING of Kings


Sivaji-The Boss was by all means a movie made just for Rajni. With all the media hype and fan lore the movie ought to be seen . Reason being the movie is all about Rajni and his charisma. Truly that's what every rajni fan wants and not the true message shankar tries to press with his every other movie. Shankar on his part has done a pretty bad job considering the fact that he has convoluted around the same core since his first movie in Gentleman. Indian and Mudalvan to an extent were the exceptions. Shreya was a treat to watch. To me she is the next best thing tamil filmdom has seen since Asin's arrival. Vivek after a long run of loss of form is back with his catchy lines and spot comedies. Though he seems to be running out of ideas atleast. Suman has just done his part as written in script lacking the punch and aggression as expected of a Rajni's villain. This is where I feel Raghuvaran or even Prakashraj would have dealt it with aplomb.
At no cost am i gonna talk about the movie's crux. But having read Prashanth's article I feel it is injustice to despise the movie completely. From my opinion Rajni's movies since the 90's have basically lacked good storylines with Thalapathi, Padiyappa & Muthu apart. But, for an actor who is full of grace, style and charisma I doubt if that would really hamper the movie at all. So is the case in Sivaji. Shankar has tried passing the message in a different way(atleast intended to) and has clearly not shown any innovation in his ideas. The movie might lack logic as Prashanth had pointed out in the CPR scene. But frankly Rajni's mass comes from B and C sectors who definitely would'n know a thing about it. So to me that's acceptable though he is a software engineer. And Prashanth remember afterall he is a software engineer who could amass 200 crores just by working here for a decade or so. We only wish. So forget logics and commonsense. And to the next claim on Prashanth's as to why Rajni did not hire an advocate to enforce his issues is probably anyone's guess, considering the project quote. For all, the movie might have so many negatives but the one positive that is Rajni is good enough for a 3 hr entertainer. All that a Rajni fan would want is sit, watch the spectacle that is Rajni. The Superstar on his part has done an excellent job in assisting vivek with his catchy linefits and spot on comedies. The Sivaji,MGR, Kamal spoof was thoroughly enjoyable and so is the climax mimics by Chinni et al. The 'Motta' boss get up reminded us of rajni's yesteryears as villain. In all Rajni has carried the whole weight on his shoulders and delivered an enjoyable, stylish and a charismatic performance that makes Sivaji a clear winner among his most recent movies. To put matters in one line 'kettaley adhiruthula' is exactly what sivaji storm is. So to all,the advice would be rush to the theatres watch the splendour of rajni and enjoy it. Only one man in the Indian film history can turn an absolete story to a super hit and that is undoubtedly Rajni. Big B , SRK please find a hiding Sivaji has arrived to storm theatres all over India and most particularly in US.The fanfare here in Chicago and other major cities is just amazing. First day first show has never been this crazy away from India 'Walk into Sivaji with Sweet Pongal' was the say in Chicago;'Sivaji T-Shirt w/ ticket' in Bay Area and so was it in all major cities in US. That sums it all.

PHILOSOPHY PHILOSOPHY!!!

If cup breaks you can't drink
If plate breaks you can't eat but only
If an egg breaks can you make an omelet.

RANG DE BASANTI - A must think-watch

It is rare that such a well-crafted and beautifully told story is seen in Hindi cinema.

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s movie ‘Rang De Basanti’ is a must-watch for reasons that the length of this review may not suffice to express. More than just a technically brilliant flick, ‘Rang De Basanti’ has a story that entertains you, makes you think and stirs you deep inside in the end.

The plot of the movie straddles two different time periods – first one, the contemporary setting revolving around a group of friends. The second one is in the pre-independence India, revolving around freedom fighters like Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh and Ashfak.

Parallels are drawn between the characters in the two time periods and as the story moves towards its conclusion, the barrier of time begins to dissolve and the characters become one in spirit.

Sue (Alice Patten) comes to India to make a documentary on some freedom fighters and after having auditioned many in vain for her movie, Sue, aided by Sonia (Soha Ali Khan), meets a group of friends in whom she sees the characters of her documentary. The group consists of DJ (Aamir Khan), Aslam (Kunal Kapoor), Karan (Siddharth) and Sukhi (Sharman Joshi).

DJ ( Daljeet Singh) from a Punjabi family consisting of a loving mother (excellently portrayed by Kiron Kher). A beer guzzler who is never serious about anything in life, DJ starts hitting on Sue the minute he sees her.

Aslam comes from a Muslim family and refuses to endorse the opinion that Muslims ought not mingle with Hindus.

Karan is the silent one. He is rich but has a dry and maverick kinda life. He has no passion for anything but for fagging(reminds me of my roomie)...

Sukhi is full of fun and frolic. He has no girlfriend and rues (quite portentously) that he would die a kunwara.

Also part of the group is Fl. Lft. Ajay Rathod (Madhavan), the love of Sonia (Soha). He is the only one in the group who has dedication to serve the country.

None of the friends is serious enough to be a part of Sue’s documentary. To them values like patriotism, sacrificing oneself for the sake of country are just beautiful words they cannot relate to.But Sue can see the characters of her movie in them. In DJ she sees Chandrashekhar Azad. In Karan she sees Bhagat Singh and in Aslam she sees Ashfak.

Even as the five friends agree to be a part of her movie, they still cannot accept the virtues of the characters (of the freedom fighters) they play. But then, Ajay dies in a MiG crash and is labeled as a 'rookie' pilot by the Defence Minister who is unwilling to accept shortcomings in the MiG aircrafts. Well this could have been crafted with a bit more pragmatism as no minister in India ,atleast, is dare enough to accuse a Lft. on air.Probably diplomatism in this case would have swirled the story a bit more ..Well left to directors think tank but still could have been thought out in a better way...

DJ and friends decide to bring the truth to light. But they choose a rather extreme way to do it.
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra deserves a pat on the back for making a movie that certainly raises the bar for filmmakers in Bollywood. If Dil chahtha hai was amazing, awesome etc etc then I run out of adjectives to describe Rang De Basanti. If Yuva had the distance to travel for the youth ,Rang de Basanti certainly did complete the Odyssey. The movie begins on a light note and there are humourous moments aplenty in the first half as in Dil Chahtha hai(though my money goes with DCH) . The second half gets serious after the death of Madhavan. From then on, the story takes a grave turn and ends on a tragic note.(this is where Rang de Basanti kicks on and shifts to overdrive.No stopping from here on..It certainly has reached the distance and it certainly did make me feel 'What am I doing here?'.)

The most remarkable part of the movie is the parallel that Mehra draws between the freedom fighters and DJ and his group of friends. The movie keeps transposing the same actors into characters from the past. And then, as the story draws to its conclusion, even these differences in the characters disappear. The modern, city-bred ‘young guns’ of the twenty first century become one in spirit with the revolutionaries who sacrificed themselves for the country’s freedom.

No one but the invincible Aamir Khan could have portrayed the role of DJ, the good-humoured, bike-riding,vagabond like, ex-graduate -who is quite content with his living and afraid to go beyond the life of college campus and friends,with grace and absolute applomb. Aamir delivers his dialogues with a Punjabi accent, spicing his lines with an expletive here and there. Aamir is a legend and is undoubtedly the KING of Bollywood and not BAADSHAH. Any SRK fans to dispute my claims?. Ok sticking on with the review.
Alice Patten is perfectly cast and delivers a flawless and textbook performance. But she does look a bit bony , probably needs to bulk the chin and add some flesh if at all she senses a career in acting.
Kunal Kapoor, Soha Ali Khan(my goodness I could see Sharmila in her), Atul Kulkarni have all eased into their characters. Sharman Joshi is a delight to watch. Siddharth gets his moments of acting and has crafted a beautiful and meaningful role given the limitations.

Cinematography by Binod Pradhan is top notch. The editing is slick. The songs in the movie are so indiscernibly placed in the narrative that they don’t hamper the pace at all.
Well as all good things got to come to an end it has to be said that ‘Rang De Basanti’ is a milestone in the indian filmdom that definitely ought to be seen once, if not more and more importantly for filmi freaks like me it is a spectacle.

A Must-Watch and more importantly a must think.

cheers
Harvind

ROYAL BEGGARS ABROAD



Well as I write this blog the thought that I ve been away from home for 8 months rings loud and clear....Gone are the days when I hogged till my stomach bursts with the indian flavor at adyar...gone are the days when i roamed around with the hot sun baking my back till it left blisters in there...and most importantly gone are the days when i looked at august the articles for sale and NOT for sale at spencers with my rowdy roddy friends...Lemme give u folks a prelude to this blog..since this being the first of mine I wonder how i took it up with the lacking & lagging patience of mine... this is all because of the pathetic,catastropic,disastrous and jaw breaking dosas that i ate this past night at a so called south indian restaurant...

one may wonder if i ever felt nostalgic watching Rang de basanti for the 1st,2nd,3rd ...times or swades for that matter... but as a matter of fact the nostalgia started with watching Swades for the i dont know nth time here in U.S ,blossomed to a doom with Rang de basanti and now with the jaw breaking dosas its become a desperation irrespective of my paucity for money....actually i am in search of the person who suggested this extraordinary idea of going to this stupid place(wait till the end before i divulge the secret devil)

I had hoped that this place would take me through an emotional roller coaster ride ringing back my past life at adyar,chennai . But to spell doom to my eating and thought provoking night ,the waitress served me with the wonderful, cold and awful mysore masala dosa.I just sat there stonefaced and phlegmatic.Didn't know whom to hit or for that matter what to hit coz' even the dosas seemed to be like asbestos sheets .The sambar that she served me was as bad as it could get.Believe me guyz hot water with chilli powder and sambar powder sprayed over...I felt those everlasting burritos and ever pulling pizzas were heaven....and to make matters worse and dig a deeper hole to my wallet i extended the boundary to an awesome oothappam (super aapppu)....

well this was it..i was at the pinnacle of my desperation for good food b4 i entered this @#$#ing restaurant...and all that i got was a cute looking mexican female serving me with her throo's and broos'....as i moved out of the place the thoughts of me having a bash at a waitor in one of the dhabbas in india for serving me with more roti s than i asked for struck me with an evil chord...i wondered how long is the wait gonna be for me before i get atleast 1 edible roti ...well i think i need to answer more questions than these if i continue my stay here... though we folks are abroad doing our so called masters and Phd's we are royal beggers .... beggars who earn enough to buy all the high funda electronics but not good indian food .....So with this thought in mind i am proceeding to a nearby restaurant called Fazollis where I get good italian pizzas:) ..( this is a safe bet than to indulge in any venture like getting into an indian restaurant)...this would be followed by a brief visit to india in july(my dream) and permanent settlement by December for more reasons than this one(not my dream anymore)...

The SECRET DEVIL is I,me,myself.....

Cheers
Harvind