In Bruges
 I spotted this movie while randomly flipping through msn.uk and instantly liked the premise. The article quoted it bore similarities to Harold Pinter's Dumb Waiter. I was curious and the next time I stopped by Velachery Videos, I picked up the DVD, films like these will never release in India. A dark comedy, with such wonderful dialogues last seen perhaps in Pulp Fiction and you finally realise that Colin Farrel is Irish! The three leads are super in their roles, but it has to be Ralph Fiennes as the foul mouthed Harry who comes out on top. There's a smart little scene in the deleted scenes section of the DVD, one in which Harry is traveling by train and a co-passengers tries to initiate a conversation with him. Lol! And the nod to Nicholas Roeg is definitely there As for the similarities with Dumb Waiter, yes, but just the key plot, I would say it takes heavy inspiration from another chilling film, Nicholas Roeg's Don't look now, more than Pinter's play. And that's saying enough about the film without giving out spoilers. A must watch and yes, shot beautifully, in fcuking Bruges :) P.S: The academy actually noticed this, the blind idiots finally did, and gave it a nomination for best (adapted?) screenplay. But seriously I'd have been all teary eyed if either of it's leads had secured an acting nom. Labels: Movies
  For the directionally challenged
 The recently released movie, Naan Kadavul, a majorly hyped project, allegedly dealing in isolated and bold themes, brought in many curious viewers. I am surely not one among them. Honestly, I like dark cinema, but not depressing cinema. And that's why I have consciously stayed away from Requiem for a dream, no matter how groun breaking it is supposed to be. But again, it's hard to take Naan Kadavul that seriously too, much because of it's phony filmmaking. It's more like a sham of a film really, that tries too hard to be different that the director keeps going back to his own stereotypes time and again throughout the movie. It could have been something, but Bala is an amateur and a wannabe and in his hands, what could have been a powerful film goes completely flat largely due to lack of direction. The movie fails to stick to one thing, and tries to cram in one shocking 'reality' after another that it ends up being quite a bitter and hasty concoction. While it provides a promising start featuring a naïve father and daughter roaming Kasi in search of a long lost son who has in fact turned into an Agori, you know you are in for nothing different from the run of the mill masala, only a bit disguised, when the camera pans and zooms in on the man doing seershasan with a swelling theme to back it. Okay. And sooner than later, the poor father, daughter and thankfully and annoying mother are shunned and enter a group of crippled and twisted beggars. At this point, you are left wondering, what’s the point…but not so soon! The film takes a complete turn towards the begging Mafia and then soon abandons it to lurk a little bit into human trafficking. Again it goes back midway to the Agori, lest we should forget him in the middle of all this rigmarole, and then finishes with a highly spiritual message of Karma and Mukti. What the? Like a I said before the director is in no urge to stick to one plot element or even a central character, really, the blind girl has more to do that the phony kite-high Sadhu. And he wants to shock you so much that he keeps trying to invent more depressing and gruesome plot points one after another that he forgets what he started out to do in the first place. As for the acting chops, if someone out there still thinks huffing, puffing and grumpily mouthing hoarse words equals intensity, they be damned, after Vikram, Arya takes this hamming to a repelling new level. The blind girl is plain okay, with a character that makes the performance handicapped as the actress herself is quite adequate, just that the character is poorly fleshed out, being the weakest and most hapless of the lot. The supporting cast of beggars, apart from their physical disabilities are not entirely new to us, we have seen these before. The only freshness lies in the main antagonist, the tall, lean and mean bad guy with a face that would make you think, this guy looks evil, but then not seriously threatening, but he turns out to be much more than that. As for the director returning to his stereotypes, the scene in which the blind girl coaxes the agori to go back to his family, irksome, straight out of Nanda where Laila confronts Surya about finding him in the mortuary. The irrelevant and out of place song and dance sequence in the police station, the Simran outing in Pithamagan. And the fact that Arya, much like Vikram in ugghhh inducing Pithamagan, claims he is god, an avatar of Shiva. yeah right. So is this one any good. Nope, movies like these come along every now and then disguised under layers of phony subjects, and are strictly made for awards only. For a jury much like that of the academy awards really, just check a few boxes of melodrama, weirdness, handicapped and they’ll give you the award Labels: Movies
Top 10 movies that made you laugh
There were so many top 10, 20 30 lists by new year time, I thought of composing such lists for Tamil movies too. Normally turn to the imdb top 250 for a pick of a classic for a nice evening, but then, there hardly were any such rankings for Tamil movies. The only critics that were worth mentioning used to be in Vikatan and most of them should be dead or retired by now, making the magazine just as worthless...So here goes nothing, and if you choose to disagree we always have the comment section!
1. Michael Madana Kamarajan - True, from the moment Kameshawaran appears on screen, it explodes, he's absolute dynamite. And the climax itself, no matter how illogical, ridiculous or crazy the setting, was cherry on the cake, one of the best in Tamil Cinema, and this was long before a certain copy cat called Priyadarshan assembled all his cast for a run-amok climax for ALL his films!
2. Aan Paavam - It would be a crime to leave this one out. A personal favourite, this movie has still not been topped for the effortless way in which it made you laugh. Paandiyarajan was never half as good again. V.K.Ramasamy was pure genius and Janakaraj made you laugh with merely close ups of his frustrated face.
3. It's a close call between which of the two should feature on this list, Saroja or Chennai 28, the ending of the latter positively lands the ball in Chennai 28's court. During the last cricket world cup, a brilliant Nike commercial was aired, glorifying the crude and ballsy gully cricket. It was an instant hit with a soundtrack so infectious it had you humming it though you didn't get a darn word of it! Sadly it was taken off air following
4. The 2 heroes were pretty much sidelined, Balayya and Nagesh truly rocked and stole the show. Kathalikka Neramillai, like it's predecessor in this list is a favourite for the older generation. Shot mostly at the Aaliyar dam, the movie has awesome pieces which will make you laugh out loud. Be it the famous story telling sequence between Nagesh and Balayya or the scene where Nagesh teaches Sachu to act. Sure they didn't have time to fall in love, they were busy laughing their heads off!
5. 23-am Pulikesi - Boy, was it good to hear good old tamil again. Hell, it was great! Yeah it came with a contemporary feel, but who cares when it is this good. Hurling the Choicest of abuses at his sub-ordinates, the weakling King has you rolling on the aisles.
6.
7. Bale Pandiya - Screwball comedy. 3 Sivaji Ganesans, 2 M.R.Radhas. Nothing can go wrong. Boy, they sure don't make it as good as those oldies now.
8.Panchathanthiram - Another Kamal and Crazy gem, packed with so many witty dialogues that if you are busy laughing for one joke, you'd probably miss the next. And Ramya, her cool self, honestly padayappa was too far fetched, but this was pure fun!
9. Rajini, cast as a pervert. Only KB could have done something so ballsy when Rajini had already become 'the super star'. And it's a pity Rajini hasn't played a character with grey shades in a long time now because being bad comes so naturally to him! And this is perhaps his best comic role, even better than thillu mullu, he plays an old incorridgible cassanova with no moral values what so ever, completely dominating his devoted wife. And the kind of rapport he shares with Goundamani is terrific. You almost forgot there were others too in this movie including another Rajini. The old one was such a rock star!
10. Kanni raasi -In spite of a tragic ending, this has to be mentioned just because I can't leave Goundamani from this list. He is kick ass as the quick witted sarcastic guy who reluctantly agrees for his brother in law's stay in his house.
I had to leave out; Ethir Neechal, the iconic pattu maami, Sowcar Janaki rocked in a role that later became cliched in Tamil cinema, but this is the best talkative, good humoured pakkathaathu maami we have ever seen.
Thillu Mullu, Sure it wasn't original, the movie was a remake of the hillarious Golmal. But this was fun to watch nevertheless. Rajini is at ease with comedy, and the whole rendevouz with his mooch was just too good not to be there in this list, but had to make way for better fare.
Inru Poi Naalai Vaa - Three guys, one girl, a potpourri family. It's a potent mix and is magic! The tactics and the extent to which the guys go to woo the girl are rip roaring. You think of this movie you can't help remembering 'Ek Gaun mein ek kisaan raghu thaatha' which became synonymous with the Tamil speaking population's tussle at trying to speak Hindi!
Sathi Leelavathi - Watch it for 2 things. Kamal Hasan. Kovai Sarala. Peroid.
Manal Kayiru - You can't like Visu's all-knowing shmuck act all the time. But you won't complain in this one. The rest of the cast is so good, you can sit through it. Manorama, Kishmu, S.Ve Sekhar and the guy playing the heroine's brother make this otherwise preachy film far beyond worth watching. The middle class appeal, kittumani's 8 conditions, Kishmu's slightly 'sarka-hua' but crazy about his wife act. and it's a delight to watch S.Ve Sekhar's face everytime he discovers another one of his conditions crumble
Meendum Kokila; Long before Kopurangal saivathillai and sathi leelavathi, this one has an adorable Sridevi draped in madisar. Though it is laced with drama, this movie never actually gets too serious thanks to the lead pair's comic timing
Shimla Special, laugh riot. This list forces one to include only full length comic films, which leaves out a lot of gems,
Labels: Movies
Never Shaken, Never Stirred
 If bond was back to basics in Casino Royale, he hits the ground; rolling in dirt in Quantum of Solace.Craig looks dirty for most of the parts, or is out there in rugged terrain I hugely anticipated this movie but was sort of let down because while this proved to be a good action movie, is not 'Bond' enough Yes, the silhouettes of shapely women in the title cards make a comeback in this one, and an elaborate breakdown of Bond's martini but save that, this guy could have been anyone. No one liners, not enough wit, no gadgets (thankfully, I thought they took it too far with the later Brosnan flicks making the whole franchise campy!) and bond is not his smooth self save on a few delightful occasions. This bond hardly cracks a smile and is one angry guy whose path you don't dare cross The opening few minutes of the movie are filmed fantastically and look racy to set the tempo for what is to follow. But halfway through the movie, the director takes far too long setting the stage and the film starts to drag a wee bit. Proof of it, well my hubby dear was slumped in his seat, asleep. I had to shake him awake, 'For God’s sake, this is a bond film!'.... That is until the 'Goldfinger' (spoiler: this scene has now been named 'Oilfinger') moment which truly shocks and get things back on track The action is plenty but a few of those scenes are filmed in such a way you don't know what's going on. Especially an aerial chase, you realise might have been fantastic after it is over, because you couldn't make out anything while the scene was unfolding! Craig is angered, more reckless than ever and charms, may be for just a microsecond, when he seduces Fields. Otherwise it's kick, punch, shoot and swerve all through. I expected more after seeing what he could do in Casino Royale. Overall he makes a great Bond nevertheless, meaner than we have seen him of late. I hope they bring back a bit of that charm though, it didn't have to totally go, coz it's hard to like Bond when he's this angry and messed up! Amongst those who surround Bond, the bond girl looks almost as rugged as Bond himself, and as usual is stunning. She bears a remarkable resemblance to Sophie Marceau. While she does quite decently well on her own, her back story is bit of a turn off and looks a tad bit out of place for a Bond movie. But then Bond is in revenge mode himself, so I guess we can give her a leeway! The villain, I love! Mathieu Amalric was impressive in the short screen time he had in Munich (I haven't watched the Diving Bell and the Butterfly yet so can't comment!). He's the clean shaven businessman and lacks any of those unique physical disfigurement, a la bleeding eye or a bullet in the brain or acne ridden face. And perhaps that makes him more identifiable as just any other guy out to do some bad. And he does a cool job of it. He doesn't have the best fighting tactics or a threatening voice (when he charges at Bond, his voice made me go...Oh, you can't be serious, but it felt just as intimidating that this fellow is mad enough to do damage). But really, he could have been given more stuff to do. The movie is a definite sequel to Casino Royale, so be sure to watch it before you watch this one. But that might be a mistake again, drawing no comparisons with it's predecessor, this is a good film in it's own right. But once you know what Casino Royale was about, this one tends to pale in comparison. It's a good movie, but could have been better, way better. P.S: Watch it once, in theatres, your TV will only make it worse for you :) P.P.S: The Bond theme by Alicia Keys and Jack White has come in for quite some criticism, but frankly I think it makes a good bond song. With Jack white's riffs giving the perfect Bond feel, this one goes the rock way, like You know my name from the previous movie did. Common, we once had Madonna do the theme, compared to THAT, this is a revelation!
ROCK ON
 I saw the promos of the movie 'Rock on' on TV recently Somehow it swept me off to those dreamy days post college I was fresh out of college, not in a hurry to do anything I knew I was to get though to one of those big wig companies everyone was talking about, yep, that much arrogant I was ;) So now that my game was set, I spent most of my time idling in my sister's tiny apartment (if you could call that one :P) in Bangalore The day time was when I slept, ate, pretended to skim through news paper for job ops But life usually came alive post sunset, roaming about Jayanagar fourth block, munching roast butta, hanging out at planet M, buying nothing but browsing through the catalogs endlessly and listening to radio non stop well past mid night, much to my mother's chagrin! Bangalore has been quite the place for headbangers...next only to perhaps Kolkata? (but it's all that jazz really)... Really, Thank god, coz in this place, rock is a little more than Bon Jovi (forget the fact that Bryan Adams keeps returning to haunt the city year after year!) But I wonder at the same time, how many out there are aware of those rock gems that keep springing up from the north east....Manipur, Nagaland, Shillong...anyone? Getting back to the point of course, it seems a real long time back, a different time, different life, a different person, almost... It's as if you think, you have grown out of that kind of life...but then you cant help leaning back and smiling out of the window during that rare moment when an old Creedence track leaks out of your car's stereo. P.S: BTW, the one thing that did take me back to days of yonder, the movie Rock On, has mediocre music, may be because of that VOICE. Farhan Akhtar....why?! scream man....this isn't deep enough! P.P.S: I'm gonna catch this movie on wednesday. And that's not only because I've always had a monster crush on Arjun Rampal ;) If in a mood to touch base with rock....try Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival / Poison by Alice Cooper Mood: Nostalgic Song On: Pichle saat dino mein
Idhu epdi irukku?!
 A spring time cleaning session in my house as usual brought out a lot of ‘goodies’ from the debris in one of the rooms which included some posters of the movie Shivaji (feat Rajini in his blonde wig). Now I consider that quite a threat coz the mere sight of it might cause Nandoo’s noble steed Cheenu/Ginu to go on a violent fix so we were contemplating on what was to be done with it. And that’s when I said “That man Shankar is damn right over rated!” Nandoo; “eh?!” “Of course; he makes at least one jarring song with pots and pans and other stuff walking around in larger than life sizes and ridiculous picturisation and they call it grand! I mean some times they are so literal!” “Yeah…so?!” “So now you look at this pic and you can see all them reflectors and an entire crew in Rajini’s Dior shades! Think that’s savvy?” “Yeah ….now that you say that…..” And we both were laughing out loud…hayyo hayyo! And to those who say Shankar’s a genius of a film maker and may be this is one of those glitches; then say, didn’t you think Baleilakka looked stupid, the freeze frames in Ale ale in boys looked ridiculous… “Athu ennudan thenir kondathu”…and we have Rajini and Shriya sipping a cup of chai…ayayooo….! There’s not one thing sane about the movie Jeans and Kathalan (save the music) And you would kill the annoying Anniyan with a smile on your face! I’d say, the man needs to take a break….obviously he has a taste for good cinema looking at what comes out of his production house (and some of his earlier movies). But why dole out crap after crap yourself? P.S: what’s with making low budget movies of your own and blowing out another production house’s money…. P.P.S: I think that's 2 in a row for Rajini...hahaha Song on: Poison Mood: Funny
Cast Away ;)
 Plagiarism is the bread and butter of most film makers, especially in India, especially when their name sounds like Sanjay Gupta, Priyadarshan, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, R.K.Selvamani (this one’s almost extinct now!), Murugadoss etc. etc. Now this quite worried the big wigs from the other side of the globe that all their originality and thought was effortlessly lifted and used in the movies here. The production houses resolved they would completely put an end to this practice by making bilingual/trilingual projects for each of their high profile movies. Now the Indian version of those movies would star the local super stars instead of the Hollywood stars for the benefit of the ‘junta’ and to avoid straight dubbed ones having dialogues that go ‘Odunga…mummy varuthu, mummy varuthu’ (I don’t think that was an allusion to an election campaign by another equally famous mummy down here). As a pilot run for this project, it was decided that some of the most famous and iconic films that came out of Hollywood be remade with the Indian stars to give the audience a taste of what was in store in future (Uggghh!).Auditions were announced and the casting team waited for the actors to audition for one historic role after another. Here is an account of how it went. The casting team began hunting for the stars to be cast in one famous role after another… The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. CT: Are you sure Mr. Rama Rajan that you look the part of the ice cool cow boy? RR: Have no doubts-nga…You go ask anyone down south and they’ll tell you what a cow boy I am! I dress like one, act like one even sing like one. And you don’t have to spend on costumes because all I need is an ara dowser and one thundu. And I don’t even need a horse, I am a cow boy after all, not a horse boy. I’ll ride a cow. What say? CT: !!! CT: Pleased to meet you MR. Rajini RK: Hi hi hi hi! CT: Would you like to audition for the role of Blondie? RK: Kanna…I don’t audition for roles already written for me! But I want a few changes to the script. I want this character having as many punch lines as possible, preferably with lots of political ambitions strewn in. Lots of style, the flipping of the cig, tricks with my gun…I want a host of comedians around me who would be my friends. The rest of the characters, pick anyone you wish as those characters will be insignificant anyway. Have K.S.Ravikumar directing the movie, A.R.Rahman for music, he’ll refuse, but threaten him. And yes, this time I definitely want Aishwarya Rai as the heroine. CT: er… Kill Bill CT: Ms. Vijay Shanty, I think you are a bit too old to play the bride! VS: Old, what old? I can give the bride a whole new look. With my ponytail (a la Vyjayanthi IPS), flying stunts et al. And let’s not make her an assassin, let’s make her an honest lady cop. And she’s fighting with this mafia boss Bill. But Bill’s men plan to kill me and end up making me paralysed. Let’s have a second hero too. I bet the likes of Ramki, Abbas, Suresh would be available. They’ll sing songs and by the end of the song I’ll be ready to kick ass again. CT: ummm…Interesting Ms.Shanty, but we were already considering one Miss. Priyanka Chopra! VS: Oh…she’s too young. She can play my younger sister…who gets raped by Bill’s son. Now see…the whole revenge angle is complete! CT(looking at each other in disbelief): We’ll get back to you Ms.Shanty! E.T CT: But Mr. Hrithik Roshan, it’s the role of a 10 year old boy! HR: Yeah…But I have played it already and I have won tons of awards for it; thanks to papa! And see, I have got Jadoo along with me. Priety Zinta is a bit too old now, so we can sign on Kareena. Dress her up in really skimpy clothes and have her pout in every frame. And we can include a dance sequence for me to do my jig! I’ll have my uncle ready with the songs, he’s already listening to all the world music CDs I bought him yesterday. But one condition, papa is directing this one as well CT: !!!!....and what about Steven Speilberg? HR: Eh….he can be executive producer! Jaws (I,II,III) CT: Mr. Bachan…we have only one role to audition for in this movie, why bring your whole family along? AB: eh?...Only one role? CT: Yes Mr. Bachan. We decided to cut short a bit on the budget as we have 3 sequels to make. And anyway it’s mostly about the Shark anyway! The movie will have one lead role, an extra (who will be killed off before the first reel ends…we’re going to find a superhot bikini clad chic for that) and of course the shark. AB: Oh, well then that solves the problem. We can have my daughter in law here playing the bikini chic …Beti pranam karo…I’ll play the lead role and my baby here will play the shark. Okay? AB jr: Daddy!!!! AB: okay beta, you play the lead role I play the shark. May be for the end credits, we can have all 3 of us doing an item number together like Kara Re. Aish: Oh….this casting manager has fainted…Abhi thoda paani leke aao! Titanic SRK: Rahul…naam to suna hi hoga CT: eh?! SRK: I am an NRI in the story. I meet the heroine in the ship. She’s betrothed to another man. I charm her and make her fall in love with me. I strike a pose with her at the deck which you can use for the initial promos. Have a few dream duets picturised in Swtizerland…it’s India, you got to do that! The villain finds out and so does the girl’s family. I convince the family, ask her ‘haath’ from them. They are confused. Villain meanwhile wants to marriage to happen ASAP seeing the confusion. But when it is time to tie the mangal sutra, ship begins to sink. And I am there….standing with the life boat. To save the girl and her family….she runs to me, leaving the villain behind. Book Rani/Kajol/Priety for the heroine. Try booking Abhishek for the villain (gotcha Big B!). This is a story written for me…don’t you see? CT: You bet Mr.Khan! The casting team leaves for LA the next day. Never to return. But not before promising SRK to send James Cameroon to produce more movies with him in the lead. P.S: I know...I took too long a break. But I didn't abscond entirely a la KK :P P.P.S: Nothing to type here....just plain habitual ;)
Johnny G
 When I first saw the poster in a website, I thought, yet another train heist Read the cast list; Dharmendra and Vinay Pathak sounded good, but who the hell was this Neil Nitin Mukesh and Rimi Sen….isnt she the one who had to paint her house in ridiculously tiny clothes in Dhoom? I did not know what to expect; was this another B grader from bollywood or it really had some dum? But with the Bling bling posters which focused on a jarring blue or yellow or a pair of red tinted glasses and I knew, this flick had to be stylish And what a flick it was! I watched the movie recently carefully avoiding all reviews…and I can say….i was entertained! It works on a lot of levels, that awesome 70s credits (it would look passé in a 70s movie, but here it looks highly stylish!), the soundtrack to which a friend drives his car upside down (thalai kkeezha ottuvan!!!), a calm and restrained Dharmendra (I just hope they use him as an alternative to Big B who has gone from bad to worse of late), a slightly rotund but brilliant Vinay Pathak and Zakir Hussain; is outstanding! (the way he goes “ey beauty parlour, sambal isko!!!...lol!!!)...and who the hell is that guy???...That leading man…Neil Mukesh Apparently he is the grandson of the legendary Mukesh and thank god he decided not to wield the microphone like his grand dad…We would have been robbed of such gorgeous eye candy. Seriously, it could have been Johnny Gorgeous (if the word wasn’t so girly!). If you thought this was a review (and now the movie has been much reviewed!), you might be disappointed because I took some time and this space out on my blog just to drool over this chap…who just might be the sexiest thing to have hit Bollywood of late (which is after Milind Soman…chiseled!...and that was long long ago) Yeah sure he does look a bit like those chocolate boys, but this one’s dark chocolate…wicked aint it?! And what with khandani crap that Bollywood keeps dishing out; the likes of Fardeen i-got-too-fat Khan, Zayed can’t-act-to-save-my-life Khan, Ranbir Kapoor (he looks more roman than punju…seriously he is way too chikna!)….even Hrithik Roshan, yeah that man would have been burning hot but for his nostrils!...Yeah Mukesh jr here too has that slight resemblance to Hrithik thanks to his nostrils, but they’re more subtle here and don’t bother you too much ;) But this god is leaner and meaner…in the first half I thought this guy can’t act…or may be can’t act with another director, but in the second half (*Spoiler* “Aap Shardul ke paas kyun nahi gaye???”) this dark chocolate gets yummier :D I cant believe I could drool at a guy in a shirt with a large collar and a sleeveless sweater!...or in a red shirt (especially when he thinks most of his shirt buttons are pretty useless…not that am complaining!!!) or a crazy hair do which belongs more to the early 90s era aka the ‘kraapu thalai’...and did I mention that 'kadukan'...sesky! P.S: Verdict, go watch this movie if you want some class!...BTW that bludy no good channel Zoom that my sis is fond of ruined it for me by almost giving away the ending P.S.S: I have drooled enough now much to the chagrin of someone and I am going to need all of Chennai’s fire department’s help to put out the fire raging in someone’s tummy :D Song On: JG Mood: Good! Labels: Movies
Aag...Bhuj Gayi!
 Pic courtesy: Office BB ;) There used to be a time when I used to think that remakes are child’s play. You never needed too much effort for remaking AKA stealing someone else’s idea. The reason that I thought the likes of Satish Kaushik, Sanjay Gupta, Vikram Bhat and our very own Vijay and Jayam Ravi made easy money selling an idea what others had whacked their brains over. All that changed overnight. Now I think remakes are no joke. To make a film, no matter how bad (you know the likes of Hum aapke dil mein rehte hain and priyamana thozhi); and to make it appealing to the audience, is a challenging job in itself. Because even if you are going to do an E-adichan copy of the original, chances are, the product could look way too bad compared to the original. Now Zinda, Kante, even Ek Ajnabee sit among great remake classics….All that after watching RGV’s Aag! If I had to describe Aag in one word, several spring up in my mind…Aiyo tops the list, closely followed by yuck, disastrous, disgraceful, sucks et al. The movie looks like it has been ghost directed by some B grade movie maker and they just happened to use RGV’s name (like someone suggested!). Looks like a foray by the Ramsay brothers into mainstream cinema, staring the living for a change! The remake of one of my favorite movies of all time does not work on so many levels. 1. Scenes are painfully long, with a background that is simply put dull and too slow. In fact the only thing slower than the score is the movie’s pace (perhaps the result of the score?) and Amitabh’s hacking off of Mohanlal’s fingers! (the only decent and truly chilling moment in the movie. C’mon this doesn’t need a spoiler alert…every one knows Thakur gave Gabbar his ‘haath’!) 2. The life of Sholay lay primarily in 2 characters. One Gabbar. Another Jai. Amitabh tries hard to make a good gabba(e)r, but the character’s scenes are so badly written and unnecessarily stretched, ‘Hindi Cinema’s most scary villain’ ends up being awfully boring. The vulnerability angle of a sibling and a limping leg are unwanted deviations from the oh-so-demonic Gabbar Singh we are familiar with. As for Jai…well there was no Jai in the movie! His ultra cool, smart talking character is replaced by a half baked Raj Ranade sporting a wig inspired by the centershock ad, with no wit (or sense whatsoever) and uses a line like ‘I respect you so much’ for a pick up line! Yawn! 3. My only complaint with Sholay, Basanti’s bak bak could have been mercifully chopped shorter. But Aag’s Ghungroo is even more disastrous, owing to the fact that she tends to at times play the let-me-explain-you-what’s-going on stuff. I’ll clarify what this means in my next point 4. Okay, may be I shouldn’t be comparing both films and review Aag as an RGV movie. But I cant because there’s no RGV anywhere in Aag! The man’s way of story telling is just not to be seen. Certain scenes in Aag have been elaborately explained out to the audience as if we are dumb enough not to get a subtle enactment. Like the way Ghungroo explains Sushmita Sen’s Devi (and thereby the audience) that she is in love with Raj. Isn’t that obvious? Or may be not as there weren’t enough sequences to establish that chemistry as the original did with just 2 shots of AB and Jaya. That was poetry! And again we have Ghungroo (think she played some sort of narrator) explaining the blind man the whole story of how his son got killed. The original has none of that rigmarole and has Dharmendra’s Veero leading Imam Sahib to his son’s body; not a word spoken! And of course, Raj’s worst-pcik-up-line in Indian Cinema, which wants to tell the audience that the hero respects the heroine, the heroine is a lonely widow, the heroine runs a clinic and has a caring tender heart all at one go. *barf*. Even without looking at Sholay, RGV’s previous works as well had many such instances where there was no need for a word or even a visual to show a major turning point in the story. The killing of the Elder Bother (KK (killer) Menon) in Sarkar comes to my mind. Whatever happened? 5. I remember every line spoken by Jai, Thakur and most importantly Gabbar from the original. I’d rather forget every line spoken on screen in Aag 6. Even a film like Nishabd had it’s fair share of well directed scenes, the one where Jia runs out of the room after declaring her love for the old man, with a picture of the man’s wife hanging on the wall right beside the door. Good! But Aag simply has none. It looked like RGV desperately wanted to make a movie that was a masala entertainer and swayed so much away from his own style. Wish he had understood the simple truth. When you remake the film, make it the way you would make it in your style, with your signature. Please get some lessons from Farhan Akhtar. 7. Talking about signature, the only good thing about the film is the Mehbooba song feat. RGV favorite Urmila. The only song that holds good for the remake definition (unwated gyan I know!) I stated above. All other songs fall flat, but hey, so did the original one’s songs too. Finally Aag agrees with Sholay on one point! 8. The factor that worked bigtime for Sholay, the fast pace of the narrative, is simply missing in Aag. What a poor screenplay can do to even the most celebrated of stories 9. I wished Mohanlal spoke Malayalam rather than ‘Hindi’ in the movie. Didn’t sound very different you know! Bottom line; Aag is how not to remake a movie, let alone a cult classic! I had to watch ek challis ki last local (dark, funny, cynical, violent, awesome) and Sholay to cure the burns I got after ‘Aag’ :) P.S: What’s with another Bachan making a special appearance on one Bachan’s movie? Ek lo ek muft? We have Big B in spl appearance in almost all of Junior B’s movies and vice versa. I am afraid there would soon have Ash B (bhi) added to that list. Yuck! Updated...included a cool toon I came across Song on: none Mood: Monday morning blues Labels: Movies
Satyaji!Shivaji…What’s all this hype and fuss about?...It’s after all a movie! Aaalright It’s a Rajnikanth movie…so? Big deal! Okay….Shankar and Rahman as well…What never heard of a combination like this or what? What are you all…small town boy lost in a huge city or what? I can’t believe there’s police patrol outside the multiplexes in Bangalore! And what for are they pouring all that milk on a paper cut out?...buggers give it to me…kothika vaika venam…appadiye kudichiduven! And what’s about this mad rush for the tickets…what is this…a rat race??? It’s a movie people…aarrrgghhh! Forget it…some people will never learn! Ippadi ellam dialogue vitutu…Me watched the movie in Inox the day after it’s release…much to the envy of a lot of people :D And I swear I could have killed for those tickets…hehehe…And suddenly the tickets were offered to me on a plate! What?...did I say rat race…er wait…I’ll edit it out :P P.S: No, post title’s not a typo…chumma stuntu :P Did you ask how was the movie?...venam...i am trying hard to avoid spoilers here...romba pesina pic-oda potruven...Mind It! P.P.S: Gils…don’t lose heart…the damage post I was talking about is under production…koodaiya seekram vandrum. Wait maadi! Song On: Style Mood: Cool ;)
What the...#@!The day this post was typed; I stumbled on the imdb comedy chart for confirming the answer for one of the Quiz questions on the internal bulletin board. Here’s what I found: http://imdb.com/chart/comedy The imdb charts list the truly great movies of all time, and also genre wise and it’s more or less a correct compilation. And the movie that heads the comedy charts now is Lage raho munna bhai!!!!!! What the!!!! And this is placed right above the all time classics of the like Singin in the rain, Some like it hot and Monty python and the holy grail I guess the hindi speaking (knowing as well! :D ) population is crawling all over the place and hell bent on spreading it’s mediocrity world over IMHO, Lage rahoo….was decent…silly movie, good enough for a few laughs, summer hit. That’s all…In fact I liked the first part much better… It definitely is not in the all time greats league…Someone please drive the bollywood scum off imdb! And if a hindi movie does have to be up there, I would gladly carry the banner for Jaane bhi do yaaro…may be for position 8… P.S: the highest rated Indian movie however is Pushpak (pesum padam; kamala hassan and amala) at 9.6/10 Song on: Gnalrs Barkley's Crazy Mood: Amused Labels: Movies
Satti suttadhadaThevaya enakku indha vendatha vedhanai?...despite scores of warnings, I watched Dhoom 2...pls...I know, appadi andha padathula enna thaan irukunu paaka poi maatikitten :( Plus en janma virodhi(I've put a reward on his head now) said that you just might catch a glimpse of John Abraham...so there! I think the whole of Yashraj shouldn't be allowed to produce movies. It's turning out to be quite a threat to mankind. Now to the punch bag which i just love doing...I got loads for this movie, let me get to them one at a time: Hrithik: Flaring ugly nostrils are his idea of gr8 acting. Thank god he doesn't do that in this movie. What he does manage to do is dance; I thought we were going to witness someone like the ice cool Kabir, but what do we have; Michael Jackson meets Mcqueen? Oh boy...this conman can actually spend time trying out those john players outfits, wierd wigs and shaking a leg. I hope Danny Ocean is listening. And did you say acting?...c'mon when did this guy EVER act? Kudos to Hrithik for making a lover boy even out of this character... *barf*! P.S: Most hillarious sequence I've seen in recent times; Hrithik wearing an old man get up melts a man hole cover (yawn) and jumps in only to emerge on the other side in that 'fountain' and viola, dressed in that body hugging black whatever. Now I can really picture him ripping his clothes and beard off him as he was running underground; guess the last time someone did that was in one of those scary movies (some dumb blonde!). They should have shown that; it would have given all the comic flicks a run for their money. Ash-tray: Wow, I just love thrashing this one; that's the only thing it's fit for :) She's lost so much weight (inspiration Bips?) that she looks like one of those famished pale women from the German concentration camp; and of course over aged for the role. Does a couple of unnecessary good dances and lip synchs to that irritating 'crazy kiya re' (how do they come up with lyrics like that?). And her attempt at acting is just as pathetic as ever; really even the dumbest of bimbos learned to act by the time they were her age; I mean look at Raveena in films like Mohra...and then look at what she did 10 years later. Look at our very own Simran in films like Nerukku ner and VIP and then kannathil muthamittal. But ash...wow, she only gets worse with time. And this time she attempts to be the glamourous siren with loads of attitude, something that comes naturally to a lot of other actresses...it's almost enraging! :D 'Are you like checking me out?' I never felt like killing an actress before, but looking at the way this was delivered, I am re-thinking! Bipasha: I like this actress. Guess she along with Sush are the only ones who have some brains in mainstream bollywood. And both of them spell attitude. She's been completely wasted in this movie. Bips dont sign movies with yashraj; ditto for ur beau. She's in this movie for skimpy clothes and god...they had to create a twin out of her character obviously coz they can't get a police officer to walk (read pose) around Rio clad in an itsy bitsy bikini. Pathetic! Abhishek Bachan: He's ugly. He's dull. He sucks...big time. Worst line 'tumse milkar bada maza ayega mr A' yeah yeah. Abhishek should stick to RGV and Mani Ratnam only. They're the only ones who can make him look good, and more so make him act. Otherwise he's so trying to be his papa-like that's it's annoying. P.S: Another funny one here. Did you know that they make submarines that look like water scooters? A.B uses one such thing in this movie, he appears from nowhere from under the water, flies over a boat and shoots down a couple of guys in the meantime before getting back on water. And yeah, there's also a hitch hiking on a parachute. Chopra guy: He's in this movie because they wanted some jackass on steroids for this movie and since he's completely jobless being the loser that he is and since no one else would sign him and since he's a chopra and probably they dont have to pay him (cost cutting ya see). I've got no more lines to waste on this one. That's all that this film has to offer?...not really. There's more. Some really 'brilliant' cons like the one at the museum, train.Dhoom 2 would have been a cult hit had it been officially released as a spoof; but then the director thought that it's possible to pass this off as a serious con movie in India and I must say he has succeeded in doing that. It's always house full!...I dont believe the number of morons in our country. After watching a movie called Aankhen I thought this genre can get a following in Indian film industry, but Dhoom series gives that hope a lethal blow. There would be more such plastic films coming our way, may be a ghoom or a jhoom or god forbid a Dhoom 3...but pls...the likes of RGV, Kamal and Mani Ratnam, pls make a world class con movie....puhlease! P.S: That reminds me...There's a movie called The Italian Job; not the one starring Ed Norton, Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron...but the original Italian Job starring a much younger and handsome Michael Caine. It's one of the best cons I've ever seen. And a world class parody ...try and get a DVD from one of those lending libraries; might be difficult to get, but worth all that trouble. Truly a gem and has one of the best endings. 'You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!' P.P.S: Guess Yashraj will soon be back in town with another no brainer Kabul Express…the promos feature a John Abraham looking absurdly happy (is that lip gloss he’s wearing?....shudder!) and an Arshad Warsi who seems to have the larger half of the Pizza…But I like circuit so I just might watch this one :) Song on: I don't feel like dancing Mood: Okay Labels: Movies
|