Thugs Of Hindostan : Thug Life !

#ThugsofHindostan : Generally as a film maker the first thing that you need is an idea . Then you develop the idea into a screen play , build characters , provide an arc around key characters etc. But for Thugs of Hindostan director Vijay Krishna Acharya and Producer Aditya Chopra / YRF probably first decided the budget , star cast , release date and substandard VFX. Hence the script is non existent, the characters are irritating and at 170 odd minutes the film is intolerable . How often you get to see Bachchan and Aamir Khan share the screen and yet instead of soaking in the moment you are forced to go on a yawn fest.

Yet to its credit, the amateur screenplay of Thugs of Hindostan has almost nine twists , seven of them atrociously predictable and two utterly nonsensical ! There is no effort what so ever to build the characters or motive or to bring some sense of semblance into the screen play . Amitabh Bachchan as Khudabaksha, borrows his expression from his earlier film “Ekalavya” and his costume from “ Shehenshah” . He struts and frets his hours in front the camera before realising the pointlessness of it . Aamir Khan as Firangi borrows his looks from Mangal Pandey and  tries his best to take his character of Munna from Rangeela a step ahead. But without any meat in the character or any witty dialogue to support fails miserably.  Faitma Sana Sheikh , who was brilliant in Dangal gets to speak her first line after seventy minutes into the movie and you immediately realize she was just a touch better as a cardboard without the lines . Katrina has two songs , one joke and three slapping scenes in the film. And she is the only one who doesn’t disappoint in the film. Because after fifteen long years since her debut in Boom you really don’t expect anything from her except pelvic thrust or do you ? Trust me ,they could have replaced any of those characters with the ships or the eagle and it would not have made an iota of difference. Even the much hyped  VFX work is sloppy .

So that brings us to the most important question – Why did Bachchan and Khan ( who waited eternally for a right script to come together on screen ) sign the film . Were they also “thugged” or are willing accomplice to this thugging  spree . I walked into Thugs of Hindostan with least expectation assuming it to be a poor remake of “ Pirates of Caribbean” , when I walked out I wished it were . At least that would have spared me of the boredom . It is a disaster of epic magnitude. Even Mahenjo Daro looks epic in comparison. I will go out with 0.5 out of 5 for this sloppy slog fest . Beware of Thugs , stay cautious with your hard earned money and stay away , far far away .

For a change Salman Khan and Race 3 have a tough competition this year !

Badhaai Ho - Why should only the Young have all the Fun !

#BadhaiHo : I grew up watching and falling in love with  Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee films . Most of their films were simple situational stories built around middle-class Indian families and their predicaments. Both told their stories with lots of heart and humour. They made you laugh and brought a lump to your throat. And I have always been a sucker of such kind of cinema. Amit Sharma  follows the same template in “Badhai Ho” while dealing with a larger social stigma . An elderly couple , with two grown up kids, expecting a third one can be an enticing premise . However handling it deftly with right amount of humour , sensitivity and candour to reach out to the larger audience needs lots of maturity and that is where Amit excels .  He of course had the support of some outstanding actors all of whom provide their deft touch to make Badhai Ho a delightful watch that drives a strong message.

Gajraj Rao  as the husband/father and Surekha Sikri as the cantankerous mother in law / dadi  have given their career best performances.  Their body language, mannerism and expressions are immaculate.  Its difficult to take your eyes off them. Watch out for the scene where Gajraj is being introduced to Sanya Malhotra  for the first time. This has to be the funniest scene in Hindi cinema in last few years. Both Gajraj and Surekha have been ably supported by Neena Gupta. Aayusman Khurana, after that terrific performance in Andhadhun, is once again back in his familiar territory of a young Delhi lad  thrust into an unfamiliar situation. And he continues to maintain his top form.  The relationship between the parents, the warmth and intimacy has been explored beautifully. I also liked the way the film has been shot, especially the scenes inside the house and in the kitchen. It gives a sense of familiarity.

Badhai Ho has lots of moments of genuine laughter even while it keeps exposing the hypocrisy of our society. And that is where the film triumphs. It drives home the point without hammering it on the audiences’ head. It is refreshing to see the relationship of between an elderly couple over shadowing the relationship between young Ayushman and Sanya because that often doesn’t happen in hindi cinema . The writing has been detailed and the dialogues razor sharp. It captures the quirkiness of being in an unfamiliar situation .

Badhai Ho is not only warm and humorous it is also socially conscious and intelligent.  It has some terrific performances that will keep you engaged through out. This festive season spread some goodness and laughter and stay away from judging people and situations. Hypocrisy is such a passé , isn’t it ! I will go out with four out of five for a film that beautifully explores intimacy of elderly people and dares bare the hypocrisy of a so-called progressive society. Go watch it with everyone . Afterall why should only the young have all the fun!

Tumbbad : The Demon Within

#Tumbbad  :  We live in times when the line between greed and aspiration has been conveniently blurred . In fact, greed is being peddled in the guise of aspiration. The ability to grow infinitely in a finite world is what defines the modern man living in a moribund society. Generations have succumbed to it . Yet Man refuses to learn from it and continues to die or turn just into a survivor trying to fulfil his American dream. His quest to quench his materialistic desire continues to dominate most part of his existence.  I remember in Nolan’s “The Prestige” Robert Angier, a magician played by Hugh Jackman visits the home of Nikola Tesla , played by David Bowie in the hope that Tesla would build him a cloning device. Tesla asked Angier if he had considered the cost of such a machine. Angier nonchalantly responded that Price is not an issue to which Tesla retorted back that may be price is not but has he considered the COST. May be mankind need to ask that question. May be mankind is afraid of asking it, may be they are tuned into herds and have lost the ability to think radical  or may be in a world where greed is not only good but celebrated as glorious its not even a pertinent question to ask .  And the premise of Tumbbad is based on greed and the consequences of it.

 

Visually stunning and mysterious ,Tumbbad starts with Gandhi’s famous quote about the world having enough for everyone’s need but not enough for everyone’s greed and sets the ball rolling. The story spans for around thirty years between 1918 to 1947 covering three generations of a family and their increasing greed. Director Anil Barve has beautifully merged his narrative with the mythological story of Hastar to drive home his point. The screenplay is divided into three chapters that tells the story of Vinayak and his family. Tumbbad is poignant and philosophical.  The imagery is breath-taking.  The contrasting visuals throughout the film make the narrative rich and the tension palpable. The back ground score add on to the atmosphere . The performances are uniform. It is a film that will force you to contemplate .  

Tumbbad is mysteriously magical and shows a mirror to each one of us . May be that is why it is promoted as an horror film as truth is always scary . It is one of the finest films that I have seen this year . Watch it on the big screen . Discover the inner demon . Kill the Haster inside you . Afterall there is no end to greed and the consequences are for all to see . May be a small, slow simple life isn’t  a passé , at least not yet .

Sanju : Wily Handiwork !

First things first . I m a Rajkumar Hirani Fan . And yet Sanju will be his first film that I will not yearn to watch for the second time. Does it make Sanju a bad film? No, not at all. In fact any other director , with that propaganda , might just have messed it up the way Tony D’Souza butchered Azhar . And yet at so many levels its not a Raj Kumar Hirani film. It’s just an uni-dimensional tribute from a fan boy friend to the fallen entitled hero. It is an apologetic film about the relationship between a larger than life father and his drug addict prodigal son, a son who presents an excuse for each one of his criminal acts, his side of the story.  It is a film which could have delved deep to explore the psyche of both of them, explored the nuances of the relationships, paused at moments to understand the rise and fall of a life as eventful as Dutt’s , yet all it does is add melodrama , provide excuses , ton and tons of it , all superficial to sell tickets at astronomical prices , to resurrect its hero , an otherwise Big hearted  man who had succumbed to drugs and guns . Hirani ,the man who resurrected Dutt’s career , marred with criminal activities and most famous for his film “Khalnayak”  , made him a messiah with his  Munna Bhai Series  , does it once again, at the cost of objectivity .  Probably it is too much to expect Indian biographical movies to be objective, to tell both sides of the story, to expect them to scratch beneath the surface.

Sanju , neither talks about Dutt’s personal life , nor shows the highs and lows of his career and not even talks about acting skills or challenges . All it talks about is why Dutt is not a terrorist. It tells Dutt’s fall is  less to do with the weaknesses in his character but more to do with the situations around that led to his down fall. It hammers the media for painting a jaundiced picture of man who has no control over his actions  .  And yet thanks to the craftsmanship of Hirani and his writer Abhijat Joshi, the breathtaking acting of Ranbir Kapoor and that mesmerizing appearances of Vicky Kaushal as an audience it becomes too late by the time you realize Sanju is not a biopic , it is a film to resurrect his post Yearawada life .  You remain awestruck with Kapoor’s transformation into Dutt , as Dutt slowly manipulates your thoughts .  Ranbir Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal are phenomenal If 2017 belonged to Raj Kumar Rao ,2018 certainly belongs to this powerhouse performer Vicky Kaushal . From Masaan to Razi to Sanju this man is displaying an amazing range portraying various characters . The film has few genuinely hilarious moments. Yet it falls miles short of being a genuine biopic .

Wish everyone had a friend like Hirani. Wish Anuska doesn’t have to do wear those weird wigs and blue contact lenses , wish Sanjay Dutt would have paid me to watch his side of the story instead of me paying for it . But if wishes were horses ... walk into the auditorium, let Ranbir mesmerize you with his acting , let Hirani manipulate you with his wily handiwork  , let the prodigal son have an equally eventful  third innings .  

Raazi - Behind Enemy Lines !

#Raazi : Sehmat Khan (not real name ) , whose character Alia Bhat is portraying in Raazi died last month. The lady whose intelligence input helped Indian Navy save INS Vikrant  in 1971 wanted to be buried in peace and unknown to the world.  That’s the destiny of a spy. They are torn between multiple identities, live a faceless life and embrace an unsung Hero’s death. They sacrifice their own lives for the nation, without expecting anything in return. May be their tribe has found the “purpose” that so many of us are struggling to find.   When the author of the book “Calling Sehmat” on which Raazi is based ,met her at  MalerKotla ( Punjab) he asked her why she is staying there . She replied “because Abdul (the servant at her in laws place in Pakistan) was originally from that place.” When asked how Abdul died she replied she crushed him under the truck. A sensitive Kashmiri Muslim (apologies for bringing the identity into this , but this is important considering the times we live in) crushed her favourite servant under a truck because she loved her county , India , more .   A spy’s life – where you even do things, that tears you apart, to safeguard your country, every single  time. 

Meghna Gulzar , who showed lots of promise with her first film “Filhal” and did a fabulous job with her last “ Talvar” this time around decides to direct a real life espionage drama that has a human touch to it . The film goes beyond the normal cat and mouse chase to explore the emotional struggle that Shemat undergoes, the choices she makes at moments of conflict. It is a film that promotes patriotism and yet stays far away from any kind of jingoism.  It is a film that allows nationals of two countries to be patriotic towards their respective country without being venomous towards each other.

In spite of being too convenient at places the screen play is taut and manages to keep audience on the edge. Most of the characters are etched out beautifully. Alia gets to play a complex character of a semi trained spy who is also a vulnerable wife and dutiful daughter in law. A character who gets nauseatic at the sight of blood, is scared of injection needle and yet crushes a man twice when situation demands. Torn between her duty towards her country and duty towards her family Sehmat’s character needed restrained yet nuanced performance. And Alia does a sincere job, well almost. At times she becomes over dramatic and that’s a dampener. While she has put up an honest effort, Alia has reached a stage where she will be measured against the gold standards of performance , her own Veera Tripathy in highway or Pinky in Udta Punjab .The film also boasts of an ensemble cast of Rajit Kapur , Vicky Kausal and Jaideep Ahlawat among others. Kaushal, a terrific actor gets to play the role of an upright man and officer who loses out to his wife’s first love, her country. And he can’t do much about it, as even for him the first love is, his country.

Shankar – Eshaan – Loy’s music complements in building the tension and spreading a sense of patriotism. The lyrics are powerful. In fact “ Ae Watan” could be one of the best patriotic songs composed in recent times . In spite of a disappointing climax, Raazi is a well made film that will keep you invested for most part of the 140 minutes. It will also compel you to delve deep into the psyche of a SPY who sacrificed everything in the line of her duty and yet wanted to give up everything before she becomes cold, bereft of emotion like many others from her tribe. May be her soul wanted to fly free, unknow, unsung, away from the whims and fancies of others.

Go watch an ordinary life, turn extra ordinary! The nation comes first, always and every time. “ Aae watan watan mere awad rahe tu , main jahan rahun , jahaan main yaad rahe tu” !

Another Summer : To all those who are battling it out !

Roughly a year back I received a call from one of my juniors who was studying at one of the recently established IIMs. When I had first met him around six years back, he was one of the smartest engineers in the organization bubbling with energy and displaying entrepreneurial skills.  After spending around four years in corporate working with few top organizations he decided to pursue his MBA.  And here he was devastated, full of self doubt. All this, because he couldn’t convert his summer internship into a Pre Placement offer.  Bit taken aback at his reaction, I consoled him, telling him it doesn’t matter as long as he has got some additional learning and has put in enough effort. Besides, summer internship acts as a platform that prepares one for the real battleground. But my friend was inconsolable. He was worried that he won’t be able to crack the final placement with an organization which will pay him his expected remuneration. As someone who knew his abilities, i was always confident his capabilities. But here he was, a young twenty something lad , with a solid educational background and proven track record , worried that he won’t be able to earn as much money with his first campus offer  as some of his batch mates may end up earning .

Yesterday I spoke to someone studying in one of the so called, glossed over top MBA colleges for HR in the country (Our obsession with ranking for finishing schools is a debate for another day). Before her MBA she had completed her engineering and worked for a year with a multinational giant. She had reached out to me to discuss her internship project and sounded a bit worried. On prodding, she disclosed that her midterm assignment review has been good and chances of her getting a Pre placement offer is high. However the dilemma was  she thought the culture of the organization and the value system didn’t match with hers.  When she asked me about my opinion, i had a simple, straightforward answer. I said, be smart , ensure they don’t give you  a PPO ! She sounded worried, almost broke down. Taken aback, i asked her what happened. She said she was worried about how she will be treated once she is back in campus; she was worried how she will get a job. I asked what the batch size is and how many companies visit her campus for final placements. Her answer was roughly 65 companies visit for the placement of a batch of 120. I was aghast at the lack of confidence from someone with solid educational background, with a B school brand to back up with, with the competition ration of 1:2. She was appalled, that with a fifteen odd lakh of educational loan how she will manage if she doesn’t get a CTC much higher than that.

Couple of weeks back i was meeting few interns from some really good B- schools who just had their midyear reviews. One of them was the campus topper. And he was worried, his campus wants him to come back with a PPO , else the organization may not visit them next year.

And in all these conversations, so much was at stake except probably the learning and the education. I have always believed education helps in skill and outlook enhancement, provides knowledge and builds character and these in turn helps in improving a person’s confidence. And here I was meeting youngsters, full of self doubt, because of education. Youngsters from branded B schools, worried about placements and compensations. Youngsters on the verge of breaking down under the weight of unrealistic aspiration.  Youngsters who have never probably failed in life and hence panicking even at the thought of a minor hiccup. And eventually these are the people who will  be expected to lead organizations , who will be expected to drive value . Sometimes in weaker moments , I wonder have we gone terribly wrong in the way our education system works . Have we stopped building character at campuses? In our own selfish pursuit of growth and cartelization do we give too much importance to finishing schools vis-a-vis holistic development? Are we getting obsessed with success, forgetting the importance and certainty of failure in life? Are we they reason of some of the campus suicides?

And to those hundreds of students, placement is just an outcome, enjoy the process. Compete with your own self and not with the world. Strive for a purpose. Money is extremely important but unfortunately that chase for money will never cease and a beautiful life may end up getting buried under the unrealistic materialistic expectation!  Live the moment & have Fun !

Omerta : Selective Silence

#Omerta : Since childhood till 2014 I have always wondered how educated , well to do  normal beings  get so easily brain washed and turn radical. I have always wanted get to the crux and explore the psyche of those who become fundamentalist and turn into beasts just for a misplaced or misunderstood belief. And then 2014 happened . I got a firsthand experience of so many near and dear ones, both educated and semi educated, bright and dim-witted, rich and poor suddenly turning radical ( at least on social media)  for a misplaced idea fuelled by an ambitious  marketing maverick in the guise of a Political messiah . Suddenly the cool looking , cigarette smoking  friend with a goatee  was arguing about  “my and their” country , the shy and intelligent girl , a dear friend of mine , trying to figure out religion in rape . And somewhere deep within I was discovering a new scary side of so many whom I thought are liberal , progressive and secular ( in post 2014 parlance libtard and sickular !) And hence the anticipation was high for Hansal Mehta’ s “ Omerta” where he depicts the life of dreaded terrorist  Omar Sheikh ,a  London School of Economics drop out who abducted foreign nationals ,  beheaded Daniel Pearl , the man whom India govt  had  to release to secure  the release of hijacked IC 814 passengers .

Mehta uses docu-drama format to tell the story of Omar Sheikh. The narrative is non linear and jump cut technique has been used multiple times to keep the audience interested.  The film is taut and at 93 minutes it moves at an exhilarating pace . Rajkumar Rao sinks his teeth into the character. The ease with he has played characters of different shades in last eighteen months films like Barailly Ki Barfi , Trapped , Newton and now Omerta  tells volumes about the man’s range and capability as an actor . And this portrayal must have been an emotionally drenching one.

However Mehta, who had beautifully explored the inner world of Prof Siras in “Aligarh”   lets go of an exciting opportunity of delving deep into the psyche of one of the most dreaded terrorists of our times.  He follows the character from a distance and never allowing himself to go close to explore further. There was not even a single attempt to understand Omar’s ideology or his intention. And that’s where the film loses steam.

Omerta could have been a brave attempt from a director who is known to take up unconventional subjects. But it ends up being a film that barely scratches beneath the surface. I will go out with 3 out of 5 for “Omerta” and its selective silence! Watch it for that man – Raj Kumar Rao !

October : To Autumn !

#October : “ Kuch Jyada hi affected  nei ho raha he tu ?” asks Dan’s  colleague , “tum log itne unaffected  kaise ho” replies Dan . “Practical hona padta he” she responds and Dan walks away. But Dan’s question haunts you during the entire length of the movie , post you walk out of the theatre , when you wake up in the morning , till you allow “ practicality” to take control over your sensitivity , till sales number or that god damn power point takes precedence over basic  human feelings . The line between machines and human beings are getting blurred by the day. They say machines will replace humans, I m more worried about the dying human emotions, the machines in the guise of humans around us, the pretentiousness of all of it.

Back to Dan. A man with an “understudy” tag whom no one ever seems to care about.  A man who goes the distance for a girl he never dated or had any relationship with, just because the girl had asked about him before the fatal fall. A man who just couldn’t move on like many of us.  He was overwhelmed by the tragedy and yet buoyed by optimism. The transformation is remarkable.   He may come across as a fool to you and me, but remember “fools rush in where angels fear to tread”

October is a paean on a human being’s infinite capability to love , his ability to be sensitive towards his surrounding, to share the feelings beneath those unspoken words, a rare quality in an age where we are trained to “mourn and move on” within minutes. The narrative is unhurried. It lets you go through the excruciating pain of waiting for the recovery of a loved one whose life is hanging by a thread. It oscillates between hope and despair. It lets you experience love and loss.  It uses the metaphor of Sheuli flower that blooms under moonlight, spreads its fragrance during the night and then falls on the ground by early morning, to depict the transitory nature of life. 

Juhi Chaturvedi had always been a master screen play writer but with October she takes a giant leap. The subtlety in the writing that explores the sadness in the theme is remarkable. The screen play injects right amount of light humour to break away from the heavy atmospheric. Soojit Sircar masterfully handles every theme, every character, and every emotion in the film. But it is Avik Mukhopadhyay’s exquisite camera work that breathes life into October. His camera captures the contrast of hospital and hotel, of winter and rain, of sunshine and mist, of hope and despair , of holding on and moving away. Varun Dhawan  strips away every mannerism of a typical hindi film hero to portray the layered vulnerability of Dan. This is a performance he will be proud of for a long time.

October is cathartic in every sense of the word. It is not just a story of Dan; it’s a story of yours and mine, it’s a story of life and awakening, it’s a story of love.   “The Soul is always conscious” says the neurologist in the film .The question is do we still listen to the soul or have we bargained it for the banal pleasures or as we so often pretend to say for ‘practicality”.

October is poetic. It’s a lingering feeling that will stay with you long after you have left the auditorium. But watch it only if you have your heart in the right place, a heart that responds to pain and joy  or a heart ready to transform. Else you may get tickled like those five Gurugram girls who sat a row behind mine and continued to giggle even through death scenes, assuming they own the theater!

To Autumn, to love and Loss , to the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness , to cinema .

Thank God, they still make such films.

Mukkabaaz : Knock Out Punch

#Mukkabaaz : Andrei Tarkovsky, the great Russian filmmaker , in his celebrated book “Sculpting In Time” states  “No other art can compare with cinema in the force, precision, and starkness with which it conveys awareness of facts and aesthetic structures existing and changing within time.” And Anurag Kashyap is a master in depicting contemporary society, its political underbelly and its fault lines.  Often criticized for not catering to the mainstream masala ogling audience, Kashyap delivers a solid punch with Mukkabaaz , making strong statement about the times we live in , in the guise of a sports film , while ensuring his film gets enough whistles from the front benchers as well.

Kashyap’s film opens with Cow traders being lynched and filmed and ends with “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and in between he exposes the umpteen deep rooted malice that we conveniently shove under the rug, sometimes in the name of development, sometime in the name of culture and often in the name of our new found nationalism. Kashyap, thankfully, doesn’t hold back his punches this time around. It seems he is out to express himself and he does that with élan’, exposing   caste system to cow mob, patriarchy to the dirty politics in sports federations. Mukkabaaz is not your regular chest thumping, jingoistic sports film. It’s a film where a passionate boxer , pays a price , for being born in a lower caste , for being in love with someone from upper caste , for daring to tread the path less travelled or may be for being born in times like these . But in the end he emerges as a winner, not by being triumphant in the ring, but by letting go. And in that sense Mukkabaaz is deeply philosophical too.  Kashyap has even wittily named his characters. The main protagonist , who tells his parents “ jab aap shunyo ho to apke ghar se kya Aryabhaat Niklega” is named Shravan Kumar . The film’s villain is names as Bhagwan Misra .

Besides Kashyap’s terrific direction, Mukkabaaz benefits from the phenomenal acting of its ensemble cast. Vineet Singh may just have had his Zanjeer moment. The man seems possessed in the entire film expressing myriad emotions with aplomb. It’s not just his physicality but the way he even portrays his emotional vulnerability is astounding.  Zoya Hussain , playing a dumb girl is a power house of talent . She couldn’t speak but her eyes spoke enough to keep the audience and Shravan hooked. Ravi Kishan playing an uncharacteristic role comes across as a revelation.

Mukkabazz’s background score and lyrics are incredible. It beautifully captures everything the film wants to tell. The dialogues are razor sharp and the film uses generous amount of sarcasm and humor to take the story forward. It is only the length of the film that makes it look like a drag towards the climax.

With Mukkabazz , Kashyap makes a statement , a  no holds barred one . In the context of the times we live in, it is an extremely important film. It may not be Kashyap’s best, but it is one of the finest that you will watch this year.  And mind it, it’s not just about boxing or sports! And to me that is a knockout punch.