Dear Zindagi..May be a slice of your life..

#DearZindegi : Half an hour into Dear Zindegi , there is a scene where Kaira and her friends are jogging in a park  and a love struck couple bump into Kaira. She reacts hysterically. One moment you wonder why and the next minute you realize that’s how probably anyone fighting a battle within would have reacted. And that is the essence of Dear Zindegi. The journey is personal, very personal. The scars are for real, beneath the superficial surface resides the fear, the fear of being rejected. And that fear has created a strong wall of resistance, which the outside world can’t penetrate.

Now it is the responsibility of the writer, director to make the audience feel that inner struggle. And Gauri Shinde has been able to do justice to that. The writing which initially seemed to have rough edges around it, may actually been done intentionally to portray the journey of kaira. The slow first half makes all the sense, when post interval we get an opportunity to delve deep into Kaira’s life, her past , her longing for love , her fear of rejection.  Be it Shashi Godbole in English Vinglish or Kaira in Dear Zindegi , Gauri Shinde’s female protagonists are always independent , full of aspiration and yet vulnerable. While Shashi was endearing, here we have Kaira who is cantankerous.

Breaking that outside resistance and understanding Kaira’s psychology is not easy. But then Shahrukh’s Dr. Jahangir Khan, the therapist, does what he does, charms his way through Kaira’s psyche and the audiences’ heart.  Shahrukh light up every frame with his charisma, but then Dear Zindegi would not have been half of what it is without that young, magical Alia Bhatt. She plays a complex character with remarkable ease. She holds up every second of that long scene where she breaks down. Hemanti Sarkar’s editing is crisp and Laxman Utekar’s cinematography does justice to a picturesque Goa. And of course the casting is a masterstroke.

Yes the film at times gets preachy and some of the banters which could have been fun actually end up being hollow. It also tries to touch upon too many issues. But then overall Dear Zindegi does have a therapeutic effect. And since it is a season of quotes, let me quote Dr. Khan “Everything that’s broken can be fixed”. So go fix your past, watch a slice of Kaira’s life, who knows it may well be a slice from your own life. I will go out with 3 out of 5 for a journey that was quite personal.

Akira

#Akira : First things first . I watched Murugadoss’s Ghajni in 2009 and I still wonder how it became such a huge hit. When I watched his second hindi film Holiday- A soldier is never off duty, it seemed to me that probably he had handed over his job to some soldier and gone on holiday for most part of the shooting. So honestly I was not expecting too much from Akira, except that I wanted to watch Anurag Kashyap on screen. But as a pleasant surprise Akira started on an interesting premise and sets the context for an action thriller.The film starts with a sufi proverb that speaks about how life always tests one with the virtue that already exists in one self .As a girl growing up in Jodhpur Akira has been taught very early in her life the value of standing up for what is right, be strong enough to fight injustice and even be ready to pay the price for it.  So as a kid she confronts antisocial elements who threw acid on her friend, gets into a brawl with them, accidentally ends up throwing acid on one of them and spends three years in juvenile remand home. When she moved to Mumbai she accidentally gets embroiled into a vicious net of deceit, crime and unwittingly becomes a threat to a group of corrupt cop led by a terrific Anurag Kashyap.

In spite of plot holes of the size of manholes the film manages to keep one on the edge of the seat till interval, thanks mainly to Kashyap who brilliantly plays his part of a maniac , joint puffing cop who  doesn’t bat an eyelid while running his car over pavement dwellers , slapping an old professor or killing someone for money. Sonakshi Sinha as Akira effectively makes the transition as a martial art trained women ready to take the fight to the opposition. Her fights scenes are quite convincing. 

It is post interval that the screen play gets convoluted with introduction of multiple logic defying plot points. Murugadoss seems to have developed a strange obsession with mental asylum may be due to the Ghajani success. However in Akira the long and languid mental asylum scenes become repetitive and too boring.  Another problem with Akira has been its half baked characters. Konkana Sen’s key character of an honest and pregnant cop suffers from some rather unimaginative writing. However it is the final act where the ass kicking Akira decides to become a sacrificial lamb in order to save Mumbai from a possible communal violence seems the most bizarre one and probably been written while the writer was puffing a joint.

In spite of several loopholes Akira is a partially entertaining film that treads on a path away from the regular song, love and romance sequence and dares to present a film where the main protagonist is a female in Kill Bill mode. 

I will go out with 2.5 out of 5. Leave your brain at home and let reason take a sabbatical, go kick some serious butt!

Shaheb Bibi Golaam

Suppressing all her desires Jaya, a house wife, lives a life of a puppet focusing on bringing up their daughter as her husband & mother in law pull the strings, till she finds out her husband's extramarital affair. That becomes the point of inflection for her. The transformation from Jaya to Sukhatara can be liberation or an escape. Jimmy, an ex-cop turned contract Killer has lost his wife, while being on the line of duty is waiting to find a reason to add meaning to his life. His transformation from cop to contract killer is an escape from reality. Javed , a taxi driver falls in love with a girl from upper class and waiting to be united . For him also probably falling in love with a girl from a higher class is an attempt to escape from a reality. All three are so different yet united by their longing for love and their attempt to escape from themselves, to find solace in a world away from their “real" world. And then a brutal incident brings them together.

 #Shahebbibigolaam is so much beyond being just a thriller. Its a film that talks about emancipation of heart, it somewhere smartly presents a slice of our life , it is about love & longing -it in fact is a beautifully woven love story presented in the guise of a thriller. Ritwick and Parno are brilliant as Jabed and Rumi . Pratim manages to beautifully weave the screen play to keep it tight and moving. Anupam Roy's music is heart touching. The background score helps in building tension. Editing is crisp and smart cinematography captures Kolkata beautifully. At two hours Shaheb Bibi Golaam is an entertaining thriller that will keep you on edge of the seat as you discover the metamorphosis of its protagonists.

UdtaPunjab : It Soars High , Very High

#UdtaPunjab: There are many telling scenes in UdtaPunjab , starting from the opening one. But it is the last one which is the most poignant. The nameless hockey player from Bihar who had come to the land of five rivers with a hope to earn her livelihood as a migrant worker and accidentally gets entangled in a world of drug and inhuman torture finds her redemption and rechristens  herself as Mary Jane ! All through that excruciating journey she had never abandoned hope or her zest for a life beyond .Her soul soars as high as Alia’s brilliant and brave performance. If Highway established her as an actress with substance, UdtaPunjab is a testimony of her ability to drive at a neck brake speed and yet maintain a fine balance on that very thoroughfare.

A Gabbru popstar , who lived on ‘ substance’ and whose lyrics were constrained  just about “cock and coke” realises how substance less his existence has been when he comes across teenage youngsters who idolize him  and his drug habits . One in fact had killed his mother, when she denied him money to buy drugs. The transformation from Gabrru to Fuddu is an arduous one. Yet the journey is essential. And Shahid Kapoor once again gives an absolutely stunning performance playing a character that is eccentric and nuanced. If you thought he couldn’t better his Haider heroics, watch him as Tommy Singh, this boy for sure knows how to embrace lunacy, the lunacy for playing out complex characters.

And then there is a doctor who runs a drug de-addiction centre, comes across a policeman who was making his hafta from the drug chain , till his own brother got almost killed due to drug overdose. They are on a mission to wipe out the drug cartel. Daljit Dosanjh making his debut in hindi film does a terrific job of adding authenticity to the role of Sartaj Singh .

A land we romanticised for its mustard fields, since the release of DDLJ in 1995, has been replaced by field full of poppy seeds. A generation is growing up on Bhukki ( Poppy Husk). More than 60% population of the state is addicted to some form of drugs and cinema being a reflection of society can’t be a mute spectator to this degeneration. Director Abhishek Chaubey and writer Sudip Sharma (who wrote the fabulous NH10) bring individual narratives to drive home a strong message. The style is fictional and the narrative is factual. They move their characters beautifully. And just when the plot gets bit slow with the track between Kareena and Daljit , Chaubey uses music to take the narrative ahead. “ Ek Kudi Jida Naam Mohobatt Gumm Hai” written by the famous poet Late Shiv Kumar Batalvi and composed by Amit trivedi is evocative and metaphorical. And like his last film Desh Ishqiya , Udta Punjab too has a Tarantino touch !

Udta Punjab, at places, is not an easy film to watch. But then reality can’t be served as candy floss.  It holds you by your neck and brings you face to face with a problem that must be accepted, confronted with and addressed, TODAY. I will go out with 4 out of 5, it really soars high, very very high!

TE3N

Set in Sujoy Ghosh’s Kolkata TE3N is a reflection of the city , its languid pace , its myriad mood , its fixation on hanging on to the past and its determination to stand up for justice . In an age where Whodunit are quick paced and sleek, TE3N, which is based on South Korean film Montage, surprisingly takes you back to the world of Ray’s Feluda . Eight years is not enough for John Biswas to let go the memories of her granddaughter Angela, who was kidnapped and then subsequently got killed. Every single day he visits the police station to seek justice. His eyes may be anguish laden, but time has not withered his determination to seek the truth.  Nawazuddin’s conversion from Inspector Martin to Father Martin on the other hand is to escape from the truth. The transition has happened, but not the transformation. Deep inside both realise it is truth that will bring them peace.

The film’s narrative oscillates between past and present making it edgy. Considerable time and effort has been given to build the story.  The setting, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Bada Imambara, the Ganges, Immersion of Durga Idol, the lanes of Kolkata and an old scooter add layer to the narrative and help in building tension. Amitabh Bachchan gives a fabulous performance. He makes John Biswas’s pain so palpable, his haplessness so conspicuous and his determination so blatant. That long face, that open mouth, that hunched walk, those determined eyes, he doesn’t play the character , he becomes the character. Nawazuddin playing the role of a Cop turned Father with Cop- Instincts is at par. But we have seen Nawaz in much better form.Vidya Balan , whose part surprisingly has been mentioned as a cameo, plays a full fledged role. How I wish her character has been written with a bit more fineness and nuances. The music keeps pace with the mood.

However where TE3N misses out is the twists, so essential for a crime thriller. Fifty minutes into the film you would have guessed the whodunit. And that makes the wait for climax so boring and predictable. Ribhu Dasgupta who had earlier directed Amitabh Bachhan in TV series Yudh makes the same mistake once again of not letting his story move. And that is where the film suffers post interval.

TE3N is much like that old, rickety scooter that Mr Biswas rides. It stop- starts quite frequently. A new spark plug and few kicks would have made it such an enjoyable ride. I will go out with 2.5 out of 5. If not anything else, go and watch it just for that Man, the superstar of the Millennium! He for sure doesn’t need “TEEN” to lift a film .

Azhar : Butter Fingered

#Azhar: There can’t be a better story than the life of a fallen superstar to be adapted into a bollywood entertainer. And if the protagonist happens to be a sporting icon, whose debut was sensational, rise was meteoric, life was flamboyant, full of rumor and glamour and fall from grace was catastrophic then the story is going to get groovier. But then every story needs a story teller with a soul and a purpose. Unfortunately all Tony , Sony & Balaji wanted was to use the title “ Azhar” to bring crowd to the theater. Don’t go by what the tagline says “Love him, Hate Him, Judge Him” the moment you purchase the ticket and go inside you will be greeted with a full page disclaimer (they are in fashion now).

                     

From there on it’s about wasted opportunities, watching it is as exasperating as watching butter fingered fielders dropping catches by dozens. Every complex human emotion, be it greed, love, passion, or relationship between players, the inquiry process which could have been explored has been treated with  as much disdain as Ricky Pointing has treated Indian Bowlers on that fateful 2003 world cup final. The story fails to hold the attention for too long. Emran Hasmi tries hard to get into the groove but all he ends up doing was meekly imitating a shoulder drooping Azhar and his lazy elegance while walking to the field.  Nargis Fakri looks old and her glycerine laden acting is so terrible that they could well have taken the real Sangeeta Bijlani instead. Prachi Desai has noting much to do and she doesn’t even try to go beyond playing the Balaji Bahu ! Lara Dutta as the lawyer behaves exactly like a cat on hot tin roof. Kunal Roy Kapoor as the defence lawyer gives a good performance.

For me the only high points in the film are those silken wristy flicks and that one handed catch. I will go out with 1.5 out of 5 for this Bajali Masala Curry served as Biopic. Watch it, if you must only for nostalgia’s sake! Some people learn from their first mistake, some from their second and some other make Blue and Boss and still remain Tony!

Fan ; Its SRK's second Coming

The word has been derived from “Fanatic”, meaning filled with or expressing excessive zeal. That is what Gaurav indicates when in the opening scene his voiceover announces “Connection bhi na kamaal ki cheez hai, baas ho geya to ho geya”. From there on it is a different relationship, an altogether different world, a superstar’s larger than life yet fragile world and the Fan’s fantasy world. It is a rather absurd world. For a star, the stardom is a reflection of his fan following, yet most of them remain faceless non entity for him. For a fan, that mere feeling of being part of the star’s world provides him the zest for life. They must co-exist peacefully in their own world since it is a parallel world that will never converge.  Everything snaps and the world turns upside down the moment the star makes the fan accept “ Tumhare mere beech main kuch apna nehin hai”. From there on the chase begins. And the long chase is metaphorical. This time the star is chasing the FAN. It has to be a long & arduous. The chase every fan goes through just to get a glimpse of his star. The star must also feel it.  

FAN is a SRK blitzkrieg. The actor playing the protagonist and antagonist, the star and the fan, gives a nuanced, career defining performance. As superstar Aryan Khanna he beautifully depicts the restlessness and eccentricity associated with stardom. He even doesn’t shy away from taking few pot shots at his real life controversies. However it is as Gaurav Chandana, he is well and truly back as the SRK of yesteryear. He is phenomenal as an obsessive Fan. No doubt he has played such roles in Bazigaar and Darr , however this time around the added maturity gives depth to his character and makes it much more believable.

However FAN is not just about the star and the fan, it is also about the constant insecurity that a star goes through, the myth around stardom and the fear of getting trapped into an image.  Somewhere Aryan tries to explain Gaurav , he too is a man with a family , with his mood swings , with his insecurities . Cinematically FAN as a film has flaws, but then does it even matter. For the zillion SRK fans out there, he is the man who effortlessly charmed beautiful girls with outstretched hands, convinced the prospective father in laws by feeding pigeons, inspired the young generation by reaching stardom on his own and countless women swoon just over that dimpled smile.

Go be a FAN and enjoy the second coming of Mr. Khan. And as one of my friend said on Facebook – those who will dissect this film will just remain critic and possibly can’t be a FAN!