Secret Superstar : To Dreams and Dreamers !

#Secretesuperstar : It is not often that one comes across two films in a year where Burkha instead of a sign of oppression becomes a symbol of liberation. And that’s the irony of the world we live in and celebrate. If “Lipstick Under the Burkha” exposed  a society buried deep under a labyrinth of hypocrisies full of scary feudal, myopic mindset with deep rooted rudimentary ideologies, “Secret Superstar” takes the battle head on and celebrates  dream , hope ,mother , mother hood and the inherent desire to dream  and right  to live that  dream.

At 3 AM in the night when her mom cajoles her to go to sleep and not to waste her time dreaming, Insiya confronts her telling “ Sapne Dekhna to basic hota hai , intna to subko allowed hona chahiye” . The depth and irony of the statement straightaway comes and hits you.  No one has any control on dreams, yet again and again so many around the world are forced not to dream. And as a result so many dreams die, some like those stillborn babies and some like unborn foetus killed inside, brutally and silently. Unfortunately no one ever pauses to notice the slow, painful death of the  dreamer along with the dream. Insiya’s dream is not just to become a superstar singer but also to free her mother from a barbaric father. The film exposes domestic violence and its repercussion on children at home.

Secrete Superstar beautifully explores the mother – daughter relationship. Zaira Wasim and Meher Vij share a delightful chemistry. They share each other’s happiness, helplessness and dream. Watch out as they break into an impromptu dance when the man of the family leaves for work. Young Tirth Sharma as Chintan takes one down a nostalgic trip to those good old school days. He literally lights up the scenes where he is in.  Chintan and Insiya’s innocence laden adolescence love story is endearing.   Aamir Khan once again shows the kind of investment he does into his character. As a loud, irritating, cheesy music director Shakti Kumar, khan gets that rare chance to play to the gallery (post Rangeela) and he delivers with elan.

In spite of a predictable storyline and a convenient and manipulative screen play, I walked out the auditorium with a lump in my throat and dream in my eyes. And that for me is a sure sign of a winner.

Alright then, To Mothers, to Mother hood, To sacrifices, To Dreams and To that Indomitable Spirit of Winning.   

Newton : We need more of them !

#Newton : Everyone noticed the falling of fruits from tree but it took one Sir Issac Newton to ponder over the reason behind it that led to the discovery of gravitational force. It isn’t a mere coincidence that Amit Masurkar’s Netwon has a scene where the main protagonist Nutan Kumar aka Newton is eating an apple while reading the election manual. Everyone goes through the process of reading a manual and as shown in one of the scenes in the movie ,many in fact know the process by heart, but there are only a few who have the courage to follow the rule , to stand in the line of fire to deliver their duty .

Newton asks many tough fundamental questions, many of whose answer it doesn’t have. But it forces one to ponder. In a powerful scene the main protagonist reads out the names of the candidates to the naxal hit villagers, telling them that they can vote for their choice of politicians who will fulfill their demands and the villagers respond back telling this is the first time they are hearing those names and none of the politicians even know their problem. In the final act we see the forest has been destroyed. Plants got replaced by plants (industrial). No one asks the questions around the people who live in those jungles, no one is bothered about their livelihood, their culture, their practices and their lives. They probably remain just as headcount in the voter’s list. People remember them every five years only during the great Indian circus. Foreign media visits, Photo –ops happen and then they are forgotten like those burnt houses. The film is a terrific satire on the dance of democracy. And the beauty of the film is it doesn’t take sides. It leaves the audience to decide for himself.

Newton boasts of an ensemble cast where everyone out performs everyone. Pankaj Tripathi and Rajkumar Rao are outstanding. Want to learn acting? No need to go to an acting school. Just watch these two pounce upon each other, almost literally! The support cast of Anjali Patil, Raghubir Yadav and Sanjay Mishra are terrific too. The films dialogues are witty and razor sharp. I couldn’t find a single dull moment. At 106 minutes its length was just perfect.

If you are looking for answers then Newton isn’t a film for you. But if you are the kind who gets disturbed by the happenings in his/her surroundings , who comes back home and contemplates over the tough questions asked , the one who loves to do what is right than what is convenient , the one who does his duty without thinking that he is doing a favor , go and watch Newton. They don’t make such satires too often now a days, at least in Bollywood. It isn’t a flawless film, yet who cares , we need many such Newtons , in our lives and in our cinema. I will put it right up there along with Mukti Bhavan and Death in Gunj as one of the finest films of 2017.

Simran - A Kangana Ranaut Show !

#Simran: Two distinctly different films within a film and an irresistible Kangana Ranaut .  Simran opens beautifully, like most of Hansal Mehta films, and we are introduced to Praful Patel (no, not the former civil aviation Minister) our protagonist, the housekeeping staff from “Hotel Industry”. The next 42 odd minutes are extremely breezy as we discover the life of Praful , a 30 year old divorced and a bit whimsical  yet focused  girl who wants to live life on her terms and fulfil her dream of having her own house , just to run away from the constant nagging of her father.  One fine morning, after another round of fight with her father, Praful takes off for an all-expense paid trip to Las Vegas. And her life takes an ugly turn and within minutes the script also starts circling around, not being able to apply its landing gear. It is a pity that a film which courted controversy over writing credits actually suffers because of the script. As they say may be too many cooks spoiled the broth.

Simran is an out and out Kangana Ranaut show with not even a distant second in sight. She acts like a lady possessed. Beneath the quirkiness lies a vast emptiness. Behind the tough “devil may care” attitude lies a vulnerable Simran who wanted to be loved, heard and understood. And Kangana beautifully exposes it.  She is on a roll. Watch out for the scene where she tries to tell her suiter about her character flaws. Some of the dialogues in the film are razor sharp. The cinematography is just par but the music is a big letdown.

It is the third act where the film nose dives and the script becomes contrived.  So you come across repetitive bank robberies with the same modus operandi, banks with only cashiers, without security guards. Instead of focusing on the jauntiness which seemed to work for it in the first half, the second half focuses on myriad emotions with some inconsequential scenes including a car chase.

However in spite of some of its flaws , Simran is a film I enjoyed watching and probably can even re watch just for its irrepressible protagonist . I’m sure Kangana must be tired, because she is constantly running in mind. How I wish I could have said the same about Simran ! I will go out with 3 out of 5 for this Kangana Ranaut blitzkrieg. 

Lipstick Under My Burkha : Rebel in Man's World !

#LipstickUnderMyBurkha :  Way back in 1942 ,Ismat Chughtai in her celebrated story “ Lihaf” scathingly  established  the identity of women  and her  existential realities ,while exploring the other dimensions of social complexity  in a patriarchal society where female sexual desire is repressed . And that landed her in court with charges of obscenity. If one goes by the reaction of censor board to Alankrita Srivastava’s coming off age film “Lipstick Under My Burkha” it seems nothing much has changed in last 75 years. Ours is a beautiful society. A society that is buried deep under a labyrinth of hypocrisies, presented in the guise of values. Peel that layer off and you will discover a scary feudal, myopic mindset with deep rooted rudimentary ideologies.

Lipstick Under My Burkha dares to strip that layer off and goes onto hold a mirror to the society. While on the surface the film explores the life of four women, of different age group who belong to Bhopal, a city on the brink of modernization, their suppressed craving, their aspiration, deep within it talks about their indomitable desire to live, to dream without any inhibition, to enjoy without the fear of being judged or labelled to live an apologetic life .  While Shirin ( Konkana) is not allowed to fulfill her aspiration of being a working women by her infidel husband who uses  her just to fulfill his carnal instincts , Buaji ( an excellent Ratna Pathak Shah) a 55 year lady who has almost forgotten her name has been humiliated as she discreetly expresses her sexual desires and fantasies  . So it is the society that decides who can have a sexual urge and at what age. Rihana had to hide her desires of becoming a singer under a Burkha , while Leela had  to struggle hard to escape from the small city to give wings to her dream. And in all of them the desire to free themselves from the clutches of stereotype is burning. The lipstick is symbolic of their rebellion, their free spirit.

The performances are uniform and the female leads have given a stupendous performance. The narration is engaging and the screen play is smooth. It is only the contrived ending that fails to do justice to an otherwise terrific and bold film. There is a scene where Buaji says how quickly our eyes adjust to darkness. And that‘s telling scene. May be we all have adjusted to the darkness. May be someone needs to light a match. I would highly recommend Lipstick under My Burkha as your weekend watch. It’s an evolved film, a rebellion in a man’s world ! And if you still need a rating to watch a film then 3.5 out of 5 it is . 

Jagga Jasoos : Its a dreamy World

#JaggaJasoos : It’s a fairy-tale world . A world where Katrina’s acting doesn’t stick out like sore thumb has to be a fantasy world. Ravi Varman’s exquisite camerawork and Anurag Basu’s heady imagination transports one to the land of thousand fables.  But to keep one engrossed for 170 odd minutes the least one requires is an enchanting story.  Unfortunately Basu absorbed in his craft and spirit of experimentation makes the cardinal mistake of being over indulgent. And that is where the film suffers.

Make no mistakes; Jagga Jasoos is a passionate and unapologetic attempt to take us back to the days of child like curiosity and innocence.  Influenced by the story of Feluda, Hitchcock & Sherlock Jagga goes out on a quest to find Badal Bagchi, the man who had adopted him and had discovered the teenage sleuth in him. Their bond has been beautifully exploited.  However Basu stuffs Jagga’s adventurous trip with too many repetitive narratives and that drags the pace of the film and makes it extremely predictable. The film also lacks humour.  Most of the films dialogues are in lyrics form and Pritam and Amitabh Bhattacharya get ample scope to flex their creativity.Ranbir as usual is in top form creating a full bodied character that is smart, vulnerable and whimsical. Saswat Chattarjee, a fine actor, plays the role of Badal Bagchi with aplomb. The film’s music is engaging.

It is frustrating that while Basu transports one to the fairy-tale world , he fails to keep one there for long  or may be just he himself stays there for far too long ! It is a pity considering Jagga Jasoos  is otherwise a bold attempt to exploit a genre whose potential  hasn’t yet been tapped by bollywood . I will go out with 2.5 out of 5 for this Tintin-esque musical adventure. Go watch it, who knows it may rekindle the child hood memories in you. How I wish while Anurag Basu went on a hyper imaginative spree, someone should have focused on the basic essential of a film, the narrative. Taking three years to make a film doesn’t mean its length has to be three hours!

Gurugram: Kingdom Of Nostalgia

Gurugram is a city of nostalgia. Situated 32 KM southwest of the national Capital the place in its own strange little way lets one relive the childhood memories, more so if you were born in a small town.  The summers here are all about long, frequent, unannounced power outages. 6-8 hours of repeated, unapologetic power cut is what you get ready for, as the memories of growing up in a pre-liberalized India comes crashing in.  The city doesn’t allow you to look too far away for company .It has lots of incubation centers, not only for startups, but also for mosquitoes. And the poor insects are always ready for company and quite flexible too. Depending on how your boss treated you on a particular day, you can decide if you want to unleash yourself on them or helplessly go to sleep as they sing and sting.   

The traffic here is a connoisseur’s delight.  On the connecting roads, they move in all direction , at the same time , as the helpless traffic police stands still exactly like the hapless Gandhi statue , that symbolizes secularism while the mass celebrates beef ban and pork fest . And on the highway, that apparently is the life line of the city, the circus begins at the stroke of 8 in the morning and 6 in the evening. The sight on most days can be compared to the sight of ants moving towards food item at negligible pace in one straight line. Call it the power of pheromone or the symbolic representation of herd mentality.

Every time one intends to indulge in small pleasures of life, the city like a true Bournville chap, asks one simple question- “Have you earned it “. So if you want to watch a good film (e.g. MuktiBhawan. Anarkali of Arrah, A death in the Gunj) either you have to fight the traffic woes to travel far off or risk safety and sacrifice sleep to catch them at odd hours. The choice of course is yours. And if you are the kind who loves to explore a city and its happening places, Gurugram of course offers few places. Actually two to be precise, Cyber City and sector 29. You can keep visiting them till you die of boredom or claustrophobia.

As far as the seasons are concerned the Weather God here follows a simple binary programming mechanism.  In between navigating through dense smog and braving blows of strong loo wind, you do encounter bouts of passing showers. And buoy those quarter hour of quick shower are enough to drown most city roads as you sail through your childhood memories of paper boat voyage. When you move towards the outskirt, along with pigs you can also spot peacocks and peahens. I was told their numbers are dwindling. But you can’t blame the peahens for that. May be the polluted city air that makes us teary eyed every now and then isn’t doing enough for the sanskari peacocks to cry. 

But as a city that houses the “who’s who” of corporate India, the city that headquarters most of MNCs ,Gurugram reminds you that life is a great leveler. Like a true Indian Dad it reiterates at every given opportunity that you must struggle hard today if you want to be happy someday.

The city bears a strong resemblance to Katrina Kaif. In spite of not learning the “ A” of acting in fifteen long years  she still commands  a premium and Gurugram in spite of being a below par place to live still gets the best of talent. One has looks, the other has opportunity. She started her career with Boom (yes the film was named boom, blame it on nostalgia once again) and Gurugram with the boom in Indian economy and American dream.   And both I guess have been lucky. One was close to Salman, the other to Delhi, at least they were when both of them started out! 

A death in the Gunj

A death in the Gunj :  Konkana Sen Sharma does it once again , this time as the debutante director . Her firstborn champions the art of simple story telling. It is eerie, atmospheric and moody- yet in each of its characters one will find a slice of his own life. The opening shot of the film sets the tempo and mood as the narrative moves back to the beginning of the week when the story started unfolding in the idyllic colonial outpost, McCluskiegunj. While on the surface A death in the Gunj looks like a slow paced thriller with an eerie sense of impeding doom, deep within it is a study of human behavior.

The story unfolds as Nandu along with his family and cousin Shutu visits his old parents living in McCluskiegunj to celebrate Christmas and New Year. They are joined by his friend Vikram, the hot headed poster boy of machismo and Brian. Each one of them are unique to each other and yet somewhere underneath they are so similar – opportunist to the core. And therein lies the crux of the film.  The film bares open the complexities related to human behavior and how they react differently to different situation. While Shutu gets bullied and exploited by most, the moment he got an opportunity, he too leaves the little Tani alone, who has been his only constant companion and goes on an escapade with Mimi ( Kalki Koechein) . Sexually trapped Mimi , rejected by Vikram , uses Shutu to gratify her sexual desires . Nandu doesn’t even waste a minute to blame his wife Bonnie when Tani goes missing. The interpersonal dynamics are brilliantly exposed. There are few telling scenes in the film. Watch out for the scene where Tani discovers Shutu’s name is not engraved on the family tree and co relate it with the climax. Then there is a scene where the entire family is having dinner and Shutu is conveniently forgotten. He is repeatedly bullied and sidelined. There is a constant fight going on inside his mind. The turmoil is so palpable. After all we all have been Shutu at some point in our lives.

The brilliance of the film lies in its ensemble cast, its beautiful characterization, its serene cinematography and the earthy back ground score. Each character has been crafted with care and each one of them gives a solid performance and Vikrant Massey leads the pack. His Shutu, will forever haunt you. The fluidity and flexibility with which he plays the character is remarkable. Ranvir Shorey , Tillotama Shome and Kalki are in fine form. Arya Sharma as little Tani is adorable. It was endearing to see Tanuja , back on screen after long and watching Om Puri , probably for one last time on big screen, as he says “ Tulsidas wapas nehin ayaega” is nostalgic .

 “A death In the Gunj” is a finely crafted tapestry that exposes the myriad hues of human psychology. It will be right up there along with “ Udaan” as one of the best Debut films made in India. Its a tribute to Konaka’s ability to bring the finest together and get the best out of them. Go explore the complexities of human behavior and the art of simple story telling!