Ghajini

Imagine ‘Mr India’ was not ‘Mr India’ but ‘Mogambo’. Or ‘Sholay’ was ‘Gabbar’. Can’t understand? Watch Ghajini, as it is named after its villain. While you watch it to find out who Ghajini is? You will find Sanjay Singhania (Aamir) doing the same. Yes, this versatile bad man Ghajini (Pradeep Rawat) killed his girlfriend Kalpana (Asin) and spoiled his life by making him a patient of short-term memory loss. Ghajini is versatile because he owns a pharma company, funds a medical college, speaks Hindi in Haryanvi accent and also forces girls to prostitution. Sanjay does not even remember his face and has a memory, which lasts only for 15 minutes. He remembers things by photos and tattoos. When Ghajini finds that someone wants to kill him, he (unlike a Bollywood villain) erases Sanjay’s memory maps. Sanjay becomes helpless but finds help from unexpected corners. Sunita (Jiah Khan) who is a medical college student becomes his memory and then Khel Khallas.

There is one mentionable thing here. The movie is directed by a south Indian director-- A R Murugadoss. All those who enjoy movies from south (like the writer himself) will love it. Every thing songs, outfits, dances and not to forget the action sequences have a south Indian tadka. Not all songs are good. Music and lyric disappoint in some songs while the others may linger in your memory for long. Back ground music may give you headache if you are not familiar to the jhap-jhup (which we generally hear in television soaps). Over all, it was a commercial masala directed well by a south Indian director with superb acting and action from Aamir and Asin as the surprise pakage. Asin acted well in her Bollywood debut. She looked cute and chirpy. Aamir played both the business tycoon and afterwards maniacal short- term memory loss patient very well. He proved that he can look dangerous too. Jiah Khan looked better in Nishabd but acted better in Ghajini.
The speed with which the film travels varies. It travels faster in the beginning, looses speed becomes slow and just when it was about to stop it accelerates till the end. Despite flaws it entertains.

Saawariya: The art of film making

This review is not based on a keen observation of the movie—Saawariya. Honestly, it not an effort to give an insight to the readers. The writer has tried to ape Sanjay Leela Bhansali in his own capacity. SLB made the movie to enjoy the art of film making. The writer, here, just wants to enjoy writing a review. He is least bothered about anything else. Read if you can tolerate what the writer feels, likes or hates.
Saawariya is a simple story of a cool dude Raj (Ranbir Kapoor) who arrives in a mystical but beautiful looking town. (Hey …wait what's the name of this town? Can’t remember. So for the sake of clarity let’s call this Noname). Raj is a musician , a rock star, who falls in love with a sweet girl Sakina (Sonam) who lives in Noname. Raj looks as if he is from Mumbai or some metro and Sakina from Lucknow (Can I say that?). But before discussing their looks one must note the most important thing, Noname looks like a Russian town. People in Noname speak all the languages possible. Raj’s landlady (Zohra Segal) has a 'phirang' accent. His prostitute friend Gulab (Rani Mukherjee) mixes Punjabi flavour in what she speaks. So life is cool in this sleepy town which never sees the light of the day. (Don’t believe the writer, watch the movie there is not even a single scene which shows day time in open). Noname’s night life is so calm and beautiful that it will certainly facinate you to be there sometime. The director gets full mark for that. So, before Raj can declare his love he finds that there is some one else in Sakina’s life. Who’s this guy? No Sakina will never pronounce his name and will always say ' mere woh...'. Don’t worry our cool dude is smart enough and he finds his rivals name in just 10 seconds. His name is Imaan (Salman Khan). Also, the movie has no villain. Sanjay Leela Bhansali did it again. There was not even a single character with a negative shade. The story ends peacefully without any hustle bustle with lot of emotions.

Both the newcomers acted well. Good expressions and great dialogue delivery. They have proved their potential as actors. Their debut can be called a successful one. (unlike other star kids who keep on getting roles till they succeed). Ranbir looked handsome and he danced with passion. Sonam’s tranquil beauty can leave lasting imprints on any one who watches this movie.

Music director Monty breathes life in the movie whenever it gets dull (and he did that often). Melodious music and good choreography are among the positive points of the movie. Such story can be told with out larger-than-life sets used by Bhansali. In most of the movies sets look like town but here the set always looked like a set. Although beautiful, at no point of time it can convince you that it is real. Rani did a good job but there was nothing she could do to save the movie. Salman was sailing in the same boat.

The movie can be a delight for those who visit theatre frequently. It can make you feel the creativity theatre offers. Some scenes look like beautiful paintings. It is not even half of what people expect from Sanjay Leela Bhansali but the director should be appreciated for this experiment. He tried to bring theatre alive on the silver screen. The movie is not a Diwali block buster but one can watch it for good music, beautiful scenes and freshness offered by the newcomers—Ranbir and Sonam.

If you are still reading, the writer congratulates you for your patience. The last paragraph is only for those who want to discuss the movie with ‘chai and sutta’. Enjoy reading…

Before moving further one would like to ask Sanjay Leela Bhansali one question. The story talks about which year or era? If you have watched the movie and the same question came to your mind. The writer has used his intelligence and tried to decipher the year (of course and approximation). The movie is for intelligent and avid movie goers and the director has left some clues. At one point, it shows screening of Mughal-E-Azam. Sakina’s grand mother is shown enjoying the dialogues of Mughal- E- Azam. So, she must have watched the movie in her young age probably when she was between 18-20. She must be 70 –75 now when she is watching it again. Mughal-E-Azam was released in 1960. So according to our assumption Sakina’s granny is watching it again after 50 years. So, the story happened somewhere between 2010-2015. (Now I know why some people were criticizing the movie during interval. It is story meant for future and poor people could not comprehend that.)

Nishabd

To praise any fool can do but to criticise in an art.
Thanks RGV for this opportunity.
Only thing right about the movie is its name– Nishabd. The movie deals with an unconventional relationship between an old man and a young girl. A similar concept was successfully dealt sometimes back in Joggers' Park. Also, Joggers' Park proved to be good without a promotional line like- 'He is 60, she is 18.'

Dosar

A teacher puts a glass of liquor in front of students. She puts a live insect in the glass. The creature struggles for sometime then dies. Teacher asks, “What have we learnt form this?” A student answers," Drinking kills harmful worms present inside our body.” This is an old joke but certainly makes one thing clear that different people look at things differently. Rituparno Ghosh once again proved this point when he thought about 'marital infidelity.'
Dosar is story of a woman (Konkana Sen Sharma) whose husband (Prasenjit Chatterjee) has an extra marital affair. She struggles with this fact all through the movie and at last forgives him. The movie is different as never before a movie has thrown light on this topic in such an objective way. Ghosh delights viewers by his unending zeal to experiment with the story and picturisation. Dosar is a Black and White movie. The director wants filmgoers to explore the shades of gray marital infidelity offers.
At every moment cinematography compliments the film. Aveek Mukhopadhyay should be congratulated for his work. A beautiful story by Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay. The story starts when Prasenjit meets a car accident in which his mistress dies. In the next scene Konkana is shown struggling with 'worry and hatred.' Her character follows the gray shades of the film as on one hand she hates her husband and on the other she supports her brother's relation with a married woman. The movie explores both sides of the coin.
Interpretation of movies or any art form depends on perception. Again, different people see different aspects. And that’s where directors like Rituparno Ghosh score over others. They help you understand the topic better by exposing you to all the aspects of a story. He is master of ‘objective entertainment’ (if a term like this exit).

Darna Jaruri Hai

A story full of strange and frightening things designed to entertain people is a horror story. This is how Oxford dictionary defines the meaning of a horror story. Horror is a feeling of great shock, fear and disgust. But it can still entertain you. In the same way, a story about funny things for the purpose of entertainment is a comedy story. How many people thought that Horror and Comedy could co-exit to entertain? Ramgopal Verma did, not once but twice. Exactly like Darna mana hai, Darna Jaruri hai has a main story which binds 5 stories. Each story directed by a different director. All equally good and entertaining. Ram Gopal Varma, Jijy Phillip, Sajid Khan, J D Chakravarthy, Vivek Shah, Prawal Raman all did a great job. The movie has a warm up story directed by Sajid Khan. Manoj Pawah's story gave the movie a good start. One can not stop laughing when Manoj opens his mouth. Audience will remember his performance for long. The film starts with a school picnic near a jungle. Out of adventure, 5 childern leave the cottage hotel and enter the jungle. They find a deserted house and are forced to stay there due to heavy rains. An old lady invites them inside and then she narrates them 5 fearsome stroies. First story: This is story of a eccentric professor(Amitabh Bachchan) and his student( Riteish Deshmukh) directed by Ram Gopal Varma. Second stroy: Story of a film director (Anil Kapoor) and a girl who takes lift in his car (Mallika Sherawat). This story is directed by Jijy Phillip. Third story : Story of a man (Randeep Hooda) whose car hits a woman on his way to Pune. Next morning he finds himself in police station charged with murder. J D Chakravarthy directed this episode. Fourth story : Story of a couple (Suniel Shetty and Sonali Kulkarni) whose door is knocked by a strange insurance agent ( Rajpal Yadav) directed by Vivek Shah. Sixth story : Story of a man (Arjun Rampal) whose car breaks down and he takes help of a strange couple (Bipasha Basu and Makrand Deshpande). Prawal Raman directed this story. At last if you want to see how ‘Twinkle twinkle little star’ can be used in a horror movie, you need to watch the movie.

Gangster

Gangster is simply a love story but it is not a simple love story. All love stories have some thing different to offer. There is always an element which is not predictable. But a gangster’s love story can be easily predicted. And that’s where directors like Anurag Basu score over others. The moment you are in a position to predict ‘what’s next’ Basu has a surprise for you. His direction exhibits his clear vision and visualization.
Pritam’s music breathes life wherever the movie gets dull. Singer KK and Zubin are as good as they always are. Lyric writers Sayeed Quadri, Mayur, Neelesh Misra have a contribution in the success of songs.
Serial kisser Emraan Hashmi who is playing Akash has again proved lucky for the Bhatt camp. He has matured as an actor. Debutante Kangna Ranaut (Simran) looked good and has acted well. Her dialogue delivery needs some improvement. Shiney who played Daya, the gangster, is the best performer of all. His eyes did most of the dialogue delivery. He has strong facial expressions which is a character trait of all good actors. But he looked weak in scenes where he is crying aloud. Gulshan Grovar looked as ‘Bad’ as he always claims to be. He is a heroic villain.
The film moves around a gangster Daya and his neglected girl friend Simran. Daya’s complex life never allows him to give time to Simran and she finds solace in another relationship with a club singer Akash. Daya is outraged by this betrayal but soon realizes his mistake and tries to quit crime. Climax will take the audience by surprise as they know that Simran made a wrong decision in leaving Daya.
The camera placement is above average and has created magic in some scenes.
The marriage of songs and flashback sequences have added new chapter in the art of story telling. Over all -- an entertaining movie.

Banaras : A mystic love story

The film can be a source of spiritual satisfaction for those who love spirituality and mysticism. At the same time it may be torturous for those who never sailed the boat of spirituality.
The movie takes you on a tour to ‘Varanasi’. It shows the mesmerizing temples endless stairs, mighty ghats and above all religion and mysticism. Background music whispers soothing hymns in your ears.
Cinematographer Nirav Shah has done an excellent job. He has successfully captured the beauty and enigma of the oldest city of India --‘Banaras’.
Pankaj Parashar shoud be praised for showing courage for selecting such a different topic. He has established himself as a film maker with will to experiment and come out with good results.
Music director Himesh Reshammiya made use of the opportunity to come out of his silky voice and unnecessarily romantic tracks. Music is suitable and pleasing.
Great acting performances by Raj Babber and Nasiruddin Shah. Urmila had a strong role and she did that with confidence and courage. She has excelled as an actress.
Ashmit also acted well and did justice to the character of Soham.
Banaras is a story of a Brahmin girl Swetambari (Urmila) who loves a lower caste boy Soham (Ashmit Patel). Her parents are against their relation but they somehow agree to accept Soham as their son-in-law. Soham is murdered just before their marriage and Swatambari takes the path of religion and spirituality. Raj Babber played Swatambari’s father and Nasiruddin Shah played Babaji who is Soham’s spitual guru. Dimple looked fine as Swetambari’s mother
Some scenes like Dimple Kapadia’s realization of her sin had unnecessary drama and extra cinematic effects.
Over all it’s an unconvential movie and has the power to take you to a different world-- which is complete and true –Saral, Sahaj and Samporna.