BRAToSPHERE

Category: Movie

  • Movie Time – Feb/ Mar 2013

    The last two months were quick if anything. I can’t believe that we are already in the fourth month of this year. It feels like the year had just started.

    With all the work, there has been little time to catch up on movie, but nevertheless I got a new TV with a corner mount installation, so I did manage to catch up on quite a few and here they are:

    • Viswaroop
    Kamal Hassan, this one name is enough for this movie to deserve a watch and add all the controversy it got dragged into, it totally deserved my attention. Complete credit to Kamal for being honest to the subject and for the detailed research that he has undertaken. He has also managed to break out of the clichés. Rahul Bose was another attraction to the movie, overall making it a deserving watch.
    8/10

    • Midnight’s children
    Have heard a lot about the book and Salman Rushdie did manage to create quiet an interest into the movie. The movie was at its poetic best and in spite of it being a difficult plot, Deepa Mehta has done a fine job of giving it life on the celluloid. The dichotomies of life, and the history of India from independence to the 70’s is magically wound with the story. Again, worth a watch, due to the sheer poetry involved.
    7/10

    • David
    I went to this movie with low expectations and it completely surprised me. Three different plots, three different eras, three different protagonists and the only common thread – the Name, David. The director, Bejoy Nambiar, manages to maintain the interest till the end and the music adds to the value.
    8/10

    • Special 26
    After coming to know that it is a true story, I first goggled up the original case of the 80’s. In spite of everyone knowing the story, the director has done a fine job of maintaining the suspense till the end. Neeraj Pandey, has justified himself, after his first film “A Wednesday”, as a filmmaker with finesse.
    8/10

    • Murder 3
    The lesser spoken about the movie the better it is. What are the Bhatts thinking, take some old foreign movie, make a lazy adaptation, add some skin show and sleaze and here you are with the next series in their Murder, Jism, Raaz stable. This one does not deserve a mention here at all.
    4/10

    • Kai Po Che
    This is probably one of the most pleasant movies this year. Adapting a story (not that great as a book!) Into a celluloid version is tough and Abhishek Kapoor has done it with complete love and attention as can be seen on the screen. Right from the screenplay, to the casting, everything seems just perfect. Also having only 3 wonderful songs helped carry forward the movie without any hindrance. If you have not yet seen this movie, go catch it immediately.
    9/10

    • I,Me aur main
    A new coming of age movie, or that is what it promised to be. A charismatic, good looking guy who is full of himself, lives in with his beautiful girlfriend and is then ditched by her due to his irresponsibility. He then falls in love with his neighbor and the classical question rises? Again, don’t waste your time on this one, like I did.
    5/10

    • Saheb Biwi aur Gangster returns
    After the first part, the sequel deserved a watch. And it completely lives up to it. Mahie Gill, somehow manages to act wonderfully in this particular series and Irrfan Khan just takes the tempo higher. The film right from the beginning is an engaging watch.
    7/10

    • Mere Dad Ki Maruti
    This is the chic lit equivalent of literature. This seems to have become the new genre for yash Raj films, that they have actually launched a subsidiary, Y-Films for such low budget movies. Should admit though, the two odd hours in the theatre were a laugh riot. The reason for that was the Punjabi clichés shown in the movie? Or the perfect timing by the actors, primarily Ram Kapoor? How does it matter??
    6/10

    • SEINFELD SEASON 2
    Again, outrightly funny. A must watch with repeat runs.
    9.5/10

  • Movie Review – Jan 2013

    January was on hectic fun month. I was out of Mumbai for nearly 16 days out of the total 31 days of the month. I have been travelling like crazy, across the country, from Delhi to Rajasthan to Hrishikesh/ Haridwar.

    Well, amidst all this I did manage to catch up with a couple of movies and TV series. Travel is the best time I tell you.

    • Matru ki bijlee ka Mandola

    Directed by Vishal Bharadwaj and Anushka as the lead actor, I just had to see this one. And I was not disappointed completely. A political satire on land grabbing and the nexus between the Rich ( very well played by Pankaj Kapur) and the politicians, it was outrightly humorous since the beginning. Completely watchable. Well, Imran Khan was passable.

    6.5/10

    • Inkaar

    The first time I saw the print ad of the film in Economic Times, it did raise my curiosity. A hindi film having a full page colour ad in a business newspaper is new. The film was a lot of hype and no substance. A delicate subject of harassment at Workplace could have been dealt in much detail, but it is rather turned into a romantic film by Sudhir Mishra. Can be missed, unless you want a sneak peak into the stereotypical advertising world.

    5/10

    • SVSC

    Though it is been near to six years that I have left Andhra, I have been pretty much updated with Tollywood (Thank you bro!). I have been a complete telugu movie buff and this one has Venkatesh and Mahesh Babu in one film. Do I say more? WATCH IT.

    9/10

    • SEINFELD SEASON 1

    Started watching a couple of episodes late night on Star World and realized it has been lying on my Campus Hard Disk from long. I immediately downloaded it upon my IPAD and now it has become my best companion during travel waiting. Outrightly funny. Should watch.

    9.5/10

    • Game of Thrones season 1 and 2

    I got hold of the high definition version of this series through a friend in Delhi. Though I am not much into fantasy, this one did manage to catch my attention after a couple of episodes. The author manages to create a completely imaginary world, filled with life like characters and everyone battling for the coveted throne. The photography is just mind-blowing, and the war scenes remind one of LOTR. Now, waiting for the Season 3 to start. You can also check out this site for additional information about Game of Thrones.

    8/10

  • Bol – Movie Review

    Of late, I have not watched many movies on my laptop. Well, Mumbai does not leave you with much time for such activites. Yesterday, I got free from office quite early and started walking back home. On the way back, I just chanced upon the DVD of this Pakistani movie Bol. I remember watching khuda ke liye, the first movie by this director, and was pretty impressed by it.

    I immediately picked it up, and started watching it last evening. Boy! Was I impressed? Very! So much that I now actually want to read more about life in Pakistan and the culture and people there.

    Coming to the movie – It is a thought-provoking and a compelling film, bringing the subject to light without getting too preachy or forcing the view on the audience. It brings to light the problems faced by contemporary Pakistan, and etches out the characters beautifully without disturbing the flow of the story.

    The story is told from the lens of a girl, on the verge of being hanged. The story begins with Hakim saab, the father who sires one daughter after another in search of that one elusive male child. His character is the one you would find very commonly as the strict dad, brought up with the strict principles of religion in black or white. He believes that a son would bring prosperity to the family and ends up with seven daughters and a hermaphrodite. He still does not give up and believes that women are just meant to bear children and not voice their opinions.

    The mother, and the daughters are all helpless, till the eldest daughter decides to BOL ( talk!). She goes to the extent of sending her hermaphrodite sibling to work, and actually getting one of her sisters marrying the boy ( Atif Aslam) she loves.

    The story shows contrasts very well. For example, the neighboring family who inspite of having the same economic strata have more open views and gets his son and daughter to study medicine. The pimp, who very neatly brings out the point that his kinds would love to have a girl child, and boys are a curse there.

    The message that the sex of the child is dependant on the father and has nothing to do with the mother is also very well brought out.

    On the whole, the movie touches a chord, and most of it would hold very much true for any hindu indian family too. Interiors of india too faces similar problems, female infanticide being the primary among them, and it is time we make some serious attempt to rectify it.

    A must watch. Shoaib Mansoor , the director of the movie, knows the art of story telling very well, and he again shows his brilliance in this movie.

  • >Wake Up Sid – Movie Review

    >Last weekend once agin was an extended weekend – thank you bapu. So me along with my roomies decided to watch Wake up Sid. Now I realize it has been really long that I have actually reviewed a movie. Not that I have not seen any. The last three months I have seen the maximum number of movie, if the number of movie/ week is calculated for any period of my life. Huh! An MBA makes you this.

    now the review.. (chuck the globe, i care a damn about your movie outings!)

    This movie is different from other karan johar ventures. It takes inspiration from Dil Chahta hai, Rock on and the types. It is about the today’s world. Today’s youth. Today’s generation and their problems.

    It is about a coming of age we all go through. It’s a film that instantly strikes a chord because it’s full of snapshots from our own lives.

    Sid is a grown-up kid, not a “man”, as he is often told by his good friend Aisha. Sid is a rich, lazy, unmotivated slacker from Mumbai. Between the kid and the man lies the struggle to find one’s identity, a struggle to figure out what is it that one wants to do in life.

    When college days are over, it’s time to think beyond i-pods, parties, get-togethers and to chalk out a career. “But why?” He can, because he’s got a rich dad who even tries to lure him into his business with the promise of a latest Porsche as a gift. And the next thing you see is Sid sprawled on a chair in his dad’s office, munching on a pizza and yapping on his cell. A grown-up kid not willing to wake up to the altered reality around him.

    When Sid flunks his college exam (and it feels terrible trust me!) he finds himself in a tight spot. Tired of being taunted by his parents, he leaves his home and moves in with his best buddy Aisha, who’s come to Mumbai to be “independent”. There, living with Aisha , Sid is confronted by his harsh reality. He can’t cook for his life. He doesn’t have a job. His credit card is blocked. And on top of it all, he finds that he’s carried the disorder of his own life into Aisha’s. It’s time to wake up. “ hello good morning”.

    one can karan for those high rise moments which would draw a person to the theatre. For instance, that scene when Sid is photographing a mother cuddling up her kid. In a flash Sid becomes aware of his own love for his mother

    Wake Up Sid is a light hearted movie that will make you smile. Full credit goes to Ranbir Kapoor and Konkana Sen Sharma’s flawless acting. Ranbir spellbinds you with an endearing act like his expression by using his eyes, his voice, his oddly-pitched laugh and the tiniest of tics to make a flesh-and-blood character out of Sid.

  • >Movie Time

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    Joblessness, or rather having an offer in hands in these times of recession, really gives one a lot of time to spend on things one always wanted to do.

    I have been quite jobless in the last few weeks, and I would like to believe that I have spent them quite effectively. I had this “7 things to do before I post-graduate”. Going at this pace I doubt if I would be able to even complete half of them. Maybe three, but well, that is still less than half right?

    Movies were never in the radar in these SEVEN THINGS, but have been quite involved with them. What other activity demands one to just stare at the screen, sit on the chair or lie on the bed in the blanket, looking into the happenings or rather tragedies with other people’s lives? MOVIES. Have seen quite a few of them of late, and here I would like to review them for your benefit (or is it just to keep track of all the movies that I have seen?)

     

    • The internationally acclaimed film by Danny Boyle about the rise of jamal Malik, an indian Slum Dweller, winning millions of rupees on a TV reality show. It shows the streets of Mumbai, and its slums very well. The actors were all fantastic, and A R Rahman’s music needs no more certification after winning all the major awards. Jai Ho!!

      Rating: 9/10

    • Pakistani movie about the difficulties of Pakistanis and muslims in general after the world trade center attacks. The different tracks running at the same time and their proper integration into the main theme is very appealing and makes the movie quite entertaining.

      Rating: 8/10

    • One more from Will Smith and Gabriele Muccino after The Pursuit of happiness. A heart touching saga of an IRS agent and his way to exemption, is exemplary. The last scene especially with Will Smith finally achieving his objective and his revelation of the real motive is heart rendering.

      Rating: 8/10

    • It has been a dream since time immemorial to age backwards. To get younger as we grow old. To maintain the same physique and strength of youth even after a person gets old. This movie explains this dream and very beautifully in that. A small young boy, born old with weak legs and wrinkled face has this curious thing going on – He gets younger as he grows older by age. The screenplay in the form of narration by an old lady keeps up the grip of the story, and the tragic end of Benjamin is amazing.

      Rating: 7.5/10

    • Clint Eastwood can be bet with any amount of money. Here Mr. Eastwood not only directs but also acts, so Sone par Suhaaga (double benefit). An aging Clint Eastwood helps a young teenager of his neighbourhood after the young lad steals his prized possession – Gran Torino. It gets disturbing in parts in the later half of the movie when the neighborhood is attacked and the lad’s sister raped. The ending is again touching.

      Rating: 6.5/10

    • This is touted as the most talked about film of the decade – 80’s. It very well is that engaging. After finding a severed ear in the fields a guy complains to the local police but then decided to search the crime himself. He is joined by the detective’s daughter herself in this journey and they both discover a whole underworld kingpin lying in their neighbourhood. It is quite disturbing for the nudity and the sexual violence it portrays.

      Rating: 6/10

    • A real timepass movie if you have nothing else to do. A fat paced comedy about 5 couples about one sexual encounter. It can serve as a good reminder to young couples and help them better their sexual lives. The movie is not all that grose, though the title suggests so. A better title could have fared the movie a better response. The present title at the first reference gives a feeling of it being a porn movie.

      Rating: 6/10

    • Angelina jolie has done a great job, and she perfectly fits the bill of looking like a LA woman in the 1920s. Jolie reports about her lost son to the police and after a few days a boy is returned to her. At the very first notice she identifies, ” no, he is not my Son!”. The corrupt police pass on some other kid as hers and convince her into that. One more Clint Eastwood gem and it completely holds the attention of the watcher all across the movie.

      Rating: 6.5/10

    • Zack and Miri are the best of the friends and stay together. To overcome their financial problems they decide to make a porno movie and solve all their problems. In the process they discover the hidden love for each other. It is a light comedy and has quite a couple of hilarious situations.

      Rating: 6/10

    • Two successful women are sick of dating, relationships and all the emotional baggage along with it. They decide to hire two guys to their house strictly for sexual purposes. No strings attached. As the movie progresses the relationship becomes more than a sexual one, and graduates to love. A fresh original story and it is fun.

      Rating: 7/10
      So, not this does with the movie review for the time. I am also engrossed with the HEROES Series to keep myself more occupied. Smirk!