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
Human habits seem uncontrollable and unexplained and we assume that they exist to remain permanently fixed in our brains. “They are so strong, in fact, that they cause our brains to cling to them at the exclusion of all else, including common sense,” the author wirtes. But it turns out our habits are quite malleable, and as the author shows, companies are getting ever more adept at identifying, co-opting, and shaping our behavior patterns to increase profits.
Actually, I think, the genesis of all such books is aspirational. Every individual has this dream version of his/ her own life and because that is not happening in the real world, a book is written on the same. Obviously the usual masala of sex, love and some rona dhona is added to make it saleable or rather publish worthy. Penguin ain’t picking you otherwise.
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.