Kahani2: #BollywoodMovieReviewz

Kahani2

Welcome to the cold, dark, uncomfortable world where there are lies, damn lies and pretensions galore to live around them- in pristine surroundings and teak-wood lined interiors! Sujoy Ghosh's Kahani 2 is as much like his original Kahani as chalk and cheese! Both  have a Bengali setting, therefore the consequent atmospherics, and Vidya Balan in the lead. But that's where the comparison ends. But comparisons are odious, na? 

So Vidya Sinha lives with her wheel-chair bound daughter in a shabby tenement in down market Chandan nagar, trying desperately to take her to America for treatment so she can walk. Unfortunately the daughter gets kidnapped and Vidya meets with an accident that leaves her comatose, albeit temporarily, the small town doctor ( and film director) are quick to point out! So as a viewer your interest is kept alive, knowing she's going to come around eventually, and while the film moves back and forth into the dark recesses of Vidya's past as Durga Rani Singh and her present as a struggling mother, you keep getting further and further into  cold, dark, dingy places with very unpalatable realities! 

The central theme of the film is very unconventional, child abuse, and the Director needs to be applauded for his sensitive and careful treatment of the same, even though  it tends to be quite direct in parts! As a society where we teach our children to respect relatives and build relationships, like Kaam Wali Aunty and Rickshey Wale Bhaiya to Padose wale Uncle, we forget that we are somewhere disabling them from identifying the dangers that lurk around with any association! Even at that securest of places- home! And the price is paid by the children! The story is told through a diary written by Vidya and  read by Inderjeet Singh, the IO, played by Arjun Rampal, who is assigned to investigate her accident case! That he happened to be her husband in the past is purely incidental! Or, maybe it is meant to provide a rationale for the later conduct of IO. 

The movie begins very well, almost brilliant in parts, but unfortunately meanders through on very slippery paths!  The biggest strength of the movie is undoubtedly Vidya Balan, but so is Arjun Rampal. He looks every inch the part of a cynical cop, who cares two hoots about CrPC or IEA! To him extending a helping hand to people in distress is far more important than following some crazy procedure which helps no one -neither the accused, nor the victim nor even the State-and achieves nothing. Vidya Balan turns in another superlative performance, but that's her habit! 

The Cineplex was EMPTY when we walked in! By and by a dozen or 2 people took their seats. At the end I wasn't quite surprised at the empty seats! Such dark, macabre themes are not everyone's cup of tea! You decide if you can handle it! I certainly came out with a massive sense of melancholia: this ain't no planet for little girls! 

Whither Development: Jaipur Delhi Highway

Some paths are prescribed for you! Or a certain school of philosophers would say, all your paths are pre-ordained and you are but pretending to choose and travel. At a more rational level, they might even concede that your destination is predetermined, no matter what path the rational, free thinking homo-sapiens might tread. But hey, I talk of more mundane things, unnecessarily meandering into philosophy. 

So my path is chosen. Was chosen. Some three and a half decades back I started my road trips between Delhi and Jaipur. First, as a student and then as an officer. Invariably one chose the Road transport services between the National and the State capital. As a student, one was lucky to find a seat in a passenger bus when returning home during vacations, while parents funded the return journey by Deluxe buses-a huge psychological difference, as the quality of one didn't differ much from the other! Gentry did! Higher tariff just to ensure you didn't have to rub shoulders with the Sarvahara ! Some years passed and you had the AC Deluxe buses, which were a relief in sultry summers, but as homes were still largely cooled by desert-coolers, and hostel rooms by whirring ceiling fans, dependent on voltage to catch speed, or noisy Cinni pedestal fans, the end of journey in an AC bus often left you sneezing and coughing with allergic symptoms! 

Wheels of time kept turning; progression became a sine quo non of life and you had the imported Volvo buses, replete with reclining seats, plush leatherette comfort, velvet curtains et al to make the journey more comfortable! In the meanwhile the passenger car segment of industry had a boom period and the Indian middle classes found their Hyundais, Fords, Toyotas, in addition to the ubiquitous Maruti, to succumb to the wander-lust. I too started using my car to complete my essential "pilgrimages" to Delhi and JAIPUR, hoping to derive a certain solitary pleasure from the experience. 

So what was happening to the NH in these phases? From a single road in early 1980s, it was turned into a dual carriageway soon thereafter! Before you realised it, this was being re-converted into a four lane Highway and now a 6 lane one! Well, development of Road transport was complete! Fast Luxurious, comfortable buses or six seater, Station wagon style cars/SUVs and 6 lane highways! Stuff dreams are made of! A distance of 270 Kms with international quality Transport should be done in 3 hours!, one could very well hope! Unfortunately NO! 

With development all around, the time taken to travel this distance remains 5 to 6 hours on a good, medium traffic day! On a bad day it can be as long as 8 hours! The road which had earned the dubious distinction of a virtual "death-trap", due to the large number of fatal accidents it caused, hasn't done much to dispose off this reputation! 

Travelling to JAIPUR during an off-peak, weekday recently, after the demonetisation decision, I noticed much lesser traffic, which my driver was quick to point out was an "aberration" due to the currency crunch! That should have ensured a quicker traversing of the 270 km distance. But no, several bottlenecks, dug up roads for further widening and temporary by-passes, slow moving traffic like two wheelers, tractors, even camel-carts ensured it continued to be a roller coaster ride as it was during the single-road days and time taken on a virtually deserted highway was still 5 hours! During all these decades, I remember a single occasion in early 1990s,during a Transporters' strike, when it took me just over three hours to cover the distance between my two pilgrim centres! Almost similarly deserted roads this week, a quarter century later, but time taken was 5 hours+! One reason why we want bigger, better roads and faster, modern transport is to conserve resources: time, energy, man hours! But it hasn't happened! The road is forever dug up, access control has never been attempted, accidents continue to be fatal---I saw quite a few on the highway, a motorcyclist crushed under a truck, a car burning to blazes--and time taken continues to be THE SAME! As it was in 1980s!
Whither Development???

Ae dil hai Mushkil : #bollywoodmoviereviewz

#BollywoodMovieReviewz @AeDilHaiMushkil: A Karan Johar movie on the stands, smell of festivities all around and a well-deserved short break! Well it had all the ingredients of a promising Saturday afternoon. So I stole some time from preparations for the Diwali Celebrations, and headed to the nearest CinePlex! 

Ayan ( Ranbir Kapoor) is a Bollywood music freak, of the retro kind.The setting is London but the casting and sensibilities are Desi. Ayan aspires to be the reincarnation of Mohammad Rafi but lacks Dard in his voice, as diagnosed by Alieza ( Anoushka Sharma) after a botched-up party hook-up scene that doesn't quite go according to the script. He actually has a girl friend ( Lisa Hayden) whom he has fought with. Anoushka, the veteran in all matters of heart, tells him his love is frivolous, has no "weight", which she demonstrates quite literally and he is just a lost baby from whom a favourite toy has been taken away! Obviously he doesn't know the meaning of pain of loosing real love! By implication, it is clear that she does! So what follows is the growing up of Ranbir, the healing process of Anoushka's broken heart and a fun-filled first half, replete with great music, peppy, though repetitive, pub-crawling scenes of London-by-night and later, An Evening or two in Paris! And some in Vienna!
The second half throws everything off-gear, rather it presents you The Mushkil aspect of the theme. The ex in Anoushka's life, the oh-so-handsome Fawaad Khan, returns and Anoushka does the Qabool Hai act with him. Ranbir, who has grown up, learnt the art of shedding silent tears, instead of the mushy, mama's baby ones he shed when Lisa cheated on him, finds Aishwarya, the shayara and hooks up with her on the rebound from Anoushka. Here onwards the film gets complicated, if it already wasn't. My theory is that all the protagonists actually have complicated relationship status in their real lives and that is reflected, albeit artfully, on this aesthetic kaleidoscope composed of rich NRIs. It's a relationship quadrangle and lacks conviction in parts, but since it's done cleverly, you tend to play along- doing a willing-suspension-of-disbelief act. As someone explained later: life, relationships and matters of the heart for the swish set born after 1980 have actually become complicated! In real life. You are just good friends; you are soul mates; you love each other but it's not "in that sense" romantic love etc etc! All bunkum, you might say, or all real aspects of life! These and all other possible Mushkils you can imagine surface in the second half, leaving you gasping for fresh air! Sigh.
All said and done, this is actually KJo's best effort in so far as taking up complicated relationships in an evolving social milieu are concerned! Not in the genre of KKHH, which typified puppy love, but more Second-Decade-of-Twenty-First-century variety! Vague, complicated yet intense and genuine! Parts of the movie are super brilliant, parts just fizzle out! But the sum of the whole is quite entertaining. At the end of the day, the movie is about Ranbir Kapoor's brilliance as a Showman, the true grandson of his illustrious grandfather! And not to miss Anoushka! She with the ordinary looks, has an acting caliber that comes alive only under a director like KJo. Vibrant and innocent, mischievous and impish, she is made of many parts!! But my favourite scene in the movie is the stand-off between Lisa Hayden and Anoushka! Lisa, so brilliant and befitting the "Vatavaran" of the movie, is grossly under-utilised and I loved her, as in Queen! Pritam Singh's music is both foot-tapping and soulful. Aishwarya looks stunning, despite the age and leaves an impact.
When all the ghosts of the quadrangular relationships are slain, another ghost appears! For that, go watch the movie........................and come back humming..Maine Saiyan Ji se break up kar Ilya hai! How inspirational!

# Akira #MovieReview

#AKIRA #MovieReview

#Akira, the story of a trained martial arts young girl from #Jodhpur, promises but doesn't quite deliver in its entirety! 

Sonakshi, as an unusual kid, is a saviour to many a young harassed girl in #Jodhpur, but her Richie Rich brother with his arrogant, aloof and urbane wife, summons the mother-daughter duo, for entirely selfish reasons and they move to Mumbai. As a college kid in Mumbai she unwittingly becomes an eyewitness to the shenanigans of Mumbai Police officers, who have chanced upon big time money and have to eliminate any one who comes between them and the catch. What follows is a gripping first half, revolving around the dark underbelly of commercial capital Mumbai, replete with drugs, sleazy call girls, cold blooded shoot outs and some interesting campus brawls, but thereafter the script falters. 

Post interval, Sonakshi, the firebrand fighter, black belt and all that finds herself heavily drugged and incarcerated in a mental asylum. The film makes little sense after this, as too many characters are introduced, without fully developing their character or justifying their existence through a supporting sub plot. One such role is that of Konkana Sen Sharma! What did the Director, Murugandoss, a veteran of films like #Ghazni do to her character? Yet another police officer, succumbing to pressures or what? If Konkana is irrelevant and easily replaceable in the film, you can imagine the plight of several other minor characters in the film, including Amit Sadh! Infact the entire Mental Asylum twist is bizarre, too many loose ends and without any hint of credible denouement arising from there. The biggest weakness of the film, really! 

But the movie is still gripping and watchable, for two reasons! One is of course Sonakshi, who looks great and acts well, carrying the burden of this social pariah in a rather stoic and strong manner, without any melodrama. Probably this is her coming of age film! That a woman lead in Bollywood can kick butt and smash bones, despite carrying a scar on her temple that resembles the male chromosome, Y, is in itself a coming-of-age film for Bollywood; In a crime thriller version after social dramas like Queen! Kudos to Sonakshi @@sonakshisinhaofficial, for shining so bright! 

But guess who steals the show? Anurag Kashyap as the smacky, sleazy, pervert, evil thug in uniform, ACP Rane, and that's why I have reserved my comments on him for the end! One has seen his directorial brilliance in films such as #DevD and #GangsofWasseypur, but who would have thought that he packs such a powerhouse of acting talent as well in him! As ACP Rane he typifies all that is wrong and hateful with the uniformed services and he delivers to perfection! A case in point is the scene where the call-girl dies without revealing the entire mystery to him! You should see his expressions in that sequence! I just wish the second half had played more on his character than it did! Then I would justifiably have rooted for the film to be renamed Akira and Rane or more creatively, #AkiRane!

#MovieReview #Rustom

#MovieReview #Rustom 

Three Shots that shook the nation; #Rustom, a Movie based on real life drama, with the central theme of crime of passion, involving the very upper crust of metropolitan Mumbai., nee Bombay, set in a period not too long after the Britts made their first exit, held out a great promise. With @AkshayKumar playing the lead as Commander #Rustom, the real-life ‪#‎Nanavati‬, the movie succeeds in retaining the interest of the viewers, never mind the several flaws and deviations from the original saga! 

In the late 1950s, a Parsi naval Commander's bored on-shore wife, Cynthia, finds a lover in her absentee husband's friend. Predictably, the Commander, Rustom, returns unannounced from the seas and discovers the liaison. He walks to the house of his wife's paramour, Vikram Makhija, pumps three bullets into him and goes and surrenders to the nearest police station, confessing to having killed a man. An open and shut case, most would say! Sure to send the Commander to the gallows! But the story has only just begun. In real life, as in the movie, the case goes to trial by Jury as the Commander pleads Not Guilty on charges of murder. The movie is almost entirely made up of the court room drama on how the prosecution wants to prove it as a case of premeditated, cold blooded murder, while the defence vacillates between the principle of culpable homicide due to grave and sudden provocation and as an act of self defence. 

During the trial, the rich and influential Parsi community, kicks up public sentiment in favour of one of its own Bawa log, the naval commander Rustom, through its powerful tabloid, RK Karanjia's Blitz, in real life, while the equally rich Sindhi community pumps in money to get the best prosecution lawyer, a young Ram Jethmalani in real life, and a conviction for Rustom. A spirited fight ensues between the two communities and what happens in the end is well known, but the treatment of the court room proceedings must be watched to relive the drama of the late 1950s. 

The movie is carried beautifully by Akshay Kumar on his shoulders! True, he barely looks or talks like a Parsi, but come on, he didn't have to do that to portray the role of a cuckolded husband! He is, after all, a highly decorated, much travelled Naval Commander, married to a British born beauty, moves in the charmed Richie-rich, ball-room circuit of post-colonial INDIA still struggling with issues of snobbery! It's entirely probable that the original NanavatI was equally cosmopolitan in his demeanour! 

The beautiful Ileana DeSouza, as the errant wife, sleep-walks through the film, her guilt laden role inducing such untold stress on her acting capabilities, that she just collapses under its burden! Makhija's sister, the vampishLH glamorous cigarette-in-an-ebony-holder smoking Esha Gupta, looks very much the part of a blood thirsty relative, but the promise of her role is never fully realised. Arjan Bajwa, as Makhija, looks every inch the Casanova that he portrays. Thematically, there is the huge irritant of the unsolved tangle of the Air Craft carrier and Rs. 5 crore deposit in the Swiss bank account. I mean, WHY was this sub plot introduced? Was it to sow doubts in our mind that Rustom was not such an honest guy as was made out by the tabloids and he staged all of this to find an exit and live happily ever after, once the ordeal was over? Hugely disappointing, in so much as the loose ends remain untied! 

Even the role of Blitz/Karanjia is given almost a comical treatment, which is quite contrary to the truth! I remember my parents talking about the role of Blitz during the Nanavati trial and it was anything but comic! In Fact, it was the first instance of trial by media, this time in favour of defence! The Mother of all Trials By Media! The director has erred seriously in trivialising this and creating a caricature of the hawkish Karanjia! But maybe, we can dismiss it as creative licence of the director's. 

The movie also misses the seriousness of the point of how the jury was so gullible in giving a very influenced verdict . Those were the days when the jury system prevailed! Members of the Jury, are ordinary people, drawn from various walks of society to perform their duty towards the State. They are impressionable, most amenable to public opinion, affiliations of caste,/religion, other peer pressures and not entirely objective! This verdict put in focus the vulnerabilities of the jury system and it finally led to its abolition. 

However, as I say, a perfect movie is yet to be made! A movie has to entertain, be watchable, retain your interest in a what-next sense and must not challenge your intelligence! Well, not beyond a point! Rustom passes on all these counts, irrespective of the flaws! It captures the ambience of 1950s Bombay and is authentic to the extent of 7/10. But the credit for making it a good experience goes to Akshay and Akshay alone. For his sake and for keeping your faith in true love, go watch this movie! True Love? The real life Nanavati, as also Rustom, lived happily ever after in salubrious Canada with his errant wife for the next half a century, obviously forgiving her this minor indiscretion! Long live True Love.......

MohenjoDaro

#MovieReview #Mohenjo Daro

Why did ‪#‎AshutoshGowarikar‬ make this film? A romance-cum-revenge drama set in circa 2500 BC in the ancient civilisation of Indus Valley; it was an exciting idea, but it remained just that, an idea, and didn't quite go beyond that! It turned out to be a prolonged and agonising history lesson for 6th graders, replete with Alien/Undeciphered Language/Script, Unicorns, Worship of Mother Goddess, Seals, Terracotta Toys, Barter trade for Indigo, trade with Sumerians for bronze weapons and of course the role of river Sindhu in nurturing and eventually destroying the Civilization! Just for the record, my history teacher had made the lessons in Indus Valley Civilization more interesting than Gowarikar, despite his expertise in weaving historical dramas, and creating this one with romance and revenge themes interwoven.

So,@Hrithik , an indigo farmer's nephew, living in a non-descript village, follows his dreams and lands in #MohenJoDaro, not quite sure why he was enamoured of the place! But once there, he meets a pretty girl ( @PoojaHegde) daughter of a high priest, wearing a strange head gear and oh so predictably, falls in love with her! That she is betrothed to the evil son of the evil ruler @KabirBedi is a minor irritant, because, of course, Hrithik the macho warrior will destroy all evil from the city and banish the scheming, greedy rulers from the city, which has already acquired some reputation as an abode of intrigue and guile! What follows is a painful 1st half, woven around a stratified society, depicted most clumsily through an equally stratified city architecture, with a soothsayer providing ominous historical inputs and being the usual prophet of doom!

The scheming plot unfolds more in the second half, which meets a wee bit better treatment in the depiction of a free style wrestling bout between Hrithik and two Uzbek Giants. But the best part of the film is the flood in the river Indus and how Hrithik assumes the role of a Noah to steer everyone to safety, to the Doab before the deluge devours all evil!

The film is almost entirely silly. Why does the priest's daughter become synonymous with Goddess Sindhu when her mother dies at child birth? Why does the evil ruler decide to make her his son's Sangini, no one knows! Too much effort goes into explaining the well known facts about the ancient Civilisation, without providing additional insights, so much so that you almost hear Gowarikar, the history teacher, saying kids pay attention, our lesson today is on Indus Valley Civilization! That effort shows and makes the movie tedious. ‪#‎HrithikRoshan‬ looks jaded. # PoojaHegde is at best attractive. ‪#‎Gowarikar‬ created so much ennui with the film, that my friend and I, both having studied history at some stage in life, were left arguing whether the Indus people buried or cremated their dead! But in the end she concentrated on the larger lament; the fact that we are doomed to watch monochromatic films, if Fitoor was Grey, this was Brown! And yes one universal truth, wife-bashing is an ancient sport, descending to mankind from its ancient civilisations! Yuk!

Don't watch this one. Wait for Gowarikar's next!

#MovieReview:#Sultan

‪#‎SULTAN‬: 

Movies are becoming rarer and more difficult to go to, what with the heavy demands of the job I currently have! If I am giving my ‪#‎moviereview‬ on #Sultan two weeks after its release, I must most certainly find another hobby. Maybe do a cooking channel on YouTube but for that I must have a kitchen. And time, that scarce commodity! 

So anyway, Sultan, a sports and romance film, turned out to be predictable and a bit too long! That's the first thing. Second, it has Salman as an actor, not as a flamboyant star; naughty, heart warningly childish, man of indefinite age, but as a mature man of the world, who has seen life as an idle kite-flier, a village jester, a general wastrel! But when love strikes, everything undergoes a metamorphoses. it brings a purpose in his life. A serious purpose; to prove his worth, raise his self-esteem, not just to deserve the girl ( Anoushka) of his dreams, but also to earn respect in his own eyes! He achieves all that he could ever have imagined; rising to state, national and international acclaim as a wrestler and marries the girl responsible for his turnaround. But he has his rough edges and as with ordinary mortals, success goes to his head and he loses it all! But unlike lesser mortals, life provides him with a second chance! Upar Allah, neeche Dharti, beech me Tera Zameer! Can there be any doubt about the way the saga unfolds? 

The movie is otherwise well made. Great visuals, wrestling rings, dangal style, from rural heartland to dingy gyms in old Delhi's by-lanes, the movie captures it all, most realistically. The wrestling bouts are well shot and the Haryanvi flavour provides bits of raw humour! All sequences fall into place. Anoushka had the promise of a great role, but it fizzles out, mid-stream. Not because she couldn't handle it, but because the story didn't quite treat her character properly. Or maybe it's the real life dilemma of a progressive woman, who gets sacrificed at the altar of marriage and motherhood and is relegated to the background in life! Character artistes in the movie have all done a great job, Salman's friend Gopal, Anoushka's dad, the second innings coach of Salman, Randeep Hooda, who is slaying some of his own personal ghosts, Wrestling league promoter, all great! The stunts are entirely credible but the songs are intrusive. They just seem unnecessary, prolonging the flashback narrative, making you squirm in your seat with the pace of the movie, particularly in the first half! 

For me, @Sultan was an unusual experience! I love @Salmankhan in his stupid, mindless, flamboyance, with that ridiculous, incredible, shirt-throwing, dancing genius. There are few glimpses of that in Sultan. For most parts it is a serious role and Salman does full justice to it! But what to do about a fan who wants Dabang style buffoonery, that grips your heart and turns it inside out, that child-like man staying in your mind much after the movie is over! I found that missing. No excitement, no going overboard, no hai-Salman type hyper-reaction! Bit sad, but it's OK! Even children grow up, mature and you got to accept it. This is Salman's first mature movie! At least in a long long time! Let's celebrate that!!

As I slay my ghosts

Plain, simple looks, 
almost sickly appearance, 
Narrow set eyes
Almost gawky, 
Like a poster boy of some far away, 
strife torn, tribal land
Malnourished,
Unnoticed and rejected
at home, by father and all else
Unimpressive in school,
in studies in debates
or anything extra,
I make no mark.
Till I almost stop suffering,
immune to all negative, indifferent stimuli
Thankful that the mother provides
some solace.
I grow up, trying to seek approval,
even attention,
get noticed, feel accepted,
Nay some acclaim.
I climb down
From the hills to the sea shore
Hoping for a fair breeze
to blow my 
By and by it does
And I do
But somehow it feels inadequate,
Like my persona!
These seem like half measures,
my longing for more intensifies
As I stand secluded,
Surrounded by those beautiful people,
Those lovely, though painted faces.
Those broad shoulders,
muscled backs, penetrating eyes
Juxtapose and hammer in my own inadequacies
on a daily basis.
Pushing me on
To outdo them in smartness.
It works, it doesn't work
I swing, I struggle
pit goes on
My self esteem often staring vacantly
into my inner spaces
Then it returns
bewildered I set out to prove
It's not I who am inadequate
It's the outer, social space,
so full of incompleteness, hollowness
It's Unwilling, Unprepared meanness
to accept me as their own.
Till I reject them
With all my being.
But again, no one notices
My rejection gets internalised,
Consuming me
Burning me from the core
Till I realise I got to say it
Say it all
Because no one notices
my brilliance,
my internalised rejection
of body beautiful.
Looks matter, after all in this business of beauty
In this make believe cosmos
pivoting around beauty and romance,
Where am I with my internalised rejection?
So I got to get up and say it
Say it all
Ever so often
I hate you
You can't act
You are mediocre
You breed mediocrity
I stand before you
As the pinnacle of brilliance
You don't notice,
Except occasionally,
The women, oh those beautiful eyes,
Curvaceous bodies,
Hare Rama Hate Krishna chanting Hippies
from Woodstock
have eyes only for them,
Not for me.
Even in appreciation, I am academic
They are real!
I need to gnaw, shriek, yell
Yet no adulation comes my way
No swooning, fainting fans follow me
As I yearn for it.
Where are you Oh Father in Heaven
Where does it lead me?
I am your child
Accept me,
Give me a place
Under your sun
For I too walked this street!
This glamour street
Where no one loves me!

As I slay my ghosts

Plain, simple looks, 
almost sickly appearance, 
Narrow set eyes
Almost gawky, 
Like a poster boy of some far away, 
strife torn, tribal land
Malnourished,
Unnoticed and rejected
at home, by father and all else
Unimpressive in school,
in studies in debates
or anything extra,
I make no mark.
Till I almost stop suffering,
immune to all negative, indifferent stimuli
Thankful that the mother provides
some solace.
I grow up, trying to seek approval,
even attention,
get noticed, feel accepted,
Nay some acclaim.
I climb down
From the hills to the sea shore
Hoping for a fair breeze
to blow my way.
By and by it does
And I do
But somehow it feels inadequate,
Like my persona!
These seem like half measures,
my longing for more intensifies
As I stand secluded,
Surrounded by those beautiful people,
Those lovely, though painted faces.
Those broad shoulders,
muscled backs, penetrating eyes
Juxtapose and hammer in my own inadequacies
on a daily basis.
Pushing me on
To outdo them in smartness.
It works, it doesn't work
I swing, I struggle
pit goes on
My self esteem often staring vacantly
into my inner spaces
Then it returns
bewildered I set out to prove
It's not I who am inadequate
It's the outer, social space,
so full of incompleteness, hollowness
It's Unwilling, Unprepared meanness
to accept me as their own.
Till I reject them
With all my being.
But again, no one notices
My rejection gets internalised,
Consuming me
Burning me from the core
Till I realise I got to say it
Say it all
Because no one notices
my brilliance,
my internalised rejection
of body beautiful.
Looks matter, after all in this business of beauty
In this make believe cosmos
pivoting around beauty and romance,
Where am I with my internalised rejection?
So I got to get up and say it
Say it all
Ever so often
I hate you
You can't act
You are mediocre
You breed mediocrity
I stand before you
As the pinnacle of brilliance
You don't notice,
Except occasionally,
The women, oh those beautiful eyes,
Curvaceous bodies,
Hare Rama Hate Krishna chanting Hippies
from Woodstock
have eyes only for them,
Not for me.
Even in appreciation, I am academic
They are real!
I need to gnaw, shriek, yell
Yet no adulation comes my way
No swooning, fainting fans follow me
As I yearn for it.
Where are you Oh Father in Heaven
Where does it lead me?
I am your child
Accept me,
Give me a place
Under your sun
For I too walked this street!
This glamour street
Where no one loves me!

Ki & Ka: what do women want!!

Ki & ka:
Finally a weekend to myself! Or half a weekend, at least! Found rime to catch R. Balki's new release Ki & ka with a rational feminist friend! I am glad we chose this movie as it really suited the lazy Sunday mood! A short, easy-paced film, but one that neither left you wanting for more, nor looking at your watch again and again to see how much more! At a superficial level, the movie is entertaining, engrossing and even funny, you may say! At a deeper level it has the whole complex cosmos of a woman's psyche at its weirdest best! Gender stereotyping is at the core of the film, but hey, there's more to it than just that!

So, Kia, played by Kareena, is a successful marketing manager who is unabashedly a careerist and thinks marriage is for the weak hearted! The very first scene where she attends a friend's marriage as a disinterested bystander or at best as a robotic dancer,,sets the tone of the movie, particularly when she lambasts another friend on the phone for stupidly rejoicing at the marriage when in fact, she should be mourning the loss of life of their newly wedded friend! That she says this in full hearing of the wedding party, speaks volumes about the character and prepares you for the bindaas attitude of the main protagonist.

A chance meeting with the rich builder's son, Kabir, (Arjun Kapoor) on the flight is funny! The guy is a clear case of Oedipus Complex, who thinks nothing about weeping publicly in the memory of his mother! Of course, he doesn't want to be like his father. The two start dating and soon identify the distinctly reverse characteristics that they have vis-a-via their own genders! Kabir, despite being an MBA topper, doesn't wish to inherit the parental business, but wants to be a home maker, like his mom, while Kia is not willing to sacrifice her career for mundane rituals like running a home efficiently. As the two seem ideally suited, they get married!

Life is on a roll; a continuous gravy train, literally and metaphorically! Kabir designs the house around the theme of a Rail Yard, with food rolling out on a table-top train, morning and night for the wife and mother -in -law ( Swarup Sampat) The couple, who dated at the Railway Museum, took this "trip" of an unconventional life and what better than a serving trolley, designed as a train to remind you that these guys are on their own trip! And Guess what? The train stops and the trip gets over!

Kabir's happy existence as a stay-at-home husband gets noticed and he becomes a hit on the seminar circuit! Role reversal theme gets contorted when the successful careerist wife, like any other Man in her position, is unable to tolerate the success of the home-maker husband! She is jealous, fiery, insecure and abusive of the new found public identity of the husband! But hang on, she's a liberated woman, a high achiever herself! Why should a small thing like Woman's Day seminar cheese her off? Well, you are reminded of the universal truth: The hunter is supposed to go out and earn the bread and butter and the nurturer is supposed to stay in the cave and protect the family! One doesn't intrude into the role and character of the other without getting ferociously insecure and jealous!

The movie traverses and cuts across complex realms of mind, psyche and society, all at the same time! Gender stereotyping, role reversal, societal expectations, choices you have or even the lack of them, all come out in various forms! Kareena looks air-brushed but has done a good job! So has Arjun, in his easy, laconic style. Amitabh and Jaya in guest appearance, buttress the theme of choices women make! Of sacrificing pursuit of their ambition for the larger goal of nurturing the family!

Not a simple film by any standard! Complex, layered and nuanced! Leaving you wondering, pondering over the cosmic mystery, man style: WHAT DO WOMEN REALLY WANT?? Go watch it!

#Fitoor

‪#‎Fitoor‬:
New posting, new city, new chapter in life, first weekend and old friends! Nice ingredients! With Great Expectations, we decided to go see the new film in a new cinema hall! After all it was an ‪#‎AbhisekKapoor‬ film, the guy who made ‪#‎KaiPoChe‬! The problem: the movie was just a new release, it had nothing new to offer! Even the old it was supposed to recreate, was lost. 

As we entered the hall, my friend asked me to explain the term "fitoor" to her! With immense confidence and little knowledge of Urdu, Arabic or Persian, I loosely translated it for her as Obsession. To draw a parallel, I cited "Darr", where ‪#‎SRK‬ had this Fitoor for Kkkkkkkkiran! Happy at having found a reference point for the theme, we settled down for what we thought would be an exciting, romantic film! For the next two and a half hours we tried to figure out who had the fitoor for whom in the movie, what was the story, where did terrorism figure in it and how could you have the sub-continent's earth shattering dialogue "doodh mango ge to kheer de doonga, Kashmir mango ge to Seena cheer doonga, " without adequate development of the Kashmir issue! 

The story, or the semblance of a story, revolves around Hazrat Begum, played by Tabu, who is near schizophrenic, with a troubled past. The moment she sees a young menial boy, Noor, paying undue attention to her beautiful, aristocratic, arrogant daughter, Firdaus, she foresees debilitating romance blossoming between them and systematically strives to destroy it! But there is a two-scene intrusive Ajay Devgn element in the movie, whose acts of benevolence destroy, instead of create, the identity of a grown up Noor. If Kashmir is around, can Pakistan be far behind? Love happens, one is told by the besotted Noor, but it just doesn't show! The grown up Firdaus is now the betrothed of a Pakistani Minister, but conveniently forgets him for a brief interlude with her childhood sweetheart! If I recount the story any further, it will amount to double jeopardy for me! So, let it rest! 

Two things can find mention here, though! One, Kashmir and its beautiful locales and two, Tabu. But does a so called dark film have to be shot in dark hues with minimal light? I wanted to see Kashmir more clearly, not like peering through the dark! My friend thought she was losing her vision as she couldn't see anything clearly! I had to keep reassuring her that she was Ok, it was the MOVIE! Then there is Tabu! And before anyone jumps to a conclusion to rave and rant about her beauty, her soulful or cerebral acting etc, let me say, she disappoints! Not because she can't act or has over acted! None of that, for God knows she can act, as true to life as possible! But she disappoints because this is a case of ONE TOO MANY! She's done this kind of stuff TOO many times in the past. A versatile actor like her should drop this kind of repetitive appearance, at least for the next 5 years! I would love to see Tabu playing a Biwi No 1 type of role now! Or maybe Bhabhi no 1, on the pattern of Bhabhi ji Ghar par hain, the cutest comedy on Indian tv! 

Aditya Roy Kapoor is just about OK, he looks sufficiently wide eyed and dumb struck, although towards the end he is on the verge of Aashiqui 2 type of self destructiveness! This is Katrina's worst appearance! She looks jaded and sleep walks through the film! 

Don't watch it! I regretted missing Siya Ke Ram!

#SaalaKhadoos

#SaalaKhadoos : 

How do you review a movie which, in the very first few scenes, you are able to predict? Well, despite all the predictability, there is also a great deal of credibility in the movie, thanks to good direction and some great performances by all the leading actors! After all it's a Raju Hirani movie! 

Saala Khadoos, the story of a fallen boxing star and coach is almost the boxing variant of Chak De India, with a minor difference; this one is an individual sport while Chak De was a team #sport, of course! But it's the same formula. Fallen coach, personal animosities, corrupt sports administration, under-utilised talent, sexual harassment, strenuous training and the grand finale! Thrown in with greater finesse is the element of sibling rivalry!

 Madhavan is the foul mouthed,shaggy haired, bulky and earthy coach who fires verbal canons all around him, unmindful of the gender of his clients! Banished to Chennai, on a punishment posting ( uhm, uhm uhm), he spots his alter ego, his female version, a fish seller, a Jhalli, as the well picturised song tells us, a potential champ. But it's her sister who is being coached for boxing. You can smell the beginning of a serious case of sibling rivalry! Romance is, of course, predictable! 

It is the slimy, debauch and exploitative national coach whose character provides stereotypical situations and behaviours. So much cliche'! He is the quintessential Sports official one has learnt to loathe. But, it's the very convincing and nuanced acting by Zakir Hussain which prevents you from squirming in your seat. 

The new girl Ritika Singh, as the fiery shrew, waiting to be tamed is good! She has done a good job both as a maverick, fish selling tomboy, training to be a boxer and as a young girl falling in love with her mentor, even wearing a sari to experience and express the love. She dances with abandon and that alone qualifies her as a potential star for Hindi cinema! Madhavan was also very good, although I don't know how he manages to fall a wee bit short of sublime in every movie! He was damn good in Tanu Weds..., but Dobhriyal stole the show! Here also he is very good but Zakir Husain and the Junior Coach out-do him! I wonder what I would have thought of his role if he had kept his hair short or tied it in a pony! I was almost looking for a scrunchy to tie up his hair! 

Many social messages in the film, but let them be! It's an entertaining, enthralling film and I learnt some boxing rules, finally! Worth a watch, for sure! 

Wazir

Wazir:

 Amitabh Bacchan beckoned as few in Hindi cinema can at 70years of age and plans to watch Wazir materialised. The added allure of Farhan Akhtar on a Vidhu Vinod Chopra provided platform was the clincher.

As with almost all the movies I see, I went with zero expectations, but came out impressed and touched. It's a terror and vendetta plot, with personal traumas thrown in for the two protagonists.  Both Amitabh and Farhan have lost their daughters, albeit under different circumstances. While Farhan's 4 year old daughter gets shot dead in an encounter that he engages in with a bunch of terrorists as an ATS officer, Amitabh's much older daughter died due to a fall at a Minister's house where she worked as a chess coach to the Minister's 13 year old daughter. The similarity is that while Farhan blames himself for his daughter's death, Amitabh doesn't quite believe in the official version given out by the police and wants further investigation into his daughter's murder.  

The two meet under circumstances, which we later find out were contrived, and try and provide succour to each other. Their friendship and bond is surreal, but credible! While Amitabh, as the Chess maestro teaches Farhan to not only play chess, but also to lead his life equally strategically, Farhan takes it upon himself to investigate the older girls death, in the process earning the ire of his seniors. 

With a heavy chess analogy in the film, the title and much else in the film are a dead give away and tell-all, making the mystery a little diluted! The reason is not far to seek. The movie suffers from poor scripting! But dialogues in the film do succeed in touching some emotional and sensitive chords.  Given the  shortcoming with the script, the Director has done a fine job of taking it forward  with some engaging sequences. How can a villain be so evil as to burn the wheel chair of a double amputee, you wonder! Some other scenes between Amitabh and Farhan and between the ATS types are gripping. 

If script is the weakness of the movie, powerful acting by Amitabh is its strongest point. Amitabh as the wheel-chair bound, grieving but commanding Chess Master has done a superb job.  Farhan is also very good, although I have to say he is a bit flat, monochromatic and predictable! Aditi Rao Hyadri emotes well as the grieving mother of the slain little girl. She shuts her husband out of her life for being the cause of all the grief! It takes Amitabh's craft and some good dialogues to bring the Beghum back to her Shauhar! The Minister from Kashmir hides a terrible past in his closet, but the revelations on Badshah and Wazir, do not surprise you! That's a missed opportunity. 

There is some further good acting by the Minister, but an equally below average one by John Abraham! The ephemeral Neil Nitin Mukesh comes and goes without impact! 

I would go with a 3 on 5, and much of it is because of the acting!