Between Breaths Thus Arrives.... | Editor's Pen

That was the climax of March 2k9 when a general discussion about cinema caused some thoughts and a cold water shower later in the evening sprouted the idea of an exclusive blog/portal/ezine just for movie buffs. Ali liked the idea and we worked over it for some late hours in college. Naming it was difficult till Anurag (a friend) suggested The Reel that perfectly amalgamated with our thoughts and we came up with name- The Reel Mag.

More thoughts, more discussions… and finally, the result came on April 15th, 2009 when thereelmag.blogspot came into existence. Those moments still cause goosebumps.

We worked over ideas and achieved some appreciation. Blue Notebook was a high, gave us energy, we never imagined. We had four special editions en route- Satyajit Ray Special, Horror Special, Blue Notebook and this one- Between Breaths Special. The first three went beyond what we expected but… its hard, but frankly the last one almost bombed. We got some stories from different parts of country but the short movies never arrived. The few videos we got were interesting but considering the number of entries we got and our expectations, we finally decided to call the event off. I really feel sorry for Ali because, this was basically his idea and calling it off was the hardest decision we took ever. I guess, it’s better to say sorry for that than presenting a work that doesn’t stand even half at par with our expectations. So, next Between Breaths Short Film Fest will be there next year and I promise you that next time we will go for the kill…

But, to start the tradition with a positive omen, we are dedicating this edition to short movies only… the way they are and some of our faves. I hope you will like it… Waiting for you replies…

Love...

Sujoy Ghosh

Little Terrorist

Category: Independent
Rating: 9/10
Director: Ashwin Kumar
Plot: The story is about a Pakistani Muslim kid who crosses the international border for his cricket ball that trespass the fences. He is spotted by the Indian Defense and now he needs to save himself. A Hindu Brahmin sees him and gives him shelter at his place. When Force come to his place, kid’s head is shaved to give him Brahmin look and thus saved. They form a bond and risking his own life; Brahmin is saves the kid and ensures his return to Pakistan. Amidst hatred, love sprouts.

Positive

Category: Independent
Rating: 7.5/10
Director: Farhan Akhtar
Actors: Boman Irani, Arjun Mathur, Shabana Azmi
Plot: A young guy has issues with his father as he holds secret of father’s illicit affairs. One fine day, he comes to know that his father is suffering from AIDS. Now it’s up to him to show his kinder side and stand by his father in his hard times, despite of his own reservations.

Ten Minutes

Category: Independent
Rating: 9.5/10
Director: Ahmed Imamovic
Plot: 10 minutes may mean nothing for someone and an upturned world for someone else. A Japanese tourist is elated to get his service in ten minutes in a peaceful Rome. However, a kid in Bosnia loses his family during war in those 10 minutes. While he is out of his home, shelling takes place. He is saved by soldiers but his family in comparatively safer home faces death. Japanese tourist gets his request done, unaware of what happened in those 10 minutes in another part of the world… hardly half an hour from there.

Hotel Story

Category: Anthology Movie- Darna Mana Hai
Rating: 7/10
Director: Prawal Raman
Actors: Saif Ali Khan, Boman Irani
Plot: A photographer checks in a hotel where smoking is strictly prohibited. Infact, the owner of the hotel is eccentric to the point that he won’t allow the photographer leave till he leaves smoking. A lot raged and a bit terrified photographer says that he has left smoking from that point but owner says that it’s easy said, hard done. He won’t allow him leave premises till he is assured of that. Later (after six months) even the photographer becomes like the owner- eccentric and psychopath.

Gubbare

Category: Anthology Movie- Dus Kahaniyan
Rating: 7.5/10
Director: Sanjay Gupta
Actors: Nana Patekar, Anita, Rohit Roy
Plot: A newly-wed couple is annoyed with each other. Girl befriends with an elderly person and he tells about how he makes up with his wife when she gets annoyed by gifting her balloons. He tells about the little fights he and his wife have amongst themselves and makes peace happily. It is later revealed that his wife has died long ago and he actually goes to cemetery to gift her balloons. The girl realizes that life is too small for love and she is wasting her time by indulging in petty fights.

2009 - the year of reckoning for short film makers

2009 was a landmark for short film makers, because it saw the release of two milestone films that were originally short films - 'District 9' and '9'.

First was Neill Blomkamp's 'District 9' that generated a excellent amount of critical acclaim as well as box-office returns. It all started with his own short film "Alive in Joburg".

He had the honour of making his film under the production of Peter Jackson.




Second movie was Timur Bekmambetov's "9" that was produced by legendary director Tim Burton. Although it was said it could have been a better film but one unanimous praise it gathered was of acheiving excellent feats in computer generated imagery.

His short film was also called "9" which he made as a student. Incidentally that short film won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film.



So short films will make it big... very soon

written by Ali Naqvi

Rice Plate

Category: Anthology Movie- Dus Kahaniyan
Rating: 8/10
Director: Rohit Roy
Actors: Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah
Plot: A staunch Hindu lady misses her train and stops at a canteen to have something. With little money she has, she buys a Rice Plate. While she is washing her hands, she notices that a Muslim gentleman is eating her food. She snatches the plate from him and finishes it off. Disgusted, she leaves the place after having the food. However, later she realizes that she has left her bag in the canteen only. She returns just to see that her rice plate is at its place with her bag around. She mistakenly fought for the rice plate that actually belonged to the gentleman. She realizes that Hindu and Muslims are same, i.e. human beings. They should live like humans without any prejudice against each other.

Prarambha

Category: Independent      
Rating: 8.5/10
Director: Santosh Sivan
Actor: Prabhu Deva
Plot: A kid has contacted HIV from his parents and his mother has abandoned him as she is dying from AIDS complications.  A truck driver finds him at the back of the vehicle. Friendship is struck between him and truck driver. Truck driver helps him find her mother who is now in hospital. After finding his mother the mission to ensure kid’s education in school as school has dismissed him. Reason: Due to his HIV positive status, parents of other children are reluctant to allow their children study with him.  Moving ahead, an awareness program is organized to make people know about AIDS and consequently, kid is readmitted in school.

Blood Brothers

Category: Independent                
Rating: 8/10
Director: Vishal Bhardwaj
Actors: Siddhartha, Pankaj Kapoor, Pawan Malhotra, Ayesha Takia
Plot: Story is about Arjun who finds that he is infected with HIV-AIDS. He leaves his family behind and disoriented wanders here and there. He is robbed by petty goons and injured lands at place of a Doctor. Doctor reveals that he is perfectly okay and on finding more he realizes that there is another person with the same name and by mistake he got a wrong report. The original patient is a coach and probably not aware of his state. But his presumption is wrong. The patient knows that he is suffering and trying to live the life to the fullest. Does AIDS takes away the right to live… definitely not.

In Your Short Shots… | Cine Talk

Short Movie has a distinctive charm that allure a section of film goers. These are loved by people who are fascinated by the trailers and often choose to watch movie if trailers are good. These grab eyes of people who are watch a movie for the story rather than star-cast. These are studied by people who learn cinema like education, rather than a hobby… And… I come into all three categories.

While our generation still loves Laurel and Hardy, but short movie has gone far beyond comedies. In early days of cinema, comedies were the core of this genre but today, short films are seriously representing all that is beyond the funny bone and echo your hidden thoughts. I saw a short film 10 Minutes that depicted how 10 minutes can be just a passing moment for one and a life-changer for other. It is one of the most appreciated short movies of this age.

Some short movies tell you a documentary; some reflect short stories and some are travelogues. The charm of a short movie is not just in the story or plot but also in the skill to tell everything in a small time. It takes a great understanding of plot and its background to do so. And I tell you that it’s not easy to make a short movie. It takes lots of labor and revisions of script before starting the camera. Each second counts and that makes it more and more difficult to handle them.

But there is a great silver lining. It helps you hone your acting, directing and script-writing skills. Feedback is fast and with mediums like youtube around, you can have instant feedback and that too from a greater and global audience. Short Movies simply rock… and fortunately, the market for short movies is increasing. Moreover, with anthology movies becoming a fashion in Bollywood, who know you may direct some story in next Dus Kahaniyaan… or may New York, I Love You…

By: Sujoy Ghosh

Waiting For April First | Editor's Pen

Dear all…

Apology… We have not been up to mark lately because me, Ali and other contributors are kinda busy and it is becoming extremely difficult to carry many articles. So with reduced number of articles we are trying our best to be prompt and try to carry on the show…

We have got some entries for Between Breaths and the videos revealed a very interesting thing- all these people have a very strong inherent knowledge of cinema. Most of these intend to stress on social issues and the selection of words and music is really impressive. When we will discuss them in our Short Movie Special coming up on April First, you will realize what immense power your thoughts have in your shorties…

In this edition, a story brought nerves to us. Roger Edbert… The person who changed the way of reviewing movies and created a class distinct from the large herd of people who take money and review according to the amount on check… He is a legend and we are learning from him only…

Warm Regards
Sujoy Ghosh

Pyaar Ke Side Effects (PKSE) Movie Review | Critique

 Rating – 4/5 stars

When the movie released I was confused whether to watch it or not. On one hand it had Rahul Bose who is an asset to any film, on the other it had Mallika Sherawat who then was umm ahem, you know NOT so good cast member. So I did not watch it until a year after it released.

PKSE is story of Trisha and Sid, how they fall in love, how they break up, how they patch up, how they fight, and finally how they get married. Beauty of PKSE lies it handles each phase of their love with such perfection.
Film is perfect in nearly all aspects.

Structure of story is fun and very entertaining. Comic one liners relating to battle of sexes are one of the best of the decade. The first half is frothy and comic. Second half is emotional but it touches heart. What is commendable is the way PKSE changes gears from comic, smart to emotional and succeeds in both.
PKSE has superb performances. Rahul Bose is great as usual. Mallika is the surprise package of the film, after watching PKSE it shows the potential that she carries as an actress. PKSE has side characters that may be small in screen time, but leave strong mark. Ranvir Shorey as Narayanan "Nanu" Iyer .Sophie Choudry as Tanya (Baby Girl Vol.3) . Suchitra Pillai-Malik as Anjali (Dracula).Sharat Saxena as Retd. Major Gen. Veera Bhadra Mallick. Taraana Raja as Shalini .Aamir Bashir as Kapil. Jas Arora as Vivek Chaddha Sapna Bhavnani as Nina. Each of them are worth mentioning and add value to the movie.

PKSE has songs such as ‘Jaane kya chahe mann’, ‘Paappe pyar karke’ and ‘Bad Boy’ which were all excellent tracks. Specially ‘Jaane kya’ is a track that will remain etched in public memory for long.
PKSE is our answer to any and every good Hollywood Romantic comedy, be it Notting Hill or any film you can think of.  If you haven’t watched it yet, you have missed something.

 PS- It is one of my personal favorites. In fact, I am very proud of this film as being such a good INDIAN romantic comedy.  I had to resist the temptation of giving it a rating of 4.5 or 5 :P.

Written By- Ali Naqvi.

Kathryn and Oscars | Eyes Read It

Oscars this year were phenomenal in many ways but for one reason this Oscars will be remembered for long is for the appreciation it gave to the director of  highly acclaimed Hurt Locker- Kathryn Bigelow. In the glorious history of Academy Awards- First woman to win the award in Best Director Category.

India has two female directors making it big at International Level- Deepa Mahta and Meera Nair. They are so famed that hardly any male director in India matches them currently. May be Shyam Benegal stand a strong case but beyond him, I guess we have any worthy name.  Reason: These ladies have been able to capture the stories with a extremely humane approach and their conviction in their story is evident from the passion they pour in through the lenses.

Kathryn shattered the age old thought of male-world and proved that when a woman sees the world, her thoughts are more intriguing than male counterparts. Hurt Locker is a fine example of class cinema. Hurt Locker is a war movie exhibiting sensibilities of war-affected people; be the victims or the army personnel involved. It raises the basic question- “Are we too much busy with war that we have forgotten that the purpose of war is to save humanity?” Hurt Locker is considered to be one of the best war movies in recent times.

James Cameroon and Kathryn Bigelow were in friendly competition at the final honor and when latter went away with top honors, James had a smile. Ex-husband of Bigelow, he was happy that his extremely talented ex-wife finally got the acclaim she deserved for long. Avatar might have lost but finally- Cinema won.

Roger Ebert – Two Thumbs Up & effect on pop film culture| Statesmen

Being a movie buff you must have thought at some point, ”Who is the most renowned critic in cinema today.”  Atleast I had this question in my mind 2 years ago.  Researches lead me to the legendary Roger Ebert. I realized his influence on pop culture soon.

For example, if you are familiar with noted Indian Film Critic, Rajeev Masand, you must have noticed in his verdicts, “3 out of 5 and a thumbs up” or “3.5 out of 5 and two thumbs up” or “1 out of 5 and two thumbs down.”  Ever wondered where did this, thumbs up / thumbs down came into being? This is a direct reference to the show “Siskel and Ebert and The Movies”. In the show, Roger Ebert and his co-critic Gene Siskel used to give ratings in thumbs up or thumbs down. If both of them liked it was two thumbs up, If only one liked it was rated as one thumbs up.

Again if you have seen the show, Chicks on Flicks, they rate movies as double catch it or double trash it. This format is also directly from the show “Siskel and Ebert and The Movies”.

Interestingly, when the phrase started ‘Two thumbs up’ started becoming popular, Ebert and Siskel looked up literature history to see if this phrase was used before them. Sure enough, they realized they had coined the phrase . Two Thumbs Up® is a registered trademark of the show.

His contribution to cinema has been that more than reviewing big movies, he laid emphasis on small independent movies. He always brought to his show movies that he thought MUST be seen by movie buffs. Many Indie films have benefitted from his recommendations. Today’s generation of film directors and critics have grown up watching him and have been influenced by him. Therefore even as he does not have many film credits but by influence he has changed today’s cinema.

PS- I intended this piece to be an introduction of Roger Ebert. I may write more on him in later editions.

Written By- Ali Naqvi

Spanglish- Hollywood Movie| The Critique

In the shelf, when I saw the DVD, the first imprint was of a typical hilarious laughter-riot because it was an Adam Sandler movie. But somewhat the cover appeared calmer than any other Sandler motion. It has a very homely feel of a genre Sandler usually doesn’t represent. The TV screen revealed my guess. Spanglish is a sweet semi-romantic urban story of two families have different social and financial background.

Story is about a Mexican lady Flor and her daughter Christina. Flor works at house of John and Deborah Clasky. John (Adam Sandler) has a restaurant and is leading a nice and peaceful life with his wife, two kids and Deborah’s mother. Flor doesn’t know English and Clasky’s don’t understand Spanish (what Flor being Mexican speaks). However, somehow they manage and Claskys accept Flor with greatest heart. When summer comes and Claskys move to their summer home, they want Flor with them and Christina has to accompany her. There the kids become friends. Deborah has a complex that her daughter is not beautiful and when she finds Christina to be beautiful, she tries to shower her with all affection she wanted to shower on her own daughter. Flor doesn’t approve to this. Things get worse after this point as Deborah’s secret affair is revealed to John and John drifts towards Flor. At that point even you will feel like pairing them but they keep a distance…

It is a very simple story with a dash of romance and few very sweet moments where Flor is trying to learn English. The lingual parity is the high of the movie. Adam is calm and extremely into the character. He is a gem of an actor. Paz Vega in her first English movie has being a revelation and the way she carries the role is worth applause. She didn’t know English prior to filming of the movie.

This is a good watch if you like simple movies. Don’t expect laughter riot because it is not of that category at the first place. Enjoy…

written by: Sujoy Ghosh

Road, Movie | D and Dev B | Critique

People who want a Dev D or Oye Lucky Lucky Oye kinda movie… you are aiming too high. It is no Dev D, no English August and is simply Road, Movie. The little Deol is still experimenting with cinema and Dev B brought up a nice movie that is brilliant in pieces. Road, Movie might have been a path breaking movie but somehow, missed the bus.

Movie is about Vishnu and the way he learns about this country after he joins his family business of hair oil. He is supposed to sell hair oil and en-route has three companions- a gypsy girl, an old man and a kid. Now what will this journey reveal to him is the million dollar question for him and us. How the journey teaches him about life is the base of the saga.

Story has brilliant metaphors and in parts you will be overwhelmed by the concept. Water and its scarcity has been shown many times in movies but Dev took it to another level. There is a mild sarcasm on the MNCs bottling water and also on those who hoard resources for personal gains. ‘Mela’ was another brilliant metaphor for the ray of hope in desert where despite of all scarcities, people know how to celebrate life to the fullest. However, I guess the metaphors were allowed to be an understatement and they were brilliant that way only. Considering the time Dev took for this movie after his last outing- Split Wide Open, it should have been developed properly. But after watching the movie, you will feel otherwise. It lacked something and that will prick you in the end.

Despite of the scripting blunder, Road Movie is an interesting watch. Watch it if you like off-beat cinema or are an Abhay Deol fan like me. It’s not 100% entertainment but still better than many silly movies that are coming up lately. Watch out for Satish Kaushik and the kid- Mohd. Faisal. The gypsy girl’s act was apt. Both were outstanding in their roles. Final word of caution- its an off-beat movie. Don’t kick me if you hate it….

My Rating: 3.5/5

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

Editor's Pen: 21st edition

Hi!

Welcome back. While we had some good time at backend and found a lot of activity in front, i.e. twitter, facebook etc, I figured out one thing… we care about the visual media so much. Whoa… everybody is talking about the message in MNIK without giving a damn to some non-realistic scenes and going gaga over brilliant performances of SRK-Kajol + the kid… lot Forrest Gumpish yet so Indian. But definitely the high was the message itself.

Actually, the success of visual media lies in the fact how elegantly you are able to put forward the message. A picture may say more than ten badly made movies made on that topic put together. With Between Breaths we are trying to achieve that only- bringing out a beautiful concept that doesn’t need fancy budget to realize and give it a reach that may appear logistically impossible at point zero. If you can show a nice story, want it to reach a large population of movie-lovers then participate.

The most unfortunate thing is that some brilliant movies never get an audience shredding down all the respect the creators deserve… if you don’t want to be in the ‘I-Missed-the-Rail’ league… Participate in Between Breaths. Get all the adulation you rightly deserve.

Warm Regards...

Sujoy Ghosh

Aamir Khan vs Javed Akhtar | Eyes Read it

Hi there…

Cinematic world just witnesses a clash of two iconic figures on the issue of royalty for lyricists. While one of the figures was Javed Akhtar, on the opposite end we had Aamir Khan. Both extremely vocal in their opinions and in a moment, Khan resigned from the Committee appointed to oversee Copyright rights by the Government.

Khan has a opinion that lyricists do not have that great influence on the success of a movie that they should be paid more royalty after the success of movie. It should follow the traditional pattern where settlements are done prior to the release. However, Javed Sa’ab disagreed. He said that the music, that obviously includes lyrics; can be a major determinant to the success of movie. Well, he has a valid point as many movie get the initial collections because their music attract the people. That is why Javed Sa’ab made it a point that scriptwriters and lyricists both should be provided with royalties. Interestingly, even after 3 Idiots-Vidhu-Chetan fiasco, Khan stressed that writers (but not the lyricists) should be compensated appropriately.

Though, the motive is to ascertain the financial security of little known writers and lyricists; the resignation (though was taken back after intervention of concerned ministry) left sour taste on mouth.

Keeping the spat aside; recently promos of Prince (the Vivek Oberoi starrer) are being floated on small screen and from rushes looks promising technically, not story wise. The actions and graphics are at par with Hollywood movies and we can expect a success though the diminished fan base of Vivek raises doubts. After Company, Sathiya and Shootout…, he has hardly done any remarkable work though he has shown great promises on his debut.

Keep looking for this space for more stuff…

Karthik Calling Karthik movie review | Critique

Rating-***stars

After the gorgeous and dark opening credits, we meet Karthik, who is constantly bullied by every one around him from the landlord, to his colleagues, to his boss. The girl of his dreams(Deepika) doesn’t even know that he exists. In short, his life is miserable. He looses his job, and decides to end his life. He gets a call on his landline. From himself. Voice on the phone promises to help him change his life, for better.

Soon enough things begin to change. His life is back on track. What follows is a predictable but breezy first half that is great fun to watch. Karthik gets his girl. (Deepika steals the first half with her acting and charms.)

Post interval the movie is plot driven and starts getting darker. All along the audiences try to figure out what exactly is happening.In the scene when his psychiatrist visits him at his apartment, all guesses of audiences are proved wrong. This scene is the single best scene in the movie.

Performance wise all the actors have done very well. Farhan has exceptionally well on two areas: A) the scenes where he is scared audience can clearly feel his fear, B) The menace that he conveys just by his voice on the phone. Deepika is very charming and does full justice to her role, who wouldn’t fall for a character like hers. (By the way her dresses both formal and informal were gorgeous). Ram Kapoor (a very)has a small role of Karthik’s boss but his menace makes me wish I don’t get a boss like him, ever.

My guess for the premise of KCK after initial trailers proved right. Schizophrenia.

As for every good movie based on schizophrenia, all pieces have to fit in perfectly at the end. KCK succeeds excellently in this regard. Yes it has hints of ‘Beautiful Mind’ and ‘Fight Club’. It doesn’t really get to level of Beautiful Mind because the script shies away from taking risks. If it had taken risks chances are that it would have flopped but could have been better movie.

It is a small but smart film that is worthy of at least a single watch.

PS- Deepika is officially my favorite actress from now :-)

Written by Ali Naqvi.

Out Of Box… Heath Ledger Remembered

Ages ago when Homi Master saw the tantrums of the lead actor, he brought in a dog to replace him. A trick that worked and public appreciated the smartness of the cinematic genius. Decades later when in a lead TV show, the lead actor decided to leave, without any hesitation he was replaced by another actor.

When Sanjeev Kapoor died, he was starring as a lead in a movie and the cast and crew was puzzled how to tackle this situation of death of Sanjeev Kapoor as a lot of shooting was pending and any backoff will mean major losses. Then came the idea of Ghost of Kapoor into picture and the movie was made. However, it bombed.

Cut to 2008. Heath Ledger died just before the release of Dark Knight that later became one of the top Hollywood grosser. But he was expected to complete the shooting of a fantasy movie:  The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Director Terry Gilliam was aghast at this new found situation and despite of lots of trouble decided to give Heath an apt tribute by making this movie. Three friends of Heath- Jude Law, Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell came into picture to carry forward the role of Tony.

In the movie Tony is shown to have transformations leading three different caricatures, a tweak that was made to meet the ends. Three actors did their part sincerely appreciating the efforts of the director to pay tribute to an actor who defined his imagination. The movie was premiered at Cannes and finally a limited release in Christmas, 2009. A final nationwide release was done in Jan this year. It did positive business.  

We are looking forward to watch this movie. That will be an apt tribute to the actor who immortalized Joker.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh